THE JURY OF THE FIRST FILMS WORLD COMPETITION    Klaus Eder  Born in Augsburg, Germany, Klaus Eder lives and works in Munich. He studied German literature at the University of Stuttgart and has worked as a film critic since the 1960s. Currently a reviewer for the Bayerischer Rundfunk national radio network he contributes to several German language film magazines. He has published books on numerous international filmmakers, including monographs on Andrzej Wajda, Luis Bunuel, Nikita ...

Contraband Movie Premiere In Sydney Australia With Mark Wahlberg Australian big name actor Mark Wahlberg drew a strong crowd at Event Cinemas, George St, Sydney this afternoon with the Australian premiere of the highly anticipated 'Contraband'. Contraband opens in Australia February 23. Fans of Marky Mark and as well as those into the thriller genre are going to love this. Trivia... Mark Wah...

At the 23rd Palm Springs International Film Festival, the FIPRESCI AWARD went to the Hungarian film 'The Turin Horse' (2011), Hungary 's official entry for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, the latest and last film by the legendary auteur director Béla Tarr. I interviewed Mr. Tarr, Béla in September while in Reykjavik during the 8th annual Reykjavik Film Festival (RIFF) where he was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Golden Puffin Award for greatness in filmmaking from the Ice...

Reykjavik Shorts&Docs Festival - Now Open for 2012 Submissions  2012 marks the 10-year anniversary of the festival and as a result it will be re-launching on a grander scale with international industry decision makers, international filmmakers and an array of new and exciting short films and documentary films. The festival strives to maintain the cultural fulfillment and expectations of the general public, as well as serving as an inspiring event for the audio-visual sector. Sp...

WITHOUT (2011) is a haunting coming of age psychological drama about a young girl who becomes a caretaker to an old man who is practically a vegetable. In small town America almost in the middle of nowhere Joslyn has little to no internet signal and is cut off, ‘without’ any and all outside communication. She has to assimilate into this new life with her near-death patient and the provincial frustrated locals; further, she is dealing with the overwhelming loss of the love of her lif...

  WITHOUT (2011) is a haunting coming of age psychological drama about a young girl who becomes a caretaker to an old man who is practically a vegetable. In small town America almost in the middle of nowhere Joslyn has little to no internet signal and is cut off, ‘without’ any and all outside communication. She has to assimilate into this new life with her near-death patient and the provincial frustrated locals; further, she is dealing with the overwhelming loss of the love of her l...

Environmental films played a key role in this year's Abu Dhabi Film Festival. One of the eco-docs to screen at the 2011 ADFF was ECO-PIRATE: The Story of Paul Watson (2011), a film that focuses on the notorious eco-pirate, Paul Watson, who once had been named ‘persona non grata’ in Iceland after he had sunk two whaling ships in the Reykjavik harbor in 1988. The film tackles a heated political debate from the 1970’s till present day about the whaling industry, which is responsible for decim...

   The first time I had heard about Béla Tarr was from a Serbian filmmaker friend who told me that if I wanted to know some real avant-garde plucky cinema, I hadn’t lived until I had seen a Béla Tarr film. As a writer myself, I’m big on unadulterated organic creativity and this exemplary director has gone against all the rules doing everything a filmmaker is taught not to do, making himself quite a name in his 34 years of doing so. Tarr even holds the credit to having directed one...

  The first time I had heard about Béla Tarr was from a Serbian filmmaker friend who told me that if I wanted to know some real avant-garde plucky cinema, I hadn’t lived until I had seen a Béla Tarr film. As a writer myself, I’m big on unadulterated organic creativity and this exemplary director has gone against all the rules doing everything a filmmaker is taught not to do, making himself quite a name in his 34 years of doing so. Tarr even holds the credit to having directed one of the ...

By Vanessa McMahonThe first time I had heard about Béla Tarr was from a Serbian filmmaker friend who told me that if I wanted to know some real avant-garde plucky cinema, I hadn’t lived until I had seen a Béla Tarr film. As a writer myself, I’m big on unadulterated organic creativity and this exemplary director has gone against all the rules doing everything a filmmaker is taught not to do, making himself quite a name in his 34 years of doing so. Tarr even holds the credit to having direct...

In Retrospect... From RIFF 2010 to MIPCOM 2011... Last year the film at RIFF 2010 which stirred up quite a debate was this documentary, WHEN THE DRAGON SWALLOWED THE SUN (2010), which threatened to destabilize the friendly relationship between China and Iceland (the film is about China's oppressive hold over Tibet). Now one year later the film is being sold at the world's biggest TV market, MIPCOM, at Cannes; October 03-06, 2011.   Interview with director Dirk Simon from ...

 BELA TARR receives Lifetime Achievement Award at RIFF, 2011  The legendary, exemplary, unconventional and inspiring filmmaker Bela Tarr traveled from his native Hungary to Reykjavik, Iceland last week during the 8th annual Reykjavik International Film Festival (RIFF) to receive the honorary award for Lifetime Achievement for greatness in filmmaking. The president of Iceland, Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, awarded a statue of the nation's symbolic puffin to an emotionally touched Bela. The ce...

  BELA TARR receives Lifetime Achievement Award at RIFF, 2011    The legendary, exemplary, unconventional and inspiring filmmaker Bela Tarr traveled from his native Hungary to Reykjavik, Iceland last week during the 8th annual Reykjavik International Film Festival (RIFF) to receive the honorary award for Lifetime Achievement for greatness in filmmaking. The president of Iceland, Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, awarded a statue of the nation's symbolic puffin to an emotionally ...

                photo from Venice poster at La Biennale, 68.This past week I attended the 8th annual Reykjavik Film Festival (RIFF) after going nonstop from Venice La Biennale, then to TIFF and then to RIFF. I was tired of course but so anxious to catch up on the films that I had missed at the former festivals that appeared also in Iceland. One of these films was one that had received a great buzz in Venice, a lyrica...

THE PIPE! When director Risteard O'Domhnaill (aka Richie O'Donnell) accepted his award for the RIFF ENVIRONMENTAL AWARD in Reykjavik on October 01, 2011, Richie stood up confidently in front of hundreds thanking the RIFF jury and voters for his 'puffin statue of aluminum'. He had the whole crowd in stitches with his witty humor and singsong/rolling Irish accent. The film has held a successful run as yet, festival hopping for over a year now with a sweet final triumph at RIFF. While Richie is a g...

Olga Dykhovichnaya (Marina) Sergei Borisov (Andrei)This was indeed the welcome surprise of the Reykjavik International Film Festival (RIFF) this year. Newcomer Director/Writer/Producer Angelina Nikonova and Writer/Producer/Actress Olga Dykhovichnaya (Marina) graced the festival with their presence in its final days to attend the Q and A screening of their film TWILIGHT PORTRAIT (‘Portret V Sumerkakh’, 2011) and the award ceremony at the end. Little did these passionate Russian Indie filmmak...

still from the film THE TURIN HORSE (2011) THE TURIN HORSE (2011), the last film by celebrated Hungarian filmmaker Bela Tarr, screened in Reykjavik tonight at the 8th Reykjavik Film Festival (RIFF). The film is 2 ½ hours long but despite its hard subject matter and rough arthouse style, it holds onto its full audience from beginning to end. At the end of the screening the master filmmaker himself attended a Q and A for inquiring indie film buffs. This is a difficult film to work through and wh...