Sony Pictures Classics acquired Asghar Farhadi’s NADER AND SIMIN, A SEPARATION for release in the US. The film won the Golden Bear at this year’s Berlin Film Festival. Farhadi was awarded Best Director for his previous film, ABOUT ELLY at the 2009 Berlin Film Festival. Set in Contemporary Iran, NADER AND SIMIN, A SEPARATION is a compelling drama about the dissolution of a marriage. Simin wants to leave Iran with her husband Nader and daughter […]
Yvette Vickers, an actress best known as the femme fatale in two late 1950s cult horror films, “Attack of the 50 Foot Woman” and “Attack of the Giant Leeches,” was found dead Wednesday at her Benedict Canyon home. She was 82. The body’s mummified state suggests that she could have been dead for close to a year, police said. Read more in the LA Times
The 2011 Los Angeles Film Festival will screen over 200 feature films, shorts, and music videos, representing more than 30 countries. Returning to downtown Los Angeles, with its central hub at L.A. LIVE, the Festival will run from Thursday, June 16 to Sunday, June 26.
The festival announced the first round of official US and international selections.
The 2011 Tribeca Film Festival (TFF) numbers are in, and they reveal that more than 430,000 people attended screenings, panels, talks and free community events – including the opening night world premiere of Cameron Crowe’s The Union, the Tribeca Drive-In series, Street Fair and Family Festival, Tribeca/ESPN Sports Day, Tribeca Disruptive Innovation awards, and NYFest – during the Festival’s 10th edition. Of all the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival Facts, Figures and anecdotes, the most interesting […]
Maryland Film Festival 2011 opens tomorrow, and among the many documentaries screening are two honing in on fascinating stories within the Baltimore school system. Imelda director Ramona Diaz’s THE LEARNING documents a year in the lives of four Filipino women recruited to work as teachers in the Baltimore school system; Richard Chisolm’s CAFETERIA MAN follows Tony Geraci as he attempts to revamp Baltimore’s school lunch program with an emphasis on fresh, healthy, local, and even student-grown […]
QUEEN OF THE SUN: What Are the Bees Telling Us?, the award winning documentary by Taggart Siegel, (director of “The Real Dirt on Farmer John”). QUEEN OF THE SUN will open at Cinema Village in New York on Friday, June 10, and at Laemmle Theaters in Los Angeles on Friday, June 17. Many other cities will follow. QUEEN OF THE SUN is a profound, alternative look at the global bee crisis. Taking us on a journey through the […]
Everybody Loves Raymond creator Phil Rosenthal’s new documentary Exporting Raymond opened over the weekend and grossed an estimated $36,010 from 13 theaters in New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and other markets for a location average of $2,770 reports THR. Directed by, written by and starring Phil Rosenthal, the synopsis: Phil Rosenthal created one of the most successful sitcoms of all-time, “Everybody Loves Raymond.” He was a bona-fide expert in his craft. And then…. the Russians […]
Focus Features has acquired worldwide distribution rights to Moonrise Kingdom, the new feature from two-time Academy Award nominee Wes Anderson. Filming has begun, and Mr. Anderson is directing from an original screenplay that he wrote with Roman Coppola. Set on an island off the coast of New England in the 1960s, Moonrise Kingdom follows a young boy and girl falling in love. When they are moved to run away together, various factions of the town […]
“Saturday Night Live” star Jason Sudeikis has been selected as the host of the 2011 MTV Movie Awards taking place on June 5, 2011 at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, California, reports MTV. The MTV Movie Awards nominees — based on votes at MovieAwards.MTV.com — will be announced on May 3. Voting by the public will then determine the favorite films and stars in categories like Best Fight, Best Kiss, Biggest Badass Star, Best […]
33 students from 22 U.S. colleges and universities have been selected as finalists in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ 38th Annual Student Academy Awards competition in each of four categories: Alternative, Animation, Documentary and Narrative. The winning filmmakers will be brought to Los Angeles for a week of industry-related activities and social events that will culminate in the awards ceremony on Saturday, June 11, at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater. The finalists […]
The 2nd annual Twin Cities Film Fest will be held September 20 to 25, 2011 at Kerasotes ShowPlace ICON at the West End. This year’s festival will feature 35 to 40 films ranging from Minnesota-made features to studio and independent films. Submissions are now being accepted.
Director Phil Hawkins took the Grand Prize at the 8th London Independent Film Festival his feature film Being Sold. The dark comedy tells the story of a man who puts himself up for online auction and attracts a storm of media attention. Hawkins, whose debut feature The Butterfly Tattoo met with critical success in 2009, scooped the prize which includes a £50k post-production deal with LIFF sponsor Prime Focus London. Being Sold, which was shot […]