Film Festivals

  • New York Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender film festival to run July 21-28

    [caption id="attachment_1501" align="alignnone" width="550"]Opening night film – ‘We Were Here’[/caption]

    Coming on the heels of Gay Pride weekend is the announcement that NewFest, the New York Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender film festival is coming to locations across New York city, July 21-28. The festival will open and close at the Film Society of Lincoln Center and will be headquartered throughout the week at Chelsea’s SVA Theater and Cinema Village. Special satellite screenings will be held at The Museum of the Moving Image in Queens, the Brooklyn Academy Of Music, the Jewish Community Center on the Upper West Side, and Harlem Stage.

    Prior to the screening of NewFest’s opening night film, “We Were Here,” NewFest will honor legendary film producer Christine Vachon with the first annual NewFest Visionary Award. Vachon was instrumental in the movement B. Ruby Rich called New Queer Cinema, producing Todd Haynes’ classic “Poison” (now celebrating its 20th anniversary), Tom Kalin’s “Swoon,” and the lesbian classic “Go Fish” from NewFest board member Rose Troche. Vachon’s illustrious credits include “Velvet Goldmine,” “Boys Don’t Cry,” “Party Monster,” “Camp,” “A Dirty Shame,” and this year’s upcoming “Dirty Girl” by Abe Sylvia, which will screen at this year’s festival. Christine Vachon will also participate in a conversation at the Film Society’s new Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center on Friday, June 22nd.

    “We could not be more honored that Christine Vachon will be accepting our Visionary Award on opening night with our new partner, the Film Society Lincoln of Center” said NewFest Executive Director Lesli Klainberg. “Her body of work is not only awe inspiring, but makes her one of the most influential producers of independent film in our country.”

    The complete festival lineup includes Sundance Audience Award winner “Circumstance,” and Sundance alums “Shut Up, Little Man!,” “Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same,” and “A Few Days of Respite.”

    On Sunday, July 24th, it’s all about the lights and the glamour of…Broadway! NewFest will screen Dori Berinstein’s “Carol Channing: Larger than Life,” a hilarious and excessively sweet documentary about the stage legend. Also on Sunday, Broadway stars Cheyenne Jackson (“Glee,” “30 Rock”) and Jason Butler Harner star in Steven Williford’s drama “The Green.” The Broadway block ends with the world premiere of Elisabeth Sperling & Trish Dalton’s “One Night Stand,” which follows various participants in last year’s 24 hour musical competition. The film features Cheyenne Jackson, Jesse Tyler Ferguson (“Modern Family”), chanteuse Nellie McKay, Richard Kind (“Spin City,” “A Serious Man”), Rachel Dratch (“SNL”), Mandy Gonzalez (“Wicked,” “In the Heights”), and Tracie Thoms (“Rent”).

    Monday night (July 25th), drag ball musical “Leave It on the Floor” will come to Harlem Stage. Screening Tuesday (July 26th) at the Museum of the Moving Image is “3” from Tom Tykwer (“Run Lola Run”), a story of a high-profile modern love triangle. Also on Tuesday are two documentaries: Jonathan Lee’s “Paul Goodman Changed My Life” and Tomer Heymann’s “The Queen Has No Crown” at the JCC of Manhattan.

    Wednesday night (July 27th) at BAM, NewFest will screen festival favorites “Old Cats” from Sebastian Silva & Pedro Peirano (Golden Globe-nominated “The Maid”) and “Hit So Hard,” the story of Hole drummer Patty Schemel, from P. David Ebersole.

    The festival will host a special screening of James Belzer’s fashion week documentary “The Tents,” which features interviews with Tommy Hilfiger, Isaac Mizrahi, Donna Karan, Hal Rubenstein, Nina Garcia, Phillip Bloch, Robert Verdi, Carson Kressley, Betsey Johnson, and more.

    Other notable talent that will be seen in films throughout the festival include Christine Baranski (“What’s the Name of the Dame?”), Margaret Cho (“Cho Dependent”), Ash Christian (“Mangus!”), Jennifer Coolidge (“Mangus!”), Brent Corrigan (“Judas Kiss”), Cheryl Dunye (“HOOTERS!”), Leslie Jordan (“Mangus!”), Bruce La Bruce (“The Advocate for Fagdom”), Hedda Lettuce (“What’s the Name of the Dame?”), Heather Matarazzo (“Mangus!”), Chloe Sevigny (“All Flowers in Time” short), Joe Swanberg (“Blackmail Boys”), Kathleen Turner (“The Perfect Family”), and Varla Jean (“Varla Jean and the Mushroomheads”).

    “It has been an incredible year for LGBT film. NewFest audiences will see a wide variety of exciting, diverse, entertaining, and often challenging films in this year’s festival. I am elated to have such a solid lineup to show off the talent in LGBT storytelling and filmmaking and to help usher us into our new homes at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, the Museum of Moving Image, and Cinema Village,” commented NewFest Director of Programming Bryce J. Renninger.

    The festival’s previously announced gala screenings: opening night documentary “We Were Here” from David Weissman; SXSW favorite “Weekend” from Andrew Haigh, screening as a centerpiece; Chely Wright’s documentary about coming out in country music “Wish Me Away,” another centerpiece; and Rashaad Ernesto Green’s closing night film “Gun Hill Road.”

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  • Brazilian musician Caetano Veloso is Guest Director for 2011 Telluride Film Festival

    Telluride Film Festival announced that Caetano Veloso will be the Guest Director of this year’s festival which will run September 2-5, 2011.

    Caetano Veloso began his professional music career in 1965 in Sao Paulo and has made more than 30 studio albums to date.  But with over 100 film and television credits, Veloso is no stranger to the big and small screen.

    In 2002, Veloso received worldwide recognition for his performance of “Cucurrucucú Paloma” (“Cucurrucucu Dove”) in Pedro Almodóvar’s Academy Award-winning film, Talk to Her.

