Renowned actor Benicio Del Toro was honored with the honorary heart of Sarajevo award at the Sarajevo Film Festival which was conducted in between August 14-22, 2015. His latest movie ‘A Perfect Day’ was also screened in the festival. Honorary heart of Sarajevo is widely considered as a reputed recognition. The previous recipients of the award includes big names like, Gael Garcia Bernal, Mike Leigh, Bela Tarr and Angelina Jolie Pitt.
‘A Perfect Day’ is a Spanish Film which is directed by Fernando León de Aranoa. The film had its world premiere in Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight strand. Benicio Del Toro is enacting the role of a veteran field aid worker in this movie. His character tried to resolve a crisis in an armed conflict zone, and it forms the major crux of the movie.
More than 3000 people watched the movie yesterday at Sarajevo Opening Night program.
Three movies of Benicio Del Toro are now awaiting release which includes, ‘The Little Prince’ (Voice), ‘Sicario’ and ‘Weightless’.
The list of eminent personalities who will be honored at the British Academia Britannia Awards on October 30, 2015 has been announced. The awards will be presented at a grand function at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
Renowned American actress Meryl Streep will receive the Stanley Kubrick Britannia Award for excellence in film.
Sam Mendes will receive John Schlesinger Britannia Award for Excellence in Directing presented by The GREAT Britain Campaign, while James Cordon will be honored with the Britannia Award for British Artist of the Year presented by Burberry.
BAFTA LA Chairman Kieran Breen told that he is quite happy to kick off the 2015 Awards calendar with a spectacular show that celebrates the never ending partnership between the British and American media industries. He also added that this partnership has produced benign results over the course of years, and the names of honorees are a clear cut evidence of this collaboration. He also express his hope that this will be one of the most exciting shows ever hosted in the history of BAFTA LA.
“BAFTA Los Angeles is proud to honor Meryl Streep’s chameleonic genius, Sam Mendes’ creative force and James Corden’s entertaining ingenuity at this year’s Britannia Awards, which is certain to be a spectacular celebration of unique British irreverence, sincerity and cool”, said Deborah Kolar and Adam Bialow, British Academy Britannia Awards co-chairs.
Meryl Streep is currently awaiting the release of her movies, ‘Ricki’ and ‘The Flash’. Sam Mendes has crafted the upcoming James Bond movie ‘Spectre’, while Corden hosts ‘The Late Late Show’ in CBS.
Busan International Film Festival has huge prominence in the International Festival circuit. The 20th edition of Busan Film Festival is scheduled from October 1 – 10, 2015. The recent news from the corner is regarding the honor which Wieland Speck will receive from the event. The Berlinale Panorama director will receive this year’s Korean Cinema Award.
This Award is usually given to individuals who have helped and contributed in taking Korean Cinema to worldwide audiences. Busan International Film Festival decided to give this award to Wieland Speck as he screened a total of 29 Korean films in his 23 years at his post.
Some of the previous award winners of this title includes, Cannes’ Gilles Jacob, Tokyo Filmex’s Hayashi Kanako and Film Society of the Lincoln Center’s Richard Pena. Through this achievement, Wieland Speck is joining the elite league of personalities who bagged this reputed honor.
“Korean cinema remains ever surprising, a vivid mirror of its diverse societal developments – which makes selecting for the Berlin International Film Festival so exciting”, said Speck.
In the meantime, the festival organizers also announced the names of wide angle juries. Two juries have been appointed to give out BIFF Mecenat Award and the Sonje Award respectively. Artur Liebhart from Poland, Venice-awarded Chinese documentary filmmaker Du Haibin and young Korean director Kim Dong-ryeong forms the Mecenat Award Jury panel.
Renowned Japanese director Suwa Nobuhiro, Korean actress Kim Ho Jung and SXSW programmer Claudette Godfrey are there in the Sonje Award jury panel.
Peter Sollet’s ‘Freeheld’ is one among the three titles which has been recently chosen for the official selection competition at the upcoming San Sebastian International Film Festival. The festival is scheduled from September 18 – 26, 2015.
‘Freeheld’ stars Julianne Moore and Ellen Page in the lead roles. The film showcases the story of Laurel Hester, a Police Officer who is diagnosed with terminal cancer. At this point of distress and utmost madness, Laurel now starts her journey to achieve the pension benefits, so that she can pass it on to her domestic partner.
The movie will have a world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival which will begin on September 10, and will run through September 20. Through the recent selection in San Sebastian, ‘Freeheld’ is now one among the several titles which will compete for Golden Shell.
‘Back to the North’ directed by Chinese filmmaker Liu Hao is another film which has been chosen for the official selection competition recently. Liu Hao is not a new name in San Sebastian, as his movie, ‘Addicted to Love’ played in the official selection in 2010.
