Pal Telegraph- Former soldier in the Israeli army Elik Elhanan regrets the moment his mother was “happy and proud” when he joined the military service in the occupied Palestinian territories. Elhanan is now a spokesperson for the “Combatants for Peace” movement, which aims to “end the cycle of violence, the bloodshed and the [Israeli] occupation”.His experience, along with those of other Palestinian activists, is part of the Italian filmmaker Barbara Cupisti’s 2008 documentary titled, “Forbidden Childhood”, which was screened at the Royal Film Commission last week. The film sheds light on the “suffering” of Palestinian children living under Israeli occupation,…
Author: CWB News Department
The Evil City Film Fest initially founded in 2005, is now the Royal Flush Festival (RFF), a brand new force in the independent film, art and music scenes that will rock its way from New York City’s East Village with a program of over 100 independent films, music videos, live music performances, and underground art openings from October 15-18, 2009. RFF’s main venue will be the Anthology Film Archives, located at 32 Second Avenue.RFF is named after its new partner, Royal Flush Magazine, a nationally-distributed killer rag that celebrates underground music, art, video games, pop-culture and indie movies with a…
Film London’s Best of Borough Film Awards (BoBs) took place at a prestigious ceremony at BAFTA last night. BoBs patron and award-winning director, Gurinder Chadha, presented Hackney film-maker Alex Taylor with the Jury Award for Kids Might Fly, and Gary Grant from Enfield the Audience Award for Daisy’s Last Stand. Both film-making teams received a cash prize of £2,000 each for producing the best shorts produced through this year’s London Borough Film Fund Challenge (LBFFC).The Audience Award was selected by members of the public who viewed and voted for their favourite film on the Film London website. Over 4,000 people…
The 25th International Short Film Festival’s best-of-shorts party closed with the awards ceremony on sunday night in Metropolis cinema. A total prize money of 30.000 Euros was distributed, and more than 14.000 guests and visitors enjoyed the films in cinemas across Hamburg and the festival club nights.International CompetitionJury: Asitha Ameresekere, Chris Bohn, Jing Haase, Urszula Skassa, Pim ZwierHamburg Short Film Award (Jury Award of the International Competition, 3000 Euros):Letünt Világ (Lost World)Gyula Nemes, Hungary 2008, 20:05 min, documentaryFrançois Ode Award (Special price of the Jury, 1500 Euros):Farseh Chob (The Wooden Carpet)Abdolrahman Mirani, Iran 2008, 19:15 min, documentaryInternational Competition Audience Award…
Film Movement, the North American film distribution company announced today their acquisition of , Danish and Dutch co-production from Director Hans-Christian Schmid. This powerfully emotional political thriller explores issues of memory and healing, and is filmed primarily in English with select portions in German, Bosnian and Serbian. The film will open in theaters in the late fall of 2009 and be available nation-wide via Cable Video on Demand. Synopsis of STORM: Hannah Maynard (Kerry Fox), prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague, is leading a trial against a former commander of the Yugoslavian National Army who is accused…
Every year, the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival welcomes a variety of activities to support charity projects, and strives to present and support the work of people who, despite their disabilities, create interesting things. This year, the festival will host a nontraditional series of films entitled Mental Power Prague Film Festival, which offers “other” people a chance at self-realization. The results are often highly exceptional film stories made and acted with tremendous enthusiasm, passion, and candor by people with mental or physical afflictions. This special festival creates space for original film works by people with disabilities. The movies are not…
Filmmaker Alejandro Amenábar won the Oscar for the Best Foreign Film with his 2004 The Sea Inside, a plea to legalize voluntary euthanasia. Now he is stepping out in Cannes for the first time with Agora, a historical drama set in 4th-century Alexandria, Egypt. At that time, Egypt was ruled by Rome, and rebellion was brewing among the Christians. In the film, the brilliant astronomer-philosopher Hypatia (Rachel Weisz) and her disciples are barricaded inside the great Library, attempting to preserve the knowledge that has been accumulated over the centuries. But there’s a battle outside…”Four years ago, I’d never have believed…
Cannes 2009 – Meeting the press to answer questions about his latest feature, Spring Fever, which is screening in Competition, Chinese director Lou Ye was accompanied by actors Tan Zhuo, Chen Sicheng, Qin Hao, and Wu Wei. A number of political and social issues were discussed: for example, the censorship he faces in China, and the fact that his latest film deals with a subject which is taboo there, male homosexuality.Lou Ye, regarding the ban on his work in China:My answer is very simple: as a director, I make films, and so I continued doing my job as usual. I…
Charles Aznavour, the voice talent in the French version of the Pixar feature Up, and the young actress Hafsia Herzi had the honors of calling this 62nd edition of the Cannes Film Festival officially open in the Grand Théâtre Lumière. It was then Edouard Baer who came on stage as Master of Ceremonies for the second year in a row. One by one, the jury members came front and center: Asia Argento, Shu Qi, Sharmila Tagore, Robin Wright Penn, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, James Gray, Hanif Kureishi, and Lee Changdong, followed by President Isabelle Huppert. She paid homage to filmmakers: In…
The eighth annual Tribeca Film Festival announced the winner of The Heineken Audience Award – City Island – tonight at the Tribeca Filmmaker Lounge, sponsored by Union Square Ballroom, in New York City. The voting process for The Heineken Audience Award had been taking place throughout the duration of the Festival, as audiences were encouraged to fill out nomination ballots upon exiting screenings of Festival films. Final results were tabulated and announced during the Festival wrap party. Raymond De Felitta, director of City Island, will receive a cash prize of $25,000. City Island, which made its World Premiere at the…