• Beginners and Tree of Life tied for Best Film at 21st Gotham Independent Film Awards

    [caption id="attachment_785" align="alignnone"]Beginners [/caption]

    Beginners and Tree of Life tied for Best Films of 2011 at the 21st annual Gotham Independent Film Awards in New York City on Monday night.

    From writer/director Mike Mills, and starring Ewan McGregor and Christopher Plummer, Beginners is a comedy/drama about a father, who, following the death of his wife of 45 years, comes out of the closet at age 75.

    Tree of Life, directed by Terrence Malick and starring Brad Pitt, Sean Penn and Jessica Chastain is the story of a Midwestern family in the 1950’s.

    Girlfriend, directed by Justin Lerner received the Gotham Independent Film Audience Award and Scenes of A Crime, from co-directors Blue Hadaegh & Grover Babcock received the Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You Award.

    The complete list of winners:

    Best Feature – A Tie between: BEGINNERS directed by Mike Mills and TREE OF LIFE directed by Terrence Malick

    Best Documentary – BETTER THIS WORLD directed and produced by Katie Galloway and Kelly Duane de la Vega

    Breakthrough Director Award – DEE REES Writer and director of Pariah

    Breakthrough Actor Award – FELICITY JONES Actor in Like Crazy

    Best Ensemble Performance Award – Ewan McGregor, Christopher Plummer, Melanie Laurent, Goran Visnjic, Kai Lennox, Mary Page Keller, Keegan Boos  in BEGINNERS

    Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You Award – SCENES OF A CRIME Blue Hadaegh & Grover Babcock, Directors and Producers

    Gotham Independent Film Audience Award – GIRLFRIEND Justin Lerner, Director

    Produced by Jerad Anderson, Kristina Lauren Anderson, Justin Lerner, Shaun O’Banion The Audience Award was voted on line by filmgoers who love movies.

    euphoria Calvin Klein Spotlight on Women Filmmakers ‘Live the Dream’ grant – LUCY MULLOY for upcoming film UNA NOCHE

    Read more

  • Tribeca Film Festival Gets New Artistic Director

    Frederic Boyer, who most recently ran the Directors’ Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival, has been named the new Artistic Director of Tribeca Film Festival.

    Boyer said, “I could not be more honored and excited to begin this new chapter at Tribeca. This Festival has matured and developed so impressively from its origins, but there are many more frontiers to explore while keeping the core focus on discovering new voices in filmmaking. I am grateful to Jane, Geoff, Nancy and the entire team for giving me the opportunity to help lead that exploration through the medium of film.”

    Other changes to the executive structure include the promotion of Genna Terranova, former Senior Programmer, to Director of Programming.

    The 11th annual Tribeca Film Festival will be held April 18-29, 2012, in New York City.

    Read more

  • Brazilian film director Oscar Maron Filho Suffers Heart Attack and Dies at International Film Festival

    [caption id="attachment_1876" align="alignnone" width="550"]Oscar Maron Filho at Festival de Rio[/caption]

    Brazilian film director and journalist Oscar Maron Filho suffered a massive cardiac arrest on Sunday afternoon, while in Goa, India,  to promote his film ‘Mario Filho: The Creator of Crowds’ at the 2011 International Film Festival of India (IFFI).

    Filho reportedly collapsed in his chair while participating in an ‘Open Forum’ on ‘Football and films’, when he “touched his head and collapsed backwards while sitting”.

    He was rushed to the Goa Medical College hospital where he later died. He was 56.

    Filho other notable films include Bye Bye Romario, Pele and O Papa da Bola.

     

    Read more

  • South Korean Film Planet of Snail Wins 2011 International Documentary Film Festival

    [caption id="attachment_1874" align="alignnone"]VPRO IDFA Award for Best Feature-Length Documentary, Planet of Snail[/caption]

    The winners of the 2011 International Documentary Film Festival were just announced and Seung-Jun Yi’s Planet of Snail (South Korea) won the VPRO IDFA Award for Best Feature-Length Documentary. The Special Jury Award went to 5 Broken Cameras (Palestine/Israel) by Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi, who also won the Publieke Omroep IDFA Audience Award.

