iW Video: Q & A with Doug McGrath

In an indieWIRE: Video clip from the recent Telluride Film Festival (via YouTube), "Infamous" director Douglas McGrath is asked about the experience of making his film about Truman Capote in the wake of the release, and subsequent success of, last year's "Capote." The new film opens in theaters this weekend. 
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INDUSTRY MOVES: Lash Leaves ICM For Cinetic

After a short stint as an agent at ICM, Sarah Lash is leaving the talent agency to join John Sloss' Cinetic Media in New York. Sloss told indieWIRE that she Lash would join the company on October 30, 2006. Lash started at ICM on May 1st of this year after serving as VP of Acquisitions and Co-Productions at IFC Films where she worked for five years.  
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'06 Woodstock Fest Underway

The 2006 Woodstock Film Festival takes place this weekend in New York State. indieWIRE reported on the festival's lineup last month and organizers confirmed Thursday that Matt Dillon will present this year's Trailblazer Award to Jonathan Sehring, while Rosie Perez will present the Maverick Award to Barbara Kopple. The fest closes Sunday with Kopple's new doc, "Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing." 
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All Roads Announces Prize Winners

Neten Chokling Rinpoche's "Milarepa," a feature film about the early life of a great Tibetan mystic, won the audience award at National Geographic's All Roads Film Festival, which recently concluded in Washington, D.C. The film debuted at the Los Angeles installment of the fest and also screened at the D.C. event. Yolanda Cruz's Mexican short film "Suenos Binacionales" won the audience prize for best short. The All Roads Film Fest is part of the All Roads Film Project, the National Geographic initiative offering a showcase for indigenous and under-represented minority-culture storytellers worldwide. For more information, please visit their website. 
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Thomas to Receive EFA Prize

Producer Jeremy Thomas will be honored at the European Film Awards, on December 2nd. He will be presented the European Achievement in World Cinema 2006 - Prix Screen International, honoring "the outstanding contribution by a European film professional to the world of cinema." Among Thomas' productions are "Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence," "Sexy Beast," "Rabbit-Proof Fence," "Naked Lunch," "The Last Emperor," "The Dreamers," and the upcoming "Fast Food Nation." 
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Maya Gets First Film, Carla Garapedian's "Screamers"

Maya Releasing, Moctesuma Esparza's new distribution company, has announced its first acquisition. The company has nabbed Carla Garapedian's modern-day genocide documentary "Screamers," featuring music from System of a Down. The film will have its world premiere at the upcoming AFI Fest in Los Angeles next month. A December opening in Los Angeles is on tap for the film, followed by a national launch in January. In other company news, co-chairman Esparza named Jeff Valdez, the former CEO and Chairman of Si TV, as his co-chairman at Maya Entertainemnt. Michael Harpster and Kevin Benson are on board as Maya Releasing's COO and President, respectively. [Eugene Hernandez] 
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ImaginAsian Gets "Journey From The Fall"

Earlier this week, ImaginAsian Entertainment, Inc. announced its acquisition of all North American distribution rights to Ham Tran's "Journey from the Fall," which will open the San Diego Asian Film Festival on Thursday. The Vietnamese American film will be released in theaters next Spring, followed yb a DVD and VOD release to follow. The Sundance Film Festival selection won the best cinematography prize at the Milan International Film Festival, the audience award at the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, and the best actor award for Long Nguyen as well as a special jury award for Ham Tran at the Newport Beach Film Festival. [Eugene Hernandez] 
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Academy Names 8 Film Short List or Short Doc Category

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) has unveiled the short list of the 8 films competing for nominations in the Documentary Short Subject at the upcoming Academy Awards. Three to five of the following will be nominated for an Oscar in the short doc category: "The Blood of Yingzhou District," "Dear Talula," "The Diary of Immaculee," "Phoenix Dance," "Recycled Life," "Rehearsing a Dream," "A Revolving Door," and "Two Hands." The Academy Awards will be awards on Sunday, February 25, 2007. 
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AFI Fest to Close with "Curse of the Golden Flower"

