Film Festivals

  • South Korean Film Planet of Snail Wins 2011 International Documentary Film Festival

    [caption id="attachment_1874" align="alignnone"]VPRO IDFA Award for Best Feature-Length Documentary, Planet of Snail[/caption]

    The winners of the 2011 International Documentary Film Festival were just announced and Seung-Jun Yi’s Planet of Snail (South Korea) won the VPRO IDFA Award for Best Feature-Length Documentary. The Special Jury Award went to 5 Broken Cameras (Palestine/Israel) by Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi, who also won the Publieke Omroep IDFA Audience Award.

    VPRO IDFA Award for Best Feature-Length Documentary
    The VPRO IDFA Award for Best Feature-Length Documentary went to Seung-Jun Yi for Planet of Snail (South Korea), which depicts the everyday life of deaf & blind Young-Chan and the love of his life, Soon-Ho.
    Planet of Snail was pitched at the FORUM 2010.

    Special Jury Award
    The jury also awarded a Special Jury Award to directors Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi for 5 Broken Cameras (Palestine/Israel/Netherlands/France). The film is a personal portrait of a Palestinian village resisting encroaching Jewish settlements, as recorded by an inhabitant of the village over a number of years.

    NTR IDFA Award for Best Mid-Length Documentary
    Jorge Gaggero received the NTR IDFA Award for Best Mid-Length Documentary for Montenegro (Argentina), about an old man living with his dogs on a quiet island in a river delta, in a seemingly harmonious symbiosis with a hermit who lives a little way away.

    IDFA Award for First Appearance
    The IDFA Award for First Appearance was presented to Xun Yu for The Vanishing Spring Light (China/Canada), which documents the life of the residents of West Street in Dujiangyan City.

    Dioraphte IDFA Award for Dutch Documentary
    The Dioraphte IDFA Award for Dutch Documentary went to Jessica Gorter for 900 Days, in which survivors of the siege of Leningrad soberly separate propagandist myth from their horrific personal memories.

    Publieke Omroep IDFA Audience Award
    De Publieke Omroep IDFA Audience Award went to 5 Broken Cameras (Palestine/Israel/Netherlands/France) by Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi.

    IDFA Award for Student Documentary
    Karen Winther received the IDFA Award for Student Documentary for The Betrayal (UK/Norway). The film is about Karen, who as a teenager made a crucial mistake as part of the Norwegian squatting scene, and is hoping for forgiveness.

    BlackBerry IDFA DOC U Award
    The BlackBerry IDFA DOC U Award went to The Last Days of Winter (Iran) by Mehrdad Oskouei. The film is a portrait of seven Iranian boys in a youth detention centre, who talk candidly about their lives.

    IDFA Award for Best Green Screen Documentary
    The IDFA Award for Best Green Screen Documentary (€ 2,500) went to Bitter Seeds (USA/India) by Micha X. Peled. Filmmaker Peled investigates why every thirty minutes an Indian cotton farmer commits suicide, and follows one such farmer on his journey to the edge of the abyss.

    IDFA DocLab Award for Digital Storytelling
    This year saw the presentation for the second time of the IDFA DocLab Award for Digital Storytelling. This went to Insitu (France) by Antoine Viviani. Insitu is a search for creative, artistic ways to intervene in the public space.

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  • Palm Springs International Film Festival to honor Glenn Close with the Career Achievement Award

     

    [caption id="attachment_1868" align="alignnone"]Glenn Close in Albert Nobbs[/caption]

    The 23rd annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) will present five-time Academy Award nominee Glenn Close with the Career Achievement Award at its Awards Gala.  The Festival runs January 5-16.

    “Glenn Close has the gift of mesmerizing an audience whenever she performs,” said Film Festival Chairman Harold Matzner.  “Since her film debut in 1982, Close’s ability to capture the essence of a character is unparalleled, be it a femme fatale, a notorious stalker or the trusted aide to a president.  In Albert Nobbs, her upcoming film, Close portrays a woman whose plan for survival in 19th century Ireland is to “pass” as a man, only to find herself trapped by the reality she’s created.  Here she revives a previous stage role and brings it to gritty life in yet another bravura performance.  To this star, a superstar in every sense of the word, the Palm Springs International Film Festival is proud to present the 2011 Career Achievement Award to her.”

