Ten days have gone by like a flash and I'm sitting here in the press room on Saturday afternoon, Valentine's Day, mulling over the dull flicks I slept through, the one or two that kept me awake, and the handful that I really wanted to see but never got around to. ("John Rabe", Sean Penn's "Milk", a Persian film called "Barbareye Elly", the latest Wajda, and a few others). Of the half dozen competition films I did get to, not one was a real winner, and most were so...
TIMELINE:Mary Pickford, The Movies, and Entertainment Chronology
1870: A half century y of tremendous industrial growth begins in the U.S. Millions of European immigrants will arrive over the coming decades, seeking work.
1878 October 19: Eadweard Muybridge’s photographs of a horse’s stride are published in Scientific American. The groundbreaki
Anyone wondering if there is film festival life in the Czech Republic after Karlovy wouldn't have long to wait. Barely two weeks after the closing of the KV International Film festival on July 12 where Czech films did very well in terms of prizes and recognition, another gathering of the Czech film tribes is taking place in the remote southern town of Uherske Hradiste (in the Moravian region near Brno). While this festival is known here as "The Summer Film School", don't let the name fool you -...
Undeniably one of cinema’s master storytellers and an inspiration to generations of filmmakers, the Irish Film Institute is proud to announce a two-part retrospective of the work of David Lean. The sixteen films showing throughout July and August demonstrate his achievements as a chronicler of the British imagination and as one of the greatest creators of cinematic epic in film history.In a BFI poll of the 100 best British films of the century, David Lean had 3 in the Top 5, Brief Encounter, L...
The third annual Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival (LAJFF)is pleased to announce the audience award winners for Best Narrative Feature, Best Documentary and Best Short Film. Lynn Roth’s The Little Traitor won the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature. Based on Panther in the Basement by world-renowned novelist, Amos Oz, the movie takes place a few months before Israel becomes a state. Proffy, a spirited 11 year old militant wants the occupying imperialists off his land. What starts as a...
Thursday, May 8: Opening Night Gala, the LA premiere of The Little TraitorBased on Panther in the Basement by world renowned novelist, Amos Oz, the movie takes place in Palestine in 1947. Proffy, a spirited 11 year old militant wants the occupying imperialists off his land. A chance meeting with British officer Sergeant Dunlop builds into a friendship between these two foes. Q&A with director and cast. WGA Theater, Beverly Hills, 8:00 p.m. *This film is part of the Spotlight on Israel section...
Friday, April 4-----Jules Dassin, an American director, screenwriter and actor who found success making movies in Europe after he was blacklisted in the United States because of his ties to the Communist Party, died Monday in Athens, where he had lived since the 1970s. He was 96. Mr. Dassin is most widely remembered for films he made after he fled Hollywood in the 1950s, including NEVER ON SUNDAY (1960) with the Greek actress Melina Mercouri, whom he later married; TOPKAPI (1964), with Ms. Merco...
Jules Dassin, an American director, screenwriter and actor who found success making movies in Europe after he was blacklisted in the United States because of his ties to the Communist Party, died Monday in Athens, where he had lived since the 1970s. He was 96. Mr. Dassin is most widely remembered for films he made after he fled Hollywood in the 1950s, including NEVER ON SUNDAY (1960) with the Greek actress Melina Mercouri, whom he later married; TOPKAPI (1964), with Ms. Mercouri, Peter Ustinov a...
37 Greek films will be showcased in the 10th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival - Images of the 21st Century, allotted between the Official, Panorama and Greek Television sections. These are the latest in the local documentary production and are projects that have been funded in various ways: by means of documentary production companies, the Greek Film Center and the Greek Public Television (ERT S.A.), private broadcasting stations and independently. GREEK SECTION TRIBUTE: WAR ZONE ...
Items to Watch for at the Festivals in 2008 by Alex Deleon Harvey Milk by Gus Van Sant Tom Cruise as German Officer with Eye-patch Bollywood version of Casablanca A Polish version of Don Giovanni The Earth Stands Still Once Again ... Macho actor Sean Penn (47) is set to play gay San Francisco mayor, Harvey Milk, who was murdered by a rabid gay-baiter in 1978 -- the assassin, by Matt Damon! The Milk affair has been milked nearly dry before in various documentaries, but this wi...
Thessaloniki: Tandem Master Class with Chris Cooper & David Strathairn November 22, 2007 Day number five of the fest opened with a One-Two punch tandem Master Class delivered by Oscar winner Chris Cooper and multiple award nominee Davis Strathairn, two of the best character actors currently active in American cinema. Both are here in Thessaloniki accompanying director John Sayles on his full-scale career retrospective, ongoing throughout the festival. Both actors have appeare...
The Berlinale Talent Campus, which will take place from 09 – 14 February 2008 at the “Hebbel am Ufer” in Berlin-Kreuzberg, is a summit of the most talented up-and-coming filmmakers from all over the world. Over 350 of them are invited to Berlin each year to reflect on their ideas about film in lectures and panel discussions, and to work on their projects in specialized hands-on workshops as the Garage Studio, the Script & Doc Station, the Talent Project Market, the Talent Press, the...
