The 44th edition of the New York Film Festival opens on a royal note with the North American premiere of THE QUEEN, the latest film from UK director Stephen Frears (DIRTY PRETTY THINGS, THE SNAPPER, HIGH FIDELITY, MY BEAUTIFUL LAUNDRETTE).
The film stars Oscar nominee Helen Mirren in a tour-de-force performance as Queen Elizabeth II. Also featured are James Cromwell as Prince Phillip, Michael Sheen as Tony Blair and Sylvia Syms as the Queen Mother, in a revealing and often acidly funny portrai...
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...
The New York Film Festival, the grande dame of New York film events, has announced that its 44th edition will be held at New York's Lincoln Center from September 29 to October 15, 2006.
The Festival, which is presented by the Film Society of Lincoln Center, continues an extraordinary tradition of showcasing the newest and most important cinematic works by directors from around the world. Over its long history, the Festival has introduced such singular talents as Francois Truffaut, Bernardo Ber...
BRUCE WEBER - A Life in FilmsHis First Complete UK Film Retrospectiveat the 26th CAMBRIDGE FILM FESTIVAL (6th-16th July 2006, Cambridge Arts Picturehouse)Bruce Weber is one of the 20th and 21st Century’s greatest fashion and portrait photographers – he is best known for his hugely influential, original and often mimicked advertising campaigns for Calvin Klein featuring gorgeously shot images of beautiful young men and women which have become icons of popular culture - and his photographic wo...
The Tribeca Film Festival has rapidly evolved since its founding in 2002 into the biggest U.S. film festival. In 2006 the Tribeca fest lasted thirteen days and served 465 thousand individuals including 203 thousand who purchased tickets for film screenings and panels. About 4200 productions were submitted coming close to the 4350 entered for the different Berlinale sections (excluding market films). Tribeca has retained its successful eclectic programming approach ranging this year from Holly...
New York Jewish Film Festival, January 11-26, 2006Among the more than 60 Jewish film festivals held in the United States the NY Jewish Film Festival (NYJFF) has after 15 editions become well established and is now considered as important as the Sans Francisco Jewish Film the oldest and biggest at 23 years. Organized by the influential Jewish Museum of New York, the NYJFF’s alliance with the Film Society of Lincoln Center has added to its prestige.As a community based film festival, th...
RICHARD PENA ON HIS WORK III Do you think that the continued expansion of film festivals is indication of the growing cinematic interest by the audience?I wish it were that. I don’t know. It is probably an indication of more people looking for ways of having jobs that are more glamorous. I am not sure how much it helps films. The vast majority of the festivals have no impact on the films at all. In the best possible of all worlds it is a nice cultural activity, but they do not really affec...
RICHARD PENA ON HIS WORK and Interview for Filmfestivals.com by Claus Muller Are there specific criteria the New York Film Festival selection committee applies?You know In the end I think that this is not science, it [this work] really is art, so that basically our criteria are personal and probably pretty arbitrary You start of with saying why do I like that film and everybody brings their own criteria to it. Some people like the film, because they feel the film talks something import...
28th Starz Denver International Film Festival.November 10 - 20.SDIFF presents approximately 175 films over 10 days and plays host to more than 100 film artists. New international feature releases, independently produced fiction films and documentaries, animation, experimental works, children's programs and short subjects are included in the festival. In addition, a number of acclaimed international film artists are honored with tributes and special "Evenings with..." Following awards will be giv...
Richard Peña, Program Director of the Film Society of Lincoln Center and Chairman of the Selection Committee of the New York Film Festival, is a film curator and scholar whose wide-ranging knowledge of the medium includes a special expertise and interest in Latin American, Asian, and Arab cinemas.Program Director of the Film Society and Festival Selection Committee Chair since 1988, Mr. Peña has brought a visionary zeal and enthusiasm and a remarkable variety of programs both to the Festival a...
This is the first of a three part interview for filmfestivals.com by Claus MuellerRichard Peña on his WorkRichard Peña, noted film curator and scholar, is in charge of the New York Film Festival and the programs of the Film Society of Lincoln Center. Since his appointment in 1988, Mr. Peña has enhanced festival standing as the most selective and influential cinema event in North America, and extended the Film Society’s programs to cover in depth year-round retrospectives of influential film...
The 43rd New York Film Festival kicked in September 23 and runs till October 9,2005 The New York Film Festival, now celebrating its 43rd year, continues its tradition of showing the newest and most important cinematic works by directors from around the world. The 17-day Festival is a showcase of inspiring and provocative cinema by emerging talents and first-rank international artists whose films are often recognized as contemporary classics.The festival opened with Good Night, and Good Luck:The ...
Out of competition films: Final Fantasy VII, Advent Children, Tsui Harks Seven Swords (Qi jian), the opening film , and The Art of Love, Mine Ha Ha by John Irvin set the Venezia 62 in motion August 31. Tsui Hark explained why he has made another martial arts film. Because ‘the stories are still compelling’. Seven Swords is concerned with the origins of martial arts in 1600 China when peasants wanted to defend themselves from rogue bandits. Both Charlie Young and Honglei Sun evoke the stro...