    Past Guest Directors include Michael Ondaatje, Alexander Payne, Salman Rushdie, Peter Bogdanovich, B. Ruby Rich, Phillip Lopate, Errol Morris, Bertrand Tavernier, John Boorman, John Simon, Buck Henry, Laurie Anderson, Stephen Sondheim, G. Cabrera Infante, Peter Sellars, Don DeLillo, J.P. Gorin, Edith Kramer and Slavoj Zizek.

    In keeping with Telluride Film Festival tradition, Veloso’s film selections, along with the rest of the Telluride lineup will be kept secret and unveiled on Opening Day, September 2, 2011.

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  • 2011 Frozen Film Festival to feature films on beat-boxing, porn, global warming, animation, and more..

    [caption id="attachment_1494" align="alignnone" width="550"]Frozen Film Festival at Roxie in San Francisco[/caption]

    The 5th Frozen Film Festival returns for its annual two day run – July 8th-9th at the Roxie Theater in San Francisco, California showcasing 50 new films.  Films include:

    Beatbox – The Fifth Element Of Hip Hop, examines the art form of “beatbox” and how it’s aided the expansion of hip hop music.

    The Bellman Equation, a search to solve the mysterious equation of mathematician Richard Bellman.

    Color Me Obsessed, the first documentary on the influential ’80s indie-rock band, The Replacements.

    Shaped (Surf Film), a documentary film about Southern California surfing that pays tribute to the men and women of the surf world during the 1960s, who while working in the trenches were creating and un-knowingly shaping the future of surfing as we know it today.

    Last Fast Ride, a documentary film about the infamous bay-area punk rock performer Marian Anderson. Marian died all too young, and this is her story.

    Plus film collections of:

    The Best Comedic Shorts of 2011
    The Best Short Documentaries of 2011
    The Best Dramatic Shorts of 2011
    The Best Animated Shorts 2011

    The Frozen Film Festival which takes its name from the distinct chill of the San Francisco summer is a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating avenues for independent filmmakers and artists to display new, cutting edge work.

     

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  • The 32nd Durban International Film Festival Full Program Announced

    [caption id="attachment_1469" align="alignnone" width="560"]Otelo Burning[/caption]

    The 32nd Durban International Film Festival kicks off on July 21st with the World Premiere of the South African film Otelo Burning, directed by Sara Blecher.  Set during the last days of apartheid, the Durban-shot film tells the story of a group of South African township youngsters who discover surfing as an empowering escape from the political violence of the times. There is drama, romance, rivalry, and tragedy in this convincing fulfillment of local filmmaking potential.

    The festival, which runs July 21st to 31st will feature a lineup of international films including the South African premiere of Oliver Hermanus’s Skoonheid from this year’s Cannes film festival.  DIFF will also present the World Premieres of Charlie Vundla’s noir film How To Steal 2 Million, John Barker’s thrilling heist flick 31 Million Reasons, Faith Isiakpere’s crime drama The Algiers Murders, Eldorado by new talents Shaldon Ferris and Lorreal Ferris, the hilarious comedy Taka Takata by Damir Radonic, and The Dream by Zuko Nodada. Making their African Premieres are Mukunda Michael Dewil’s psychological thriller Retribution and Paula van der Oest’s moving film about Ingrid Jonker, Black Butterflies.

    DIFF 2011 includes the African Premiere of Terrence Malick’s The Tree Of Life, which won the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Other highlights include Woody Allen’s Midnight In Paris, which will close the festival, Bela Tarr’s The Turin Horse, Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Elena, Jose Padilha’s Elite Squad 2 – The Enemy Within, Takeshi Kitano’s Outrage, Michel Ocelot’s Tales Of The Night, SJ Clarkson’s Toast, Lee Chang-dong’s Poetry, and Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives.

    African cinema will also be well-represented by Djo Tunda Wa Munga’s  Viva Riva!, Nigerian director Andrew Donsunmu’s visually beautiful Restless City, Justin Chadwick’s uplifting Kenya-set film The First Grader, and Ebrahim El Batout’s Hawi which first appeared in Durban as a project at the inaugural Durban FilmMart in 2010.

    DIFF will focus on two national cinemas this year: India and Canada. Six films from Indian filmmaker vet Satyajit Ray will be presented, alongside new works by talented new Indian filmmakers. Leena Manimekelai will present the World Premiere of her film The Dead Sea and other Indian films include Onir’s I Am, Sanjoy Nag’s Memories In March, Kaushik Mukherjee’s Bengali hip hop film Asshole, and Aamir Bashir’s Autumn.

    For Canadian cinema, DIFF will present Denis Villeneuve’s Oscar-nominated Incendies, the gritty drama Jo For Jonathan, Ed Gass-Donnelly’s Small Town Murder Songs, Xavier Dolan’s ravishing Heartbeats, and the quirky Familiar Ground by Stephane Lafleur. Canadian documentaries include Barry Steven’s Prosecutor, a fascinating look at the International Criminal Court, and Shannon Walsh’s St. Henri, The 26th Of August.

    Germany is also well-represented at DIFF 2011 with Tom Tykwer’s Three, Pia Marais’ At Ellen’s Age, Ulrich Kohler’s Sleeping Sickness and the stunning documentary El Bulli – Cooking In Progress by Gereon Wetzel.

    Local stories in the powerful documentary line-up include World Premieres such as Ryley Grunewald’s The Dawn of a New Day where healing is shown as being more than skin deep, Mickey Dube’s Sobukwe, A Great Soul about one of this country’s most influential, but unsung, heroes, the Keith Jones/Deon Maas music revolution collaboration Punk In Africa, and the Dara Kell/Chris Nizza collaboration Dear Mandela about innovative leadership emerging in informal settlements. Not to be missed, DIFF will present the African premiere of Mama Africa, the inspirational film about Miriam Makeba.

