Cinema Guild announced that they will release Putty Hill, a film by Matt Porterfield. An official selection of the Berlin International Film Festival and SXSW, among many others, and nominated for the Cinema Eye Heterodox Award (a new award category created to honor a narrative film that imaginatively incorporates nonfiction strategies), Putty Hill will open in New York at Cinema Village on February 18. A national release will follow.
In national voting completed on Friday, members of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and Screen Actors Guild voted overwhelmingly to approve a new, three-year contract covering theatrical and television production under the Producer-Screen Actors Guild Basic Agreement and Television Agreement, Exhibit A to the AFTRA Network Television Code and the CW Supplement, which applies to both unions.
AFTRA, SAG and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers reached a tentative agreement in November on the deal that provides increases in base rates, contributions to the unions’ benefits plans, expanded employment opportunities and other improvements for working performers.
The Milwaukee Film Festival made two big announcements this week. First Baseball Commission Allan H. (Bud) Selig and wife Suzanne L. Selig renewed their support of the festival for another three years, totaling $400,000, including $100,000 in 2011 and increasing to $150,000 in both 2012 and 2013. The Selig family was one of the first major supporters of the festival in 2008, committing $100,000 for each of the 2009 and 2010 festivals.
The USA Network made its first ever independent film acquisition by snagging ‘The Space Between’, a drama starring Melissa Leo. Written and directed by Travis Fine, the movie premiered at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival.
Directors Guild of America announced the nominees for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentaries for the year 2010. The winners will be announced at the 63rd Annual DGA Awards Dinner on Saturday, January 29, 2011 in Los Angeles.
Sundance Institute announced the details for the 2011 Sundance Film Festival’s presentation of films by Native filmmakers and the annual Native Forum. In all, 11 Native communities will be represented: Tsilhqot’in, Métis, Ngāti Rangi, Atihaunui a Paparangi, Navajo Nation, Hopi, Laguna Pueblo, Iñupiaq, Taranaki/Ngati Tama Ngati Mutunga, Native Hawaiian and Māori. The 2011 Sundance Film Festival runs January 20-30 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.
The Boulder International Film Festival (BIFF) announced yesterday that Oliver Stone, Academy Award-winning film director, producer and screenwriter, will be honored with a “Master of Cinema Award” on Closing Night of the 2011 festival on Sunday, Feb. 20, at the Boulder Theater in Boulder, Colo.
Akunin (Villain) directed by Lee Sang-il was awarded the Kinema Junpo Award for Best Japanese Film in 2010, and the Korean film Breathless by Yang Ik-Joon, received the award for Best Foreign Film.
Denis Villeneuve’s “Incendies” triumphed over “Splice”, directed by Vincenzo Natali, and “Trigger”, directed by Bruce McDonald to win the 2010 Toronto Film Critics Association’s Rogers Best Canadian Film Award. “Incendies” is described as the epic adaptation of Wajdi Mouawad’s complex stage play about Quebec siblings who uncover their immigrant mother’s tortured history.
Balada Triste de Trompeta (The Last Circus) by Alex de la Iglesia led the nominations for the Spanish Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences’ 25th Goya Awards, with 15 nods; Pa Negre (Black Bread) by Agustí Villaronga followed closely with 13 nominations and Buried by Rodrigo Cortés with 10 nominations. Big surprise on the list, Ryan Reynolds was nominated for best actor for his performance in Buried.
The Hamptons International Film Festival (HIFF) announced this year’s festival dates, Thursday, October 13 – Monday, October 17, 2011. The festival, which is usually held over Columbus Day Weekend, is launching one week later in 2011 in order to honor Yom Kippur, which falls during Columbus Day Weekend this year. HIFF plans to return to its regular Columbus Day Weekend dates in 2012 (October 4 – 8, 2012) to celebrate its 20th Anniversary.
The Vancouver Film Critics’ Circle named The Social Network the best film of the year, with Fincher as best director and Aaron Sorkin as the writer of the best screenplay. Colin Firth picked up the award for Best Actor for The King’s Speech while newcomer Jennifer Lawrence took the award for Best Actress for her performance in Debra Granik’s Winter’s Bone.