The 25th edition of the Miami International Film Festival held its Gala Awards Ceremony last night at the historic Gusman Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Miami. The Festival prizes are not just simple accolades.....each is accompanied by a $25,000 cash prize, one of the highest on the film festival circuit. The inclusion of this major cash award has greatly increased interest from filmmakers and the distribution sector in submitting their projects. The list of winners follows. 2008 MI...
Academy Award-winning writer Bobby Moresco received the Cinequest Maverick Spirit Award, the festival’s highest honor. The straight-talking screenwriter/producer of CRASH (2004) and co-producer of MILLION DOLLAR BABY (2004) was joined on the San Jose Repertory Theatre stage by producing partner Mark Harris (CRASH, THE BLACK DONNELLYS). The lively Q&A with moderator Robert G. Phelps and an audience sprinkled with aspiring writers was part of the Film and Technology Forum titled "Sight, Sound & ...
The Academy awards brought a certain "freudenschade" (Joy over other people's misery) to Western Europe and an air of gloom to Warsaw. The German newspapers were practically gloating over the fact that all four acting Oscars went to European rather than American performers (UK, France and Spain), whereas the Poles, placing high hopes on Andrzej Wajda's WW II Massacre epic "Katyn", received a painful letdown when the Best Foreign film award went to a relatively minor Austrian concentration camp s...
Academy Award-winning writer Bobby Moresco received the Cinequest Maverick Spirit Award, the festival’s highest honor. The straight-talking screenwriter/producer of CRASH (2004) and co-producer of MILLION DOLLAR BABY (2004) was joined on the San Jose Repertory Theatre stage by producing partner Mark Harris (CRASH, THE BLACK DONNELLYS). The lively Q&A with moderator Robert G. Phelps and an audience sprinkled with aspiring writers was part of the Film and Technology Forum titled "Sigh...
The Film Independent Spirit Awards, held in a tent on the beach at Santa Monica on Saturday, are kind of the “indie Oscars”. Some of the nominees and winners are also up for Oscar gold, but there are refreshingly new names and talents on the roster, from films that have received little or no distribution. The Awards Ceremony, which is broadcast live on cable networks AMC and IFC, gives these newcomers a chance to get some name recognition, and in the case of many, an open door to agents and ...
Sunday, February 24-----The Film Independent Spirit Awards, held in a tent on the beach at Santa Monica on Saturday, are kind of the “indie Oscars”. Some of the nominees and winners are also up for Oscar gold, but there are refreshingly new names and talents on the roster, from films that have received little or no distribution. The Awards Ceremony, which is broadcast live on cable networks AMC and IFC, gives these newcomers a chance to get some name recognition, and in the case of many, an...
By Maria Esteves - February 22, 2008 The astonishing 8-foot golden Oscar statues arrived at The Carlyle Hotel, Thursday, February 21, 11:30 AM in preparation for the Official 80th Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) New York Oscar Night Celebration, Sunday, February 24, 2008. The colossal pair paraded in a lovely decorated steep-back vehicle through Times Square and Columbus Circle prior to its arrival at The Carlyle. The 80th Academy Awards ceremony for outstanding film ac...
It’s hard not to feel some affection – even love – for the Oscars, the biggest film industry awards ceremony. And this year is no exception. The Oscars 2008 will go down in history as the most highly anticipated award ceremony of all time, if only for the drama surrounding whether the event would go ahead at all. And the Oscars wouldn’t be the Oscars without the stars’ dramatic acceptance speeches. With a 45 second deadline and an audience of more than a billion viewers, the pressure ...
The star-studded international competition judgment panel under the baton of celebrated Greco-French director Constantine Costa-Gavras was reduced to a Sextet when Danish ace director, Susan Bier, and top drawer French actress, Sandrine Bonnaire, both announced their enforced withdrawal from jury duty due to inescapable commitments elsewhere. In Bier's case it was a sudden need to visit the location of the next movie she's shooting, while Bonnaire submitted her regrets due to "personal fami...
The final class production of the fest, "The Other Boleyn Girl", (Non competition) an opulent costume drama set at the court of the most famous of all British Kings, Henry VIII, (who reigned from 1509 - 1547) has echoes reminiscent of the Golden Age of Hollywood when the likes of eminently upper crust Englishmen such as George Sanders played sneering Nazi officers, and flamboyant Australians like Errol Flynn portrayed gunslingers in Dodge City --and never mind the displaced accents!...
The final class production of the fest, "The Other Boleyn Girl", (Non competition) an opulent costume drama set at the court of the most famous of all British Kings, Henry VIII, (who reigned from 1509 – 1547) has echoes reminiscent of the Golden Age of Hollywood when the likes of eminently upper crust Englishmen such as George Sanders played sneering Nazi officers, and flamboyant Australians like Errol Flynn portrayed gunslingers in Dodge City --and never mind the displaced accents! In this g...
The star-studded international competition judgment panel under the baton of celebrated Greco-French director Constantine Costa-Gavras was reduced to a Sextet when Danish ace director, Susan Bier, and top drawer French actress, Sandrine Bonnaire, both announced their enforced withdrawal from jury duty due to inescapable commitments elsewhere. In Bier's case it was a sudden need to visit the location of the next movie she’s shooting, while Bonnaire submitted her regrets due to "personal family ...
