The 25th annual Palm Springs International ShortFest will showcase 369 films including 60 World Premieres, 25 International Premieres, 46 North American Premieres, 17 U.S. Premieres and 98 California Premieres. There are 60 curated programs, which will screen June 18-24, at the Camelot Theatres (Palm Springs Cultural Center) in Palm Springs.
Films from Chinese director Zhai Yixiang, Germany’s Jan-Ole Gerster and American director Martha Stephens are among the geographically diverse selections in the 54th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival main competition section.
Ondřej Provazník and Martin Dušek make their feature-film debut out of competition at the 54th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival with the world premiere of Old-Timers, the dramatic story of two aging former political prisoners who set out in a camper van with the goal of finding and killing the communist prosecutor who sent the nation’s elite to its death. Jiří Schmitzer and Ladislav Mrkvička excel in this unusual road-movie.
The 5th Annual Mammoth Lakes Film Festival (MLFF) announced this year’s juried and audience award winners with the top jury awards going to A Great Lamp for Best North American Narrative Feature, and to Best 17 Blocks for North American Documentary Feature. The Jury Award for Best International Narrative Feature went to Cat Sticks, and to Clean Hands for Best International Documentary Feature.
The feminist noir thriller #LIKE, written and directed by Sarah Pirozek, and starring Marc Menchaca along with Sarah Rich will premiere at the Brooklyn Film Festival on Saturday, June 1st.
As John Walker Lindh is released from prison, Showtime Documentary Films announced the production of DETAINEE 001, from Emmy(R) winning director Greg Barker (The Final Year, Sergio, Manhunt, Legion of Brothers). The film, which has been in production since 2017, gives the definitive account of Lindh’s story with never-before-revealed details from his legal case and unpacks challenging truths and shifting allegiances behind one of the most compelling and unresolved mysteries of the post-9/11 age. Lindh’s case set a precedent for how Americans caught up in the War on Terror were prosecuted, and the film examines how American military and justice systems have grappled with the two decades since his detention.
Netflix has acquired worldwide rights to Mati Diop’s award winning film Atlantics that premiered at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Grand Prix. Atlantics is Diop’s feature directorial debut and she is the first black woman ever to compete for the Palme d’Or.
25 nonfiction films from 12 countries are the latest Sundance Institute Documentary Fund and Stories of Change Grantees which includes unrestricted grants to films in the development, production, post-production and audience engagement stages, and is made possible by founding support from Open Society Foundations.
The South Korean film Parasite directed by Bong Joon-Ho won the Palme d’Or at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. The film is described as “A family tragicomedy depicting the inevitable collision that ensues when Ki-woo, the eldest son in a family of four unemployed adults, is introduced to the wealthy Park family for a well-paid tutoring job.” Bong Joon-Ho who is best known for his earlier films Okja and Snowpiercer is the first Korean director to win the top award at Cannes Film Festival.
As Blue Note Records, one of the most renowned jazz record labels, celebrates its 80th Anniversary, the award winning documentary Blue Note Records: Beyond the Notes – directed by Sophie Huber that hit screens in June released the official trailer.
APOLLO 11, director/producer Todd Douglas Miller’s epic feature documentary capturing the tense, exhilarating days and hours of humanity’s first landing on the moon will premiere for television on Sunday, June 23, at 9:00pm and 11:00pm on CNN. The film will encore Saturday, June 29 and Saturday, July 20, both days at 9:00pm, on CNN. All times Eastern.
The Short Films and Cinéfondation Jury of the 2019 Cannes Film Festival headed by Claire Denis awarded the top 2019 Cinéfondation Prize – Premier Prix to Mano A Mano directed by Louise Courvoisier of CinéFabrique, France.