Sunday, February 18-----The audience has decided.....the Panorama Audience Award, sponsored by “radioeins” of RBB, Berlin-Brandenburg’s public radio and television broadcasting station, and Berlin’s city magazine “tip” in collaboration with the Berlinale’s Panorama section – goes to the film BLINDSIGHT (Lucy Walker, Great Britain). The documentary tells the extraordinary story of a group of blind mountain climbers, who use their remaining senses to allow them to literally soar t...
Log on to: http://www.berlinale.de/en/das_festival/videostreaming/index.html...
Saturday, February 17------In a surprise twist, a Chinese film has won the Berlinale Golden Bear, the Berlin Film Festival's highest honor. TUYA'S MARRIAGE by Chinese director Wang Quan'an won the Festival's top prize, which was announced with other awards at the Festival's closing ceremony this evening. The film, the story of a woman living in rural northwestern Mongolia and facing pressure to abandon her life as a shepherd, did not figure on most critics' predictio...
International Film Festivals in AsiaPumelo International Film Festival(PIFF) ( http://www.pumelo.com ) is screening 60 award winning films out of 265 films entered from 42 countries. There is a competition for the best film based purely on audience choice & they also award prizes for best director, best cinematography, best music score, best short, best documentary, best actor, best actress, etc. The films screened at the Pumelo International Film Festival are selected by a jury comprising o...
Wednesday, February 14---The Brits were back as big winners (on their home turf) of the BAFTA Awards, more formally referred to as the Orange British Academy Film Awards. The Best Film honors went to THE QUEEN, as did the Best Actress nod to Helen Mirren (dust off that bookshelf for your Oscar, Mrs. Hackford), with the Best British Film prize going to THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND, and its lead actor Forrest Whitaker for his portrayal of Uganda strongman Idi Amin. Other Brits who shined include Best...
Sunday, February 11---Seven young film fans from Germany and France comprise the independent jury that will determine the DIALOGUE EN PERSPECTIVE prize, which is awarded to a German feature film in the Perspektive Deutsches Kino section of the Berlinale. The prize was initiated in 2004 by the French TV Channel TV5MONDE and the Berlinale, and will be awarded in collaboration with the Deutsch-Französisches Jugendwerk (DFJW).
In view of the large number of excellent entries, the selection commit...
Friday, February 9----Four films shared the top Festival prizes at the Rotterdam Film Festival, which ended its 36th edition this past Sunday. Top winners of the VPRO Tiger Awards include: LOVE CONQUERS ALL (Tan Chui Mui, Malaysia), THE UNPOLISHED (Pia Marais, Germany), BOGS OF BEASTS (Baixo Des Bestas, Brazil) and AFR (Morten Hartz Kapler, Denmark). Each winner received a 10,000 Euro cash prize, as well as a guaranteed broadcast by Dutch public television network VPRO.
In other prizes, FOURT...
Wednesday, February 7----With the ballots for the Academy Awards in the mail, speculation is growing about what has become an impossible to predict Best Picture race. While BABEL was considered the frontrunner, especially following its Golden Globe win last month, there is now industry speculation that BABEL and Martin Scorsese's THE DEPARTED may split the "serious film" vote. So, what exactly does that mean?
Well, one scenario points to an upset win by the indie smash LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE (...
Tuesday, January 30----Coming on the heels of the Sundance Film Festival, the film world's annual love fest with American indie cinema, it was perfect timing for the Jacob Burns Film Center to invite veteran indie producer Christine Vachon to give a talk as part of the Center's Women Filmmakers series. Drawing on experiences from her recently published tell-all book on the inner workings of the indie film scene, A KILLER LIFE, the prolific Vachon was in fine form as she was interviewed on stage...
Monday, February 5----Martin Scorsese was the big winner at the 59th Annual Directors Guild of America Awards Dinner, held this past weekend at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles. Scorsese won the DGA's Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for his multiple Oscar-nominated police thriller, THE DEPARTED. This prestigious win makes him the favorite to win the Oscar, after seven nomination tries.
This is also Scorsese's first win after a record seven DGA Award nominati...
Friday, February 2----Oscar-winning director Clint Eastwood (who has his fifth Oscar nomination as Best Director this year for LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA) will be the inaugural recipient of the Motion Picture Association of America's Jack Valenti Humanitarian Award at a gala ceremony to be held in Los Angeles on Tuesday, February 6th.
The award, to be presented annually to an individual in the motion picture industry whose work has reached out positively and respectfully to all countries, creeds ...
Wednesday, January 31----The American Society of Cinematographers (ASC), the guild of film cinematographers, was founded in 1919, and today has almost 300 members from all over the world. The ASC announced its top nominees vying for top honors at the 21st Annual American Society of Cinematographers Achievement Awards, which will be held at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angels on February 18th.
The ASC has nominated the following for its higher honor: Emmanuel Lubezki (CHILDREN...
The 22nd Annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival announced the winners of the 2007 festival competition at the Closing Night ceremonies, hosted by KTYD’s Julie Ramos. The festival, which ran from January 25th - February 4th, attracted more than 60,000 visitors to the area, bringing attendance to an all-time high.
The esteemed jury for the 2007 SBIFF included: Jury Chair and film editor Dave Stein and filmmaker Candace Schermerhorn judged documentaries; actors Peter Riegert (“Anim...
MIRREN AND WHITTAKER SHINE AT S.A.G. AWARDS
by Alex Deleon, Santa Barbara
This is the jolly season of awards in Southern California -- seems like there's a different one every week somewhere in L.A. or vicinity. Following the Golden Globes (Foreign Press Awards) a couple of weeks back we now have the Screen Actors Guild (S.A.G.) awards which are similar and yet a bit different. Both sets of awards go to both film and television personalities, but the Globes recognize all kinds of categories (w...
Monday, January 29----In what will likely be a repeat by the time the Oscars are given out on February 25, the Screens Actors Guild gave out its top awards to film and television thespians in the convivial atmosphere of the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. Winners were visibly moved to be recognized by their peers as they polished the speeches that they very likely will need to give again at the Kodak Theater for the big bonanza of the Academy Awards.
The SAG Award for Best Ensemble Performa...
