Willem Dafoe honored with Donostioa Prize at 53th San Sebastian Festival.With a face of sharply cut angles and restless eyes, this peculiar actor could well have found himself typecast in villainous roles like the one he played in David Lynch’s Wild at Heart. But he has in fact achieved enormous popularity for characters having nothing in common with this stereotype, such as Sergeant Elias in Oliver Stone’s Platoon, Paul Schrader’s sleepy New York night-time dealer in Light Sleeper or Jesu...
Ben Gazzara is honored with Donostia Prize at 53th San Sebastian Festival.Raised in New York skid rows, Biagio Gazzara, known as Ben since childhood, grew up dreaming of becoming an actor. The son of a Sicilian immigrant, he soon drew attention for his brilliant and contained sobriety during his classes with Erwin Piscator and in his courses at the Actors’ Studio.Gazzara made such a firm start to his acting in Broadway that his first stage appearance (Calder Willingham’s End as a Man) landed...
LE PETIT LIEUTENANT WINS EUROPA CINEMAS LABEL AT VENICE FESTIVALXavier Beauvois' LE PETIT LIEUTENANT was awarded the Europa Cinemas Label today by a jury of four Europa Cinemas exhibitors at the closing ceremony of the second Giornate degli Autori/Venice Days section at the Venice Film festival. Sold internationally by StudioCanal, LE PETIT LIEUTENANT is a Why Not Productions presentation of a Why Not Production, StudioCanal, France 2 Cinema production with the participation of Canal Plus and T...
Toronto International Film Festival Opens with World Premiere of Deepa Mehta’s WATERToronto International Film Festival opening night was a triumph on September 8th with the premiere of Deepa Mehta’s dynamic film WATER. Finishing out her ode to the elements this is the final film in her trilogy, following FIRE (1996) and EARTH (1998). Mehta film brought a classic presents to the 30th anniversary of one on the largest film festivals in the world. Mehta’s element series FIRE and EARTH were...
The Italian journalists so far think that George Clooney's Good Night and Good Luck is the best film in the international competition but the journalists don’t select the awards. Still, often what film critics think turns out to be right. Add to the list Fernando Meirelles' The Constant Gardener , screened today at the fest, another strong contender for the Lion. The Venezia 62 international jury is composed of the Chinese scriptwriter and author Acheng, French filmmaker Claire Denis, Israeli ...
Domino, Tony Scott’s film dramatization of the life of Domino Harvey, controversial daughter of legendary British actor Laurence Harvey and supermodel Paulene Stone, will close the New Montreal FilmFest on September 25. Domino and 13 other titles – Scottish director Saul Metzstein’s Guy X, an addition to the competition for the Golden Iris; Atom Egoyan’s latest film, Where the Truth Lies; Magnificent Desolation, a new IMAX documentary on the moon expeditions; Nancy Kwan’s Eve and the F...
The World Film Festival – Montreal 2005 wrapped this Monday evening followed by the screening of the French film “Camping à la Ferme” by Jean-Pierre SinapiThe Grand Prix of the Americas went to Off Screen by Pieter Kuijpers but Kamataki from Claude Gagnon stole the show winning 5 awards for best directing, the Fipresci prize, the Oecumenic prize, the audience award and the ward for most popular Canadian movie.Gagnon is a regular from the festival (still the only Canadian director to ever ...
The Hollywood Film Festival will honor Oscar(r)-winning producer DOUGLAS WICK and producer LUCY FISHER with the "Hollywood Producers of the Year Award," Academy Award-winning screenwriter AKIVA GOLDSMAN with the "Hollywood Screenwriter of the Year Award," Lions Gate Films Releasing President TOM ORTENBERG with its "Hollywood Leadership Award," Librarian of Congress Dr. JAMES BILLNGTON with the "Hollywood Film Preservation Award" and award-winning composer HARRY GREGSON-WILLIAMS with the "Hollywo...
