Wednesday, February 21----In the run-up to the Independent Spirit Awards (Saturday) and the Academy Awards (Sunday), the industry's big weekend, a number of crafts and guilds announced their award winners. The 57th Annual ACE Eddie Awards, presented by the American Cinema Editors, held last Sunday evening at the Beverly Hills Hotel, honored a number of films, most of which are also in the running for Oscars.In an unusual occurence, there was a tie for Best Edited Feature Film between BABEL...
Friday, January 19-----At its first Press Conference, the 2007 Sundance Film Festival announced the members of the six juries awarding prizes at the Festival, which opened last evening. The juries are made up of twenty-four individuals selected from the global film community, each of whom are bringing a broad range of experience and a unique perspective on film. The award winners will be announced on the evening of January 27 at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival Awards Ceremony at the Park Cit...
Monday, January 1, 2007------While a lot of ink (or bytes) will be spent on the films and performers who will win accolades in the busy awards season to come (from the Golden Globes through the Independent Spirit Awards to the Oscar extravaganza), it seems appropriate, on this first day of the New Year, to take a moment to list the celebrated actors, directors, producers and other film professionals who took their final curtain calls in 2006. We remember them all, and how wonderful that their ...
Friday, December 29-----In a last farewell nod to the best films of the past year, respected film website IndieWire has announced the results of its first annual Critics Poll. The Romanian drama THE DEATH OF MR. LAZARESCU, an emotionally devastating meditation on the thin line between life and death, was the top choice of a group of 100 leading North American film critics. The film, the second feature of director Cristi Puiu, won the Un Certain Regard prize at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival, wa...
Friday, December 1-----The Gotham Awards, held in a former luxury cruise line docking pier on the Hudson River, has become New York's biggest film party. Now in its 16th year, it has established a reputation and a following among the indie film world, particularly filmmakers, executives and talent that call New York home. It has reorganized in the past year (after splitting with the former IFP West, which presents the Independent Spirit Awards in Los Angeles over Oscar weekend), putting great...
New Directors/New Films, one of the most anticipated film events on the New York film calendar, opens this week end. The program, jointly presented by the Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Department of Film and Media of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), will unspool 25 feature films and 5 shorts from March 22 through April 2, 2006. The program opens with the East Coast Premiere of HALF NELSON, a Sundance sleeper about a committed teacher in New York’s public schools, played by rising star...
Film Independent [FIND] announced the winners for the 2005 Los Angeles Film Festival. With the prestigious Target Filmmaker Award of $50,000 going to Mark Banning for Best Narrative Feature, Jellysmoke. The Target Documentary Award for Best Documentary Feature was won by Beth Bird for Everyone Their Grain of Sand. Both these talented independent filmmakers received a $50,000 unrestrictive check with hope that this will assist in continuing their creative talents of filmmaking for the future.The...
The 31st Annual Seattle International Film FestivalThe 31st Annual Seattle International Film Festival announces award winners and concludes its 25-day run on Sunday June 12 with the North American premiere of award winning director Gus Van Sant’s film Last Days. Van Sant will be in attendance for the screening, which will be followed by the Closing Night Gala. SIFF 2005 was a great year and brought many eminent Seattleites together—from Microsoft’s Bill Gates to Eddie Vedder of Pearl Ja...
ELVIS MITCHELL AS GUEST CURATOR FOR THE 2005 LOS ANGELES FILM FESTIVALJUNE 16 – 26, 2005Dawn Hudson, Executive Director of Film Independent (FIND), announced Elvis Mitchell as the Guest Curator for the 2005 Los Angeles Film Festival, which runs Thursday, June 16 through Sunday, June 26, 2005. In this official position, Mitchell will be selecting a number of special screenings and moderating discussions for the 2005 festival. Mitchell joins Festival Director, Richard Raddon and Director of Pro...