indieWIRE ALERT: "Grbavica" Wins Golden Bear in Berlin

Jasmila Zbanic's "Grbavica" won the top prize, the Golden Bear, at the 2006 Berlinale, awarded tonight at the festival's closing ceremony in Germany's capital city. Michael Winterbottom and Mat Whitecross won the Silver Bear for best director at the 2006 Berlin International Film Festival, for "The Road to Guantanamo," while Pernille Fischer Christensen's "En Soap" and Jafar Panahi's "Offside" shared the grand jury prize Silver Bear. [Eugene Hernandez] 
[permalink]   [ filed under Berlin, Honors ]

Panorama Prize Goes to "Paper Dolls"

Tomer Heymann's "Paper Dolls, a documentary about trans caregivers from the Philippines who care for aging Israelis, won the audience award in the Panorama section at this year's Berlinale, the only Berlin International Film Festival award selected by festival attendees. Talya Lavie's "Hayelet Bodeda" was voted best short film. Some 19,000 ballots were cast for this year's prize. Second place in the ballotting was Jose Maria Rodriguez's "The Railroad All-Stars," while Neil Jordan's "Breakfast on Pluto" came in third in the voting. [Eugene Hernandez] 
[permalink]   [ filed under Berlin, Honors ]

"Maximo Oliveros" & "Hatred" Win Top Teddy Awards

Aureas Solito's "The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros" won this year's Teddy Award for best feature film at the 2006 Berlinale, while the prize for best documentary went to Olivier Meyrou's "Beyond Hatred." Maryam Keshavarz's "The Day I Died" won the Teddy for best short film and a special jury prize was awarded to Patrick Carpentier's "Combat." The Siegessaule Reader's Jury Award, presented by a group of readers of Berlin's queer magazine, awarded its prize to Tomer Heymann's "Paper Dolls. [Eugene Hernandez] 
[permalink]   [ filed under Berlin, Honors ]

21st Israel Film Festival Announces "Out of Sight" Line up

The 21st Israel Film Festival will take place in New York kicking off February 23rd and running through March 9th at the Clearview's 62nd & Broadway Cinema. This year, the festival will showcase more than 40 new feature films, including documentaries, TV dramas, and narratives celebrating Israeli life and culture.The festival's opening night film is the sensitive drama "Out of Sight," directed by Daniel Syrkin, who took the best director prize at the 2005 Israeli Film Academy Awards. Closing the fest is a rare 50th anniversary presentation of the first feature film to be produced in the Israel, "Hill 24 Doesn't Answer," directed by Thorold Dickinson. In attendance at the Directors Guild of America Theatre for the screening will be members of the 1955 film's cast. The Israel Film Festival will present 31 U.S. premieres throughout the fest. For more information and a complete list of the festival's films, visit their website. [Brian Brooks]  
[permalink]   [ filed under Festivals ]

SF Chronicle: Indies get manly at the 24th Asian film festival

After nearly a half century of stagnation, the image of the Asian American man is being jump-started by filmmakers such as Eric Byler. "Americanese," Byler's next film after his cult hit "Charlotte Sometimes," will open the 24th San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival at the Castro Theatre on March 16. The festival, which runs through March 23 in San Francisco before moving to San Jose for the weekend, will close at the Palace of Fine Arts with first-time director Ham Tran's "Journey From the Fall," billed as the first major American film to dramatize the Vietnam War's traumatic aftermath from a Vietnamese perspective. G. Allen Johnson reports in the San Francisco Chronicle. 
[permalink]   [ filed under Festivals, Movies ]

Film Movement Goes for "Maximo Oliveros"

Film Movement announced its acquisition of the North American rights to Filipino director Auraeus Solito's "The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros," at the Berlin International Film Festival recently. According to a release, the story is about "the purity of love pitted against the squalor and corruption found in the slums of Manila. Gay, pre-teen Maxi serves as 'mother' to his all-male family of small-time criminals. He cooks and cleans for his father and older brothers, who accept his femininity and adore Maxi as much as he adores them. Their love and trust is threatened by the arrival of Victor, a handsome and unusually honest police officer. Maxi ends up caught between his loyalty to his family and his love for Victor. The distribution deal, which covers all rights in the United States and English-speaking Canada, was negotiated by Adley Gartenstein, Film Movement's director of acquisitions, and Loic Magneron of WIDE Management, the Paris-based world sales agency representing the filmmakers. The film had its U.S. premiere at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. [Brian Brooks]  
[permalink]   [ filed under Acquisitions, Berlin ]

