Metro Manila, the crime drama written and directed by Sean Ellis emerged as the winner in the latest British Independent Film Awards. The film is already selected as Britain’s official entry for the 86th Academy Awards.
Now, the expectations are going high after this achievement as this is U.K.’s second most prestigious and well-attended awards after the BAFTA Film Awards.
The film bagged awards which includes ‘Best British Independent Film’ and ‘Best Director’. In its journey to grab the best film award, Metro Manila tackled films like Philomena, The Selfish Giant, Le Week-end and Starred up. Sean Ellis won the best director award after facing an inch by inch competition from Jon S Baird and Clio Barnard.
In the individual section, James McAvoy won the best actor award for his breath taking performance in ‘Filth’. Lindsay Duncan won the best actress award for her act in Le Weekend.
The Chennai Internationaal Film Festival is one of the most reputed film fests in the country, and the film fest is all scheduled to be held from December 12th – December 19th. Iranian and Taiwanese Films will bag special attention during the festival, and it also have a contemperory film section from Turkey.
The festival also holds a special section which will screen three Tamil Films which includes, An American in Madras by Karan Bali, Kadhal Mannan by Ashok Kumar and Documentary on Subramanian by Dr. S. Krishnaswamy. The festival also have a special competition section for Tamil Films, and in this section, movies like Aadhalal Kadhal Seiveer, Aaru Mezhugu Vathhigal, Annakodi, Haridas, Kumki, Maryaan, Moodarkoodam, Mundru Per Mundru Kaadhal, Pardesi, Ponmaalai Pozhudhu, Soodhu Kavvum and Thanga Meenkal.
Films which are included in Indian panorama section are as follows,
Ajanata Batas
Tapaal
Baga Beach
Ko:Yad
Ship of Theseus
Kanyaka Talkies
Lucia
In the world cinema section, the festival will screen films like, Blue is the Warmest Color, llo llo, The Missing Picture, The Amazing Catfish etc. The festival organizers are trying hard to make this event much bigger and mightier than never before, and if everything goes well, this film festival will surely achieve an unquestionable spot in the International Film Festival sector.
The Marrakech Film Festival marked its end for this year’s festival on Saturday, and Martin Scorsese, the jury President along with the jury members handed over the prizes for the winners. Korean Movie, ‘Han Gong Ju‘ bagged the top prize in the festival, and this Golden Star award was declared after a huge competition from other movies.
Lee Su Jin, the debutant director of ‘Han Gong Ju’ thanked all the jury members for this esteemed recognition. “I will never forget when they were all watching my movie just in front of me,” he said.
Apart from ‘Han Gong Ju’, other movies like Jeremy Salunier’s ‘Blue Ruin’ and Carlos Machado Quintella’s ‘The Swimming Pool’ also made its presence in the festival. Both these movies were awarded the ‘Special Jury Award’,
The 29th edition of Valencia International Film Festival is scheduled from June 20th – June 27th 2014. The festival is slowly gaining a prominent place in the world film market from the last 10 or 15 years, and this is a perfect destination for film lovers who wish to see uncompromising cinemas from all corners of the world. This is a meeting place for young filmmakers who love to create different cinemas which will touch the audience to the core. The recent news from this corner is regarding the call for entries to this festival. Please read down to know more details about the eligibility criteria and prize money details in this film festival.
All Films and Short Films which are produced by young directors after January 1st 2013 are eligible for competition. The screen format should be 35mm or professional video, and the deadline for submitting your movies in on February 28th 2014.
Award Details
Luna de Valencia for the best feature film 30.000 €
Luna de Valencia for the best short film 10.000 €
Special Jury Award for short films 6.000 €
‘The Open Reel’, the documentary which showcases the life of Piera Degli Espost, one of Italy’s greatest actresses will have its screenings in the Torino Film Festival on November 25th 2013, 9PM at Cinema Massimo. The documentary is expected to be an elegant tribute to this actress, and it includes many rare interviews and photographs which will take us to those good old days.
‘The Open Reel’ beautifully showcases the childhood of the actress, her relationship with her mother, her rapport with Marco Ferreri, reminiscences by Dacia Maraini, Marco Bellocchio, the Taviani brothers, Giuseppe Tornatore, Nanni Moretti, Laura Delli Colli, Riccardo Milani, Lina Wertmüller, Paolo Sorrentino. The plot and screenplay of the documentary is crafted by Manuela Tempesta and Peter Marcias, whereas the Carlo Macchittella and Peter Marcias are the producers.
Before the screening of ‘The Open Reel’, the actress will receive the Maria Adriana Prolo Award for lifetime achievement. The list of other screenings in this program is mentioned below.
