We will be posting video interviews shortly.
Meanwhile we would like to introduce to you the men and women whose vision transformed this idea of a world class festival dedicated to US and Mexican films... in Los Cabos (seems almost obvious when you think of it) into a brillant success...
THE FOUNDERS
EDUARDO SANCHEZ-NAVARRO REDO
Regarded as one of the main p...
Italian animator, director and illustrator Simone Massi (who was awarded the 2012 David di Donatello for Best Short Film), is the author of the new opening sequence of the 69th Venice International Film Festival (August 29 - September 8, 2012), directed by Alberto Barbera and organized by La Biennale di Venezia chaired by Paolo Baratta.
The new opening sequence (30 seconds obtained from 300 hand-made drawings that hint at Fellini, Angelopoulos, Wenders, Olmi, Tarkovsky, and Dovženko) wi...
Organized in co-operation with Antalya Metropolitan Municipality and the Antalya Culture and Arts Foundation ‘People's Orange Short Film Competition’ now opening to the world. The Competition is held for the third time this year and it is preparing to call for entries from all over the world to exceed Antalya borders.
The competition is open to everyone who is interested in the film making. It gives a great opportunity for those to showcase their talent and explore the possibilities ...
Iran has sentenced two prominent filmmakers to six years in jail each on vague charges of working against the ruling system, their lawyers said Monday. One of the two, the renowned filmmaker Jafar Panahi, has won awards at the Chicago, Cannes and Berlin film festivals. His films have been screened at various film festivals in India.
He was invited as chief guest at the recently concluded 41st international film fest in Goa (IFFI) but was not allowed to leave the country.
Iran has ...
The Palm Springs International Film Festival, the first major film event of the 2011 film calendar, is known, among other things, for its embrace of films being considered for the Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Language Film category. The Festival routinely screens most of the films eligible, screening the films that the countries themselves have put forward for nomination. This offers a wide and diverting survey of the state of world cinema.
One interesting title this yea...
Rap music and urban renewal aren't the only things Brooklyn, New York, and the Dutch city of Rotterdam have in common. Both advance a version of the Rotterdam film festival.On March 3-9, 2010, a month after curtains closed at the 39th International Film Festival Rotterdam (January 27—February 7), the Brooklyn Academy of Music rolls out Rap music and urban renewal aren't the only things Brooklyn, New York, and the Dutch city of Rotterdam have in common. Both advance a version of the Rotterdam f...
In a first for the Berlinale, a film from Iraq had its world premiere last evening in the Panorama section. SON OF BABYLON, co-written and directed by Mohamed Al-Daradji, is a stirring drama about coming to terms with tragedy and moving forward despite the burden of personal loss. Filmed in stark poetic set pieces, the film follows the journey of a Kurdish grandmother and her precocious grandson as they travel (mostly on foot) to discover the fate of the boy's father, who has been miss...
The 13th edition of POFF, the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival held in the Estonian capital, kicked off a 10-day marathon of film premieres, special events and industry meetings with the premiere of the American indie hit (500) DAYS OF SUMMER last night. Today, Pen-ek Ratanaruang, Thai film director and jury member of the EurAsia Competition program, will hold a press conference prior to the presentation tomorrow evening of his latest film NYMPH. The director has been one of the innovators in...
The 13th edition of POFF, the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival held in the Estonian capital, kicked off a 10-day marathon of film premieres, special events and industry meetings with the premiere of the American indie hit (500) DAYS OF SUMMER last night.
Today, Pen-ek Ratanaruang, Thai film director and jury member of the EurAsia Competition program, will hold a press conference prior to the presentation tomorrow evening of his latest film NYMPH. The director has been on...
39th International Film Festival Rotterdam January 27 - February 7, 2010
Paju, the second feature film by South Korean director Park Chan-Ok will be the official opening film for the 39th International Film Festival Rotterdam on Wednesday January 27, 2010. Park Chan-Ok was the winner of a Tiger Award in 2003 for her critically appraised debut Jealousy is My Middle Name. In 2006 her sophomore feature project Paju was launched at Rotterdam's co-production market CineMart.
Rotterdam festiva...
Penelope Cruz in BROKEN EMBRACES (Spain)
The New York Film Festival, which enters its final weekend today, has presented a program with a large emphasis on European cinema. With a strong showing of films from Portugal (http://www.fest21.com/en/blog/filmnewyork/a_peek_at_portugese_cinema_at_nyff) and
France (http://www.fest21.com/en/blog/filmnewyork/the_french_invasion_of_new_york), the Festival finds that contemporary European cinema from other nations not only has...
A couple of years ago, the Vancouver International Film Festival (October 1 – 16, 2009) used to be one of the best film festivals, not just in North America, but in the world. This is a very strong claim and it is not just the usual rhetoric exaggeration of the film critic. But this is no longer the case. It is still a very good film festival, but, alas, it has lost the bold and unconventional flavour that used to make it absolutely exceptional. The reason why the Vancouver International Film ...
