And the Palme d'Or goes to Laurent Cantet (Entre les murs) At long last a French Palm much awaited for the past 21 years (last to receive was Maurice Pialat in 1987 for "Under the Sun of Satan" - Sous le soleil de Satan.The official Jury of this 61st Fesival de Cannes, présided over by Sean Penn, revealed this evening the Prize winners during the closing Ceremony. Édouard Baer hosted Robert de Niro on the stage of the Grand Théâtre Lumière to award the Palme d’or to the best film among th...

 AFI DALLAS International Film Festival Presented by Target, Founding Sponsor Victory Park announces Helen Hunt's directorial debut, THEN SHE FOUND ME, as the festival's Opening Night Gala presentation and Stuart Townsend's BATTLE IN SEATTLE as its Closing Night Gala presentation.The eleven-day festival (March 27 - April 6), will feature 210 feature films and shorts with 290 screenings. Once again, the Target Ten Narrative and Target Ten Documentary Competition winners will receive two unre...

AFI DALLAS International Film Festival Presented by Target, Founding Sponsor Victory Park announces Helen Hunt’s directorial debut, THEN SHE FOUND ME, as the festival’s Opening Night Gala presentation and Stuart Townsend’s BATTLE IN SEATTLE as its Closing Night Gala presentation.The eleven-day festival (March 27 – April 6), will feature 210 feature films and shorts with 290 screenings. Once again, the Target Ten Narrative and Target Ten Documentary Competition winners will receive two u...

While the bulk of film professionals and hopefuls who have crowded into the ski resort of Park City for this week's Sundance Film Festival represent the high and low of the independent film world (those with VIP connections, and those scrambling to get meetings and into lavish parties), Sundance has become a place for Hollywood producers and bigshots to hobnob with their contemporaries and, heaven forbid, young filmmaking talent. This makes for a very odd mix, since these communities rarely ever...

 Friday, January 18------------While the bulk of film professionals and hopefuls who have crowded into the ski resort of Park City for this week's Sundance Film Festival represent the high and low of the independent film world (those with VIP connections, and those scrambling to get meetings and into lavish parties), Sundance has become a place for Hollywood producers and bigshots to hobnob with their contemporaries and, heaven forbid, young filmmaking talent. This makes for a very odd mix, sin...

 Tuesday, January 15----------The jangle of nerves and breathless anticipation are reaching a fever pitch, as film professionals from around the globe prepare to descend on the tiny ski resort of Park City, home to the Sundance Film Festival. A town of 10,000 that swells to nearly 50,000 during the Festival period, the tension is mounting as filmmakers, film sellers and film buyers all come together in a frenzy of pitching, screening, critical reaction and, of course, the desire for a film sale...

Each Academy Award ceremony is listed chronologically below along with the winner of the Academy Award for Directing and the film associated with the award. In the column next to the winner of each award are the other nominees for best director. Following the Academy's practice, the films below are listed by the years of their Los Angeles qualifying run, which is usually (but not always) in the year of release; for example, the Oscar for Best Director of 1999 was announced during the award cerem...

The 27th Munich International Festival of Film Schools will be kicked off on November 17 & 18 with the special program "All human beings are born free and equal". The Goethe-Institut and the Remembrance and Future Fund held a film competition for film students on Human Rights. Students from film academies and colleges of art have tackled the First Article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and developed concepts for short films. The juries in ten countries have chosen 47 projects for r...

Academy Award winning actress Cate Blanchett has been selected to receive the 2008 Santa Barbara International Film Festival’s Modern Master Award on Saturday, January 26, 2008, it was announced by SBIFF Executive Director Roger Durling. Blanchett is one of the most gifted performers working today. She possesses an innate intelligence and ability to adapt completely to her characters, making her one of Hollywood’s most respected and revered talents.  She developed her talent at a young age,...

Academy Award winning actress Cate Blanchett has been selected to receive the 2008 Santa Barbara International Film Festival’s Modern Master Award on Saturday, January 26, 2008, it was announced by SBIFF Executive Director Roger Durling.Blanchett is one of the most gifted performers working today. She possesses an innate intelligence and ability to adapt completely to her characters, making her one of Hollywood’s most respected and revered talents. She developed her talent at a young age, w...

