The 62nd Berlin International Film Festival, taking place from February 9 to 19, 2012, unveiled its official poster. As of mid January the poster for the Berlinale 2012 will add a bright note to the winter cityscape – first around the Potsdamer Platz and then all over Berlin. The motif on the poster will also appear on many of the Festival’s publications. “The Berlinale Bear is both a trademark and a popular symbol. The […]
The 23rd annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) will present three time Academy Award nominee Stephen Daldry with the Director of the Year Award for Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. Daldry is an award-winning director of both stage and screen. His first feature film, Billy Elliot, won more than 40 awards worldwide and received three Oscar® nominations, including Best Director. His second feature The Hours received nine Oscar® nominations including Best Picture and Director, […]
The 2012 Palm Springs International Film Festival announced a new program highlighting Arab Cinema as well as films selected to compete for the FIPRESCI Award, New Voices/New Visions Award and John Schlesinger Awards. The Festival will screen 40 of the 63 official submissions to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for Best Foreign Language Film.
ARABIAN NIGHTS: A Showcase of CINEMA FROM THE MIDDLE EAST
This program will premiere 11 new films made in the Middle East. The showcase reflects the dramatic upsurge of film production and the concurrent emergence of exciting new filmmaking talents across the region. The films selected in the Arabian Nights program include:
Asma’a (Egypt) – Devout, careworn widow Asma’a has a secret. She is HIV-positive in a world where the disease is still stigmatized. Ultimately, the host of a daring TV show inspires Asma’a to speak out and fight back – both against her illness and social ignorance. Director: Amr Salama. Cast: Hend Sabry, Maged El Kedwani, Hani Adel, Ahmad Kamal, Sayed Ragab, Botros Ghali.
Cairo 678 (Egypt) – Tackling the issue of sexual harassment, which continues to plague Egyptian society, this social issues drama focuses on three women from different backgrounds. Director: Mohamed Diab Bushra. Cast: Nelli Kareem, Nahed El Seba’i, Maged El Kedwany, Bassem Samra.
Habibi (Palestinian Territories/USA, Netherlands, United Arab Emirates) – The first fiction feature set in Gaza in over 15 years offers a story of forbidden love. Can Qays, a poet from the refugee camp, build a future with Layla, the daughter of a traditional, religious family? Director: Susan Youssef. Cast: Kais Nashif, Maisa Abd Elhadi, Yussef Abu-Warda, Amer Khalil.
How Big is Your Love (Algeria/Morocco) – A heartwarming examination of childhood and love in modern Algiers. With his parents breaking up, 8-year-old Adel is sent to live with his grandparents. Soon it’s like he’s lived there forever, he’s so intimately wrapped up in their lives. Director: Fatma Zohra Zamoum. Cast: Racim Zennadi, Adbelkader Tadjer, Louiza Habani, Loubna Boucheloukh, Zahir Bouzrar, Nadjia Debbahi-Laaraf.
Love in the Medina (Morocco) – In this colorful melodrama, a young man from a conservative Moroccan family infuriates his father when he decides to become a butcher. Soon he discovers that there is only one thing that he loves more than choice cuts…Women. Director: Abdelhaï Laraki. Cast: Omar Lotfi, Ouidad Elma, Driss Rokh, Amal Ayouch.
Man Without a Cell Phone (Palestinian Territories/France, Belgium, Qatar) – An Arab-Israeli village’s new cell-phone tower quickly goes from minor annoyance to symbol of oppression. In turn, charming slacker Jawdat abandons youthful aimlessness for activism. Tempering its pointed politics with gentle humour, Sameh Zoabi’s dramedy is an old-fashioned crowd-pleaser. Director: Sameh Zoabi. Cast: Razi Shawahdeh, Basem Loulou, Louay Noufi, Ayman Nahas.
On The Edge (Morocco/France, Germany) – In the demimonde of nocturnal Tangier, four street-smart young women struggle to escape their poverty turning tricks and pawning stolen valuables. The film won Best Film, Best Director and Best Actress at the Taormina Film Festival. Director: Leila Kilani. Cast: Soufia Issami, Mouna Bahmad, Nouzha Akel, Sara Betioui.
The Rif Lover (Morocco/France, Belgium) – A bold, visually ravishing tale of women struggling against the bonds of tradition as a beautiful but naïve 20-year-old falls into the clutches of a drug baron. Director: Narjiss Nejjar. Cast: Nadia Kounda, Mourade Zeguendi, Nadia Niazi, Omar Lofti, Siham Assif.
Sea Shadow (United Arab Emirates) – Set in a small seaside town in the Emirates, this gentle coming-of-age story follows two teenagers on the road to adulthood. Bound by tradition and deeply rooted values, Mansoor and his pretty cousin Kaltham must find the courage to forge their own paths. Director: Nawaf Al-Janahi. Cast: Omar Al Mulla, Neven Madi, Abrar Al Hamad, Khadeeja Al Taie, Aisha Abdulrahman, Ahmad Iraj.
The Three Disappearances of Soad Hosni (Lebanon) – Beautifully conceived and expertly edited, this playful documentary uses a wealth of clips from Egyptian star Hosni’s films to explore the iconic actress’s screen image and shed light on the Arab world’s most popular cinema. Director: Rania Stephan.