Three 6 Mafia At The Oscars

From a press release just issued by AMPAS: Jordon "Juicy J" Houston, Paul "DJ Paul" Beauregard and Darnell "Crunchy Black" Carlton of the Memphis rap group Three 6 Mafia will perform at the 78th Academy Awards...Beauregard and Houston, who are nominated for writing the music and lyrics for "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" from "Hustle & Flow," will perform their nominated song with group mate Darnell "Crunchy Black" Carlton and Taraji Henson, the actress who sang the hook in the film. Cedric "Frayser Boy" Coleman, who is nominated with Beauregard and Houston, will also perform. The song will be the first rap song ever performed on the telecast in the history of the Academy Awards. 
[permalink]   [ filed under Awards Watch, Biz ]

Berlin Film Fest to Broadcast Live on TV and the Internet

The Berlin International Film Festival announced today that for the first time, its awards ceremony will broadcast live on European TV on the 3sat network. The festival had earlier announced that, also for the first time, competition winners would not be revealed before the ceremony. The festival will present the Golden Bear and Silver Bear awards, the Alfred Bauer Prize, to a film that "opens up new perspectives in the field of cinematic art," and the new First Feature Award for best directorial debut. The ceremony, which will be held Saturday, February 18, at 7 p.m., will also stream live on the Internet at www.berlinale.de. 
[permalink]   [ filed under Berlin, Festivals ]

"Copyleft" Documentary About Katrina to Premiere Online

dropping knowledge announced today its release of "Chocolate City -- We Are Here to Stay," at the Berlin International Film Festival. "Chocolate City," a short documentary by dropping knowledge cofounder and filmmaker Ralf Schmerberg, takes a look at New Orleans six months after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city. The film will be available online under a "copyleft" license, meaning that it "can be freely re-edited and broadcasted for noncommercial purposes." "Whoever wants to express their opinion freely shouldn't be driven by commercial interests," said Schmerberg in a statement. 
[permalink]   [ filed under Berlin, Movies ]

Norah Jones to Make Film Debut in Next Wong Kar-wai Movie

Musician Norah Jones will reportedly make her film debut in Wong Kar-wai's first English-language film, with the working title "My Blueberry Nights." Production on "Lady from Shanghai," in which Wong will direct Nicole Kidman, has been pushed back to 2007. The BBC reports. 
[permalink]   [ filed under People, World Cinema ]

Polish Director Wajda Receives Lifetime Achievement Award at Berlin

Polish director Andrzej Wajda received an Honorary Golden Bear for lifetime achievement today at the Berlin International Film Festival. His films "Kanal" and "Ashes and Diamonds" drew on his experience resisting the Nazis. He also directed the Oscar-nominated films "Land of Promise" and "The Maids of Wilko." "On Wednesday, Wajda told reporters he is still filming a movie devoted to the 1940 Katyn massacre, the killing of thousands of Polish prisoners -- including the filmmaker's father -- by Soviet secret police." Actor Ian McKellan also accepted an Honorary Golden Bear earlier in the festival. The AP reports. 
[permalink]   [ filed under Berlin, Festivals ]

"The Promise" Director Upset with Parody

Chinese director Chen Kaige ("Farewell My Concubine"), attending the Berlin International Film Festival with his epic "The Promise," is not pleased with a parody of his movie that has appeared online. "A Murder Sparked by a Chinese Bun," by "Internet prankster Hu Ge ... expands on the movie's premise that one of its main characters turned evil because he was cheated out of a Chinese bun as a child." Kaige called the movie immoral and has asked his lawyer to explore legal options. The AP reports. 
[permalink]   [ filed under Berlin, Movies ]

