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Archive for the ‘Film Events’ Category

Docs one of the problems is that people should see that the majority (ie people, especially the events of the film) would not normally see at all. Case in point: how many Republican senators think you’ve seen Michael Moore’s “Sicko”?

Louie Psihoyos best film director last year’s Oscar-winning documentary “Cave”, the idea of a way to solve the problem: he sent copies of the Oscar-winning documentary film, dubbed in Japanese, every family in the village of Taiji in Japan. The village was in the film, which presented a horrific slaughter of dolphins off the coast of Taiji.

“The people in Taiji deserve to know what millions of others around the world have learned about their town,” said Psihoyos. Most of the Japanese people featured in the film were unaware of the hunt or the sale of dolphin meat.

A local group called People Concerned for the Ocean helped to distribute copies of the movie by mail to each household in the village. As of now, Taiji City Hall has confirmed that at least two copies of the DVD have been received and that neither had been watched yet.

It is one of them being monitored? I hope at least some of the residents of Taiji will appear on the DVD and have a look. After all, only a few people to spread the word. The best way to get the hunting of dolphins in Taiji to stop the slaughter of thousands of dolphins is to get the town of Taiji in the arms of this.

The 9thedition of the Pune International Film Festival (PIFF) kicked off here on Thursday after its inauguration by the state environment and cultural affairs minister, Sanjay Deotale.

Popular Marathi actress Sonalee Kulkarni and her troupe enthralled the audience with their lavani performance. On the occasion of Mughal-e-Azam completing 50 years, noted Kathak dancers Sharvari Jamenis and Payal Vrunda mesmerised the audience with their Kathak performance on melodies and costumes from the landmark film.

Veteran Bollywood actress Shashikala was presented with the Life Time Achievement award. Expressing her gratitude for the award she said, “I hope the audience will love me forever.”

Since eminent actress Saira Banu couldn’t attend the function due to ill health of her husband, Dilip Kumar, director Subash Ghai accepted the Lifetime Achievement Award.

The Sachin Dev Burman international award for Creative Music and Sound was given to legendary music composer, Khayyam, who dedicated it to his guru. “I reached here because of my guru, hence I consider the award as the gift of my guru,” he said.

“Puneites are very loving and I have never seen such great connoisseurs of music anywhere else,” Khayyam added.

The Palm Springs International Film Festival opened Thursday without the same bevy of stars seeking to generate a little Oscar buzz for their opening night film as last year.

Judith Godreche, the one co-star of the French comedy “Potiche” who was scheduled to appear at its U.S. premiere, didn’t attend due to a reported illness.

But more filmmakers than usual came to the festivities at Palm Springs High School even if most didn’t walk down the red carpet.

The Opening Night Gala served as the conclusion of a filmmakers’ retreat at the Annenberg Sunnylands estate in Rancho Mirage and many filmmakers arrived with an understanding of the significance of the evening.

Paula Barreto, producer of Brazil’s Oscar submission, “Lula, The Son of Brazil,” which is screening this afternoon and Sunday, arrived from Brazil with the film’s actor, director and her own family members who are involved in the business. Paula Barreto’s mother, Lucy Barreto, attended the 1996 Palm Springs festival as producer of the film “Quatrilho.”

“I think it’s great, terrific,” Lucy Barretto said of the festival, “and indispensable when you’re running for the Oscars.”

Director of Programming Helen du Toit said the two-day filmmaker retreat developed bonds between filmmakers from all over the world.

“It’s building bridges,” she said. “That’s what the film festival is about.”

Sunnylands staff member Geoff Baum, attending his first festival, said the retreat was an opportunity to “bring people together to discuss how to make international cinema a more powerful tool for social change.”

The opening night included the usual speeches from local government and film festival officials. Board chairman Harold Matzner called the festival “one of the three largest events of its kind in the nation.” He said the 15 screens that are utilized — for 450 screenings — total more than any other festival in the United States.

Festival Executive Director Darryl Macdonald said the film total has grown to 204 from 69 nations and one-third are from first-time directors.