    Past recipients of the Career Achievement Award include Cate Blanchett, Robert Duvall, Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, Samuel L. Jackson and Helen Mirren.

    In her forthcoming film Albert Nobbs, Close plays a woman passing as a man in order to work and survive in 19th-century Ireland.  Some thirty years after donning men’s clothing, she finds herself trapped in a prison of her own making.  Mia Wasikowska, Aaron Johnson and Brendan Gleeson join a prestigious, international cast that includes Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Janet McTeer, Brenda Fricker and Pauline Collins.  Rodrigo Garcia directs from a script that Glenn Close, along with Man Booker prize-winning novelist John Banville and Gabriella Prekop, adapted from a short story by Irish author George Moore.  Roadside Attractions will release the film theatrically this December.

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  • French Director Michel Hazanavicius to be honored at 2011 Palm Springs International Film Festival

     

    The 23rd annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) will present acclaimed French filmmaker Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist) with the Sonny Bono Visionary Award.

    “Director Michel Hazanavicius boldly takes us back in time and reacquaints modern-day audiences with the magical power of black and white silent cinema to capture our hearts and our imaginations in The Artist,” said Festival Chairman Harold Matzner. “The film opened to rave reviews at its premiere in Cannes and will continue to be one of the films to watch throughout awards season as a leadingbest picture contender. For his creative innovation in filmmaking The Palm Springs International Film Festival is proud to present Michel Hazanavicius with the Sonny Bono Visionary Award.”

    Past recipients of the Sonny Bono Visionary Award include Danny Boyle, Quentin Tarantino, Baz Luhrmann, M. Night Shyamalan, Gus Van Sant and Joe Wright.

    The Artist takes place in Hollywood between 1927 and 1932 and focuses on a declining male film star and a rising actress, as silent cinema grows out of fashion and is replaced by talking pictures.  The Weinstein Company presents The Artist, written and directed by Michel Hazanavicius and produced by Thomas Langmann.  Starring Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, John Goodman, James Cromwell, Penelope Ann Miller, Malcolm McDowell, Missi Pyle, Beth Grant, Ed Lauter, Koel Murray and Ken Davitan.

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  • Hawaii’s North Shore Surf Film Festival Announce 2011 Lineup of Surf Films

    The 2011 North Shore Surf Film Festival taking place on December 2nd, 3rd and 4th on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii, will feature this year’s top surf films which will include Hawaii premiers and short films, local musicians, and exciting opportunity drawings of surfboards and great gifts.

    Films being featured this year are: Blue Sway by Jack McCoy, Year Zero by Globe, Sion Milosky Tribute by Volcom, Minds In The Water by Jason Krumb, Get N Classic by Graham Nash, 36 Hours In The City by Billabong, Imaginarium by Reef, Body Glove, Billabong and Rusty, Blow Up by Victor Pakpour, Surprise Excitement Party by Chris Cote & TransWorld Surf, Beer Can Surfboard by Rich Morrison, The Board Meeting by Maggie Franks, Hello, I’m Andy Irons as part of the upcoming Sunny Garcia documentary by Michael Oblowitz, Bonzer The Mothership 11.0 by Duncan and Malcolm Campbell, Behind The Lens Dan Merkel by Doug Walker, Lost & Found by Doug Walker Sanded by Tim Ryan, Float by Rip Curl, Walls Of Perception by Oxbow, Eddie by Claire Gorman, Chasing the Swell by Sachi Cunningham and Leave A Message by Jason Kentworthy and Aaron Leiber. 

    The theme for Friday is “Live Like Sion”, a tribute to North Shore resident, Sion who tragically drowned at Maverick’s this year while doing what he loved.  Saturday’s theme is “Surf Cinema” and the premier of long time North Shore resident Campbell Brother’s short version of “Bonzer The Mothership 11.0″.  Sunday’s theme is “Chicks Who Rip”, in honor of the many contributions women have made to and continue to make to the world of surfing. All the films featured are either made by women of featuring women.

