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WGA accepting submissions for Videogame Writing Award

The Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) and Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) have announced a joint call for submissions for the WGA’s third annual Videogame Writing Award to be presented at the upcoming 2010 Writers Guild Awards on Saturday, February 20, 2010, at simultaneous ceremonies in Los Angeles and New York. Submissions for this year’s Videogame Writing Award may be received from September 2 through December 1. Nominees will be announced in mid-January 2010. For entry forms and eligibility requirements, visit their website.

LAT: Oliver Stone heads “South of the Border” to chat up Chavez and others

In his new documentary “South of the Border,” Oliver Stone is shown warmly embracing Hugo Chávez, nibbling coca leaves with Evo Morales and gently teasing Cristina Elizabeth Fernández de Kirchner about how many pairs of shoes she owns. These amiable, off-the-cuff snapshots of the presidents of Venezuela, Bolivia and Argentina, respectively, contrast with the way these left-leaning leaders often are depicted in U.S. political and mass media circles. Reed Johnson reports.

AP: Venice film festival retains allure without deals

If there is one criteria for selection to the Venice Film Festival, it’s a film’s ability to captivate, the festival’s director says. That means no fidgeting in the audience. “I think I never laughed or cried as much as I did for this year’s selection,” said festival director Marco Mueller, who raises the curtain Wednesday on the 66th Venice Film Festival, his sixth as director. One of those chosen films is Michael Moore’s “Capitalism: A Love Story,” his first Venice entry after winning the top prize twice in Cannes. By many measures, landing Moore’s film is a coup for Venice. “I think Michael has had a terrific time in Cannes. He needed a change. And we needed a different Michael Moore film. This one is incredibly symphonic,” said Mueller, who has known Moore for 20 years and premiered 1999’s “The Awful Truth,” at the Locarno Film Festival when he was director there. Colleen Barry reports.

AFP: “Sarkoland” satire is surprise box office hit

A French comedy that pokes fun at President Nicolas Sarkozy’s posh hometown while up-ending cliches about the country’s immigrant housing projects has scored a surprise summer hit at the box office. “Neuilly-sa-Mere” tells the story of a 14-year-old Muslim kid from a rough area who is packed off to the plush Paris suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine to stay with his aunt and aristocratic uncle, who owns a pork processing plant. AFP reports.

LAT: The Big Deal: Marvel is Disney’s new family brand

But Disney isn’t just buying into the Marvel business. It’s reinventing its future, which has become increasingly cloudy as family entertainment, especially in the movie end of the business, has been inexorably evolving from old-fashioned squeaky-clean Disney fare to the edgier, more unsettling PG-13 universe populated by Marvel’s potent arsenal of comic superheroes. The L.A. Times reports.

Screen: Wild Bunch picks up Makhmalbaf’s “Green Days”

Wild Bunch has picked up Iranian director Hana Makhmalbaf’s latest film “Green Days” ahead of Venice. The docu-fiction title was announced as the “surprise” out of competition screening last week. The film tells the story of a depressed Iranian girl who tries to find hope in the June 2009 elections.