Film Festivals

OMARA, Documentary on Cuba’s Iconic Singer Omara Portuondo, Premieres at DOC NYC

Omara directed by Hugo Perez

Coinciding with the 25th anniversary of the recording of the landmark Cuban album “Buena Vista Social Club,” Cuban-American director Hugo Perez is set to premiere his latest feature documentary Omara on the life of Afro-Cuban singer and cultural icon Omara Portuondo in the Sonic Cinema section at the 12th edition of DOC NYC, taking place in-person and online from November 11-18, 2021. Notably, Perez will also have a second title in its world premiere at this year’s festival, the documentary Once Upon a Time in Uganda, co-directed with Cathryne Czubek.

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CUFF.Docs Documentary Film Festival 2021 Reveals First Five Films for First In-Person Festival in Two Years

Satoshi Kon: The Illusionist

The Calgary Underground Film Festival revealed the first look at the CUFF.Docs 2021 film lineup, as CUFF gets ready to celebrate its first in-person festival in two years. The 9th CUFF.Docs will take place from November 24-28 at Globe Cinema and Online.

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‘The First Call’ and ‘Subjects of Desire’ Take CineFAM Film Festival 2021 Top Awards

The First Call directed by Angela Onuora (via Vimeo)

The First Call by Angela Onuora won the prize for Best Feature Film and Subjects of Desire by Jennifer Holness won for Best Feature Documentary at the 2021 CineFAM Film Festival.

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San Pedro International Film Festival Celebrates 10th Anniversary with Packed Weekend of Films

Wisper directed by Russ Emanuel

The 10^th Anniversary edition of the San Pedro International Film Festival (SPIFF) taking place November 4-14 in San Pedro, Los Angeles, California, will once again celebrate the work of emerging filmmakers from around the world, both in-person and virtually.

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‘Women Is Losers’ ‘Holy Frit’ ‘Peace by Chocolate’ Win at 2021 Naples International Film Festival

Winners of 2021 Naples International Film Festival

Lissette Feliciano’s Women Is Losers won the jury prize for Best Narrative Feature (and a cash prize of $2,500) and Justin Monroe’s Holy Frit won the jury prize for Best Documentary Feature (and $2,500) at the 2021 Naples International Film Festival. Audience Awards went to Jonathan Keijser’s Peace by Chocolate (Best Narrative Feature), Christopher Chambers’ A Fire Within (Best Documentary Feature) and Maria Brendle’s Ala Kachuu – Take and Run (Best Short Film). Both feature films received cash prizes of $1,000 and the short film winner received a cash prize of $500.

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Disfluency, Buried, Larry Flynt for President, Unsilenced Among Winners of 2021 Austin Film Festival

Larry Flynt for President

Disfluency written and directed by Anna Baumgarten took the jury award for Best Narrative Feature, and Buried directed by Jared Drake and Steven Siig won for Best Documentary Feature at the 2021 Austin Film Festival (AFF).

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‘The Worst Person in the World,’ ‘Flee,’ ‘Dionne Warwick’ Among 2021 Montclair Film Festival Awards Winners

“The Worst Person in the World,” “Flee,” “Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over” – 2021 Montclair Film Festival Awards Winners

The Worst Person in the World directed by Joachim Trier was awarded the Fiction Feature Prize and Flee, directed by Jonas Poher Rasmussen, took home the festival’s top Non-Fiction Competition prize at the 2021 Montclair Film Festival (MFF).

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‘Belfast’ Wins Best Film + Audience Award at Twin Cities Film Fest 2021

(L to R) Caitriona Balfe as “Ma”, Jamie Dornan as “Pa”, Judi Dench as “Granny”, Jude Hill as “Buddy”, and Lewis McAskie as “Will” in director Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast, a Focus Features release. Credit : Rob Youngson / Focus Features

Kenneth Branagh’s critically acclaimed drama Belfast took home the Best Feature Film prize at the 2021 Twin Cities Film Fest. A semi-autobiographical portrait of childhood and working class family life in Northern Ireland during the tumultuous period of the late 1960s, the film stars Jamie Dornan and Caitriona Balfe.

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Louis Hothothot’s Personal Documentary ‘Four Journeys’ to Open 2021 IDFA Slate of 264 Documentary Films

Four Journeys directed by Louis Hothothot

Four Journeys, the lyrical and intensely personal debut feature by Louis Hothothot (Louis Yi Liu) will open the 34th edition of the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA). A first-person narrative of a filmmaker born in China in 1986 as an “illegal” second child, Louis and his family suffered devastating consequences at the hands of the authorities, with painful reverberations still felt to this day. After relocating to Amsterdam in his twenties, the filmmaker returns home to reunite with his parents and sister after a five-year hiatus, where he attempts to disentangle his densely knotted family history. Unfolding as a soft and sorrowful stream of memories, absences, and lingering shadows, Four Journeys premieres at IDFA bearing the mark of a new documentary poetics to come—one laden with wonder, nuance, and spirit.

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South Korean Film ‘Escape from Mogadishu’ to Close Asian World Film Festival

Escape from Mogadishu

The 2021 Asian World Film Festival (AWFF) unveiled its Competition, Centerpiece, and Special Screenings slate. The closing night film will be South Korea’s official submission to the 2022 Academy Awards, Escape from Mogadishu. The AWFF, now in its seventh year, will take place November 1 – 11, 2021 at the Landmark Theater, West Pico Blvd., Los Angeles.

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Napa Valley Film Festival Announces Honorees – Caitriona Balfe, Jamie Dornan, Harvey Keitel, Marlee Matlin and More

Caitriona Balfe, Jamie Dornan, Harvey Keitel, Marlee Matlin

Napa Valley Film Festival (NVFF) revealed the recipients of the the “Napa Valley Filmmaker Awards” honoring some of this year’s leading talent at this year’s event taking place virtually November 10-14. Also, a new series of “Culinary Cinema Awards” will make its debut at this year’s festival paying tribute to remarkable achievements in storytelling devoted to food, wine, and spirits.

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The Falconer and Medicine Man: The Stan Brock Story Win Top Prizes at 2021 SCAD Savannah Film Festival

The Falconer, directed by Adam Sjöberg and Seanne Winslow.

The Savannah College of Art and Design announced the award winners for the 24th annual SCAD Savannah Film Festival. In the professional competition, Best Documentary Feature went to Medicine Man: The Stan Brock Story, directed by Paul Michael Angell; and Best Narrative Feature went to The Falconer, directed by Adam Sjöberg and Seanne Winslow in addition to the Best Director honors.

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