The 65th edition of Berlin International Film Festival will be conducted from February 5th – 15th 2015 in Berlin. Indian movie world has something to rejoice from this corner as Madhusree Dutta, renowned Indian filmmaker and curator has been selected as a jury for short films in this festival.
Madhusree Dutta currently lives in Mumbai, and she is an alumni of Jadavpur University, Kolkata and National School of Drama. She is also the founder and executive director of Majlis, a centre for rights discourse and multi-disciplinary art initiatives in Mumbai, India.
The fellow jury members in this short film panel include, Wahyuni A. Hadi, noted Singaporean Curator and author, and Istanbul-based artist Halil Altındere. The jury panel is responsible for finalizing reputed awards in the festival which includes, Golden and the Silver Bear for short films, and the Audi Short Film Award.
Robert Duvall, the supporting actor in ‘The Judge’ and Alejandro G.Inarritu will receive this year’s Director of the Year Award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival‘s 26th annual Awards. The festival will run through January 2nd – 12th 2014.
Duvall played the title character in the movie, ‘The Judge’. The movie showcases the story of a lawyer who must seek the help of his lawyer son after being accused of a crime he is unsure if he committed.
“Duvall gives an outstanding and amazingly realistic performance as Judge Joseph Palmer. This is sure to be remembered in his long list of iconic character roles”, said PSIFF chairman Harold Matzner said in a statement.
Inarritu has directed Birdman, and it is being acclaimed widely all over the International film festival circuit. “By creating the illusion that the film was shot in one take and directing award-worthy performances by Michael Keaton, Edward Norton, Emma Stone and a star-studded cast, Inarritu has created a brilliant and original dark comedy”, said Harold Matzner about Inarritu.
Berlin Film Festival is considered as one of the top notch International events when it comes to film festivals. The 65th edition of this reputed festival will be conducted from February 5th – 15th 2015 at Berlin. The recent news from the corner is regarding the release of the official poster for the event.
The fans of cuddly Berlin will not be pleased with this year’s poster, as it does not feature the iconic Berlin bear, the symbol of both the festival and Germany’s capital city.
The new poster designed by Germany’s BOROS agency has an abstract image of shimmering stage curtain. The poster will be used throughout the city during the festival for publicity.
“Glamorous and suspense-packed second that precedes every cinema experience when the curtain opens to reveal the screen”, said Dieter Kosslick, the festival director.
Finally, the day is fixed, and Anurag Kashyap’s much awaited movie, ‘Ugly’ will hit the screens on December 26th 2014. The movie was earlier planned to release on last September, but due to unknown reasons, it was postponed.
The film already had its world premiere at Director’s Fortnight of the Cannes Film Festival in 2013. There, the movie received highly positive reviews, and it was praised by both the critics and audiences alike. The world premiere was soon followed by screenings in other noted film festivals which includes, Puchon, Warsaw and Melbourne.
‘Ugly’ is touted to be an emotional thriller with some mind blowing sequences stuffed throughout the running time. The movie showcases some emotional sequences which gets triggered after 10 year old ‘Kali’ goes missing from the car she was left in by her father.
The movie features, Rahul Bhatt, Ronit Roy, Siddhanth Kapoor, Tejaswini Kolhapure, Girish Kulkarni and Vipin Sharma in the lead role.
Indian filmmaker, Aditya Vikram Sengupta has been named as the Best Director at the recently concluded Marrakech International Film Festival. His debut movie, ‘Labor of Love‘ helped him to fetch this award.
‘Labor of Love‘ is now enjoying a decent run in the International Film Festival circuit, and it has previously won NETPAC Award for Best Asian Film at the Bengaluru International Film Festival.
‘Labor of Love‘ showcases the story of a couples who live in the suburbans of Kolkata. The couples have already lost the heat of their relationship and at one point of time, they try to reinvent themselves.
Renowned French actress Isabelle Huppert is the head of jury panel in Marrakech International Film Festival. The other jury members includes, Indian director Ritesh Batra, Danish director Susanne Bier, French filmmaker Bertrand Bonello, Romanian filmmaker Cristian Mungiu, English actor Alan Rickman, Moroccan filmmaker Moumen Smihi, French actress Melanie Laurent and Italian filmmaker Mario Martone.
‘Mirror Mountain Film Festival‘, is one of the most anticipated film festivals which will be gracing the Canadian soil in 2015. This top class festival will be conducted on early days of December 2015 at the Canadian Capital, Ottawa. The organizers of this festival are trying to bring the very best independent, underground, and alternative cinema to country, and they are trying hard to make it special in all means. The recent news from this corner is regarding the submission of films to this 2015 edition of festival.
Filmmakers can submit their movies to the festival now. The Early Bird Deadline is January 31st 2015. The submission fees in all categories will be very less if you are submitting the movies before the early bird deadline.
$20, $30 and $40 will be charged for shorts (less than 20 minutes), medium length (20-60 minutes) and features (more than 60 minutes) respectively if the movie is being submitted before January 31st.