    Environmental films are included in this year’s Eco-Lens focus. There is heated Irish village resistance to Shell in The Pipe; Blood in the Mobile shows how frightening mining conditions in the DRC produce material for our cellphones; and, fresh from Cannes, The Big Fix exposes corruption and cover-ups surrounding the Mexican Gulf oil spill. Countdown to Zero (by Lucy Walker whose Waste Land won big awards in 2010) is about nuclear weapons and challenges to disarmament, while Into Eternity covers nuclear waste storage. Eco-Pirate- the Story of Paul Watson is about this legendary defender of our oceans and its creatures (Paul Watson will attend the festival).

    Also on the lineup is the documentary, Sing Your Song, which follows the story of Harry Belafonte from his music and film career to his involvement in civil rights and anti-apartheid movements. A special highlight will be Leonard Retel-Helmrich’s tracking of an Indonesian family in Position Among the Stars which won top awards at both Sundance and IDFA.

    Look out also for King Naki, a beautiful story of struggle and achievement set around horse-racing in the rural Transkei, the Cape Town film The Imam and I , and the Durban-shot Street Kids United.

    The global financial meltdown is the focus of the 2011 Academy Award winning Inside Job, while John Pilger’s biting The War You Don’t See is a timely investigation into the media’s role in war. Other documentaries cover Bollywood, Robert Mugabe, the Black Power movement in America, organic agriculture, paraplegic musicians in Kinshasa, and West Indian cricket. Packages of short documentaries and short films are also on offer.

    Opening with an outdoor screening on the beachfront on 24th July, DIFF will host the Wavescapes Surf Film Festival for the 7th consecutive year – a six-day blast of red-hot wave action, surf stories and groundbreaking cinematography.

    DIFF will also continue to continue to feature the industry workshops for filmmakers and industry professionals, local and international, including Talent Campus Durban and Durban FilmMart.

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  • Silverdocs Announces 2011 Award Winners; Sterling Award for Best US Feature goes to OUR SCHOOL

    [caption id="attachment_1488" align="alignnone" width="550"]OUR SCHOOL directed by Mona Nicoara and Miruna Coco-Cozma[/caption]

    AFI-Discovery Channel Silverdocs Documentary Festival announced its distinguished award winners, culminating the weeklong festival activities that included the screening of 108 films representing 52 countries, a free outdoor screening, live performances and a five-day professional documentary conference.  The Festival hosted 27,000 attendees, including more than 1,500 filmmakers, film and television executives and media professionals celebrating the art and business of documentary filmmaking.

    This year’s Sterling Award for Best US Feature goes to OUR SCHOOL directed by Mona Nicoara and Miruna Coco-Cozma.  Shot over the course of four years, the film follows the attempt to integrate isolated rural Roma (or gypsy) children into the mainstream school system of Romania.  Focusing on seven-year-old Alin, 12-year-old Beni and 16-year-old Dana, this fascinating film takes an unflinching look at the challenges of a longstanding tradition of prejudice.  The prize is accompanied by a $5,000 cash award.



    The Sterling US Feature Jury noted: “The cinematic quality of this film, the filmmaker’s vision and power of the story’s core issue impressed the jury, revealing an intimate depiction of a marginalized and underrepresented community, whose voice is seldom heard.  The filmmaker brings to light a timely human rights issue with compassion and intimacy.”

    A Special Jury Mention went to THE BULLY PROJECT, directed by Lee Hirsch, which tackles the timely topic of bullying in this sensitive examination of an urgent crisis in American society.  The film follows five children and their families over the course of one school year as their lives are affected in different ways by bullying.

    The Jury noted: “Set in the heartland of America, this film takes a sensitive and volatile issue and brings it to light in a no-holds barred style that is visually stunning and deeply compelling.  This tortuous experience of youth is shared by many, but is bravely revealed in this film through characters who confront their experience and work to reclaim their dignity.  The filmmaker’s access shows the enormous trust established with his subjects. The result is a film that doesn’t reduce people to their worst experience, but rather elevates them to a level of marginalized heroes and sheros we should all aspire to emulate.”

    A Special Jury Mention also went to WHEN THE DRUM IS BEATING directed by Whitney Dow. The film reveals Haiti’s complex history and the resilience of its people in the stories of Septentrional, the country’s most celebrated band, whose unique beats and rhythms continue to thrill its people after six decades.

    The jury noted: “An ambitious, multi-dimensional articulation of the identity of a country seen through layers of history, inter-generational, political and natural disasters set against a lyrical and poetic narrative backdrop.  The synergy of place is the motif in this beautifully crafted ode to a people.  Both historical and contemporary, this film offers a lens to history through cultural expression, which affords a glimpse at the past, present and future of a complex and fascinating place and its people.”

    This year’s Sterling Award for Best World Feature went to FAMILY INSTINCT directed by Andris Gauja.  A unique chronicle of family gone awry, this film is an unsparing exploration of a Latvian household built on the incestuous relationship between Zanda and her imprisoned brother Valdis, whose pending homecoming creates tremendous frisson.  The prize is accompanied by a $5,000 cash award.

    The Sterling Award World Jury noted:  “A slice-of-f#@ked-up-life portrait, the director of this film clearly had fly-on-the-wall access to his subjects, but some scenes, shot from multiple angles, are so formally composed as to seem staged.  That’s not a bad thing: For all the desperation and depravity of the story, the filmmaker rescues a narrative of deep sadness and yearning that’s as touching as the circumstances are shocking.”

    A Special Jury Mention went to POSITION AMONG THE STARS directed by Leonard Retel Helmrich.  The film is the conclusion of his in-depth three-part portrait of Indonesia as seen through the eyes of one family living in the slums of Jakarta.  The Shamuddin family’s anxieties, hopes, and frequent, often hilarious fights culminate in a poignant mosaic of Indonesian life today.

