The 7th Annual Los Angeles Greek Film Festival – LAGFF to run June 6-9, at the Writers Guild Theater, Beverly Hills announced its 2013 Program, including Opening Night film, Spiros Stathoulopoulos’ drama, METEORA, which debuted at this year’s Berlin Film Festival and Closing Night film, Kimon Tsakiris’ (SUGARTOWN) documentary, MITSIGAN – HARDSHIPS AND BEAUTIES.
Grammy Award winning singer/songwriter/producer Pharrell Williams is partnering with Creative Growth Art Center to launch “CREATIVE GROWTH,” a new series of short films introducing viewers to what they describe as the extraordinary geniuses of the center that provides a haven for adult artists with mental, physical, and developmental disabilities. The first look is available now on the i am OTHER YouTube channel.
New York City officials Kate Levin, Scott Stringer, Margaret Chin and Gale Brewer were joined by acclaimed filmmakers Michael Moore (Bowling For Columbine); Matthew O’Neill (China’s Unnatural Disaster, Redemption), and Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me) at a ceremony to mark the groundbreaking of Downtown Community Television Center’s new documentary-only theater. It is expected to open in early 2015.
The New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF) announced the winning films of the 2013 festival, which ran April 30 – May 4, with top honors awarded to Anumati directed by Gajendra Ahire, for Best Feature Film and the Best Documentary award went to The Only Real Game, directed by Mirra Bank.
Director Hansal Mehta took home the Best Director of a Feature Film award for his compelling film Shahid, which traces the true story of slain human rights activist lawyer Shahid Azmi.
Below is the full list of winners as well as the presenters who honored the recipients with an award:
The RiverRun International Film Festival in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, held April 12–21, 2013, announced the jury and audience awards of the 2013 Festival. Among the winning films, Altered States Audience Award for Best American Indie was presented to Remote Area Medical, directed by Jeff Reichert and Farihah Zaman. Remote Area Medical documents the program that provided free healthcare to nearly 2000 uninsured Americans on the infield of Bristol’s NASCAR Speedway in April 2012.
DRAGON GIRLS directed by Inigo Westmeier took the big prize – the Best International Feature Documentary Award at the 2013 Canadian International Documentary Festval aka Hot Docs. Dragon Girls follows three young female students studying and living at the Shaolin Tagu Kung Fu school, home to over 20,000 students, far away from their homes and families. WHEN I WALK directed by Jason DaSilva received the Best Canadian Feature Documentary Award. In WHEN I WALK, director Jason DaSilva, diagnosed with a severe form of multiple sclerosis at 25, turns the camera on himself to document a seven-year struggle with the disease that has no cure and a world filled with increasing obstacles.
Hot Docs ran April 25 – May 5, 2015 in Toronto, Canada.
The full list of winners
Animation Block Party’s tenth annual animation festival will be held July 25 thru 28, 2013 in Brooklyn. The festival is currently accepting filmmaker submissions until May 31,2013. ABP 2013 will exhibit nearly 100 short films in competition alongside numerous special programs including a screening of Beavis and Butt-head Do America in 35mm, a rare showing of Secret of NIMH and silent shorts fromTom Stathes’ Cartoons On Film.
Cinematographer Bradford Young will co-host the 2013 Maryland Film Festival Closing Night screening of Oscilloscope Laboratories’ Mother of George alongside director Andrew Dosunmu.
Young won the U.S. Dramatic Cinematography award at Sundance 2013 for his work on both Mother of George and David Lowery’s Ain’t Them Bodies Saints. His other film credits as cinematographer includes Dee Rees’ Pariah (2011) and Ava DuVernay’s Middle of Nowhere (2012), as well as two features screened within Maryland Film Festival: James Spooner’s White Lies, Black Sheep (MFF 2008) and Dosunmu’s earlier feature Restless City (MFF 2011).
The USA Film Festival announced the Winners of the 35th Annual National Short Film & Video Competition of the 43rd Annual USA Film Festival in Dallas. The festival ran April 24-28, 2013 at the Angelika Film Center in Dallas, Texas. Native Boy, directed by Henry Roosevelt (pictured above, Read More … for trailer) about “A story about a boy on a quest to capture the sun” was awarded the First Place prize for Fiction. Nine to Ninety directed by Alicia Dwyer, which ” explores delicate moments of aging through the intimate perspectives of three generations of an Italian American family” was awarded the First Place prize for Non-Fiction. Strange Fruit, directed by Neal Sopata “is a short animated film that contrasts pastoral scenes of the Old South with the racial violence that occurred during the Jim Crow era in the United States” was awarded the First Place prize for Animation.
Chosen from more than 500 U.S. entries, the winners included:
The Los Angeles Film Festival, released its official film selections for 2013, and made some big announcements – Fox Searchlight Pictures’ The Way, Way Back, will serve as the Closing Night film for the 2013 Festival, the Festival’s Gala screenings, will include Ryan Coogler’s award winning Fruitvale Station from The Weinstein Company and the North American premiere of Nicholas Winding Refn’s Only God Forgives from RADiUS-TWC. The festival previously announced that opening the Festival will be the North American premiere of Pedro Almodóvar’s I’m So Excited!.
THIS IS MARTIN BONNER directed by Chad Hartigan, and DIRTY WARS directed by Richard Rowle took the top independent films awards at the 2013 Independent Film Festival Boston (IFFBoston) which came to a close on Tuesday night, April 30th. THIS IS MARTIN BONNER about ‘two men from different walks of life form a tentative connection that slowly grows into friendship’ received the Grand Jury Prize for Best Narrative Feature, and DIRTY WARS which explores the “… two wars being waged in the Middle East: the one widely covered by the media, and the covert war nobody ever hears about” received the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary Feature.
The jury and audience award prizes are as follows:
by DeVon Hyman
April 26th 2013 marked the official New York City release of Terence Nance’s Dream Hampton, and Jay Z executive produced “Oversimplification” Described as “Happy American Sexiness” (New York Times) the autobiographical nature of the film takes you on a journey of Mr Nance’s inner most thoughts, played out on the big screen, narrated by what would seemingly be the conscious subconscious. After viewing the film, I was left with many a question, as my intrigue was at an all-time high. I sat down with Terence to pick his brain on all things Oversimplified, from the blueprinting of the capture of his ideas, to his co-star selection.