The 17th Dhaka International Film Festival’ (Diff) was held in Dhaka 10 to 18 January 2019 along with the 5th annual Conference of Women of Cinema. Words cannot begin to describe my second experience there. Next year I will attend again as the Director of the Women’s Conference as we move ahead with new ideas.
The Festival, organized by Rainbow Film Society, is dedicated to the promotion of a healthy cine culture in Bangladesh and to celebrating the global mainstream in film and its social relevance. It is also a great place to network with some fabulous up and coming Bengali talent and to meet professionals in the business from parts of the world you do not normally get to meet.
Ahmed Muztabla Zamal, Director of Diff
Casual conversations about about such topics as how Turkistan and Mongolia work together (or do not!)*, the different provinces of India and their filmmakers’ feelings of identity,...
The Festival, organized by Rainbow Film Society, is dedicated to the promotion of a healthy cine culture in Bangladesh and to celebrating the global mainstream in film and its social relevance. It is also a great place to network with some fabulous up and coming Bengali talent and to meet professionals in the business from parts of the world you do not normally get to meet.
Ahmed Muztabla Zamal, Director of Diff
Casual conversations about about such topics as how Turkistan and Mongolia work together (or do not!)*, the different provinces of India and their filmmakers’ feelings of identity,...
- 2/22/2019
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Tiff’s Midnight Madness program turned 25 this year, and for two and half decades, the hardworking programers have gathered some of the strangest, most terrifying, wild, intriguing and downright entertaining films from around the world. From dark comedies to Japanese gore-fests and indie horror gems, the Midnight Madness program hasn’t lost its edge as one the leading showcases of genre cinema. In its 25-year history, Midnight Madness has introduced adventurous late-night moviegoers to such cult faves as Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused and Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs. But what separates Midnight Madness from, say, Montreal’s three and half week long genre festival Fantasia, is that Tiff selects only ten films to make the cut. In other words, these programmers don’t mess around. Last week I decided that I would post reviews of my personal favourite films that screened in past years. And just like the Tiff programmers,...
- 9/18/2013
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
Chicago – The Chicago Cultural Center, located downtown across from Millennium Park, will be the scene for the fifth annual Peace on Earth Film Festival, a free, open-to-the-public event from Thursday, March 7th through Sunday, March 10th, 2013. All films will be shown at the Claudia Cassidy Theater within the Cultural Center, with films shown all day on Saturday and Sunday.
The film festival, presented by Transcendence Global Media, Nfp, in partnership with the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, will feature documentaries, features, shorts and student films on subjects of nonviolence, tolerance, sustainability and social justice. On March 7th, the festival kicked off with two Midwest Premiere documentaries – “A Whisper to a Roar” and “Pad Yatra” – and will continue on March 8th with Latino Night (full schedule below).
Scene from ‘The Second Cooler,’ featured at the Peace on Earth Film Festival
Photo credit: TheSecondCooler.com
The Peace on Earth...
The film festival, presented by Transcendence Global Media, Nfp, in partnership with the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, will feature documentaries, features, shorts and student films on subjects of nonviolence, tolerance, sustainability and social justice. On March 7th, the festival kicked off with two Midwest Premiere documentaries – “A Whisper to a Roar” and “Pad Yatra” – and will continue on March 8th with Latino Night (full schedule below).
Scene from ‘The Second Cooler,’ featured at the Peace on Earth Film Festival
Photo credit: TheSecondCooler.com
The Peace on Earth...
- 3/8/2013
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Making films in troubled regions like the Mid East is difficult to say the least. "While aspiring filmmakers all over the world struggle to raise funding and gain recognition, most don’t have to contend with kidnappings, imprisonment and smuggling equipment across borders." The issues facing five such filmmakers was recounted recently at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival, as discussed here.
The 16th Annual Arab Film Festival opened October 11 at the historic Castro Theatre in San Francisco with the Opening Night film Man Without a Cell Phone in its West Coast Premier (see the trailer here) which is also the Centerpiece film for the Los Angeles festival opening Today: October 19th at 8pm, preceded by a VIP reception at 6:30pm at the Writers Guild Theater of America. The festival runs October 11th-21st in San Francisco, San Jose, Berkeley and Los Angeles.