    The Jury noted: “A special jury prize for persistence of vision for the third film in a trilogy that explores a multi-generational family at the cusp of societal upheaval.  It is the culmination of a filmmaker’s aesthetic, thematic and philosophical mission.  This is a film that exemplifies a sustained and consistently maturing vision.”

    The Sterling Award for Best Short Film was given to GUANAPE SUR, directed by János Richter.  The film explores a barren island off the coast of Peru that is the breeding ground for thousands of sea birds, its sole inhabitants.  Once every eleventh year, hundreds of men make their way to the island to harvest the birds’ dried excrement, which is then used as valuable fertilizer.  The prize is accompanied by a $2,500 cash award.

    The Sterling Award Short Jury noted: “We were won over by the stark beauty of the images, which take us into a world of extreme hardship.  The formal restraint of the filmmaking coupled with complex sound design create a poetic yet unflinching meditation on human beings’ constraint by their environment.”

    An Honorable Mention?went to STILL HERE, directed by Alex Camilleri.  In the film, Randy Baron has been living with HIV for over two decades.  In that time, he watched as AIDS ravaged his partner and many friends whose lives were lost to a diagnosis that was considered a death sentence in the 1980s.  The film documents his efforts to carry on and dedicate his life to education and activism.

    The Jury noted: “A powerful portrayal of loss and grief, this film is a testament to one man’s resilience. Visually rich and capturing raw emotions, it stays with you long after watching.”

    The Sterling Award winners were chosen by an eminent Festival jury, including:

    Sterling US Feature Jury: Claire Aguilar, Programming VP, Independent Television Service (ITVS); Chico Colvard, Filmmaker (FAMILY AFFAIR); Shannon Kelley, Head of Public Programs for the UCLA Film and Television Archive. 

    Sterling World Feature Jury: Sean Farnel, former Programming Director, Hot Docs; Eugene Hernandez, Director of Digital Strategy, Film Society of Lincoln Center; Karina Longworth, Editor, LA Weekly.

    Sterling Short Film Jury: Sadie Tillery, Programming Director, Full Frame; Eva Weber, Filmmaker (STEEL HOMES); José Rodriquez, Program Associate, Tribeca Film Institute.

    “We are thrilled to celebrate the best that documentary cinema has to offer and to congratulate all of our award winners.  We thank our Jurors who brought their passion and commitment to the challenging process of selecting winners amongst so many great films,” said Sky Sitney, AFI-Discovery Channel Silverdocs Festival Director.

    Other Awards include:

    The Cinematic Vision Award went to LIFE IN A DAY directed by Kevin MacDonald.  The film explores what happens when a team of renowned producers put out a call for people professional filmmakers and non-professionals alike to document what is going on in their lives, whether its epic or benign, on July 24, 2010.  The mesmerizing film is culled from more than 4,500 hours of videos submitted from 192 countries.  The prize comes with $4,000 in-kind services from the Alpha Cine Labs in Seattle.

    The WGA Documentary Screenplay Award went to THE LOVING STORY written by Nancy Buirski and Susie Ruth Powell.  Mildred and Richard Loving never imagined that their unassuming love story would be the basis of a watershed anti-miscegenation civil rights case.  But in 1967, when this soft-spoken interracial couple are exiled from Virginia—the only home they have ever known—for the mere crime of falling in love and getting married, they feel they have no choice but to fight back.  The Prize is accompanied by a $1,000 cash award, and a five-year membership in the WGAE Nonfiction Writers Caucus.

    The inaugural Whole Foods Market and Silverdocs Grant for Works in Progress go to two filmmakers: Margaret Brown for THE GREAT INVISIBLE exploring the effects of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill and its impact on her hometown of Mobile, Alabama and the Gulf of Mexico.  The film looks at the global oil economy through the lens of characters that work in the oil and fishing industries on the Gulf Coast.

    The second grant goes to Ian Cheney for BLUESPACE, which explores the degradation and renewal of urban waterways.  With more than half the world’s population now crammed into cities, the way we use water – as a place to grow food, as a method of transportation, as a source of renewable energy – will plunge viewers into the midst of the struggle to rethink this most overlooked resource.  The prize is accompanied by a $25,000 cash grant to each filmmaker for a total of $50,000.

    The Tribeca Film Institute and Silverdocs Transmedia Lab Pitch award goes to Amir Bar-lev for THE TILLMAN STORY INTERACTIVE EDITION, to develop a cross-platform interactive project that will allow audiences to actively participate in the acclaimed 2010 documentary THE TILLMAN STORY while viewing it; a navigable platform through which audiences can view outtakes, investigate documents, interact with others, and keep up-to-date on the latest developments in the Tillman controversy.  The prize is accompanied by a $5,000 cash award.

    The Audience Award winners will be announced on Monday, June 27, 2011.

    [ via press release – Silverdocs]

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  • Winners Announced For 2011 Los Angeles Film Festival

    [caption id="attachment_1486" align="alignnone" width="550"]Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature went to Attack the Block, directed by Joe Cornish[/caption]

    Today the Los Angeles Film Festival, which ran from Thursday, June 16 to Sunday, June 26 in downtown Los Angeles, announced the jury and audience award winners for the 2011 Festival.

    The Narrative Award recognizes the finest narrative film in competition at the Festival and went to Stéphane Lafleur for the North American Premiere of Familiar Ground.  The Documentary Award recognizes the finest documentary film in competition at the Festival and went to Beverly Kopf and Bobbie Birleffi for the World Premiere of Wish Me Away.

    The award for Best Performance in the Narrative Competition went to Amber Sealey, Kent Osborne, Amanda Street, and Gabriel Diamond for their performances in Amber Sealey’s How to Cheat.

