HOLLYWOOD CHINESE, an exploration of the Chinese in American feature films, captured the Best Documentary Award at the Golden Horse Awards on December 8, 2007. Often referred to as the Chinese equivalent of the Oscars®,” The Golden Horse Awards are the most prestigious honors in Asia for Chinese-language cinema, covering categories modeled after those for the Academy Awards®. Although not technically a Chinese-language film, HOLLYWOOD CHINESE met special qualifications including requirements...
Tuesday, October 9---------The European Film Academy has announced the titles of the 42 films on the selection list for the European Film Awards, the continent's version of the Oscars. This year, 26 European countries are represented and the nations with the largest film industries have no more than three films on the list. In the coming weeks, the 1,800 members of the European Film Academy will vote for the nominations in the different award categories. The nominations will then be announced...
The VIFF’s 22nd Annual Film and Television Forum announces their most impressive showcase to date. From the Oscars to the Golden Globes, from the Emmy’s to Grand Jury Prizes, and from Audience Awards at Sundance and Cannes, the Forum boasts the best of filmmakers from around the world. Four full days of seminars, workshops and master classes for film, television and interactive professionals are scheduled to take place at the Vancouver International Film Centre and Vancity Theatre from Septe...
Thursday, July 12---------The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has mailed out the entry forms for the Foreign Language Film competition to 95 countries, in preparation for the 80th Academy Awards. To qualify for the 2007 Awards, a film must be released in the submitting country between October 1, 2006, and September 30, 2007, and be publicly screened in 35mm or 70mm film or in a qualifying digital cinema format for at least seven consecutive days in a commercial motion picture theate...
Tuesday, June 12------RANG DE BASANTI, a politically charged epic set in the 1920s, was the big winner at the International Indian Film Academy Awards, Bollywood's answer to the Oscars, held on Saturday night. The awards, voted on by fans, were handed out in front of an audience of 12,000 enthusiastic fans at Hallam Auditorium in the city of Sheffield, in the North of England. The cream of the Indian film industry gathered for an evening-long pagaent of Bollywood stars, musical performances ...
8TH KECSKEMÉT ANIMATION FILM FESTIVAL – 20 – 24 JUNE, 2007Kecskémet Animation Film Festival (KAFF) is two festivals in parallel: the festival of Hungarian animation films and the international festival of European animation cinema and television feature films.ANIMATION FILM FESTIVAL IN KECSKEMÉTFilms have arrived from 24 countries to the 8th Kecskemét Animation Film Festival, which will be organised between 20th and 24th June in the famous city. The Hungarian festival at the same time is...
Tuesday, June 5------The MTV Movie Awards are the Oscars for the cool, hip crowd.....and last night's ceremonies in Los Angeles were their typically outrageous and unconventional. Hollywood's elite definitely does show up for these awards----which give the films and performers instant "street cred". The Awards are voted online by the MTV crowd.....the 18-35 year olds who have the potential to create blockbusters and cult hits. The ceremonies were emceed by Sarah Silverman, the ...
Jack Valenti, the former head of the Motion Picture Assn. of America for almost four decades and the prime mover behind the movie ratings system, died Thursday. He was 85. Valenti had checked out of Johns Hopkins University Medical Center on Wednesday where he was hospitalized after suffering a stroke. We loved his strong tenure, relentless battle against piracy, strong advocate of american cinema from majors and independents...I had the priviledge of dining a few times with his family and celeb...
Date: Tue, 28 Feb 2007 THE 79th ACADEMY AWARDS -- FEW SURPRISES – and the Losers were … by Alex Deleon, Hollywood THE 79th annual edition of the Awards of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences -- commonly referred to in the vulgate as "THE OSCARS" -- did not offer up many surprises this year, as most of the front runners and odds-on favorites came in first in their respective races. Of course, in some races the fix was on, as in the run for Best Director and Best Pi...
Sunday, March 11—Cinequest Co-founder Kathleen Powell presented the awards on the closing night of the festival.(Descriptions excerpted from the Cinequest program guide.)Director's AwardsGLOBAL VISION AWARD: to the filmmaker who defies convention and exhibits work of universal vision, making bold use of storytelling to create evocative cinema of the future.FRESH AIR/FRISS LEVEGÕ (Hungary)From its wry opening in a Hungarian Lonely Hearts ballroom dance to its daring ending, Ágnes Kocsis...
Tuesday, March 13----The Museum of Modern Art presents its fifth annual exhibition of recent films from Canada in the Canadian Front 2007 series that begins tomorrow evening and runs through March 19th. The eight-film progam, a mix of dramatic features and documentaries, opens with the New York premiere of AWAY FROM HER, the directorial debut of actress Sarah Polley (best known for her roles in Atom Egoyan's THE SWEET HEREAFTER and the 2004 remake of George Romero's zombie classic DAWN ...
My day began with the Day of Sight and Sound and Panasonic's P2 presentation, followed by a quick press conference, and then Carl Miller's presentation of his film, Retribution. I always feel that this day has the potential to be a powerful learning tool for local and visiting filmmakers, and for future sessions I would love to see cinematographers and sound designers invited in to share their knowledge with us. A guy can dream...I rounded off the day with two excellent films from opposi...
