On Saturday the 29th the competition arena of Nantes’ 3 Continents was haunted by the cinematic ghosts of Tsai Ming-liang’s Goodbye Dragon Inn (Bu San) and by the torturing spectres of a dramatic political past in Pakistani Sabiha Sumar’s Silent Waters (Kamosh Pani). Tsai’s sixth feature, winner of the Fipresci award in Venice, pays homage to cinema and to the magic experience of viewing films in movie theatres. Taking an old theatre bound to permanently shut its doors as his actual prot...

Part of Nantes Festival des trois Continents official selection (out of competition),Osama has won on the festival circuit on many occasions (Montreal top prize, London...) Osama an Afghan movie by director Siddiq Barmak takes place at the beginning of the period of the Taliban take over, Afghan women were not allowed to come out into the streets unless accompanied by man or boy. Women who had no sons or who had lost their husbands, demonstrated for the right to work, to have a place in the new...

ANA Y LOS OTROS by Célina Murga - ArgentinaLOS GUANTES MAGICOS by Martin Rejtman - ArgentinaSIETE DIAS SIETE NOCHES by Joel Cano - CubaVIBRATOR by Ryuichi Hiroki - JapanRAMBLERS by Nobuhiro Yamashita - JapanMANEKEN PIL by Nariman Turebaiev - KazaksthanMIN by Ho Yuhang - MalaisiaSILENT WATERS by Sabiha Sumar - PakistanGOOD BYE DRAGON -IN by Tsai Ming Liang - TaiwanGAI NHAY by Le Hoang - Vietnam...

The Stockholm International Film Festival officially closed November 25th with a screening of "E! Audience Award winner," The Station Agent. Tipped as the favorite of the festival, the film lived up to its reputation from beginning to end. It is not hard to understand why the film won the hearts of the Stockholm audience. The area where the story takes place in Newfoundland NJ is a little like a small Swedish town, set far away from everything, where people speak slowly, and savor their words i...

AUDIENCE AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED FOR 15TH ANNUAL BOSTON JEWISH FILM FESTIVALGay-themed Israeli feature and personal/historical documentary by first-time filmmaker are 2003 winnersThe 15th annual Boston Jewish Film Festival ended a great run (November 6-16) on Sunday, November 16.Audience members participated in the Festival¹s second Audience Awardballoting. Winning Best Feature and Best Documentary filmmakers eachreceive $1,200 in film stock, generously donated by Eastman Kodak.Ballots have no...

Late Sunday evening, AFI FEST 2003 ended a glorious run of 10 days and 10 nights of the best films in the world, but not before announcing its coveted Audience Awards and unveiling the World Premiere of Patty Jenkins' MONSTER, starring Charlize Theron. In front of a sold-out audience at ArcLight's Cinerama Dome, Nancy Collet, the Director of Programming, announced that Jim Sheridan's IN AMERICA took the Audience Award for Feature Film. The film, which stars Samantha Morton and Paddy Considine, f...

Monster closed AFI last week end.The film written and directed by Patty JenkinsPROD: Brad Wyman, Donald Kushner, Charlize Theron, Mark Damon, Clark Peterson EXEC PROD: Meagan Riley-Grant, Steward Hall, Andreas Schmid, Andreas Grosch, Sammy LeeCast: Charlize Theron, Christina Ricci, Bruce Dern, Scott Wilson, Pruitt Taylor Vince Charlize Theron stars in MONSTER, a shockingly moving film that burrows deep beneath the tabloid-sized headline stories on Aileen Wournos, the man-hatingand murder...

EUROPEAN FILM ACADEMY AWARD OF THE CRITICS (PRIX FIPRESCI)The European Film Academy today announced the first two winners of this year's European Film Awards: The European Film Academy Critics Award 2003 - Prix Fipresci goes to the Italian film BUONGIORNO, NOTTE (Goodmorning, Night) by Marco Bellocchio. The critics' award is presented in co-operation with the international federation of film critics, Fipresci. In his statement, Fipresci president Michel Ciment said, "by awarding this prize to Ma...

AFI FEST – Intl Jury Awards: BLUE, BEAH & DEEP SILENCE stand-outsFriday night, Nov 14th, at a standing-room-only celebration at CineSpace, the International Jury Award winners of AFI FEST 2003 were announced. Taking the Feature Jury Prize was Natasha Arthy's OLD, NEW, BORROWED AND BLUE, a Danish bittersweet comedy and an official Dogme film about the perils of love and honesty. "I'm really proud," said an elated Arthy minutes after winning. "It's very unreal. We didn't expect anything like thi...

