Oscar – and Latin Flair - is in the air at Santa Barbara This year’s Santa Barbara Film Festival feels like an Academy Awards kick-off party thanks to appearances by directors, producers and screenwriters associated with Oscar hopefuls from Lord of the Rings to Monster. SBIFF unspooled Friday night with a screening of Argentina’s official Academy Award foreign language submission Valentin. Alejandro Agresti’s comedy, about a little boy who yearns for a mother, did not make it to the Osc...
Göteborg Film FestivalJanuary 23 -- February 2, 2004This year's Göteborg Film Festival kicked off on January 23 in the midst of a panorama of 500 films. The Göteborg fest, whose honorary president is Ingmar Bergman, is noted for its excellent selection of world cinema. Festival sections receive titles such as Iranian Images, Little Italy, Cuba Libre, Made in Argentina, Real Brazil, French Connection, Korean Highlights, Made in Spanish, Asian Hots, German Stories, USA documentaries and Critic'...
Andrea Galante, Director of The Milan International Film Festival, in association with the Consul General of Italy, Diego Brasoli, the UK Film Council and the Austrian Consul General, Peter Launsky-Tieffenthal, announce of the “Best of the Fest” awards presentation and screenings. Starting January 29th, for 4 consecutive Thursdays, the winners of the 4th annual MIFF, which occurred over 14 days Autumn 2003, will have their films screened in the plush Sala Rossellini at The Italian Cultural I...
IFFR 2004 Closing Night Film: GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING by Peter WebberSaturday January 31, 2004 the 33rd International Film Festival Rotterdam closes with two screenings of three times Oscar nominated GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING by Peter Webber, the adaption of Tracy Chevaliers novel about the 17th century Dutch master Johannes Vermeer.Colin Firth and Scarlett Johansson play the principal roles as Vermeer and his housekeeper. Webbers adaptation of Tracy Chevaliers novel depicts the painter and 17...
33rd International Film Festival RotterdamJanuary 21 - February 1, 2004Giordana's LA MEGLIO GIOVENTÙ grabs KPN Audience AwardClosing up February 1, 2004, the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) has equalled its 2003 attendance record of 355.000 visits to its films, exhibitions, debates and talkshows. Among the nearly 2,500 IFFR 2004 festival guests, the attendance of filmmakers Takeshi Kitano, Catherine Breillat and legendary footballer Johan Cruijff (subject of the Dutch documentary J...
The International Film Festival has created a new series in its Official Programme: the Berlinale Special. In it the latest works of great filmmakers will be screened as well as reshowings of important film works, and productions related to the Festival’s special focuses or to particularly explosive political topics.This year’s series includes three reshowings, the most recent films of master directors Peter Greenaway and Ermanno Olmi, two productions examining the political past, and three ...
Howard Shore presents The Lord of the Rings symphony in six movements for orchestra and chorus in sportpaleis of Antwerp on April 16th. The concert is a one-time European première. Once again Shore is nominated for the coming 76th Academy Award ceremony at the end of February. He is nominated for best score and best song (Into the west) for The Lord of the Rings - the return of the king. In 2002, he won an Oscar for best score for The Lord of the Rings - the two towers.Academy Award winning co...
REVIEW MONSTERPatty Jenkin's Monster, which will have its international debut at the Berlinale Film Festival, promises to be one of the most thought provoking films of the year. The film is about Aileen Wuornos who killed seven men in Florida she claimed bought sexual services from her and were about to rape or assault her. She has been called the first female serial killer departing from the pattern of women merely killing known relatives. Throughout the century, the serial murder genre has cap...
NOMINATIONS BY CATEGORY - 76TH AWARDS -“The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” 11 nominations“Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World” 10 nominations“Cold Mountain” 7 nominations“Seabiscuit” 7 nominations“Mystic River” 6 nominations“Lost in Translation” 4 nominations“Finding Nemo” 4 nominations“City of God” 4 nominationsBest motion picture of the year«The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”(New Line) A Wingnut Films Production Barrie M. O...
An Immortal Depiction of Love and MortalityAnthony Minghella's newest film is a Homeric journey of epic proportions.The film is scheduled to open next Berlinale.Recently I had the good fortune to attend a test screening of “Cold Mountain” due out sometime around Christmas. Based on the much lauded novel by Charles Frazier, the barebones of this epic are nothing too original. A pair of star-crossed lovers are separated prematurely by a war, in this case the Civil War, setting in motion the Lo...
Director’s View Set to Open Fifth Year;DVFF scoops film fest circuit and lands "Stranger Than Love" for world premiere -- but it is all contingent on secrecy clause. (What could be stranger?)In a spectacular coup, Robert Kesten, director of the DVFF, which runs from February 12-16, is to be congratulated for beating out all other U.S. festivals to bring to roost the much-talked-about secret film "Stranger Than Love" and present it in competition as a world premiere in our community...maybe.....
Which competition film or participant will take home a Golden or Silver Berlin Bear at the end of the Berlinale 2004 is decided by the International Jury. In 2004 this committee will again consist of seven international film experts from a variety of disciplines. This year’s President of the Jury is Frances McDormand, an Academy Award winner and star of independent film.The award ceremony of the 54th Berlin International Film Festival will be held at the Berlinale Palast on Saturday, February ...
Opening NightValentin2002 Argentina/The Netherlands 79 min 35mm Dir Alejandro AgrestiArgentina's Foreign Language Film Academy® submission. After the bitter separation of his parents and living with his eccentric grandmother, the life of a young boy begins to change in sweetly unanticipated ways when he opens up to the last in a long line of potential stepmothers. Director and cast to attend.Fri 1/30, 7:00pm GRAClosing NightReckoning, The2003 UK 110 min 35mm Dir Paul McGuigan This murder myst...