    The award for Best Narrative Short Film went to Saba Riazi’s The Wind Is Blowing on My Street. The award for Best Documentary Short Film went to Susan Koenen’s I Am a Girl!.  Mikey Please’s The Eagleman Stag won the award for Best Animated Short Film.

    The Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature went to Attack the Block, directed by Joe Cornish and the Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature went to Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest, directed by Michael Rapaport.  Asif Kapadia’s Senna won the Audience Award for Best International Feature.

    The Audience Award for Best Short Film went to Blind Date, directed by Joe Rosen. Can’t Shake This Feeling, directed by The General Assembly’s Adam Littke, Ryan McNeill, Adam Willis won the Audience Award for Best Music Video for Grum.

    The Narrative Feature Competition jury was comprised of director Lynn Shelton (Humpday, My Effortless Brilliance), Head/Founder of Giant Robot Eric Nakamura, and screenwriter Daniel Waters (Heathers, Batman Returns). The Documentary Feature Competition jury was comprised of Spirit Award-winning director Jeff Malmberg (Marwencol), Executive Director of the International Documentary Association Michael Lumpkin, and Co-editor of Slake magazine Laurie Ochoa.  The Shorts Competition jury was comprised of casting director Margery Simkin, film critic Alonso Duralde, and actress Lisa Gay Hamilton.

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  • 2nd Edmonds International Film Festival CANCELLED

    Edmonds Chamber of Commerce President Jim Hills with Edmonds International Film Festival Director Trevor Greenfield

    EdmondsPatch is reporting that the Edmonds International Film Festival in Edmonds, Washington, will not be returning for a second year, in what director Trevor Greenfield said was largely due to a lack of sponsor support.

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  • 2011 Shanghai International Film Festival announces Golden Goblet winners

    [caption id="attachment_1482" align="alignnone" width="560"]MR. TREE (China) directed by Han Jie[/caption]

    Shanghai’s 14th International Film Festival (SIFF) wrapped yesterday and announced the 2011 winners of the Golden Goblet Award. The Chinese movie “Mr. Tree” and “The Young Man Sings Folk Song in the Opposite Door” were the biggest winners

    “Mr. Tree” received awards for Jury Grand Prix and Best Director; and  “The Young Man Sings Folk Song in the Opposite Door” grabbed three awards for Best Screenplay, Best Actress and Best Music.


    Award for Best Feature Film
    HAYDE BRE (Turkey) directed by Orhan Oguz
    What attracted to us was its stark, honest, unflinching look at a mother dealing with a modern world and her separation from her rural background, a woman caught up in a changing world and the painful struggle she faces. The film was effective, sometimes disturbing, but always true to its intentions.

    Jury Grand Prix
    MR. TREE (China) directed by Han Jie
    Mr.Tree, you’re almost blind and the weird position of your right hand to keep balance so you don’t fall. You are guilty of patricide, torn and twisted inside but you can see the fortune and lead the people. OK, we follow you.

    Award for Best Director
    Han Jie for MR. TREE (China)
    Being clear and understandable with a complex theme while staying subtle to avoid being simplistic and having the ability to create abstract and mysterious emotion, that is an accomplished direction.

    Award for Best Screenplay
    Zhang Ming for THE YOUNG MAN SINGS FOLK SONG IN THE OPPOSITE DOOR (China)
    There are elements we are always happy to find in a screenplay, such as a sense of truthfulness, hard to create but easy to recognize. The jury found all these qualities in the skilful and touching screenplay of the film.

    Award for Best Actor
    Sevket Emrulla in HAYDE BRE (Turkey)
    Sevket Emrulla’s job in this film is just perfect, simple but full of meaning.

    Award for Best Actress
    Lv Xingchen in THE YOUNG MAN SINGS FOLK SONG IN THE OPPOSITE DOOR (China)
    Your performance creates a true and mutative inner world of a modern Chinese woman, and enrichs the woman’s aspirations to its full extent. It is outstanding.

    Award for Best Cinematography
    Tiwa Moeithaisong for FRIDAY KILLER (Thailand)
    The extremely exquisite combination of moving and tranquil scenes makes the film full of wit and humour, deeply impressing all of us.

    Award for Best Music
    Wen Zi for THE YOUNG MAN SINGS FOLK SONG IN THE OPPOSITE DOOR (China)
    The film reminds that songs linger on when images are fading away, spirits resurrected when our flesh was betrayed and buried. Long live to lyrical voices from our lovers and ancestors.

    Jury Award
    FRIDAY KILLER (Thailand) directed by Yuthlert Sippapak
    The jury was most entertained by a colorful, atmospheric, good-looking gangster epic paying open tribute to Quentin Tarantino.

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  • 2011 Provincetown International Film Festival award winners

    [caption id="attachment_1477" align="alignnone" width="560"]DIRTY GIRL (directed by Abe Sylvia) won the HBO Audience Award Best Narrative Feature.[/caption]

    The 2011 Provincetown International Film Festival which ran June 15th thru 19th, announced its award winners on Sunday night.  Prizes were given to the following films:

    DIRTY GIRL (directed by Abe Sylvia) won the HBO Audience Award Best Narrative Feature.  **US Premiere at PIFF**

     

    [caption id="attachment_1478" align="alignnone" width="560"]BUCK (directed by Cindy Meehl)[/caption]

    BUCK (directed by Cindy Meehl) won the HBO Audience Award Best Documentary Feature

     

    [caption id="attachment_1479" align="alignnone" width="480"]HELLO CALLER (directed by Andrew Putschoegl)[/caption]
    HELLO CALLER (directed by Andrew Putschoegl) won the HBO Audience Award Best Short Film


    [caption id="attachment_1480" align="alignnone" width="560"]27 (directed by Neil Forbes) [/caption]

    27 (directed by Neil Forbes) won the Student Film Grand Jury Prize (sponsored by The Gale Fund of the Cape Cod Community Foundation)

    Other awards include, the 2011 Filmmaker on the Edge Award (sponsored by the Coolidge Corner Theatre Foundation) was given to writer/director Darren Aronofsky (REQUIEM FOR A DREAM, THE WRESTLER, BLACK SWAN).  Actress Vera Farmiga (DOWN TO THE BONE, UP IN THE AIR, HIGHER GROUND) received the Excellence In Acting Award.  The Career Achievement Award (sponsored by Cape Air) was given given to Albert Maysles (GIMME SHELTER, GREY GARDENS, SALESMAN).

