Winners of the Aruba International Film Festival’s Caribbean Spotlight Series (CSS) Competition were announced on Sunday night at a special Festival event held on the rooftop of the Paseo Harencia. Encouraged by tremendous local support over the last two years, AIFF continues to expand its popular "Spotlight" series, which was created to showcase movies from Aruban and Caribbean filmmakers. The CSS Jury Award was split between two films; the US/Dominican Republic baseball...

 Program details for the 3rd annual Aruba International Film Festival (AIFF), which takes place June 22-28, 2012, were announced today. The Festival will showcase a diverse array of films from 18 different countries and feature several international and South American premieres. The lineup was announced by AIFF Artistic Director Claudio Masenza along with Festival founder Jonathan Vieira.   AIFF will open with the international premiere of director Rob Reiner’s ...

Bladerunner at Fantasporto, 2012 What better film to be honored at a 'Fantastic' film festival than the classic Sci-Fi film Bladerunner (1982)! At the 32nd International Film Festival of Porto (Fantasporto), which took place February 20 to March 3, 2012, the film was screened as an homage to cinemas of the future. Directed by Ridley Scott, the canonical film was based on the novel by Sci-Fi writer Philip K. Dick called: "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" about...

Bladerunner at Fantasporto, 2012 What better film to be honored at a 'Fantastic' film festival than the classic Sci-Fi film Bladerunner (1982)! At the 32nd International Film Festival of Porto (Fantasporto) the film was screened as an homage to cinemas of the future. Directed by Ridley Scott, the canonical film was based on the novel by Sci-Fi writer Philip K. Dick called: "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" about a time in the future where androids (who look like h...

To commemorate one of the world's oldest and most respected festivals during this 68th Venice International Film Festival, I present you with an in-depth interview with one of the prestigious Golden Lion winners for Best Director, Milcho Manchevski, who won the award in 1994 for his epic masterpiece BEFORE THE RAIN (1994). This interview has a story. We began it in the gardens of the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Aruba during the 2nd annual AIFF in June, continued in Sarajevo during the 17th annual S...

  To commemorate one of the world's oldest and most respected festivals during this 68th Venice International Film Festival, I present you with an in-depth interview with one of the prestigious Golden Lion winners for Best Director, Milcho Manchevski, who won the award in 1994 for his epic masterpiece BEFORE THE RAIN (1994). This interview has a story. We began it in the gardens of the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Aruba during the 2nd annual AIFF in June, continued in Sarajevo during the 17th annual...

  To commemorate one of the world's oldest and most respected festivals during this 68th Venice International Film Festival, I present you with an in-depth interview with one of the prestigious Golden Lion winners for Best Director, Milcho Manchevski, who won the award in 1994 for his epic masterpiece BEFORE THE RAIN (1994). This interview has a story. We began it in the gardens of the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Aruba during the 2nd annual AIFF in June, continued in Sarajevo during the 17th annual...

  Chico & Rita, an animated tale of star-crossed lovers set to a Cuban beat, will be the opening night feature film of the trinidad+tobago film festival/11, presented by Flow. The film will screen at the ttff/11 opening night gala, which takes place on 21 September in Port of Spain. The Festival runs until 04 October.   Directed by the award-winning Spanish filmmakers Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal, and with a score by renowned Cuban musician Bebo Vald...

  To commemorate one of the world's oldest and most respected festivals during this 68th Venice International Film Festival, I present you with an in-depth interview with one of the prestigious Golden Lion winners for Best Director, Milcho Manchevski, who won the award in 1994 for his epic masterpiece BEFORE THE RAIN (1994). This interview has a story. We began it in the gardens of the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Aruba during the 2nd annual AIFF in June, continued in Sarajevo during the 17th annual...

 The film THE INVOCATION (2010) is one of the most enterprising documentaries to come out of the past year, tackling the endlessly debated question: is world peace possible? Many contest that human nature is conflict and thus war is and always will be inevitable. But others maintain that peace indeed is possible, and THE INVOCATION explores how. These filmmakers, Emmanuel Itier and Claude Budin-Juteau, took it upon themselves to travel all around the world speaking to some of the most important...

The film THE INVOCATION (2010) is one of the most enterprising documentaries to come out of the past year, tackling the endlessly debated question: is world peace possible? Many contest that human nature is conflict and thus war is and always will be inevitable. But others maintain that peace indeed is possible, and THE INVOCATION explores how. These filmmakers, Emmanuel Itier and Claude Budin-Juteau, took it upon themselves to travel all around the world speaking to some of the most important f...

