The 49th edition of the New York Film Festival, a sure sign of the Fall season, is underway, and in its substantially expanded format, there is literally something for everyone at this year’s event. The Festival, which has prided itself on being a boutique as opposed to the bazaar offered at such events in Toronto, Cannes and Berlin (and at New York’s own Tribeca Film Festival) still offers the cream of the crop from those other festival celebrations, with a sprinkling of highbrow c...

Fourth Annual Week-long Festival Celebrates the Best in Contemporary French Language Cinema with Filmmaker Guests and New Works by the Dardenne Brothers, Aki Kaurismäki and Mia Hansen-Løve The San Francisco Film Society, in association with the French American Cultural Society, the French Consulate of San Francisco and Unifrance, presents French Cinema Now, Thursday, October 27 - Wednesday, November 2, at Landmark's Embarcadero Center Cinema and the Film Society's new theatrical home, San Fr...

"The exploding role of music in the soundtrack of our digital lives means a festival like this is crucial." These are the words of Slumdog Millionaire Oscar winning Director Danny Boyle who showcased his much acclaimed Mumbai spectacular at last year's first Soundtrack International Film and Music Festival. The programme for this year's Soundtrack (Nov 18-22 soundtrackfilmfestival.com) was announced this week with another strong playlist of live music performances, exclusive screenin...

Godard, Losey, Antonioni, Visconti, Tati, Franju et Sergio Leone once again in the Official Selection? Pierrot le Fou, Eyes Without A Face or Senso in Competition against L’Avventura or Once Upon A Time…the Revolution? Martin Scorsese is the honorary President of Cannes Classics 2009, a section established in 2004 to accompany the contemporary films of the Official Selection with a program of restored  and rediscovered films, to be released theatrically or on DVD. The film...

By Maria Esteves - January 25, 2009 The 81st Academy Awards nominations was announced by President Sid Ganis of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and 2006 Oscar winner Forest Whitaker "The Last King of Scotland" on Thursday, January 22, 2009. THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON picked up 13 Oscar nominations including best picture and best director. The next frontrunner with 10 Oscar nominations was SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE including best picture.  The 81st Academy ...

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” got the most nominations (13), including best picture, best actor, best screenplay, best direction, best make up of course...Performance by an actor in a leading roleRichard Jenkins in “The Visitor” (Overture Films) Frank Langella in “Frost/Nixon” (Universal) Sean Penn in “Milk” (Focus Features) Brad Pitt in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.) Mickey Rourke in “The Wrestler” (Fox Searchlight) Performance by...

24th Annual KidFilm® FestivalJanuary 19-20, 2008The USA Film Festival’s 24th annual KidFilm® Festival announces the schedule of events taking place Saturday, January 19 and Sunday, January 20, 2008 at the Angelika Film Center, 5321 E. Mockingbird Lane, Dallas, Texas.KidFilm is the oldest and largest children’s film festival in the United States, featuring an exciting and diverse line-up of new and classic films and videos for both children and adults. Spotlighting a multicultural slate of...

The official website has launched (www.meiff.com) for the first annual Middle East International Film Festival (MEIFF), premiering October 14-19, 2007; and the Call for Entries is now under way. Over five days, MEIFF will present more than 50 films within a diverse slate of regional and international films with an emphasis on emerging artists. Grand Jury Prize winners will receive substantial production grants towards the funding of their next project, awarded in the categories of Narrative, Do...

 Friday, June 16--------The BamCinematek, the repertory arm of the BAM Rose Cinemas at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, is presenting a newly restored film print of a true classic from iconic director Jean-Luc Godard  for a limited run starting this evening. PIERROT LE FOU, a 1965 milestone from the most innovative director of the French New Wave of the 1950s and 1960s, will have a special 10 day revival, reminding audiences of the audacity, sexiness and visual splendor of this iconic director&...

Tuesday, April 17---While Sarasota may be noted for its beautiful sunsets, pristine beaches and cultural offerings, it is also an important city of architectural interest. In the years after the second World War, a number of architects, influenced by modernism and the Bauhaus movement, built a number of intriguing public and private buildings, which constitute an architectural legacy of some renown. Whether this legacy is properly prized by local authorities is another issue. As Sarasota grows i...

Thursday, January 18----The Jacob Burns Film Center, an oasis of film culture in the northern New York suburbs, is presenting a six-week series of some of the landmarks of world cinema, in a program entitled 50 Years of Janus Films. The series is a tribute to the pioneering arthouse distributor, who for 50 years, was at the forefront of bringing the works of Bergman, Fellini, Truffaut and other film greats to the attention of American audiences. The series, which originated as part of the New ...

Thursday, October 12----New Yorkers have long had a love affair with French cinema. Each year for the past 44, the New York Film Festival has peppered its program with intriguing films from French talents, old and new. This year, the love affair continues with four films in the main section, as well as seven film classics in the 50 YEARS OF JANUS FILMS retrospective sidebar. As the Festival enters its final weekend, lovers of French cinema still have an opportunity to sample some tasty hors d...

Tuesday, October 10----If it had not been for the success of THE LADY VANISHES, David O. Selznick perhaps would not have imported its director, Alfred Hitchcock, to Hollywood. If Hitchcock did not have his astonishly long and prolific career in Hollywood, who knows what the landscape of film art would look like. Yes, he was (and is) that influential. Hitchcock was not only the most popular director in Hollywood history because of his films, although their continued shelf life remains an indus...

Monday, October 2----Has there ever been a film as transgressive, as outrageous, as experimental as the classic WR: MYSTERIES OF THE ORGANISM, directed by the iconoclastic Yugoslav pioneer Dusan Makavejev? The film, a mind-bending cult hit when first released in 1971, mixes Stalinism, sexual freedom and Freudian analysis in an intoxicating mix that leaves the viewer guessing, or simply asking out loud "Did I really see that?". The film screens this week as part of the 50 Years of Janus Films ...

The 44th New York Film FestivalSeptember 29 – October 15, 2006The 17-day festival, presented by the Film Society of Lincoln Center, is a highly-selective showcase of new, inspiring and provocative cinema by both emerging talent and recognized international artists. This year’s line-up includes:Opening Night: Stephen Frears’ acidly funny portrait of the British royal family, The Queen (Miramax Films), stars Helen Mirren.Centerpiece: Pedro Almodóvar’s supernatural tale of murder, adultery...

Tuesday, September 26---One of the iconic images in international cinema is the sight of the Grim Reaper, the devil who seperates the spirit from the body of men, playing a strategic game of chess with a Knight during the Black Plague in Ingmar Bergman's landmark 1957 film THE SEVENTH SEAL. A new 35mm film print of this venerable film classic will be screened as part of the 50 Years of Janus Films celebration at this year's New York Film Festival. Legendary actor Max Von Sydow, one of the acto...

When the New York Film Festival's salute to 50 Years of Janus Films begins on September 30th with the screening of a pristine 35mm film print of the Jean Renoir classic THE RULES OF THE GAME, it will begin a month-long celebration of 30 cinematic gems that can only be described as "essential cinema". Renoir's film, set in a French country estate on the eve of World War II, not only is illustrative of its particular time and place, but serves as a kind of coda for the instability and restlessne...

The New York Film Festival has announced that its Retrospective program this year is devoted to a celebration of 50 Years of Janus Films, the pioneering arthouse distribution company, who singlehandedly brought the films of such film titans as Bergman, Kurosawa, Truffaut and Fellini to the attention of American film audiences. The program, which opens on September 30th with the screening of a new 35mm film print of the Jean Renoir humanist classic THE RULES OF THE GAME, will showcase over 30 c...