After 11 days of international premieres, receptions and special events, POFF, the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, came to its climax on Friday evening with the announcement of its major awards at a ceremony held at the historic Russian Theater in the Estonian capital. With a local rock band providiing background music, the juries of the 14th edition made their announcements to the cheers of an audience of local dignitaries and visiting professionals from Europe, Asia, Latin Ameri...

After 11 days of international premieres, receptions and special events, POFF, the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, came to its climax on Friday evening with the announcement of its major awards at a ceremony held at the historic Russian Theater in the Estonian capital. With a local rock band providiing background music, the juries of the 14th edition made their announcements to the cheers of an audience of local dignitaries and visiting professionals from Europe, Asia, Latin America and the ...

  Sofia Coppola walked away with the top prize at the Venice Film Festival this past weekend, winning the Golden Lion for her new film SOMEWHERE. The film, which inexplicably did not make the cut at the Toronto or New York film festivals (festival envy?), stars Stephen Dorff and Elle Fanning in a dramatic story of a father who tries to connect with his daughter after years of neglect. The fact that the dad is also a famous actor adds spice to this satire of Hollywood's self-obession and...

In what had to be one of the more unusual and visually artistic Awards Ceremonies I've ever attended, the 12th edition of the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival came to a dramatic close last evening (although screenings continue through the day on Sunday). The ceremony, a multi-media show that included video, live music by an Estonian rock band and an avant-garde performance presentation involving the Festival's jurors, was greeted by the enthusiastic audience as another sign of the Festival's a...

  HUNGER Sunday, December 7-------In what had to be one of the more unusual and visually artistic Awards Ceremonies I've ever attended, the 12th edition of the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival came to a dramatic close last evening (although screenings continue through the day on Sunday). The ceremony, a multi-media show that included video, live music by an Estonian rock band and an avant-garde performance presentation involving the Festival's jurors, was greeted by the en...

In ceremonies held yesterday in London, the British Academy Film Awards announced its winners at one of Europe’s most glamorous film events. The BAFTA Awards, officially the Orange British Academy Film Awards but popularly known as BAFTAs, are considered an important indicator of success at the Oscars, which will be held on February 24 as planned (now that the Writers Guild strike seems to be over). This year's show was given extra prominence by the Hollywood writers' strike that torpedoed las...

Several surprise winners dominated the Sundance Film Festival Awards, which were presented to a packed house of enthusiastic filmmakers, professionals and audience members at a gala ceremony held on Saturday night at the Park City Racquet Club. The concluding awards ceremony and party bring to an end a 10-day film bonanza that drew nearly 40,000 visitors to the Festival.Two films, both surprise choices based on early predictions, won the four top prizes in the American Independent Film competiti...

The 21st edition of the Troia International Film Festival (Festroia) concluded last Saturday evening (June 4) with the announcement and presentation of the Dolphin and Audience Awards, held in the historic Forum Luisa Todi, the Festival’s main screening venue. The Gold Dolphin Prize, for the Best Film in the Festival’s Official Competition section, was awarded to TURTLES CAN FLY, a humanistic drama from Iran, directed by Bahman Ghobadi. The film, which follows the story of several refugee ch...