May 9, 2008

NEWFEST '08 | 20th Anniversary Marked With 250 Films, New Additions

by Peter Knegt (May 9, 2008)

The New York Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Film Festival (NewFest) announced the program of films and events for its 20th annual edition. The line-up features nearly 250 films, representing over 30 countries, and including 49 New York Premieres, 14 U.S. Premieres and 8 World Premieres. "Each year we try to make NewFest bigger and better than the last one," Basil Tsiokos, Artistic Director of NewFest in a statement. Among the new additions is NewDraft Screenplay Competition & Reading Series, which is discovering and fostering LGBT features screenwriters and their screenplays.
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May 1, 2008

TRIBECA '08 | "Let the Right One In" and "Pray the Devil" Among Top Tribeca Fest Winners

Tribeca Film Festival coverage sponsored by Stella Artois.

by Brian Brooks and Eugene Hernandez (May 1, 2008)

Swedish director Tomas Alfredson's "Let the Right One In" (Lat den ratte komma in), recently acquired by Magnolia Pictures' genre label Magnet, won the Founders Award for Best Narative Feature tonight at the Tribeca Film Festival's awards event held at the Target-Tribeca Filmmaker Lounge in downtown New York City. The prize includes $25,000 in cash and an art award entitled, "Maternal Nocture: Clearing Storm" created by Stephen Hannock. Director Gini Reticker's "Pray the Devil Back to Hell" won best documentary feature, also receiving $25,000 and a piece of art called "Liza Minnelli" by Timothy White.
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April 25, 2008

CANNES '08 | Skolimoski's "Four Nights" Leads Fortnight; Fest Roster Unveiled

by Eugene Hernandez (April 24, 2008)

Jerzi Skolimoski's "Four Nights With Anna" will open the 40th Director's Fortnight in Cannes. Organizers unveiled the entire roster for the annual independent sidebar to the Festival de Cannes, choosing thirty-three features for the 2008 festival. The event emerged amidst the tumult of 1968 when the fest was canceled in solidarity with striking French workers.
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April 24, 2008

CANNES '08 | International Critics' Week Line-up Announced

by Peter Knegt (April 24, 2007)

The International Critics' Week, a parallel section of the Cannes Film Festival, has dedicated itself to discovering new talents. Among the filmmakers whose first or second feature films were showcased during the program are Bernardo Bertolucci, Ken Loach, Wong Kar Wai and Francois Ozon. In the past few years, the program has received particular attention for winning 4 of last 5 Camera d'Or (which is awarded to best first feature film among all sections of Cannes). Last year, that winner was "Jellyfish" by Etgar Keret and Shira Geffen. The 47th line-up was announced Thursday, with 7 features and 7 shorts in competition, including the lone American entry, Jeff Vespa's short "Nosebleed." Ronit Elkabetz and Shlomi Elkabetz's "Les Sept Jours" was announced as the opening feature film, while Rodrigo Pla's "Desierto Adentro" will close the week.
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April 23, 2008

CANNES '08 | Dardennes, Desplechin, Egoyan, Eastwood, Martel, Salles, Soderbergh, and Wenders Among Those Set for 61st Festival de Cannes Competition

by Eugene Hernandez (April 23, 2007)

A number of familiar names are set to compete at the 61st Festival de Cannes organizers announced today in Paris, revealing the official selection of 52 feature films during a morning press conference. While the fest has yet to designate its opening and closing films, nineteen features are set to vie for the Palme d'Or. Among the films in competition are new work by The Dardenne Brothers, Arnaud Desplechin, Atom Egoyan, Clint Eastwood, Lucrecia Martel, Walter Salles, Steven Soderbergh, and Wim Wenders.
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April 8, 2008

iW ANNOUNCEMENT: Apple & indieWIRE Unveil Daily Filmmaker Talks At Apple Store, Soho During '08 Tribeca Fest

Tribeca Film Festival coverage sponsored by Stella Artois.

indieWIRE (April 8, 2008)

[EDITORS NOTE: The following is an announcement from indieWIRE.] Apple and indieWIRE are again proud to present daily Filmmaker Talks at the Apple Store, SoHo during the upcoming 2008 Tribeca Film Festival. Get a peek behind the scenes from leading filmmakers and actors. Come to Apple Store, SoHo to hear these filmmakers share their stories: Tony Gilroy, Paul Haggis, Tom Kalin, Harmony Korine, Guy Maddin, Matthew Modine, Greg Mottola, Clive Owen, Amy Poehler, Isabella Rossellini, Morgan Spurlock, and Adam Yauch.
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April 1, 2008

The Evolution of the Underground Film Festival: Changes at NYUFF, CUFF, BUFF...

