SF Chronicle: 'Johnny Tootall,' 'Trudell,' 'Hank Williams First Nation' take Indian festival awards

When the 30th edition of San Francisco's American Indian Film Festival ended last week, it evoked emotions as mixed as the many tribes it focuses on. "It was uplifting, but there was also anger along with joy, sadness and most importantly, pride," said Michael Smith, president and founder of the festival, which moved to San Francisco in 1977 after two years in Seattle. Best film went to "Johnny Tootall," directed by Shirley Cheechoo, about a confused Bosnian War veteran returning home to face the new battle of becoming chief of the band. Aaron James Sorensen won the best director award for his film "Hank Williams First Nation," a contemporary look at life on a remote reservation in the north of Canada. The sleeper of the festival may have been "Trudell," which took the best documentary feature award (directed by Heather Rae. Delfin Vigil reports. 
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The Guardian: We have to get rid of the Acropolis film

Forget Turkish film - there is a deeper, richer revolution on the other side of the Aegean. On the eve of the Thessaloniki Film Festival, Fiachra Gibbons spotlights the burgeoning Greek new wave. Only a few years ago Greek cinema was the preserve of arid intellectual epics choked with philosophical allusion and cloying nostalgiac melodramas on the manifold historical misfortunes of the Greeks. No longer. Not only have mainstream directors found a formula that has Greeks returning in their millions to cinemas to see big, well-made films like "Brides" and "A Touch of Spice," but a new wave of young filmmakers has emerged to rewrite the rules and create a very particular extreme humanist style of their own.  
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H'wood Reporter: German pics take fresh look at Nazi era

Perhaps no era in human history has provided more cinematic fodder than Germany's Nazi reign. But until recently, most filmmakers have steered clear of any attempts to humanize the period's everyday German, especially the myriad Nazi followers. Now, a new generation of Teutonic storytellers -- led by directors Marc Rothemund, Dennis Gansel and Oliver Hirschbiegel -- has eschewed caricature and provided a more nuanced glimpse into the Nazi psyche. Tatiana Siegel reports in the Hollywood Reporter. 
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Palm Springs International Film Festival to Honor Cronenberg, Gyllenhaal and London

The 17th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival will honor David Cronenberg with its 'Visionary Award,' Jake Gyllenhaal with the event's Desert Palm Achievement Award,' and Academy Award nominee Michael London with its 'Producer of the Year Award,' at the festival's annual awards gala, announced PSIFF board chairman Earl Greenburg. The awards gala will once again star Entertainment Tonight's Mary Hart on Saturday, January 7th at the new Palm Springs Convention Center. The event will also honor Terrence Howard with the 'Rising Star Award.' Founded in 1990 by then Mayor Sonny Bono, the PSIFF is scheduled from January 5-16. The event will include more than 200 films from approximately 60 countries including a majority of the films submitted for consideration in the Best Foreign Language category for the Academy Awards, as well as a large number of American independent and international features and documentaries. [Brian Brooks] 
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Filmmaker Jenni Olson Named as Director for LGBT Distributor Wolfe Video

Queer film distributor Wolfe Video has appointed Jenni Olson to the new position of director of E-commerce and consumer marketing. Olson, who previously worked for Wolfe as a consultant, assumes the new position immediately, reporting to the company's president Maria Lynn. In her new position, Olson will oversee all of Wolfe's e-commerce activities and online outreach initiatives as well as pursuing strategic partnerships and supporting Wolfe's Gateway marketing division which assists companies in reaching the expansive LGBT market. Olson is a former co-director of the San Francisco International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival, and founder of one of the largest gay entertainment website, PlanetOut's PopcornQ.com, and has written books including "The Ultimate Guide to Lesbian & Gay Film and Video" and "The Queer Movie Poster Book." She is also known for her work as a director, including her archival film and video projects "Homo Promo" and her new feature "The Joy of Life," which premiered at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. [Brian Brooks]  
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"Memoirs of a Geisha" Director/Cast to attend Santa Barbara Film Festival Fundraiser

Director Rob Marshall and cast members from the soon-to-be-released Sony Pictures film "Memoirs of a Geisha" will join a small audience for a benefit screening in Santa Barbara on December 2. The screening will serve as the fall benefit for the Santa Barbara International Film Festival as it gears up for its 21st year in 2006. Paying guests will enjoy and advance screening of the highly-anticipated film, the first from Rob Marshall since 2002's "Chicago," and join the film's stars Ziyi Zhang, Michelle Yeoh and Gong Li for an Asian-inspired party following the film. [Brian Brooks]  
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BBC: Madonna film spills few secrets

