The Palm Springs International Awards Gala and Film Festival has issued a reward of $100,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for the murder of Ronni Chasen, who was shot and killed in the early hours on Tuesday, November 16, 2010. The festival was reportedly a client of Ronni Chasen.
The 22nd annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) will present Colin Firth and Natalie Portman with the Desert Palm Achievement Award for Actor and Actress, respectively. Presented by Cartier, the Awards Gala will kick off the 2011 awards season on Saturday, January 8 at the Palm Springs Convention Center and will be hosted by “Entertainment Tonight’s” Mary Hart. Firth and Portman will join previously announced honorees Javier Bardem, Jennifer Lawrence and Carey Mulligan. The Festival runs January 6-17.
The 24th Leeds International Film Festival has announced the winners of its several competitions. “Tuesday, After Christmas” by Radu Muntean wins the Golden Owl Award at the 24th Leeds International Film Festival 2010. A Special Mention wentto Hitoshi Yazaki’s “Sweet Little Lies”.
Film Independent, the non-profit arts organization that produces the Spirit Awards and the Los Angeles Film Festival, announced today that Joel McHale, star of NBC’s Community, will serve as host for the 2011 Film Independent Spirit Awards. The 26th edition of the awards will be held at the beach in Santa Monica on Saturday, February 26 at 2:00 p.m. The ceremony will air exclusively on IFC in primetime on February 26 at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT.
Tribeca Film has acquired US rights to The Bang Bang Club, a gripping drama based on the incredible lives of a group of young photojournalists whose graphic images drew the world’s attention to South Africa during the last stages of apartheid while enduring the stresses, tensions, and moral dilemmas of working in situations of extreme conflict.
Helena Bonham Carter will receive the coveted Richard Harris Award and Liam Neeson The Variety Award at the 13th Moët British Independent Film Awards.
A decline in funding has forced the Calgary International Film Festival to lay off most of its full-time staff, including the director of programming, Trevor Smith, director of operations Christian Argyll and sponsorship marketing manager Danielle Kondruk, leaving executive director Jacqueline Dupuis as the only full-time staff member.
After applying her Midas touch to the book publishing world with her book club, talk-show queen Oprah Winfrey is looking to do the same to the film world with a documentary club. OWN:Oprah Winfrey Network has announced it has acquired three films, “One Lucky Elephant,” “65_RedRoses” and “Most Valuable Players,” that will join the upcoming monthly documentary film club lineup
Canadian director Bruce LaBruce’s controversial gay porn horror film LA Zombie, which stars a French porn star as a schizophrenic homeless man who believes he is a cannibalistic ghoul,” and depicts homosexual sex, full-frontal male nudity, and necrophilia, was withdrawn from the Melbourne International Film Festival in July after it failed to get a pass from the Australian Film Classification Board.
CMJ Network, Inc. has announced the dates for its 2011 CMJ Music Marathon & Film Festival. The festival will take place from Tuesday, October 18 to Saturday, October 22, 2011 in New York City.
Fifteen features have been accepted for consideration in the Animated Feature Film category for the 83rd Academy Awards®.