Minnie Driver slowly removed her sunglasses at the Cinequest press conference, and quietly said, “I don’t want to force my bloodshot eyes on you.” She had worked until 3:30 a.m. before traveling to San Jose to receive the Maverick Spirit Award at an event scheduled later in the afternoon. “I’m really happy to be here. Exhausted but happy,” stated the London-born actor.When asked if she considered herself a maverick, Driver thoughtfully replied, “I don’t lie in bed going, hmmm, I�...

Saturday, March 3---Minnie Driver slowly removed her sunglasses at the Cinequest press conference, and quietly said, “I don’t want to force my bloodshot eyes on you.” She had worked until 3:30 a.m. before traveling to San Jose to receive the Maverick Spirit Award at an event scheduled later in the afternoon. “I’m really happy to be here. Exhausted but happy,” stated the London-born actor.When asked if she considered herself a maverick, Driver thoughtfully replied, “I don’t lie i...

CINEMA POTPOURRI: February (This is a new monthly segment that will cover a variety of topics -- casting news, movie happenings, and whatever happens to be on my movie-crazed mind)  SUNDANCE(what it was…what it became…what it now wants to be)Of course, the independent film movement existed long before the Sundance Film Festival opened its doors in 1985 and officially adopted its title in 1991.  But never before had mainstream Hollywood responded so resoundingly to its possibilities. Redfor...

From July 15 to July 22, 2006, for the 24th time, Munich will be the setting of Germany's largest summer film festival.Among the highlights of our International Program are spectacular debut films such as THANK YOU FOR SMOKING by Jason Reitman from the USA, VALERIE by Birgit Möller from Germany and MÜETTER by French director (but Munich resident) Dominique Lienhard. As always, there are exciting discoveries to be made - like American Wunderkind Andrew Bujalski, whose first two films (FUNNY HA...

- A Wee CRAIC Set For September 18 -5th Annual Film Fleadh Shorts Night AnnouncedThe CRAIC is Back! The 5th Annual Film Fleadh Shorts Night, A Wee CRAIC, is scheduled for September 18 at Arlene’s Grocery (95 Stanton St.) in the Lower East Side. Halfway to St. Paddy’s Day, it will feature the best in Irish short films intertwined with some excellent acoustic live music all under one roof. It promises to be the most innovative festival yet. Having wrapped up a very successful 2 week Festival i...

KEVIN BACON takes SBIFF Riviera Award“I hate my voice, and I’m ugly. “And I can’t act.”That’s what Kevin Bacon said about himself when he watched dailies of “Footloose.” Clearly, the Santa Barbara International Film Festival doesn’t think so. The actor/director got the Riviera Award Friday night. Meant for an actor whose career has altered the landscape of American cinema, an artist whose work has enriched society as a whole. It was presented by director Ivan Reitman, who, as p...

TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL 2004The third edition of New York’s newest film cultural event, the Tribeca Film Festival, came to a star-studded finale this weekend as a host of celebrities honored the winners of top Festival awards at a gala ceremony and party in lower Manhattan. THE GREEN HAT, a film exploring its characters struggles to transcend traditional definitions of love in the new China, won two awards for Best Narrative Film and Best New Filmmaker for first-time Chinese director Liu Sen Dou...

Respect: Joe Mantegna will be honored at "The Sixth Annual Los Angeles Italian Film Awards" (LAIFAFEST 2004), which will be held on April 20-24, 2004, at the Arclight Cinemas in Hollywood. Mr. Mantegna  will be presented with the  LAIFA 2004 Life Time Achievement, festival Director Luigi Campanile announced today.Chicago native Joe Mantegna has a strong background in both theater and film. After making his Broadway debut in Stephen Schwartz's musical of Studs Terkel's Working, Joe was awarded ...

FULL FRAME DOCUMENTARY FESTIVAL TO HONOR MARCEL OPHULS AT THIS YEARS FESTIVAL, APRIL 1 – 4, 2004 HBO’s film Elaine Stritch at Liberty, based on Elaine Stritch’s Tony Award-Winning One-Woman Broadway Show, to have its World Premiere; Stritch will join Ophuls, Barry Levinson, Tom Fontana, Harry Shearer and others as special guests Elaine Stritch at Liberty, HBO’s documentary film on Elaine Stritch’s one-woman Broadway show will open this year’s Full Frame Documentary Film Festival. The...