Sheffield Doc/Fest, which describes itself as “bringing the international documentary family together to celebrate the art and business of documentary making for five intense days in November” recently wrapped and announced its 2010 winners. “Pink Saris” bested nominees “12th & Delaware,” “The Embrace of The River,” “Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work,” “Marwencol,” “Nostalgia for the Light,” “Russian Lessons,’ and “Secrets of The Tribe” to take top prize for The Special Jury Award.
Roman Polanski’s “The Ghost Writer” took the lead at the 23rd European Film Awards with seven nominations, including Best Film, Best Director, and Best Actor for Ewan McGregor. Now on DVD in the US, The Ghost Writer is a political thriller starring Ewan McGregor as a ghost-writer who researches and works to complete the biography of former Prime Minister Adam Lang, played by Pierce Brosnan. Eventually the writer, played by McGregor, becomes suspicious that there may be more to Lang’s story than meets the eye.
Actress Jane Russell will be honored with The Lifetime Achievement Award by Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival. The event is SOLD OUT.
Danny Boyle’s “127 Hours” grossed $265,925 from just 4 theaters in New York and Los Angeles, the year’s second-highest per-screen average of $66,481, and the best per-theater-average, of director Danny Boyle’s career. “The Kids Are All Right” holds the record for the year’s best per-theater-average of $70,282 from 7 screens in July.
Cucalorus Film Festival returns to the historic port city of Wilmington, North Carolina for its annual cinematic celebration this November 11-14th. Film selections include Gaspar Noe’s cinematic wonder Enter the Void, Sundance World Cinema documentary winner The Red Chapel by Mads Brügger, and a healthy list of additional independent and international titles.
Mr. Mohammed Al-Ahmad, Director General of the National Film Organization, nveiled the lineup for the 18th Damascus International Film Festival during a press conference held at Al-Kindy Theater in Damascus, Syria. Mr. Al Ahmad emphasized the importance of Damascus Film Festival and the important role it plays in improving cinema production in Syria.
The Whistler Film Festival (December 1–5, 2010) announced its 10th anniversary lineup featuring an unprecedented 9 World Premieres, 5 North American Premieres, 5 Canadian Premieres, 21 Western Canadian Premieres, 2 English Canadian Premieres, and 14 BC Premieres, and work from wide-ranging movie mavericks such as Jean-Luc Godard, Bruce McDonald and Monte Hellman to name a few.
The Whistler Film Festival announced the films competing for $25,000 in cash prizes as part of the Borsos Competition for Best Canadian Feature Film and the inaugural New Voices International Feature Film Competition.
Canadian indie film legend Bruce McDonald (dir: Hard Core Logo, Pontypool, Highway 61) rocks the Whistler Film Festival (WFF) this year with the World Premiere of his newest punk rockumentary Hard Core Logo 2. Fifteen years after filming his rock and roll doc Hard Core Logo, Bruce the filmmaker (played by Bruce McDonald himself) receives a call asking if he wants to interview Care Failure, the sexy lead singer of Canadian punk band Die Mannequin, who claims to have channeled the spirit of the Hard Cores lead singer Joe Dick. Presented by Alliance Films, Hard Core Logo 2 is based on the book Hard
Core Logo written by Michael Turner.
The Taipei Representative Office in the UK, University of Leeds and Leeds International Film Festival (LIFF) are cooperating to organise a special event in Leeds focusing on the Taiwanese director Tsai Ming-Liang. The event will be held on 15 and 16 November 2010.
This event begins on 15 November with a screening of his film The Wayward Cloud. A workshop will be hosted by Tsai himself at the University of Leeds in the morning of 16 November, which will be followed in the afternoon by an event entitled “An audience with Tsai Ming-liang,” at the Hyde Park Picture House. This latter event will include a screening of Tsai’s short film, Madame Butterfly, followed by a Q&A session with the director. To mark this occasion, Leeds International Film Festival plan to present the Golden Owl Lifetime Achievement Award to Tsai to celebrate his achievements, and his contributions to world cinema. Tsai will be the first ever recipient of this Golden Owl Award.
For the first time, DIFF is taking its flagship laurel to the heart of Africa with the recognition for Cissé, the Malian director and Cannes jury prize winner who has created compelling personal tales that reflect the spirit and diversity of the continent.
Abdulhamid Juma, Chairman of Dubai International Film Festival, said: “Over the years, Africa has produced powerful films that portray the social, political and economic realities of the continent. Souleymane Cissé has been at the forefront of the renaissance of African cinema.”