Sunday, June 11....At a gala Awards Ceremony at the Forum Luisa Todi last night, the 22nd edition of the Troia International Film Festival came to a conclusion with the announcement of Fetival Awards in a number of competitiom categproes. An analysis of the films and the awards will follow, but here is the list of award winners. FESTROIA – FESTIVAL INTERNACIONAL DE CINEMA SPECIAL AWARDS AUDIENCE AWARD To the film THE WEDDING PARTY, by Dominique Deruddere (Belgium/Germany) PRIZE MAN AND HIS...

Saturday, June 10---When screenwriter Barry Stringfellow was pitching his original screenplay of a teenage boy dying of cancer whose final wish is a date with a blonde supermodel, he was repeatedly asked how to much the film more "upbeat". Well cancer is never very upbeat, but, as Virginia Woolf famously said, "a character needs to die so that the other characters can value life". That is the sentiment and the message of Stringfellow's alternately moving and hilarious ONE LAST THING, directed b...

Saturday, June 10----An Israeli director for a Southern Gothic story set in 1960s Florida may seem like an odd choice, but for Ido Mizrahy, the director of the American Independent film THINGS THAT HANG FROM TREES, his foreigness allowed him to bring subtle observations to this story of small town life. The film, which is screening in the American Independents Competition here, is written and based on the autobiographical novella of Aaron Louis Tordini. Tordini grew up in St. Augustine, Florid...

Friday, June 9---One of the most consistently popular sections at the annual Troia International Film Festival is devoted to American Independents. This year, six films, most having their European premieres at the event, will compete for the Dolphin Award. The films are quite diverse in their genres, directorial styles and use of their regional base. In Anthony Ng’s 212, which had its world premiere at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, a diverse group of twenty-something New Yorkers grasp for...

Thursday, June 8---Ali Selim is a softspoken man from Minnesota with an expressive face and an obvious passion for filmmaking. His first film, SWEET LAND, which is the only American film included in the First Works competition at the Troia International Film Festival, has the scope, integrity and humanity of a John Ford epic. The film captures the limitless landscapes of the Minnesota plains in the period just after World War I, when immigrants from Scandinavia began to exert their cultural h...

Thursday, June 8-----Every major film festival has its specific focus. At the Troia International Film Festival, first works by up-and-coming directors is a major part of the Festival, having its own competition section named Primeiras Obras. This year, the section boasts 13 films of diverse genres and geographic origins. Films from Europe represents the lion’s share of the section. A SOAP is an unusual love story between an independent woman who has just split with her longtime boyfriend and...

Wednesday, June 7---The political thriller THE WAR WITHIN, which is being shown as part of the American Independents competition at the Troia International Film Festival, has been generating controversy and much discussion. The film, directed by Joseph Castelo, tells the unsettling story of a young Pakistani man who is sent to New York City to be a suicide terrorist. His target is New York's beautiful Grand Central Station, a Beaux Arts train station right in the heart of Manhattan. The Paki...

Tuesday, June 6---New York filmmakers always have the added advantage of shooting in a city that is in itself a major character in their films. No matter the genre, or even the time period, shooting on the New York streets offers an ambience that is instantly recognizable to a world audience (and sorry, cannot be faked on the too-clean streets of Toronto, Chicago or, God forbid, Los Angeles). Anthony Ng, born and raised in Hong Kong, went to the famed New York University Film School, and ins...

Tuesday, June 6----The Troia International Film Festival is presenting a celebration of the 100th anniverary of Norwegian cinema. The program, which is sponsored by the Norwegian Film Institute in cooperation with the Norwegian Embassy in Portugal, is showcasing 10 films, which range from an early silent gem to two films from the current Norwegian auteur Bent Hamer. The Tribute program began on the Festival opening night, with the rare screening of the 1917 silent film TERJE VIGEN, directed b...

Monday, June 5----One of the more anticipated programs at the TROIA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL is its annual competition for American Independent films. The Festival, over the past 22 years, has been an important showcase for films made outside the Hollywood studio system. This year, six worthy films are competing for the award. The first of them kicks off the section this evening. FLANNEL PAJAMAS, which had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, is unique in two important ways. It...

Sunday, June 4---Remember the good old days right after 9/11 when everyone was afraid to ride on airplanes, and those of us intrepid (or stupid) enough to continue flying off to film festivals always had empty seats around us? And airlines left on time? And the airline personnel were so happy to see a customer that you got treated like you were in first class (even though you were inevitably in the cheapo seats)? Well, I am here to tell you, brothers and sisters, that those times are long gone...

Saturday, June 3----FESTROIA: The Troia International Film Festival, will present nearly 180 films, representing 48 countries, with a strong predominance of European cinema, during its 22nd annual showcase. The Festival, the oldest and most prestigious in Portugal, has several competition sections in its wide-ranging program. The Official Section, in competition for the Golden Dolphin Award, is made up of 14 films, from nations that produce fewer than 30 films per year. This is a unique approa...

Friday, June 2, Setubal---The 22nd edition of the TROIA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, Portugal's oldest and most prestigious film event, had a gala Opening this evening in the beautiful coastal town of Setubal. The Opening Night festivities began with the screening of a rare silent film by director Victor Sjostrom. TERGE VIGEN, produced in 1917, is a film of rare beauty and quality from one of Scandanavia's earliest film giants. The film has been restored by the Norwegian Film Institute, with...