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  • 2011 Seattle International Film Festival Competition Awards and Golden Space Needle Audience Awards

    [caption id="attachment_1473" align="alignnone" width="550"]Grand Jury Prize, Gandu, directed by ‘Q’ Kaushik Mukherjee[/caption]

    The 37th Seattle International Film Festival, wrapped on June 12th after a 25-day run with the announcement of the SIFF 2011 Competition Awards and Golden Space Needle Audience Awards. The Indian film ‘Gandu’ directed by “Q” Kaushik Mukherjee took the Grand Jury Prize for Best New Dierctor. ‘Gandu’ is described as film about A poor young man in Kolkata befriends a Bruce Lee-obsessed rickshaw driver and begins a strange descent into a world of drugs and rap-fueled fantasy in this gritty, resolutely anti-Bollywood adventure.

    SIFF 2011 COMPETITION AWARDS
    Three Competition Awards including Best New Director, Best Documentary and the FIPRESCI Prize were announced today. Winners in the juried New Director and Documentary competition will receive $2,500. All of the winners will receive a Space Needle inspired glass award by artist James Mongrain.

    SIFF 2011 Best New Director
    Grand Jury Prize
    Gandu, directed by “Q” Kaushik Mukherjee (India, 2010)
    Jury Statement: “We chose to give the prize to a movie that bowled us over with its kinetic, brash humor and style-hoping dexterity, a portrait of tortured youth that refreshingly pokes fun at adolescent self-centeredness while simultaneously exploring the anger, despondency and malaise of a generation.”

    The New Directors Competition jury was comprised of: Robert Abele, Film and TV Critic/Journalist; Peter Goldwyn, Samuel Goldwyn Films; and Sara Rose, Acquisitions Executive

    SIFF 2011 Best Documentary
    Grand Jury Prize
    Hot Coffee, directed by Susan Saladoff (USA, 2011)
    Jury Statement: “Going beyond a well-known headline that was the butt of many jokes, Hot Coffee makes dry legal boilerplate spring to life in portraying human dramas with tragic consequences. It makes us all question our simple assumptions – it’s a film that needs to be seen.”

    Special Jury Prizes
    To Be Heard, directed by Roland Legiardi-Laura, Amy Sultan, Deborah Shaffer and Edwin Martinez (USA, 2010)
    Jury Statement: “By filmically living with and sharing the dramas of a remarkably affecting group of young people over a period of years, To Be Heard wins the hearts of viewers with a roller coaster emotional ride…it’s immediacy and poignancy make it a film that truly lives beyond the frame.”

    Sushi: The Global Catch, directed by Mark Hall (USA, 2011)
    Jury Statement: “The film brings to the forefront the urgent and occasionally competing arguments of overfishing that don’t necessarily have easy answers – truly a film that is food for thought.”

    The Documentary jury was comprised of: Krysanne Katsoolis, Cactus Three; Richard Lorber, Kino Lorber Inc.; and Katherine Tulich, Hollywood Foreign Press and International Federation of Film Critics.

    SIFF 2011 FIPRESCI Prize for Best New American Film
    SIFF is very pleased to announce its continued partnership with FIPRESCI, the International Federation of Film Critics. FIPRESCI, in existence for more than 65 years, with members in over 60 countries, supports cinema as an art and as an outstanding and autonomous means of expression. SIFF is one of three festivals in the United States to host a FIPRESCI jury, and this year, FIPRESCI presented an award to Best New American Film selected from the New American Cinema program.

    FIPRESCI Prize
    On the Ice, directed by Andrew Okpeaha MacLean (USA, 2011)
    Jury Statement: “For presenting a universal, near-Biblical tragedy set in a little known culture recreated with compelling detail. A story told with outstanding naturalistic performances with a confident, compelling narrative.”

    The FIPRESCI jury was comprised of members of the International Federation of Film Critics: Peter Keough, USA; Gideon Kouts, France; and Lucy Virgen, Mexico

    SIFF 2011 Golden Space Needle Audience Awards
    The Golden Space Needle Audience Awards are given in the following categories: Best Film, Best Documentary, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Short Film. More than 80,000 ballots were cast by SIFF audiences to determine the winners. Golden Space Needle Award winners receive a hand-made glass creation by artist James Mongrain. Additionally, the Golden Space Needle award winner for Best Short film will receive a brand new Mac computer, fully loaded with the latest filmmaking software from The Mac Store, and will receive $1,000 of film stock from Eastman Kodak.

    Best Film Golden Space Needle Award
    Paper Birds, directed by Emilio Aragón (Spain, 2010)
    First runner up: Tilt, directed by Viktor Chouchkov Jr. (Bulgaria, 2010)
    Second runner up: Simple Simon, directed by Andreas Öhman (Sweden, 2010)
    Third runner up: The Whistleblower, directed by Larysa Kondracki (Canada/Germany, 2010)
    Fourth runner up: King of Devil’s Island, directed by Marius Holst (Norway, 2010)

    Rounding out the top ten: My Afternoons With Margueritte, directed by Jean Becker (France, 2010); Spud, directed by Donovan Marsh (South Africa, 2010); Service Entrance (The Women of the Sixth Floor), directed by Philippe Le Guay (France, 2011); Almanya, directed by Yasemin Samdereli (Germany, 2011); Old Goats, directed by Taylor Guterson (USA, 2010).