The movie showcases the life of a young girl who suffer from a terminal illness. As she think that no one will be there to take care of her parents after her demise, she compels them to think about another child, even though the one child policy remains in the country.
The White Knights from Belgian filmmaker Joachim Lafosse is another film which was selected recently for the competition. The film showcases the much debated Zoé’s Ark controversy.
Busan International Film Festival has unquestionable dominance in the International Film Festival circuit. This year’s festival is being scheduled from October 1st – 10th, and it will run long with the Asian Film market which will be conducted from October 3rd – 6th. The recent news from the corner is regarding the unveil of Jury Panel in the ‘New Currents‘ section.
Acclaimed Taiwanese actress and filmmaker Sylvia Chang will lead the jury panel in the New Currents section. Sylvia Chang is not a a new name in the land of Busan. Her Golden Bear-nominated ’20 30 40′ was screened in Busan’s ‘A Window on Cinema‘ section in 2004.
The jury panel members who will join Sylvia are all eminent personalities. Indian director Anurag Kashyap who has made acclaimed films like, Black Friday, Dev.D and Gangs of Wasseypur I & II will be a member of this year’s jury panel.
Acclaimed German actress German actress Nastassja Kinski, Korean director Kim Tae-yong and Stephanie Zacharek (Chief Film Critic in Village Voice) are also part of the jury board.
$ 30,000 each will be given to two films from the Asian section who comes out with flying colors.
This year, the festival has included a special segment called ‘Asian Cinema 100′ which is meant for ‘celebrating Asian Cinema legacy’. The festival will screen top 10 movies in this list of 100 along with a book of information and reviews. There are two ties this year, and this makes the total list eleven.
Please scroll down to read the complete list of top 10 Asian movies which will be screened in this year’s festival.
1. Tokyo Story (1953) Yasujiro Ozu (Japan)
2. Rashomon (1950) Akira Kurosawa Akira (Japan)
3. In The Mood For Love (2000) Wong Kar Wai (Hong Kong)
4. The Apu Trilogy (1955) Satyajit Ray (India)
5. A City Of Sadness (1989) Hou Hsiao-Hsien (Taiwan)
6. Seven Samurai (1954) Akira Kurosawa (Japan)
7. A Brighter Summer Day (1991) Edward Yang (Taiwan)
8. Spring In A Small Town (1948) Fei Mu (China)
9. Still Life (2006) Jia Zhangke (China)
10. The Housemaid (1960) Kim Ki-young (Korea)
11. Close-Up (1990) Abbas Kiarostami (Iran)
Acclaimed Spanish Filmmaker Alejandro Amenabar‘s ‘Regression‘ has been selected as the opening film for the upcoming San Sebastian Film Festival which will run through September 18 – 26, 2015. The movie will be screened ‘Out of Competition‘.
The movie is a stout thriller, and it stars Ethan Hawke and Emma Watson in lead roles. The movie showcases the story of a father who is accused of sexual assault which he has no memory of committing.
Fernando Bovaira, producer of the movie told that he is very happy to conduct the screening of ‘Regression‘ in San Sebastian Film Festival. He also added that under the guidance of festival director Jose Luis Rebordinos, San Sebastian Film Festival is affirming its strong position in the International Film Festival circuit.
According to Bovaira, ‘Regression‘ is a very complex movie just like all other movies directed by Alejandro Amenabar. He made it clear that this movie is a high voltage psychological thriller with elements of drama and horror blended nicely.
Bovaira also opened up about the lead actors, Ethan Hawke and Emma Watson. “He’s a great actor and also a great guy. Emma had expressed her wish to work with Alejandro so it was quite easy to make a deal in the end”, said Bovaira.
‘Regression’ is been presented by Telecinco Cinema. a Spanish-Canadian production by MOD Entertainment, MOD Producciones, Himenóptero, First Generation Films, Telefónica Studios and Regression A.I.E.
The film will hit the screens in Spain on October 2nd and it will be soon followed by releases in United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, France and Korea.
Brian De Palma, renowned American filmmaker who is widely considered as one of the pioneers who instigated American New Wave Movement will be honored with the Venice International Film Festival’s Jaeger-Le Coultre Glory to the Filmmaker 2015 Award. This award is usually given away to impeccable filmmakers who made significant contributions to contemporary cinema.
Brian De Palma will receive the award in a grand function which will be conducted on September 09, at Sala Grande (Palazzo del Cinema). The award ceremony will be soon followed by the world premiere of documentary ‘De Palma’. The documentary will finely narrate the career of Brian De Palma which has been running bright even after 55 years. Intimate conversations between filmmakers on Del Palma’s career are also the part of this film. Noah Baumbach and Jake Paltrow has directed this documentary.
Brian De Palma has been an active ingredient in Venice International Film Festival for seven years. His first representation in Venice was long back in 1975 when his crime thriller, ‘Blood Sisters’ was screened in the event.
