The 54th San Francisco International Film Festival (April 21 – May 5) will open with writer/director Mike Mills’ Beginners (USA 2010), starring Ewan McGregor, Christopher Plummer, and Mélanie Laurent. Beginners will screen 7:00 pm, Thursday, April 21 at the historic Castro Theatre followed by the Opening Night party, 9:30 pm at San Francisco’s elegant and contemporary art gallery, Terra. Mike Mills and Ewan McGregor are expected to attend and participate in a post-screening Q&A.
From April 1-3, 2011, the SLC Film Center in Salt Lake CIty, Utah, presents the inaugural Tumbleweeds Film Festival for Children and Youth – the only film festival of its kind in the intermountain west. The 1st annual festival features a jam-packed program of feature-length films from around the world. This year’s festival presents films from ten countries including The Netherlands, Germany and Ireland. Two of the films will be screened in their original language with English subtitles that will be read aloud by a “subtitle reader.” In addition to film screenings, the SLC Film Center is partnering with Spy Hop Productions to present workshops designed to introduce participants to different aspects of filmmaking.
The San Luis Obispo International Film Festival (SLOIFF) announced its slate of films and events for the 17th annual Festival scheduled to take place in San Luis Obispo County, California, from Wednesday, March 9 to Sunday, March 13, 2011.
IFC Midnight announced that the company is acquiring North American distribution rights to director Todd Rohal’s comedy THE CATECHISM CATACLYSM. The company also acquired television and digital rights for the picture in France, Benelux, Spain, Portugal, East-Central Europe, Turkey, and Greece. The film, which was also written by Rohal, stars Steve Little (EASTBOUND & DOWN), Robert Longstreet (SEPTIEN), and Wally Dalton (THE OFF HOURS). Longstreet also executive produced the project, and David Gordon Green, Megan Griffiths, Jody Hill, Lacey Leavitt, Danny McBride, and Matt Reilly additionally served as producers. The film world premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and is also scheduled to play at the upcoming 2011 SXSW Film Festival in the Emerging Visions section.
The Desert of Forbidden Art is a fascinating documentary by Tchavdar Georgiev and Amanda Pope, exploring an unknown art world made up of amazing artists whose work was condemned in their lifetimes largely because of Stalin’s regime, and consequently not recognized until recently. The film centers on the story of how one man, Igor Savitsky (whose narration is voiced by Sir Ben Kinglsey), made it his life’s goal to collect the work of Russian artists who had worked during the 1920s and 30s. He collected 44,000 paintings and drawings by these artists and created a museum in the middle of rural Uzbekistan. It is a straightforward documentary, with conventional techniques, but the subject makes it somewhat extraordinary, as it is story that has never been told on film before.
The 2011 Tribeca Film Festival (TFF), presented by American Express®, announced the World Narrative and Documentary Competition film selections and the first edition of the new section—Viewpoints. Forty-four of the 88 feature-length films were announced. The 10th edition of the Festival will take place from April 20 to May 1 in lower Manhattan.
The DALLAS International Film Festival presented by Cadillac announced that award-winning actress Ann-Margret will be honored with the DALLAS Star Award at the upcoming festival (March 31 – April 10, 2011).
The 11th Annual Phoenix Film Festival, presented by Cox and Starz, takes place from March 31, 2011 through April 7, 2011 at Harkins Scottsdale 101. Ten films are set to compete for multiple honors, including Best Picture, in the festival’s Competition Feature Films Awards.
The 61st Berlin International Film Festival came to a close with the award ceremony on February 19, 2011, and the numbers are in, revealing roughly 300,000 tickets were sold during the eleven-day festival.
The Gasparilla International Film Festival (GIFF) will once again collaborate with Global Film Initiative and the Tampa Museum of Art to bring the best independent foreign films to the Tampa Bay area. Global Lens 2011 is a prestigious series of films, which supports unique and critically acclaimed cinematic works of independent filmmakers from all over the globe.
Gasparilla International Film Festival (GIFF) will recognize M. Emmet Walsh and Tom Berenger for their commitment, talent and outstanding achievements. Both Walsh and Berenger will be in attendance to accept their awards during the 5th annual GIFF being held March 24 – 27 in Tampa.
The 54th San Francisco International Film Festival (April 21 – May 5) today announced its Documentaries in Competition for the esteemed Golden Gate Awards. The International will award close to $100,000 in total prizes this year. Sixty thousand dollars will be awarded to winners in three categories: investigative documentary feature ($25,000), documentary feature ($20,000) and Bay Area documentary feature ($15,000). Winners will be announced at the Golden Gate Awards, Wednesday, May 4.