Loving Glances (Sjaj u Ocima) has picked up Best Screenplay award for writer/director Srdjan Karanovic and Best Music prize for veteran composer Zoran Simjanovic this weekend at the Monte Carlo International Film Festival. A co-production between F&ME and Belgrade based YODI Movie Craftsmen, the film is the last production ever to receive funding from the now defunct European Co-Production Fund run by British Screen. Other major funders were YODI, the Ministry of Culture of Serbia and Monteneg...

Meryl Streep Follows De Niro in AFI Life Time Achievment tribute for 2004.The actress has been selected by the American Film Institute's (AFI) Board of Trustees to receive the 32nd AFI Life Achievement Award, the highest honor for a career in film, it was announced today by Sir Howard Stringer, Chair of the AFI Board of Trustees. The award will be presented to Streep at a gala tribute on June 10, 2004, which will be held in the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland. Mr. Stringer commented, "Mer...

Friday night, at a standing-room-only celebration at Cinespace, the jury award winners of AFI FEST 2003 were announced. Taking the Feature Jury Prize was Natasha Arthy's OLD, NEW, BORROWED AND BLUE, a Danish bittersweet comedy and an official Dogme film about the perils of love and honesty. "I'm really proud," said an elated Arthy minutes after winning. "It's very unreal. We didn't expect anything like this." Arthy and producer Birgitte Skov said that they planned to ring the two lead actors fro...

Stockholm is Tarantino's! (or is it Josef Fares?)The Stockholm International Film Festival kicked off November 13 with Kill Bill Volume 1 and its world class female assassins. Festival organizer Git Scheynius greeted the completely packed Skandia theater to introduce a festival of 200 films and 70 directors."Quentin Tarantino couldn't come", she said, "but he sends his greetings", adding that 30 pages of the Kill Bill script were written in Stockholm (as were parts of Pulp Fiction). Indeed, the ...

The 16th Tokyo International Film FestivalCompetition 2003 International Jury members have announced this year's winners for the following six awards at the closing ceremony on November 9, 2003. Total entry: 363 feature films (51 countries and regions)Screenings: 15 films International Jury Members were headed by Gong Li, President of the Jury, Irvin Kershner (Director) ,Pen-ek Ratanaruang (Director) ,Takashige Ichise (Producer) ,Vincent Lecoeur (Actor) Tokyo Grand Prix - The Governor of Tokyo...

AFI FEST's Day Five began with a bang, or should we say a beat, as an animated audience arrived early to soak up Paul Kell's FIVE SIDES OF A COIN. A vivid journey through the world of hip-hop, the documentary features interviews and performances from modern-day legends Grandmaster Flash and Run DMC, as well as legends-of-the-future like Del Tha Funky Homosapien and Kool Keith. "Was anyone on Earth left out?" asked an awed film-goer during the Q&A. "Only KRS-1," answered Kell. "Apparently, his wi...

Myriad Pictures has just closed several key deals on its Edward Burns starrer, The River King, including Momentum for the United Kingdom and Canada and Filmax for Spain.The film, which brings together Myriad and Canadian production company imX Communications, is a supernatural murder mystery based on Alice Hoffman's award-winning novel. Financing for the film is being arranged through United Kingdom-based Grosvenor Park's First Choice Films.Nick Willing (Hypnotic) is directing from a screenplay ...

CELESTIAL’S SHAW BROTHERS MARTIAL ARTS MOVIES TO BE DISTRIBUTED BY MANGA FILMS IN SPAIN The Spanish film industry is viewed by many these days as the critical link between Europe, the US and Latin America cinema. In recent years, a wave of young, Spanish directorial talents have surfaced, such as Pedro Almodovar, Alejandro Amenabar, Fernando Leon de Aranoa and Cesc Gay. Between them, they have helped to gradually develop Spain as a film-making powerhouse. Similarly, when the Hong Kong film ind...

These are the nominations:Deadline for votes is November 28, 2003EUROPEAN FILM 2003DIRTY PRETTY THINGS, UKdirected by Stephen Frearsproduced by Celador FilmsDOGVILLE, Denmark/Netherlands/Sweden/France/UK/Germanydirected by Lars von Trierproduced by Zentropa Entertainments8 ApS/Isabella Films Int/Memfis Film Int/Pain Unlimited/Sigma Films/Slot MachineGOOD BYE, LENIN!, Germanydirected by Wolfgang Beckerproduced by X Filme Creative Pool GmbHIN THIS WORLD, UKdirected by Michael Winterbottomproduced ...