    North Shore Surf Film Festival Schedule
    Friday Dec 2, 2011 “Live Like Sion”
    6 pm Doors Open
    7 pm Program Starts
    Blue Sway by Jack McCoy
    Year Zero by Globe
    Sion Milosky Tribute by Volcom
    8:30 pm Doors Open
    8:45 pm Program Starts
    Beer Can Surfboard by Rich Morrison
    Plastic Tide by Skye Kelly
    Minds In The Water by Jason Krumb
    10:30 pm Doors Open
    Donavon Frankenreiter In Concert
    With hits such as If It Don’t Matter, Free, Flow and Move By Yourself Donavon comes to the celebrative North Shore to Turtle Bay on the Opening Night of the North Shores Surf Film Festival. When Donavon Frankenreiter was 10 years old, he got his first surfboard. Six years later, he picked up his first guitar. It was the beginning of a wildly creative journey: His improvisational twin obsessions have carried him around the globe and into his fans’ hearts.

    Saturday Dec. 3rd Keiki’s Film Festival
    1:30 pm Doors Open
    2 pm Aidan Powell plays ukulele
    10 year old Oahu sensation brings his soulful style to the Children’s Surf Film Festival. Well known with his rendition of Train’s, Hey Soul Sister his Utube spot has had over 2 million hits to date!
    2:20 Program Starts
    North Shore Lifeguard NSLA Presentation
    36 Hours In The City by Billabong
    Get N Classic by Graham Nash
    Leave A Message by Jason Kentworthy and Aaron Lieber

    Saturday Dec. 3rd Surf Cinema Saturday Surfing’s Lost & Found
    6 pm Doors Open
    7 pm Program Starts
    Imaginarium by Reef, Body Glove, Billabong and Rusty
    Blow Up by Victor Pakpour – Billabong
    Surprise Excitement Party by Chris Cote & TransWorld SURF
    8:30 pm Door Open
    9 pm Program Starts
    Hello, I’m Andy Irons by Michael Oblowitz
    Bonzer The Mothership 11.0 by Duncan and Malcolm Campbell
    Behind The Lens Dan Merkel by Doug Walker
    Lost & Found by Doug Walker
    10:30 pm Doors Open
    Band Of Frequencies In Concert
    Top Australian band comes to the North Shore with percussionist Pro Surfer Dave Rastovich. They wow the crowds down under with their style and rhythm and now Hawaii will enjoy a rockin Saturday at Turtle Bay!

    Sunday Dec. 4th “Chicks Who Rip”
    6 pm Doors Open
    7 pm Program Starts
    Sanded by Tim Ryan
    Float by Andrew Buckley – Rip Curl
    Walls Of Perception by Oxbow
    8:30 pm Door Open
    9 pm Program Starts
    The Board Meeting by Maggie Franks
    Eddie by Claire Gorman
    Chasing the Swell by Sachi Cunningham
    Leave A Message by Jason Kentworthy and Aaron Leiber
    10:30 pm Doors Open
    John Cruz In Concert
    Hawaii’s own music man John Cruz brings, the rhythm of Aloha to the closing night of the North Shore surf Film Festival. Special friends will be on hand to share the stage and music!

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  • Swiss comedy The Sandman to open San Joaquin International Film Festival

    The San Joaquin International Film Festival will open its 5th Anniversary with the Valley Premiere of the Swiss comedy “The Sandman (Der Sandmann)” with the honorable presence of Director-Screenwriter Peter Luisi on Thursday, January 12, 2012 at 7:00pm at the Stockton Empire Theatre (1825 Pacific Avenue). Mr. Luisi will participate in a post-film Q&A following the film’s screening.

    • From Director Peter Luisi: “I am delighted that my film ‘The Sandman’ has been chosen to open this year’s festival and that I have been invited to attend. Independent film festivals such as San Joaquin have become an increasingly important meeting point for us filmmakers and us film enthusiasts.”

    • From SJIFF Founder Sophoan Sorn: “We are honored to welcome director and screenwriter Peter Luisi all the way from Zurich, Switzerland to Stockton. His original and sensational comedy ‘The Sandman’ – along with his presence and delightful behind-the-scenes stories – will make the Opening Night of the 5th Anniversary San Joaquin International Film Festival an unforgettable experience!”