    VPRO IDFA Award for Best Feature-Length Documentary
    The VPRO IDFA Award for Best Feature-Length Documentary went to Seung-Jun Yi for Planet of Snail (South Korea), which depicts the everyday life of deaf & blind Young-Chan and the love of his life, Soon-Ho.
    Planet of Snail was pitched at the FORUM 2010.

    Special Jury Award
    The jury also awarded a Special Jury Award to directors Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi for 5 Broken Cameras (Palestine/Israel/Netherlands/France). The film is a personal portrait of a Palestinian village resisting encroaching Jewish settlements, as recorded by an inhabitant of the village over a number of years.

    NTR IDFA Award for Best Mid-Length Documentary
    Jorge Gaggero received the NTR IDFA Award for Best Mid-Length Documentary for Montenegro (Argentina), about an old man living with his dogs on a quiet island in a river delta, in a seemingly harmonious symbiosis with a hermit who lives a little way away.

    IDFA Award for First Appearance
    The IDFA Award for First Appearance was presented to Xun Yu for The Vanishing Spring Light (China/Canada), which documents the life of the residents of West Street in Dujiangyan City.

    Dioraphte IDFA Award for Dutch Documentary
    The Dioraphte IDFA Award for Dutch Documentary went to Jessica Gorter for 900 Days, in which survivors of the siege of Leningrad soberly separate propagandist myth from their horrific personal memories.

    Publieke Omroep IDFA Audience Award
    De Publieke Omroep IDFA Audience Award went to 5 Broken Cameras (Palestine/Israel/Netherlands/France) by Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi.

    IDFA Award for Student Documentary
    Karen Winther received the IDFA Award for Student Documentary for The Betrayal (UK/Norway). The film is about Karen, who as a teenager made a crucial mistake as part of the Norwegian squatting scene, and is hoping for forgiveness.

    BlackBerry IDFA DOC U Award
    The BlackBerry IDFA DOC U Award went to The Last Days of Winter (Iran) by Mehrdad Oskouei. The film is a portrait of seven Iranian boys in a youth detention centre, who talk candidly about their lives.

    IDFA Award for Best Green Screen Documentary
    The IDFA Award for Best Green Screen Documentary (€ 2,500) went to Bitter Seeds (USA/India) by Micha X. Peled. Filmmaker Peled investigates why every thirty minutes an Indian cotton farmer commits suicide, and follows one such farmer on his journey to the edge of the abyss.

    IDFA DocLab Award for Digital Storytelling
    This year saw the presentation for the second time of the IDFA DocLab Award for Digital Storytelling. This went to Insitu (France) by Antoine Viviani. Insitu is a search for creative, artistic ways to intervene in the public space.

    Read more

  • Documentary film maker Jehane Noujaim Arrested in Egypt

    Documentary filmmaker Jehane Noujaim, who directed the documentary film Control Room, a 2004 documentary about Arabic-language news network Al Jazeera, was reportedly arrested and released on Friday by Egyptian security forces after being held for 36 hours.

    Ms. Noujaim was filming in Tahrir Square for a planned documentary about the protests in Egypt.

    She reportedly said “I ran into then one military guy, my camera got taken, my eyepiece got broken by him, he called me a spy; whereas the rest of the military had been very helpful in getting us out of the situation, this particular military guy was absolutely not.”

    Noujaim, who also directed  “Startup.com” and “Mokattam,” and others were charged with congregation and destruction of public property. She was freed unharmed after the Committee to Protect journalists appealed to Egyptian authorities to let her go.

    {youtube}T-C-pf6ZPmw{/youtube}

     

    Read more

  • Renowned 89 year-old Cinematographer finds inspiration in current Occupy movements

    Haskell Wexler, an 89 year-old Academy Award Winning cinematographer, is turning his camera on the Occupy LA movement for his latest political and social documentation.

    The groundbreaking cinematographer and film director has been in the business since the early 1960s, starting out with documentaries, then breaking into Hollywood with Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, for which he won his first Oscar. He went on to shoot such famous and well respected films as In the Heat of the Night and One Flew Over the Cukoo’s Nest. But healso continued to make documentaries and socially relevant films, such as Medium Cool, which he directed, and stands out as a lesser-known film renowned for its realistic and almost journalistic style in capturing the atmosphere leading up to the The Democratic National Convention in 1968.

