Author: CWB News Department

East Los Angeles College, Cinema Without Borders and the National Film Board of Canada are proud to present the National Film Board of Canada Animation Day, the second edition of the annual East Los Angeles College International Animation Day. The goal of the ELAC International Animation Festival is to give an in-depth and entertaining introduction to contemporary international animation. Screenings of short animated films from around the world, analyses and Q&A’s with a panel of well-known animation experts, and a tribute to an international animation artist working in the U.S. animation industry are all part of the festival program. National…

From May 7 to 14, film enthusiasts will enjoy a line-up of independent, art house, alternate, and diaspora films connected to the Indian subcontinent at the 16th New York Indian Film Festival. Organizers have in store 40 screenings (35 narrative, 5 documentary), all seen for the first time in New York City. In addition, the festival will also feature five programs of short films. The festival highlights various cinemas of India’s different regions. All the films are subtitled in English and some of the languages this year include Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Telegu, Assamese, Haryanvi and Urdu. This…

This Thursday morning, Mohamed Diab’s latest film ‘Clash’ (or ‘Eshtebak’) was selected for screening at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. It will compete in Cannes’s ‘Un Certian Regard’ section. ‘Clash’ will be the sole representative film from Egypt to be played at the festival this year. Produced in 2016, the film, written and directed by Diab, explores the confrontations between pro and anti-Muslim Brotherhood demonstrators that emerged following the removal of president Mohamed Morsi from power on 3 July 2013. The film is set entirely inside an overcrowded police truck packed with both pro and anti-Muslim Brotherhood demonstrators detained during…

After taking home a number of prizes from previous festivals, ‘The Story of a Rainy Night’ (2014) has grabbed itself another. Atlas International Film Gmbh has awarded the Iranian short film with Best Cinematography. The film’s star, Mehdi Fard Ghaderi, also writes and directs. ‘The Story of a Rainy Night’ narrates the life of a lonely old man on his birthday and how his day changes upon the arrival of his family. Produced by the Iranian Young Cinema Society, a group that helps educate Iranian youth interested in fields of photography, animation, and film about the many aspects of production…

The 2016 Saudi Film Festival concluded Monday night in the Gulf coast city of Dammam, after four days of screenings and filmmaking workshops aimed at establishing a well-founded Saudi film industry.More than 50 Saudi screenplays, still awaiting production, and 70 Saudi films competed in four different categories for the festival’s Golden Palm Tree Awards, these are the top winning films.‘Kaman’ – Golden Palm Tree Award in Short Feature Film Category‘Kaman,’ directed by Saudi filmmaker Abd El-Aziz Al-Shelahi, was one of the films that made the strongest impressions at the festival. Its story revolves around a man who doesn’t listen to…

The film industry is overproduced, and it is hard to see, let alone find, a gem at any film festival. Bero Beyer, a producer by trade, and new director of the IFFR is aware of this issue. He intends to shed light on talent development, and reshuffled the program to fit a daily screening of a young cineaste from the Hivos Tiger.This competition includes eight filmmakers, all on their first or second feature. Among them, I place my bet on The Land Of The Enlightened by Pieter¬ Jan De Pue.Filmed on 16mm, Afghanistan has long been sought for by the…

HP Bridging The Borders Award, presented by Cinema Without Borders and sponsored by HP Workstation Department is now a well-known and prestigious award in international film community. To learn more about HP’s reasons of supporting this award we had an interview with Rick Champagne is Worldwide Media & Entertainment Segment Manager for HP Z Workstations division. Cinema Without Borders:  HP Bridging The Borders Award that goes to a film that helps bringing people of our world closer together, is a timely award and well received among filmmaking community. Please tell us about HP decision to support this Award at…

Burbank, CA – January 7, 2016: Today, Cinema Without Borders has announced the six nominees for HP’s Bridging The Borders Award at 2015 Palm Springs International Film Festival selected by Palm Springs International Film Festival Programers. The Bridging The Borders Award at the 2016 Palm Springs International Film Festival will be given to the most successful film in bringing the people of our world closer together. The six nominees for HP’s Borders Bridging The Borders Award are: ATOMIC FALAFEL (Israel, Germany, New Zealand)), LET THEM COME (Algeria, France), ROAD TO LA PAZ (Argentina,Netherlands, Qatar) , ROSITA (Denmark),THE THIN YELLOW LINE…

Reallusion has been making a lot of noise lately. The maker of 2D and 3D animation software used by “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and countless independent filmmakers won “Best-of-Show” at this year’s SIGGRAPH. They’ve also been receiving rave reviews for iClone Character Creator, their new character creation tool. We caught up with John C. Martin, Reallusion’s Vice President of Product Marketing, to get the scoop on what animators and filmmakers need to know and where the market is going with the explosion of VR solutions. Cinema Without Borders: Tell us a little bit about iClone Character Creator. John C. Martin: iClone…

In the 1970s, The National Lampoon was America’s hippest, most outrageous magazine. It was the publication of choice for the counterculture, the intelligentsia, and so many “well-to-do nobodys,” as Marshall McLuhan put it.Douglas Tirola’s Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon takes a nostalgic but thoughtful look at the magazine’s unique trajectory through comedy history and its impact on entertainment today. Founded by Harvard graduates Doug Kenney, Henry Beard and Robert Hoffman in 1969, the Lampoon eventually grew into a production empire, featuring radio shows, record albums, live performances, and movies—most notably, Animal House and Vacation. Drunk…