On Sunday, November 26th, New Line Cinema’s The Nativity Story will become the first feature film ever to premiere at the Vatican. The Nativity Story is scheduled for a Dec. 1, 2006 release in the U.S., and will open in territories worldwide throughout the month of December. The premiere, to be held at the Vatican’s Aulo Paolo VI (Pope Paul VI Hall), will be attended by The Nativity Story ’s director Catherine Hardwicke, actors Shohreh Aghdashloo and Oscar Isaac, producers Marty Bowen and...

Innovative American documentary filmmaker Alan Berliner will be a Special Guest of the International Documentary Filmfestival Amsterdam (idfa), the leading showcase and market for non-fiction film. The Festival, which brings together film, television and industry professionals, as well as a local enthusiastic audience, opens on November 23 in the beautiful city of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Berliner has been chosen as a Master of Documentary and will give a special lecture on his varied film...

Monday, November 13----Registered in the Guiness Book of World Records as the "world's longest film festival", the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival reached its zenith this past weekend, with the announcement of its Jury and Audience Awards, as well as a Tribute Gala which paid homage to established and emerging talent. On Sunday evening, at the La Playa Mediterranean Restaurant, the Festival presented JURIED AWARDS for films in competition. Members of the Jury included: Joe Amadea, H...

Saturday, November 11----Come celebrate the 21st anniversary of the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival at one of South Florida's chicest film events, FLIFF UNCORKED!! The Gala is meant to honor and pay tribute to celebrity guests attending the 21st annual Festival.. The event, one of South Florida's most glamourous affairs, takes place on Saturday evening, November 11, at the Regency Ballroom of The Hollywood Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa in Hollywood, Florida. View from Westin D...

One of the ways that the International Documentary Filmfestival Amsterdam (known as IDFA for short) has built strong loyalties with the local audience and visiting professionals is the platform it offers for documentary films of local filmmakers. The first such showcase will be the Opening Night Film, to screen on November 23, of 4 ELEMENTS by Jiska Rickels. The film mixes documentary technique with visual poetry, which illustrates man's battle with his environment. The film focuses on four...

THE FIRST ROME FILM FIESTA, OCT. 13 – 21, 2OO6 The whole report day by day from day one. In less than a week, on the fateful FridayThe Thirteenth of the current month (October 13, 2OO6), the First International Film Festival ever held in Rome will open the gates of the Eternal City to a floodtide of media representatives, journalists, film professionals, actors, directors, film fans, and just plain curious stargazers of all stripes and colours. Whether this new festival turns out to be a blas...

Larry Levene, the director of the film, will be among the guests of the opening acto of AMAL’06 Festival Santiago de Compostela, 13 de october 2006.- A history of mutual discovery and intercultural dialogue, the documentary “César y Zaín” will be in charge of opening the International Euro-Arab Film Festival AMAL’06. The british director Larry Levene will be present on the opening act. He is known for films such as Una nube sobre Bhopal (2001) and El hambre del mundo explicada a mi hi...

Writer/Director Dito Montiel and Executive Producer Sting Thursday, October 19---With the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival already in high gear, a number of special guests and VIPs are expected in town over the next few days, bringing some film star power to South Florida audiences. Tonight, writer/director Dito Montiel will be present at the screening of his debut film A GUIDE TO RECOGNIZING YOUR SAINTS. The film, which had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, was a d...

Tuesday, October 17----The Turks and Caicos International Film Festival, a unique mix of films and music events, hit the beach on Tuesday evening in a series of kick off events that lived up to their hype. The event, which runs through this weekend, will feature the international premieres of over 30 films, as well as offer provocative seminars, special events, live music concerts and, of course, glamorous parties all set in the natural beauty of this Caribbean island archipelago. The Festiva...

Monday, October 16----Filmmakers, musicians, industry professionals and film buffs began arriving today for the official launch of the TURKS AND CAICOS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, which opens tomorrow. The Festival, which will explore the interrelationship between film and music, will present over 30 narrative and documentary films, along with an impressive mix of professional seminars, special events and live music concerts, all set on this beautiful island archipelago in the Eastern Caribbea...

