The official trailer has been released for Manny Pacquiao Movie, MANNY, the documentary film about Filipino boxer turned congressman Manny Pacquiao. MANNY is scheduled to world premiere at the South by Southwest Film Festival and Conference taking place March 7 to 15, 2014, in Austin, Texas.
The American Film Institute partnered with the White House for the very first White House Student Film Festival which was held on Friday, February 28, 2014. K-12 students from all over the country were asked to create short films about the connection between technology and education. Inside the East Room of the White House, President Obama offered opening remarks prior to the screening of the top films.
The San Luis Obispo International Film Festival (SLOIFF) announced that actor Jeff Bridges will be presented with the 20th Anniversary King Vidor Award at the upcoming festival taking place March 5 to 9th, 2014. On Saturday, March 8 at the Fremont Theatre in San Luis Obispo, former King Vidor Award recipient James Cromwell will present the award followed by a conversation with Jeff Bridges, and a screening of one of his films.
GASLAND PART II, the follow up to Emmy Award-winning and Oscar®-nominated director Josh Fox’s groundbreaking documentary, GASLAND that exposed the truth, lies and corruption in the natural gas industry and inspired communities worldwide to act, will have its Australian Premiere on Saturday 1st March at the 8th Byron Bay International Film Festival. GASLAND PART II, which premiered at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival in New York, shows how the stakes have been raised on all sides in one of the most important environmental issues facing the world today.
The 29th Spirit Awards ceremony was held this afternoon in a tent on the beach in Santa Monica, with top honors going to 12 YEARS A SLAVE, DALLAS BUYERS CLUB and NEBRASKA. BLUE JASMINE, FRUITVALE STATION, BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR, SHORT TERM 12, THIS IS MARTIN BONNER and 20 FEET FROM STARDOM also received awards at the ceremony.
This year’s major category winners were 12 YEARS A SLAVE, which won Best Feature, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Female and Best Cinematography and DALLAS BUYERS CLUB, which won Best Supporting Male and Best Male Lead; FRUITVALE STATION which won Best First Feature and NEBRASKA, which won Best First Screenplay; BLUE JASMINE, which won Best Female Lead, SHORT TERM 12 which won Best Editing; THIS IS MARTIN BONNER, which won the John Cassavetes Award; BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR, which won Best International Film and 20 FEET FROM STARDOM which won Best Documentary.
WHEN MY SORROW DIED: THE LEGEND OF ARMEN RA & THE THEREMIN
Described as “Australia’s independent showcase for the edgiest filmmakers on the planet,” the 8th Byron Bay International Film Festival kicked off on Friday, February 28th and runs through March 9th, 2014. The festival opened with the Australian premiere of WHEN MY SORROW DIED: THE LEGEND OF ARMEN RA & THE THEREMIN – the candidly told life story of Armen Ra, who toured with Nick Cave and whose performance Debby Harry describes as ‘beyond’. RISE OF THE ECO WARRIORS closes the festival.15 brave and passionate young people and one scientist step up against rampant destruction in Borneo to save its Orangutans.
The 2014 edition of the American Documentary Film Festival and Film Fund will screen a number of award-winning international films, including the acclaimed Polish documentary, DEEP LOVE. DEEP LOVE is a story of Dr. Janusz Solarz (Soley), an active economist, researcher and lawyer, and an avid scuba diver. Life for Soley is filled with passion and promise until suddenly, at age 58, he suffers a debilitating stroke that leaves him partially paralyzed and unable to communicate clearly. Rehabilitation and recovery proves difficult, despite the assistance of his partner, Asia, a water therapist who works with disabled children, and is an active diver herself. Over the course of three years, Soley begins to regain some mobility, but not enough to reclaim his passion for diving – especially not his big dream of returning to one of the most dangerous diving locations on earth – the perilous Blue Hole in Dahab, Egypt.
LE WEEK-END
The 17th annual Bermuda International Film Festival taking place later this month, March 21 to 27, 2014, under the theme, Global Visions, unveiled its lineup including more than 25 feature-length and short films which will screen this year at Liberty Theatre in Hamilton, Bermuda. BIFF 2014 opens with “LE WEEK-END,” a British film set in Paris. It stars Jim Broadbent and Lindsay Duncan as a fifty-something couple returning to the city of love, in which they honeymooned, in an attempt to rejuvenate their marriage.
Family United (La gran familia Española)
49 films are making their World, International, North American, and U.S. Premieres at the upcoming 31st Miami International Film Festival (MIFF), opening next week. The Miami International Film Festival, a program of Miami Dade College’s MDCulture, will run March 7 to 16, 2014).
From this year’s lineup, MIFF will screen seven feature films and 17 short films making their World Premieres, three films will make their International Premieres, 12 films will make their North American Premieres, and six films will be screening for the first time in the U.S. There will also be three North American premiering short films and one U.S. premiering short film.
Check out the official poster and trailer for the documentary STRIPPED, directed by Dave Kellett and Frederick Schroeder, and scheduled for release on iTunes and DVD on April 1st. STRIPPED is described as a love-letter to comic strips. It brings together the world’s best cartoonists to talk about the art form they love, and what happens to it as newspapers die. Over 90 interviews were conducted, including the first-ever audio interview with Bill Watterson (Calvin & Hobbes), as well as Jim Davis (Garfield), Cathy Guisewite(Cathy), Mort Walker (Beetle Bailey), Mike & Jerry (Penny Arcade), Matt Inman (The Oatmeal), Jeff Keane (The Family Circus), Ryan North (Dinosaur Comics), Lynn Johnston (FBOFW), Zach Weiner (SMBC), Scott Kurtz (PvP), Scott McCloud(Understanding Comics), Richard Thompson (Cul de Sac), Jeph Jacques(Questionable Content), Stephan Pastis (Pearls Before Swine), Bill Amend (Foxtrot), Kate Beaton (Hark! A Vagrant) and more. STRIPPED sits down with these creators to talk about how cartooning works, why it’s so loved, and how they’re navigating this dicey period between print and digital options…when neither path works perfectly.
The 38th Annual Atlanta Film Festival taking place March 28 to April 6 2014, will open with the feature film “JOE,” starring Nicolas Cage.
The Gasparilla International Film Festival (GIFF) unveiled its list of scheduled films for the eighth annual event held March 19-23, 2014 in Tampa, Florida. 100 films which will be screened at the Tampa Theatre, Cinébistro at Hyde Park and Muvico Centro Ybor 20, Tampa Art Museum and Firehouse Cultural Center. The World premiere,of THERE’S ALWAYS WOODSTOCK directed by Rita Merson is the opening night film , and the U.S.premiere of CHU AND BLOSSOM directed by Gavin Kelly and Charles Chu is the closing night film.