    Synopsis: “One morning, Benno finds sand in his bed. While he tries to ignore this, he soon realizes that he himself is the source of the sand. Day after day the sand increases, and time is running short. Finally, left with no choice, he asks Sandra the neighbor who runs a coffee shop under his apartment for help. Although Benno hates her with a passion, he starts having dreams of her each night. What could Sandra and the dreams have to do with the sand?” Starring Fabian Krüger, Irene Brügger, Beat Schlatter, Florine Elena Deplazes. (88 minutes; in Swiss German with English subtitles; produced in Switzerland in 2010-2011)

    “The Sandman” held its World Premiere at Film festival Max Ophuels Prize in Saarbrücken, Germany in January 2011, where it won the Audience Award. The film was nominated for three Swiss Film Awards, including Best Picture and Best Screenplay. It won over 20 awards around the world and screened at festivals in Solothurn and Locarno in Switzerland, Newport Beach and Berlin & Beyond in San Francisco.

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  • Harlem Film Festival to Screen Film 9 Lives About Victims of Puff Daddy City College Concert

     

    The Harlem International Film Festival will screen Jason Swain’s documentary 9 LIVES on Wednesday, December 7, 2011.

    The screening is timed to coincide with the death of rapper Heavy D last week, as well as to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the tragic night involving him that resulted in 9 people killed and 29 injured. 9 LIVES, is billed as director Jason Swain’s tribute to the nine victims including his brother Dirk, who died that night. The director will participate in a discussion after the screening.

     

     

    [caption id="attachment_1861" align="alignnone" width="549"]director Jason Swain (via MySpace)[/caption]

    In December 1991, Heavy D and Puff Daddy unravels the moments in the countdown to disaster and the circumstances that needlessly took nine youngsters from their loved ones. With Rodney King’s video-taped brutal beating making headlines in the Spring of 1991 and the Crown Heights riot spinning New York City into turmoil that August, this examination of the City College 9 disaster seeks peaceful reconciliation, artfully avoiding finger-pointing to let us witness first-hand how institutionalized prejudices combined to allow something as simple as a charity basketball game in Harlem to spiral out of control. Out of the devastating melee of lives lost a seed of hope emerged through the formation of the Dirk Swain Foundation to forever remember and combat the senselessness of December 28, 1991.

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  • Carol Channing – Larger than Life to Close 2012 San Joaquin International Film Festival

    The 5th Anniversary San Joaquin International Film Festival will close with “Carol Channing – Larger than Life,” a documentary film directed by Broadway producer Dori Berinstein. The film will screen on Sunday, January 15, 2012 at 7:30pm at the Janet Leigh Theatre on the campus of University of the Pacific (3601 Pacific Avenue).

    Synopsis from Hot Docs Canadian Documentary Film Festival: “With an incomparable voice and presence, Carol Channing burst onto the Broadway scene in 1941, rising to stardom with lead roles in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and Hello, Dolly. No stranger to documenting Broadway heavy-hitters, Dori Bernstein profiles the iconic star’s expansive career and vivacious persona. Now 90 years old, Channing is as outspoken and vibrant as ever, batting her signature false eyelashes and flashing her mile-wide smile as she candidly recounts tales of showbiz. A late-in-life romance seems to fuel this unstoppable entertainer. Now in her seventh year of marriage to her junior-high sweetheart, after nearly 70 years apart, Channing shows us true love may be the key to youth and vitality. An advocate for gay rights and AIDS awareness, Channing still lights up the stage with song and dance. You’re looking swell, Dolly, and it’s so nice to have you back where you belong.” –Lynne Crocker, Hot Docs

    (83 minutes; in English; produced in USA in 2011)

    This film also contains candid interviews with Lily Tomlin, Debbie Reynolds, Barbara Walters, Chita Rivera and Jerry Herman.

    “Carol Channing – Larger than Life” held its World Premiere at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival, and was well-received at the prestigious Hot Docs Canadian Documentary Film Festival.