A new documentary about Madonna gives fans an insight into the mixture of hard work and spirituality which drives the singer - but despite its title, there are few fresh revelations for fans. "I'm Going to Tell You a Secret," which will be screened on [British network] Channel 4 next month, follows her 2004 tour from the dancer audition stage through to the final performance. The two-hour film is directed by arty pop video director Jonas Akerlund and executive produced by the singer herself, more than 20 years after her first hit. Chris Leggett reports. 
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Reuters: Dutch politician to make film on gays, Islam

A Somali-born Dutch politician who received death threats after making a film critical of Islam plans a second movie about the faith's attitude to gays, Dutch news reports said on Thursday. Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a member of the Dutch Parliament, wrote the script to the short film "Submission" about violence against women in Islamic societies, filmed by Theo van Gogh who was killed last year by an Amsterdam-born Muslim radical. "I will look at the position of gays in Islam. In the film, they are called Allah's creatures," the newspaper Volkskrant quoted Hirsi Ali as saying. Reuters reports. 
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AP: Hopkins to Receive Cecil B. DeMille Award

Sir Anthony Hopkins will receive the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement at the 63rd annual Golden Globe Awards, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association said Wednesday. Nominated for six Golden Globes since 1978, Hopkins is arguably the greatest living film actor, said Philip Berk, president of the press association. "It's a choice I am particularly proud of," Berk said. "It's an honor to us as well as to him." Associated Press reports. 
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10 Titles Vying for Animated Oscar

Ten feature films have been selected to compete for one of the 3 nominations in the Best Animated Feature Film category for the 2005 Academy Awards. Eligible features this year are: " Chicken Little", " Gulliver's Travel", " Hoodwinked", " Howl's Moving Castle", " Madagascar", " Robots", " Steamboy", " Tim Burton's Corpse Bride", " Valiant", " Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit". 
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Lars von Trier's "Manderlay" Coming to iPod/iTunes

IFC Films will offer the first 10 minutes of Lars von Trier's new film "Manderlay" for online download via Apple's iTunes. The clip, will be available for viewing on the new video iPod beginning Friday. The distributor set up the arrangement through Mammoth Advertising in New York to launch its promotional campaign leading up to the February 3, 2006 release of the movie. Viewers wishing to access thec clip can visit Apple's traliers section, as well as iTunes. In a statement, IFC President Jonathan Sehring said, "The industry continues to adapt, from collapsing windows, to day-and-date initiatives, both of which we are aggressively establishing. Utilizing new technologies to cross promote and unveil product is a natural evolution, and we are thrilled to pioneer this with Apple.” [Eugene Hernandez]  
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IDA Picks "Favela Rising" and "Our Brand is Crisis"

Matt Mochary and Jeff Zimbalist's "Favela Rising" and Rachel Boynton's "Our Brand is Crisis" shared the feature film award from the International Documentary Association (IDA), the organization announced today. The prizes will be presented on December 9th at the DGA Theater in Los Angeles. Marshall Curry will be honored at the event with the Jacqueline Donnet Emerging Documentary Filmmaker Award for his film, "Street Fight." Andrzej Celinsky and Hanna Polak's "Children of Leningradsky," which was nominated for an Oscar earlier this year, won the prize for best short film. Jean-Xavier de Lestrade's "The Staircase" won the award for continuing series documentary program, while CNN was singled out for its "CNN Presents" documentary series. Director David O'Shields and executive producer Daryl Smith will be presented the 2005 Pare Lorentz Award for "America's Lost Landscape: The Tallgrass Prairie," while the IDA/ABC News VideoSource competition winner is Paul Freedman's "Rwanda: Do Scars Ever Fade." [Eugene Hernandez] 
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Albert Brooks' "Muslim" Film Set to Debut in Dubai

Albert Brooks' "Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World," which was dropped by Sony (apparently due to its title) and then picked up by Warner Independent will have its world premiere next month at the second Dubai International Film Festival (December 11 - 17). Organizers said in an announcement today that the decision to screen the movie underscores their goal of building cultural bridges through film. Brooks' film is described as the story of a U.S. comedian (played by Brooks) "sent to India and Pakistan by the US government, with the express intention of finding out what makes the more than 300 million Muslims in the region laugh." Warner will release the movie in the U.S. early next year. [Eugene Hernandez] 
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"Violence" Seen As NY Critics Frontrunner

