VENICE COMPETITION TITLES ANNOUNCED

By Jason Guerrasio

The Venice Film Festival have announced their slate of competition films vying for the Golden Lion. Included in the list is the opening night film, Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan as well as Kelly Reichart‘s Meek’s Cutoff and Sofia Coppola‘s Somewhere.

Also announced are out of competition titles The Town, directed by Ben Affleck; little brother Casey Affleck’s documentary on Joaquin Phoenix, I’m Still Here; and Robert Rodriguez’s Machete.

The festival runs Sept. 1-11.

The full list of titles are below.

“Attenberg,” Athina Rachel Tsangari, Greece
“Barney’s Version,” Richard J. Lewis, Canada/Italy
“Black Swan,” Darren Aronofsky, USA
“Black Venus,” Abdellatif Kechiche, France
“Detective Dee and the Mystery of Phantom Flame,” Tsui Hark, China
“Happy Few,” Antony Cordier, France
“Meek’s Cutoff,” Kelly Reichardt, USA
“Miral,” Julian Schnabel, USA/France/Italy/Israel
“Noi Credevamo,” Mario Martone, Italy
“Norwegian Wood,” Anh Hung… Read the rest

TORONTO ANNOUNCES TITLES FOR 2010 FEST

By Jason Guerrasio

Titles for the 35th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival were announced today. The mixture of world and North American premieres range from directors like Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden‘s It’s Kind of a Funny Story, to Julian Schnabel‘s Miral to Susanne Bier‘s In A Better World. The full list of titles screening in the Gala and Special Presentations sections are below. TIFF has also announced that the festival, running from Sept. 9 -19, will be extended one day longer this year and in celebration of their 35th year will be running a “TIFF For Free” series were past films that have screened at the fest will be shown at no cost (some of the titles include The Big Chill, Crash and Water). Learn more at the fest’s site.



Galas

The Bang Bang Club, directed by Steven Silver (Canada/South Africa)
(World… Read the rest

ARONOFSKY’S “BLACK SWAN” TO OPEN VENICE

By Jason Guerrasio

Announced earlier today on indieWIRE, the 67th Venice International Film Festival will open with Darren Aronofsky‘s Black Swan, a thriller set in the world of ballet starring Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Winona Ryder and Barbara Hershey.

The film will screen in competition, debuting Sept. 1 in the Sala Grande, following the opening ceremony. Aronofsky won the Golden Lion at the fest in 2008 for The Wrestler.

The Venice Film Festival runs Sept. 1 -11. Fox Searchlight will release Black Swan later this year.

SILVERDOCS WINNERS ANNOUNCED

By Jaimie Stettin

AFI-Discovery Channel Silverdocs Documentary Festival (held June 21 to 27) announced its distinguished winners. Best Feature directors receive $5,000.

Best US Feature: WO AI NI MOMMY (I LOVE YOU, MOMMY) directed by Stephanie Wang-Breal, which documents eight-year-old Chinese Fang Sui Yong and her adoption by a Jewish couple from Long Island who name her “Faith.” The film follows Faith and her parents’ twist-and-turn journey over a year and a half.

Best World Feature: THE WOMAN WITH THE 5 ELEPHANTS directed by Vadim Jendreyko, which chronicles eighty-five-year-old Svetlana Geier who has dedicated her life to language. Considered the greatest translator of Russian literature into German, Svetlana has just concluded her magnum opus, completing new translations of Dostoyevsky’s five great novels-known as the five elephants.

Special Jury mention: STEAM OF LIFE directed by Joonas Berghäll and Mika Hotakainen, whose film allows the viewer to become a fly on the wall… Read the rest

LA FILM FEST WINNERS

By Jaimie Stettin

The LA Film Festival (held June 17-27) announced its winners. The prize for Best Narrative Feature went to Danish director Pernille Fischer Christensen for A Family. The Documentary Award went to J. Clay Tweel for his doc Make Believe. Christensen and Tweel both receive $50,000.

L.A. Film Festival winners (descriptions provided by the festival):

Narrative Award (for Best Narrative Feature): A Family (En Familie) directed by Pernille Fischer Christensen (Denmark).

The conflict between love and duty plays out in this stunning, award-winning saga about a successful Danish family that faces agonizing choices when its charismatic patriarch falls ill.

Documentary Award (for Best Documentary Feature): Make Believe directed by J. Clay Tweel (Japan/South Africa/USA).

Armed with magic hoops, decks of cards and homegrown illusions, six hopefuls from around the world prepare for Las Vegas’ World Magic Seminar, and the chance to win the title of Teen World Premiere.

Best Ensemble Performance… Read the rest

SUNDANCE ANNOUNCES 2010 DOCUMENTARY FILM FELLOWS

By Jaimie Stettin

The Sundance Institute announced its 12 Documentary Film Fellows and their five projects in the seventh Documentary Edit and Story Laboratory. Taking place from June 19-27 at a resort in Sundance, Utah, this Lab supports visionary filmmakers and their projects.