Other screenings in program
Cinema Massimo – Sala 2, November 24, 8pm
Cinema Lux – Sala 1, November 26, 10:30pm
Cinema Lux – Sala 1, November 28, 9:30am
American Film Market came to an end last week, and like any other year, this edition also witnessed umpteen numbers of sales deals and contracts. Picture Tree International (PTI) successfully concluded a couple of deals at this year’s AFM, and it includes the distribution rights selling of ‘Victor Young Perez’ and ‘Mary Queen of Scots’.
Distribution rights of ‘Victor Young Perez’, the movie which portrays the life of former world boxing champion has been licensed to the US distributor ‘Synkronized’ and they along with Millenium will bring the movie to the theaters in United States. The French and Pan Latin American distribution rights of the film have been grabbed by Ocean Films and Amarok Films respectively. The movie got released in France on November 20th, and it is receiving highly encouraging reviews from all corners.
On the other hand, Curious films have grabbed the Australian and New Zealand distribution rights of ‘Mary Queen of Scot’, the film which showcases the life and times of Mary Stuart. PTI is currently in final negotiations regarding other territories,including the USA, Eastern Europe and the UK, where the film will have its festival premiere next year.
The 44th edition of International Film Festival of India (IFFI) got kick started on November 20th in Panaji, Goa, and the party city is now going to witness some of the best creations which are rocking the contemporary film world. The film festival opened with an unmatchable ceremony where renowned film maker, Jiri Menzel and Hollywood star Susan Sarandon were the guests.
Indian legends like Kamal Hassan, Waheeda Rahman and Rekha added the glamour quotient of the ceremony to a great extend.
The film festival opened with the felicitation of Waheeda Rahman. She was given the inaugural centenary film award by Central Minister Manish Tiwari. Jiri Menzel received the life time achievement award, and he exclaimed with utmost happiness and humility, “I am happy to be here in India. I am proud of this award.”
The festival will feature a total of 160 films, and it includes features, shorts and selected documentaries. 15 films are competing for the most demanded golden peacock award.
Six Malayalam movies are being screened under the Indian Panorama section, and it includes, K R Manoj’s Kanyaka Talkies, Kamal’s Celluloid, Joy Mathew’s Shutter, Shyamaprasad’s Artist, Salim Ahmed’s Kunjananthe Kada and Sidharth Shiva’s 101 Chodyangal.
The initial days of November seems to be quite rewarding for Swedish movies as the projects from the country continues to bag umpteen numbers of film awards from various film fests all over the globe. The 55th Nordick Film Days in Lubeck witnessed the winning of two Swedish movies in the red carpet.
‘We Are The Best’ directed by Lukas Moodysson won the Baltic Film Prize For the Best Feature Film in the Nordick Film Festival. Mira Grosin, the lead actress in the movie received the award in the closing ceremony of the festival. ‘Shed No Tears’ directed by Måns Mårlind and Björn Stein won the Children’s and Youth Film Prize, and it became another feather in the crown for Swedish Film Industry.
On the other hand, Nahid Persson Sarvestani’s documentary My Stolen Revolution scooped four awards at different film festivals. This documentary helped Nahid to fetch the Best Documentary Director award at the Noor Iranian Film Festival in Los Angeles and the award for best documentary film about the subject of democracy at Dok Leipzig. The documentary also gained honorable mentions in the reputed Abu Dhabi Film Festival and in IAWRT awards in Morocco.
The Global Film Festival Noida is one of the most happening film festivals in India, and it has an unquestionable presence in the Indian Film Festival Map. The 6th edition of this film festival is scheduled to be conducted from November 11th – November 13th.
This reputed film festival is presented by International Film And Television Club (IFTC), and they have a legacy of creating 10 different film festivals which includes AAFT festival of Short Digital Films, ASMS Festival of Short Films, ASC Festival of Films, Global Festival of Journalism, International Festival of Cellphone Cinema, International Sufi Films Festival, International Children’s Film Festival, WECare Film Festival on Disability and Anime Convention.
The film festival will be conducted at Marwah Studios. The 3 day festival comprises of Entertainment Programs, Film Markets, Film Premiers, Workshops, Master Classes etc. If you are a filmmaker, then you can submit your films for this festival, and the last date for submission is 9th November 2013.
Rome International Film Festival is scheduled from November 8th – November 17th, and this year, the event is going to be bigger and mightier for many reasons. The festival will witness International celebrities walking the red carpet, and they will also participate in the audience encounters. The organizers of the festival have now announced the names of International Stars who are going to attend the event.
Some of the big names which got announced includes, Wes Anderson, Spike Jonze, Roman Coppola, Alex de la Iglesia, John Hurt, Checco Zalone etc. The presence of these internationally acclaimed personalities is expected to increase the glamour quotient of the festival, and it will also compel the global film world to zoom their lenses to Rome in these times.
Italian Director, Roberto Faenza will head the jury team which selects the best first or second feature film which will be screened in the festival. Other members in the jury team includes, Fausto Brizzi, Carlo Freccero, Alessandra Mammi, Valerio Mieli, Camilla Nesbitt and Andrea Occhipinti.