The Indiana Film Journalists Association announced its annual film awards and “The Social Network” took top honors, winning best film as well as Aaron Sorkin for best screenplay. Natalie Portman was named best actress for “Black Swan.” James Franco won best actor for “127 Hours.”
The Anchorage International Film Festival just wrapped its 10th edition and awarded its 2010 Golden Oosikar Awards to the top films, with “The Wild Hunt,” by Alexandre Franchi taking the top prize for Best Film.
Raoul Ruiz’ Mysteries of Lisbon was awarded the Louis Delluc prize for Best French film of the year beating out a competitive field of films that included “Carlos,” Olivier Assayas, “The Ghost Writer,” Roman Polanski, “Of Gods and Men,” Xavier Beauvois, “On Tour,” Mathieu Amalric, “The Princess of Montpensier,” Bernard Tavernier, “White Material,” Claire Denis and “Young Girls in Black,” Jean-Paul Civeyrac.
The 2011 Palm Springs International Film Festival announced today a new program highlighting African Cinema as well as films selected to compete for the FIPRESCI Award, New Voices/New Visions Award and John Schlesinger Awards. The Festival will screen 40 of the 65 official submissions to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for Best Foreign Language Film. The Festival will announce its complete line-up of films next week.
Blake Edwards, a writer and director behind such hits like “Victor/Victoria” (1982) “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” (1961) “The Pink Panther” (1963) and “Pink Panther” movies, died Wednesday night in Santa Monica, Calif. He was 88.
The Las Vegas Film Critic Society presents its “Sierra” awards each year for the best in film, including The William Holden Lifetime Achievement Award, which is named for the Academy Award winning actor.
Duncan Jones’ new film “Source Code” starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Vera Farmiga and Michelle Monaghan will open 2011 South by Southwest Film Conference and Festival (SXSW). This is the second feature from Jones, the son of David Bowie, whose first feature film, “Moon”also screened at SXSW in 2009.
German actor and artist Armin Mueller-Stahl will be awarded an Honorary Golden Bear at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival.
Some 60 feature and short films will celebrate their premieres at the House of World Cultures, Generation’s new main venue at the upcoming 61st Berlin International Film Festival scheduled for February 10 – 20, 2011. Twelve feature-length films have already been confirmed. “With each film our excitement about the House of World Cultures is mounting. We want to invite Berlinale visitors to a change of location, in a spectacular cinema, and to the greatly diverse settings in our films,” says section director Maryanne Redpath.
Nominees for the 17th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards® for outstanding performances in 2010 in five film and eight primetime television categories and for the SAG honors for film and television stunt ensembles were announced this morning in Los Angeles. ‘The King’s Speech’ and ‘The Fighter’ lead the field with 4 nominations each, followed by ‘Black Swan’ and ‘The Kids Are All Right’ with 3 nominations each. ‘Winter’s Bone’ was not left out, picking up 2 nominations.
Sundance Institute announced the twenty two Documentary Film Program grant recipients for Fall 2010. Selected feature-length documentary films, chosen from nearly 450 projects from 80 countries, will receive $550,000 in support. Two of the 22 projects listed below are to receive a grant from the Sundance | Cinereach Project at Sundance Institute, part of a $1.5 million three-year grant funded by Cinereach. A portion of the grant is for emergency or discretionary grants and support for risk-taking documentaries on pressing global issues, as well as support.
Sundance Institute has selected twelve projects for the annual January Screenwriters Lab, to be held January 14-19, 2011 at the Sundance Resort in Utah. The Screenwriters Lab is a five-day writers’ workshop that gives independent screenwriters the opportunity to work intensely on their feature film scripts with the support of established writers in an environment that encourages innovation and creative risk-taking. Through one-on-one story sessions, fellows engage in an artistically rigorous process that offers them indispensable lessons in craft, as well as the means to do the deep exploration needed to fully realize their material.