Siraj Syed interviews Mumbai-based, under 23, prolific, short film-maker, S. Ashwin *You have been prolific in output. How many films have you made since you completed your studies a couple of years ago, and what/who made it possible to make so many? I have made 29 short films till now. My love for film-making and the conviction I have to keep making them has made it possible for me to have a large number of films to my credit today. Apart from that, my parents have been a great support--the...

Siraj Syed interviews young film-maker Pratik Rajen Kothari *How many films have you made since your student days and what/who made it possible to make them? I have made three short films plus co-directed one before Hell O Hello. I also made some music videos. Almost all of these are zero/extremely low budget. At the start, people who are instrumental in making it possible are your like-minded friends. I have a very co-operative core team, without whom, I just wouldn't have had the coura...

By Maria Esteves – February 27, 2017 The 89th Academy Awards hosted by Jimmy Kimmel was held at Dolby Theatre & Highland Center, Hollywood, C.A on Sunday, February 26, 2017 and televised live on ABC Network and live streamed in more than 225 countries. Presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (A.M.P.A.S.), the Oscars honored outstanding film achievements of 2016. La La Land was top winner with six Oscars including Best Director for DAMIEN CHAZELLE and Best Actre...

by Quendrith Johnson, Los Angeles Correspondent  Something Emma Stone says in an off-hand way when she and Ryan Gosling pick up the Outstanding Performers of the Year from Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) on Friday night really sticks. Seated beside Gosling, her co-star and co-nominee for the acting Oscars in LA LA LAND, Stone plays with the 20’s fringe on her dress, then offers this insight: “movies make us feel less alone, I guess, that’s what they...

by Quendrith Johnson, Los Angeles Correspondent When the Oscars streamed the announcements for the first time in their history this morning, anybody in the world got a glimpse at who AMPAS deemed Oscar-worthy for the 89th Academy Awards. The net result? You get emails from everybody and your mother about how right, or wrong your predictions were — maybe not the result the Academy expected, but announcing online is here to stay. Meanwhile, what a line-up, and let’s create the hashta...

by Quendrith Johnson, Los Angeles Correspondent Oh, to ruin Award Season… but isn’t that what we’re on earth for? To have our dreams shattered but then our lives uplifted, if only in the movies? Enter LA LA LAND, a singing, dancing act of pure wish fulfillment starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. Wait, a musical? Don’t be fooled. This is classic cinema updated with today’s angst. Stone says “the idea of this really modern story of two artists and ...

10 Cloverfield Lane, Review: Hollowcaust Ultra-thin story line, with some slick moments in the first half, is how one can sum up 10 Cloverfield Lane. A psychological, science fiction, holocaust, suspense tale, the film needed a rock solid unravelling. Instead, it goes off on an indulgent tangent, and you come out wondering, “So this was what it was all about?” It is the second film in the Cloverfield franchise. The film was developed from a script titled The Cellar, but while und...

SPOTLIGHT MEDIA PRODUCTIONS   The 2015 Oscars, By Adrienne Papp   By Adrienne Papp The Oscars have been handed out, the corks on the champagne bottles have been popped, the winners are all sleeping off their hangovers, and the movie industry has put a wrap on the 2015 Oscars. On Sunday night during the 87th Academy Awards broadcast shown on ABC, “Birdman” took home Best Picture and Best Director...

Whiplash, Review: ‘Cymbalic decapitation’ On the heels of Birdman comes Whiplash, another, much bigger ode to jazz drumming. Confined to four lead actors—a student, his teacher, his father and his girl-friend—Whiplash builds its own legend around itself, not dissimilar to the way in which sports and war films push their protagonists to the brink, before they can reap the fruits of hard labour and either vanquish the enemy or win encomiums for themselves. Andrew Neyman...

Tom Cross surely has a sore neck since hearing the news: his work on Damien Chazelle's Whiplash has earned the picture one of its five Oscar bids -- in his case for "Best Film Editing." It's the Los Angeles-based editor's first Academy nomination. Back in the fall I spoke with Cross about cutting the scrappy music-themed indie. Here's the full story: http://www.thalo.com/articles/view/997/film_editor_tom_cross_brings_on_whiplash ...

By Maria Esteves – October 14, 2014 WHIPLASH is a thrilling and triumphant music drama set in present day New York City about Andrew Neyman (Miles Teller) a 19-year-old talented drummer student at the prestigious Shaffer Conservatory of Music (fictitious school) is compelled to be the best despite the cost. Accepted into professor Fletcher (J.K. Simmons) elite jazz class who runs it militaristic, instilling the fear of God by emotionally and psychologically tormenting his students, A...

By Maria Esteves – October 5, 2014 The 52nd New York Film Festival 2014 (NYFF52) Presentation of WHIPLASH, directed by Damien Chazelle was held at Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center, Sunday, September 28, 9:00PM. Red carpet arrivals included industry executives, celebrity guests, cast and crew members. WHIPLASH in U.S. theaters October 10, 2014; in Hong Kong theaters October 16, 2014. Watch Trailer NYFF52 Presentation of WHIPLASH red carpet arrivals: Director Damien Chazelle, cen...

By Maria Esteves - April 20, 2009 The 8th Annual 2009 Tribeca Film Festival (TFF09) held at selected theatres throughout New York City April 22 - May 3 features a spectacular line up of music films. This year's slate of music films include: BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE: THE STORY OF CBGB, directed by Mandy Stein, screens at the AMC Village 7, Friday, April 24, 8:30PM, and Monday, April 27, 3:30PM. The World Premiere will be held at the SVA Theater, Thursday, April 30, 7:00PM. The histori...