Friday, November 24---Among the more than 2000 international guests expected at the International Documentary Filmfestival Amsterdam (IDFA), which opened last evening, are veteran directors Michael Apted and Jennifer Fox, both of whom have new film projects making their debuts at the event.
Michael Apted, whose career has embraced both narrative and documentary features, will be giving a Press Conference on Monday, November 27 at the Salon de Balie, IDFA's headquarters. Apted will be represen...
After a two-year hiatus caused by war and political unrest, the Beirut International Film Festival had made an unexpected return October 4-11 thanks to the efforts of the Lee & Gund Foundation, which is sponsoring it in conjuction with the launch of the foundation’s new initiative: MakeFilmsNotWar.orgDuring the darkest days of the summer, it seemed unlikely that the festival would take place at all. With the Beirut airport closed, the country blockaded, and infrastructure destroyed, it seemed ...
The juries of the two International Competitions of the 11th Milano Film Festival consist of personalities from different sectors of the international and Italian cultural scene. The choice of the juries reflects the Milano Film Festival's disposition to become a meeting place for interaction between various cultural areas. The diversity of the juries' composition triggers a lively debate, in which the selection of the winning films will be the outcome of the convergence between different geogra...
In the presence of Mrs Viviane Reding and Mrs Véronique Cayla 2005: European films progress notably in the Europa Cinemas network In the context of falling cinema attendance, exhibitors belonging to the Europa Cinemas network succeeded in increasing the proportion of European films on their screens.In 2005, almost 60% of screenings were reserved for European films. Progress was apparent above all in the proportion of European films distributed outside their country of origin, which increased fr...
In the context of falling cinema attendance, exhibitors belonging to the Europa Cinemas network succeeded in increasing the proportion of European films on their screens.In 2005, almost 60% of screenings were reserved for European films. Progress was apparent above all in the proportion of European films distributed outside their country of origin, which increased from 34 to 37%. It was therefore diversity which gained ground in this network, and this did not concern the European continent alone...
For the second consecutive year, the Fondation LibanCinéma (FLC) is taking part in the Cannes Film Festival by participating in the Film Market, thus providing Lebanese cinema with a bridge towards the international market.
Three screenings illustrating the diversity of Lebanese film production are organized as follows:
May 23rd at 4 pm, Palais F, 115 mn: Bosta by Philippe Aractingi, best box-office of the year.
May 23rd at 8:30 pm, Palais G, 88m:A perfect day by Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil...
The traditional showcase of the Hungarian film production of the year, the 37th edition of the Hungarian Film Week will be held in Budapest between January 31 – February 7, 2005. This year nearly 120 foreign professionals accepted the invitation from Magyar Filmunió to the Hungarian Film Week that plays an outstanding part in the international promotion of Hungarian films. The foreign critics’ Gene Moskowitz Award will be handed over at the final ceremony on 7th February.The traditional sho...
Bosta (Autobus), the third of five free family films being screened at the giant purpose-built amphitheatre at Dubai Media City during the ongoing Dubai Film Festival, is a fun and upbeat story of what happens when modern and alternative ideas clash with the traditional Dabkeh dance of Lebanon. The film, which will make its UAE premiere at the amphitheatre at 8pm on Wednesday, December 14, follows the story of Kamal, who returns to Beirut after 15 years of exile in France determined to revive hi...
The 28th Starz Denver International Film Festival has announced the winner of the Maysles Brothers Award for Best Documentary. The Maysles Brothers Award for Best Documentary is presented to a filmmaker who best represents the truth and purity of documentary filmmaking as established by the Maysles Brothers. Albert Maysles has presented this award at Closing Night festivities. The jury wishes to recognize the haunting, melancholy beauty of Peter Forgacs' EL PERRO NEGRO: STORIES FROM THE SPANISH ...
It's fairly unusual at a film festival with umpteen titles to pick from that one selects three names out of a hat, and all three turn out to be not only winners, back to back, but films of quality ranging from excellent to astounding. Today's triple winning ticket: "ZOZO" from Norway by way of Beirut, "Fratricide" Brudermord) -- astounding turf battle between Turks and Kurds in a German city, and "Bashing", a hypnotic Kafkaesque look at life on Desolation Row in a northern Japanese industrial w...
LOCARNO -- AUTHORS AND PERSONALITIESLocarno is above all a festival of "Auteur” Cinema, a term for which there is no neat equivalent in English other than to say ”authors” (i.e., directors) of personal films not dictated to by the demands of the market place, or of producers, nor made to please anybody but the author of the film himself -- a bit long winded, but the French always seem to have a word for it, especially when it comes to cinema. This being said the name of the game in Loc...
