Wednesday, 29th November saw stars and leading figures of the British film industry turn up to celebrate the British Independent Film Awards at Hammersmith Palais, London.In its ninth year, the British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs) have established themselves as one of the most important awards ceremonies in the British film industry and are regarded as the kick-off to the Awards Season. The BIFAs celebrate the best of British talent, including Helen Mirren who is this year's Variety UK Film A...
Wednesday, November 29----The Sundance Institute and NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) announced today the 12 finalists for the 2007 Sundance/NHK International Filmmakers Awards. These annual awards recognize emerging artists in international cinema and are presented to film directors from four global regions (Europe, Latin America, the United States and Japan) to support them in realizing their next projects. The four winners, selected by members of an international jury, will be announce...
Monday, November 27---Aside from the extensive public events and screenings here at the International Documentary Filmfestival Amsterdam (IDFA), a number of professional events are in high gear as the Festival moves into its mid-way point.
The IDFA FORUM, a co-production and financing networking extravaganza, creates networking opportunities for a number of selected documentary producers and directors, who get a chance to pitch and dialogue with visiting commissioning television editors, dis...
Sunday, November 12--- Mel Stuart, the veteran director, was honored on Saturday evening at the FLIFF Uncorked! Awards Gala with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his five decades as a pioneering director/producer. Stuart was a trend-setter, who effortlessly moved between the worlds of big-budget Hollywood and independent documentaries in a career move that has been emulated by such contemporary filmmakers as Martin Scorsese, Jonathan Demme and Steven Soderbergh. In a long and distinguished car...
John Cameron Mitchell InterviewHas Shortbus changed your attitude to sex?I don't know yet. I've been so busy that I haven't had any.One thing that interests me about your career is that you're very grounded in the theatre. How important do you think this background has been to your work?I think that the way that I work is based on the theatre education that I've had, certainly with Hedwig and the Angry Inch, which was a play originally. I took a bit from rock 'n' roll, a bit from theatre; we dev...
Independent Film & Television Alliance (IFTA), the trade association representing independent producers and distributors worldwide, today announced its new Executive Committee and Board of Directors. The elections were held as part of the IFTA’s annual members meeting, which took place today at the Beverly Hills Hotel. The Alliance’s seven person Executive Committee is headed by Chairman Michael Ryan (IAC Film & Television), who was re-elected last September and is serving the second year in...
Algeria’s Premier International Broadcasting and Multimedia Technology Event Diffusion & Multimedia 2006 (November 19 - 22, 2006) targets to become Algeria’s premier specialist international trade exhibition, which brings together in one event all the fields pertaining to broadcasting, digital multimedia and entertainment technology. Aiming to become a quality showcase of the latest digital multimedia technology, professional equipment and services for broadcasters, production and post-produ...
Helen Mirren
Saturday, September 30----The stars were out last evening, both in the night sky and on the red carpet at Avery Fisher Hall, as the New York Film Festival held its Gala Opening Night with the premiere screening of THE QUEEN.
Spotted on the red carpet were luminaries from the world of film, music and Broadway, including directors Brian De Palma and Taylor Hackford, musician Phil Collins, indie filmmakers Mira Nair, Mike White and Lodge Kerrigan, and Broadway luminaries Frances Ster...
In its first feature-film venture, Amazon has optioned screen rights to Keith Donohue's bestselling novel "The Stolen Child." Amazon will move to secure a filmmaker and then a studio partner to turn the fantasy into a live-action feature.
Move marks the first foray of the world's biggest online retailer into content creation not limited to its Web site.
Company isn't looking to co-finance the film but does bring an intriguing variable to the table: a pledge to use the clout of its site as a ma...
In continuation of a tradition that has lasted nearly two decades, Ernst & Young LLP will oversee the entire ballot counting process for the 58th Annual Primetime Emmy(R) Awards to be telecast on NBC at 8:00 p.m. on Sunday, August 27, 2006. The firm's Media and Entertainment leaders John Nendick, Andy Sale, and Mark Besca will deliver the winning results for the 27 awards, and oversee the confidentiality and accuracy of the final voting tally. The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences has coun...
The Boys and Girls Guide to Getting Down has picked up five LA Indie Awards, including the Grand Jury Prize for Best Indie Film and the Audience Award, it was announced today by filmmaker Paul Sapiano. The film also collected the Jury Prize for Best Indie Directing, Best Indie Film Editing, and the Ensemble Indie Cast Award. The accolades come on the heels of the wildly popular film’s sell-out world premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival in June 2006, and a much buzzed-about limited engagem...
In the presence of Mrs Viviane Reding and Mrs Véronique Cayla 2005: European films progress notably in the Europa Cinemas network In the context of falling cinema attendance, exhibitors belonging to the Europa Cinemas network succeeded in increasing the proportion of European films on their screens.In 2005, almost 60% of screenings were reserved for European films. Progress was apparent above all in the proportion of European films distributed outside their country of origin, which increased fr...
In the context of falling cinema attendance, exhibitors belonging to the Europa Cinemas network succeeded in increasing the proportion of European films on their screens.In 2005, almost 60% of screenings were reserved for European films. Progress was apparent above all in the proportion of European films distributed outside their country of origin, which increased from 34 to 37%. It was therefore diversity which gained ground in this network, and this did not concern the European continent alone...
