Sherry Hormann’s film Desert Flower is the true story of the life of supermodel Waris Dirie, and a very important one to be told. The film is based on her autobiography and brings us through the amazing journey from her life in Somalia as a child to her shift into modeling stardom in London and eventual women’s rights activism. The execution of this story, however, is less than impressive. It follows pretty conventional modes of […]
Major award winners from both the 2010 Cannes and 2011 Sundance Film Festivals will headline the World Cinema and competition lineups for the 2011 Nashville Film Festival (NaFF) presented by Nissan when it takes place April 14-21 at the Regal Green Hills Cinemas in Nashville, Tennessee. Winner of the Palm d’Or at Cannes, Thai filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s “Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives,” a natural, free-wheeling, pensive and dryly funny film combining Buddhist […]
Indie Memphis will hold its 14th annual Indie Memphis Film Festival this year from November 3 to November 6, 2011. Screenings and events will once again take place in the heart of Midtown Memphis at the new Playhouse on the Square, Malco Theatre’s Studio on the Square, and the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. The Indie Memphis Film Festival, which was named one of MovieMaker magazine’s “25 Coolest Film Festivals” in 2009, drew a record-setting […]
The Fargo Film Festival named David Filipi as the recipient of the Ted M. Larson Award. Filipi will accept the award on Saturday, March 5 during the closing session of the Fargo Film Festival. The 2011 Fargo Film Festival also announced the best-in-show awards. Best Picture – “The Butterfly Circus” Best Director – Vitaly Vorobjev for “I Shall Remember” Best Actress – Alexandra Chalupa in “An Affair with Dolls” Best Actor – John Hawkes in […]
Billy Bob Thornton’s The King of Luck, a documentary about Willie Nelson, was announced as the Closing Night Film of the South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival, scheduled to be screened on Saturday, March 19,. SXSW also announced additional features and shorts for the 2011 event, including a work-in-progress screening of Paul Feig’s Bridesmaids, starring (and co-written by) Kristen Wiig and produced by Judd Apatow, Umshini Wam, a short film from Harmony Korine […]
‘The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls’ a documentary by Leanne Pooley will open in New York at Cinema Village on May 13. Winner of numerous awards, including Best Feature Documentary at New York’s NewFest 2010 and the Cadillac People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival 2009 ‘The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls’ tells the story of the world’s only comedic, singing, yodeling lesbian twin sisters, Lynda and Jools Topp. Argot Pictures is proud to present the US theatrical release of ‘The […]
The inaugural Santa Catalina Film Festival will be held May 6-8, 2011, in Avalon, Santa Catalina Island. The Santa Catalina Film Festival (SCFF) is a three day festival celebrating independent film with screenings all weekend in addition to discussion panels with top film industry executives. Guests in attendance to include actor and environmental advocate, ED BEGLEY, Jr. who joins Multi-platinum Grammy Award-winners ALL-4-ONE, Emmy-winner and Grammy-nominated WAYNE BRADY, along with the cast of Disney’s Wizards […]
The world premiere of Cameron Crowe’s documentary The Union will open the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival, presented by American Express. A performance by the film’s subject – Elton John – will follow the free, outdoor screening to kick off the Festival’s 10th edition and thank the New York City community for its ongoing support. The Union will premiere on Wednesday, April 20 at the North Cove at the World Financial Plaza. The 10th annual Tribeca Film Festival will take place from April 20 through May 1, 2011.
Gary Winick, a pioneering producer and director of independent digital films who found mainstream success with such movies as “13 Going on 30” and “Letters to Juliet,” has died. He was 49. Winick, who was diagnosed with brain cancer about two years ago, died Sunday at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City, said Niels Mueller, a longtime collaborator. When Winick went to the Sundance Film Festival in 2002, he didn’t even have an […]
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. In 2009, People in Need gave its Homo Homini award to the Chinese intellectual and […]
Tribeca Enterprises announced that Tribeca Film will expand to commercially release 26 films over the next year, more than double the number of titles released in 2010. The comprehensive distribution label for independent film also announced that it acquired U.S. rights to nine new titles to be released across multiple platforms. The curated selection of films includes many genres and features stars including Zach Braff, Vincent Gallo and Zoe Kravitz and filmmakers such as Peter […]
Dirty mouth. Actress Melissa Leo dropped the F-bomb while accepting the Oscar forr Best Supporting Actress at the 83rd annual Academy Awards on Sunday night. Making up her acceptance speech as she spoke, the actress said, “Yeah, I am kind of speechless,… when I watched Kate two years ago, it looked so f***ing easy.” Oscar co-host Anne Hathaway had the best come-back, “Wow, I thought the ‘F’ stood for ‘The Fighter.’ It’s the young and […]