CineMart, the International Film Festival Rotterdam’s co-production market has selected 33 film projects (from 434 entries) which will be presented to approximately 850 possible co-financiers. These include projects from renowned filmmakers such as Jan Švankmajer, Carlos Reygadas, Alex van Warmerdam, Andrei Zvyagintsev and Sergei Loznitza. Furthermore, the selection consists of feature film debuts, films by competition filmmakers from preceding IFFR editions, films that received Hubert Bals F...

The 13th edition of POFF, the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival held in the Estonian capital, kicked off a 10-day marathon of film premieres, special events and industry meetings with the premiere of the American indie hit (500) DAYS OF SUMMER last night. Today, Pen-ek Ratanaruang, Thai film director and jury member of the EurAsia Competition program, will hold a press conference prior to the presentation tomorrow evening of his latest film NYMPH. The director has been one of the innovators in...

  The 13th edition of POFF, the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival held in the Estonian capital, kicked off a 10-day marathon of film premieres, special events and industry meetings with the premiere of the American indie hit (500) DAYS OF SUMMER last night. Today, Pen-ek Ratanaruang, Thai film director and jury member of the EurAsia Competition program, will hold a press conference prior to the presentation tomorrow evening of his latest film NYMPH. The director has been on...

A couple of years ago, the Vancouver International Film Festival (October 1 – 16, 2009) used to be one of the best film festivals, not just in North America, but in the world. This is a very strong claim and it is not just the usual rhetoric exaggeration of the film critic. But this is no longer the case. It is still a very good film festival, but, alas, it has lost the bold and unconventional flavour that used to make it absolutely exceptional. The reason why the Vancouver International Film ...

  by Sandy Mandelberger, Online Dailies Editor It takes a filmmaker of great daring to successfully combine genres and create a hybrid that is unique and exhilarating. Such is the case with Pen-Ek Ratanaruang, the 47-year-old Thai film director and screenwriter, who is part of a Thai new wave that includes such auteur names Wisit Sasanatieng and Apichatpong Weerasethakul. His singular films have made him one of the more intriguing film stylists of the moment. Pen-Ek beg...

Dragons & Tigers Award at the Vancouver International Film Festival Felicitas Becker This year’s Dragons and Tigers Award at VIFF went to the Philippine director John Torres for TODO TODO TEROS. This award is one of the most prestigious for Asian films. Many of today’s most renowned directors from the region, considered among the most significant figures of world cinema, were awarded this prize early in their career. Winners have included Kore-eda Hirokazu (Maborosi, 1995), Hong Sang-...

This year’s Dragons and Tigers Award at VIFF went to the Philippine director John Torres for TODO TODO TEROS. This award is one of the most prestigious for Asian films. Many of today’s most renowned directors from the region, considered among the most significant figures of world cinema, were awarded this prize early in their career. Winners have included Kore-eda Hirokazu (Maborosi, 1995), Hong Sang-Soo (The Day the Pig Fell Into the Well, 1996), Zhang Ming (Rainclouds Over Wushan, 1996), L...

11 projects from Southeast Asia invited to Locarno “Open Doors underscores in a practical way one of the Festival’s vocational objectives – to bring together film cultures and traditions that are different or distant from each other,” notes Frédéric Maire, Locarno’s new artistic director, “and, with effect from this year, the section is to enjoy a higher profile within the Festival”.The Open Doors workshop, thanks to the support of the Swiss Foreign Ministry’s Agency for Develo...