    Now Wexler has seemed to found a new subject of inspiration and filmmaking with the Occupy movement spreading throughout the country, focusing on LA, where he lives. He has already generated press for his videos (which are being posted online, on various sites) from such publications as The Huffington Post and the LA Times. Vimooz looks forward to what could turn into a full-length documentary. Although Wexler is older and seemingly at the end of a long and great career, it seems he is by no means ready to sit back and stop filming. As he told the LA Times, “You can take that insulation and figure you’re an old guy and you [already] did your thing, and then something inside me gets reminded that my ‘thing’ is what makes me alive — to be able to have a camera and an idea and an urge that gives me pleasure.”

    Read more

  • Palm Springs International Film Festival to honor Glenn Close with the Career Achievement Award

     

    [caption id="attachment_1868" align="alignnone"]Glenn Close in Albert Nobbs[/caption]

    The 23rd annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) will present five-time Academy Award nominee Glenn Close with the Career Achievement Award at its Awards Gala.  The Festival runs January 5-16.

    “Glenn Close has the gift of mesmerizing an audience whenever she performs,” said Film Festival Chairman Harold Matzner.  “Since her film debut in 1982, Close’s ability to capture the essence of a character is unparalleled, be it a femme fatale, a notorious stalker or the trusted aide to a president.  In Albert Nobbs, her upcoming film, Close portrays a woman whose plan for survival in 19th century Ireland is to “pass” as a man, only to find herself trapped by the reality she’s created.  Here she revives a previous stage role and brings it to gritty life in yet another bravura performance.  To this star, a superstar in every sense of the word, the Palm Springs International Film Festival is proud to present the 2011 Career Achievement Award to her.”

    Past recipients of the Career Achievement Award include Cate Blanchett, Robert Duvall, Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, Samuel L. Jackson and Helen Mirren.

    In her forthcoming film Albert Nobbs, Close plays a woman passing as a man in order to work and survive in 19th-century Ireland.  Some thirty years after donning men’s clothing, she finds herself trapped in a prison of her own making.  Mia Wasikowska, Aaron Johnson and Brendan Gleeson join a prestigious, international cast that includes Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Janet McTeer, Brenda Fricker and Pauline Collins.  Rodrigo Garcia directs from a script that Glenn Close, along with Man Booker prize-winning novelist John Banville and Gabriella Prekop, adapted from a short story by Irish author George Moore.  Roadside Attractions will release the film theatrically this December.

    Read more

  • French Director Michel Hazanavicius to be honored at 2011 Palm Springs International Film Festival

     

    The 23rd annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) will present acclaimed French filmmaker Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist) with the Sonny Bono Visionary Award.

    “Director Michel Hazanavicius boldly takes us back in time and reacquaints modern-day audiences with the magical power of black and white silent cinema to capture our hearts and our imaginations in The Artist,” said Festival Chairman Harold Matzner. “The film opened to rave reviews at its premiere in Cannes and will continue to be one of the films to watch throughout awards season as a leadingbest picture contender. For his creative innovation in filmmaking The Palm Springs International Film Festival is proud to present Michel Hazanavicius with the Sonny Bono Visionary Award.”

    Past recipients of the Sonny Bono Visionary Award include Danny Boyle, Quentin Tarantino, Baz Luhrmann, M. Night Shyamalan, Gus Van Sant and Joe Wright.

    The Artist takes place in Hollywood between 1927 and 1932 and focuses on a declining male film star and a rising actress, as silent cinema grows out of fashion and is replaced by talking pictures.  The Weinstein Company presents The Artist, written and directed by Michel Hazanavicius and produced by Thomas Langmann.  Starring Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, John Goodman, James Cromwell, Penelope Ann Miller, Malcolm McDowell, Missi Pyle, Beth Grant, Ed Lauter, Koel Murray and Ken Davitan.

    Read more

  • Iranian Film Wins at 5th Asia Pacific Screen Awards

    Nader az Simin (A Separation)

    Asghar Farhadi’s Jodaeiye Nader az Simin (A Separation, Islamic Republic of Iran) won the Best Feature Film Award at the 5th Asia Pacific Screen Awards.  Asghar Farhadi, who wrote, produced and directed the film, accepted his Award at the APSA Ceremony on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia from 2011 APSA International Jury President, Hong Kong’s Nansun Shi.

