One World International Film Festival running in Prague from March 8 to 17, 2011 will use an “Empty Chair” to draw attention to imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo. The Chinese dissident had been sentenced to 11 years in jail. During the One World festival viewers will come across an empty chair with the poster ofLiu in screening halls.
Dirty mouth. Actress Melissa Leo dropped the F-bomb while accepting the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress at the 83rd annual Academy Awards on Sunday night.
“The King’s Speech” was the ‘King’ at the 83rd annual Academy Awards on Sunday night, winning four Oscars: including Best Picture, Directing for director Tom Hooper, Writing – Original Screenplay for David Seidler and Best Actor in a Leading Role for Colin Firth.
The 35th Cleveland International Film Festival, scheduled for March 24 to April 3, 2011, will open with Oren Kaplan’s Hamill, based on Ohio wrestler Matt “The Hammer” Hamill; and close with Sean McNamara’s Soul Surfer.
The Hong Kong International Film Festival Society (HKIFFS) announced Miriam YEUNG as the ambassador of the 35th Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF); and Don’t Go Breaking My Heart, by the Hong Kong film industry’s duo of Johnnie TO and WAI Ka-fai; and Quattro Hong Kong 2, jointly directed by four award-winning filmmakers as the two opening films of this year.
The Glasgow Film Festival returns for it’s seventh year to the city of Glasgow, Scotland, from February, 17–27, 2011. The Festival will open on Thursday 17 February with the UK gala premiere of François Ozon’s crowd-pleasing comedy Potiche starring Catherine Deneuve and Gerard Depardieu. Set in small-town France in the 1970s, the film is pure delight, combining hilarious farce with withering social commentary. Catherine Deneuve has one of the best roles of her recent career as a trophy wife in a period of rampant chauvinism who throws off the shackles of domestic servitude to assert her independence.
Walter Seltzer, a Hollywood producer who made seven films with Charlton Heston, has died. He was 96.
Roadside Attractions will distribute Maryam Keshavarz’s CIRCUMSTANCE, which Participant Media acquired at the Sundance Film Festival. Winner of this year’s Sundance Audience Award, the film is set in contemporary Iran, where a wealthy family struggles to contain a teenager’s growing sexual rebellion and her brother’s dangerous obsession. The film is targeted for a summer 2011 release.
Directed by Maryam Keshavarz, the cast includes Nikohl Boosheri, Sarah Kazemy, Reza Sixo Safai, Soheil Parsa, Nasrin Pakkho, Sina Amedson, and Keon Mohajeri
The South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival announced the features in the Midnighters and SXFantastic sections, as well as the complete short films lineup, which will debut at this year’s Festival, which runs from March 11 – 19, 2011 in Austin, Texas.
Tribeca Film has acquired all U.S. rights to Unified Pictures’ Janie Jones and will release the film theatrically in multiple U.S. markets, as well as on video-on-demand and other platforms in the summer of 2011. The authentic and charming rock ‘n’ roll road trip drama about a father and daughter finding their way to each other through music stars Academy Award® nominee Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine), Alessandro Nivola (Coco Before Chanel), Academy Award® nominee Elisabeth Shue (Leaving Las Vegas) and Brittany Snow (Hairspray). Janie Jones was written and directed by David M. Rosenthal, whose own life experiences inspired the story.
The DALLAS International Film Festival announced today the first twelve films that will screen at this year’s fifth festival (March 31 – April 10) including four world premieres and one U.S. premiere. The festival announced three films set for its Texas Competition, two films in its Family Friendly section and the first film selected for a brand new India Spotlight series. Films entered into the narrative feature and narrative documentary competition will once again have the chance to win an unrestricted cash prize of $25,000 per category courtesy of Target.
Magnolia Pictures announced they have acquired SQUARE GROUPER: THE GODFATHERS OF GANJA, a wildly entertaining doc about pot smuggling in 1970s South Florida from Billy Corben and Alfred Spellman of rakontur, the filmmakers behind the globally popular Cocaine Cowboys series and ESPN’s The U.