Gary Lucas Plays Coffin Joe SXSW posterWhat a great party last night at the French Embassy here in NYC for the restoration of Marcel Carne's seminal "Les Enfants du Paradis"! One of my favorite films, possibly the best film of all time--and a new restored print wll soon be available on DVD through Criterion and is about to commence a 3 week run at the Film Forum here.
As usual, the crowd at these parties was exceptionally glittery--hung out with my old friend Dr. Ann...
The 16th edition of the Human Rights Watch Film Festival will be presented in London from 21-30 March, 2012. The international feature programme includes 15 documentaries and 4 dramas, from Afghanistan, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Cambodia, the Canary Islands, Ethiopia, Iraq, Italy, Lebanon, the Maldives, Pakistan, Palestine, Paraguay, Russia, Switzerland, Ukraine and the USA. Many of the films will be followed by Q&A sessions with filmmakers, and some by panel discussions with experts and film subjects....
Human Rights Watch Film Festival
London, 21-30 March
ff.hrw.org
19 Films Address Economic Inequality and Consequences Worldwide
(London, 10 February 2012) – The 16th edition of the Human Rights Watch Film Festival will be presented in London from 21-30 March, 2012, Human Rights Watch said today.
The international feature programme includes 15 documentaries and 4 dramas, from Afghanistan, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Cambodia, the Canary Islands, Ethiopia, Iraq, Ita...
MEDIA RELEASE September 7, 2011 -------------------------------------------------------------------VANCOUVER INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVALSeptember 29 - October 14, 2011 VIFF line-up showcases 80+ Canadian filmsCanadian Images Program includes 24BC productions VIFF is one of the biggest annual showcases of Canadian film in the world, with a special emphasis on BC films. Close to one-quarter of the festival's more than 360 films this year are home-grown. Canadian films are shown within several pro...
The 2011 Los Angeles Film Festival runs from June 16 - 26 .
Today the Los Angeles Film Festival, presented by the Los Angeles Times, announced the first round of official US and international selections. The 2011 Los Angeles Film Festival is produced by Film Independent — the non-profit arts organization that also produces the Spirit Awards — and will screen over 200 feature films, shorts, and music videos, representing more than 30 countries. Opening and Closing Night...
This is an overview of my 2011 Sundance experience
For Europeans, heading to a remote mining town now ski resort and festival headquarters in Park City, Utah, tucked away in the Wasatch mountains outside of Salt Lake City, it's no simple journey. It entails careful planning several months in advance, serious budgetary calculation to secure a bed in those expensive shared- condos, and blocking extra time to your return schedule as flipping time zones wrecks havoc with your metabolism a...
While the name Sundance immediately is linked with the American Independent film movement, in the past number of years, international titles have found a home base in the ski resort of Park City. By creating competition sections for both narrative and documentary films from around the world, the Festival has not only expanded its scope but has forged a link between international producers, distributors and financiers across the globe in a real and tangible way. In terms of the marketpl...
By Maria Esteves – January 6, 2011
The 20th Sundance Film Festival 2011 (SFF2011) held in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden, and Sundance, Utah, commence January 20-30, 2011. The festival supported by the nonprofit Sundance Institute, founded by Robert Redford annually presents highly acclaimed independent cinema from American and International filmmakers.
This year’s festival celebrates its 20th anniversary by showcasing over 100 American and international films in and out of comp...
Well, the weather held and so did the quality of the films as the Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival wound up, rather than down ,towards its 59th Awards Ceremony.Audiences seemed to increase in number and enthusiasm during these unusually balmy November days and the nightly drinks receptions for lucky invitees saw sparkling German wines and beer pouring as if there was no tomorrow well into tomorrow, with on one occasion-well past 2am local time-most of the Festival Direction ...
Sundance Institute announced today the lineup of films selected to screen in the U.S. and World Cinema Dramatic and Documentary Competitions for the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. In addition to the four Competition Categories, the Festival presents films in six out-of-competition sections to be announced on December 2. The 2011 Sundance Film Festival runs January 20-30 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.
On Day One, the Festival will forego the convention of one opening ni...
