What makes a festival successful? Great films and great audiences, and Belgrade's 40th FEST had both in spades- indeed, the event was such a hit, it was extended by a day to accommodate a last-minute regional premiere for The Artist, fresh from its triumph at the Oscars in Hollywood(and in keeping with its immaculate organisation, there was even an advance press screening of the French 'surprise' gift to Belgrade's enormous audiences.
For the event is centred in what must be one of...
Director Bohdan Sláma and producer Pavel Strnad will present their film Four Suns (Čtyři slunce) as the opening film of the prestigious 12th goEast international film festival in Wiesbaden, Germany. Four Suns will contend for the title of Best Film and €10,000 in the main competition. The goEast festival, which focuses on the cinematography of Central and Eastern Europe, begins tomorrow (April 18) and will screen five Czech films in its competition and non-competition sections. Among the fe...
“Le soleil derrière les nuages: La lutte pour la liberté du Tibet " Ouvertures le 31 Mars 2010 au Forum du film Récemment a Palm Springs, Festival du Film International, s'est tenue des projections a caractéristiques chinoises du 5 au 18 Janvier 2010, "Cité de vie et de mort” et “Vite,Vite, Lentement”, qui ont été retirés du festival du film pour etre gérée par le groupe du Film de l’Etat Chinois afin de protester contre le choix du festival et pour montrer" ...
by Sandy Mandelberger, Festival Dailies Editor
Each year, FESTROIA shines its spotlight on a different film producing country. This year, it is the turn of the Czech Republic, which has been at the forefront of international filmmaking since its celebrated heyday in the 1960s. One of its best known films of that era, CLOSELY WATCHED TRAINS by Jiri Menzel was screened here on Sunday evening, with the 76-year-old director in attendance. A gentle satire on Czech life du...
Saturday, June 21-----In celebrations being held around the world, the events and repercussions of that pivotal year in world history, 1968, are being discussed, remembered and even eulogized. The events of that turbulent year in political and social history are best experienced and explained through the music of the times and the films of the era.At SILVERDOCS, the Festival is presenting a sidebar program entitled 1968 AND BEYOND that offers several seminal films from 1968 that give as accura...
For cineastes and critics, the Berlin International Film Festival, or Berlinale, is a frequent target of criticism, since it is argued that the official competition has become subverted by commercialism, that politics drives the final selection in the official competition, or that Dieter Kosslick’s craving for media attention prevails. Thus the chorus of nay sayers grew more intense this year. After all, having the Rolling Stones, Madonna, and Sharukh Khan on the red carpet and bestowing the ...
The main sections of the event are, - Views of the World: dealing with subjects of social interest. - Portraits-Human Journeys: the human being as the focus of the narrative. - Stories to Tell: brief stories of human interest that stand out both for the nature of their subject and the way it has been dealt with. - Recordings of Memory: Events and people who played a significant role in shaping contemporary life; the tes...
The 10th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival – Images of the 21st Century celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. Organized by the Thessaloniki International Film Festival, the 10th TDF will present roughly 200 documentaries in the event’s flagship OLYMPION and PAVLOS ZANNAS theatres at the festival headquarters in Aristotelous square, as well as the JOHN CASSAVETES, STAVROS TORNES, FRIDA LIAPPA and TONIA MARKETAKI theatres located at the Thessaloniki harbour, within walking distance from t...
Vaclav Havel presents his own prize to “Total Denial” at the One World Int’l Human Rights FestivalMilena Kaneva’s feature documentary, “Total Denial” has been awarded the Vaclav Havel humanitarian award in Prague, presented by the poet, playwright and former president of the Czech Republic himself. “Total Denial” tells the story of Ka Hsaw and his ongoing struggle to save the Karen tribes people of Burma. Great cultures have always been built on the backs of slaves. Unfortunatel...
"THE PEACEKEEPERS",WINNER OF THE VACLAV HAVEL SPECIAL AWARD,OPENED THE 7TH EDITION OF ONE WORLD The Opening Ceremony of the 7th Annual One World International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival took place on Wednesday, April 27th, 2005 in the large auditorium of Prague's Municipal Library. Within the framework of the opening evening, Paul Cowan´s documentary "The Peacekeepers" will be awarded with the Václav Havel Special Award. From the beginning of the One World festival, Václav Havel...
Karlovy Vary 2004 – The atmosphere this year around the Hotel Thermal was electric, something like Time Square on a busy evening, (and the comparison is not that excessive!) especially outside the main entrance to the Velky Sal. Live music was continuously played on stage where crowds of youngsters gathered to drink, cheer, and indulge in what is surely one of the highlights of the Czech social calendar attended by international showbiz figures such as Elijah Wood, Harvey Keitel, John Cleese o...
Some of KVIFF 04 A-list visitorsThis year was no exception and Karlovy Vary’s Grand Hotel welcomed again many film industry A-listers for the International Film Festival. Among them was Taxi Driver, Pulp Fiction and Thelma and Louise star Harvey Keitel, the world’s favourite little hobbit Elijah Wood, Monty Python’s most memorable, John Cleese and many others. Prominent Czech political figures visited the festival too such as president Vaclav KLAUS, and former president Vaclav Havel. Harv...
International PEN (London) and One World Human Rights Film Festival (Prague)Fourteen Nobel Literature Laureates are joining Vaclav Havel, former President of the Czech Republic and renowned playwright, and Jiri Grusa, acclaimed Czech writer and President of International PEN to urge Senior General Than Shwe of the Burmese Military Junta to immediately release Nobel Peace Laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other imprisoned Burmese writers. Burmese writers serving long sentences include 74-year-old...
