Conceptualized at first as a six-part television series for British television, director Michael Winterbottom’s “The Trip,” starring English comics Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, is a strange, delightfully bittersweet mid-life crisis film of sorts, which leaves you somehow feeling as if you’ve witnessed an actual epiphany happening as it is unfolding. Coogan plays himself, ostensibly, and the premise is that he is invited to do a driving restaurant tour of the gorgeous Northern English […]
Jerzy Rose’s Some Girls Never Learn emerged the big winner of the 2011 Chicago Underground Film Festival picking up Audience Award in addition to the Made in Chicago Award. The film synopsis, ” A university has found the leg bone of Amelia Earhart. The diver responsible for the discovery is receiving mysterious messages from the famous dead pilot. A high school science teacher travels to the underworld to bring back his girlfriend. Animals are arranging […]
The 2011 Palm Springs International ShortFest, Short Film Festival & Film Market, which will screen June 21-27, at the Camelot Theatres in Palm Springs, announced its roster of 331 films. New this year, Palm Springs International ShortFest announced its inaugural ShortFest Online Film Festival featuring ten films playing on a special section of the festival web site starting a week prior to the festival and will continue to play online for two months after the […]
Just days after the close of the 5th Little Rock Film Festival, the Arkansas Times is reporting that executive director Jack Lofton is out after announcing his resignation. With Lofton out, co-founders Owen Brainard and Craig Renaud will serve as co-executive directors of the festival. Lofton has reportedly described the split as “amicable and mutually beneficial.” Additionally, co-founder Brent Renaud has been appointed executive director of the newly created Arkansas Film Institute, a “state-wide initiative […]
The 2011 Amsterdam Film Festival Van Gogh Awards announced the winners of the prestigious Van Gogh Awards. The Grand Jury Prize was presented to four films – The Secret Friend directed by Flavio Alves (Brazil), Der Sandmann directed by Peter Luisi (Switzerland), Wish directed by Kyle Milardo (USA) and Happy directed by Roko Belic (USA). The De grote Prijs van de Jury was presented to New Low directed by Adam Bowers (USA); a film about […]
Thirty-one films will compete in the 2011 Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival in Manila next month. Nine films will compete in the New Breed Full-length Feature category, 10 films in the Short Feature category, and 4 in the Directors’ Showcase. New Breed category “Amok” by Lawrence Fajardo“Ang Babae sa Septic Tank” by Chris Martinez“Ang Sayaw ng Dalawang Kaliwang Paa” by Alemberg Ang and Alvin Yapan“Baby Factory” by Eduardo W. Roy, Jr. and Jerome Zamora “Cuchera” by […]
The 2011 Honolulu Film Awards Ceremony Dinner was held last month at the Sarento’s Top of the “I” restaurant located on the top floor of the beautiful Ilikai Hotel & Suites with breathtaking views of Diamond Head and Waikiki Beach in Honolulu, Hawaii. The Honolulu Film Awards honor the best from around the world in several competition categories including Feature Films, Documentaries, Short Films, Foreign Films, Hawaiian Films, Action Sports Films, Music Videos, Experimental Films, […]
Tribeca Film will release Shut Up Little Man! An Audio Misadventure, written and directed by Matthew Bate and produced by Bate and Sophie Hyde. Shut Up Little Man! will be released nationwide on VOD August 25, 2011, and theatrically the same day (expanding on September 9), by Tribeca Film, a comprehensive distribution label operated by Tribeca Enterprises. The documentary premiered in competition at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and has played in New Directors/New Films […]
Jennifer Garner and Oscar-nominated animator John Musker have been tapped to present at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ 38th Annual Student Academy Awards ceremony on Saturday, June 11, at 6 p.m., at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater. The awards ceremony is the culmination of a week of industry-related activities and social events that the Academy is hosting for the 15 students from the U.S. and abroad who have been selected as winners […]
This week two documentaries open in New York that examine relationships between humans and animals. Though two very different kinds of animals are presented in these two films, and their stories told in very different styles, the overall ideas explored in both films, about humans and animals coexisting, are quite similar. A realistic examination of wild animals living in captivity through the unique story of an elephant and a circus director, One Lucky Elephant is […]
The first annual Gold Coast International Film Festival in North Hempstead, Long Island, New york wrapped and held its first awards ceremony Sunday night at the Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point reports Port Washington Patch. Keirda Bahruth’s “Bob And The Monster” won the New York Post 2011 Gold Coast International Film Festival Trailer Contest and the audience award for best documentary film. The film is a documentary chronicling the life of charismatic singer/songwriter Bob […]
The Elton John documentary film, THE UNION, had its world premiere as the opening night selection at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival, will debut on HBO in Jan. 2012. Directed by Cameron Crowe (“Almost Famous,” “Jerry Maguire”), THE UNION takes an unprecedented look at the creative life of Elton John and his remarkable collaborative album with his early-career idol, Leon Russell, produced by award-winning music producer T Bone Burnett. Never before filmed in his composing […]