SAN FRANCISCO FILM SOCIETY NAMES GRAHAM LEGGAT EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR San Francisco, CA The San Francisco Film Society announces the appointment of Graham Leggat as Executive Director, effective October 17, 2005.³We¹re delighted that Graham is taking the helm at the Film Society,² said George Gund III, chairman of the Film Society¹s board of directors. ³His admirable breadth and depth of experience at major New York film organizations that have many elements and goals in common with the Film...
The New York Film Festival, the Big Apple’s oldest and most prestigious film event, announced the 24 features for its 43rd edition, which will run from September 24 to October 9 at its home base of Lincoln Center.The Festival will open with GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK, the directorial debut of actor-turned-director George Clooney, following its debut screenings at the Venice and Toronto Film Festivals. The film chronicles the story of legendary American broadcaster Edward R. Murrow, whose groundb...
Two masters of the art of the cinema are being honored in New York at career retrospectives at two of New York’s most venerable film institutions, starting this past weekend. The Museum of Modern Art, which has one of the world’s most celebrated film archives, will present three defining films from the career of Taiwanese director Edward Yang, to mark the publication of a new monograph on the filmmaker by celebrated film critic and historian John Anderson. The filmmaker is revered as a moder...
The 12th Annual New York African Film Festival April 20th through April 28th, 2005The African Film Festival, Inc. has just opened the Twelfth New York African Film Festival, which will showcase 24 films from 12 countries, including a number of whose national cinema are mostly unknown to US audiences, such as Niger, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Angola and Mozambique. The astonishing variety of themes and styles presented in this year’s program are indicative of the diversity of Africa, reflecting the poet...
Taiwan International Documentary FestivalInterview with Maxine Lu, Festival Manager Randi Cecchine: I know this isn’t easy, but can you tell us a simplified history of Taiwan? Maxine Lu: Taiwan an island off the south east part of mainland China. In the 17th century Dutch and Spanish explorers colonized parts of Taiwan and were drawn by its strategic location and natural resources. It was a Japanese colony for 50 years and was then returned to China at the end of WWII. In 1949 Chiang Kai Che...
SWISSAM ‘04 - Swiss American Film Festival, New YorkThe second edition of the SWISSAM screened from November 5th through 11th fifty five productions at the Quad Cinemas, the Anthology Film Archives, and the Tribeca Cinema. As the German Swiss would say ‘small but superb’ (klein aber oho). Switzerland has made significant contributions to international film making, initially through films by Alain Tanner, Claude Coretta or Michael Spoutter but also equally important through exporting he...
NEW YORK FILM FESTIVAL----ASIAN AND LATIN AMERICAN INFLUENCESAs the New York Film Festival enters its final week, it continues its marathon of remarkable films from around the world. The Festival’s strong affinity for European and American Independent cinema has already been discussed, but among its most astonishing discoveries are new films from a variety of Asian and Latin American filmmakers.The new Asian Cinema continues to produce wondrous new talents, and this year’s Festival is highli...
The New York Film Festival, running through October 17, is in full swing, with enthusiastic audiences selling out nearly every film showing and film critics praising the films on offer. New York is in its prime at this time of the year: beautiful sunny weather, a Fall chill in the air, the turning of the leaves in nearby Central Park, and everywhere you go, chit chat about the Festival and the new films of the season. With such celebrated filmmakers as Mike Leigh and Pedro Almodovar in town, the...
HAMPTONS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES ITS PROGRAMOne hundred miles to the east of New York City, at the tip of Long Island, the various villages of the Hamptons are world renowned as the summer playground for the rich and famous. Now that Summer is over and the first chill of the Fall season is in the air, the Hamptons are gearing up for what has become another celebrated event….the 12th edition of the Hamptons International film Festival. Running from October 20th through the 24th, t...
JAOUI OPENS NEW YORK FILM FESTIVALThe 42nd edition of the New York Film Festival opened this past weekend, with one of its most diverse and anticipated slates in recent years. Featuring an exciting mix of the new works of acknowledged film masters and fresh discoveries, the Festival, presented by the Film Society of Lincoln Center, is generally acknowledged as the crown jewel of film events in a city that boasts more than 25 film festivals during the year. “It is the gold standard as far as Ne...
The 42nd edition of the New York Film Festival helmed by Richard Pena opened to raving reviews affirming its unique position as an upscale intellectually oriented festnot compromising its criteria to compete with the new Tribeca film festival. Out of 25 features from 21 countries produced this year and not shown before in the United States eight were made in the U.S. but none of these films corresponded to “Hollywood fare”. Even Sam Fuller’s reconstructed 1980 studio production THE BIG RED...
VIVA PEDRO! An exclusive evening with Pedro Almodóvar, the legendary Spanish director of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, All About My Mother, Talk to Her, and the upcoming Bad Education. Highlights from the director's rich career will be screened, followed by a conversation between Mr. Almodóvar and Richard Peña, NYFF Selection Committee Chairman. We expect onstage appearances by special guests who have appeared in Mr. Almodóvar's films. 7A Thu. Oct. 7, 6:15 pm Alice Tully Hall HB...