Patrice Chereau’s Gabrielle based on The Return by Joseph Conrad is the story about an upper class woman, Gabrielle (Isabelle Hubert), who writes a letter to her husband that she is leaving him for another man. She later returns home to her husband Jean (Pascal Greggory)the same day. The decision to project letters and plot developments onscreen as mega texts is one of the problems of Chereau’s film. The other is the cinematography by Eric Gautier who tries to enhance the story with more vi...
An animated dish for the eyes From September 6 to 11, Fantoche, the biggest animation show in Switzerland, will conquer the cinematic screens of Baden and celebrate its 10th anniversary. From early morning until late at night, 515 short and feature films from 37 countries will be presented in four cinemas. 20’000 visitors and many national and international guests are expected to attend. This year’s anniversary edition of Fantoche will provide its audience with a rich programme, a true eye c...
Fellini’s Il Casanova and the competition film Sympathy for Lady Vengeance by Park Chan-wook brought world class art cinema to the screens of Venezia 62 yesterday. There is Casanova, and there is Il Casanova. Fellini’s Il Casanova is required viewing before or after the popular success of Lasse Hallström’s Casanova. The restoration of Fellini’s 1976 print began in 2001 and was supervised by Giuseppe Rotunna, the photographer of the film present at the press conference at Venice today a...
Lasse Hallström’s out of competition film Casanova is the story of Casanova, a man searching for way out of being condemned to death for his amorous adventures. He needs a wife or maybe a new perspective. Soon he meets Francesca (Sienna Miller),a young Venetian who writes under the name of Bruno Guardia. Jeremy Irons plays the inquisitor Pucci who searches for both Guardia and Casanova (Heath Ledger). Lisa Olin, Hallström’s real life wife plays Francesca’s mother, and Oliver Platt, a lar...
Out of competition films: Final Fantasy VII, Advent Children, Tsui Harks Seven Swords (Qi jian), the opening film , and The Art of Love, Mine Ha Ha by John Irvin set the Venezia 62 in motion August 31. Tsui Hark explained why he has made another martial arts film. Because ‘the stories are still compelling’. Seven Swords is concerned with the origins of martial arts in 1600 China when peasants wanted to defend themselves from rogue bandits. Both Charlie Young and Honglei Sun evoke the stro...
Casanova Directed by Lasse Hallstrom screens today out of competition and will be followed by a lavish paris at the Palazzio Ducale attended by crew and cast: Heath Ledger who plays Casanova, Lena Olin, Jeremy Irons, Oliver Platt...1700s Venice – He was the legendary adventurer whose amorous dalliances would go on to inspire countless lovers throughout the centuries. She was the most virtuoso writer of her time who was waiting to find that rare man with a true understanding of steadfastness a...
Noah Kadner'directorial debut, Formosa (How to Say No!)www.formosamovie.com,) is now screening and winning accolades at US film festivals. and has just been honored with the Best Director Award at the Lake Tahoe/Reno International Film Festival for his directorial achievements on the film. Here's a link to the press release issued today over Business Wire which provides more details on the film and the award win.The film also recently won Best Feature Comedy at the Garden State Film Festival and...
Jessica Biel arrives in Montréal for the MWFFThe Montreal World Film Festival (Montreal International Film Festival) welcomes the American actress and singer Jessica Biel to Montreal today for its 29th edition. Jessica Biel will introduce the film LONDON, produced by Hunter Richards, as part of the First Films World Competition.LONDON will be shown in the original English version at 9:30 p.m. on September 3, 2 p.m. on September 4, and 4 p.m. on September 5 at the Cinéma Parisien 2. LONDON - Sy...
Each Labor Day weekend, the tiny mountain village of Telluride, Colorado triples in size. Swells of passionate film enthusiasts flood the town for four days of total cinematic immersion, embarking on a viewing odyssey, blissfully spending entire days in flickering dark rooms. With only an appreciation of celluloid to guide them, these devotees flock to the show, year after year.Before the event unfolds nobody knows what’s playing, or who’s being honored at Telluride, before the event unfolds...