Tribeca Film Festival coverage sponsored by Stella Artois.

by Benjamin Crossley-Marra (April 1, 2008)

Fixtures on the fest circuit for many years, underground film festivals are facing major changes. Some events are closing down, while others are moving. In Illinois, IFP/Chicago will engage in a strategic partnership to head the Chicago Underground Film Festival (CUFF). Although the fest will primarily remain the same, it will move later into the fall to run in conjunction with IFP's annual filmmaker summit. But this isn't the only rift within underground festivals. The New York Underground Film Festival (NYUFF) is ending as it celebrates the launch of its 15th fest on Wednesday. And, across the river, the Brooklyn Underground Film Festival (BUFF) ended last year.
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March 17, 2008

TRIBECA '08 | Tribeca Unveils Spotlight, Showcase and Restored/Rediscovered Rosters for 2008

Tribeca Film Festival coverage sponsored by Stella Artois.

by Peter Knegt (March 17, 2008)

in its third and final feature film announcement, the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival unveiled the line-up for its the line-up for its Spotlight, Showcase and Restored/Rediscovered sections, which include titles by Jose Padilha, Julian Schnabel, Harmony Korine, Guy Maddin and Tom Kalin, and world premieres from Peter Tolin and Adam Yauch. The Festival also announced its Special Events, including a conversation with Errol Morris and the North American Premiere of his latest film, "Standard Operating Procedure, and a screening coinciding with the 40th anniversary of Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" that will include a special panel with prominent filmmakers and scientists. The 7th annual edition of the festival will take place April 23 - May 4, 2008 in Lower Manhattan.
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March 13, 2008

TRIBECA '08 | Tribeca Unveils Discovery, Midnight Slates for '08 Fest

Tribeca Film Festival coverage sponsored by Stella Artois.

by Peter Knegt (March 13, 2008)

In the second of three feature film program announcements, the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival unveiled the line-up for its Discovery and Midnight sections on Thursday. This year's Discovery section includes 30 films, with 18 World, 1 International, and 11 North American Premieres from up-and-coming directors. The Midnight section, with five World Premieres, will present a select group of genre films, with five of the seven being directorial debuts. The Festival will take place April 23 - May 4, 2008 in Lower Manhattan.
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March 11, 2008

TRIBECA '08 | Competition Slates Set for 7th Tribeca Fest

Tribeca Film Festival coverage sponsored by Stella Artois.

by Eugene Hernandez (March 11, 2008)

Set for April 23 - May 4, 2008, the Tribeca Film Festival has unveiled the competition and Encounters slates for the upcoming Manhattan event. Touting a "streamlined selection" of 122 feature films, festival organizers are boasting 55 world premieres, 10 international premieres, 26 North American premieres, and 8 U.S. premieres this year. A dozen narrative and documentary titles are set for the two international competition sections, while twenty-one titles will screen in the festival's Encounters section. Among other stats, the festival noted that 66 filmmakers are making their feature directorial debuts, adding that the roster for the event was culled from 2.329 submissions.
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February 4, 2008

SXSW '08 | South by Southwest Sets Slate for 15th Film Fest

by Eugene Hernandez (February 3, 2008)

Some 113 feature films are set to screen at the 15th South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference & Festival in Austin, TX. Running, March 7 - 15, 2008, the event's showcases are the documentary and narrative feature competitions (see complete lists below). Also on tap are high-profile, anticipated films in the Spotlight Premieres section, including Nanette Burstein's "American Teen," Jay & Mark Duplass' "Baghead," Aaron Rose & Joshua Leonard's "Beautiful Losers," Clark Gregg's "Choke," Nicholas Stoller's "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," Michael Almereyda's "New Orleans Mon Amour," Joe Swanberg & Greta Gerwig's "Nights and Weekends," Martin Scorsese's "Shine A Light," Kimberly Peirce's "Stop-Loss," Liz Mermin's "Shot In Bombay," and Morgan Spurlock's "Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?". The event, while will open Robert Luketic's "21," will close with Stephen Walker's "Young@Heart."
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January 10, 2008

ROTTERDAM '08 | "Lamb of God" Opening 2008 Rotterdam Fest; 14 More Films Also in Tiger Competition

by Eugene Hernandez (January 10, 2008)

Fifteen films will screen in competition at the 2008 International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) later this month and the festival will open on January 23rd with the world premiere of Lucia Cedron's "Lamb of God" (Cordero de dios) from Argentina. The film is described as, a family drama about the kidnapping of 77-year old man during Argentina's economic crisis in 2002, forcing his daughter to return from exile to Buenos Aires. Produced by Lita Stantic, who also produced "The Holy Girl" and "Paraguayan, Hammock" the film was supported by IFFR's Hubert Bals Fund.
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December 5, 2007

PARK CITY '08 | Touting Strongest Shorts Slate Yet, Sundance Unveils 83 Film Roster

Park City coverage sponsored by BE KIND REWIND.

by Eugene Hernandez (November 28, 2007)

The roster of 83 short films that will screen at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival (January 17 - 27) were chosen from a record 5,100 entries, festival organizers noted on Wednesday. That marks a 15% jump in submissions over last year. Sundance organizers are touting a roster that they say is the festival's strongest yet. Talking with indieWIRE today, Sundance senior programmer Trevor Groth said that taken as a whole, the shorts seem to have taken "an evolutionary leap forward" this year, with even the work coming from film schools havin a, "maturity that I had not seen before." He added that Sundance's international entries are stronger than ever.
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PARK CITY '08 | Slamdance Reveals Features Slate