Transit Cities (Jordan) – A 36-year-old divorcee returns to Amman after 14 years in the U.S., but finds her hometown, family and friends much changed. This affecting drama strikes enough universal notes pertaining to cultural estrangement to resonate with expats of any stripe. Director: Mohammad Hushki. Cast: Saba Mubarak, Mohammad Al-Qabbani, Shafika Al Til, Ashraf Farah, Manal Seihmeimat. {jathumbnail off}
TIFF kicks off the eleventh annual Canada’s Top Ten on January 5, 2012 at TIFF Bell Lightbox. The event offers public screenings of feature and short films on the Top Ten list, introductions and Q&A sessions with filmmakers – including Guy Maddin, Philippe Falardeau, Jean-Marc Vallée and Nathan Morlando – and a panel featuring Canada’s Top Ten filmmakers discussing the gangster/crime genre in Canadian film. Canada’s Top Ten will run to January 15. Select films […]
Ninety-seven scores from eligible feature-length motion pictures are in contention for nominations in the Original Score category for the 84th Academy Awards®. The eligible scores along with the composer are listed below in alphabetical order by film title: “The Adjustment Bureau,” Thomas Newman, composer “The Adventures of Tintin,” John Williams, composer “African Cats,” Nicholas Hooper, composer “Albert Nobbs,” Brian Byrne, composer “Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked,” Mark Mothersbaugh, composer “Anonymous,” Thomas Wander and Harald Kloser, […]
The Black Film Critics Circle (BFCC) voted “THE HELP” Best Film of 2011, Dee Rees Best Director for “PARIAH”, Viola Davis Best Actress for “THE HELP” and Olivier Litondo Best Actor for “THE FIRST GRADER”. The complete list of award winners include: Best Picture – THE HELPBest Director – Dee Rees for PARIAHBest Actor – Olivier Litondo for THE FIRST GRADERBest Actress – Viola Davis for THE HELPBest Supporting Actor – Albert Brooks for DRIVEBest […]
The 2012 Slamdance Film Festival taking place January 20 – 26, 2011 in Park City, Utah, announced the lineup for the Special Screenings and Short Programs for the 18th edition.
The Special Screenings Programs present a variety of acclaimed and visionary films by a diverse group of global filmmakers – from Hollywood iconoclasts to highly anticipated emerging directors.
The 2012 Shorts Program features 75 shorts, and include Special Screenings, Live Action Competition, Documentary Competition, Animation, $99 Special, Anarchy Shorts, and the world premiere of a special program of new Iranian shorts never seen outside the country, Made In Iran: 7 Short Premieres.
This year’s Slamdance short film competition slate features 32 live action shorts and 13 documentary shorts programmed both in blocks and in front of features, and 10 animated films programmed in a signature animation block.
A jury will present awards to short films in competition in the following categories: Narrative, Animation, and Documentary. Competition shorts are also eligible for the Spirit of Slamdance Award.
Out of competition shorts and programs include: $99 Special Short Harold’s Bad Day, a winner of the 2011 Slamdance Short Screenplay Competition, directed by Slamdance alum Jordan Brady. The $99 Special Program presentation is the culmination of an annual tradition in which filmmakers are challenged to make a short film in 99 days with a budget of $99 dollars.
Made In Iran: 7 Short Premieres, an out of competition shorts program, is a world premiere collection of recent Iranian shorts never seen outside the country, curated by Iranian-American filmmaker Ehsan Ghoreishi, featuring the work of emerging talents from across Iran.
Anarchy Shorts is a curated, non-competitive spotlight on unique and provocative filmmakers who have made visionary, experimental, cult, and underground films.
See the full lineup {jathumbnail off}
The trailer for the upcoming Tribeca Film release ULTRASUEDE: IN SEARCH OF HALSTON, featuring interviews with an all-star cast including Liza Minnelli, Diane Von Furstenberg, André Leon Talley, Anjelica Huston, Bob Colacello, and Billy Joel, among others has been released. ULTRASUEDE: IN SEARCH OF HALSTON releases December 26, 2011 nationally On Demand via cable VOD, iTunes, Amazon Watch Instantly and Vudu. It will open theatrically beginning in LA and NY in February 2012. No one represented the glamour, style, and […]
The world premiere of Lucas Belvaux’s 38 Témoins (38 Witnesses, France), starring Yvan Attal, Sophie Quinton and Nicole Garcia will open the 41st International Film Festival Rotterdam on January 25, 2012; the festival will close on February 4 with the screening of Daniel Nettheim’s The Hunter (Australia) starring Willem Dafoe, Frances O’Connor and Sam Neill. In 38 Témoins, Louise (Sophie Quinton) returns home to discover that while she was away on business in China her street […]
The London Critics’ Circle announced the nominations today for its 32nd annual Film Awards and the nominations were lead by TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY and DRIVE, which both receive 6 nominations each Asghar Farhadi’s Golden Bear (Berlin) winner A SEPARATION and Lynne Ramsay’s WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN have received 5 nominations each whilst Michel Hazanavicius’ THE ARTIST and Steve McQueen’s SHAME have received 4 apiece. The London Critics’ Circle Film Awards in partnership with Virgin […]
Thirty-nine songs from eligible feature-length motion pictures are in contention for nominations in the Original Song category for the 84th Academy Awards®, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced today. The original songs, along with the motion picture in which each song is featured, are listed below in alphabetical order by film and song title: “The World I Knew” from “African Cats”“Lay Your Head Down” from “Albert Nobbs”“Star Spangled Man” from “Captain America: […]
Aki Kaurismaki’s Le Havre, starring Andre Wilms, Jean-Pierre Darroussin and Kati Outinen was awarded one of France’s top film honors, the winner of the 69th annual Louis Delluc Prize. Le Havre, Finland’s submission to the Academy for consideration for the Best Foreign Language Film, beat out a strong field of contenders that included The Artist, House of Tolerance, Hors Satan, Declaration of War, The Snows of Kilimandjaro, Tomboy and The Minister. In this warmhearted portrait of the French harbor city […]