The 16th edition of the Fantasia International Film Festival has drawn to a close and our team is delighted by the great success of this year’s edition. The juries have finished deliberating on this year’s competitions and are pleased to announce the following winners:
Feature Film Jury
President: Gabriel Pelletier, with Jay Baruchel, Sylvain Krief and Maggie Lee.
Cheval Noir Award for Best Film: DOOMSDAY BOOK by Kim Jee-woon and Yim Pil-sung
The film impressed the jury ...
The San Francisco Film Society presents the fifth annual San Francisco International Animation Festival (SFIAF), a four-day celebration of the Bay Area’s preeminence as a hub for one of the most creative forms in cinema, November 11–14 at Landmark’s Embarcadero Center Cinema. This year’s International Animation Festival ranges from FX-based features to family-friendly cartoons and includes Hayao Miyazaki protégé Sunao Katabuchi’s Mai Mai Miracle, the Decemberists-inspired Here Come the Waves: The Hazards of Love Visualized, six wildly diverse shorts programs and a live animation and musical performance by artist duo Semiconductor.
“SFIAF explores the many forms of animation as both an artistic practice and a mode of production,” said programmer Sean Uyehara. “Each year it’s exciting to discover and present a range of work from established artists such as anime director Sunao Katabuchi and this year’s Golden Gate Persistence of Vision Award recipient Don Hertzfeldt to works by emerging talents such as Brent Green and Skye Thorstensen to the unique work of the innovative duo Semiconductor.”
What follows are the short films from this weekend's San Francisco International Animation Festival that in my opinion were most fantastic and that I think in one way or another stick with me forever. I Forgive You (Pierre Mousquet, Cauwe Jerome, Belgium 2009)Played as part of the Best of Annecy Program. An animation style reminiscent of The Simpsons. Two wrestlers fight, plot turns unexpectedly and the result is hilarious. San Francisco crowd chuckled with glee. Jean-Francois (Tom Haugomat, Bru...
We've had a great talk with our jury member Nag Vladermersky. Enjoy!
How did you make it to the world of film festivals?
I started off as a participant - the films I made got selected for various festivals - and then I saw how great the atmosphere was at these festivals so I decided to start up my own festivals. Especially in the world of animation where animators tend to work in isolation for long periods of time, it is really important that when they finish their wo...
The 2010 lineup of short films is an adrenaline surge to one of today's hottest modes of storytelling.
If anyone has any doubt as to the 'health' of filmmaking, this year's abundance of short film submissions can certainly provide ample evidence to the contrary. With 6,092 short film submissions to the Sundance Film Festival this year, it's quite clear we're living in a video culture, and men, women, children, not to mention monkeys (see Fiddlestix by the Zellner Bros.), are all part of the v...
The 47th Ann Arbor Film Festival explores “the new world of independent cinema," beginning with the Opening Night Gala and screening Tuesday, March 24th! This year's Opening Night Gala takes place from 6:00 – 8:00pm in the Grand Foyer of the historic Michigan Theater. The celebration kicks off with live music from Los Gatos, open bar and catering from local favorites including Seva, Totoro Japanese Restaurant, eat catering & chef services, Morgan & York, Avalon Bread, Schakolad chocolates a...
Even before the curtains rose on the red carpet crowd-pleaser Last Chance Harvey, Closing Night audiences got a thrill via the announcement of this year's festival award winners: the Fox 31 Emerging Filmmaker Award presented by Spout, went to Nina Paley for Sita Sings the Blues; Another Planet's Ferenc Moldoványi is taking home the Maysles Brothers Award for Best Documentary; Christophe van Rompaey won the Krzyszstof Kieslowski Award for Best Feature with Moscow, Belgium; and Robert Cosnahan ga...
Moderated by Spoutblog.com critic Karina Longworth, the Friday evening discussion panel DIY Filmmaking in an Indie Apocalypse explicitly covered what was implicitly clear throughout the day as a whole: independent filmmakers, with insight and integrity, are making the scene in every sense of the phrase. Whether they're creating animated charmers on their laptops, as Nina Paley has done with Sita Sings the Blues; leaving lucrative careers to realize their uncompromising vision behind the lens, li...
I had the chance to talk to Mr. Sean Uyehara, founder and programmer of the San Francisco International Animation Festival, about film, animation, and this year's fest.
What's the mission of the Animation Festival?
The idea is to present films that give a good overview of the state of the field. We try to bring the best films in the field to San Francisco, and also try to shine a light on the practice of animation in general.
Any major challenges with this year's festi...
I had the chance to talk to Mr. Sean Uyehara, founder and programmer of the San Francisco International Animation Festival, about film, animation, and this year's fest:(November 13-14, 2008).What's the mission of the Animation Festival? The idea is to present films that give a good overview of the state of the field. We try to bring the best films in the field to San Francisco, and also try to shine a light on the practice of animation in general.Any major challenges with this year's festival?W...
While such mega-watt movie stars as Angelina Jolie, Javier Bardem and Tommy Lee Jones steal much of the limelight in the media coverage of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, the true heart of the event are the American indie and international films that the festival showcases. More than 70,000 visitors (a record number) came out for the mix of glamour and discovery in one of America's most beautiful festival venues. So, for the record, the winners of this year's SBIFF include: The Pa...
The 23rd installment of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) presents its film line-up for 2008, featuring 215 films including 20 World Premieres, 22 U.S. Premieres and a rich selection of films representing 49 countries. The Festival takes place over 11 days beginning Thursday, January 24, through Sunday, February 3.“The Festival has continuously grown in stature,” commented SBIFF Director Roger Durling, “and this year’s film slate certainly reflects that. We’re ver...
On Sunday, April 22, 2007, the USA Film Festival announced the Winners of the 29th Annual National Short Film and Video Competition during the 37th Annual USA Film Festival in Dallas.Chosen out of over 600 U.S. entries as Grand Prize Winner, is Benjamin Gray’s The Hunter, based on Tobias Wolff’s short story “Hunters in the Snow.”The full list of awards and honors includes:GRAND PRIZE WINNER FIRST PLACE / ANIMATION $1,000FIRST PLACE / FICTION $1,000 everything will be ok, Don H...
What? Nothing ever happens in Reading, PA you say?This October 14th & 15th the What? Film Festival! is screening 6+ hours of international film & video shorts interspersed with 4+ hours of engaging live music inside the 024ARTS GALLERY!The What? Film Festival! is a subterranean bacchanal of audio-visual delights. In other words, it’s a weekend of irregular music and skewed movies in an unusual atmosphere. Neo-Pangea's hare-brained festival will feature two blocks of short films as well as two ...
On April 18th, 2005, the Malibu Film Foundation announced the winners for the 6th annual Malibu Int’l Film Festival and honored Pierce Brosnan with an Award For “Achievement In The Arts” at the Granita Closing Night Awards Party. Best of Festival – FeatureAudience AwardHooligansDir. Lexi Alexander Best of Festival – FeatureJury AwardHooligansDir. Lexi Alexander Best DocumentaryAudience AwardMad Hot BallroomDir. Marilyn Agrelo Best DocumentaryJury AwardBetween the BridgesDir. Adam Ross...
