Based on the popular young adult novel of the same name, "If I Stay" is the first foray into fiction by director R.J. Cutter (The September Issue).
Mia Hall (Chloe Grace Moretz) is a high school cellist, living with her rock n' roll parents and young brother, played brilliantly by Mireille Enos (best know for her role as Sarah Linden in "The Killing US") and Joshua Leonard (of "Blair Witch Project" fame). She is fallen in love with by a rising star in t...
BFI Head of Exhibition and Festival Director Clare Stewart announced today that the 57th BFI London Film Festival, in partnership with American Express, will take place from Wednesday 9 October until Sunday 20 October 2013.
The highly regarded BFI London Film Festival champions creativity, originality, vision and imagination by annually showcasing features,documentaries, shorts, animation and experimental films from around th...
This year’s celebration of cutting edge Japanese cinema will get under way from November 17th to 24th
Following the success of last year’s inaugural festival, the second Zipangu Fest – celebrating the best of cutting edge and avant garde Japanese cinema – will be held at London’s Institute of Contemporary Arts from November 17th to 24th, before moving to venues around the UK.
Showcasing a selection of Japan’s finest features, documentaries, shorts, anima...
THE SKIN I LIVE IN is, more than anything, an Almodovar tribute to Almodovar. Utilizing his own colour schemes, offbeat interweaving narrative and shooting technique, THE SKIN I LIVE IN will easily become one of the main works by this long-standing Spanish director.
It tells the story of Robert Ledgard, portrayed by Antonio Banderas - on a much awaited return to the silver screen and in his native language - a brilliant plastic surgeon obsessed with creating a pain-resistant arti...
The 3rd edition of the London Taiwan Cinefest kicked off yesterday with a great buzz and numbers in attendance. The opening film is the small indie debut of both its' directors, Wang Yu-lin and Essay Liu (respectively also producer and writer). The film has previously been shown at the Hong Kong film festival where it got a good amount of attention and praise, even impressing Hollywood Reporter, as can be evidenced by their review - http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/seven-days-heaven-fil...
Tetsuaki Matsue is a young Japanese indie filmmaker (of Korean descent, which he explored in his graduation film, Annyong Kimchi) who is currently at the forefront of Japan's indie scene. Having successfully directed a documentary about AV actress Yumika Hayashi, Annyong Yumika (also in the festival), after the discovery of her involvement in a low-budget Korean production. He attended the festival due to his latest film, Live Tape, which took the Japanese festival circuit by surprise due to ...
I was the filmmaking volunteer for the first ever edition of the Zipangu Fest and attended every single event. The Fest opened with a collaboration with Close-Up (film library - http://www.closeupfilmcentre.com/) - Nippon Year Zero. A programme focused on Japanese 60's and 70's experimental shorts: War GamesDir. Donald Richie, 1962, 22min, 16mm Sparse and lingering - an interesting study of innocence and the essence of civilization. Dead YouthDir. Donald Richie, 19...
THE HOUSEMAID is a remake of a very popular 60s Korean thriller. It tells the story of a housemaid hired by a very rich family; her main task is taking care of their young daughter, Nami, as her mother is heavily pregnant with twins. Her father is a high power executive, whose sex life with his wife is not going too good, so he becomes involved with the new housemaid.As I have never seen the original, I can't compare. The film's main character, the housemaid Eun-Yi, is easy to empathise with fro...
I am not really sure what BLADES OF BLOOD is about specifically; it tells of an illegitimate son, the blind swordsman who teaches him to sword fight and a guy who killed the father and is trying to protect Korea from the Japanese occupation, whom both the son and blind swordsman want to kill. Long story short, I fell asleep. Literally. Action films are really not my thing, I find them mind-numbing. This does not mean I am adverse to a bit of onscreen violence, it's just that it was predictable....
Tania: I would like to ask you about your background, you were a theatre director and then you went into film. How did that work?
Kim Jee-woon: I did theatre in school and I learnt acting then, but people around me told me not to, so I stopped. It was in my early 20's that I learnt that there is someone behind the actors of the stage and that a production needs an overall leader behind everything and that's when I learnt the role of a director.
Tania: So how did tha...
Day 2 of the first edition of [SIN]efest was somewhat a quieter affair than the previous day's opening night, but that was to be expected, being a Friday.
The film that was selected is the oldest in the programme having been made in 2007. Nonetheless, it was directed by Royston Tan, one of the youngest veterans in the Singaporean film scene who seems rather fond of giving his feature films numbers for titles - 15 - the movie, 4:30 and 12 Lotus. And he does not disappoint on the t...
Before the screening of SANDCASTLE, I was able to catch up with the film's director and festival curator, Boo Junfeng.Tania: How does it feel to have a film that is acclaimed and award winning in Singapore, its home country and then Pusan, which is as good as it gets in East Asia and Cannes, which is as good as it gets in Europe?Boo Junfeng: Pretty good! (laughs) I've always wanted to make movies since I was 15 and I thought, by the time I'm 30 I can make a feature film. This is happening a li...
The first edition of the UK's largest independent Singapore Film Festival kicked off yesterday.
With a complimentary buffet, complimentary drinks and approachable staff this may well be one of the cosiest and more relaxed film festivals I have attended.
