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.
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival will honor Academy Award® winning actor Geoffrey Rush with the Montecito Award at the 26th edition of the Festival, which runs January 27– February 6, 2011.
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.
Tonight, Tuesday, December 7th, is the 2010 edition of the Best of the Midwest Awards, honoring the achievements of local Midwestern filmmakers who participated in the Midwest Independent Film Festival this year.
Strictly word of mouth and staunchly “D.I.Y.”, the multi-city Zero Film Festival, which drew thousands of film and music lovers in New York and Miami, descends on Los Angeles December 8-11, bringing together an infectious mix of music, art and truly independent cinema.
The San Francisco Film Society and the Kenneth Rainin Foundation announced the five winners of the fourth round of SFFS/KRF Filmmaking Grants. The grants are given twice annually to filmmakers for narrative feature films with social justice themes that will have significant economic or professional impact on the Bay Area filmmaking community. Between 2009 and 2013 the SFFS/KRF Filmmaking Grants will award more than $3 million, including a total of $275,000 already awarded.
The Whistleblower, directed by Larysa Kondracki won the $15,000 Borsos Competition for Best New Canadian Feature Film at the tenth annual Whistler Film Festival. The film, which had its Western Canadian premiere at the festival and stars Academy Award-winners Rachel Weisz and Vanessa Redgrave, is based on the true story of a Nebraskan police officer who takes a job working for the United Nations as a peacekeeper in post-war Bosnia.
The winners of the 13th edition of The Moët British Independent Film Awards were announced at the glittering ceremony held at Old Billingsgate which was hosted by James Nesbitt.
Bollywood and Hollywood is mourning the death of 40-year-old actor-director-producer Manish Acharya who passed away in Matheran in Maharashtra, India.