    Director Dori Berinstein is a Broadway producer and an award-winning director, producer, and writer of film and TV. Her 11 Broadway shows include: Legally Blonde (seven Olivier nominations), Thoroughly Modern Millie (Tony Award), The Crucible (Tony nomination), One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Tony Award), Fool Moon (Tony Award), and Flower Drum Song (Tony nomination). (source: Tribeca Film Festival)

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  • Michelle Williams to be honored at 23rd annual Palm Springs International Film Festival

    [caption id="attachment_1627" align="alignnone"]MIchelle Williams in My Week With Marilyn[/caption]

    Michelle Williams will be honored at the 23rd annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF), which runs January 5-16, 2012, with the Desert Palm Achievement Actress Award. 

    “Every generation, the cinema has a few performers who mesmerize audiences with an exceptional blend of talent, versatility and grace,” said Festival Chairman Harold Matzner.  “Michelle Williams epitomizes these qualities as she continues to accept challenging role after challenging role.  In her latest work, My Week with Marilyn, she perfectly captures the glamour and vulnerability of the iconic Marilyn Monroe who finds respite and solice during a week-long hiatus from Hollywood pressures.  To this actress, a cinematic star in her own right, the Palm Springs International Film Festival is proud to present the 2012 Desert Palm Achievement Actress Award.”

    Williams was last seen in Derek Cianfrance’s Blue Valentine opposite Ryan Gosling, from which her performance earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress as well as Golden Globe and Broadcast Film Critics Association nominations and her fourth Independent Spirit Award nomination.  She will next be seen starring in Simon Curtis’ My Week with Marilyn.

    Past recipients of the Desert Palm Achievement Award include Natalie Portman, Anne Hathaway, Halle Berry, Marion Cotillard, Charlize Theron, Naomi Watts and Kate Winslet.

     

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  • Le Havre and Being Elmo are Centerpiece films of the 5th San Joaquin International Film Festival

    [caption id="attachment_2090" align="alignnone"]Le Havre[/caption]

    The 5th San Joaquin International Film Festival (SJIFF) announced that its Centerpiece films will be the Valley premiere of “Le Havre” (Finland’s official entry for the 2012 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film) by Finnish auteur Aki Kaurismäki and “Being Elmo – A Puppeteer’s Journey” by American documentary filmmaker Constance Marks.

    The films selected for the Centerpiece program are cinematic stories that capture the essence of humanity, power of expression and universality of cinema arts.

    “Le Havre ” will screen Saturday, January 14th, 2012 at 7:00pm at the Stockton Empire Theatre (1825 Pacific Avenue).

    “Being Elmo – A Puppeteer’s Journey” will screen Sunday, January 15th at 3:00pm at the Janet Leigh Theatre on the campus of University of the Pacific (3601 Pacific Avenue).

    LE HAVRE

    “A stylized and sentimental fairy tale about the way the world might be… Aki Kaurismäki has become a major inheritor of the comic-humanist tradition of Charlie Chaplin, Jean Renoir and Jacques Tati.” –A.O. Scott, The New York Times

    “Four stars! There is nothing cynical or cheap about it, it tells a good story with clear eyes and a level gaze, and it just plain makes you feel good.” –Roger Ebert, The Chicago Sun-Times

    Synopsis from Janus Films : “In this warmhearted portrait of the French harbor city that gives the film its name, fate throws young African refugee Idrissa (Blondin Miguel) into the path of Marcel Marx (André Wilms), a well-spoken bohemian who works as a shoeshiner. With innate optimism and the unwavering support of his community, Marcel stands up to officials doggedly pursuing the boy for deportation. A political fairy tale that exists somewhere between the reality of contemporary France and the classic cinema of Jean-Pierre Melville and Marcel Carné, Le Havre is a charming, deadpan delight..” (93 minutes; in French with English subtitles; produced in Finland, France and Germany in 2011)

    “Le Havre” held its World Premiere in Competition for the Palm d’Or at the prestigious Festival de Cannes in May 2011, where it won the FIPRESCI International Federation of Film Critics Award. After Cannes, it was selected for many of the world’s leading international film festivals, including Toronto, Busan, San Sebastian, Karlovy Vary, Stockholm, Sarajevo, Rio de Janeiro, Taipei, Torino, Melbourne, Haifa, Haugesund Norwegian, New York, Telluride and Hamptons. In Munich, it was honored with the Arri-Zeiss-Award. In Locarno, it screened to 8,000 spectators at the open-air Piazza Grande. In Chicago, it won the top prize, the Gold Hugo. “Le Havre” is currently nominated for four 2011 European Film Awards, including Best Picture and Best Screenwriter.

