Miranda July is undoubtedly a multitalented personality, and she has proved her mettle in different areas of film making like directing, screen writing and even acting. She is even a noted artist, and has proclaimed her artistic excellence an umpteen numbers of times in her career. Sadly, Miranda has not directed a movie since 2011’s ‘The Future‘. But, she is now gearing up with her latest interactive performance in a special two night run during the San Fransico Film Festival.
This theater experiment which is named ‘New Society‘ was first premiered on the East Coast last year. New Society will be premiered at the Brava Theater Center on April 28th as a part of the San Fransico Fest. This experimental show is considered as an innovative theatrical show that illustrates the myriad ways societies form, cohere, change, fracture, and maybe persevere over time.
“It is a thrill to partner with the San Francisco Film Society to bring this exceptional artist’s newest work to audiences in the Bay Area in the context of the SF International Film Festival and the Museum’s On the Go initiative”, said Neal Benezra, director of San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Kevin Spacey, the Academy Award winning actor is considered as one of the top performers in modern day cinema. The ‘American Beauty‘ actor has millions of fans in all corners of the world, and this is mainly due to the realistic way of acting he used to follow while portraying characters. The recent news about Kevin Spacey is regarding the special Olivier Award he is going to receive.
The actor has completed his 11 year tenure at the Old Vic, and the selection of Kevin Spacey to receive the Special Award can be considered as a farewell gift from the London Theater Community. The Olivier Awards which is touted to be Britain’s equivalent to the Tony’s will take place on April 12th 2015 at the London’s Royal Opera House.
Spacey’s leadership was quite remarkable in bringing back the lost glory of Old Vic in the London Theater landscape. “The Society of London Theater is delighted to formally acknowledge Kevin Spacey’s outstanding contribution to The Old Vic. In general his advocacy of London theater has been a constant boon, and many of us will miss him as a valued colleague”, said Caro Newling, SOLT President.
The South by Southwest Film Conference and Festival has unveiled its mid night line up, and this year, movies which deals with the subject of cannibalism, necrophilia and paranormal activities will grace the screens in spanking passion. The festival is scheduled from March 13 – 21, 2015 in Austin, Texas.
The film festival’s mid night line up will screen 11 feature films, and it includes 9 world premieres. These 11 films will the part of The South by Southwest Film Conference and Festival, which will screen a total of 145 movies.
Some of the noted films which will be screened includes, ‘He Never Died‘ directed by Jason Krawzck, Hector Hernandez Vicen’s ‘The Corpse of Anna Fritz’ and Alistair Legrand’s ‘The Diabolical’.
‘He Never Died’ is a movie which showcases the story of a man who suffers from Cannibalism. ‘The Corpse of Anna Fritz’ portrays the most disgusting move of three young men to have sexual encounter with the corpse of a film star.
The story of a single mom and her children facing paranormal activities is being portrayed in ‘The Diabolical‘.
Other movies in the line up includes, ‘The Invitation’, ‘Deathgasm’, ‘Excess Flesh’, ‘Hangman’, ‘The Nightmare’, ‘Pod’, ‘Turbo Kid’ and ‘We are still Here’.
The 32nd edition of the much reputed Jerusalem Film Festival is scheduled from July 9th – 19th 2015. The recent news from the corner is regarding the authorization it received from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.
The Academy has recognized the Jerusalem Film Festival as an official body to qualify short films for the Short Films Award category. This is the first time that the Academy is officially recognizing an Israeli festival.
“We would like to thank members of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for their recognition of the Jerusalem Film Festival and are delighted with the upcoming collaboration that will officially launch in July 2015. The Academy’s decision only further highlights the importance and international status of the Jerusalem Film Festival, placing it on par with the world’s most important film festivals”, said Noa Regev, director of the festival.
From now, films which triumph in the festival’s Van Leer Israeli Short Film Competition will be eligible to qualify for the Oscars.
The crew of ‘Swachh Bharath‘, the new movie based on Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s much hyped ‘Swachh Bharath Abhiyan‘ conducted an awareness campaign in Cochin. The campaign was conducted to promote the revival of our rivers by making them pollution free.
The campaign was inaugurated by honorable Cabinet Minister, Sadananda Gawda at 03.00 PM in Marine Drive, Cochin. Prior to the inauguration, swimmer Vijay Biju swam from Eloor Chawk to Marine Drive to proclaim the message.
