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Tangshan dadizheng (Aftershock), from the People’s Republic of China, has won the Best Feature Film Award at the 4th annual Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA), announced this evening at a stunning ceremony on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. Chinese actor Chen Daoming received the Best Performance by an Actor award for the same film, which is the highest grossing domestic film of all time at the Chinese box office.
“127 Hours” received nine, and “The King’s Speech” six, putting them among the top nominees in the this year’s Satellite Awards, which is given out annually by the International Press Academy. “Black Swan,” and “The Kids Are All Right,” were not too far behind with each receiving five nominations.
Following up on last month’s announcement of the Film Forward: Advancing Cultural Dialogue initiative, Sundance Institute announced today the ten films selected to participate in the inaugural year of this cultural exchange program. The first Film Forward slate includes five American and five international films which will be presented in collaboration with public and private partners. These films and their filmmakers will kick off the ambitious project in New York and Tunisia in December.
Nominations were announced this morning for the 2011 Film Independent Spirit Awards. Eva Mendes and Jeremy Renner served as presenters and 2011 Spirit Awards host Joel McHale was also on hand. Nominees for Best Feature include 127 Hours, Black Swan, Greenberg, The Kids Are All Right and Winter’s Bone.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that 10 animated short films and 10 live action short films will advance in the voting process for the 83rd Academy Awards®. Thirty-three animated short films and seventy-six live action short films had originally qualified in the category.
Debra Granik’s ‘Winter’s Bone’ followed up a big win at the recent Stockholm International Film Festival and the winner of the 2010 Sundance Grand Jury Prize, to take the top prize of Best Film in addition to Best Ensemble Performance Award at the 20th Anniversary Gotham Independent Film Awards ceremony in New York City.
Irvin Kershner, who directed the Star Wars sequel “The Empire Strikes Back” and the James Bond film “Never Say Never Again,” has died at age 87. Kershner died Saturday at his Los Angeles home following a 3½-year battle with lung cancer, said longtime friend and Hollywood publicist Dick Guttman.
A Los Angeles judge today ruled against the food company Dole, and awarded $200,000 in attorneys fees and costs as punishment for filing a defamation lawsuit against the filmmakers behind the documentary Bananas!*.
Oscar-nominated director and screenwriter Mario Monicelli, considered one of the fathers of the Italian comedy of the 1940s-1960s, died Monday after jumping from a fifth-story hospital window, the hospital said. He was 95.
James Franco and Anne Hathaway will serve as co-hosts of the 83rd Academy Awards®, Oscar telecast producers Bruce Cohen and Don Mischer announced today. Both have previously appeared on the telecast but not in hosting capacities.
Rapper Ja Rule will reportedly be starring in faith-based movie called “I’m in Love with a Church Girl,” alongside Stephen Baldwin and Adrienne Bailon.