The one star who did attend the opening night was Rancho Mirage resident Kaye Ballard, who said she’ll be at Saturday’s star-studded awards gala and many of the daily screenings.

“I live for this,” she said. “I don’t accept work. I won’t even talk about work during the festival.”

“Carmen in 3D” — which is considered the first opera to be shot in theaters in 3-D – will premiere as the closing selection of the Santa Barbara Film Festival, on 6 February and is scheduled to open in theaters around the world world on March 5, organizers said Thursday.

Used in the film version of Georges Bizet in 2006 by staging directed by Francesca Zambello at the Royal Opera House in London. The film was shot over two shows, in 2010, and Christine Rice stars in the title role, Bryan Hymel Don Jose, Escamillo, as Aris Argiris and Maija Kovalevska as Micaela. Director Constantinos Carydis leads the Royal Opera House Orchestra.

The movie’s running time is estimated at two hours and 50 minutes, with one 20-minute intermission. It is performed in French with subtitles.

“Carmen” is a co-production with the Royal Opera House and RealD, the Beverly Hills cinema company whose proprietary 3-D technology is among the widest used around the world. Organizers said that “Carmen” will play exclusively in RealD 3-D-equipped theaters at more than 1,500 locations worldwide.

The popular Bizet warhorse was first performed in 1875 in Paris, and is  one of the most frequently performed operas in the world.

A critic for the Guardian wrote of a 2010 staging of the Zambello production that “newcomers to Bizet’s opera will not be disappointed. Zambello’s production is traditional, well-lit and efficient.” However, the critic added that “important scenes are beginning to sag, notably in a listless first act, and there is too much cliched choral thigh-splaying and Gypsy knife-waving for comfort.”

Opera companies in the top worldwide – including the Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House and La Scala – was filming productions for film distribution in recent years, but until now they were all in the traditional 2-D format.

Life Time Achievement Awards ninth edition Pune International Film Festival (Piff) gives the veteran actor Saira Banu and Shashikala. Noted filmmaker Subhash Ghai is given a special award for his contribution to the film industry.

It also ex post facto, Kamal Hassan is a great player, during the festival. eight-day festival will begin Thursday at Ganesh Kala Rangmanch Krid at 16:30.

Sachin Dev Burman The international award for creating music and sound, which began last year, will be conferred on the legendary music director Khayyam. The awards will be presented at the opening ceremony.

Award-winning Russian film, Silent Soul, will be the opening film.

This year, more than 200 films from all over the world will be screened. The festival will have films in various categories which will be competing for cash awards in the World Competition section, Marathi Competition section and Whistling Woods Student Competition section.

The World Competition section will have 14 films, Marathi Competition section will have 7 films and in the Student section 38 films will be screened and will be judged by an international jury.

PIFF director Jabbar Patel said, “For the World Cinema competition this year, we had got 348 entries, of them 14 films were selected. Historical cinema is the main thrust this year. Since this is the 50th year of the noted film, Mughal-e-Azam, it will be screened at the fest.’’

This year is the 150th birth anniversary of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore and to mark the occasion, five of his films will be screened.

The country in focus this year will be Japan. More than 30 Japanese films will be screened. Film Division Division of the screen a documentary series.

The films will be screened at six locations, Ganesh Kala Krida Rangmanch, E-Square, Inox, Fame (Fatimanagar), City Pride (Kothrud) and R Deccan.



Film festivals come and film festivals go, yet the Las Vegas Jewish Film Festival has quietly but steadily become Southern Nevada’s longest-running cinematic celebration.

Marking its 10th anniversary Jan. 15-30, the festival will feature 17 narrative and documentary films from around the world, reflecting an eclectic focus that stretches from Hollywood to the Holocaust, gangsters to baseball stars.

Among the highlights: the acclaimed documentaries “Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story,” “Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg” and “A Film Unfinished,” plus “127 Hours’ ” James Franco as Beat poet Allen Ginsberg in “Howl” and late great local Tony Curtis as notorious mobster Louis Buchalter, better known as “Lepke.”