The Arab Film Festival is North America's largest and longest running exhibitor of independent Arab movies from and about the Arab World. This year’s fest of 40 films from 27 countries offers a full complement of narrative and documentary features, doc and narrative short films with National and West Coast Premieres.
Opening Night film director Sameh Zoabi will be present for Q&A following Man Without A Cell Phone October 11th, a narrative feature that portrays Palestinian-Israeli Jawdat, who just wants to have fun with his friends and talk on his cell phone. His determined way of life is interrupted when his father launches a protest against an Israeli cell phone tower he fears is poisoning the villagers. The film premiered in the U.S. at the New Directors/ New Films, has played in Israel at the Haifa International Ff, Qatar at the Doha Tribeca Ff, Karlovy Vary FFl, Jerusalem Ff, Vancouver Ff, Paris Quinzaine du Cinema Francophone. It is in distribution in France through Eurozoom.
Among films presenting perspectives infrequently aired in mainstream American media is the North American premiere of Karama Has No Walls, which depicts the turning point in Yemen’s revolution. Filmmaker Sara Ishaq will be present for the October 14th screening to discuss documenting the contrast between the festive peaceful protest and its transformation to a warzone.
Premiering on the West Coast, Arab Film Festival veteran Iara Lee explores the Syrian conflict through the humanity of the civilians displaced to the squalor of refugee camps in feature documentary The Suffering Grasses. Hip-Hop artist hailing from the great Nation-State-of-Mind known as "SyrianamericanA" Omar Offendum is special guest for Q&A October 20th at 11am at the Writer’s Guild Theater of America.
From Egypt comes the courageous spirit of a young Egyptian female journalist in documentary Words of Witness (Isa: Films Transit) screening in the Bay Area premiere, and the evocative, "eerily prophetic" narrative feature Lust - Egypt’s 84th Academy Awards submission. As eclectic in its adventures as its title, The Virgin, The Copts and Me (Isa: Doc & Film International) from Egyptian-French filmmaker Namir Abdel Messeeh provides comic relief via his escapades researching the story behind apparitions of the Virgin Mary in Egypt. It premiered at the Berlin Film Festival and played at the Doha Tribeca Film Festival.
North Africa selections include compelling drama Death for Sale (Isa: Urban Distribution International) set in Moroccan port city Tetouan, and North American premiere Papa Hedi: The Search for My Grandfather feature documentary by granddaughter of Tunisian composer Hedi Jouini -the Frank Sinatra of the Arab World in San Jose October 13.
Jess Ghannam, President of the Board of the Arab Film Festival, adds "We're pleased to screen films that illuminate the diversity of the Arab experience, and show the beauty and talent of Arab culture.”
Visit www.arabfilmfestival.orgfor the complete festival schedule. Tickets may be purchased online or at theaters. For ticket information, call 415-564-1100.
San Francisco, Oct 11-14, Castro Theatre and Embarcadero Cinema.
San Jose, Oct 13-14, Camera 12 Cinema
Berkeley, Oct 19-21, Shattuck Cinemas
Los Angeles, Oct 19-21, Writers Guild Theater of America...
The 16th Annual Arab Film Festival opened October 11 at the historic Castro Theatre in San Francisco with the Opening Night film Man Without a Cell Phone in its West Coast Premier (see the trailer here) which is also the Centerpiece film for the Los Angeles festival opening Today: October 19th at 8pm, preceded by a VIP reception at 6:30pm at the Writers Guild Theater of America. The festival runs October 11th-21st in San Francisco, San Jose, Berkeley and Los Angeles.
The Arab Film Festival is North America's largest and longest running exhibitor of independent Arab movies from and about the Arab World. This year’s fest of 40 films from 27 countries offers a full complement of narrative and documentary features, doc and narrative short films with National and West Coast Premieres.