Arriving at any festival on the 13th of the month does not augur well, though my journey from home to Heathrow Terminal 4 had been surprisingly smooth, if long before Dawn's dusky fingers had opened the strike-free ticket offices of any of the Underground stations circling London's Regent Park. Both my Air France flights, via Paris to Frankfurt, had departed and landed on time (though we should draw a veil over the Economy Class croissants of uncertain age and provenance on the earlier flight)an...
Arriving at any festival on the 13th of the month does not augur well, though my journey from home to Heathrow Terminal 4 had been surprisingly smooth, if long before Dawn's dusky fingers had opened the strike-free ticket offices of any of the Underground stations circling London's Regent Park. Both my Air France flights, via Paris to Frankfurt, had departed and landed on time (though we should draw a veil over the Economy Class croissants of uncertain age and provena...
The International Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg, which will celebrate its 60th anniversary next year, is internationally well regarded and sustains its position as being one of the top 100 film festivals worldwide and as being the festival which exclusively presents films by newcomers.From out of thousands of newcomer films the festival selects only roundabout 30 and is thus driven by a very conscious programming process.„We practically fall in love with each single film. The authors and pr...
by Marla Lewin
Francis Ford Coppola at Torino Film Festival photo by Marc Halperin
Another in our series on the Future of Cinema.
We were attending the Torino Film Lab and I had the opportunity to interview Francis Ford Coppola. I mentioned we are working on a series about the Future of Cinema, and Francis said he has his own theory, but it would take some time to explain and would use up all of our time. He doesn’t think ...
Director: Wieland Schulz-Keil, Dan Tang.
The film consist of four portraits of Peking opera performers, two adults and two children. It presents a subtle picture of the present cultural-political climate in China. Peking Opera often seems puzzling and out of place, even in China. Its style is the opposite of naturalism: It is perfectly possible that young girls play elderly generals, or that a young male actor performs the heroine's sword dance from "Farewell my Concubine." The radical artificiality of Peking Opera has often met resistance. During the Cultural Revolution of the 60s and 70s, it was considered decadent and was outlawed. Today it seems hopelessly old-fashioned compared to the new currents of popular culture. -- While visiting a Peking Opera school the filmmakers met a number of teachers and pupils who are working hard and with admirable devotion to keep their highly refined music and dance theatre alive. The theatre people not only taught them about their century old Chinese art form, but also about their lives in the midst of a mostly imported new culture.
1 - The TWENTIETH NINE edition of the OPORTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL - FANTASPORTO 2009 will take place from 20th February till 1st of March
2 - The Festival main purpose is the screening and promotion films of quality, both aesthetically and thematically, and to seek new forms and methods of filmmaking.
3 - The Festival has eight sections
3.1 - Official Section - Competition for Fantasy Films - feature and short films (maximum 15 minutes length) including the Méliè...
The opening film of the Latin Cinema Review ongoing currently at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) was "El Violin", a sensational first feature shot in stark Black and White by Mexican director, Francisco Vargas. The story deals with a peasant uprising somewhere in an unamed Latin country (but obviously Mexico) at an unspecified time (but it could be the present or the recent past), which is brutally supressed by the "federales", which is the terrm used in Mexico for the regular arm...
From 6th to 10th September, the “German Sundance“ festival will turn the contemplative city in Northern Germany into a mecca for film enthusiasts.This year´s opening film is “Vineta” by Franziska Stünkel, who gained international reputation with her short films. Her testosterone-laden debut features some of the most prominent German actors and tells the story of an architect coming to the edge of reason while trying to build the perfect city. The International Section shows a series o...
From November 25th through December 12, the City of Pozuelo de Alarcón and the Council of Culture and Sport of the Community of Madrid will organize the 4th International Festival of the Animated Image of Pozuelo de Alarcón – Community of Madrid. As it does every year, the festival will feature an Official Section of high quality short films, full-length films, TV series, and short shorts as well as an Informative Section with retrospectives and film series aimed at bringing animated film cl...
SYDNEY FILM FESTIVAL 2005 – MID-FEST REPORTJune 10-25Remarkable docus and edgy thrillers, combined with unique events like an Evening with Lisa Gerrard and topical, edgy forum sessions, are giving patrons a positive time at this year’s Sydney Film Festival, which wraps this Saturday (June 25) with the inaugural Urban Cinefile Audience Awards presentation and the sold out screening of the eye popping Closing Night Film, Howl’s Moving Castle. As film composer Martin Armiger pointed out in hi...