25th Mar del Plata Internacional Film Festival From 13th to 21st November, 2010 The only Latin American Film Festival with “A” status was conceived in 1954 due to the need to reflect the Argentinean Cinema universe, as well as the international cinematographic scenario. Year after year, the Festival established itself as a vital exhibition of the development and exchange of the film industry and audiovisual arts. Mar del Plata International Film Festival is today a must for filmmakers, acto...

  Last night saw the open of the Rome International Film Festival. But during the red carpet opening, thousands of protesters blocked the red carpet and stars Keira Knightley and Eva Mendes were forced to enter the cinema through a back door.   A local filmmaker this morning told me: "Here the Rome Film Festival has been quite miserable (as usual) as yesterday there was a strike of cinema producers and directors that occupied the red carpet. There were over 2,000 peo...

  The word diva is often used these days to denote bad behavior and outsized arrogance but in its original incarnation, it was coined to described someone whose artistic gifts were, in fact, divine….a gift from God. So, it is with this original interpretation that I acknowledge the presence at the Montreal World Film Festival of a true cinematic diva, the Italian actress Stefania Sandrelli.   Sandrelli has been part of the cinema firmament for over 60 years. As with her...

Homage Berlinale 2010: Hanna Schygulla and Wolfgang Kohlhaase to Receive Honorary Golden Bears for Their Lifetime Achievements In 2010, the festival's 60th anniversary, the Berlinale is dedicating its Homage to two film artists who have decisively shaped post-war German cinema in different ways. "Hanna Schygulla and Wolfgang Kohlhaase both stand for renewal and departure - in West and East Germany. Hanna Schygulla's name is inseparably connected with Rainer Werner Fassbinder's ...

Homage Berlinale 2010: Hanna Schygulla and Wolfgang Kohlhaase to Receive Honorary Golden Bears for Their Lifetime AchievementsIn 2010, the festival’s 60th anniversary, the Berlinale is dedicating its Homage to two film artists who have decisively shaped post-war German cinema in different ways. “Hanna Schygulla and Wolfgang Kohlhaase both stand for renewal and departure – in West and East Germany. Hanna Schygulla’s name is inseparably connected with Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s films. Wo...

MEIFF to the achievements of “Arab Women Directors” & showcases a strong line-up in the “retrospective” on PalestineThe Middle East International Film Festival (MEIFF), organised by the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH) is keeping up the momentum of its second edition with two of its most unique and important programmes: Arab Women Directors and a Retrospective on Palestine.Arab Women DirectorsThe Director of MEIFF, Nashwa Al Ruwaini explained that the Arab Women Dire...

THE FIRST ROME FILM FIESTA, OCT. 13 – 21, 2OO6 The whole report day by day from day one. In less than a week, on the fateful FridayThe Thirteenth of the current month (October 13, 2OO6), the First International Film Festival ever held in Rome will open the gates of the Eternal City to a floodtide of media representatives, journalists, film professionals, actors, directors, film fans, and just plain curious stargazers of all stripes and colours. Whether this new festival turns out to be a blas...

In less than seven days, on the fateful Friday The Thirteenth of the current month (October 13, 2OO6), the First International Film Festival ever held in Rome will open the gates of the Eternal City to a floodtide of media representatives, journalists, film professionals, actors, directors, film fans, and just plain curious stargazers of all stripes and colours. Whether this new festival turns out to be a blast or a bust, or something in between, it is already the most eagerly anticipated event ...

Nicole Kidman is set to open the first edition of the RomeFilmFest. The Australian actress will be presenting the world premiere of Fur, by American director Steven Shainberg, at the grand opening gala on October 13th (at 20:00) in the Santa Cecilia Hall at the Auditorium Parco della Musica. “I love Italy, a country with which I feel a great affinity”, said Nicole Kidman, “and I am particularly proud to be present at the baptism of this important FilmFest”.Fur, based on the book ‘Diane...

Most festivals, in their debut year, have a modest agenda and try to keep expectations at a low pitch. Not so the Rome Film Fest, which is approaching its inaugural session with the velocity of an unstoppable train.It has always seemed curious to Americans why some of Europe’s largest cities have not had a major film festival attached to them. Why, we wonder, did it take decades for Paris, the most cinephile of cities, to launch its own film event? Why are there no major film festivals in such...

MONTREAL WORLD FILM FESTIVAL : A CITADEL OF FILM CULTUREThe 28th edition of the Montreal World Film Festival is in full swing, with a heady mix of traditional arthouse films and innovative new voices giving this event its well-deserved reputation as the most European in style and substance of all of Canada’s film events.Perhaps it is its Francophone culture or its identity as a city of tradition (in direct contrast with the go-go atmosphere of its neighbor Toronto) but this Festival is definit...

A revealing new portrait of controversial Canadian newspaper baron Conrad Black, Citizen Black, a powerful emotional drama from Germany, Sugar Orange, and a delightful crime comedy from Australia, A Man's Gotta Do, are three of the many world premieres that will unfurl at the 28th Montréal World Film Festival, August 26 – September 6.Among the films having their international premieres are 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover, from the U.S.A., Christmas Rematch, (Italy), and Wanted (Germany). North A...