Author: CWB News Department

On Wednesday August 24, starting at 7 PM, Goethe Institute of Los Angeles will have an evening of film screening under the title of: Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg presents “Low Budget – High Energy”. Goethe Institute is located at 5750 Wilshire BLVD. Suite 100, Los Angeles CA 90036. Parking is free. If you are planning to attend the screening bring your ticket stub along. Program: THE VISIT; Animation / 9 min Fantasy, dream or reality? What is the difference? When people get old… Producer: Nicolas Palme www.neuer-trickfilm.at KLINGENBERG – A MAD CRIME STORY: Short / Trailer 2 min Former police inspector Klingenberg is brought into a retirement…

Quite Earth: September looms over us, and with it comes the 17th edition of L’Etrange Festival. The Parisian hot spot of weird, bleak or astonishing cinema is once more living up to expectations.I do have to state that this year’s vintage, while being of utmost quality, might not be of perfect appeal to the international crowd in terms of movies as there are few international premieres. For the local crowd who is not gurgling itself up to choke point on the various dedicated torrent sites, I can boldly announce that there are about 25 French premieres. Sadly, the distribution circuits…

Over the past two decades, Belgian cinema, be it from Flanders or from the French speaking part of the country, has risen to prominence in the international filmmaking arena, boasting richly diverse films that consistently garner critical praise and worldwide anticipation. From the unsettling but still urgently relevant MAN BITES DOG which rocked the Cannes Film Festival in 1992 and the quirky and vibrant tale of identity mix-up in TOTO THE HERO, to the monumental saga of DAENS or the Oscar nominated EVERYBODY FAMOUS, the outstanding thrillers MEMORY OF A KILLER and DOSSIER K, and the string of critically-lauded dramatic…

(Venice, CA)— The Venice Historical Society (VHS) has scheduled a classic evening with Charlie Chaplin. Film Historian and documentary filmmaker Elaina Archer will be presenting clips from Chaplin’s career and discussing his tremendous contribution to the film industry. Film clips will be shown covering Chaplin’s early career in the teens through the 1920’s and 30’s, and will end with his final film shot in America, Limelight. Learn about the films Chaplin shot in Venice. Ms. Archer will discuss Charlie Chaplin’s participation in the creation of United Artists, and his controversial role during the Hollywood Blacklist.The entertaining presentation is scheduled for…

Following the acclaim of public and press for the 2010 selection (and the vast international distribution it later enjoyed), the program of Orizzonti 2011 is again presented as an exploration of the modes of contemporary cinema, at the point in which it intersects with other expressive languages. And this, in the year when the Visual Arts Biennale has dedicated a special space to artists who work with images in motion. Festival would like to offer the viewers of the 68th Venice Film Festival a journey in the company of short, medium and feature-length films, addressing the issue of film narrative without…

UCLA Film and Television Archive, Slovenian Film Center, and the South East European Film Festival (SEE FEST) will present “Slovenia Begs to Differ,” a retrospective of the best Slovenian films from the past 60 years from September 9 through September26 at the Billy Wilder Theatre at the Hammer Museum. The retrospective is curated by Vera Mijojlic and Shannon Kelley. Special thanks to Nerina T. Kocjancic, Slovenian Film Center. This series features some of the most influential and fascinating Slovenian films from mid-century forward, offering lyrical, poetic and free-spirited stories of endearing misfits. Highlights include Valley of Peace, which won Best…

For the occasion of the Vincente Minnelli Retrospective, Locarno Film Festival has invited the French actress Leslie Caron, one of the stars of An American in Paris (1951) and Gigi (1958) to appear on the Piazza Grande stage for the introduction to the Retrospective On Thursday August 4. Next day at 14.00 at the Magnolia – Spazio RSI, she will participate in an open discussion about her autobiography with the public. Retrospective 2011: Vincente Minnelli Born in Chicago in 1903, Vincente Minnelli made his full-length directing debut in 1943 with Cabin in the Sky. His next picture, Meet Me in…

Indian cinema will be the focus at the 64th Locarno International Film Festival, which is scheduled to begin tomorrow, with a showing of classics and a retrospective of Satyajit Ray.The section called “Open Doors” will embark on discovering new talent as well as screening a panorama of Indian films. The Film Federation of India, which has initiated this focus, had earlier participated in Cannes Film Festival, FFI Secretary General Supran Sen told indiantelevision.com.Filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan, documentary filmmaker Gargi Sen, actor Kabir Bedi, and producer Bhuvan Lall will be present. Critic Indu Srikent is chairing the jury for the short film…

On August 14, 17, 24 & 31, 2011, American Cinematheque will screen a selection of films by Czeck director Frantisek Vlacil. The Wall Street Journal recently described Frantisek Vlacil (1924 – 1999) as “a director whose work should be world-renowned,” acknowledging the inescapable fact that he is a filmmaker whose substantial body of work is barely known outside of the Czech Republic. Vlacil’s early short “Glass Skies” was awarded a prize at the 1957 Venice Film Festival; his powerfully evocative medieval dramas THE DEVIL’S TRAP and THE VALLEY OF THE BEES earned him comparisons with Bergman and Tarkovsky. MARKETA LAZAROVA,…

The Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival (LALIFF) concluded its 2011 edition with a star studded red carpet, the award ceremony and a special presentation of one of this summer’s most anticipated films, Cowboys & Aliens on Monday, July 25, at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood. Directed by blockbuster filmmaker Jon Favreau, the action-thriller was co-written and co-produced by Mexican-born Roberto Orci. The evening served as the closing event of the nine-day festival celebrating its 15th anniversary in 2011. See www.latinofilm.org for more information.LALIFF announced the award winners at its Closing Night Awards Ceremony sponsored by AT&T with Chile’s POST…