Cinequest presents its highest honor, the Maverick Spirit Award, to legendary actor Elliott Gould on March 2 at the California Theatre, following the 9:30 p.m. screening of Dorfman starring Gould and Sara Rue (Rules of Engagement and Less than Perfect). Gould plays Burt Dorfman, Deb Dorfman's (Sara Rue) father, in this romantic comedy, directed by Palo Alto native, Brad Leong (Director of Palo Alto). Previou...

    "I still consider myself a New Yorker, even though these days I have been spending more and more time in Los Angeles", filmmaker Noah Baumbach explained on the stage of the Jacob Burns Film Center on Saturday afternoon immediately following a screening of his latest "dramedy" GREENBERG, which is set in the City of Angels. "Admittedly, I am seeing that city differently these days......maybe because my wife Jennifer Jason Leigh grew up there, so some...

Aspen Shortsfest is preparing for the 18th annual edition of its Oscar©-qualifying international competition, which will take place April 1-5, 2009. The 2009 Aspen Shortsfest has recently been recognized by both the National Endowment for the Arts and Colorado Council on the Arts, who have provided partial funding for this singular showcase for short filmmaking.A jury of noted film professionals will award more than $20,000 in cash, plus other prizes, to winners in several categories, who then ...

Wednesday, June 25-------Jerry Rudes is a man on a mission. For the past quarter century, he has lived with one foot in New York and the other in the lovely Provence city of Avignon, France. Reflecting his own dual domiciles, he founded the Avignon Film Festival in 1984 as a “transatlantic crossroads of independent cinema”. When asked to comment on his original inspiration for founding the event, Rudes told of a memorable encounter with filmmaker Agnès Varda. “When I first went to Cannes ...

 Thursday, August 30--------Frank Whaley, an acclaimed actor best known for his work in the films SWIMMING WITH SHARKS and PULP FICTION, has been adding directorial chores to his list of credits in the past few years. With such well regarded films as JOE THE KING and THE JIMMY SHOW, Whaley is making the leap from actor to director. He continues on this journey with the Toronto premiere of his latest film, NEW YORK CITY SERENADE.The film stars Chris Klein, Freddie Prinze, Jr., Jamie-Lynn Sigler,...

 Friday, July 27-------It did not seem like it at the time, but the films of a new generation of filmmakers in the 1970s truly did revolutionize the industry and save the studios from financial disaster. By the following decade, Hollywood was back to its old tricks of mounting blockbusters and lowest-common-denominator genre films. But for a period of about ten years (from 1967 to 1977, roughly defined by the release of Mike Nichol's THE GRADUATE and the unprecedented boxoffice extravaganza...

Friday, July 13-----To celebrate Bastille Day (and the general love of all things French), the Jacob Burns Film Center, the prominent arthouse complex north of New York City, is hosting The French New Wave film series, reminding us all what it was about the French that we fell in love with in the first place. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the French "Nouvelle Vague" (New Wave) was the most dynamic cinema on the planet. It literally exploded when a group of young Cahiers du Cinema ...

Film Independent announced the full program line-up for the 2007 Los Angeles Film Festival (Thursday, June 21 – Sunday, July 1), including the Opening Night and Closing Night films.As previously announced, Academy Award®-winning actor and filmmaker Clint Eastwood will receive this year’s Spirit of Independence Award on Thursday, June 28 at a special event sponsored by Target. Tony Bennett, who is the focus of a new documentary for which Clint Eastwood serves as executive producer, will pre...

 Thursday, May 3--------Sometimes a Festival, certainly one that has the scope of the Tribeca Film Festival, comes out with unexpected themes that have not necessarily been planned or anticipated. Such a mini-trend in this year's program are films that are directed by people who are mainly known for their acting work. Following in the footsteps of Robert Redford, Kevin Costner, Mel Gibson, Penny Marshall, Al Pacino, Sydney Pollock, Paul Mazursky and many, many others, actors are finding ...

 Thursday, May 3--------Sometimes a Festival, certainly one that has the scope of the Tribeca Film Festival, comes out with unexpected themes that have not necessarily been planned or anticipated. Such a mini-trend in this year's program are films that are directed by people who are mainly known for their acting work. Following in the footsteps of Robert Redford, Kevin Costner, Mel Gibson, Penny Marshall, Al Pacino, Sydney Pollock, Paul Mazursky and many, many others, actors are finding ...

 Tuesday, May 1-----For those of you who only know Paul Mazursky as Larry David's nemesis on the HBO series CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM, let me tell you....you are missing a lot. For audiences who came of age in the 1970s and 1980s, Mazursky was one of the important filmmakers of his time. Falling somewhere between Woody Allen's self-conscious angst and Mel Brooks' baudy burlesques, the best of Mazursky combined deep emotional drama with soaring comedic heights, to produce films that were ...

Wednesday, March 21----- The San Francisco Film Society announced today that Robin Williams will be the recipient of the Peter J. Owens Award to be presented at the San Francisco International Film Festival (April 26–May 10, 2007), which is celebrating its landmark 50th anniversary this year, making it the oldest film festival event in the Americas. The Owens Award, named after local cultural benefactor and longtime Film Society board member Peter J. Owens, honors an actor whose work exemplif...

Wednesday, November 7----He's best known as the rolly-polly manager of the neurotic Larry David in the hit HBO series CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM, but Jeff Garlin has had a long career as a stand-up comic who has written, produced, directed and performed his own stand-up act. Garlin now tries his hand at feature films with his directorial debut I WANT SOMEONE TO EAT CHEESE WITH. The film is a filmed version of his critically acclaimed solo show that follows the rotund Garlin as he negotiates love, c...

FULL PROGRAM LINE-UPDirector of Programming Rachel Rosen joined Festival Director Rich Raddon in announcing the full program line-up for the 2005 Los Angeles Film Festival (June 16-26), including the Centerpiece Premiere, the Guest Director, the Artist in Residence, and the Closing Night Film. The Festival also announced that Don Cheadle, Lisa Kudrow, and Elijah Wood will serve as Honorary Festival Chairs for the 2005 Los Angeles Film Festival. “We are thrilled to be highlighting two films ...

LAIFAFEST 2004OPENING NIGHT FILM PRESENTATIONTuesday, April 20, 2004 • 7:30 PM • Arclight Cinemas"OUR ITALIAN HUSBAND" MARITI IN AFFITTODirector: Ilaria BorrelliStarring: Maria Grazia Cucinotta, Brooke Shields, Chevy Chase and Pierfrancesco FavinoOUR ITALIAN HUSBAND is a romantic comedy that tells the story of an Italian woman who flies across the Atlantic to New York City in search of her husband and finds him married to another woman. Two wives, four children and one husband must find a wa...