62nd Venice International Film Festival opens today and runs from 31st August till 10th September 2005.For 2005, the director, Marco Müller, presents an official selection of about 60 films. This was the line already proposed by Müller after the last Festival and approved by the Biennale's Board on 9th February. "We have decided to render the programme more legible", explained Müller, "in order to avoid any confusion between different rich and complex sections." Thus, the Festival will offer ...
SOPHIE SCHOLL – THE FINAL DAYS (SOPHIE SCHOLL – DIE LETZTEN TAGE) will open the Fifth Festival of German Cinema at the Village Recoletas in Buenos Aires on September 1, 2005. Lead actress Julia Jentsch and director Marc Rothemund will be travelling to Argentina to introduce their film in person. Presenting a total of 34 films in 29 performances, the organiser German Films will be offering a varied and exciting snapshot of contemporary German cinema. The programme includes nine feature films...
The 59th Edinburgh International Film Festival drew to an official close with the Awards Ceremony, held Sunday at the Caledonian Hilton following the premiere of the Business.The biggest award winner of the day was clearly Tsotsi, the South African gang drama, which walked away with both the Standard Life Audience Award, and The Michael Powell Award for Best New British Feature Film. Producer Peter Fudakowski, on accepting the first award, said he was “particularly grateful to Edinburgh for di...
The VIFF Turns its Focus to New American Indies and Eastern Europe The Vancouver International Film Festival today announced two areas of regional focus within the Festival’s program for its 24th annual edition, which will take place September 29 to October 14th at ten venues, including the VIFF’s own brand new Vancity Theatre in downtown Vancouver. American Independence focuses on the best of the new indie scene, while The New World presents a selection of compelling narratives and incisive...
12th Oldenburg International Film Festival(September 7th to 11th 2005)will play a Retrospective on Ken Russell.A celebration of the works of Britain´s groundbreaking director.The 12th Oldenburg International Film Festival honours Ken Russell, one of the outstanding personalities of British independent cinema. Eight films by the cinematic provocateur and role-model to the lives of Peter Greenaway will be shown an the Festival. Ken Russell will attend the Festival as a guest of honour and his lat...
The Business a film by Nick Love will close this year's edition of Edimburg Film Feast!(August 17-28)The Business: Directed by Nick Love Cast: Danny Dyer, Tamer Hassan, Geoff Bell, Georgina Chapman, Eddie Weber, Adam Bolton, Linda Henry, Roland Manookian, Arturo Venegas, Camille Coduri )'Get rid of this Spanish Fly crap: I want black, red and chrome everywhere!'Set in the gaudy, Thatcherite 1980s, this underworld yarn - a confident follow-up to Love's acclaimed Football Factory- follows the adve...
Films showing out of Competition at the forthcoming venice festival Auguest 31-September 10Marco Muller seems to have put all his strength and efforts to open a classical venice film feast with prestigious marquee value, red carpet and critics favourites. Jaume BALAGUERÒ Fragile Spain 100’Calista Flockhart, Richard Roxburgh, Elena AndyaEmmanuelle BERCOT Backstage France 115’Emmanuelle Seigner, Noémie Lvovsky, Isild Le BescoPeter Ho-sun CHAN Ru guo ai (Perhaps Love) China/Hong Kong Jacky Ch...
Venice Festival competition August 31 September 10An international competition comprising of 20 feature films in 35mm and digital HD format Pupi AVATI La seconda notte di nozze Italy 103’Antonio Albanese, Katia Ricciarelli, Neri Marcorè João BOTELHO O Fatalista Portugal/France 99’Rogério Samora, André Gomes, Rita BlancoLaurent CANTET Vers le sud France/Canada 105’Charlotte Rampling, Karen Young, Louise PortalPatrice CHÉREAU Gabrielle France/Italy 90’Isabelle Huppert, Pascal Greggor...