1943. Ils n'avaient encore jamais foulé le sol français, mais parce que c'est la guerre, Saïd, Abdelkader, Messaoud et Yassir vont s'engager comme 130 000 autres "Indigènes" dans l'armée française pour libérer "la mère patrie" de l'ennemi nazi. Ces héros que l'histoire a oubliés vaincront en Italie, en Provence, et dans les Vosges, avant de se retrouver seuls à défendre un village alsacien contre un bataillon allemand. Le film a été dévoilé au dernier festival de Cannes ou il a r...

Best Documentary Winner BEYOND ERUV Sunday, October 15---The "fiercely independent" Woodstock Film Festival announced the winners of its Maverick Awards at a special ceremony on Saturday evening at the Colony Cafe. Eleven awards were given out to films in competition, as well as special tribute awards to distinguished honorees. The Maverick Award for Best Feature Film was awarded to director Julia Loktev, for her provocative DAY NIGHT DAY NIGHT. The film tells the story of a 19-year old girl, ...

Né au Bénin en 1967, Idrissou Mora-Kpaï a quitté son pays à l’âge de 19 ans et après un séjour en Algérie et en Italie, il s’installe en Allemagne où il fait des études de cinéma dans la section réalisation. Après quoi, il s’installe à Paris où il réalise son premier doc « Si-Gueriki, la Reine mère » qu’il a tourné au nord du Bénin et pour lequel il a reçu plusieurs prix dont celui du meilleur documentaire francophone à Namur en Belgique. Son film « Arlit, deuxi�...

Le festival a choisi pour son Jury Cinéma un Président libanais: Elias Khoury (Liban) (Né en 1948 à Beyrouth. Chroniqueur, essayiste, critique littéraire et romancier, Elias Khoury est actuellement Rédacteur en Chef du supplément culturel du quotidien libanais al-Nahar après l’avoir été pour al-Safir. Il tient une rubrique hebdomadaire dans le quotidien arabe paraissant à Londres al-Quds al-Araby. Il est parmi les meilleurs écrivains arabes de sa génération. De ses roman (tradu...

Thursday, October 12----New Yorkers have long had a love affair with French cinema. Each year for the past 44, the New York Film Festival has peppered its program with intriguing films from French talents, old and new. This year, the love affair continues with four films in the main section, as well as seven film classics in the 50 YEARS OF JANUS FILMS retrospective sidebar. As the Festival enters its final weekend, lovers of French cinema still have an opportunity to sample some tasty hors d...

Tuesday, October 10---The 2nd annual Turks and Caicos International Film Festival opens next week with the premiere on October 17 of a documentary film portrait of a unique gospel talent. THE DONNIE MCCURKLIN STORY: FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT is an inspirational concert docudrama about the extraordinary yet controversial life and times of world famous gospel singer Donnie McCurklin. The gospel legend will be attending the Festival to perform in concert. On film, McCurklin is joined by Beyoncé, T...

Thursday, October 5---The newest film from Spanish director Pedro Almodovar, the hugely anticipated VOLVER, will open the 21st edition of the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival on October 20th at Fort Lauderdale's prestigious Parker Playhouse. VOLVER, which had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, was honored on the Croisette with a Best Screenplay award for its writer/director Pedro Almodóvar, and an unprecedented Best Actress award for the film's ensemble cast, includin...

Thursday, October 5----A documentary co-directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Barbara Kopple on the controversial country-and-western group The Dixie Chicks, will have its International Premiere at the Turks & Caicos International Film Festival, a unique event that fuses film and music. The Festival opens on October 17 on the beautiful Caribbean island archipelago of the Turks and Caicos Islands. DIXIE CHICKS: SHUT UP AND SING, co-directed by Barbara Kopple and Cecilia Peck, follows the D...