The power and impact of British feature documentaries is celebrated at a new festival, BRITDOC 06, an annual showcase and meeting of the best documentary talent from Britain and around the world.BRITDOC 06, in association with Nokia, will be the essential calendar fixture of every key player in British feature-documentary production, bringing the leading international film producers, distributors, and financiers together in the UK for the first time to meet British talent face-to-face.Documentar...
The fifth annual Tribeca Film Festival wrapped here Sunday with a political and international selection of winners including three war themed films which took the top prizes. Tristan Bauers tale of a Falklands War soldier won the Founders award, while Deborah Scrantons Iraq-themed The War Tapes took the Best Documentary prize. The audience award went to Linda Hattendrfs “The Cats of Mirikitani” the tale of an American who lost family in the Hiroshima bombings.Figures show this years fest att...
One of the highlights of this springs Tribeca Film Festival is sure to be the Animated New York program curated by Bill Plympton. When people think of New York City’s filmmakers most are unaware of the thriving, diverse independent animation community .Plympton's illustrations and cartoons have been printed in The New York Times and The Village Voice , as well as the magazines Vogue , Rolling Stone , Vanity Fair , Penthouse , and National Lampoon . His political cartoon strip "Plympton", ...
One of the highlights of this springs Tribeca Film Festival is sure to be the Animated New York program curated by Bill Plympton. When people think of New York City’s filmmakers most are unaware of the thriving, diverse independent animation community .Plympton's illustrations and cartoons have been printed in The New York Times and The Village Voice , as well as the magazines Vogue , Rolling Stone , Vanity Fair , Penthouse , and National Lampoon . His political cartoon strip "Plympton", ...
What is changing in the cinema with the advent of digital? And what are the effects on exhibition? The second day of the exhibitors’ training course “DigiTraining Plus: New Technologies for European Cinemas”, taking place at the moment in Kuurne, Belgium, goes right to the heart of the matter. The exhibitors’ voices, with their questions and their expectations, were heard thanks to Jan Van Dommelen, representing Unic (the federation of national exhibitors’ associations) and Enrico Chie...
The Tahoe/Reno International Film Festival (T-RIFF) today announced that David Shor, managing director of Labrador Media Group and Labrador Pictures of Santa Barbara, California has become president of its board of directors. The Festival will be held Aug. 23-27, 2006 in Lake Tahoe.In announcing the appointment of Shor, Katrina Wilson, founder and executive director of the festival said, “It’s no secret that the Festival was a huge hit last season; it was voted by the Lake Tahoe community as...
GLOBAL FILM FINANCE 7 - BERLIN 2006 FEBRUARY 9th 20060900 – 1800Financing Conference during the 56th Berlin International Film Festival Business Centre, 3rd floor, Sony Style Store, Potsdamer StrasseFrom V for Vendetta to Match Point, the UK’s capital can always be relied on to deliver on screen. London hosted over 50 major features last year, but with new UK tax regulations due to come in to operation from April, the city is poised to become an even more popular destination.Find out what Lo...
the International Film Festival Rotterdam has taken the initiative to create the Hubert Bals Fund Plus!, aimed at offering Dutch producers an opportunity to participate more in international film projects. The Netherlands Film Fund has made two hundred thousand euros available for the finance of co-productions with films awarded by the HBF for 2006. During the next Holland Festival (June 2-25, 2006 in Amsterdam), IFFR will be presenting a limited summer edition, June 15 – 18, of the film festi...
Trigger Points Pacific Co-Production ConferenceJanuary 27-29, 2006 (Victoria, B.C.)Trigger Points Pacific is a successful industry initiative of the Victoria Independent Film & Video Festival designed to bring together top industry players from Pacific Rim countries and Canadian producers for one-on-one meetings and panel discussions on international co-productions.The conference is hosted by Pat Ferns (Ferns Productions) and Sheena Macdonald (Rhombus International) and will be held at the Laure...
Private investment is key to develop the UAE’s budding film industry, concludes expert panel on "providing finance to the film industry in the UAE" at DIFF 2005A panel discussion that brought together financial experts and film industry players was held at the 2nd Dubai International Film Festival yesterday. It concluded that private investment would be the single most significant source of funding to drive film industry development in the UAE. Other avenues that aspiring film makers could suc...
As the major film festival in Scandinavia, the 29th Göteborg Film Festival will screen more than 400 high quality Nordic and international films during the ten-day period of the festival.The next edition of the festival will take place from January 27 until February 6, 2006. This year’s director in focus is the British documentary filmmaker Kim Longinotto, who has devoted her work to portraying the situation of women all over the world. Kim Longinotto has lived and worked in Japan, Iran and ...
45 film projects selected for CineMart 2006 (29 January – 2 February) • Former CineMart Projects in official selection Rotterdam 2006The 23rd CineMart has announced its selection of forty-five independent film projects. The world’s first and largest co-production market will include new productions by established art house directors such as Pablo Trapero, Guy Maddin, Alexej German jr and Li Yang. CineMart expects some 800 guests to attend, including decision making executives from all majo...