Park City coverage sponsored by BE KIND REWIND.

by Peter Knegt (December 5, 2007)

The 2008 Slamdance Film Festival has announced the feature film slate for its 14th fest, taking place in Park City, Utah January 17-25. The event will open with "Real Time", written and directed by Randall Cole and starring Randy Quaid and Jay Baruchel. The fest described "Real Time" as a "comedic drama about a compulsive gambler who is given one hour to live by the hitman hired to kill him". Additionally, they announced a schedule of screenings and events, including Twilight Screenings (the fest's late night series); writing competitions for both screenplays and teleplays; the Anarchy Online Short Film Competition; Fireside Chats with notables from the independent film community; a $99 Special short film production project; a best-of games presentation; and the Horror Screenplay Competition, in which the winning script is guaranteed to be produced as a feature film.
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November 29, 2007

PARK CITY '08 | From Michel Gondry to Morgan Spurlock: Sundance's Non-Competitive Titles Announced

Park City coverage sponsored by BE KIND REWIND.

by Anthony Kaufman (November 29, 2007)

New films from Michel Gondry, Boaz Yakin, Mark Pellington, Brad Anderson, and Barry Levinson fill out Sundance's star-studded Premieres section, which considerably ups the Park City glitz factor. Today's announcement of Sundance's entire non-competitive feature lineup (listed below) includes films in the Premieres, Spectrum, Park City at Midnight and New Frontier section, bringing the complete feature lineup to 121 titles. Celebrity casts this year include Jack Black, Charlize Theron, Robert DeNiro, Tom Hanks, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Sean Penn, just to name a few.
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November 19, 2007

PARK CITY '08 | McDonagh's "In Bruges" to Open 2008 Sundance Film Festival

Park City coverage sponsored by BE KIND REWIND.

by Eugene Hernandez (November 19, 2007)

Playwright Martin McDonagh's first feature, "In Bruges" will open the 2008 Sundance Film Festival on January 17, 2008 in Park City, UT. The festival, set to unveil its complete feature film lineup next week, will present 120 features and 80 shorts during the annual event, which will run through January 27th in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden, and Sundance, Utah. McDonagh's film, described as a "twisted tale of two London hit men ordered to take a forced vacation in Bruges, Belgium", stars Ralph Fiennes, Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson. In the words of a Sundance announcement, "their subsequent time in exile goes awry."
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October 25, 2007

IDFA '07 | "Operation Homecoming" to Open 20th Int'l Doc Fest in Amsterdam

by Eugene Hernandez (October 25, 2007)

The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) will open on November 22nd with Richard Robbins' "Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience," based on the letters, poems, essays and diary entries of American soldiers in Iraq. IDFA, considered the world's leading documentary festival, will open this year at the Pathe Tuschinski cinema in Amsterdam and continue through December 2nd in the European city. With text read by Beau Bridges and Robert Duvall, as well as some of the soldiers themselves, the "Operation Homecoming" will screen in the festival's Joris Ivens Competition.
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October 16, 2007

Arikian Leaving EFM Post to Head Hamptons Fest

Tribeca Film Festival coverage sponsored by Stella Artois.

by Eugene Hernandez (October 16, 2007)

European Film Market co-director Karen Arikian has been named the new Executive Director of the Hamptons International Film Festival (HIFF). Arikian will join the festival, which is opening its 15th annual event on Wednesday, after the 2008 Berlin International Film Festival. The move comes as the Hamptons fest looks to the future after the recent departure of longtime executive director Denise Kassell and artistic director Rajendra Roy, who recently left to head the film department at MoMA.
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September 15, 2007

TORONTO '07 | Cronenberg and Maddin Win Top TIFF Prizes; Mexican Films Also Honored

by Eugene Hernandez (September 15, 2007)

Canadian filmmaker David Cronenberg's "Eastern Promises" won the People's Choice Award today (Saturday) at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival. Marking the end of an event that screened some 349 films over 10 days this year, Toronto festival co-directors Piers Handling and Noah Cowan presented prizes on the final day of the event. Cronenberg's latest, a crime thriller which opened theatrically this weekend, stars Viggo Mortensen, Naomi Watts, Vincent Cassel, and Armin Mueller-Stahl.
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September 8, 2007

Ang Lee Wins Again in Venice, "Lust, Caution" Takes Golden Lion; De Palma Named Best Director

by Eugene Hernandez (September 8, 2007)

Ang Lee's "Lust, Caution" won the Golden Lion as the 64th Venice Film Festival came to a close tonight in Italy, the second time the director has won the prize in the last three years (he won in 2005 for "Brokeback Mountain"). The film, which debuted last night at the Toronto International Film Festival, was also honored for Rodrigo Prieto's cinematography. The festival's Silver Lion for Best Director went to Brian De Palma for "Redacted," while a special jury prize went to Todd Haynes' "I'm Not There" and Abdellatif Kechiche's "La Graine et le mulet." Acting prizes were presented to Cate Blanchett for her role in Haynes' "I'm Not There," while Brad Pitt was honored as best actor in Andrew Dominik's "The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford." [A list of winners is available below.]
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