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…
Browsing: News
New York, NY – The Museum of Modern Art presents Kim Longinotto, a two-week exhibition showcasing 14 documentaries made over a 30-year span by internationally-acclaimed WMM filmmaker Kim Longinotto. Renowned for creating extraordinary human portraits and tackling controversial topics with sensitivity, compassion and humor, Longinotto is noted for her fearlessness and unique style of cinéma vérité filmmaking. Set around the globe from London to Cameroon, Tehran to Tokyo, the films featured in the retrospective tackle a diversity of difficult topics, often from the perspective of the least heard members of society. Longinotto will be on hand from London for the…
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…
For this year’s 20th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution of 1989, the Karlovy Vary festival has prepared a special program section entitled 20 Years of Freedom. “Time has moved faster during those 20 years, new things have happened, and for many of us who lived through that period, those times seem very far away,” says festival president JiÅ™í Bartoška, who in part thought up the new section because the current young generation thinks of the Revolution as ancient history seen in films for old-timers. “We believe it is commendable and, above all, necessary to remember that one of the basic…
CANNES, FRANCE – May 12, 2009 – The 2009 Cannes International Film Festival will include a benefit to honor the earthquake victims in Abruzzo, Italy consisting of a powerful film presentation with musical performance and cocktail reception. It will take place on May 20, 2009 at 3pm. Members of the film industry, artists and citizens of the world will gather at the benefit for the world premiere of the film and musical concert “CANTO 6409”, a 22′ film that was created and directed by Dino Viani, an independent filmmaker who participated in festivals around the year, including the Biennale of…
Film Independent, the non-profit arts organization that produces the Spirit Awards and the Los Angeles Film Festival, announced the official selections for the 2009 Los Angeles Film Festival, presented by the Los Angeles Times. The Los Angeles Film Festival will run from Thursday, June 18 to Sunday, June 28. Now in its fifteenth year, the Los Angeles Film Festival is widely recognized as a world-class event, showcasing the best in new American and international cinema and providing the movie-loving public with access to some of the most critically acclaimed filmmakers, film industry professionals, and emerging talent from around the world. …
French film “Seraphine,” based on the life of little-known painter Séraphine de Senlis, swept the awards at the 2009 Newport Beach Film Festival, winning Best Film, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, and Best Screenplay. “Blue Gold: World Water Wars” won the prize for Best Documentary. “Lymelife,” directed by Derick Martini and starring Alec Baldwin, Kieran Culkin, Rory Culkin, Jill Hennessy, Timothy Hutton, Cynthia Nixon and Emma Roberts, opened the eight-day festival, which closed with the west coast premiere of Marc Webb’s “(500) Days of Summer,” starring Joseph-Gordon Levitt and Zooey Deschanel.Launched in 1999, the Newport Beach Film Festival is…
The 7th Annual Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles announced its 2009 Award winners with Nina Paley’s SITA SINGS THE BLUES as the winner of the Grand Jury Prize for Best Narrative Feature and Nandita Das’s FIRAAQ receiving an Honorable Mention in the category. Rajesh Jala’s CHILDREN OF THE PYRE was named as the winner of the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary. Dipti Gogna’s NARMEEN won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Short with Sushrut Jain’s ANDHERI receiving an Honorable Mention. Audience Choice Awards went to Sooni Taraporevala’s LITTLE ZIZOU for Narrative, Faiza Ahmad Khan’s SUPERMEN OF MALEGAON for Documentary…
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…
At the eighth annual Tribeca Film Festival, the top awards went to Iranian drama “About Elly” and American documentary “Racing Dreams.””About Elly” (Darbareye Elly), written and directed by Asghar Farhadi, won the Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature. The film follows a group of college friends who reunite for a weekend getaway along the Caspian Sea, where one of them mysteriously disappears. The jurors for the World Narrative Competition (Bradley Cooper, Uma Thurman, Todd Haynes, Meg Ryan, and Richard Fischoff) noted, “The universality of the characters and themes and the director’s riveting grasp of this story make About Elly a…