    Director Aki Kaurismäki was born in Orimattila, Finland. His early work was featured in the Festival’s 1988 Spotlight programme. His feature films include Crime and Punishment (83), Calamari Union (85), Shadows in Paradise (86), Hamlet Goes Business (87), Ariel (88), Leningrad Cowboys Go America (89), The Match Factory Girl (90), I Hired a Contract Killer (90), La Vie de Bohème (92), Total Balalaika Show (94), Take Care of Your Scarf, Tatjana (94), Drifting Clouds (96), Juha (99), The Man Without a Past (02), Lights in the Dusk (06) and Le Havre (11).” –Toronto International Film Festival


    BEING ELMO – A PUPPETEER’S JOURNEY

    [caption id="attachment_2231" align="alignnone"]BEING ELMO – A PUPPETEER’S JOURNEY[/caption]

    “Critics’ pick! A winning tale of the persistence and creativity behind one of the most famous and fuzziest faces in the world.” –Neil Genzlinger, The New York Times

    “Production values are top-notch, particularly the cinematography by James Miller and Joel Goodman’s energetic, fanciful score. ‘Being Elmo’ is a rare documentary that will connect across generations and cultures to delight viewers worldwide for years to come.” –Justin Lowe, The Hollywood Reporter

    Synopsis from BeingElmo.com: “Beloved by children of all ages around the world, Elmo is an international icon. Few people know his creator, Kevin Clash, who dreamed of working with his idol, master puppeteer Jim Henson. Displaying his creativity and talent at a young age, Kevin ultimately found a home on Sesame Street. Narrated by Whoopi Goldberg, this documentary includes rare archival footage, interviews with Frank Oz, Rosie O’Donnell, Cheryl Henson, Joan Ganz Cooney and others and offers a behind-the-scenes look at Sesame Street and the Jim Henson Workshop.” (85 minutes; in English; produced in USA in 2011)

    “Being Elmo – A Puppeteer’s Journey” held its World Premiere at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival where it won a Special Jury Prize. It won the Audiencec Award and a Special Jury Award at the Traverse City Film Festival, and has screened at various festivals around the world, including Hot Docs Canada International Documentary Film Festival, AFI/Discovery Channel Silverdocs, SXSW and Mill Valley. It is currently nominated for the Audience Award at IFP’s 2011 Gotham Awards.

    Director Constance Marks is an award-winning independent documentary filmmaker. She is the founder and president of Constance Marks Productions, Inc., a documentary production company based in New York City. Marks began her filmmaking career over 30 years ago as an assistant editor for the renowned Cinema Verite pioneers, David and Albert Maysles.Marks’ critically acclaimed films have been shown theatrically, broadcast widely, and garnered numerous awards. Her productions include Return to Appalachia which aired on PBS, Let’s Fall in Love: A Singles Weekend at the Concord Hotel. which was selected by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences as one of the outstanding documentaries of the year, and Green Chimneys – a full-length documentary feature film which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and aired on HBO. Marks has produced numerous films focusing on important social issues including homelessness, the elderly, experimental charter schools and substance abuse recovery residences. –beingelmo.com

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  • International Film Festival Rotterdam announces first five films for 2012 Tiger Awards Competition

    [caption id="attachment_2397" align="alignnone"]SUDOESTE (SOUTHWEST) by Eduardo Nunes[/caption]

    The International Film Festival Rotterdam announces the first five films selected for its Tiger Awards Competition 2012. Polish-American co-production IT LOOKS PRETTY FROM A DISTANCE by Anka and Wilhelm Ankal ventures into the darker sides of country life. Midi Z’s RETURN TO BURMA is a rare contemporary fiction from the Southeast Asian country. Eduardo Nunes’ black and white, fairylike SOUTHWEST from Brazil has been supported by IFFR’s Hubert Bals Fund. A FISH from South Korea is the first 3D-film in the Tiger Awards Competition. Focusing on the plights of a young adolescent girl, Huang Ji’s EGG AND STONE from China will receive its world premiere at the festival.