After the completion of this 24 kilometers risky course, Vijay Biju was awarded with the ‘Jalasree’ honor by the Minister. The Minister during the event told that it is the moral responsibility of each and every citizens to protect the natural resources like river, seas etc. He added that this cleanliness campaign will in turn promote the tourism in the country.
BJP leaders P K Krishnadas, A N Radhakrishnan, P J Thomas, N P Shankarankutty and C G Rajagopal delivered a speech during the event.
Vijeesh Mani is directing this movie. The movie is being produced by Nanma Kalakshethra. The crew is planning to release the movie in 18 languages.
Sharon Stone along with Abhishek Bachan and Aiswarya Rai will host the inaugural amfAR India event on Nov. 17 in Mumbai. The foundation for AIDS research have organized an India fund raiser in which tickets ranges from, $75,000 (the Grand Philanthropist Package for 10), $50,000 (the Grand Benefactor Package for 10), $25,000 (the Benefactor Package for 10) to $5,000 (patron ticket) and $2,500 (supporter ticket).
The fundraiser will take place in the Taj Mahal Palace in South Mumbai. Poonawalla group owned by Cyrus Poonawalla is the principal sponsor of the event, and it will feature a cocktail reception, dinner, live auction and some mesmerizing performances.
AmfAR began its journey in the year 1993 when it got launched in Cannes. From then, this event got hosted in various cities all around the world like, Dubai, Milan, Paris, Rio, Rome, São Paolo, Toronto, Venice, and Vienna. This year, the organizers expects something big, and they hope to provide a whooping fund to the Foundation’s lifesaving AIDS research programs.
Film Writer’s Association Mumbai announces The 3rd Indian Screenwriters Conference ‘Untold Stories Screenwriting And The Truth Of Our Times’ to be held on 25, 26 and 27th of Febraury in St.Andre’s Auditorium Bandra(w)Mumbai from 10AM to 6PM.
While Indian cinema and TV has been making rapid strides of progress in recent years, expanding the bandwidth of creative and professional freedom ever so often, there are also unanswered questions coming up: How much of India’s changing social reality does popular entertainment really reflect? Have our stories become allergic to the real issues surrounding us? And, if at all, we use them for dramatic purposes, how are they really represented? What is the impact of that?
The terrible gang rape in December triggered off a national debate where one pertinent question repeatedly being asked is: How does popular cinema and TV portray women and the gender equation? Why has machismo become so integral to the definition of the new hero? And, what are the subliminal messages leaking out of our scripts?
FWA believes that it’s time for some soul-searching! Screenwriters, as the original architects of narratives that engage the popular imagination, must get discuss and reflect on such issues, and collectively introspect on the question of social responsibility of our profession. (Respected social scientist Shiv Vishwanathan will deliver the keynote address.) This will be on the first day 25th of February from 10AM TO 6PM.
The Conference will showcase the new and interesting work being done by screenwriters in cinema and TV. How are older conventions being challenged, and broken? What is the new ground being charted by these emerging voices? What does that imply for the future of Indian screenwriting? This will be held on 26th of February from 10AM to 6PM.
The newly amended Copyright Act has caused much exultation, and also some confusion. Top legal experts will demystify it and explain its implications for film and TV writers. And then, the Minimum Basic Contract, which FWA has negotiated with the producers associations, will be announced and explained. This will be held on 27th of February from 10AM to 6PM.
850 screenwriters and writer-directors are expected to participate. This is the most important event for screenwriting in the country, and ought to impact the profession in a significant way.
Confirmed participants include: Salim Khan, Javed Akhtar, Gulzar, Ashutosh Gowariker, Anurag Basu, Rakeysh Mehra, Govind Nihalani, Sriram Raghavan, Sudhir Mishra, Amit Khanna, Vipul Shah, Jabbar Patel, Vikramaditya Motwani, Bejoy Nambiar, Abbas Tyrewala, Amole Gupte, Habib Faisal, Navdeep Singh, Girish Kulkarni, Umesh Kulkarni, Lekh Tandon, Abhishek Sharma, Shridhar Raghavan, Kumararaja (Aranya Kandam), Rituparno Ghosh, Hariharan, Urmi Juvekar, Ishita Moitra, Manu Rishi Chadha, Leena Yadav, Prasoon Joshi and others. Also Tom Schulman (Oscar winner for ‘Dead Poets Society’) and Rebecca Kessinger (Asst. Executive Director of Writers’ Guild of America) will be there as guests since FWA and WGA are planning several collaborative initiatives.