Xan Brooks from The Guardian says, "Veteran director Yousry Nasrallah makes a melodrama out of a crisis in After The Battle, a film hewn from the headlines of the Egyptian revolution that crash-lands in the Cannes competition on the basis of its urgent topicality, a heart-on-sleeve narrative, and not a whole lot else. Try as I might, I can't see it troubling the judges."A producer from the Short Film Corner at the 65th Cannes Film Festival said that it was a g...

  Long live the King……or The King’s Speech that is. The historical biopic made a nearly clean sweep of the Orange British Academy Awards this evening in London. The awards, best known as the BAFTAs, crowned actor Colin Firth as Best Actor, while recognizing his fellow thespians, including best supporting actress Helena Bonham Carter and best supporting actor Geoffrey Rush. The film also won as Best Film, Best British Film and for its Original Screenplay. Firth was honored wi...

  New Yorkers are in love again, l'amour fou as they say, with French cinema. Not only has the film "Un Prophete" emerged as one of the big international hits of the year (a much deserved Oscar nominee that should have won the prize) but the current program of new Gallic titles that is the 15th Rendez-Vous with French Cinema offers francophiles (count me in) some boundless treats. The Rendez-Vous, a favorite New York rite of spring, is presented by the Film Society of Li...

  Veteran actor Dennis Hopper is battling prostate cancer and is said to be bedridden. The actor, age 73, announced today that he was seeking a divorce from his fifth wife, Victoria Duffy, with whom he has a 6-year-old daughter, Galen. Hopper has three other children from previous marriages. Concern is mounting about the health of the actor when a released statement from his publicist had him declaring that he "only wants to spend these difficult days surrounded by my child...

  Mary Pickford     Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival will award Michael York the first award ever given for "narration". The Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival (HSDFF) began in 1992, launched by a small group of arts activists in Hot Springs. That year, 10 Academy Award nominated documentary films were screened to the public free of charge. Veteran actor James Whitmore lent his p...

 Friday, September 12--------This year, Oscar didn't come to Toronto. Since the Academy Awards calendar was shortened in 2003, Toronto loomed large as the place to premiere Oscar contenders for the end-of-year awards season.In the past few years, films such as Atonement, No Country For Old Men and Last King of Scotland began their Oscar trajectories in Toronto.  Many of the Galas here, which have contained some past awards successes, have been poorly received (including The Burning Plain, T...

 Monday, September 8--------Goodbye Solo, the latest film from New York writer/director Ramin Bahrani, has won the prestigious FIPRESCI International Critics Prize at the Venice Film Festival, which just concluded this past weekend. The film makes its North American debut this evening at the Toronto International Film Festival.I caught the press screening of the film yesterday, and I will go out on a limb and say that this is one of the best and most emotionally deep films of the Festival. Mixi...

Hayden Panettiere, star of the television phenomenon Heroes and Freddie Highmore, the brilliant 15 year old lead in such critically acclaimed films as August Rush and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory will join legendary actors Christopher Lee and John Malkovitch at the 12th Annual Capri, Hollywood 2007–The Film Festival. The star-studded addition to an already remarkable line-up of directors, producers and financiers is certain to make this year’s international gathering an important celebr...

The much-anticipated New York International Independent Film and Video Festival (NYIIFVF) kicked off in style at premier club Pacha on Thursday, July 19. The opening night festivities attracted over 1,000 filmmakers, artists, actors, delegates, press and industry. Filmmakers promoted and networked and 100 trailers were played on large screens throughout the evening. Guests in attendance included Stephen Bogart (son of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall); Otto Sanchez (Kidnapped, Bad Boys II); stu...

The much-anticipated New York International Independent Film and Video Festival (NYIIFVF) kicked off in style at premier club Pacha on Thursday, July 19. The opening night festivities attracted over 1,000 filmmakers, artists, actors, delegates, press and industry. Filmmakers promoted and networked and 100 trailers were played on large screens throughout the evening. Guests in attendance included Stephen Bogart (son of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall); Otto Sanchez (Kidnapped, Bad Boys II); stu...

Wednesday, May 2-----The Tribeca Film Festival hosted the World Premiere of the romantic drama LUCKY YOU, directed by Curtis Hanson, last night in advance of its theatrical opening on Friday. The film, a Warner Bros. Pictures presentation, in association with Village Roadshow Pictures, stars Eric Bana, Drew Barrymore, Robert Duvall and Debra Messing. The crowds were large as one of the more anticipated red carpet arrivals of the Festival unfurled under a beautiful and (finally) warm Spring eve...

Wednesday, May 2-----The Tribeca Film Festival hosted the World Premiere of the romantic drama LUCKY YOU, directed by Curtis Hanson, last night in advance of its theatrical opening on Friday. The film, a Warner Bros. Pictures presentation, in association with Village Roadshow Pictures, stars Eric Bana, Drew Barrymore, Robert Duvall and Debra Messing. The crowds were large as one of the more anticipated red carpet arrivals of the Festival unfurled under a beautiful and (finally) warm Spring eve...

The marathon of end-of-the-year film nominees continues, with the announcement of the choice by the Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA) of their annual Critics Choice Awards. The Association is the largest film critics organization in the United States and Canada, representing 200 television, radio and online critics. Founded in 1995, the BFCA presents its annual Critics Choice Awards each year to honor the finest achievements in filmmaking. The winners will be revealed at a gala awards ce...

Monday, December 18----The marathon of end-of-the-year film nominees continues, with the announcement of the choice by the Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA) of their annual Critics Choice Awards. The Association is the largest film critics organization in the United States and Canada, representing 200 television, radio and online critics. Founded in 1995, the BFCA presents its annual Critics Choice Awards each year to honor the finest achievements in filmmaking. The winners will be...

Friday, December 8-----And so we're off....the first major national critics association has announced their Top Ten Titles of the year, as well as honoring individual films and performances. In a very unexpected and in some ways alarming choice, the National Board of Review has chosen as Best Picture the Japanese-language film LETTERS OF IWO JIMA, a companion film to the much bigger budgeted FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS, both directed by Clint Eastwood. It is a sign of Eastwood's clout at his home st...

Veteran director Martin Scorsese will be honored at SILVERDOCS: The AFI/Discovery Channel Documentary Festival, the most prestigious showcase for non-fiction films in the United States.Scorsese will receive the Festival’s highest honor at the Charles Guggenheim Symposium on June 15th, during the Festival’s six-day mix of screenings, seminars and tributes to be held at the AFI Silver Theater in Silver Springs, Maryland, in the suburbs of Washington DC. The Festival, a collaboration between th...

7 lsland International Film Festival opens with film “ Weapons of Mass Deception” 7 lsland International Film Festival starting from January 26, 2006, Republic day of India was open with a recorded message from Hon Abul Kalam, the president of India and & smt. Kiran Bedi. Veteran actor Shri A.K.Hangal was present and delivered a speech about importance of non violence & shared his experiences during freedom movement of India. Mr. Hangal was given a warm apologue for recent announcement of...

16TH WASHINGTON JEWISH FILM FESTIVALDecember 1 - 1140 films • 9 countries • 5 venues • 10 daysThe 16th Washington Jewish Film Festival: An Exhibition of International Cinema presents 40 features, documentaries and shorts from 9 countries, in five venues, during the December 1 – 11, ten-day Festival. The Festival is presented by the Washington DCJCC's Morris Cafritz Center for the Arts and co-sponsored by the Embassy of Israel and Washington Jewish Week; and supported in part by a grant ...