"The Slamdance 2004 Film Festival has invited 19 feature films to compete at our tenth annual festival," Peter Baxter, Slamdance President/Co-Founder, announced today. Eleven of the Competition Features screening this year are fictional narratives and eight are documentaries. In addition to the 19 feature length films, 13 of which are premieres, Slamdance will also screen 21 short films in competition. Special Screenings, films screening out of competition and festival events will be announced a...
"The Slamdance 2004 Film Festival has invited 19 feature films to compete at our tenth annual festival," Peter Baxter, Slamdance President/Co-Founder, announced today. Eleven of the Competition Features screening this year are fictional narratives and eight are documentaries. In addition to the 19 feature length films, 13 of which are premieres, Slamdance will also screen 21 short films in competition. Special Screenings, films screening out of competition and festival events will be announced a...
OSCAR® FEVER STRIKES THE CASTROCure can be found by attending The Academy Gala on Sunday, February 29, 2004.The 76th Annual Academy Awards® Telecast Presented Live On The Castro Theatre Big-Screen Lights! Camera! Action! The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation of Northern California is proud to announce that their 3rd annual Oscar® night fundraising event, The Academy Gala, will be presented for the very first time at its new home in the festive heart of San Francisco at the legendary Castro Theat...
ASPEN FILMFEST ANNOUNCES PROGRAM FOR 13TH EDITION OF ACADEMY SCREENINGSStrong performances, award-winning films and directors highlight program.Aspen Filmfest announces the line-up for its 13th annual Academy Screenings, a holiday movie extravaganza of the movies everyone will be talking about at Oscar time. Running December 21st to January 2nd, this year¹s program features 19 titles in a program that showcases the best films of the year, and technical achievements in direction, production and ...
AWARD WINNING COMPOSER DANNY ELFMAN TO BE HONOREDAT THE 15TH ANNUAL PALM SPRINGS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL AWARDS GALAElfman to Receive Frederick Loewe Award for Career Achievement in Film Composing The 15th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) will honor Danny Elfman with the Frederick Loewe Award for Career Achievement in Film Composing at the festival’s annual Awards Gala, it was announced by chairman elect Earl Greenburg. The Awards Gala will be held on Sunday, Januar...
Oscar winners and Cannes Grand Jury [prize-winning shorts will be part of an outstanding international program of short films at the first-ever AEAF Short Film Festival on Sunday, December 7 at the Sydney Convention Centre, Darling Harbour. Along with some of the finest and funniest Australian short films produced in 2003, the films will screen to an opening night audience at the ninth annual Australian Effects & Animation Festival. A full program is online at www.dmw.com.au/html/short_film.htm...
The first ever Salford Film Festival drew to a close with crowds flocking to see the premiere of Oscar-tipped Salford short, Talking With Angels. Two screenings had to be hastily arranged at the 500 seat theatre at Red Cinema, in Salford Quays, as the 15 minute feature, starring 12 year old Stephen Buckley and a host of residents from the city's Langworthy Estate, proved incredibly popular. At the premiere - a highlight of the Salford Film Festival - messages of support were read out from an ar...
BOLLYWOOD AND BEFOREIndia has an extremely prolific film industry turning out anything between 700 and 800 films a year, with peaks sometimes reaching more than 900! (905 in 1985, for example.) Most of these films are produced in regional centres in languages such as Bengali, Tamil, Malayalam... Indeed India is made up of 22 States and has 17 main languages. The Bollywood term covers films produced in Hindi in the Bombay studios. Although such films only account for a quarter of the total Indian...
INTERNATIONALE MÜNCHNER FILMWOCHEN27.11.- 30.11.2003International Festival of Film Schools – November, 2003 in MunichFor the first time in five years, the most important European festival for filmschools returns with a new concept to its original time frame in November.Tomorrow’s master directors will present their films, documentaries andanimated films from November 27 to 30 at the Munich Film Museum. A totalof 77 films from 43 film schools in 31 countries can be seen during the 23rdannual...
Actor Costner, Producer Zanuck and Director Minghella to Be Honored at Upcoming 15th Annual Palm Springs International Film FestivalThe tributes and awards for the upcoming Palm Springs International Film Festival are now announced. Academy Award winning actor/director/producer Kevin Costner, Academy Award-winning producer Richard D. Zanuck, and Academy winning director Minghella will be honored at the Award Gala being held on Sunday, January 11, 2004 at the Palm Springs Convention Center. T...
JOHN SAYLES AND PALM PICTURES WILL RECEIVE VISION IN FILM AWARDS AT GALA CEREMONIESTHE BAHAMAS ONE WORLD FILM FESTIVAL, taking place from November 13 – 17 in Nassau/Paradise Island, The Bahamas, will host the Americas Premieres (first showing in the Caribbean, Central and South America) of 35 Feature Films and 20 shorts from a dozen countries at its inaugural event.The Festival opens on November 13 with CASA DE LOS BABYS by director John Sayles. Sayles will receive a Vision In Film Award for C...
Myriad Pictures has just closed several key deals on its Edward Burns starrer, The River King, including Momentum for the United Kingdom and Canada and Filmax for Spain.The film, which brings together Myriad and Canadian production company imX Communications, is a supernatural murder mystery based on Alice Hoffman's award-winning novel. Financing for the film is being arranged through United Kingdom-based Grosvenor Park's First Choice Films.Nick Willing (Hypnotic) is directing from a screenplay ...