Comedies and dramas from Israel’s flowering film industry also turn up, along with contributions from Europe, South America and points between.

Featured titles may have Jewish themes, but the festival — produced by the Desert Space Foundation and Jewish Family Service Agency — is designed to appeal to everyone who loves movies.

In addition to the festival’s home base at the Adelson Educational Campus, festival presentations will be shown at Cinemark’s Suncoast and South Point theaters, UNLV’s Greenspun Hall, downtown Las Vegas’ Historic Fifth Street School and Brenden Theatres at the Palms.

Some screenings during the two-week festival are free of charge; most other screenings are $10.

A selection of 30 feature films and audiovisual works from short films, animation and documentaries made between 1961 and 2009, comprise the display of Cuba as the guest of honor at the International Film Festival in Mexico City (FICCMEXICO).

The meeting, planned by the Ministry of Culture of the Federal District, with support from the Ministry of Tourism, will be held from 4 to 13 February at different sites of Mexico City, among which the Zocalo.

The festival will consist of about 130 titles and sections such as the Mexican Film Festival, will present recent films of national cinematography, including some premieres in the capital. This edition will also feature two competitive sections: National and International and the back, to provide an opportunity to learn about the most important in the history of film making in the Caribbean country and its recent production.

Before 1959 there was in Cuba a film industry, but only isolated attempts, usually co-produced film with Mexico, Spain and Argentina, among other Latin American countries. With the triumph of the Cuban Revolution created the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry (ICAIC), considered the real take-off of Cuban cinema with a distinct cultural identity. Since 1959 the Cuban cinema began to participate in festivals and film.

Thanks to director Santiago Alvarez, separated from the creator and director of new talent, the school was a real documentary. Around these years he founded the Cinematheque of Cuba, who was the first Latin American to store your most important titles of the film, and set the art cinema to serve the people.

Kolkata Bengali filmmaker Qaushiq Mukherjee, better known as Q, is ready to change the perception of a Bengali film with his latest venture Gandu, which has some explicit scenes and bold. There was much curiosity and controversy surrounding the films that are not yet publishing in India.

However, the filmmaker very tense these days Gandu been officially selected for screening at the prestigious “Slam Dance Film Festival in Utah. Responds to that realization, the manager said he is super cool news to get such a wonderful launch of his film. The festival allows new filmmakers a good chance to showcase their talent through the film of their new movie.

The word Gandu is of Hindi origin and is considered to be slang but the filmmaker did not mind using the word as his film’s title. The film has music by Kolkata band ‘Five Little Indians’.

Some critics, including non-mind porn term “because of its content, such as cursing, masturbation, sex, and all the Bengali film have never been studied.

However, it also shows the Bengali rap scene and all that will be presented in black and white. It is sure to attract international audiences, it is not a taboo.

During the 11-day track their steps through the streets of Havana looking for the best choice – in the drizzle, cold or sun – the Cuban moviegoers enjoy a comprehensive view on celluloid.

We are in solidarity with an unemployed father in Brazil for a family desperate (maybe that solidarity is stronger than ever, given the practical nature of the question these days), we have learned about plants Drugs Mexico, listened to poems Keats and listened to jazz seductress, a Spanish cartoon.

Our bodies moved to the rhythm of capoeira and we learned its history.  We traveled through nostalgic times to the ‘90s, and palpably identified with the situation of women in Egypt.

The journey was long and interesting throughout this 32nd edition of the International Festival of New Latin American Cinema, and this past Sunday, December 12, the awards were officially granted.

La vida útil, by the Uruguayan Federico Veiroj, won the Coral for the best sound track, as well as the first place award for fiction.  Other two Uruguayans passed through the festival gracefully: Clever by Federico Borgia and Guillermo Madeiro, who together won the Coral for the best unpublished script; and Gustavo Hernandez’s La casa muda, as a debuting work.

