
The Indie Grits Film Festival recently named by Moviemaker Magazine as one of the 20 coolest film festivals returns for its 5th year, and will take place April 13-17, 2011 in Columbia, SC.

The Indie Grits Film Festival recently named by Moviemaker Magazine as one of the 20 coolest film festivals returns for its 5th year, and will take place April 13-17, 2011 in Columbia, SC.

The 22nd annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) will present David O. Russell with the Director of the Year Award at its Awards Gala. Past Director of the Year honorees include Alexander Payne, Jason Reitman, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Anthony Minghella, Sean Penn and Ang Lee.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that 15 films have been selected as semifinalists for Achievement in Visual Effects for the 83rd Academy Awards®.

The 7th Annual Artivist Film Festival just wrapped its December 1 – 4 run at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood.

Sundance Institute announced the films from the 2011 Sundance Film Festival scheduled to screen in theaters in nine different cities, including the newly added Seattle, Washington Egyptian Theatre, on the evening of Thursday, January 27, 2011. The screenings are part of Sundance Film Festival USA, designed to introduce the Festival experience to film-loving audiences nationwide. The 2011 Sundance Film Festival opens January 20 and runs through January 30 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.

The 61st Berlin International Film Festival will open with True Grit by Academy Award winners Joel and Ethan Coen at the Berlinale Palast on February 10, 2011.

The International Animated Film Society, ASIFA-Hollywood announced the nominations and award recipients for the 38th Annual Annie Awards. “How to Train Your Dragon” lead the field with 15 nominations including feature, direction, writing and voice acting, followed by “Despicable Me” with 7 nominations.

Slamdance today announced the 2011 Feature Competition slate for the 17th Annual Slamdance Film Festival taking place January 21-27, 2011 in Park City, Utah. Slamdance will debut ten narrative and eight documentary feature films, 14 of which are World Premieres. With a record number of over 5,000 submissions, Slamdance has selected an exciting and eclectic slate of films, made by today’s up and coming independent filmmakers. The selected films have all been made on a small budget and head to Park City without distribution – all full of immense promise.

The winners were announced yesterday at the 7th edition of the Bahamas International Film Festival (BIFF), which wrapped on Sunday evening. The Ethiopian film, Ateltu, about Abebe Bikila the first African to win a gold medal and the first person in history to win consecutive Olympic gold medals in the marathon, took the top Spirit of Freedom award for Narrative film.

Sundance Institute announced the program of short films selected to screen at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. This year the Festival’s Short Film Program comprises 81 short films from U.S. and international filmmakers selected from 6,467 submissions up 6% over 2010. The 2011 Sundance Film Festival runs January 20-30 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.

The 8th annual Wild Rose Independent Film Festival announced this year’s award winners last month at the Awards Ceremony at the Fleur Cinema & Café. A total of 41 films were selected from over 400 submitted to the 2010 Wild Rose, with an additional 8 films invited to screen during the non-competitive portion; the Iowa Film Showcase series running Nov 7-11.