Reeling 2010, the second-oldest LGBT film festival in the world, opens its 29th year on November 4th, showcasing innovative gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender films from around the world. Reeling will take place at Landmark’s Century Centre Cinema (2828 N. Clark St.), the Festival’s home base at Chicago Filmmakers (5243 N. Clark St.) and, for the first time in festival history, Instituto Cervantes (31 W. Ohio St.) and ShowPlace ICON (150 W. Roosevelt Rd.).
This Friday, November 5th, the nine-day Rendezvous with Madness Film Festival in Toronto, Canada, kicks off with a screening of Carl Bessai’s Repeaters. The film follows three rehabilitation residents as they are forced to relive the same day over and over. With over 20 programs of feature and short films, the films’ themes are diverse, ranging from the startling journey of Ron Hynes in The Man of a Thousand Songs to the inner battles of motocross legend Larry Linkogle in Mind of the Demon: The Larry Linkogle Story.
The Backcountry Film Festival makes a stop in Boise this week, November 4, 2010. Included in the lineup is Deeper from Teton Gravity Research. It won Best of Festival and features boarder Jeremy Jones in a quest for untouched terrain. Other highlights include Best Short Film Desert River from Sweetgrass Productions and Whiteback Warrior from TreeFight and Snaz Media about the decline of whitebark pines due to climate change and what’s being done to save these iconic alpine trees. Whiteback Warrior won Best Environmental Film.
The 22nd annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) will present Academy Award winner Javier Bardem with the International Star Award at its Awards Gala. Presented by Cartier, the Awards Gala will kick off the 2011 awards season on Saturday, January 8.
Three-time Academy Award nominee Annette Bening, who has received critical acclaim this year for her performances in The Kids Are All Right and Mother and Child, will be honored with the American Riviera Award at the 2011 Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF).
“Intimate Grammar” was the big winner at the 2010 Tokyo International Film Festival. Tokyo Sakura Grand Prix was given to Intimate Grammar directed by Nir Bergman. Sarah’s Key directed by Gilles Paquet-Brenner received double Awards; Award for Best Director and Audience Award, and POST CARD directed by Kaneto Shindo was awarded the Special Jury Prize! The complete list of winners include:
The opening ceremony of the Rome Film Festival was marred by a protest over the Italian government’s drastic cuts to funds for cultural events, with some 800 people storming the red carpet. Keira Knightley and Eva Mendes, whose film “Last Night,” opened the festival, were whisked into the theater alongside the rest of the film’s cast, surrounded by bodyguards.
The 13th annual Savannah Film Festival, hosted by SCAD, presented Miles Teller with the “Discovery Award” on October 31.
The 4th Annual Other Israel Film Festival will take place from November 11th – November 21st. Since its establishment, The Other Israel Film Festival showcases the diversity of Israeli life with award-winning films and open discussions on the margins of Israeli society that is rarely seen by the mainstream, let alone presented to American audiences. Among those are the country’s Arab population (Christian, Muslim, Bedouin and Druze) that makes up 20% of Israel’s population, as well as migrant workers, immigrants and more.
The 2010 jury, consisting of Carl Zimmer, Valerie Weiss and Randy Olson, have selected “An Eyeful of Sound” as the winner of the Nature Scientific Merit Award.
The 54th BFI London Film Festival announced its winners at the high profile awards ceremony held at London’s LSO St Luke’s. The five awards were presented by some of the most respected figures in the film world.
BEST FILM: HOW I ENDED THIS SUMMER, directed by Alexei Popogrebsky
Celebrating the most original, intelligent and distinctive filmmaking in the Festival, the Best Film award, presented in partnership with American Express, has been judged by an international jury chaired by actress Patricia Clarkson alongside fellow jurors including Gabriel Byrne. The award for Best Film was presented by Patricia Clarkson to Alexei Popogrebsky for HOW I ENDED THIS SUMMER.
On behalf of the jury Patricia Clarkson (Chair) said:
“With elemental themes of isolation, alienation and the power of misunderstanding, HOW I ENDED THIS SUMMER is a visceral psychological drama set in the immersive landscape of the windswept Arctic.
Hawi won Best Arab Film and Balls picked up the award for Best Arab Filmmaker in recognition for its screenplay at the second Doha Tribeca Film Festival (DTFF) which came to a dramatic end at the Closing Night Gala and open-air concert by superstar Ragheb Alama along the Arabian Gulf at Katara Cultural Village.