Opening Night film director Sameh Zoabi will be present for Q&A following Man Without A Cell Phone October 11th, a narrative feature that portrays Palestinian-Israeli Jawdat, who just wants to have fun with his friends and talk on his cell phone. His determined way of life is interrupted when his father launches a protest against an Israeli cell phone tower he fears is poisoning the villagers. The film premiered in the U.S. at the New Directors/ New Films, has played in Israel at the Haifa International Ff, Qatar at the Doha Tribeca Ff, Karlovy Vary FFl, Jerusalem Ff, Vancouver Ff, Paris Quinzaine du Cinema Francophone. It is in distribution in France through Eurozoom.
Among films presenting perspectives infrequently aired in mainstream American media is the North American premiere of Karama Has No Walls, which depicts the turning point in Yemen’s revolution. Filmmaker Sara Ishaq will be present for the October 14th screening to discuss documenting the contrast between the festive peaceful protest and its transformation to a warzone.
Premiering on the West Coast, Arab Film Festival veteran Iara Lee explores the Syrian conflict through the humanity of the civilians displaced to the squalor of refugee camps in feature documentary The Suffering Grasses. Hip-Hop artist hailing from the great Nation-State-of-Mind known as "SyrianamericanA" Omar Offendum is special guest for Q&A October 20th at 11am at the Writer’s Guild Theater of America.
From Egypt comes the courageous spirit of a young Egyptian female journalist in documentary Words of Witness (Isa: Films Transit) screening in the Bay Area premiere, and the evocative, "eerily prophetic" narrative feature Lust - Egypt’s 84th Academy Awards submission. As eclectic in its adventures as its title, The Virgin, The Copts and Me (Isa: Doc & Film International) from Egyptian-French filmmaker Namir Abdel Messeeh provides comic relief via his escapades researching the story behind apparitions of the Virgin Mary in Egypt. It premiered at the Berlin Film Festival and played at the Doha Tribeca Film Festival.
North Africa selections include compelling drama Death for Sale (Isa: Urban Distribution International) set in Moroccan port city Tetouan, and North American premiere Papa Hedi: The Search for My Grandfather feature documentary by granddaughter of Tunisian composer Hedi Jouini -the Frank Sinatra of the Arab World in San Jose October 13.
Jess Ghannam, President of the Board of the Arab Film Festival, adds "We're pleased to screen films that illuminate the diversity of the Arab experience, and show the beauty and talent of Arab culture.”
Visit www.arabfilmfestival.orgfor the complete festival schedule. Tickets may be purchased online or at theaters. For ticket information, call 415-564-1100.
San Francisco, Oct 11-14, Castro Theatre and Embarcadero Cinema.
San Jose, Oct 13-14, Camera 12 Cinema
Berkeley, Oct 19-21, Shattuck Cinemas
Los Angeles, Oct 19-21, Writers Guild Theater of America...
- 10/18/2012
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
The 8th annual Atlanta Underground Film Festival was held way back on Sep. 22-25 and the list of award winners is being published here in full below for archival reasons, not that this is certainly breaking news or anything.
The big winner of the fest went to Damon Russell’s Snow on tha Bluff, which won for Best Feature. The film has played at numerous underground fests throughout the year and also previously was tied for Best Narrative at the 18th annual Chicago Underground Film Festival.
Best Short Film went to Flavio Alves’s The Secret Friend.
Here’s the full list of award winners:
2011 Features:
Best Feature
Snow on tha Bluff, dir. Damon Russell
Best Drama Feature
Moment of Truth: The Andy Meyers Story, dir. Steven Crowley
Best Comedy Feature
Planet World, dir. Doug Manley
Best Documentary Feature
Cultures of Resistance, dir. Iara Lee
Best Foreign Feature
Film, dir.
The big winner of the fest went to Damon Russell’s Snow on tha Bluff, which won for Best Feature. The film has played at numerous underground fests throughout the year and also previously was tied for Best Narrative at the 18th annual Chicago Underground Film Festival.
Best Short Film went to Flavio Alves’s The Secret Friend.
Here’s the full list of award winners:
2011 Features:
Best Feature
Snow on tha Bluff, dir. Damon Russell
Best Drama Feature
Moment of Truth: The Andy Meyers Story, dir. Steven Crowley
Best Comedy Feature
Planet World, dir. Doug Manley
Best Documentary Feature
Cultures of Resistance, dir. Iara Lee
Best Foreign Feature
Film, dir.
