At the Seville European Film Festival the European Film Academy and EFA Productions announced the nominations for the 22nd European Film Awards. The new EFA website about the Awards went online at www.europeanfilmawards.eu Over 2,000 EFA Members will now vote for the winners which will be presented during the Awards Ceremony on December 12 in Bochum. Nominated are: EUROPEAN FILM 2009Fish Tank, UKwritten and directed by Andrea Arnoldproduced by Kees Kasander & Nick LawsLåt den Rätte Komma In (Let the Right One in), Swedendirected by Tomas Alfredsonwritten by John Ajvide Lindqvistproduced by John Nordling & Carl MolinderUn Prophete (A Prophet),…
Browsing: Festivals
Early last Friday morning, I hopped on the Jitney Bus in Manhattan and—two and a half hours later—arrived in East Hampton on Long Island: the center of the 17th Hamptons International Film Festival. Over the course of five days, the festival offered a jam packed calendar with screenings, conversation sessions with celebrities, panel discussions, and parties. According to the press release, this year’s edition featured 107 films. In addition to the different competition and non-competition sections of the festival, this year’s festival paid tribute to new Scandinavian films, with 15 feature length films from Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Iceland and Norway.…
With 12 full length documentary films in the WORLD DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION, 5 out of the 8 films in the ESPN SPORTS FILM FESTIVAL plus numerous documentaries peppered throughout the other sections of the festival, documentaries have secured a solid place at the Tribeca Film Festival. Right after its successful premiere at the Berlinale earlier this year, Brazilian filmmaker Jose Padilha brought his charged/ powerful/ hard-to-swollow documentary GARAPA to New York. In this black and white verite work, the filmmaker spends time with three Brazilian families struggling to feed their children and barely staying alive. It’s a devastating portrait that makes…
Penelope Cruz, Calle 13 and Diego Luna will be among the stars featured in the stellar lineup of films to be presented at the 13th Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival (LALIFF) opening this Sunday, October 11th at the Mann Chinese 6 Cinemas in Hollywood. Here are the feature films that will be screened during the 2009 festival:LA SOGADOMINICAN REPUBLICDirected by Josh CrookLa Soga is a film of such raw energy and ragged beauty that these elements alone would justify its viewing. Beyond this, though, it contains a story both timely and timeless, brutal and elegant, for what is at…
Iranian Film Festival (IFF) is an annual event showcasing the independent feature and short films made by or about the Iranians from around the world. IFF is also a platform for the Iranian filmmakers living around the globe to express their vision and talent through the artistic medium of film. Iranian Film Festival (IFF) was established to celebrate the Iranian film and culture in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. Here is an interview with Saeed Shafa director of the festival.Bijan Tehrani: Please tell us a little bit about the Iranian Film Festival in San Francisco; when it was…
Back in 1999 at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, an American woman who programmed film festivals in Norway, Martha Otte, met a man who distributed films in Germany, Hermann Greuel. In a cinematic twist of fate, the two fell in love (meeting up at festivals around the world), Hermann moved to Norway, married each other, and started two independent film festivals in the small town of Tromso, far up north in the Arctic Circle. It was, and remains after a decade, a true marriage of movies and amour. And the twists don’t stop there. Since 2003, Hermann has produced and…
For 30 years, the peripatetic Ron Henderson has been a driving force behind the Denver Film Society and its International Film Festival. This year, the veteran film curator and executive is stepping aside from his long-running role as Denver’s artistic director to become its senior programming consultant, passing his baton to long-time program director Brit Withey. Britta Erickson serves as director of festivals. During Henderson’s reign, the Denver Film Society has grown steadily, now running a seven-screen independent Moviehouse on the Campus of the Denver University. The Society organizes a number of specialized film festivals throughout the year and also…
Kimberly Yutani is the Director of Programming at Outfest. In addition to programming Outfest: the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, she oversees programming for Fusion: the Los Angeles LGBT People of Color Film Festival, the year-round screening series Outfest Wednesdays, and Access LA. She is also short film programmer for the Sundance Film Festival, and was recently was a guest programmer for Cinemasia, an Asian film festival in Amsterdam. She has served on juries at the Toronto International Film Festival for the Short Cuts Canada Award, the Berlin International Film Festival for the Teddy Award, and the Palm…
30 years ago, in 1979, Adrienne Mancia together with Laurence Kardish curated the first work show of new German cinema at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. And ever since every year, MoMA presents an overview of noteworthy German film productions. This year, in time for its 30th anniversary, the series titled KINO! NEW CINEMA FROM GERMANY was moved from its annual dark and dreary November slot to a spring loaded April date. The work show opened on April 22nd with a cocktail reception at the elegant MoMA sculpture garden, followed by the US premiere of DEUTSCHLAND 09 – 13…
John Biaggi has worked at the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival for the past twelve years; in 2008 as Director, previously as Deputy Director of the festival. John works on every aspect of the festival’s many projects which include the two flagship festivals in New York and London, as well as festivals in Toronto, San Francisco, Boston, and a traveling festival that reaches over 40 sites in the United States and Canada. He screens upwards of 300 films each year both at festivals worldwide and through the festival’s extensive submissions. John also helps organize the many co-presentations the festival…