KIDS FIRST! accepts more than 300 titles every year, changing the programming every quarter. For the first quarter 2007 Festivals and special screenings, more than 70 titles are offered including sneak peeks of direct-to-DVD titles such as "Hip Hop Kidz,” and “Eloise in Hollywood;” feature films such as "Flicka;" new episodes of "Dora the Explorer," "Blue's Clues," "Go Diego Go," "Strawberry Shortcake," "Thomas & Friends,"...
Items to Watch for at the Festivals in 2008by Alex Deleon1. Harvey Milk by Gus Van Sant2. Tom Cruise as German Officer with Eye-patch3. Bollywood version of Casablanca4. A Polish version of Don Giovanni5. The Earth Stands Still Once Again ...Macho actor Sean Penn (47) is set to play gay San Francisco mayor, Harvey Milk, who was murdered by a rabid gay-baiter in 1978 -- the assassin, by Matt Damon! The Milk affair has been milked nearly dry before in various documentaries, but this will be the fi...
Tom Cruise will be honored with a tribute at the Museum of the Moving Image's 23rd annual black-tie event in New York this Fall. The salute, set for November 6th at the Cipriani in midtown Manhattan, honors the 27-year film career of the actor, producer and United Artists studio head. "Tom Cruise is one of the premier American actors of his generation," MOMI director Rochelle Slovin said. "Working with the great directors of our time -- (including) Francis Ford Coppola, Stanley Kubrick, Sydney ...
Thursday, July 12------Tom Cruise will be honored with a tribute at the Museum of the Moving Image's 23rd annual black-tie event in New York this Fall. The salute, set for November 6th at the Cipriani in midtown Manhattan, honors the 27-year film career of the actor, producer and United Artists studio head. "Tom Cruise is one of the premier American actors of his generation," MOMI director Rochelle Slovin said. "Working with the great directors of our time -- (including) F...
Monday, April 23----The Palm Beach International Film Festival is presenting a number of thematic programs to bring a sharper focus to its diverse programming for attending audiences. This past weekend, the Festival inaugurated its Weekend of Shorts, an eclectic program of American and international short films screening at the main Festival venues of the Sunrise Cinemas at Mizner Park and the Muvico Parisian 20 at Cityplace. The program featured an exciting group of short fiction and documentar...
Sunday, April 16---With the tail end of the Northeastern storm that has been plaguing the Eastern half of the United States whipping through Sarasota (for half the day, at least), the respites of the Festival’s jam-packed schedule provided a dry and warm alternative to the blustery winds outside the theater. This being my first full day of screenings, I opened myself to the serendipity of film hopping, only realizing after the day was done that there emerged a kind of symmetry to it all.The fi...
Getaway day in Santa Barbara The Sunday morning edition of the Santa Barbara News-Press was covered with color photos of a happily smiling Forest Whitaker posing with his pretty wife and pressing the flesh on the red carpet at the final gala of the fest, where the tall, heavy-set, shaven-craned Afro-American “actor’s actor “ with the drooping left eye was honoured with the festival’s American Riviera award for his overall career trajectory, but especially in recognition of his “role o...
..."The COO of the Paris-based Filmfestivals Entertainment Group, Bruno Chatelin, insists the mixture of small independent films and mainstream industry at the Berlinale is actually good for business on both sides. "The industry thrives on things that major media are interested in," he said. "At the same time, there is the film focus where the media is just looking for the next gem. It's not war exactly, but it's a fight for distribution. And sometimes the small need the big."
Mr. Kosslick, me...
The Sunday morning edition of the Santa Barbara News-Press was covered with color photos of a happily smiling Forest Whitaker posing with his pretty wife and pressing the flesh on the red carpet at the final gala of the fest, where the tall, heavy-set, shaven-craned Afro-American "actor’s actor" with the drooping left eye was honored with the festival’s American Riviera award for his overall career trajectory, but especially in recognition of his "role of a lifetime" performance as African ...
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...
"ALL SCREENS FEST" CINEMA TOUT ECRAN IN GENEVA BROADENS THE VIEW The 12th edition of the Cinéma Tout-Ecran Film and Television Festival took place in Geneva from October 3O to November 5, 2OO6. I must admit that never having been much of a TV fan and having to my credit (or discredit) an almost encyclopedic ignorance of TV sitcoms and famous long-running series (I never saw a single installment of "Dallas"), it was with a certain trepidation that I signed up for Tout-Ecran, wondering whether s...
With a couple of hours still left to go until the official kick-off of this "Mother of all Film Festivals" activity is feverish along the short stretch of the Lido known as Viale Marconi, the actual location of this oldest of all world film festivals --Now that was rather a mouthful, calling for a bit of elucidation. The first Venice film festival took place way back in 1932 when the Fascist government under Benito Mussolini, taking a page from Lenin, realized that film was a powerful propaganda...
With a couple of hours still left to go until the official kick-off of this "Mother of all Film Festivals" activity is feverish along the short stretch of the Lido known as Viale Marconi, the actual location of this oldest of all world film festivals. Now that was rather a mouthful, calling for a bit of elucidation. The first Venice film festival took place way back in 1932 when the Fascist government under Benito Mussolini, taking a page from Lenin, realized that film was a powerful propagand...