- 11/19/2011
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Today, Montreal's Festival du nouveau cinéma (Fnc), which will take place between October 12 to 23. Here's the complete line-up of feature films according to the press release we received.
Opening and closing
The 40th edition of the Fnc kicks off on Wednesday, October 12, with Declaration of War by Valérie Donzelli (France) at Cinéma Impérial (Centre Sandra & Leo Kolber, Salle Lucie & André Chagnon). This critically-acclaimed second feature by Valérie Donzelli (The Queen of Hearts) tells the love story of Roméo and Juliette who are battling to save their sick child. The director and her producer Edouard Weil will be in attendance.
Ten days later, on Saturday, October 22, Monsieur Lazhar (Quebec/Canada) by Philippe Falardeau will close the Festival. Selected to represent Canada at the Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film, Monsieur Lahzar shows the efforts of an Algerian schoolteacher to help his Grade 6 students come to terms with their teacher’s death.
Opening and closing
The 40th edition of the Fnc kicks off on Wednesday, October 12, with Declaration of War by Valérie Donzelli (France) at Cinéma Impérial (Centre Sandra & Leo Kolber, Salle Lucie & André Chagnon). This critically-acclaimed second feature by Valérie Donzelli (The Queen of Hearts) tells the love story of Roméo and Juliette who are battling to save their sick child. The director and her producer Edouard Weil will be in attendance.
Ten days later, on Saturday, October 22, Monsieur Lazhar (Quebec/Canada) by Philippe Falardeau will close the Festival. Selected to represent Canada at the Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film, Monsieur Lahzar shows the efforts of an Algerian schoolteacher to help his Grade 6 students come to terms with their teacher’s death.
- 9/27/2011
- by noreply@blogger.com (Anh Khoi Do)
- The Cultural Post
I will soon post a list of films I have already seen that I highly recommend as well as a list of my most anticipated films screening at this year’s Festival du Nouveau Cinema. For now here is the press release from the festival. Make sure you read carefully because there are a ton of great films to check out.
Montreal, Tuesday September 27, 2011– Montreal’s Festival du nouveau cinéma will be celebrating its 40th edition from October 12 to 23. For the past 40 years, Canada’s oldest film festival has offered film buffs a selection of the year’s most exciting new films — a bold lineup with plenty of whimsical and surprising elements, but one that also turns its lens on social realities and the evolution of film and new technologies. Over the course of this year’s 11-day Festival, audiences of all ages can take in features and shorts, fiction films and documentaries,...
Montreal, Tuesday September 27, 2011– Montreal’s Festival du nouveau cinéma will be celebrating its 40th edition from October 12 to 23. For the past 40 years, Canada’s oldest film festival has offered film buffs a selection of the year’s most exciting new films — a bold lineup with plenty of whimsical and surprising elements, but one that also turns its lens on social realities and the evolution of film and new technologies. Over the course of this year’s 11-day Festival, audiences of all ages can take in features and shorts, fiction films and documentaries,...
- 9/27/2011
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
DVD Playhouse June 2011
By
Allen Gardner
Kiss Me Deadly (Criterion) Robert Aldrich’s 1955 reinvention of the film noir detective story is one of cinema’s great genre mash-ups: part hardboiled noir; part cold war paranoid thriller; and part science- fiction. Ralph Meeker plays Mickey Spillane’s fascist detective Mike Hammer as a narcissistic simian thug, a sadist who would rather smash a suspect’s fingers than make love to the bevvy of beautiful dames that cross his path. In fact, the only time you see a smile cross Meeker’s sneering mug is when he’s doling out pain, with a vengeance. When a terrified young woman (Cloris Leachman, film debut) literally crossed Hammer’s path one night, and later turns up dead, he vows to get to the bottom of her brutal demise. One of the most influential films ever made, and perhaps the most-cited film by the architects...
