Richard Hobert’s The Birdcatcher’s Son won the the top prize – Audience Choice Award at the 35th Santa Barbara International Film Festival which wrapped over the weekend. Fatos Berisha’s The Flying Circus won the Jeffrey C. Barbakow award for Best International Feature Film, and the Panavision Spirit Award for Independent Cinema went to William Nicholson’s Hope Gap.
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival announced the lineup of over 200 movies including 47 world premieres and 71 U.S. premieres, for its 35th edition, which will take place from January 15 to 25, 2020. Kicking off the festival is opening night film – the U.S. premiere of Shelly Love’s A Bump Along the Way, a female-led, feel-good comedy drama set in Derry, Northern Ireland, about a middle-aged woman whose unexpected pregnancy after a one-night stand acts as the catalyst for her to finally take control of her life.
The 19th edition of the Whistler Film Festival (WFF) tagged as ‘Canada’s coolest film fest’ wrapped on Sunday night with the Audience Award going to the North American premiere of LIBERTÉ: A CALL TO SPY, an exciting true story about female spies during WWII. The film is an American title shot partly in Budapest and was produced, written by and stars Sarah Megan Thomas and was directed by Lydia Dean Pilcher.
Québécois writer/director Sophie Deraspe’s feature ANTIGONE swept the coveted 16th edition of the Borsos Competition awards at the 2019 Whistler Film Festival, taking home four of the five awards including Best Canadian Feature Film. The jury stated: “ANTIGONE is a stunning, provocative film that captures the heartbreaking and complex realities of immigration, directed with a singular boldness.”
The 2019 Edinburgh International Film Festival, taking place June 19th to 30th, will screen around 121 new features, including 18 feature film World Premieres, alongside a tribute to French filmmaker Agnes Varda.