The regular deadline to submit films is April 31st 2015, whereas the extended deadline is July 31st. October 31st 2015 is the final deadline to submit movies in this festival.
It is highly recommended to submit the films before the early bird deadline as the submission fees is very less during this time.
One of the major highlight of ‘Mirror Mountain Film Festival‘ is its cash back offer. If your film is accepted to play in the festival, the organizers will pay you back the submission fee.
The curtains of 19th IFFK will be raised within a few hours, as Chief Minister of Kerala Oommen Chandy will inaugurate the festival at 5.30 PM. The minister for Cinema Thiruvanchur Radhakrishnan will preside over the function.
The opening film of the festival is Eran Riklis’s ‘Dancing Arabs’. The movie showcases the story of a young Arab who tries to find his lost identity. The movie has been previously screened in some International Film Festivals and the reviews about the film were highly positive in nature. The lead actor of the film, Tawfeek Barhom will be present during the time of screening in IFFK.
The festival will run through December 19th, and in this seven day course, more than 140 films will get screened in Thiruvananthapuram. Some of the sections which categorize cinema in the festival includes, International Competition, World Cinema, Contemporary Master, Retrospective, Indian Cinema, Malayalam Cinema Today, Country Focus, Jury Films, Chinese Film Package and French Film Package.
More than 9000 delegate passes have been issued as of now, and the organizers are trying their best to conduct the event in a hassle free manner. Earlier, controversies were triggered up due to the discrepancies and rules which were imposed on the delegate pass issuing method.
Renowned Indian singer Asha Bhosle will be honored with a life time achievement in the Dubai International Film Festival, 2014. Asha Bhosle, who is widely considered as legend has sung more than 12,000 songs for more than 850 movies in 81 years.
The 11th edition of the DIFF will be conducted from December 10th – 17th 2014.
“Asha Bhosle is a stalwart of the Indian music scene, and we are proud to be honouring her with this DIFF Lifetime Achievement Award. Her work has touched almost every corner of the world: we look forward to welcoming such a legend to Dubai and DIFF’’, said Abdulhamid Juma, the Chairman of the festival.
Asha Bhosle has received the Dada Saheb Phalke Award in 2000, and Padma Vibhushan in 2008. The legendary singer has recorded almost all kind of music in her long career, and it includes folks, film songs, classical music, popular music, bhajans and gazals.
“I am delighted to have been nominated to receive this Lifetime Achievement Award from DIFF in Dubai – a place with long historic ties to my country. I look forward to visiting this special film festival, which has done so much work to promote the art worldwide”, Bhosle said in a recently issued statement.
The legendary singer also made her acting debut at the age of 80. She acted in a movie titled ‘Mai’ in 2013, and was opened to positive acclaim from the critics.
The demand for horror movies in the Entertainment sector is always on the higher side for years, and the popularity of these films has compelled Paul Cotgrove to kick start a festival which is exclusively dedicated for horror movies. The festival which is titled, ‘Horror on Sea’ began in 2013, and with the increasing popularity over years, the organizers have now planned to conduct this festival over two weekends in its third edition.
The 3rd edition of the festival will start from January 23rd 2015, at the event’s regular haunt, the Park Inn by Radisson Palace hotel located at the top of Pier Hill. The second phase of the festival will begin on next Friday, January 30, 2015, and will last till February 1st 2015.
“The reputation of the festival is already such that I was inundated with entries for next January’s event. Also, the standard of the submissions is so good, that I just had to give the work the audience it deserves – and that meant making the festival bigger”, said Paul, the Think Tank behind this festival.
The 3rd edition of the ‘Horror on Sea’ Film Festival is much bigger and mightier than its previous editions. The festival will feature more than 60 horror films from various countries all around the world. Exclusive interactions with directors and filmmakers are also facilitated during this festival.
The Los Angeles Film Critics Association on Saturday has declared their awards, and it was ‘Boyhood’ which stole the show in the proceedings. The film won a total of four awards, and it includes, Best Picture, Best Director (Richard Linklater), Best Actress (Patricia Arquette) and Best Editing (Sandra Adair).
Tom Hardy bagged the ‘Best Actor Award’ for his performance in ‘Locke’. J.K. Simmons who enacted his role to perfection in ‘Whiplash’ has been chosen as the Best Supporting Actor. Agata Kulesza for her performance in ‘Ida’ bagged the Best Supporting Actress Award.
‘The Tale of Princess Kaguya’ won the award for the Best animation Film. ‘The Lego Movie’ was also there in the final round of competition, but later, the critics chose Isao Takahata movie as the Best Picture.
The Award Ceremony will take place on Jan. 10 at the InterContinental Hotel in Century City. The LAFCA will honor renowned actress Gena Rowlands and former LAFCA president Leonard Maltin during this event.
‘Boyhood’ bagged the best picture award after competing heavily with ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’ Inch by Inch competition was there while selecting the Best Actor. Micheal Keaton for his performance in ‘Birdman’ was there in the race along with Tom Hardy, but the later was chosen for the final call.