Christina Marouda, Executive Director of Indian Film Festival, LA and President of IFFLA Board of Directors prior to launching IFFLA in 2002 worked in various capacities. She worked at Lions Gate Entertainment, the American Film Institute (AFI) Film Festival, and the Los Angeles Film Festival (LAFF). Ms. Marouda also produced the Los Angeles Greek Film Festival in 2008. She participated in the prestigious IFP Producers Lab where she honed her producing skills and is now producing the short film TRANCE directed by Andrew Scoles. Born and raised on the island of Crete in Greece, Ms. Marouda’s went on to earn…
Author: Bijan Tehrani
Bijan Tehrani
Bijan (Hassan) Tehrani Founder and Editor in Chief of Cinema Without Borders, is a film director, writer, and a film critic, his first article appeared in a weekly film publication in Iran 45 years ago. Bijan founded Cinema Without Borders, an online publication dedicated to promotion of international cinema in the US and around the globe, eighteen years ago and still works as its editor in chief. Bijan is has also been a columnist and film critic for the Iranian monthly film related medias for 45 years and during the past 5 years he has been a permanent columnist and film reviewer for Film Emrooz (Film Today), a popular Iranian monthly print film magazine. Bijan has won several awards in international film festivals and book fairs for his short films and children's books as well as for his services to the international cinema. Bijan is a member of Iranian Film Writers Critics Society and International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI). He is also an 82nd Golden Globe Awards voter.
The 2010 Dallas International Film Festival started on April 8 and I had a chance to speak to Michael Cain, the Chairman of Dallas IFF about 2010 festival.A graduate of the American Film Institute, Michael was previously the Founder and Executive Director of the nonprofit organization Deep Ellum Film, Music, Arts and Noise (DEFMAN), which produced the Deep Ellum Film Festival and various outdoor screening events including the Lone Star Drive-In in Addison and Dallas; Pasadena Cinema in the Park; and the Santa Monica Drive-In at the Pier. Michael is also a producer with more than 50 commercials and music…
I could never understand the logic of film distributors; avoiding picking up films that are considered “old” by their standards–sometimes even a single year can make a film “old” to them. I have a long list of great films that have lost their chance to be seen by any audiences because of such attitudes. Have we ever stopped watching Chaplin, Hitchcock, Truffaut or Bunuel films because they are old? Among the wonderful movies of the last four years, we had the Slovenian film entitled Gravehopping, which was directed by Jan Cvitkovic and selected for the Best Foreign Language Film Award…
With THE SECRET IN THEIR EYES, Argentinean writer-director-editor Juan Jose Campanella has created a multi-layered and poignant thriller interweaving the personal lives of a state prosecution investigator and a judge, with a manhunt spanning twenty-five years. Recently retired criminal court investigator Benjamin (Ricardo Darin), decides to write a novel based on a twenty-five year old unresolved rape and murder case, which still haunts him. Sharing his plans with Irene (Soledad Villamil), the beautiful judge and former colleague he has secretly been in love with for years, Benjamin’s initial involvement with the case is shown through flashbacks, as he sets out…
Cynthia Wade, director of Born Sweet, is an Oscar-winning documentary director. Her directing credits include the Sundance Special Jury Prize winning, Academy Award winning “Freeheld” (2007), IFC Channel’s “Living the Legacy” (2009), HBO’s five-time award winning “Shelter Dogs” (2004) and the Cinemax documentary “Grist for the Mill” (1999). As a cinematographer, Wade has shot and produced documentaries for Discovery, A&E;, PBS, Bravo, AMC, The History Channel and MTV. She holds a Masters Degree in Documentary Filmmaking from Stanford University.Bijan Tehrani: How did you first encounter the subject of Born Sweet? Cynthia Wade: I was actively looking for a new film,…
An Education happens in the post-war, pre-Beatles London suburbs. A bright schoolgirl is torn between studying for a place at Oxford and the more exciting alternative offered to her by a charismatic older man.Lone Scherfig director of An Education , was born in Copenhagen and studied film at the University of Copenhagen and the National Film School of Denmark. She has written and directed short films, radio dramas and television series. Lone has collected 22 awards and 11 nominations for her work. Italian for Beginners (the fifth Danish Dogma Film) received a FIPRESCI award and a Silver Bear Jury Prize…
Los Angeles, California – Tonight Burma VJ directed by Anders Ostergaard and produced by Lise Lense Moller won the OSCAR for the Best Documentary Feature at Academy Awards ceremony.Cinema Without Borders’ Editor in Chief had a CWB exclusive interview with both Anders Ostergaard and Lise Lense Moller Anders Ostergaard graduated from the Danish School of Journalism in 1991. Mixing documentary footage with staged shots has been a hallmark of Østergaard’s films almost from the beginning. Awarded Best Documentary at Odense International Film Festival in 1999 for The Magus. He was writer-director on the international awarded Tintin et moi in 2003;…
Independent and international filmmakers are in a constant search for the most powerful and affordable mobile workstations for film editing. To find desirable solutions ever-so-important matter, we interviewed Chris Convertito, the Worldwide Category Manager for mobile workstations at Hewlett Packard’s Workstation Global Business Unit, which is based out of Houston, Texas. Chris is responsible for the overall category strategy, new product planning, and HP’s high-end Business Notebooks and Mobile Workstation platforms.Cinema Without Borders: In the filmmaking market there is a growing need for mobile workstations, the issue being that most of these filmmakers are independent. Because of this they are…
Cinemagic is a charity that embraces the magic of film, television and digital technologies to educate, motivate and inspire young people through the medium of workshops, film screenings and industry led master classes. Cinemagic currently delivers festivals in Belfast, Dublin, Glasgow, Nottingham, France and now plans to open in New York and L.A. in 2010 with further US cities planned for 2011 – 2013. Sponsors of the festival are: Tourism Ireland, Culture Ireland, NI Bureau, American Consulate, Sesame Street, The Jim Henson Company, REDCAT (Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater) International Children’s Film Festival, Ghetto Film School, Irish Arts Center, ELMA,…
In Easier With Practice Davy Mitchell sets out on a road trip to promote his unpublished novel with his younger brother. However, the idealism of being on the road wears off and it quickly proves to be a lonely and unfulfilling experience for Davy. One night in a motel room, he gets a random phone call from a mysterious woman named Nicole. They start a funny and intimate long distance relationship that leaves Davy happier than he has been in years. Hoping there is more to the relationship then a voice and a phone bill, Davy decides he wants to…