    Only first or second films can be selected for IFFR’s Tiger Awards Competition. All the films mentioned here are first fiction features. A jury will decide on three equal Tiger Awards, each with prize money of 15,000 Euro. The Tiger Awards Competition will comprise approximately fifteen titles.

    The first five films selected in the Tiger Awards Competition 2012 are:

    JIDAN HE SHITOU (EGG AND STONE) by HUANG Ji
    China, 2012, World premiere

    Huang Ji shot her feature début drama in her Hunan province hometown with a cast of non-professional actors. Like numerous others in China, the 14 year old protagonist is living with relatives because her parents are working a big city. She has few friends, and at home she tries to keep her door shut.

    Z DALEKA WIDOK JEST PIEKNY (IT LOOKS PRETTY FROM A DISTANCE) by Anka & Wilhelm Sasnal
    Poland/USA, 2011, International premiere

    In their début feature film, renowned visual artists and painters Anka and Wilhelm Sasnal explore the dark and antisocial sides of life on the beautiful Polish countryside, where in a hot summer everything seems to fall apart.

    GUI LAI DE REN (RETURN TO BURMA) by Midi Z
    Burma/Taiwan, 2011, European premiere

    Film maker Midi Z, born in Burma and raised in Taiwan, shot his début feature film in his native country, working with non-professional actors. A realistic and authentic portrayal of daily life in the least known and least accessible Southeast Asian country, RETURN TO BURMA will see its European premiere in Rotterdam.

    SUDOESTE (SOUTHWEST) by Eduardo Nunes
    Brazil, 2011, European premiere

    Eduardo Nunes made several successful short films, three of which were screened at IFFR. A tale of fantasy and mystery shot in stunning black-and-white, his fiction feature début SUDOESTE is situated in a sleepy Brazilian coastal village. Here, a baby, a girl and a woman named Clarice seem to live their (or is it her?) life in one single day.

    MULGOGI (A FISH) by PARK Hong-min
    South Korea, 2011, International première

    Park Hong-min’s first feature film A FISH will be the first 3D-film in the Tiger Awards Competition. Produced for only about 100,000 Euro, A FISH tells a tragic absurdist tale of a professor who travels South in search of his wife who apparently has deserted him to become a shaman.

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  • 2011 Leeds International Film Festival Announces its Winners and Celebrates its acceptance as Academy Award qualifying festival

    [caption id="attachment_1849" align="alignnone"]Fanomenon Audience Award: Juan of the Dead[/caption]

    The 25th Leeds International Film Festival which ran November 3 to November 20, 2011, attracted its largest ever audience of over 35,000, including a record audience for a single screening with 1000 people attending Closing Gala Shame. The Festival today announced its Audience Award winners and three prestigious Jury prizes.  

    LIFF25 Audience Awards

    Official Selection Audience Award: The Artist (dir. Michael Hazanavicius, France, 2011)

    The Artist is a highly original and hilariously funny story about ambition and passion set in 1920s’ Hollywood. George Valentin is a silent movie superstar. The advent of the talkies will sound the death knell for his career and see him fall into oblivion. For young extra Peppy Miller, it seems the sky’s the limit – major movie stardom awaits. Acclaimed French filmmaker Michel Hazanavicius has directed a glorious cinematic surprise, featuring a stunning recreation of the silent era and superb performances from all, including Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, John Goodman, Malcolm McDowell, and Uggy the dog.

    Fanomenon Audience Award: Juan of the Dead (dir. Alejandro Brugues, Cuba, 2011)

    For Juan and his rag-tag bunch of Cuban slackers, a new revolution is about shake up their laid-back Havanan lifestyle. Juan of the Dead has a bit of everything for fans of the genre: zombie splatter, belly laughs, great characters, social and political comedy, and laconic Cuban style. A crowd-pleasing zombie comedy with intelligence, shedding a humorous light on life and politics in modern Cuba through the premise of the zombie apocalypse, Juan’s UK premiere is a significant event as it is not just the country’s first zombie film, but the first independently produced film to break out of Cuba in 50 years.

    Cinema Versa Audience Award: Sound It Out (dir. Jeanie Finlay, UK, 2011)

    A cultural haven in one of the most deprived areas in the UK, Sound It Out Records in Stockton-on-Tees is thriving against the odds and the film pays tribute to the eccentric and enthusiastic Northern community that keeps it alive. Sound It Out is presented in collaboration with Jumbo Records.