    Read more

  • Hawaii’s North Shore Surf Film Festival Announce 2011 Lineup of Surf Films

    The 2011 North Shore Surf Film Festival taking place on December 2nd, 3rd and 4th on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii, will feature this year’s top surf films which will include Hawaii premiers and short films, local musicians, and exciting opportunity drawings of surfboards and great gifts.

    Films being featured this year are: Blue Sway by Jack McCoy, Year Zero by Globe, Sion Milosky Tribute by Volcom, Minds In The Water by Jason Krumb, Get N Classic by Graham Nash, 36 Hours In The City by Billabong, Imaginarium by Reef, Body Glove, Billabong and Rusty, Blow Up by Victor Pakpour, Surprise Excitement Party by Chris Cote & TransWorld Surf, Beer Can Surfboard by Rich Morrison, The Board Meeting by Maggie Franks, Hello, I’m Andy Irons as part of the upcoming Sunny Garcia documentary by Michael Oblowitz, Bonzer The Mothership 11.0 by Duncan and Malcolm Campbell, Behind The Lens Dan Merkel by Doug Walker, Lost & Found by Doug Walker Sanded by Tim Ryan, Float by Rip Curl, Walls Of Perception by Oxbow, Eddie by Claire Gorman, Chasing the Swell by Sachi Cunningham and Leave A Message by Jason Kentworthy and Aaron Leiber. 

    The theme for Friday is “Live Like Sion”, a tribute to North Shore resident, Sion who tragically drowned at Maverick’s this year while doing what he loved.  Saturday’s theme is “Surf Cinema” and the premier of long time North Shore resident Campbell Brother’s short version of “Bonzer The Mothership 11.0″.  Sunday’s theme is “Chicks Who Rip”, in honor of the many contributions women have made to and continue to make to the world of surfing. All the films featured are either made by women of featuring women.

    North Shore Surf Film Festival Schedule
    Friday Dec 2, 2011 “Live Like Sion”
    6 pm Doors Open
    7 pm Program Starts
    Blue Sway by Jack McCoy
    Year Zero by Globe
    Sion Milosky Tribute by Volcom
    8:30 pm Doors Open
    8:45 pm Program Starts
    Beer Can Surfboard by Rich Morrison
    Plastic Tide by Skye Kelly
    Minds In The Water by Jason Krumb
    10:30 pm Doors Open
    Donavon Frankenreiter In Concert
    With hits such as If It Don’t Matter, Free, Flow and Move By Yourself Donavon comes to the celebrative North Shore to Turtle Bay on the Opening Night of the North Shores Surf Film Festival. When Donavon Frankenreiter was 10 years old, he got his first surfboard. Six years later, he picked up his first guitar. It was the beginning of a wildly creative journey: His improvisational twin obsessions have carried him around the globe and into his fans’ hearts.

    Saturday Dec. 3rd Keiki’s Film Festival
    1:30 pm Doors Open
    2 pm Aidan Powell plays ukulele
    10 year old Oahu sensation brings his soulful style to the Children’s Surf Film Festival. Well known with his rendition of Train’s, Hey Soul Sister his Utube spot has had over 2 million hits to date!
    2:20 Program Starts
    North Shore Lifeguard NSLA Presentation
    36 Hours In The City by Billabong
    Get N Classic by Graham Nash
    Leave A Message by Jason Kentworthy and Aaron Lieber

    Saturday Dec. 3rd Surf Cinema Saturday Surfing’s Lost & Found
    6 pm Doors Open
    7 pm Program Starts
    Imaginarium by Reef, Body Glove, Billabong and Rusty
    Blow Up by Victor Pakpour – Billabong
    Surprise Excitement Party by Chris Cote & TransWorld SURF
    8:30 pm Door Open
    9 pm Program Starts
    Hello, I’m Andy Irons by Michael Oblowitz
    Bonzer The Mothership 11.0 by Duncan and Malcolm Campbell
    Behind The Lens Dan Merkel by Doug Walker
    Lost & Found by Doug Walker
    10:30 pm Doors Open
    Band Of Frequencies In Concert
    Top Australian band comes to the North Shore with percussionist Pro Surfer Dave Rastovich. They wow the crowds down under with their style and rhythm and now Hawaii will enjoy a rockin Saturday at Turtle Bay!