‘Blow Out’ was screened in 1981 in the section Mezzogiorno/Mezzanotte. The screening of ‘Untouchables’ in 1987 was in the out of competition section. ‘Raising Cain’ was the closing film in the 1992 festival. De Palma’s ‘Black Dahlia’ opened the festival in 2006, ‘Redacted’ and ‘Passion’ were in the competition section on 2007 and 2012 respectively.
“The child of an artistic era (the ‘70s) full of innovative ferment, Brian De Palma has made a name for himself as one of the most skillful directors in constructing perfect narrative mechanics with great creative freedom, experimenting with new technical solutions, rejecting the classic rules of the language, abandoning himself to aesthetic virtuosity, and celebrating his favorite authors”, said Alberto Barbera, the Festival Director.
Alberto also added that films directd by Brian De Palma has that extra trapping ability which is capable to capture the minds of audience. “When watching a movie by Brian De Palma, we revert to being basic spectators. Although our eyes are wide open to avoid falling into the trap”, added Alberto.
As of now, Brian De Palma has directed more than 30 films. Some of his noted directorial ventures include, ‘Scarface’, ‘The Untouchables’, ‘Mission: Impossible’, ‘Mission to mars’ etc.
“Jalam” , the Malayalam movie directed by M Padmakumar has been selected for screening at the Trinity International Film Festival. The festival is scheduled from August 21 – 22, 2015 at Inkster, United States of America.
Jalam is a real life story of Usha and Jomon who lives underneath Thazhathangadi Bridge, Kottayam. The film finely depicts the story of a family who faces threat to their existence during rainy seasons. ‘Jalam’ is considered to be India’s first charity film which addresses the issues of landless people. The revenue achieved by screening this movie will be used for the rehabilitation of the people who lives in a pathetic state.
S Suresh Babu has written the story and script of this movie. The movie is being produced by Sohan Roy, the young filmmaker known for his Hollywood directorial ‘DAM 999′.
Trinity Film Festival is now one of the fastest growing film festivals in USA. The festival was co founded by Detroit based filmmakers in 2007. The festival was known as Trinity Film Coalition (TFC) Film Festival in the earlier days, and in 2013, it was renamed to Trinity International Film Festival.
Algerian filmmakers came out successfully at the Locarno‘s Open door co production Lab which was dedicated to the Maghreb region this year. The awards were handed out yesterday.
Narimane Mari’s Le Fort Des Fous won the The Open Door’s production grant which was worth $ 30,465. This film is being produced by Allers Retours Films. Corin Castell is co producing this movie in the banner of Centrale Electrique.
Karim Moussaoui’s debut feature En Attendant Les Hirondelles won the CNC’s grant worth $ 10,900. Philippe Martin and David Thion’s Les Films Pelléas is co producing this movie.
One of the most awaited grant this year was the newly created the newly created Prix MAD Solutions. This prize includes, financing of PR, mareting and press and publicity services for a film. This award was handed over to Yanis Koussim for his movie ‘Ruqya‘.
“We believe the Maghreb countries have rich ideas and content, which deserve a region-wide release across the Arab world”, said Alaa Karkouti, co founder and managing partner of MAD Solutions.
He also added that this year witnessed strong competition in the Open Door Section, and as a result, MAD Solutions gave away awards to two ventures. The second award went to Tunisian-French project L’Amour Des Hommes which is being directed by Mehdi Ben Attia.
‘Rabin: The Last Day‘, the Israeli film which depicts the real life murder of Former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin will have its world premiere at this year’s Venice International Film Festival. This year’s festival is scheduled from September 2nd – 12th and ‘Rabin: The Last Day‘ will be screened in the competition section of the event.
The recent news from the corner is regarding the selling of its International rights. Indie Sales, a Paris based company has bagged the International Sales rights of this movie.
‘Rabin: The Last Day‘ is directed by Amos Gitai. The film is basically an emotional drama, and it will finely depict the events which leads up to the murder of then Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. The movie will also showcase the events which happened post death which includes, the Shamgar Commission of Inquiry.
Amos Gitai is not a new name in the Venice International Film Festival. Five of his previous movies, Berlin-Yerushalaim (1989), Eden (2001), Alila (2003), Promised Land (2004) and Ana Arabia (2013) have been nominated for ‘Golden Lion’.
Gitai has written the script of this movie along with his regular partner, Marie-José Sanselme. The shooting of the movie was carried out in various parts of Israel which includes, Rabin Square and the settlement of Kedumim in the West Bank.
Amos Gitai considers ‘Rabin: The Last Day‘ as his most substantial project after the 2000 war drama ‘Kippur’.
United King, the distributor of the movie in Israel is planning to release this flick on October or early November. The distributors are planning to release the movie as a memoir to Rabin whose 20th Death anniversary is on November 04.