International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) revealed the full film lineup of 2020, including the 10 films selected for the Tiger Competition. Also revealed: the selections of the Big Screen Competition and the revamped Bright Future Competition, the 2020 opening and closing films, the fifth theme program Ordinary Heroes and a special screening of David Cronenberg’s Crash (1996) with a live musical score by the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra.
The 70th Berlin Film Festival is fast approaching and sections – Perspektive Deutsches Kino, Panorama, Generation, Forum Expanded announced the first films and projects.
The Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association voted 1917 as the best film of 2019, according to the results of its 26th annual critics’ poll. The Russell Smith Award for best low-budget or cutting-edge independent film went to The Lighthouse.
Marriage Story won three top prizes at the 2019 Indiana Film Journalists Association (IFJA) awards – including Best Film, Best Actor (Adam Driver), and Best Original Screenplay (Noah Baumbach).
Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite is the big winner this year with the Seattle Film Critics Society (“SFCS”) winning five awards, including Best Picture of the Year. The South Korean film also earned Bong the Best Director award and Best Screenplay, which he shares with co-writer Han Jin-won. Parasite was also named Best Foreign Language Film and the film’s ensemble was honored with the Best Ensemble Cast award.
Writer-director Joanna Hogg’s delicate autobiographical drama The Souvenir lead the nominations for the 40th annual London Critics’ Circle Film Awards with 7 nominations, including Film, Screenwriter, Actor (Tom Burke), Supporting Actress (Tilda Swinton) and Young Performer (Honor Swinton Byrne). In addition, the film is nominated for British/Irish Film of the Year.
Cinema Tropical, the non-profit media arts organization leading presenter of Latin American cinema in the United States, announced its Third Annual Shortlist, comprising 25 Latin American films from eight different countries plus six U.S. Latinx productions that the New York–based organization has selected as the best of the year.
TIFF revealed its Canada’s Top Ten list of features and short films of 2019. This year’s Top Ten list features three directorial debuts and four Indigenous filmmakers. The shorts and features lineups showcase works by 12 of Canada’s most talented female filmmakers. Four directors are alumni from TIFF’s Talent Development programs: Filmmaker Lab, Writers’ Studio, and Telefilm Canada’s PITCH THIS!
The Brooklyn Horror Film Festival will return in 2020 for its fifth edition and run for another full eight days from October 15th to the 22nd in venues in Brooklyn, NY. BHFF will once again partner with Nitehawk Cinema as a primary screening venue.
The Chicago Film Critics Association (CFCA) announced the nominees for their top film honors of 2019. Nominees include Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story and Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite plus Céline Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire.
Gravitas Ventures will release filmmaker Emily Ting’s second directorial feature Go Back to China, which made its world premiere in competition at SXSW Film Festival earlier this year. The film starring veteran Hong Kong actor Richard Ng, Lynn Chen, and Kelly Hu, will make a limited theatrical bow in select cities March 6, 2020 and simultaneous with a wide cross-platform cable/satellite/telco and internet VOD release on the same day.