The 20th Annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival has announced the winners of the 2005 festival competition, as well as next year’s festival dates, February 3-12, 2006.Winners were selected by the following jury members:American Independent Jury: Joe Dante (director, “The Howling” and “Gremlins”), Clark Peterson (producer, “Monster”) and actor Perry Lang (“The Big Red One” and “Eight Men Out”).Spanish and Latin American Film Jury: Cynthia Hargrave (former Music Ex...
The Fonds Sud Cinema celebrates 20 years in Guadalajara Film FestivalThe XX Guadalajara International Film Festival will show a selection of 5 films financed by the Fonds Sud Cinema, to celebrate the 20 years anniversary of the french fund that help the production of films in countries in developmentThe Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Culture (Centre National de la Cinématographie) established in 1984 a selective aid to the productionof feature films. In 20 years the Fonds Sud C...
The Miami International Film Festival (MIFF), presented by Miami Dade College (MDC), announced today the full schedule of films for the 22nd annual Festival to be held February 4-13, 2005.118 Films—87 Features and 31 Shorts—from 47 Countries Highlight 2005 FestivalIncluding 7 World Premieres, 15 International, North American& U.S. Premieres, and 33 East Coast PremieresUnveiled today for the 2005 program were 118 films from 47 countries, including 7 World Premieres, 15 International, North Am...
There are documentaries and documentaries! The festival of Leipzig was an example that today, more than ever; the interest of the public in documentaries is growing. In Germany, as in the rest of Europe, more than 10 documentaries are being shown this year in ordinary cinemas.. The festival illustrated this interest very well. The public was young and the cinemas were (over) crowded. In one of the workshops it was stated that these documentaries are a response to the mainstream productions see...
17 films were competing in the main section of the Moscow festival.Including a few premieres such as Olga's Summer, Nina Grosse's German entry or Different Loyalty US film starring Sharon Stone and Rupert Everett who attended the festival to defend the film (a lenghty political thriller full of classic cliches on russian KGB and MI6 spies)...In official competition were:ANGULIMALA ( Thailand, 2003, 105 min.)director: Sutape Tunnirutscreenplay: Sutape Tunnirutcast: Jayanama Nopachai, Stella Maluc...
The 26th MIFF Competition Films program will include: ANGULIMALADirector: Sutape Tunnirut, Thailand, 2003Cast: Nopachai Jayanama, Stella Malucchi, John Rattanaveroj, Caterina Grosse A parable based on the code of Buddhist morality. The story allegedly happened in India more than 2,500 years ago. Ahimsaka was born of Brahmin parents, the social group of high virtue in the Hindu caste system. Despite his noble birth, Ahimsaka was predestined to become a murderous bandit killing those people to who...
Today’s Iraq Provides Setting for Landmark Syria/UK Co-ProductionWriter/director Nabil Maleh’sTHE HUNT FEASTCurrently filming in Syria and Lebanon. To Be Unveiled At Cannes 2004The story of an escaped high-ranking officer of the former Iraqi regime on the run with millions of dollars earmarked for an insurgency campaign against the occupying American forces, is the subject of a landmark Syrian/UK co-production feature film currently shooting in Syria and Lebanon, which gets its first unveili...
TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL 2004The third edition of New York’s newest film cultural event, the Tribeca Film Festival, came to a star-studded finale this weekend as a host of celebrities honored the winners of top Festival awards at a gala ceremony and party in lower Manhattan. THE GREEN HAT, a film exploring its characters struggles to transcend traditional definitions of love in the new China, won two awards for Best Narrative Film and Best New Filmmaker for first-time Chinese director Liu Sen Dou...
Features in competition at Tribeca FestivalMay 1 - 9, 20041/2 Price [HALFP] France 62 min preceded by Paper Route A rare attempt to portray children's activities utterly without sentimentality, this debut by a 21-year-old actress follows a trio of kids aged 7, 8, and 9 as they fend for themselves in a world nearly free of adults. The film drew considerable attention in Paris after Chris Marker likened it to Breathless in its depiction of something we've never before seen on screen. ( more....
"Relaunched last year with a new crew and new objectives, the Festival continues with its new formula that discovers new European talent from the 45 countries of the Council of Europe. The programme will therefore be made up exclusively of the first and second works of European filmmakers, but across all the genres.English decadence, irreverent Belgian humour, French transsexuals, intellectual Spanish directors, almost silent but moving cinema from Italy. This is what we will find in the selecti...
