A pre-dawn dusting of snow fell on southern Oregon, wrapping Ashland like a gift.  Morning’s bright sun melted white back to green to reveal the start of the 10th Ashland Independent Film Festival.  By midday, the endless crisp, blue sky instead hung low, grey, and ominous.  A freakish snow squall swirled around the queue in front of the Varsity waiting for the first slate of films, then the clouds lifted and the world shone bright again. Those changes - from cheery to dreary and b...

  Harry Shearer  With the Mississippi River about to overflow its banks in the beleaguered city of New Orleans, the specter of Hurricane Katrina, a devastation the city has still not recovered from, becomes an interesting focus of renewed speculation from a somewhat unlikely source. Harry Shearer, the Saturday Night Live veteran, actor/director of several “mockumentaries” (SPINAL TAP) and the voice of several characters on THE SIMPSONS, who also is a New Orleans residen...

  Baffin Babes There are no babes like the Baffin Babes. Vera, Emma, Inge and Kristin- four Scandinavian girls who tackled a burly 1,200-km ski trip across Baffin Island in the Canadian Arctic in 2009-will talk about the challenges of their expedition, including sleeping in a tent in 40 below with polar bears as their closest neighbors. Wade Davis Wade Davis is an Explorer-in-Residence at the National Geographic Society. He holds degrees in anthropology and biology and a Ph.D...

I am delighted to finally post my long awaited interview of the talented, witty and busy (wow! Check out her credits!) TV and film actress Deborah Theaker. Read our informative and funny UCAP interview below.     ME: Hi Deborah. Thanks for being here. First, can you speak about how you got into acting? Was it something you always knew you wanted to do?     DEBORAH: I was always into movies and entertainment since I was kne...

Saturday, November 4---Following the triumphant screening of the Festival Centerpiece Film PITTSBURGH last evening at the Parker Playhouse, Online Festival Dailies Editor Sandy Mandelberger sat down with Chris Bradley, the co-director and co-cinematographer of the entertaining mockumentary, in the lounge of the official Festival hotel, the Gallery One Doubletree Suites. Bradley and his production partner Kyle LaBrache are the principals behind International Orange, a Los Angeles-based produ...

Legendary filmmaker Richard Leacock to be honored with Career AwardFull Frame Documentary Film Festival has chosen Sketches of Frank Gehry as the opening film of the 2006 festival. The first documentary by the Academy Award® winning director Sydney Pollack (The Interpreter, Out of Africa) is a look at the life and work of the renowned architect. The opening night screening is sponsored by Capitol Broadcasting. The festival also announced that it would present its Career Award this year to l...

The 2005 Newport International Film Festival, the 8th Annual event, will get underway Tuesday, June 7th – 12th, 2005, and run for six glorious days and nights of entertaining films, informative symposiums, and, of course, those glamorous Newport parties. The Festival atmosphere is relaxed, yet filled with all the enchantment, energy, and excitement of Hollywood. The Newport International Film Festival draws filmmakers and celebrities from around the world. This year the festival will honor wri...

The 2005 Newport International Film Festival, the 8th Annual event, will get underway Tuesday, June 7th – 12th, 2005, and run for six days and nights of entertaining films, informative symposiums, and, of course, those glamorous Newport parties. The Festival atmosphere is relaxed, yet filled with all the enchantment, energy, and excitement of Hollywood. This year the festival will honor writer/director/actor/musician Michael McKean with the annual Claiborne Pell Award for Lifetime Achievement....

The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival wrapped up its seventh year with record attendance resulting in sixteen sold-out screenings and events. The number of passes issued this year was 1520 compared to last year's 1000. Tickets also exceeded last year's totals. By Saturday evening, 12,495 tickets had been issued; at that point last year the festival had issued 11,670. As of Sunday's Award Barbecue, tickets issued climbed to 13,278 and, with the balance of Sunday's afternoon and evening scree...

FULL FRAME DOCUMENTARY FESTIVAL TO HONOR MARCEL OPHULS AT THIS YEARS FESTIVAL, APRIL 1 – 4, 2004 HBO’s film Elaine Stritch at Liberty, based on Elaine Stritch’s Tony Award-Winning One-Woman Broadway Show, to have its World Premiere; Stritch will join Ophuls, Barry Levinson, Tom Fontana, Harry Shearer and others as special guests Elaine Stritch at Liberty, HBO’s documentary film on Elaine Stritch’s one-woman Broadway show will open this year’s Full Frame Documentary Film Festival. The...

LOS ANGELES FILM CRITICS ANNOUNCE 2003 AWARD WINNERS"American Splendor" was voted Best Picture of the Year, it was announced by Jean Oppenheimer, President of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA). The runner up was "Lost in Translation".LAFCA's 29th annual achievement awards ceremony will be held Monday, January 26 at the St. Regis Hotel in Los Angeles.Other award winners are:DIRECTOR: Peter Jackson: "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"Runner-up: Clint Eastwood: "Mystic R...