    Best Documentary Golden Space Needle Award
    To Be Heard, directed by Roland Legiardi-Laura, Amy Sultan, Deborah Shaffer, Edwin Martinez (USA, 2010)
    First runner up: Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey, directed by Constance Marks (USA, 2011)
    Second runner up: Buck, directed by Cindy Meehl (USA, 2011)
    Third runner up: How to Die in Oregon, directed by Peter D. Richardson (USA, 2011)
    Fourth runner up: Hot Coffee, directed by Susan Saladoff (USA, 2011)

    Rounding out the top ten: Holy Rollers: The True Story of Card Counting Christians, directed by Bryan Storkel (USA, 2011); The Interrupters, directed by Steve James (USA, 2011); Circus Dreams, directed by Signe Taylor (USA, 2011); 12 Angry Lebanese, directed by Zeina Daccache (Lebanon, 2010); A Lot Like You, directed by Eliaichi Kimaro (Tanzania/USA, 2011).

    Best Director Golden Space Needle Award
    Larysa Kondracki, The Whistleblower (Canada/Germany, 2010)
    First runner up: Emilio Aragón, Paper Birds (Spain, 2010)
    Second runner up: Mohammad Rasoulof, The White Meadows (Iran, 2009)
    Third runner up: Yasemin Samderelli, Almanya (Germany, 2011)
    Fourth runner up: Maryam Keshavarz, Circumstance (Iran, 2011)

    Rounding out the top ten: Carlos Saura, Flamenco, Flamenco (Spain, 2010); Robbie Pickering, Natural Selection (USA, 2011); Megan Griffiths, The Off Hours (USA, 2011); Raul Ruiz, The Mysteries of Lisbon (Portugal, 2010); Mike Mills, Beginners (USA, 2010).

    Best Actor Golden Space Needle Award
    Bill Skarsgård, Simple Simon (Sweden, 2010)
    First runner up: Matt Smith, Womb, (Germany/Hungary/France, 2010)
    Second runner up: Imanol Arias, Paper Birds (Spain, 2010)
    Third runner up: Matt O’Leary, Natural Selection (USA, 2011)
    Fourth runner up: Ron Eldard, Roadie (USA, 2011)

    Rounding out the top ten: Ewan McGregor, Beginners (USA, 2010); Peter Stormare, Small Town Murder Songs (Canada, 2010); Toni Servillo, A Quiet Life (Italy, 2010); Peter Mullan, Tyrannosaur (UK, 2011); Gerard Depardieu, My Afternoons with Margueritte (France, 2010).

    Best Actress Golden Space Needle Award
    Natasha Petrovic, As If I Am Not There (Ireland/Macedonia/Sweden, 2010)
    First runner up: Bodil Jorgensen, Nothing’s All Bad (Denmark, 2010)
    Second runner up: Rachel Weisz, The Whistleblower (Canada/Germany, 2010)
    Third runner up: Rachael Harris, Natural Selection (USA, 2011)
    Fourth runner up: Magaly Solier, Amador (Spain, 2011)

    Rounding out the top ten: Eva Green, Perfect Sense (UK, 2011); Yahima Torres, Black Venus (France, 2010); Sara Forestier, The Names of Love (France, 2010); Katja Kukkola, Princess (Finland, 2010); Sandra Hüller, Above Us Only Sky (Germany, 2011).

    Best Short Film Golden Space Needle Award
    The Fantastic Flying Books Of Mr. Morris Lessmore, directed by William Joyce (USA, 2011)
    First runner up: North Atlantic, directed by Bernardo Nascimento (Portugal, 2010)
    Second runner up: Interview, director Sebastian Marka (Germany, 2010)
    Third runner up: Amazonia, director Sam Chen (USA, 2010)
    Fourth runner up: Cataplexy, director John Salcido (USA, 2010)

    Lena Sharpe Award for Persistence of Vision, Presented by Women in Film/Seattle
    This award is presented to the female director whose feature film receives the highest number of audience ballots.
    Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey, directed by Constance Marks (USA, 2011)

    SIFF 2011 FutureWave and Youth Jury Awards
    The SIFF FutureWave jury was comprised of five high-school students that viewed nine FutureWave features to award the prize of Best FutureWave Feature. The Films4Families jury was comprised of five elementary and middle school students that viewed six Films4Families films to award the prize for Best Films4Families Feature. SIFF’s WaveMaker Award for Excellence in Youth Filmmaking was awarded at the FutureWave Shorts program on May 30 at SIFF Cinema as part of the ShortsFest Weekend. More than 100 short films were submitted from young filmmakers aged 13-18, from Canada, USA, Sweden, Ireland, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. The WaveMaker Award was selected from the 19 presented finalists. TheFilmSchool faculty member Rick Stevenson also awarded several partial scholarships to TheFilmSchool’s Prodigy Camp for outstanding storytelling.

    Youth Jury Award for Best FutureWave Feature
    Detention, directed by Joseph Kahn (USA, 2011)
    Jury Statement: “For its unpredictable and genuinely exciting story that is based on today’s teenager, but effectively immersed in a fantasy world. It is obvious that Detention was made with a passion for creative filmmaking and we are eager to share it with our generation.”

    Youth Jury Award for Best Films4Families Feature
    Circus Dreams, directed by Signe Taylor (USA, 2011)
    Jury Statement: “For showing the ups and downs of training and performing in a children’s circus and the importance of pursuing your dreams.”

    WaveMaker Award for Excellence in Youth Filmmaking (Grand Jury Prize)
    The Million Dollar Watch, directed by Joseph Yao (USA, 2010)
    Jury statement: “For its creativity, vision, and scope on an operatic scale.”

