FESTIVAL DO RIO 2009 : 24 September to 8 October, 2009 Across 15 days, commencing September 24, the city of Rio de Janeiro once again becomes the official capital of cinema. Festival do Rio, the Rio de Janeiro Film Festival, will present more than 300 films from more than 60 countries, shown in around 40 locations, distributed between cinemas and sites around Rio.  This year's programme will include for the first time public events staged in 10 of the city's squares. Festival do...

Over a month ago at the press conference kicking off SFIFF 49, Linda Blackaby announced the documentary line-up, adding that these selections were “often some of the most popular films in our festival.” The gifted director of programming for the San Francisco Film Society noted that a dozen of them would compete in the Golden Gate Awards, and 11 more filled the slate of nonfiction features representing 13 countries. There’s not an emperor penguin among them. Blackaby singled out titles dea...

The New Montreal FilmFest has announced the winners of its Audience Awards and three specials prizes at a ceremony that took place today, 5 p.m., at its headquarters, 1700 St-Denis.Audience Award WinnersAward for best filmLady Zee, by Georgi Djulgerov – BulgariaAward for best Canadian featureL’audition, by Luc Picard – CanadaAward for best performance in a Canadian featureLuc Picard (L’audition) – CanadaAward for best short filmRevolver Tango, by Pascale Marcotte – CanadaAward for be...

48th San Francisco International Film Festival (April 21-May 5) Widen your focus. That’s the tagline of the 48th San Francisco International Film Festival, whose curtains opened at the Castro Theatre on Thursday night, April 21. North America’s oldest film festival is “dedicated to forging a relationship between cultures and countries,” stated Roxanne Messina Captor, San Francisco Film Society Executive Director and recent recipient of France’s Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des L...

LALIFF closed its Eighth Edition at the Egyptian Theatre, in the heart of Hollywood. The juries gave their verdicts at a ceremony conducted by LALIFF’s chairman Edward James Olmos and Marlene Dermer, Executive Director. Actress Lupe Ontiveros spoke on behalf of the Feature Film Jury. The award to Best Opera Prima went to Hoy y mañana (Argentina) by Alejandro Chomski, Best Screenplay to India Pravile (Argentina) by Mario Sabato, Best Director to Nancy Savoca for her film Dirt, and the “Ri...