It seems that luck, skill, timing and talent go hand-in-hand when making a good movie or a commercial, and the Sonoma Valley Film Festival had all that going for it this past weekend when Hollywood mega-actor Bruce Willis showed up to lend his talent.Willis is starring in a commercial promoting the 2004 Sonoma Valley Film Festival, known as Cinema Epicuria. The 60-second trailer, titled "Cinema Epicuria or Bust," is being co-produced by Brenda Lhormer and Kevin McNeely, both Sonoma Valley reside...

"Michel Demopoulos has given the Festival a new vitality, opening it up to a young audience. During the Festival, in this town, you breathe not oxygen but cinema!" Bernardo Bertolucci Some history about the festival: First held in 1960 as a modest "Week of Greek Cinema", the Thessaloniki International Film Festival has become, 43 years later, an annual event focused on the discovery and promotion of new directors from all over the world; a true celebration of film. For t...

2003 New York City Horror Film Festival Award Winners The best of the horror film world gathered in New York to celebrate the New York City Horror Film Festival. The festival kicked off October 21 with a huge party at Don Hills followed by four days of sold out film screenings, celebrity appearances, and an incredible and informative panel discussion at the Tribeca Film Center in Lower Manhattan. Best Feature:MALEVOLANCE Directed by Steven MenaThe story begins ten years earlier with the kidn...

Late Sunday evening, AFI FEST 2003 ended a glorious run of 10 days and 10 nights of the best films in the world, but not before announcing its coveted Audience Awards and unveiling the World Premiere of Patty Jenkins' MONSTER, starring Charlize Theron. In front of a sold-out audience at ArcLight's Cinerama Dome, Nancy Collet, the Director of Programming, announced that Jim Sheridan's IN AMERICA took the Audience Award for Feature Film. The film, which stars Samantha Morton and Paddy Considine, f...

Monster closed AFI last week end.The film written and directed by Patty JenkinsPROD: Brad Wyman, Donald Kushner, Charlize Theron, Mark Damon, Clark Peterson EXEC PROD: Meagan Riley-Grant, Steward Hall, Andreas Schmid, Andreas Grosch, Sammy LeeCast: Charlize Theron, Christina Ricci, Bruce Dern, Scott Wilson, Pruitt Taylor Vince Charlize Theron stars in MONSTER, a shockingly moving film that burrows deep beneath the tabloid-sized headline stories on Aileen Wournos, the man-hatingand murder...

SUTHERLAND TROPHY SHORTLIST ANNOUNCEDA shortlist of three titles in competition for the British Film Institute (bfi) Sutherland Trophy was announced today (4 November), selected by a jury representing the film and entertainment worlds.The shortlist, chosen from twelve nominated titles, comprises No Rest for the Brave, a dreamlike coming-of-age odyssey from French director Alain Guiraudie; Osama, the first feature from post-Taliban Afghanistan directed by Siddiq Barmak; and Reconstruction, an exp...

BEVERLY HILLS, CA – If you were one of the lucky filmmakers attending the 2003 Beverly Hills Film Festival Awards Night Dinner at the infamous Beverly Hills Hotel this past May, consider yourself a part of Indie filmmaking history. The star studded event made up of Hollywood’s A-list actors, producers, directors, distributors and rising new filmmakers took center stage once again as the most prestigious film festival in the world. “The Beverly Hills Film Festival awards night ceremony is a...

AFI FEST – Intl Jury Awards: BLUE, BEAH & DEEP SILENCE stand-outsFriday night, Nov 14th, at a standing-room-only celebration at CineSpace, the International Jury Award winners of AFI FEST 2003 were announced. Taking the Feature Jury Prize was Natasha Arthy's OLD, NEW, BORROWED AND BLUE, a Danish bittersweet comedy and an official Dogme film about the perils of love and honesty. "I'm really proud," said an elated Arthy minutes after winning. "It's very unreal. We didn't expect anything like thi...

Meryl Streep Follows De Niro in AFI Life Time Achievment tribute for 2004.The actress has been selected by the American Film Institute's (AFI) Board of Trustees to receive the 32nd AFI Life Achievement Award, the highest honor for a career in film, it was announced today by Sir Howard Stringer, Chair of the AFI Board of Trustees. The award will be presented to Streep at a gala tribute on June 10, 2004, which will be held in the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland. Mr. Stringer commented, "Mer...

