Helen Mirren and István Szabó (The Door)  by Alex Deleon, for <filmfestivals.com>   Dame Helen Mirren, patently the dominant figure of the first two days, held court on Saturday morning at the first official festival press conference. As Helen Mirrenová she is getting front page coverage in the Czech daily press in the manner of visiting royalty and her gracefully smiling visage adorns the cover of the widely read TVstar weekly with a bold gold lettered caption reading ...

Polish helmer Krzysztof Zanussi will be President of Cinergia Forum of European Cinema - international jury. Debuts films are the strength of "Cinergia" This year's Forum of European Cinema “Cinergia” program will be enriched by the new section. After seven years of absence and together with  Lodz Film School we reactivated  Andrzej Munk Prize.  Andrzej Munk Prize winner will participate in the international competition for the Best European Debut Award “Kryszt...

JUD SÜß-- A Film With a Conscience about a Film Without a Conscience Hits a Raw Nerve in Berlin "JUD SÜß" (Jew Sweet), was the title of a film commissioned by Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels in 1940, to be made as an anti-Semitic vehicle intended to inflame the German people against the Jews of Germany and set the stage for their extermination, then in the early planning stages. "Jud Süß -- Film ohne Gewissen" is the title of a new film by ace German direct...

JUD SÜß-- A Film With a Conscience about a Film Without a Conscience Hits a Raw Nerve in Berlin "JUD SÜß" (Jew Sweet), was the title of a film commissioned by Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels in 1940, to be made as an anti-Semitic vehicle intended to inflame the German people against the Jews of Germany and set the stage for their extermination, then in the early planning stages. "Jud Süß -- Film ohne Gewissen" is the title of a new film by ace German director Oskar Roehler, which ...

"Tarantino's  GLOURIOS BURSTERDS" Grokked at ODEON Muswell Hill, London, Tues. August 25, 2009   I have never been a great Quentin Tarantino fan ( I hated "Pulp Fiction" and walked out of "Reservoir Dogs") but right off the bat I will have to say that even if he doesn't get an Oscar this year, Mr. Q.  should at least get a medal -  the Congressional Medal of Honour  (of Poland and Israel?) - for telling it like it should have been, ev...

The 37th Annual Hungarian Film Week, or "Magyar Filmszemle" (Film Survey) as it is officially known, opens the curtain on February 1st and will continue for five days thereafter, during which an overview of the entire preceding year's film production -- both features and shorts -- will be presented. There are actually very few such exclusively national festivals (most of them in former Communist bloc countries) showing the entire film production each year of a relatively small country at one fa...

THE 52nd SAN SEBASTIAN FILM FESTIVALAs if to serve notice that this festival is solidly back on track in the "Big Time" the 52nd edition of this Basque Country autumn extravaganza opened with a bang on September 17 with a screening of Woody Allen's latest opus, "Melinda Melinda" and an opening night lifetime award presented to the American director who was here in person to accept the honor from the hands of Spanish super-star director, Pedro Almodovar.. Allen who is well known for his dislike ...

THE 52nd SAN SEBASTIAN FILM FESTIVALby Alex DeleonAs if to serve notice that this festival is solidly back in the "Big Time" the 52nd edition of this early autumn Basque Country extravaganza opened with a bang on September 17 with a screening of Woody Allen's latest opus, "Melinda Melinda" and an opening night lifetime award presented to the American director who was here in person to accept the honor. Allen who is well known for his dislike of festivals (the only one he condescends to visit up...