The International Film Festival Rotterdam announces a first major focus of its 39th edition: ‘Where is Africa?’ This most extensive program devoted to independent African filmmaking at any Western film festival in recent years includes new short and feature length films, live performances, historical films, storyteller's cinema, debates and a series of commissioned films by non-African filmmakers. The 39th IFFR takes places from 27 January up to 7 February 2010. The focus on African cinema, ...
Henry Bernadet (WEST OF PLUTO)
by Sandy Mandelberger, Festival Dailies Editor
Quebec City-based filmmakers Henry Bernadet and Myriam Verreault have known each other since high school, so after making a series of short films, they decided that their first feature project together would be a film that took a realistic look at the lives of teenagers who attended the very same high school in the suburbs that they graduated from ten years ago. WEST OF PLUTO is a semi-...
by Sandy Mandelberger, Online Dailies Editor
When the film history of our era is written for future scholars to examine, one of the interesting aspects will be the flowering of non-fiction film. Documentaries, once relegated to television or educational settings, have broken through to the theatrical box office. While not every film can be “Fahrenheit 911” (which topped $200 million at the box office) documentaries have been faring we...
Director: Marie Losier.
Music video Papal Breakdance by PTV3-Genesis P-Orridge
With Genesis Breyer P-Orridge and many friends.
A campy music video in the style of a scopitone from the early 1960s, with the wonderful cast of 10 boys in sexy red singlets and girls in red tutus, all dancing with joy with Genesis P-Orridge in a boxing ring…all the ingredients for a slap stick boxing match in music.
Director: Marie Losier.
The latest in Marie Losier’s ongoing series of film portraits of avant-garde directors (George and Mike Kuchar, Guy Maddin, Richard Foreman), DreaMinimalist offers an insightful and hilarious encounter with Conrad as he sings, dances and remembers his youth and his association with Jack Smith.
On Saturday evening, 31 January, the audience awards were announced in the Grand Auditorium of the Doelen in Rotterdam. The KPN Audience Award went to SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE by Danny Boyle and co-director Loveleen Tandan. The Dioraphte Award for Hubert Bals Fund film held in highest regard went to the film TEZA by the Ethiopian film maker Haile Gerima. The IFFR counted 341,000 visitors to the films, exhibitions, live shows and events, including the 8,000 film lovers who attend the fully booked Volk...
Fourteen films have been selected for IFFR’s VPRO Tiger Awards Competition 2009. The line up features first or second films from all continents, and includes eight world premieres concurring for three equal top prizes of each 15,000 euro. For the first time, films from Turkey, New Zealand and Indonesia are included in competition. The Tiger Awards Competition for Short Films includes twenty-seven films shorter than 60 minutes; the three Tiger Awards for Short Film each come with 3,000 euro.Sta...
The Hubert Bals Fund of the Rotterdam film festival announces financial contributions to 27 film projects for a total amount of 385,000 Euro. One of the winners, TONY MANERO by Pablo Larraín, is selected for the Directors’ Fortnight 2008. It brings the total of Rotterdam-backed titles in Cannes to sixteen. This Spring, Hubert Bals Fund contributions will go to filmmakers in seventeen countries. Among them are maestro Lav Diaz (Philippines), upcoming talent Edwin (Indonesia), about to make his...
Saturday, May 3-------Following a packed 10-day marathon of film screenings, industry events, seminar panels and chic parties, the Tribeca Film Festival ended this weekend with the announcement of the winners of the juried awards in several categories. The World Competition winners were chosen from 12 narrative and 12 documentary features from 18 countries. Two awards were also given to honor New York films, which were chosen from seven narrative and nine documentary features. Awards were als...
Saturday, May 3-------Following a packed 10-day marathon of film screenings, industry events, seminar panels and chic parties, the Tribeca Film Festival ended this weekend with the announcement of the winners of the juried awards in several categories. The World Competition winners were chosen from 12 narrative and 12 documentary features from 18 countries. Two awards were also given to honor New York films, which were chosen from seven narrative and nine documentary features. Awards were als...
When you host a well-organized film event on a beautiful island in the Atlantic Ocean, the appeal is instantaneous. For the Bermuda International Film Festival, which kicked off its eleventh season this past Friday, the mix of top flight films and a genial atmosphere make for a winning combination. The Festival opened on Friday night with the audience pleaser ST. TRINIAN'S, a comedic farce by director Oliver Parker, best known for his film adaptations of the Oscar Wilde plays THE IMPORTANCE OF ...
Monday, March 31------When you host a well-organized film event on a beautiful island in the Atlantic Ocean, the appeal is instantaneous. For the Bermuda International Film Festival, which kicked off its eleventh season this past Friday, the mix of top flight films and a genial atmosphere make for a winning combination. The Festival opened on Friday night with the audience pleaser ST. TRINIAN'S, a comedic farce by director Oliver Parker, best known for his film adaptations of the Oscar Wilde...
The Board of the International Film Festival Rotterdam has appointed Rutger Wolfson for a period of four years as general director of the festival organisation. In this function, Wolfson has the final responsibility for the artistic and business matters of the festival, the CineMart and the Hubert Bals Fund. Wolfson will resign as director of De Vleeshal, centre for contemporary art in Middelburg. From September 2007, Rutger Wolfson was director of the 37th edition of the International Film Fe...