Chile was the country that accumulated the most laurels.  The movie Post Mortem by director Pablo Larrain, in addition to receiving the Second Coral, was awarded for the best script (Larrain and Mateo Iiribarren), best female performance (Antonia Zegers) and best male performance (Alfredo Castro).  That Andean nation also walked away with the Second Coral Award for documentaries, which was earned by El edificio de los Chilenos, by Macarena Aguilo.

Mexico, for its part, received the Third Coral Award in fiction feature films with Maria Novaro’s Las buenas hierbas, which was also recognized for best original music.  Meanwhile, recognition for photography went to Chicogrande, by Damian Garcia, and the First Coral for a premiering work was picked up by Alamar, Pedro Gonzalez-Rubio director.

Accustomed to the presence of Argentina in these festivals, we were not surprised that it received the Editing Coral for Por tu culpa, by Eliane Katz; the second place award in Animation for Marcela, by Gaston Siriczman; and a special award from the jury for the feature film La mirada invisible, by Diego Lerman. The top prize in the documentaries competition went to Pecados de mi padre, by Nicolas Entel.

The Cuban movie Jose Marti: el Ojo del Canario, by Fernando Perez, won the sections for best directing and best artistic direction, as well as best cinema poster.  It also won the majority of the secondary awards: the Roque Dalton award, bestowed by the radio station Radio Havana Cuba; El Megano, presented by the National Federation of Cine Clubs of Cuba; UNICEF 2010, conferred by the United Nations Children’s Fund; and the Premio Caminos, which is given by the Martin Luther King Center.

Adding to the recognition of those institutions was the UNEAC Award, from the National Association of Cuban Writers and Artists, and the National Award of the Cuban Association of the Film Press.

Fernando Perez won a Coral 23 years ago with Clandestinos, his debut. In 1990 he won a first place Coral for Hello Hemingway, and in 1994 he received the special award from the jury for Madagascar.  Four years later he repeated that success with the first place Coral for La vida es silbar and that of best directing.  In 2003, with his documentary Suite Havana, he won the main laurel in that section.  All told, this has transformed him into one of the most award-winning directors at these December festivals.

With the delivery awards which concluded the festival. As always, the public was left with the feeling of having lived other lives that have known other people and other features in a short period. It’s the magic of cinema: to transfer the viewer to other places, other worlds (real or not), and leaves us with the desire to return.

Damascus international jeweler and watchmaker in the Middle East had a huge presence both on the first of 7th Dubai International Film Festival and the following night in an event with stars, adds glamorous as its official Jeweler and partner of the People’s Choice Award.

The collections of the legendary jeweler of choice was selective long list of celebrities wearing fabulous pieces on both nights as Hala Sarhan, one of the biggest celebrities in the Arab world, Egypt, has praised Egypt Libliba actress who received the honorary award Murex life last year, Egyptian actress Mai Al-Sharif, the talented and charming actress and singer Sherine Adel Egyptian and Syrian actress Kandaleft Dima.

Anan Fakhreddin, CEO of Damas, said, “Damas is proud to be showcased in Dubai’s leading film related event of the year. As UAE‘s most acclaimed jeweler and a home grown brand present in over 13 countries today across the world, we fully support the further development of the creative industries in the Emirates and across the region, and take pride in showcasing our world renowned collections at DIFF.”

“Both on the opening night and on the following night of the DIFF 2010 well known celebrities adorned themselves with Damas collections, while six beautiful models collectively showcased our stunning one of a kind jeweler, attracting a lot of attention from guests attending the event, including a number of regional and international celebrities. Our glamorous range of gold, diamond and pearl collections effortlessly matches the international status of the event,” Fakhreddin added.

He added, “Both DIFF and Damas recognize the power of creativity. While the DIFF showcases the power of art through film, Damas acknowledges the art of beauty and the beauty of art through its special one of a kind collections and pieces. It takes a lot of effort and time to craft beautiful jewellery for our discerning customers who instantly feel special and unique.”

The seventh edition of the Dubai International Film Festival 2010 will take place 12 to 19 December 2010, along with Dubai Studio City.