The Northwest Film Center's 31st Northwest Film & Video FestivalThe 31st Northwest Film & Video Festival opens in Portland this Friday with a full nine days of events created to both nurture and celebrate Northwest artists. This truly is an event designed for film and video makers.With well over 300 submissions this year, the 48 films screened will concisely represent the vitality and breadth of filmmaking in this corner of the world. With strong showings from the smaller markets, the Northwes...
Port Townsend Film Festival Wraps with Nod to WinnersUnder blue skies that opened up just as the festival began Friday afternoon and remained throughout the weekend, the 5th annual Port Townsend Film Festival wrapped Sunday with the announcement of "best films" at a morning champagne breakfast. Winner of the best feature-length narrative film was Gate to Heaven (Tor zum Himmel), a German film by producer/director Veit Helmer. Ten years in the making, Gate to Heaven is a love story that tak...
Down From the MountainA writer braves treacherous weather, high altitudes, and long lines to reach that mother lode of cinema, Telluride.by Tim AppeloThe Telluride Film Festival was a place of peril this year. The 2,500 or so film pilgrims braved blistering sun, biblical rain, a freak snowstorm that frosted the peaks ridiculously prettily, a Dumpster-diving bear that roamed the streets by night, and a crazed fan resembling Santa Claus who kicked things and abused ticket takers until he was final...
George Lucas is to be given a special tribute award at this year’s Deauville Film Festival. Mr Lucas will be present to receive an award honouring his work at a ceremony on Saturday September 11th. George Lucas’ first film, THX 1138, is to be granted a special gala screening at Deauville, in order to commemorate its newly-restored release on DVD. This screening and a press conference will also take place on September 11th.Director George Lucas’s widely influential first film, th...
‘DEATH & TEXAS,’ A MOCKUMENTARY THAT TAKES A STAB AT THE DEATH PENALTY, TO SCREEN AT CARIBBEAN FESTWhat if a star football player – and convicted killer – was set to die by the death penalty but wanted to play in the big game before his execution? That’s the compelling question behind Kevin DiNovis’ feature film, “Death & Texas.”The satirical mockumentary, starring Charles Durning (“Tootsie”), Steve Harris (“The Practice”), Mary Kay Place (“The Big Chill”), and Corbin...
NEWMARKET FILMS SET TO RELEASE "DIRECTOR'S CUT" OF RICHARD KELLY'S CULT FAVORITE DONNIE DARKO Film to Premiere at 2004 Seattle Film Festival on May 29th, 2004 LOS ANGELES - Newmarket Films, the distribution arm ofthe Newmarket Entertainment group of companies, will premiere the director's cut of Richard Kelly's critical and cult favorite Donnie Darko at the Seattle Film Festival on May 29th, it was announced today jointly by Newmarket Films' partners William Tyrer, Chris Ball and Bob Berney.Wri...
Seven Leo Award Nominations"Do Not Disturb" 10min / Canada / Color A film about intervention. Directed by A. Jonathan Benny, Produced by Isabelle Longnus for Inter-Muses Productions. Starring Ian Tracey, Mitra Loraz and Farsad Etesami. "Do Not Disturb" has been nominated for seven leo awards including: Best Picture , producer Isabelle Longnus A. Jonathan Benny received four nominations for: Best DirectionBest CinematographyBest EditingBest Screenwriting The film also received two nominatio...
This year's festival features 30 stunning short films and one magnificent feature film that all prove you don’t need big bucks to make a sweet movie. Working in formats from digital video to 35mm, the hilo filmmakers create funny shorts, animated experimentals, hard-hitting documentaries and wondrous movies that defy description. The subjects covered in the films range from competitive table-setting to Shaquille O’Neal’s Irish ancestry with films about ninjas, crossing the street and losin...
NORTHWEST FILM FORUM TO MOVE TO NEW LOCATIONNew space allows for much needed film facilitiesThe Northwest Film Forum is planning for the future. Already a force in Washington's filmmaking community, the NWFF is positioning itself to become the epicenter of Seattle's filmmaking community. In late Spring 2004, the nonprofit organization will transfer its headquarters to a new location, nearly tripling its size. This move is necessary to continue offering exceptional services to the filmmaking comm...
2004 Seattle Jewish Film Festival March 13-21The ninth annual Seattle Jewish Film Festival (SJFF) will be held March 13-21, 2004 at the Cinerama and Pacific Place Theatres in downtown Seattle. SJFF has developed from modest beginnings in 1995 to attract an annual audience of over 10,000 people, establishing itself as one of the countries premiere Jewish Film Festivals.A weeklong celebration of film and culture, the Seattle Jewish Film Festival will feature over 20 films from all over the world. ...
"Why Even Bother with a Film Festival?"First of all, a warning: most of the 300-plus "film festivals" in NorthAmerica are not really film festivals. They are screening events. Theyshow a few films and tapes in a less-than-excellent venue andgenerally do very little for your film. A lot of scams are out there too...One in NYC (we won't mention names here, but they are easy to checkon) attempts to charge the filmmaker anywhere between $300 and$3000 to "participate" in their so-called Independent F...
BOLLYWOOD AND BEFOREIndia has an extremely prolific film industry turning out anything between 700 and 800 films a year, with peaks sometimes reaching more than 900! (905 in 1985, for example.) Most of these films are produced in regional centres in languages such as Bengali, Tamil, Malayalam... Indeed India is made up of 22 States and has 17 main languages. The Bollywood term covers films produced in Hindi in the Bombay studios. Although such films only account for a quarter of the total Indian...