In The Envelope, the LA Times' awards season website, Tom O'Neil sees "The History of Violence" as the early favorite to take the top award from the New York Film Critics Circle thsi year. The winners will he announced on December 12th. 
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Audience Prizes at Boston Jewish Fest

The award for best fiction feature, presented by the audience at the 17th Boston Jewish Film Festival, went to Radu Mihaileanu's opening night film "Live and Become," while the prize for best documentary went to Dani Menkin's "39 Pounds of Love." [Eugene Hernandez] 
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11 Films Vying for Best non-European film

Eleven films have been nominated for the Non-European Film 2005 - Prix Screen International, honoring the best non-European film of the year. The nominees this year are: "Batalla En El Cielo" (Battle in Heaven), by Carlos Reygadas (France/ Mexico/ Germany/ Belgium); "Be With Me", by Eric Khoo (Singapore); "Brokeback Mountain", by Ang Lee (USA); "Broken Flowers", by Jim Jarmusch (USA); "The Constant Gardener", by Fernando Meirelles (UK/ Germany/ Kenya); "Crash", by Paul Haggis (USA); "C.R.A.Z.Y.", by Jean-Marc Vallee (Canada); "Good Night, And Good Luck", by George Clooney (USA); "Look Both Ways", by Sarah Watt (Australia); "Sympathy For Lady Vengeance", by Park Chan-Wook (South Korea); "Tsotsi", by Gavin Hood (UK/ South Africa). The prize will be awarded along with the other European Film Awards on December 3 in Berlin. [Eugene Hernandez]  
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"Lbs." Takes Top Prize at Avignon/New York Film Festival

"Lbs." has won the 2005 Avignon/New York Film Festival's best U.S. feature film prize at Sunday night's closing ceremonies held at the at Hunter College. "Lbs.," which premiered at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival, is due for a March '06 theatrical release by New York-based indie distributor CAVU Pictures. At the ceremony, festival director Jerry Rudes presented the award to "Lbs." director Matthew Bonifacio and lead actor Carmine Famiglietti. In other festival prizes, Guy Jacques' "Ze Film" won best French feature film, while Louis-Martin Soucy's "Handicap" took best French short. Best U.S. short went to Jason Holzman's "The Method." The festival's Pierre Salinger award for documentary filmmaking prize was awarded to Barbara F. Freed for "A Model for Matisse." [Brian Brooks] 
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SILVERDOCS Names Sitney as Programming Director; Promotes King to Associate Director

SILVERDOCS has named Sky Sitney as its new director of programming the festival announced this week. Sitney was formerly programming director at the Newport International Film Festival and was the film programmer at the New York Underground Film Festival and is co-founder and curator of the on-going series Fresh Film at the Anthology Film Archives in New York. She has also taught at NYU and is currently a doctoral candidate completing her dissertation on the subject of documentary film. In other SILVERDOCS news, the festival also announced that Amy King has been promoted to the position of associate director. "Amy has been with the festival since its launch and has been integral to its growth. As we expand the International Documentary Conference and renew our commitment to world-class programming, Amy's expertise and communications skills are vital to our future success," said festival director Patricia Finneran in a statement." The fourth annual SILVERDOCS: AFI/Discovery Channel Documentary Festival will take place June 13 18, 2006, at the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center in Silver Spring, Maryland. The third annual SILVERDOCS International Documentary Conference will run concurrently, June 15-17, 2006. [Brian Brooks] 
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AFP: Hong Kong blockbusters flex muscle at "Chinese Oscars" in Taiwan

Hong Kong's movie sector showed its strength at the 42nd annual Golden Horse Film Awards in Taiwan, sweeping the major prizes at the so-called "Oscars" of the Chinese-language film industry. The evening gala, staged Sunday in the island's northern port city of Keelung, served as a showcase for Hong Kong-produced films, which have been more market-oriented than those from Taiwan, film critics said. The big winner of the night was Stephen Chow, who took home best picture and best director awards for his slapstick martial arts comedy "Kung Fu Hustle." Agence France Presse reports. 
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