WorldFest-Houston Wraps its 41st on Angelic note!(The 41st Annual WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival) WorldFest-Houston, the 3rd longest-running International Film Festival in North America, celebrated the conclusion of its 41st Annual Independent Film Showcase with a Grand Awards Gala on April 19th and Closing Day Festivities on April 20th with a VIP NASA and Space Center Houston tour and Texas BBQ sponsored by The Houston Yacht Club and wrapped it up with a double bill of Claude Le...
WorldFest-Houston, the 3rd longest-running International Film Festival in North America, celebrated the conclusion of its 41st Annual Independent Film Showcase with a Grand Awards Gala on April 19th and Closing Day Festivities on April 20th with a VIP NASA and Space Center Houston tour and Texas BBQ sponsored by The Houston Yacht Club and wrapped it up with a double bill of Claude Lelouch's Roman de Gare and Turkey's singing sensation Mahsun Kirmizigul's debut film, White Angel. All WorldFest ev...
The 39th annual Hungarian Film Week (Magyar Film Szemle, 2008) got under way discretely this year on January 30 without the customary fanfare of a grand opening gala at the Budapest Convention Center. There was, consequently, no prestige opening film or the usual champagne banquet where one might rub elbows with some of the sacred cows of the local industry such as the Jancsos and the Szabos, or catch sight of a Hungarian movie star or two. Whether this is due to a drastic cutback in funding...
Chaim Pevner, Film CriticFILM NOTES TO THE BARBICAN YIDDISH FILM RETROSPECTIVE(London, October 12-24, 1996) THE YIDDISH language cinema is nearly unique among world cinema cultures in that it had no specific homeland. Yiddish films, including “silent Yiddish” films, were produced wherever there were major Yiddish speech communities and a Yiddish theatrical circuit from which talent could be recruited. The majority of Yiddish language films were therefore made in New York or in P...
Documentary features are beginning to come into their own, not only on the festival circuit but in selected commercial cinemas as well, as more and more perceptive moviegoers, tired of paying ten dollars a shot for mainstream mindlessness, are beginning to look for films that actually have something to say. Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" was a real ground-breaker when it was awarded the top prize at Cannes two years ago, the first time a documentary film was so recognized at this topper of al...
The Chicago International Documentary Festival (CIDF) will pay tribute to celebrated filmmaker Albert Maysles by awarding him their inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award during the Opening Night Gala on Friday, April 1, 2005 at the Doc Films- Max Palevsky Cinema in Ida Noyes Hall (1212 E. 59th Street). The gala will feature a cocktail reception with live entertainment starting at 6pm, followed by the award presentation and film screening at 8pm. Tickets are $50 per person to attend the receptio...
Pop Art and Politics – the Forum Focuses on Innovative DebutsThe program of the 35th International Forum of New Cinema presents itself in leaner, rejuvenated form. Reducing the selection of films by more than a quarter in comparison with earlier years focuses the gaze on essentials: an innovative, global filmmaking eager to experiment and take unconventional paths outside the mainstream. The program, consisting of 39 feature and documentary films, including 16 debut works, is presenting 24 wor...
The Prize of the International Criticsat the Festivals of Vienna, London, Valladolid, Kiev, Geneva, CottbusVienna (Austria, October 15-27, 2004). Prize, ex aequo: "Los Muertos" by Lisandro Alonso (Argentina, 2004), and "Down to the Bone" by Debra Granik (USA, 2004). Jury: Dana Linssen, The Netherlands, Gabe Klinger, US, H.C. Leitich, Austria. London (UK, October 20 - November 4, 2004). Prize: "Aaltra" by Benoit Delépine and Gustave Kervern (Belgium, 2003). Jury: Michel Ciment, France, Ernesto G...
International Offspring for the Berlinale Talent Campus With the Talent Campus India (19 - 23 July), that finished only recently, the idea behind Berlinale Talent Campus was exported to Asia for the first time. 50 film talents from all over India joined the workshops of Osian's Cinefan Film Festival to learn from the likes of cameraman Christopher Doyle (In the Mood for Love) and Mohsen and Samira Makhmalbaf.The Berlinale Talent Campus is extending its network further: This year similar events w...
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...
