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Screenwriter Will Rokos, who earned an Academy Award nomination for “Monster’s Ball” was in critical but stable condition after he was clipped in the head by a train while leaning over a subway platform in New York City. The NY Post reports, that cops said Rokos was waiting for a train Saturday afternoon when he leaned over to peer down the tunnel.
The San Francisco Film Society, in partnership with the Djerassi Resident Artists Program, announced the winner and honorable mention of the 2011 Djerassi Residency Award/San Francisco Film Society Screenwriting Fellowship given annually to encourage the career of an emerging or established screenwriter. The fellowship is part of the Film Society’s suite of filmmaker services designed to foster creativity and further the careers of independent filmmakers. Adam Chanzit was selected for his project The 15th Stone. Christy Chan was awarded an Honorable Mention for her screenplay, This Must Be the Place.
Kim Basinger will narrate a Smithsonian Channel documentary on the rare blue Hope Diamond, thought to be the world’s most valuable gem.
Kanye finally premiered his short film “Runaway”. The 35 minute film, written by Hype Williams and directed by Kanye, showcases nine songs from Kanye’s upcoming album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.
Matt Damon has been confirmed as being involved in a Lance Armstrong documentary due for release next year, with the American actor set to narrate the Alex Gibney-made film. The project, which is mainly based around Armstrong’s 2009 comeback to the Tour de France, will presumably be launched before the 2011 Tour in order to capitalise on media attention.
Kanye West announced via twitter that his his 35 min film “Runaway” will premiere this coming Saturday, October 23rd, at 8PM on MTV, MTV2, MTV.com, BET, BET.com & VH1.
The Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP), the nation’s oldest and largest organization of independent filmmakers announced today the nominees for the 20th Anniversary Gotham Independent Film Awards™. A total of 26 films were nominated across six competitive categories for Best Feature, Best Documentary, Breakthrough Director, Breakthrough Actor, Best Ensemble Performance and Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You.
Thirty-one documentary, animated, children’s and feature films from 15 countries and areas have been nominated for Asia-Pacific’s highest accolade in film with Best Feature nominees from Republic of Korea, Taiwan, Turkey and the People’s Republic of China.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that the field of Documentary Short Subject contenders for the 83rd Academy Awards® has been narrowed to eight films, of which three to five will earn Oscar® nominations.
Sixty-five countries, including first-time entrants Ethiopia and Greenland, have submitted films for consideration in the Foreign Language Film category for the 83rd Academy Awards®.
The San Francisco Film Society and the Kenneth Rainin Foundation today announced the ten finalists for the fourth round of SFFS/KRF Filmmaking Grants of up to a total of $225,000, to be given to one or more feature films that through plot, character, theme or setting significantly explore human and civil rights, discrimination, gender and sexual identity and other urgent social justice issues of our time. Additionally, the grants support films that have a significant economic or professional impact on the Bay Area filmmaking community. The total amount disbursed in 2009-13 will be more than $3 million, including a total of $275,000 already awarded in the first three rounds. Finalists for the Fall 2010 grants follow.
Ten writers have been selected as finalists for the 25th annual Don and Gee Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Their scripts will now be read and judged by the Academy’s Nicholl Committee, which may award as many as five of the prestigious $30,000 fellowships.
This year’s finalists are (listed alphabetically by author):