By
Allen Gardner
Kiss Me Deadly (Criterion) Robert Aldrich’s 1955 reinvention of the film noir detective story is one of cinema’s great genre mash-ups: part hardboiled noir; part cold war paranoid thriller; and part science- fiction. Ralph Meeker plays Mickey Spillane’s fascist detective Mike Hammer as a narcissistic simian thug, a sadist who would rather smash a suspect’s fingers than make love to the bevvy of beautiful dames that cross his path. In fact, the only time you see a smile cross Meeker’s sneering mug is when he’s doling out pain, with a vengeance. When a terrified young woman (Cloris Leachman, film debut) literally crossed Hammer’s path one night, and later turns up dead, he vows to get to the bottom of her brutal demise. One of the most influential films ever made, and perhaps the most-cited film by the architects...
- 6/11/2011
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
The Independent Film Festival of Boston (IFFBoston) kicks off this Wednesday, and has a number of impressive films in its line-up. The festival will take place at the Somerville Theatre in Davis Square, the Brattle Theatre in Harvard Square, the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline, and the Stuart Street Playhouse in downtown Boston. The festival, complete with over 110 film screenings, filmmaker Q&A sessions, panel discussions, visiting filmmakers, parties and events will showcase the best in current American and International cinema.
The opening night film of the festival is Being Elmo directed by Constance Marks will open the 9th annual festival on April 27th at the Somerville Theatre. This marks the first time the festival will open with a documentary. The film follows Kevin Clash, from humble upbringings as he follows his dream to become a puppeteer and one day work with his idol, Jim Henson, to the present day...
The opening night film of the festival is Being Elmo directed by Constance Marks will open the 9th annual festival on April 27th at the Somerville Theatre. This marks the first time the festival will open with a documentary. The film follows Kevin Clash, from humble upbringings as he follows his dream to become a puppeteer and one day work with his idol, Jim Henson, to the present day...
- 4/26/2011
- by Kristen Coates
- The Film Stage
Domestic VOD and digital rights to director Iara Lee's "Cultures of Resistance" have been picked up by SnagFilms. Snag, which recently announced that is also available through Boxee, will debut the film on its new VOD platform in late May. Disclosure: SnagFilms is the parent company of indieWIRE. Full release: SnagFilms announced today that it has acquired domestic VOD and digital rights to Iara Lee's film "Cultures of Resistance." The ...
- 4/21/2011
- Indiewire
The Independent Film Festival of Boston [1] recently released their full line-up and it's a doozy. Sundance favorites such as The Future [2] and Submarine [3] will be there, along with awesome documentaries like Being Elmo [4] (With Elmo In Attendance!!!) and Page One: A Year Inside the New York Times [5]. I'm looking forward to films I wasn't able to catch at Sundance and SXSW, such as the legal documentary Hot Coffee, the heartbreaking How to Die in Oregon, and the new fascinating Conan O'Brien film. Takashi Miike's 13 Assassins [6] also looks like it will rock the house. The full line-up is below. The festival is April 27th through May 4th, and it's one of my favorite movie events of the year. If you live anywhere in New England, I invite you to come and check it out. You can follow IFFBoston on Facebook for updates [7] or buy your passes now [8]! Narrative Features 13 Assassins...
- 3/25/2011
- by David Chen
- Slash Film
The 8th annual Big Sky Documentary Film Festival is all set to run for ten days this Feb. 11-20 in Missoula, Montana. This year, the fest will have a whopping 140 film programs, a growth that necessitates an expansion from its regular home at the Historic Wilma Theatre — where it will occupy two screens — to also feature screenings at the former Pipestone Mountaineering store.
Special events at the fest include a free opening night screening of How to Die in Oregon sponsored by HBO Documentary Films. The film, directed by Peter D. Richardson, examines the impact the legalization of physician-assisted suicide has had on the state. (In 1994, Oregon was the first state to legalize the practice.)
Also, indie rock band Yo La Tengo will perform their acclaimed live score of the films of pioneering French underwater documentary film director Jean Painlevé, something they have done for other film festivals all over the world.
Special events at the fest include a free opening night screening of How to Die in Oregon sponsored by HBO Documentary Films. The film, directed by Peter D. Richardson, examines the impact the legalization of physician-assisted suicide has had on the state. (In 1994, Oregon was the first state to legalize the practice.)
Also, indie rock band Yo La Tengo will perform their acclaimed live score of the films of pioneering French underwater documentary film director Jean Painlevé, something they have done for other film festivals all over the world.
- 1/15/2011
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
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