NY Times: Amitabh Bachchan Has a Cold

The word spread quickly: Amitabh Bachchan was very ill. At 63, Bollywood's most enduring superstar had been keeping an exhausting schedule. He was the busiest actor in the business, shooting films, endorsements and a successful television show one after another. But on Nov. 28, he checked into the Lilavati Hospital here (Bombay), complaining of abdominal pain. If what followed was not a full-blown national crisis, it was something close: a near-meltdown in what may be the world's most intense celebrity culture. Anupama Chopra reports.  
[permalink]   [ filed under People ]

Deneuve to Receive Bangkok Honors

French actress Catherine Deneuve will be honored by the upcoming Bangkok International Film Festival, the event announced recently. Deneuve will receive the festival's Golden Kinnaree Career Achievement Award for her "contribution to cinema" at a black tie gala on February 24. "We are extremely pleased to have Ms. Deneuve join us this year," said the festival's executive director Craig Prater in a statement. "Her impressive career brings a new level of excellence to the festival and her presence in Bangkok will surely be one of this year's highlights." BIFF takes place in the Thai capital February 17 - 27. [Brian Brooks]  
[permalink]   [ filed under Honors ]

AP: Health Concerns Keeps Parks From Award

Health concerns kept photojournalist and filmmaker Gordon Parks from accepting the William Allen White Foundation National Citation in the state where he grew up. But in a videotaped presentation at the University of Kansas, the 93-year-old Parks said Kansas remains his home. Parks, a former Life magazine photographer who directed "The Learning Tree" "Shaft" and "Shaft's Big Score," also said he wants to be buried in the eastern Kansas town of Fort Scott, where he grew up. AP reports. 
[permalink]   [ filed under Honors ]

Paramount Gets Gore Doc

The company known as 'Paramount's Specialty Division' has acquired David Guggenheim's "An Inconvenient Truth," according to a Hollywood Reporter story (via Reuters). The film, about global warming, debuted at the Sundance Film Festival last month. 
[permalink]   [ filed under Acquisitions ]

The Top Ten, So Far...

Each Monday, indieWIRE receives the final weekend numbers for specialty releases in theaters. This is our top ten for the past weekend so far, with most numbers already in. The top ten is subject to change before the final chart is published tomorrow and the weekly box office column is written. Box office data provided by Rentrak as of Monday, 5:00 p.m. EST. 1. "Neil Young: Heart of Gold" (Paramount Classics) $53,908 wknd ($13,477 per scrn) 2. "The Fallen Idol" (Rialto Pictures) $9,030 wknd ($9,030 per scrn) 3. "Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story" (Picturehouse) $48,105 wknd ($8,018 per scrn) 4. "The Boys of Baraka" (ThinkFilm) $15,921 wknd ($7,960 per scrn) 5. "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada" (Sony Pictures Classics) $181,636 wknd ($4,325 per scrn) 6. "Rang De Basanti" (UTV Motion Pictures) $254,566 wknd ($3,916 per scrn) 7. "Transamerica" (The Weinstein Company) $457,373 wknd ($3,630 per scrn) 8. "After Innocence" (New Yorker Films) $7,205 wknd ($3,602 per scrn) 9. "A Year Without Love" (Strand Releasing) $3,435 wknd ($3,435 per scrn) 10. "Tamara" (Lions Gate Films) $10,266 wknd ($3,422 per scrn) 
[permalink]   [ filed under Biz ]

Redford on the Sundance Film Festival

Robert Redford has said the Sundance Film Festival, which he began hosting 25 years ago, is getting too intense. "To the outside world, it's a big fat market where you have people like Paris Hilton going to parties. Now, she doesn't have anything to do with anything. I think the festival is close to being out of control," Redford is quoted as saying in a Q&A that appears in Newsweek's February 20 issue. The Q&A with Redford mostly touches upon the February 21 release of a two-disc remastered DVD of "All the President's Men," in which Redford starred. 
[permalink]   [ filed under Festivals, Park City ]

Actor McKellen Accepts Lifetime Achievement Award, Criticizes Hollywood

"I still hope I've got a lot of life left on stage and making films," said actor Ian McKellen, who received an Honorary Golden Bear award for lifetime achievement at the Berlin International Film Festival, the AP reports. Other media outlets emphasize, however, McKellen's critical attitude toward Hollywood's treatment of gay actors. "'It is very, very, very difficult for an American actor who wants a film career to be open about his sexuality,'" he is quoted as saying in a BBC report. McKellen, who is openly gay, also said that while more films about homosexuality might be made following the success of "Brokeback Mountain," "the film industry was still reluctant to cast an openly gay man in a leading role." 
[permalink]   [ filed under Berlin ]