Friday night, at a standing-room-only celebration at Cinespace, the jury award winners of AFI FEST 2003 were announced. Taking the Feature Jury Prize was Natasha Arthy's OLD, NEW, BORROWED AND BLUE, a Danish bittersweet comedy and an official Dogme film about the perils of love and honesty. "I'm really proud," said an elated Arthy minutes after winning. "It's very unreal. We didn't expect anything like this." Arthy and producer Birgitte Skov said that they planned to ring the two lead actors fro...

Actor Costner, Producer Zanuck and Director Minghella to Be Honored at Upcoming 15th Annual Palm Springs International Film FestivalThe tributes and awards for the upcoming Palm Springs International Film Festival are now announced. Academy Award winning actor/director/producer Kevin Costner, Academy Award-winning producer Richard D. Zanuck, and Academy winning director Minghella will be honored at the Award Gala being held on Sunday, January 11, 2004 at the Palm Springs Convention Center. T...

"I've been winning the Los Angeles Grand Prix," said director Anthony Minghella to a sold-out audience on Thursday night, after arriving fashionably late. Minghella was on hand to discuss his work with film critic Pete Hammond and to present 20 minutes from his latest film, COLD MOUNTAIN. Greeting him on stage were a number of people who have worked with Minghella over the years, including director Sydney Pollack (an executive producer of COLD MOUNTAIN and THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY); cinematograph...

Day 7 featured what AFI FEST does best: Present an extraordinary spectrum of films, while giving fest-goers the opportunity to converse and meet with the filmmakers who made them. Within one evening, films from all eight sections were screened, in addition to a line-up of shorts and the Centerpiece Gala of the World Premiere of Norman Jewison's THE STATEMENT, starring Tilda Swinton. The evening began with a bolt of lightning and the US Premiere of Natasha Arthy's OLD, NEW, BORROWED AND BLUE, an ...

Rajhans Leads Canadian Delegation to Bahamas Film FestivalThe inaugural One World Film Festival takes place this weekend in sunnyNassau, Bahamas. The festival boasts an exciting program of films from around the world, and is expected to attract some a-list celebrities who make The Bahamas their second home. The festival takes place Nov 13th to 17th and is the brainchild of Hollywood Producer, Monica Cooper. "This film festival has been a year in the making and I hope it will allow manyfilmmak...

LEXUS IF (INSIDE FILM) AWARDS WINNERS ANNOUNCEMENTGettin’ Square and Japanese Story, the people’s choice in Australian filmWinners for the 2003 Lexus IF (Inside Film) Awards were announced in Sydney tonight at a prestigious event staged at Wharf 8 in Pyrmont. Hosted by Deborah Mailman, the live broadcast was followed by a celebratory party presented by Autore South Sea Pearls. Gettin' Square and Japanese Story earned the highest accolades on the night. Japanese Story collected four IF awards...

LEXUS IF (INSIDE FILM) AWARDS WINNERS ANNOUNCEMENTGettin’ Square and Japanese Story, the people’s choice in Australian filmWinners for the 2003 Lexus IF (Inside Film) Awards were announced in Sydney tonight at a prestigious event staged at Wharf 8 in Pyrmont. Hosted by Deborah Mailman, the live broadcast was followed by a celebratory party presented by Autore South Sea Pearls. Gettin' Square and Japanese Story earned the highest accolades on the night. Japanese Story collected four IF awards...

Reported sales from the market.Cinema Service (from Hong Kong) is reported to have sold The legend of the Evil Lake in 4 territories: Germany, Russia, Indonesia Thailand.Lions Gate bought world rights excluding Canada and France for the Jean Beaudin epic romance “New France” starring Depardieu and Tm rothUGC sold Tais Toi – « Ruby + Quentin » mismatch pal hit story from Francis Weber to Asian territories: Hong Kong, Taiwan and South KoreaVerdecchi Film sold twisted for Japan and Thail...

PJER ZALICA’S “FUSE” WINS ETOILE D’OR FOR BEST FEATURE FILMAttendance figures up by more than 150% - over 100,000 cinema-goers throng to screenings throughout the Festival The third annual Marrakesh International Film Festival, under the patronage of His Majesty Mohammed VI, King of Morocco, and the presidency of HRH, Prince Moulay Rachid, awarded the winners of its feature and short film competitions tonight at a closing night gala in the spectacular amphitheatre created in the ruins of...