The 31st Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) announced this year’s juried award winners with the top prize – FIPRESCI Prize for Best International Feature Film going to the Russian film Beanpole, directed by Kantemir Balagov. Bartosz Bielenia from Corpus Christi won the FIPRESCI Prize for Best Actor in an International Feature Film and Helena Zengel from System Crasher won the FIPRESCI Prize for the Best Actress in an International Feature Film.
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 31st annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) will screen 188 films from 81 countries, opening with An Almost Ordinary Summer, directed by Simone Godano, on Friday, January 3, and close with Military Wives, directed by Peter Cattaneo on Sunday, January 12.
The Favourite directed by Yorgos Lanthimos was the big winner at this year’s 32nd European Film Awards taking the top prize European Film 2019, along with European Comedy 2019, in addition to European Director 2019 for Yorgos Lanthimos, and European Actress 2019 for Olivia Colman. The film also won the technical awards – European Costume Design 2019, European Cinematography 2019, European Editing 2019, and European Hair & Make-Up 2019.
THE FAVOURITE dominated the first awards at this year’s 2019 European Film Awards in the technical categories – winning for CINEMATOGRAPHY, EDITING, COSTUME DESIGN and HAIR & MAKE-UP. Other winners include PAIN AND GLORY for PRODUCTION DESIGN; TWELVE-YEAR NIGHT for SOUND and ABOUT ENDLESSNESS for VISUAL EFFECTS
Pedro Almodóvar’s Pain and Glory (Dolor y gloria) and An Officer and a Spy (J’accuse) directed by Roman Polanski lead the nominations for the 32nd European Film Awards with 4 nominations each including Best European Film and Best European Director.
Bora Kim’s HOUSE OF HUMMINGBIRD took home the Grand Prize for Best Narrative Feature (and a cash prize of $15,000) at the 28th Heartland International Film Festival. Seung-Yun Lee who stars in the film was on hand to accept the award.
Three more Irish premiere Galas have been added to the 64th Cork Film Festival, which runs from November 7 to 17. The Irish premiere of Feras Fayyad’s gripping film on war-torn Syria The Cave will be featured as the Documentary Gala, the Irish Gala is Aoife Crehan’s comedy-drama debut The Last Right, and the Family Gala is Disney’s long-awaited Frozen 2, ahead of its general release. This brings to five the number of Galas at this year’s festival, with Opening Gala Ordinary Love and Closing Gala The Other Lamb.
Ninety-three countries have submitted films for consideration in the International Feature Film category for the 92nd Academy Awards®. An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (more than 40 minutes) produced outside the United States with a predominantly non-English dialogue track. Ghana, Nigeria and Uzbekistan are first-time entrants.
Sound of Metal by Darius Marder was awarded the Golden Eye for Best International Feature Film at the 15th Zurich Film Festival. The film tells the story of a heavy-metal drummer (Riz Ahmed) who starts to lose his hearing and consequently begins to re-evaluate his place in the world.
Destin Daniel Cretton’s JUST MERCY will open the 28th Philadelphia Film Festival on October 17. This heartrending and inspirational film tells the story of author and social justice activist, Bryan Stevenson, played by acclaimed actor Michael B. Jordan of FRUITVALE STATION, CREED, and BLACK PANTHER fame. Additional Opening Night titles include PARASITE, opening Masters of Cinema; CUNNINGHAM, opening Spotlights; COME AS YOU ARE, opening Made in the USA; BIKRAM: YOGI, GURU, opening Non/Fiction; and THE LODGE opening After Hours.
The Heartland International Film Festival announced the official selections for its 28th edition, taking place October 10-20. Marielle Heller’s Tom Hanks’ starrer A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD was chosen as the Opening Night Gala film, and Destin Daniel Cretton’s JUST MERCY will screen as the Closing Night Gala selection. Noah Baumbach’s MARRIAGE STORY is set to be the Centerpiece Screening, and Fernando Meirelles’ THE TWO POPES will be the Showcase Screening.