Fellows are selected from a pool of 60 active, Sundance-funded documentary projects.

Lab Fellows are:

Ra’anan Alexandrowicz (Directing Fellow), Michael Collins (Directing Fellow), Heather Courtney (Directing Fellow), Ramona Diaz (Directing Fellow), Ron Goldman (Editing Fellow), Kyle Henry (Editing Fellow), Stephen Maing (Directing Fellow), Leah Marino (Editing Fellow), Eric Daniel Metzgar (Editing Fellow), Jonathan Oppenheim (Editing Fellow), Trina Rodriquez (Editing Fellow), Marty Syjuco (Directing Fellow).

The 5 films selected for the 2010 Sundance Institute Documentary Editing and Story Lab are:

GIVE UP TOMORROW (U.S.)

After languishing for 12 years on death row in a Philippine prison, Paco Larrañaga finds hope when the international human rights community upholds his innocence and launches… Read the rest

SUNDANCE DIRECTOR’S LAB DIARY: SAODAT ISMAILOVA

By Scott Macaulay

The Sundance Director’s Lab is currently wrapping at the Sundance Institute in Utah, and we have two filmmakers blogging about their experience. First up is Uzbekistan writer/director Saodat Ismailova, whose project, 40 Days of Silence, is described like this: “Four generations of women under one roof in Uzbekistan look to each other for comfort as they try to overcome their destinies.”

Yesterday, June 19th, the director’s lab came to the end. When I look back at the past three weeks of my life it already seems like it was more than a year ago… I will simply divide the process into three weeks as it was and how I experienced it…

Week one: Scary, frightening, timid, why am I here? Will it be any good for me? Shouldn’t I be in Uzbekistan casting and location scouting? There is a self-built wall of distance between me and everything around… Read the rest

SUNDANCE INSTITUTE UNVEILS SHORTSLAB: LA

By Jaimie Stettin

The Sundance Institute has announced the inaugural Shortslab: LA, a three-part, all-day workshop that will offer filmmakers inside guidance through the development, production, and exhibition of short films. Shortlabs: LA will be held Saturday, July 31st at the Downtown Independent Theater (251 South Main Street) in Los Angeles.

Tickets are $150. For information or to purchase tickets visit: www.sundance.org/shortslab

Here is the workshop schedule:

Story Development (9:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.): Acclaimed filmmakers including Sundance Film Festival alumni share their experiences working with short-form during their careers. These tales from the trenches will focus on conceptualization and script development. Participants will be announced shortly.

Production (1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.): Industry professionals and special guests speak to the many challenges filmmakers face during production, including budgeting, working with unions, music rights, financing, and much more.

Exhibition (3:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.): An eclectic mix of speakers — including festival programmers,… Read the rest

SUNDANCE INSTITUTE THEATRE LAB IN EAST AFRICA

By Jaimie Stettin

This July 9-29, Sundance will debut its first Sundance Institute Theatre Lab East Africa on the island of Manda, off the coast of Kenya.  This Lab, guided by Philip Himberg, Producing Artistic Director of Sundance Institute Theatre Lab, will help artists with the creative process and the development of their projects.  Much like the Sundance Institute Theatre Lab, Sundance Institute East Africa will involve shared training and mentorship.

According to Himberg, this East African partnership honors African cultural customs, but also breaks new grounds.  Fellows and participants come from all over the region.

2010 Sundance Institute Theatre Lab in East Africa Fellows and Projects:

Cut Off My Tongue (Kenya)

Sitawa Betty Wamalwa Muragori, playwright/performer

Lillian Amimo Olembo, performer/choreographer

Cut Off My Tongue is a collection of dramatized texts that incorporate poetry, spoken word, narrative, music, dance and movement. The piece deals with interrelated stories about life in Kenya grouped around… Read the rest

2010 BROOKLYN INT’L FILM FEST WINNERS

By Jaimie Stettin

The Brooklyn International Film Festival (BiFF) has announced its 2010 winners.  The 13th annual BiFF ran from June 4th- 13th at indieScreen in Williamsburg and at Brooklyn Heights Cinema.   Winners were selected from over 101 film film premieres.  A total of $50,000 in prizes and services were awarded to the winners.

Here is the list of awards:

GRAND CHAMELEON AWARD
THE MINUTEMEN MOVIE by Corey Wascinski

Best Narrative Feature
GABI ON THE ROOF IN JULY by Lawrence Michael Levine

Best Documentary
THE MINUTEMEN MOVIE by Corey Wascinski

Best Narrative Short
NAISSANCES by Anne Émond

Best Animation
SPUTNIK 5 by Susanna Nicchiarelli

Best Experimental
NECESSARY GAMES by Sophie Hyde

Best New Director
BAD DAY TO GO FISHING by Alvaro Brechner

Spirit Awards

Feature Narrative
BUMMER SUMMER by Zach Weintraub

Documentary
SURVIVAL SONG by Yu Guangyi

Short Narrative
AUTOPILOT by J.B. Herndon

Experimental
… Read the rest