Director Greg Marcks speaks about his nail-biting international thriller Echelon Conspiracy (2009), starring Shane West, Ed Burns, Martin Sheen, Ving Rhames and Jonathan Pryce. Plus, he relates his humorous experience with David Lynch on the set of Inland Empire (2006).   ME: First of all, I saw your Ernest Hemingway quote: 'Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut.' Love it! So, Greg! Your film features a...

This festival continues as an upscale, boutique film venture for cinephiles, with only 25 features and innovative sidebars--including a critical overview of foreign filmmakers, with respect to both new filmmaking approaches and new subjects. Other major fests love red carpets, pay respect to commercial consideration and defer to megalomaniac growth desires; they need to present as many new films as possible, to have a large contingent of buyers and distributors, and to secure a sizable prese...

The Board of Directors of La Biennale di Venezia, presided by Davide Croff, has accepted the proposal by Director Marco Müller to award the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement to US director David Lynch at the 63.Venice International Film Festival, scheduled to take place on the Lido di Venezia from August 30th through September 9th 2006. The award will be presented to the director on September 6th, in the Sala Grande of the Palazzo del Cinema, on the occasion of the screening of his new maste...

Political Inspired Shorts Screen at Palm Springs International Festival of Shorts The 11th Annual Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films presented a daring combination of documentary and dramatic shorts exploring the complexities of the US-led war in Iraq, to a full house Saturday evening. The program, cleverly titled “Iraq and a Hard Place,” included six strong films that each explored a facet of the war in a surprisingly apolitical fashion. From the story of a man in Camden, Ma...