Thomas Horn Line up Agathe Bonitzer Annekatrin Hendel Berlinale posture Djolof M'Bengue, Anisia Uzeyman, Saül Williams, Aïssa Maïga Ritesh Sidhwani, Priyanka Chopra, Farhan Akhtar Big run Max von Sydow, Dieter Kosslick Kirsten Sheridan Juli...

  by Alex Deleon Wed. Feb.9, 2012                                   The 62nd Berlinale opened this afternoon for early arriving journalists even before the Opening Gala which will be held tonight with two special press screenings. First up was the rousing Bollywood actioner ¨DON 2, The King Is Back¨ starring The K...

  by Alex Deleon The 62nd Berlinale opened this afternoon for early arriving journalists even before the Opening Gala which will be held tonight  with two special press screenings. First up was the rousing Bollywood actioner ''DON 2, The King Is Back'' starring The King of  Bollywood himself, Shah Rukh Khan, and this was followed by the much anticipated Angela Jolie directed Bosnian War drama,  ''Land of Blood and Hone'' (Zemlja Krvi a Mjod),  in which the actress does not herself...

By Alex Deleon For the second time in three years a major Bollywood "blockbuster" starring top Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan (SRK) will have a high profile opening at Berlin.  The title of the new film is "DON 2, The King is Back", and is directed by star director Farhan Akhtar. In 2012 Mr. Khan was here for the world's premier of "My Name Khan" --a combination political film and love strory set in the USA. The subject of that one was actually anti-Isla...

The first five films for the Competition of the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival have been confirmed. The selected productions and co-productions are from Indonesia, Spain, the People’s Republic of China, Hongkong/China, the Philippines, Great Britain, Germany, the USA and France. What’s more, five films are set for the Berlinale Special: the Indian-German co-production Don – The King Is Back, the documentary Marley by Kevin Macdonald from Great Britain and the USA, the Spanish film...

8th Dubai International Film Festival runs December 7 to 14,• 46 world premieres, 25 international premieres and 78 Middle East premieres • Award-winning films and A-list talent from the Americas, Europe, Asia Africa and the Arab world • 89 films vie for prestigious Muhr Awards with total prize money of over US$600,000 The eighth Dubai International Film Festival, held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President & Prime Minister and Ruler o...

by Alex Deleon With some 400 films to choose from one might say that everybody sees a different festival over a ten day period. Of the official competition films two were early walkouts. Ralph Fiennes' "Coriolanus"  and the Bela Tarr entry  "A Torinoi Lo" (The Turin Horse) -- arguably the most bleak, depressing , and boring film ever made. It's all about two miserable people livinng in a miserable life in a miserable hut somewhere in the middle of nowhere and tr...

Now that the programme is almost complete it can be said that in the aftermath of the financial crisis truly independent cinema is at an advantage. The themes of many first films are daring and hence inspiring, as seen in the work of Israeli filmmaker Michal Aviad who, set against the backdrop of the interminable Palestinian-Israeli conflict, has her protagonists work through traumas in Lo Roim Alaich (Invisible), or with French director Céline Sciamma whose Tomboy portrays the coming of age of...

        INDIAN FILM REVIEWS, 2010  -- COMPOSITE with RAAKH (1989)           ADDED NEW BOLLYWOOD BLOCKBUSTER TO PREMIER AT BERLIN 2010 by Alex deleon -- (reviewed below)  for www.filmfestivals.com   The much awaited new Indian film "My Name Is Khan" will be premiered at the 60th annual Berlin International Film Festival on Febuary 12, out of competition but very much in the limelight otherwise.  MNIK is easily the most anticpated Hindi film of the year as it topline...

Khan is an extremely popular Islamic family name in India where, for the past twenty years, three Khans --Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan, and Amir Khan -- have ruled the leading-man roost in Bollywood, commanding sky-high rupee guarantees up-front and wielding enough power to dictate the terms of the films they sign up for. Having one of these Khans in your film is close to an ironclad guarantee of box-office returns in the dog-eat-dog competitive world of Bombay filmdom, and the competition for th...

Khan is an extremely popular Islamic family name in India where, for the past twenty years, three Khans --Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan, and Amir Khan -- have ruled the leading-man roost in Bollywood, commanding sky-high rupee guarantees up-front and wielding enough power to dictate the terms of the films they sign up for. Having one of these Khans in your film is close to an ironclad guarantee of box-office returns in the dog-eat-dog competitive world of Bombay filmdom, and the competition for th...

The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) has announced the 2010 line-up of films for its 8th annual festival, which runs April 20-April 25 at ArcLight Hollywood.  The six-day festival is proud to showcase 33 films from 5 countries, including 4 world premieres and 7 US premieres.     This is a true celebration of the art and business of Indian film and culture as well as an opportunity to connect with the game changers and emerging filmmakers of Indian themed content,�...

The ninth edition of the "RIVER TO RIVER" Florence Indian Film Festival opened in this elegant north Italian city on December 4 at its new location, the landmark ODEON cinema, just around the corner  from the world famous Uffizi Art Galleries.  The spotlight this year is on the recently "rediscovered" genius of Indian film, Guru Dutt, with three of his key features being screened and a documentary on his life and career entitled "In Search of Guru Dutt". The f...

The ninth edition of the "RIVER TO RIVER" Florence Indian Film Festival opened in this elegant north Italian city on December 4 at its new location, the landmark ODEON cinema, just around the corner from the world famous Uffizi Art Galleries. The spotlight this year is on the recently "rediscovered" genius of Indian film, Guru Dutt, with three of his key features being screened and a documentary on his life and career entitled "In Search of Guru Dutt". The festival kicked off in style with a p...

  George Clooney in UP IN THE AIR by Sandy Mandelberger, Festivals Dailies Editor Premieres at the Toronto International Film Festival always get hearts racing, among industry professionals looking to snag distribution deals and among the notoriously cinephile audiences in Canada’s most diverse metropolis. This year’s Festival is unveiling a good number of such films that are among the festival’s most anticipated (and hard to get into) film screenings. ...

Mainstream Indian entertainment films from Bombay, which means the flashy three hour song and dance extravaganzas which have come to be know by the somewhat patronizing appellation "Bollywood" -- as opposed to the "serious art" films from India which had been making the festival rounds until now, are suddenly beginning to surface at major international film festivals, the latest instance being Toronto 2009.  At the 34th  instalment of this mega-festival (for that is e...

Mainstream Indian entertainment films from Bombay, which means the flashy three hour song and dance extravaganzas which have come to be know by the somewhat patronizing appellation “Bollywood” -- as opposed to the “serious art” films from India which had been making the festival rounds until now, are suddenly beginning to surface at major international film festivals, the latest instance being Toronto 2009. At the 34th instalment of this mega-festival (for that is exactly what Toronto ...

More than 130 films from 35 countries will be screened at the second edition of the Middle East International Film Festival (MEIFF), organised by the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH) and being held over an expanded ten enthralling days from 10th to 19th October 2008 in Abu Dhabi.“MEIFF has positioned itself as one of the most important regional cinema events in a relatively short span of time,” said MEIFF’s Vice Chairman and ADACH’s Director General His Excellency Moh...