My day began with the Day of Sight and Sound and Panasonic's P2 presentation, followed by a quick press conference, and then Carl Miller's presentation of his film, Retribution. I always feel that this day has the potential to be a powerful learning tool for local and visiting filmmakers, and for future sessions I would love to see cinematographers and sound designers invited in to share their knowledge with us. A guy can dream...I rounded off the day with two excellent films from opposite ends ...
A conversation with Meir Fenigstein, Founder and Director of the Israel Film FestivalFounded and directed by former Israeli rock star (“Kaveret”) Meir Fenigstein, the Israel Film Festival has grown to become the largest showcase of Israeli films in the US. In the last two decades, the Festival has presented over 700 feature films, documentaries, television dramas and short films to more than 750,000 attendees. Under Fenigstein's leadership, hundreds of Israeli filmmakers have come to the US,...
Full Frame Documentary Film Festival (April 12-15, 2007) brings the web to the big screen as part of its special programming called . This new addition to Full Frame’s lineup will bring attention to the innovative work being created by users of the internet and shed light on the places and subjects documentary is moving toward on-line.“Full Frame has decided to dive into the online doc experience and bring the festival's critical expertise to this challenge,” reflects festival founder, CE...
THE 79th annual edition of the Awards of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences -- commonly referred to in the vulgate as "THE OSCARS" -- did not offer up many surprises this year, as most of the front runners and odds-on favorites came in first in their respective races. Of course, in some races the fix was on, as in the run for Best Director and Best Picture, where it would have been sheer folly to bet against Marty Scorcese, and his piss-poor but dearly beloved neo-Gangsta flick, "Th...
PARIS - The Oscars last night may be the biggest celebration of the year for the movie biz. But for serious fashionistas the focus was not on the red carpet, but on the City of Lights, where Paris Fashion Week - prêt à porter fall/winter 2007 - kicked off Sunday.If the first days shows were anything to go by, there really is no excuse for not dressing right on the night. Think past winners of worst-dressed Oscar lists, such as Cher and Demi Moore. Paris fashion house Balmains collection Sun...
The 2007 New York Arab & South Asian Film Festival presented by Alwan for the Arts, opene in New York City Feb 23rd and runs through March 4th. Programmed by a diverse group of visual artists, political and cultural activists, writers and filmmakers, this year the Festival offers many ground breaking films and programs, unique cultural slants, as well as many cinematic “firsts”, which include:• First Saudi Arabian Feature film to be shown in US - Shadow of Silence, by Abdullah Al Muheisen...
Since the opening of MIFF call for entries the festival office based in Paris has received over then 120 films and application forms. The festival director, Hisham Abdel Khalek, announces the first of the 20 films admitted in the main section of the official competition. The films are: The Israeli film “Sweet Mud” directed by Dror Shaul which is repsented in Sundance Film Festival as well as Berlin International Film Festival, the second-biggest pic at the box office and Israel'...
The MIFF board held a press conference in Hotel Berlin, Berlin on the 12th of February during the 57th Berlinale to announce the details of the 1st Malta International Film Festival. Hisham Abdel Khalek “Festival founder and director”, Charles Frendo “Financial Director”, Gianluca Matarrese “Press and Media Director”, Olivier Delesse “Film Market Director”, Patricia Falzon “PR Director”, Jean Claude Legrand “International Coordination Director”, Anthony Cardona “Communi...
Monday, February 12----The indie hit road comedy LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE and the crime thriller THE DEPARTED were the big winners at the Writers Guild of America (WGA) Awards, setting up a showdown between the two movies at the Oscars in two weeks. LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE, about a dysfunctional family that takes their young daughter across country to compete in a beauty pageant, won best original screenplay honors for Michael Arndt. In a moving acceptance speech, Arndt said he wrote LITTLE MISS SUNSHI...
Monday, February 12----A new film festival has been launched on the beautiful and historic island nation of Malta. The Malta International Film Festival, which will be held from September 15-23, 2007, hosted a press conference and reception this morning at the Hotel Berlin to introduce the international film community to the festival team and to its ambitious plans for its inaugural event. The Festival is being organized by the AECEO (Association pour l'Echange Culturel Entre l'Europe ...
MIRREN AND WHITTAKER SHINE AT S.A.G. AWARDS
by Alex Deleon, Santa Barbara
This is the jolly season of awards in Southern California -- seems like there's a different one every week somewhere in L.A. or vicinity. Following the Golden Globes (Foreign Press Awards) a couple of weeks back we now have the Screen Actors Guild (S.A.G.) awards which are similar and yet a bit different. Both sets of awards go to both film and television personalities, but the Globes recognize all kinds of categories (w...
Monday, January 29----In what will likely be a repeat by the time the Oscars are given out on February 25, the Screens Actors Guild gave out its top awards to film and television thespians in the convivial atmosphere of the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. Winners were visibly moved to be recognized by their peers as they polished the speeches that they very likely will need to give again at the Kodak Theater for the big bonanza of the Academy Awards.
The SAG Award for Best Ensemble Performa...