    Sunday Dec. 4th “Chicks Who Rip”
    6 pm Doors Open
    7 pm Program Starts
    Sanded by Tim Ryan
    Float by Andrew Buckley – Rip Curl
    Walls Of Perception by Oxbow
    8:30 pm Door Open
    9 pm Program Starts
    The Board Meeting by Maggie Franks
    Eddie by Claire Gorman
    Chasing the Swell by Sachi Cunningham
    Leave A Message by Jason Kentworthy and Aaron Leiber
    10:30 pm Doors Open
    John Cruz In Concert
    Hawaii’s own music man John Cruz brings, the rhythm of Aloha to the closing night of the North Shore surf Film Festival. Special friends will be on hand to share the stage and music!

    Read more

  • Swiss comedy The Sandman to open San Joaquin International Film Festival

    The San Joaquin International Film Festival will open its 5th Anniversary with the Valley Premiere of the Swiss comedy “The Sandman (Der Sandmann)” with the honorable presence of Director-Screenwriter Peter Luisi on Thursday, January 12, 2012 at 7:00pm at the Stockton Empire Theatre (1825 Pacific Avenue). Mr. Luisi will participate in a post-film Q&A following the film’s screening.

    • From Director Peter Luisi: “I am delighted that my film ‘The Sandman’ has been chosen to open this year’s festival and that I have been invited to attend. Independent film festivals such as San Joaquin have become an increasingly important meeting point for us filmmakers and us film enthusiasts.”

    • From SJIFF Founder Sophoan Sorn: “We are honored to welcome director and screenwriter Peter Luisi all the way from Zurich, Switzerland to Stockton. His original and sensational comedy ‘The Sandman’ – along with his presence and delightful behind-the-scenes stories – will make the Opening Night of the 5th Anniversary San Joaquin International Film Festival an unforgettable experience!”

    Synopsis: “One morning, Benno finds sand in his bed. While he tries to ignore this, he soon realizes that he himself is the source of the sand. Day after day the sand increases, and time is running short. Finally, left with no choice, he asks Sandra the neighbor who runs a coffee shop under his apartment for help. Although Benno hates her with a passion, he starts having dreams of her each night. What could Sandra and the dreams have to do with the sand?” Starring Fabian Krüger, Irene Brügger, Beat Schlatter, Florine Elena Deplazes. (88 minutes; in Swiss German with English subtitles; produced in Switzerland in 2010-2011)

    “The Sandman” held its World Premiere at Film festival Max Ophuels Prize in Saarbrücken, Germany in January 2011, where it won the Audience Award. The film was nominated for three Swiss Film Awards, including Best Picture and Best Screenplay. It won over 20 awards around the world and screened at festivals in Solothurn and Locarno in Switzerland, Newport Beach and Berlin & Beyond in San Francisco.

    Read more

  • Harlem Film Festival to Screen Film 9 Lives About Victims of Puff Daddy City College Concert

     

    The Harlem International Film Festival will screen Jason Swain’s documentary 9 LIVES on Wednesday, December 7, 2011.

    The screening is timed to coincide with the death of rapper Heavy D last week, as well as to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the tragic night involving him that resulted in 9 people killed and 29 injured. 9 LIVES, is billed as director Jason Swain’s tribute to the nine victims including his brother Dirk, who died that night. The director will participate in a discussion after the screening.

     

     

    [caption id="attachment_1861" align="alignnone" width="549"]director Jason Swain (via MySpace)[/caption]

    In December 1991, Heavy D and Puff Daddy unravels the moments in the countdown to disaster and the circumstances that needlessly took nine youngsters from their loved ones. With Rodney King’s video-taped brutal beating making headlines in the Spring of 1991 and the Crown Heights riot spinning New York City into turmoil that August, this examination of the City College 9 disaster seeks peaceful reconciliation, artfully avoiding finger-pointing to let us witness first-hand how institutionalized prejudices combined to allow something as simple as a charity basketball game in Harlem to spiral out of control. Out of the devastating melee of lives lost a seed of hope emerged through the formation of the Dirk Swain Foundation to forever remember and combat the senselessness of December 28, 1991.

    {youtube}FHBYUM0pkXw{/youtube}

    Read more