Greenwald's "WAL-MART" Finds Eager Distributors Overseas

Robert Greenwald's "WAL-MART: The High Cost of Low Price" has been picked up for theatrical release in Britain, Germany and Australia/New Zealand at the Berlin International Film Festival. Deals are apparently in the works for Spain, Belgium/the Netherlands/Luxembourg and France. "The Panorama film confirms the worst fears that Europeans harbor about runaway U.S.-style capitalism," said a Lightning Entertainment sales agent. Erik Kirschbaum reports for Variety. 
[permalink]   [ filed under Berlin ]

SXSW Film Festival Shorts Lineup Announced

The South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival announced today this year's lineup of shorts. From over 2,800 submissions, the festival selected 130 shorts from around the world, divided into six categories: documentary, narrative, animated, experimental, music video and Texas High School Shorts (work by Texas teens). Shorts that will screen include TV personality Maria Menounos' "Longtime Listener," about an electronics store clerk who lives his life through talk radio and comic Bob Odenkirk's "Derek & Simon: The Pity Card," about a first date at a Holocaust museum. "From young filmmakers in Jamaica to animators plugging away on their own, to some big names getting behind the camera, it's all an exciting variety of art," said Festival Producer Matt Dentler in a released statement. The 2006 SXSW Film Festival will take place March 10-18 in Austin, Texas. For a complete lineup of SXSW festival shorts, please visit the festival Web site. [M.L. Liu] 
[permalink]   [ filed under SXSW, Shorts ]

Celluloid Busy In Berlin With "Particles" and "Quinceanera"

Celluloid Dreams has announced a number of deals for two Berlinale titles, the fest competition entry "The Elementary Particles" and the Sundance award winner "Quinceanera". Oskar Roehler's "Particles" has already been sold in France (TFM), Benelux (ABC), Spain (Golem) , Italy (Lucky Red), Scandinavia (Non Stop Entertainment), South Korea (Sponge), Taiwan (Pandasia), Switzerland (Rialto), Portugal (Atalanta), Greece (Audiovisual), Canada (Seville), UK (Momentum), Israel (United King), Brazil (Providence), and Eastern Europe. Celluloid's Hengameh Panahi said in a statement today that the company has had multiple bidders for the adapation of the Michel Houellebecq novel, and she expects to close most major territories in the next 24 hours. Meanwhile with Wash Westmoreland and Richard Glatzer's "Quinceanera," even though the film still lacks a U.S. deal, Celluloid has sold the film in France (Memento), Belgium (Cineart), Spain (Golem), Italy (Theadora), Scandinavia (Non Stop Entertainment), South Korea (Sponge), Taiwan (Pandasia), Singapore (Festive Films), Austria (Polyfilm), Israel United King), and Switzerland (Filmcoopi), with deals in Canada and the UK currently being negotiated, according to Celluloid Dreams. [Eugene Hernandez] 
[permalink]   [ filed under Berlin, Biz ]

Montreal Fest Fades After Only One Edition

"I am witnessing the still birth of a film festival," a leading film festival insider told a friend via SMS message last year during the first edition of the New Montreal FilmFest. Intended to usurp attention from two other established Montreal fests, sponsors and government groups had backed the launch of a new event in the city, but after only one edition the festival is being shut down. The festival saw small crowds and had trouble attracting top films and talent; it overlapped with the Toronto and Atlantic film festival, long-running Canadian events. Remaining in the city are the Montreal World Film Festival run by Serge Losique in August and the Festival du Nouveau Cinema run by Claude Chamberlan. In a statment at the end of the first fest, organizers faulted the short timeframe available to produce a quality event, adding, "We understand the great anticipation of filmgoers and the press, and we share their impatience. Like them, we are disappointed that this edition did not measure up to expectations." [Eugene Hernandez] 
[permalink]   [ filed under Festivals ]