For its 38th edition, the International Film Festival Rotterdam 2009 will present 43 world premieres as well as 35 international and 34 European premieres of feature length films. A strong year for Eastern European film is led by ROOM AND A HALF, a fictional biopic about poet Joseph Brodsky by Andrey Khrzhanovsky; MORPHIA, Alexei Balabanov’s latest film, based on a M. Bulgakov adaptation by the late Sergei Bodrov Jr. and acclaimed Armenian director Harutyun Khachatryan’s BORDER. Throughout t...

Wednesday, November 22---A financial assistance fund that has helped several dozen documentary films from developing countries get made over the past 10 years is having its future status debated during the upcoming International Documentary Filmfestival Amsterdam (IDFA), the largest showcase of international documentaries on the festival circuit. The Jan Vrijman Fund, founded by IDFA in 1998, has provided financial funding to 36 projects from 29 countries, investing a total sum of over US $5...

Dragons & Tigers Award at the Vancouver International Film Festival Felicitas Becker This year’s Dragons and Tigers Award at VIFF went to the Philippine director John Torres for TODO TODO TEROS. This award is one of the most prestigious for Asian films. Many of today’s most renowned directors from the region, considered among the most significant figures of world cinema, were awarded this prize early in their career. Winners have included Kore-eda Hirokazu (Maborosi, 1995), Hong Sang-...

This year’s Dragons and Tigers Award at VIFF went to the Philippine director John Torres for TODO TODO TEROS. This award is one of the most prestigious for Asian films. Many of today’s most renowned directors from the region, considered among the most significant figures of world cinema, were awarded this prize early in their career. Winners have included Kore-eda Hirokazu (Maborosi, 1995), Hong Sang-Soo (The Day the Pig Fell Into the Well, 1996), Zhang Ming (Rainclouds Over Wushan, 1996), L...

Festival Director Alan Franey and programmer Tony Rayns today announced that the 25th annual Vancouver International Film Festival will feature a total of 39 features, three mid-length films and 35 shorts in the Festival's cornerstone Dragons & Tigers: The Cinemas of East Asia program. Again presented this year thanks to the generous support of Brad Birarda of Research Capital, the Dragons & Tigers program is one of the preeminent showcases of East Asian films in the world. The series will featu...

While the Cannes Film Festival may be over, the Festival season continues apace. Over 5000 miles away from the Croisette, another event is showcasing the best of international cinema. The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) is celebrating its 32nd anniversary with its most ambitious program yet. The Festival opened on May 25th with the West Coast premiere of THE ILLUSIONIST, a historical thriller set in 1900 Vienna. The film, directed by Neil Burger, stars Edward Norton as a mysterious ma...

This year's Flanders International Film Festival - Ghent is proud to announce David Cronenberg and Viggo Mortensen (History of Violence), François Ozon and Jeanne Moreau (Time To Leave), and Mike Leigh, one of contemporary Britain's most renowned directors, as expected guests. Leigh makes remarkable films, known for their levelheaded, unsensational portrayals of topics that would become four-hankie "message" melodramas in the hands of mainstream directors. This "slice-of-life" realism of Leigh ...

The Basque Ball: Skin Against Stone Director - Julio Medem The Big Durian Director - Amir Muhammad The Corporation Directors - Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott Disbelief Director - Andrei Nekrasov Garden Directors - Ruthie Shatz and Adi Barash Investigation into the Invisible World Director - Jean Michel Roux Journeyings and Conversations Director - Arvind Sinha Repatriation Director - Dong-won Kim Screaming Men Director - Mika Ronkainen ...

Sundance, Park city, Salt Lake City Opening Night Riding Giants will open Sundance festivities in Park City, January 15th A documentary by Stacy Peralta (the skateboarder-turned-filmmaker who won the director's prize at Sundance 2001 for the extreme-sports documentary "Dogtown and Z-Boys). Screenwriters - Stacy Peralta and Sam George. The first docu to open Sundance ever. "Watching a 90-foot wave coming across the screen at the Eccles is somethi...