MOTHERS (2010) by director Milcho Manchevski will screen at the 17th Sarajevo International Film Festival (SFF) 2011. Here find a review of the award-winning film that saw its opening in Toronto at TIFF 2010 and continues to travel to festivals around the globe. MOTHERS, a rave review! Fiction, nonfiction, and everything else in between and without- this is the dizzying dialectic of Milcho Manchevski’s latest film MOTHERS (2010). MOTHERS is a feature film structured as a triptych of three part...

                  Aruba withdrawals. In one month since the 2nd annual Aruba International Film Festival (AIFF) ended, I've traveled to four countries and two festivals, but still I've got Aruba on my mind. Like a sentimental long distance love affair Aruba has captured my heart. Whether it’s the pristine Caribbean blue beaches and powdery sable-blanc or the potpourri Latin tongue and warm welcoming locals or...

 On the night of Milcho Manchevski’s ‘Conversations With’ we spoke briefly on the red carpet about his experience in Aruba.ME: So, Milcho. You just did your ‘conversations with’ panel. How did it go?MILCHO: It went extremely well. I've been extremely happy with the whole thing. We had a whole thing, the issues we touched upon, the feedback, the viewers who were there. It was nice.ME: How does it feel to be in Aruba right now? I mean, you've been to a 1000 festivals with your latest fi...

MM on panel at SIFF 2011 MOTHERS (2010) by director Milcho Manchevski screened at the 2nd annual Aruba International Film Festival (AIFF) 2011. Here find a review of the award-winning film that saw its opening in Toronto at TIFF 2010, screened at Berlinale 2011, won the prize for best feature at Belgrade International Film Festival 2011 and thereafter traveled to Sofia (SIFF), Istanbul International Film Festival (IFF), Aruba (AIFF) and many others, continuing its international festival journey...

MOTHERS (2010) by director Milcho Manchevski screened at the 2nd annual Aruba International Film Festival (AIFF) 2011. Here find a review of the award-winning film that saw its opening in Toronto at TIFF 2010, screened at Berlinale 2011, won the prize for best feature at Belgrade International Film Festival 2011 and thereafter traveled to Sofia (SIFF), Istanbul International Film Festival (IFF), Aruba (AIFF) and many others, continuing its international festival journey. MOTHERS, a rave review! ...

  Radiant Venezuelan actress Prakriti Maduro appeared at the second annual Aruba International Film Festival (AIFF) for the screening of the Venezuelan/Cuban film HABANA EVA (2010). The morning after seeing the film, I spoke at length with Prakriti about her film with its many layers and her active acting career in general. We met at the Hyatt Grand, Aruba overlooking the stunning Edenic beaches below. ME: So, how are you today? Are you enjoying the Aruba Film Festival? PRA: ...

 Radiant Venezuelan actress Prakriti Maduro appeared at the second annual Aruba International Film Festival (AIFF) for the screening of the Venezuelan/Cuban film HABANA EVA (2010). The morning after seeing the film, I spoke at length with Prakriti about her film with its many layers and her active acting career in general. We met at the Hyatt Grand, Aruba overlooking the stunning Edenic beaches below. ME: So, how are you today? Are you enjoying the Aruba Film Festival? PRA: Yes, I love it...

Aaron Hose at AIFF 2011 Last year one of the films to premier at the inaugural Aruba International Film Festival was Aruba native director Aaron Hose’s award-winning documentary film VOICES IN THE CLOUDS (2010). This year Hose acted as director of the Caribbean Spotlight Series (CSS) for the 2nd annual AIFF. When I asked Aaron what that was like he said, ‘it was a great learning experience that I hope to repeat next year’. Aaron’s film VOICES IN THE CLOUDS is a poignant...

Aaron Hose at AIFF 2011 Last year one of the films to premier at the inaugural Aruba International Film Festival was Aruba native director Aaron Hose’s award-winning documentary film VOICES IN THE CLOUDS (2010). This year Hose acted as director of the Caribbean Spotlight Series (CSS) for the 2nd annual AIFF. When I asked Aaron what that was like he said, ‘it was a great learning experience that I hope to repeat next year’. Aaron’s film VOICES IN THE CLOUDS is a poignant l...