The world premiere of Zhang Yimou's "Curse of the Golden Flower" will close the 2006 edition of AFI Fest, the AFI Los Angeles International Film Festival, organizers announced today. The film, starring Chow Yun Fat, Gong Li and Jay Chou, is a Sony Pictures Classics release and will end the festival on November 12, 2006. It is China's official selection for the Oscar's Best Foreign Film category. Organizers also announced the International Competition jurors for the festival, which will include film critic John Anderson, actor/director/writer Vondie Curtis Hall, actress Lisa Gay Hamilton, actress Daryl Hannah, actress Christine Lahti, distribution executive Susan Petersen, writer/director Don Roos, filmmaker Wash Westmoreland, and actor Wilmer Valderrama. 
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LAT: The stuff of movies: Film fest feud

With the first Rome Film Festival set to kick-off in Italy, the Los Angeles Times looks at the rivalry between the Rome event and the long-running Venice Film Festival 
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"Grbavica" and "Drommen" Win Reykjavik Prizes

Jasmila Zbanic's "Grbavica" won the Discovery of the Year award at the third Reykjavik International Film Festival with a special mention going to "Fresh Air" by Agnes Kocsis. The fest's People's Choice prize went to "Drommen" (Denmark), while the FIPRESCI award went to "Red Road" by Andrea Arnold, and Tin Dirdamal's "No One" (De Nadie) won the Human Rights Award. A full RIFF festival report and winners story will be published in indieWIRE Thursday. [Brian Brooks]  
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Lynch Acquires New Lynch Film? Filmmaker Planning to Self-Distribute "Inland Empire"

David Lynch will self-distribute his latest film, "Inland Empire" in the United States and Canada, according to a report by Gregg Goldstein in The Hollywood Reporter. At a press conference in New York on Friday, when asked about the status of a deal for the movie, Lynch said that the film was "technically" without distribution...now the details are becoming clearer. According to the HR story:

Lynch will work with well-known theatrical and home video partners to launch his epic fever dream of a film, retaining all rights to the low-budget project in each service deal. The partnerships will be announced within the next week. A release slated before the end of the year, as is an awards season campaign for star and co-producer Laura Dern.

In an interview, HR quotes Lynch, "people are thinking of new ways to begin a film, new ways of shooting, new ways of post production, and you've got to come up with new ways of distribution." For more on the film, check out indieWIRE's recent dispatch from the New York Film Festival. 
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EFA's Announce European Discovery Nominees

Four films have been nominated for the European Discovery prize at the 2006 European Film Awards. Nominees this year are Gela Babluani's "13 Tzameti" from France/Georgia, Slawomir Fabicki's "Z Odysku" (Retrieval) from Poland, Matthias Luthgardt's "Pingpong" from Germany, and Agnes Kocsis' "Friss Levego" (Fresh Air) from Hungary. The winner will be announced at the awards ceremony on December 2, 2006 in Warsaw, Poland. [Eugene Hernandez] 
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2nd Independent Lens Online Shorts Festival seeks submissions

ITVS and PBS is again hosting their second annual Independent Lens Online Shorts Festivalin which independent filmmakers are invited to submit short-form films, 10 minutes or less in length and in all genres. All submitted shorts to the festival will be screened and reviewed by a jury of notavle independent filmmakers, interactive producers and industry executives. The grand prize-winning short film will be awarded $2,500 and a national television premiere on the Emmy Award-winning PBS series Independent Lens. Ten additional winners will be showcased on the Independent Lens Web site at PBS.org. Winners will be announced in Fall 2007. For more information, visit their website. [Brian Brooks] 
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Bahamas Film Fest to Fete Nicolas Cage at December Event

Oscar winner, and Bahamian resident, actor Nicolas Cage will receive the career achievement award at the third annual Bahamas International Film Festival, taking place December 7 - 10, the festival's founder and executive director Leslie Vanderpool announced Monday. The "BIFF Chopard Award" will be presented to Cage at a gala event during the festival at the Atlantis Theatre at the Atlantis Paradise Island Resort and Casino. The festival will screen more than 50 titles during its four day run. [Brian Brooks] 
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