After the cancellation of the Golden Globes and the Critics Choice Awards (and with the possibility of a no-show Oscars next month), the Screen Actors Guild Awards held last week in Los Angeles was a return to movie glamour. SAG had gotten a waiver from their fellow union, the Writers Guild of America, which has been on strike since November and has forced other awards shows to cancel their events (actors and directors refused to cross picket lines). In what was a very dignified ceremony, awards...
Monday, January 28--------After the cancellation of the Golden Globes and the Critics Choice Awards (and with the possibility of a no-show Oscars next month), the Screen Actors Guild Awards held last night in Los Angeles was a return to movie glamour. SAG had gotten a waiver from their fellow union, the Writers Guild of America, which has been on strike since November and has forced other awards shows to cancel their events (actors and directors refused to cross picket lines). In what was a ve...
SPARK VFX '08Vancouver ACM SIGGRAPH and the Vancity Theatre are proud to present the SPARK VFX ?08 Film Festival. Featuring a selection of cinema's most influential visual effects (VFX) films, and film industry veteran speakers, SPARK celebrates the history of innovation in VFX. The films have been chosen from the "VES 50", a list of the 50 most influential and inspiring VFX films as selected by the Visual Effects Society. SPARK begins on January 30th with the panel "Celebrating Innovation and I...
Tuesday, January 22-------With the announcement this morning of the Academy Award nominations, the Sundance Film Festival Press Office sent out an interesting release on the films, performers and creatives nominated this year who were represented at Sundance, past and present.Two films with multiple nominations had their premieres at last year's Festival. AWAY FROM HER, by Sarah Polley, has been nominated for Best Actress (Julie Christie) and Best Adapted Screenplay (Sarah Polley). THE SAVAGES...
With the announcement this morning of the Academy Award nominations, the Sundance Film Festival Press Office sent out an interesting release on the films, performers and creatives nominated this year who were represented at Sundance, past and present.Two films with multiple nominations had their premieres at last year's Festival. AWAY FROM HER, by Sarah Polley, has been nominated for Best Actress (Julie Christie) and Best Adapted Screenplay (Sarah Polley). THE SAVAGES, which had its world premie...
Which big-screen moments first inspired Oscar® winning actors Denzel Washington, Ben Affleck and Anthony Hopkins to fall in love with the movies? The answers might surprise you, as revealed in exclusive Fandango video interviews at its new Awards Watch section, launching today at http://www.fandango.com/awardswatch. Anecdotes include:- Denzel Washington attending "2001";- Ben Affleck urging his brother Casey to see "Lawrence of Arabia";- Anthony Hopkins on "House of Wax" and other 3D movies (wa...
The 23rd installment of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) presents its film line-up for 2008, featuring 215 films including 20 World Premieres, 22 U.S. Premieres and a rich selection of films representing 49 countries. The Festival takes place over 11 days beginning Thursday, January 24, through Sunday, February 3.“The Festival has continuously grown in stature,” commented SBIFF Director Roger Durling, “and this year’s film slate certainly reflects that. We’re ver...
INTO THE WILD, director Sean Penn’s adaptation of the true story of a young man who ditches civilization on a spiritual quest into the wilds of the Alaskan wilderness, dominated the film nominations for the 14th Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards, after being completely snubbed by the Golden Globes and most film critics prizes. The film, which is adapted from the non-fiction bestseller by Jon Krakauer, has been nominated for Best Ensemble Cast, with rising star Emile Hirsch getting a nod as Best...
Thursday, December 20----------INTO THE WILD, director Sean Penn’s adaptation of the true story of a young man who ditches civilization on a spiritual quest into the wilds of the Alaskan wilderness, dominated the film nominations for the 14th Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards, after being completely snubbed by the Golden Globes and most film critics prizes. The film, which is adapted from the non-fiction bestseller by Jon Krakauer, has been nominated for Best Ensemble Cast, with rising star E...
Leave it to the good taste and the subversive spirit of the Film Forum to resurrect Woody Allen's dysfunctional family comedy classic HANNAH AND HER SISTERS, just in time for our own familial crises for the Hannukah and Christmas holidays. Woody got it so right in this tale of three sisters (the sublime Mia Farrow, Barbara Hershey and Oscar-winner Dianne Wiest) who can't help but compare their professional and personal lives in a case of sorority sister sibling rivalry. Hannah (Farrow) is the su...
Friday, December 14---------Leave it to the good taste and the subversive spirit of the Film Forum to resurrect Woody Allen's dysfunctional family comedy classic HANNAH AND HER SISTERS, just in time for our own familial crises for the Hannukah and Christmas holidays. Woody got it so right in this tale of three sisters (the sublime Mia Farrow, Barbara Hershey and Oscar-winner Dianne Wiest) who can't help but compare their professional and personal lives in a case of sorority sister sibling riva...
The 19th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival will open on Thursday, January 3, 2008 with the U.S. premiere of Then She Found Me, co-written and directed by Academy Award winner Helen Hunt. Marking Hunt’s directorial debut, the film will screen at 6:30 p.m. at the Palm Springs High School followed by an Opening Night Reception at the Desert Museum. Hunt is expected to attend the premiere of her film. The film also stars Bette Midler, Colin Firth and Matthew Broderick. The 19th A...
Tuesday, December 4----------The year 2007 will be remembered for many things.....but one of the biggest surprises, at least in the worlds of film and media, has been the emergence of the former Communist state of Romania as the hottest film producing territory, not only in Europe, but also worldwide. Of course, a few international arthouse hits does not a thriving industry make, but if one wanted to get a sense of where the energy and inspiration in contemporary cinema could be coming from next...