I got the chance to interview Boo Junfeng, the director of the opening film, SANDCASTLE and curator for the festival and Joshua Tan, the main actor of SANDCASTLE, who currently studies in London.
Boo Junfeng is a softly ...
From the 18th to the 28th of November the Discovering Latin America Film Festival (DLAFF) will reach its 9th edition exhibiting a compilation of the best recent film productions from Latin America. Award-winning films such as Argentine feature The Secret in Their Eyes (2009) and Brazilian documentary Only When I Dance (2009) will be exhibited in participating venues throughout Central London such as Odeon Covent Garden, Odeon Panton Street and Tate Modern.
The Discov...
Call for Short Films
4th Future Film Festival
February 2011
BFI Education invites young filmmakers to submit their work to be considered for inclusion in the 4th Future Film Festival.
Selected films will be screened during the Festival and could be nominated for a Future Film Award.
Films can be any style or genre, but must:
� be made by a filmmaker aged between 15-25 years of age
� be no more than 10 minutes long
� have been produced i...
I SAW THE DEVIL is the last delivery from cult Korean director, Kim Jee-woon exploring the theme of vengeance; young secret agent goes on a hunt and torture rampage of the killer of his fiancée. I SAW THE DEVIL does not shy away from vicious violence, both displayed by the killer and the agent, with some graphic scenes that resulted in the film being panned by critics in Korean and also banned. Twice. The government being fearful for the mental health of Korean citizens. However, when th...
The Opening Gala of the fifth London Korean Film Festival has been declared a resounding success with many celebrities, filmmakers and diplomats attending. The Man From Nowhere directed by Lee Jeong-beom closed with a standing ovation from the likes of Jonathan Ross, Simon Field (producer of Uncle Boonmee), Tony Rayns (film critic), the ambassador of South Korea and film fans alike. The proceedings kicked off in classic film premier style with The Man From Nowhere receiving the first ever...
Hi everyone,Just a personal note on Marc Price's new low-budget production, ThunderChild - it's going to be awesome! This is the guy that made COLIN for 45 pounds and went to the Cannes market and got a distribution deal! Well, now he needs our help. Check out his IndieGoGo page with details and a great video on why and how he's going to make the film and how you can help - http://f-u-n-d.me/p/10735?i=shlkIf you could forward this to as many people as possible as well - facebook it, tweet it, my...
SLEEPING PRINCESS is about Aziz, a librarian with a permanent smile on his lips who lives with his childhood friend, Necet. A young girl and her mother move upstairs and Aziz takes an interest in the mother, Secil, which she readily rebuffs. As her ex-boyfriend finds out where she has moved to, he decides to get an explanation for her walking out on him; an argument ensues and Gizem, the young girl, ends up hitting her head and slipping into a coma. Whilst the girl is in a coma, Aziz decides t...
The Opening Gala for the 16th edition of the London Turkish Film Festival took place last night at the Empire Leicester Square, an enviable setting and historical location with strong ties to British cinematical history. With the red carpet rolled out and crowd congregating with curiosity, everyone waited with anxiety for the arrival of the talent - most notably Sener Sen, soon-to-be winner of the Golden Wings Lifetime Achievement Award, Cagan Irmak, director of the opening film "Sleeping...
The improvised press conference room, behind a thick set of red velvet curtains, would probably be best described as "Iranian". A homely, cosy middle eastern feel with chairs in neat rows, leather sofas edging the walls and the screen behind the panel's desk. The festival director, Pejman Danaei, wanted to make clear the reasons for the existence of the festival:- A a platform to showcase the great cinema that is coming out of Iran and Iranians all over the world and encourage the co...
The 3rdannual London Greek Film Festival opens its doors on Monday 8th November; a cultural event that has rightfully secured a place in film lovers’ calendar.This year’s festival has been upgraded, most notably through its new premises. The week long screenings (8-14 November) will be held at Westbourne Studios in West London (242 Acklam Road, Notting Hill, London W10 5JJ), an impressive space conveniently situated just a few yards away from Portobello. This multi-purpose artistic ven...
Now celebrating its 14th year, the annual Czech festival presents this year a selection of award-winning new Czech features, and demonstrates an increased interest in exploring subjects dealing with the years of Nazi occupation, the different decades of domination by Soviet communism and more traditionally dreams and fantasy as seen in the latest Svankmajer’s movie fresh from Venice and London Film Festival. The season kicks off with Marek Najbrt’s Protector (2009) in the Gala scree...
Now in its fifth year, the London Korean Film Festival is proud to bring an exciting range of Korean films to one of London‟s most prestigious venues, The ICA. The festival looks to promote the most essential contemporary cinema that Korea has to offer, covering a wide spectrum of subjects and genres including war, action, period drama and children‟s entertainment. The LKFF will feature 21 screenings at 3 different venues in London including a talk chaired by the Sight & Sound, Eas...
The nominations and jury members for the thirteenth annual Moët British Independent Film Awards were announced today, Monday 1st November at St Martins Lane, London by Jared Harris. The Film receiving the most nominations is The King's Speech with eight, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actor and two Best Supporting Actor nominations. Monsters, Never Let Me Go and The Arbor all received six nominations,Four Lions five and four nods went to Another Yea...