    LIFF25 Golden Owl Award –  22nd May (dir. Koen Mortier, Belgium, 2010).

    The Golden Owl Jury presented the Golden Owl Award to 22nd May (dir. Koen Mortier, Belgium, 2010).


    The Méliès d’Argent

    Méliès d’Argent (feature film Winner): The Divide (dir. Xavier Gens, Germany/USA/Canada, 2011)

    In The Divide, Frontier(s) director Xavier Gens delivers an incredible nightmarish portrayal of fear, paranoia, love and survival set against an apocalyptic backdrop. As nuclear bombs fall on New York eight strangers take refuge in the basement of their now destroyed apartment building, home to paranoid superintendent Mickey (a brilliant performance from The Terminator’s Michael Biehn). With food, water and supplies they are safe for now, but it isn’t long before anger and mistrust starts to divide the group and it soon becomes clear that the fight to survive has only just begun.

    Méliès d’Argent (feature film) Special Mention: Masks (dir. Andreas Marschall, Germany, 2011)

    Director Andreas Marschall disturbed LIFF audiences in 2004 with his previous film Tears of Kali. Now he’s back with a giallo-esque bloody thriller in a homage to Suspiria. Stella, an ambitious but unfocused acting student, is offered a place at the mysterious Mateusz Gdula school, which was infamous for a strange method which killed a number of students in the 70s. As Stella begins to hear strange noises and the other girls start to disappear she suspects that the method is still being practiced. Intrigued, she decides to investigate, but finds herself sucked into a nightmare beyond her control.

    Méliès d’Argent (short film) Winner: Decapoda Shock (dir. Javier Chillón, Spain).

    Méliès d’Argent (short film) Special Mention: Tommy  (dir. Arnold du Parscau, France, 2011)

    Both The Divide and Decapoda Shock will now go forward to compete for the coveted Méliès d’Or at Sitges International Festival of Fantastic Film in Spain in 2012.

    The Augustin Awards (short film)

    World Animation: The Gloaming (dir. Nicholas Schmerkin, France, 2010)
    Louis le Prince International Short Film: Bear (dir. Nash Edgerton, Australia, 2011)
    British Shorts: Grandmothers (dir. Afarin Eghbal, UK, 2011)
    Yorkshire Short Film – (We are Poets) ‘I Come From…’ (dirs. Alex Ramseyer-Bache, Daniel Lucchesi, UK, 2011).

    Leeds also received news that it has been accepted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Los Angeles as qualifying festival in the Academy Awards®  category of Short Film. Starting with 2012’s 26th Leeds International Film Festival, the winners of the annual World Animation and Louis Le Prince International Short Film awards at the Film Festival will be considered by the Academy voters in the Academy Awards® categories of Live Action Short Film and Animated Short Film of the from the 2013 Oscars® onwards.

    Submissions for the 26th Leeds International Film Festival will open in January 2012.

    film descriptions via LIFF

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  • George Clooney to be honored at 2011 Palm Springs International Film Festival

    [caption id="attachment_1847" align="alignnone"]George Clooney in The Ides of March[/caption]

    The 23rd annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) will present Academy Award® winner George Clooney with its prestigious Chairman’s Award for The Descendants and The Ides of March.

    “George Clooney brings new definition to the word ‘star,’” said Film Festival Chairman Harold Matzner. “A consummate actor, director, producer and screenwriter, he’s demonstrated that no discipline within the film industry is beyond his reach.  In The Ides of March as an actor, director, producer and screenwriter, Clooney exposes the gritty world of political campaigns where winning is the only option, no matter how devastating the consequences. In The Descendants, he gives a bravura performance as a reluctant patriarch, living in a Hawaiian paradise, who is thrust into making life and death decisions affecting his entire family.  To this star of many talents, whose career, fortunately for all of us who admire him, is still a work in progress, the Palm Springs International Film Festival is proud to present the 2011 Chairman’s Award to George Clooney.”

    Past recipients of the Chairman’s Award include Ben Affleck, Dustin Hoffman and Nicole Kidman.

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