    WaveMaker Special Jury Prize
    Deaf Perspective, directed by Rogan Shannon (USA, 2011)
    Jury statement: “For opening our eyes (and ears) to a new perspective on the world.”

    Joseph Yao (The Million Dollar Watch, USA, 2010) and Blair Scott (Reflection, USA, 2010) also received a scholarship to TheFilmSchool’s Prodigy Camp, a weeklong, immersive, overnight film camp for youth aged 12–18 held in late June.

    FutureWave Shorts Audience Award
    Deaf Perspective, directed by Rogan Shannon (USA, 2011)
    First runner up: The Million Dollar Watch, directed by Joseph Yao (USA, 2010)
    Second runner up: Reflection, directed by Blair Scott (USA, 2010)
    Third runner up: Henry, directed by Amelia Elizalde (USA, 2011)
    Fourth runner up: Noticed, directed by Reel Youth CampOut (Canada, 2010)

    SIFF 2011 Short Film Jury Awards
    As a qualifying festival of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, short films that receive the Grand Jury Prize for Best Narrative short film and Best Animation short film awards at SIFF may qualify to enter the Short Films category of the Academy Awards® for the concurrent season without the standard theatrical run, provided the film otherwise complies with the Academy rules. Winners will also receive a $1,000 cash prize.

    Grand Jury Prize for Best Narrative Short
    Time Freak, directed by Andrew Bowler (USA, 2010)
    Jury statement: “A hilarious, original take on time travel that reminds us all to embrace the moment.”

    Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary Short
    Library of Dust, directed by Ondi Timoner and Robert James (USA, 2010)
    Jury statement: “This real-life ghost story is a startling reminder of the strength of spirit and compels us to recognize the tragedy of overlooking the spirits of those still with us.”

    Grand Jury Prize for Best Animated Short
    The Eagleman Stag, directed by Mikey Please (USA, 2010)
    Jury statement: “With a monochromatic palette, it provides a colorful tale of life and rebirth.”

    Special Jury Prizes
    Narrative – Howard From Ohio, directed by SJ Chiro (USA, 2011)
    Jury statement: “It’s a simple tale with a straightforward honesty seldom seen on screen.”

    Our Ship, directed by Garon Campbell (South Africa, 2011)
    Jury statement: “A heartwarming story that underscores the importance of family loyalty.”

    Animation – New Digs, directed by Martin Sen (South Africa, 2010)
    Jury statement: “A charmingly ironic tale about having faith in the people who love you.”

    The Short Film jury was comprised of: Kellie Ann Benz, The Shorts Report; Bill Murray, Northwest Screenwriters Guild; Jason Plourde, Three Dollar Bill Cinema and Tom Skerritt, actor and founder, TheFilmSchool.

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  • Otelo Burning is opening film for 2011 Durban International Film Festival

    [caption id="attachment_1469" align="alignnone" width="560"]Otelo Burning[/caption]

    The 32nd edition Durban International Film Festival’s taking place from July 21 to 31, 2011, opens with the World Premiere of a film shot in Durban – Otelo Burning, directed by Sara Blecher. Beginning in the late 1980s, the story is set around youngsters from Lamontville township who discover surfing as an empowering escape from the political violence of the times. Surfing facilitates the shaping of a new culture and lifestyle for them, and this reflects a real process that continues to take place in Durban. Adventures and drama follow. There is romance, rivalry, and tragedy, and, ultimately, choices have to be made. 

    The film includes excellent and credible performances by a quartet of talented actors – Thomas Gumede, Sihle Xaba, Jafta Mamabolo and Tsepang Mohlomi. Otelo Burning is to an extent based on Sihle’s own story.  Matthew Oats and Hamilton Dlamini also star in the film.




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  • 2011 Staten Island Film Festival; Lovinder Singh Gill’s “Stalemate” Wins Best Picture

    [caption id="attachment_1467" align="alignnone" width="550"]Defining Beauty: Ms. Wheelchair America, narrated by Katey Sagal, is a captivating feature length documentary that proves a beauty pageant is more than just a sash and a crown. This inspiring piece follows five women with disabilities on their journeys towards the 2010 Ms. Wheelchair America Pageant and explores the lives they lead in the face of adversity[/caption]

    The 2011 Staten Island Film Festival finally came to an end and held its closing award ceremonies, and the the big winner was Lovinder Singh Gill’s “Stalemate” which won the award for Best Picture. “StaleMate” is a story about how we are 100% sure that we want something and then, in a split second, we realize we never wanted it in the first place.  Kayleigh has finally found the perfect man; unfortunately, he comes in the form of two men she is dating, Richard and Arthur. They are wonderful in different ways and are complimentary pieces to the same puzzle – Kayleigh’s heart.

    Winners:

    Best Actress, Lori Martini, from “Caught”

    Best Actor, Ernest Borgnine, “Night Club”

    Best Documentary Short, “From the Ground Up”

    Best Documentary Feature, “Defining Beauty: Ms. Wheelchair America”

    Best Drama Short, “Bright”; Best Thriller, “Between the Floors”

    Best Comedy Short, “Morning Honey”

    Best Cinematography, “Crossroads”

    Best New Filmmaker, Sean Marlon Newcombe, “Scenes From a Campaign”

    Best Staten Island Local Short, “Green Apples & Wannabes”

    Best Staten Island Local Feature, “Nightclub”

    Best Short Screenplay, “Sexcut”

    Best Feature Screenplay, “The 7-Day Diary”

    Audience Choice Short, “Gus”

    Audience Choice Documentary, “P-Star Rising”

    Audience Choice Comedy, “Sexcut”

    Audience Choice Drama, “Close-Up”

    Audience Choice Feature, “Desert Rain”

    Best Director, Salvatore Petrosino, “Crossroads”

    Best Short Film, “Gus”; Best Picture, “Stalemate”

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