QuickShots | Gotham Nominees, India in NY, Czech at Lincoln Center

A scene from Paresh Mokashi's "Harishchandrachi Factory." [Image courtesy of SAIFF]

Gotham Independent Film Awards to Announce Nominees Monday

The Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP) has announced that “At the Movies” and New York Times film critic A.O. Scott will announce the nominees for the 19th Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards on Monday.  In a prepared statement, Michelle Byrd, executive director of IFP, said “A.O. Scott is one of the savviest film critics on the planet, and there’s no one we’d rather have to help us kick-off the upcoming awards season.”The nominees will be announced on Monday at 1PM Eastern/10AM Pacific on UStream TV in streaming live video.  This kick-off to the awards season will announce the nominees in the following categories:  Best Feature, Best Documentary, Breakthrough Director, Breakthrough Actor, Best Ensemble Performance and Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You.  The nominees will be screened on the following website.

South Asian International Film Festival to Screen India’s Entry to the Foreign Film Oscar

The schedule for the 6th Annual South Asian International Film Festival in New York has been announced.  The fest, which runs from October 28 to November 3, will open with the Amitabh Bachchan starrer “Aladin” and will close with India’s entry for the Foreign Language Oscar, Paresh Mokashi’s “Harishchandrachi Factory.” “Factory” is a feature film about India’s first feature film.  The film is only the second Marathi film to be named by India as an entry to the Oscars.  “Aladin” will screen at the Paris Theater; regular screenings will take place at the SVA Theater.  Visit the SAIFF website for more information here.

Lincoln Center Brings Czech Films Uptown

Next week, The Film Society of Lincoln Center, in conjunction with Laura Blum and the Czech Film Center and Czech Center New York, will present a series of 16 features and shorts from Czech and Slovak filmmakers to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Czech freedom.  “The Ironic Curtain:  Czech Cinema since the Velvet Revolution” will run from Friday, October 23 through Thursday, October 29.  The series’ opening night film will be Pavel Koutecký and Miroslav Janek’s documentary about the Czech playwright-turned-President Václav Havel.  Eleven of the films in the series will show the historical development of Czech film, and there will also be five contemporary check films.  Actors, filmmakers and Czech experts will attend screenings with several guest speakers from the Czech diplomat communities.

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Film Independent Announces Venue for 25th Annual Independent Spirit Awards LA Live in downtown Los Angeles will be the 2010 home for the Independent Spirit Awards when it takes place March 5.  The event will take place on a tent in the event deck of LA Live.  The awards show will be unique by having its awards show at 8 PM LA time.  Therefore, the live broadcast will be a late night affair for the East Coast.  Laura Dern is chairing the event committee and Dick Clark Productions & Jamie McGurk will executive produce. Edinburgh Film Festival sponsors Established British Screenwriters in New Program Today, the Edinburgh International Film Festival announced a new screenwriting program for experienced screenwriters.  The Story Works, a product of the partnership of the festival and funding from Skillset, will be led by Kate Leys, project director, and creative advisors Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey.  The program will provide master class worskhop support for ten British screenwriters beginning March 2010.  Submissions are now being accepted for the program, and a final decision will be made early 2010.  Neil Peplow, Skillset’s Director of Film, said: “We need excellent scripts to continue creating the commercially and critically successful films that make the UK film industry a world leader…This is a fantastic partnership, working with Kate and building on our already successful relationship with the Edinburgh International Film Festival.” THR:  Michael Jackson doc Sells Out All Over US The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that advance ticket sales of “This is It,” the concert rehearsal footage from what would be Michael Jackson’s new tour.  The film, a replacement for the new tour, has sold out more than 1600 showtimes and the film doesn’t even open for two weeks!  The complete story of this hot ticket is on The Hollywood Reporter. LAT:  Natalie Portman:  ” I don’t want to be a little girl” Natalie Portman, who is set to star in this week’s “New York, I Love You,” Don Roos’s Toronto film “Love and Other Impossible Pursuits,” and Jim Sheridan’s December release “Brothers.”  After that, she’s got a series of films set to come out next year.  At that point, she’ll take a break.  For the complete interview on the young woman coming into her own, check out Rebecca Ascher-Walsh’s interview in the LA Times. posted on October 15, 2009 |Share