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Award winning director Umesh Kulkarni is all set to conduct a short film workshop, “Shoot a Short” for film aspirants in Pune. The 4th edition of the workshop will be conducted from December 26th – 29th at Pune, and the main venue is at the National Film Archive of India (NFAI) premises.

The language of instruction in the Workshop will be Marathi. People who wish to participate in this ‘Short Film Making Workshop‘ can contact on any of the numbers given below, 020-25433549, 7709530019, 8007893571. You can also shoot a mail to shootashortworkshop@gmail.com for further details.

The workshop will provide perfect guidance for young filmmakers who wish to craft short films in a perfect manner. Major things like ‘Translating an idea into a screenplay‘ and ‘working with the cast and crew‘ will be discussed in the workshop.

Girni’, the film Umesh made during his FTII days garnered him the National Award. He still makes short films even though he has directed three commercially successful features which includes, ‘Valu’, ‘Vihir’ and ‘Deool’.

Umrika

Sundance Film Festival is widely considered as one among the largest film fests in United States of America. The 2015 edition of Sundance Film Festival will be conducted with grandeur and the organizers are trying to make it special in all means. The recent news from the corner is regarding the selection of an Indian movie in the competition section of the festival. ‘Umrika‘ directed by Prasanth Nair will compete in the ‘World Cinema Dramatic Competition‘ in the Sundance Festival.

Suraj Sharma who shot to fame after his iconic character in the movie, ‘Life of Pi‘ is doing the lead role in this movie. Apart from Suraj Sharma, the movie also features, Adil Hussain, Prateik Babbar, Rajesh Tailang and Tony Revolori in other prominent roles.

The movie showcases the story of a young man who is in search of his elder brother who went missing from United States of America.

Prasanth Nair is not a new name in the International Film Festival circuit. His debut movie, ‘Delhi in a Day‘ was a critical success, and it had a dream run in many major festivals.

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Its been 3 years since DAM 999, the movie directed by Sohan Roy hit the theaters, and still the movie is running strong in the International Film Festival circuit. Recently, the movie got selected for Cinema Verde Environmental Film & Arts Festival,USA, which will be conducted from February 12-15, 2015.

Another Indian movie which got selected to the festival is Sudhin Thakur’s ‘Pinky: Ek Sathyakatha‘.

DAM 999‘ crafted by Sohan Roy is a film which made the whole Indian Film Fraternity proud in front of the Global Public. The screenplay of the film was selected as the permanent core collection in Library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and this clearly showcases the top notch nature of this movie.

The movie showcases the lives of nine people who are symbolized as nine variant emotions in the backdrop of a dam. More than a disaster story, the film has huge significance in the present world which is ruled by money and power. The film will make the audience think thrice before leaving the movie hall, and this played a crucial role in determining its success in the festival circuit.

On the other hand, ‘Pinky: Ek Sathyakatha‘ is a film which deals with the illicit use of steroids in the Indian Sporting Sector. The movie showcases the story of Pinky Pramanik, an Indian athlete who was accused of gender forgery.

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The Marrakech International Film Festival is scheduled from 5th – 13th December 2014. The 14th edition of this reputed International Festival will be touching a new realm of glory this year, as the organizers are trying their best to bring eminent personalities in the World Cinema under one roof. Indian Film Industry too have its proud moment during the festival, as Ritesh Batra, the aspiring director who made the much acclaimed movie ‘Lunch Box‘ have been selected as the Jury at this year’s festival.

The jury panel is completely filled with some unquestionable names in the World Cinema. The jury will be headed by none other than renowned French actress Isabelle Huppert. The other jury members include, Danish filmmaker Susanne Bier, French director Bertrand Bonello, Romanian director Cristian Mungiu, Moroccan filmmaker Moumen Smihi and Italian director Mario Martone. French actress Melanie Laurent and English actor Alan Rickman are also part of this jury panel.

Labor of Love‘, the Bengali movie directed by Aditya Vikram Sen Gupta will be screened in the International Competition. Expectations about this movie are sky high as it won prestigious awards from Venice Days and Abu Dhabi Film Festival.

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It was ‘Speed’ which made him famous in all nooks of the world, and in the end the same ‘Speed’ robbed his life.

Fans of Paul Walker gathered at the site of Car Crash which took his life a year back, and they paid respect to their most lovable star, on Sunday. The gathering witnessed some very emotional moments, and most of the eyes were wet while remembering the ‘fast and furious’ star.

It was raining heavily in Valencia, California on Sunday. Fans of Paul Walker ignored all kinds of hindrances, and they reached the spot on time with flowers and photographs in their hands.

Celebrities and close friends of Paul Walker also remembered the star during his first death anniversary. Vin Diesel, Walker’s closest friend posted a snap of his daughter who is seen sitting in the lap of Walker. “He was a part of so much in my life… long personal talks with my mother or babysitting the Alpha Angel (Diesel’s daughter)… he took a certain pride in being uncle Pablo… after all, we were filming a scene in Ff4 (‘Fast & Furious’) the day she was born, and he being the only one I told, encouraged me to go in and cut the umbilical cord”, Diesel captioned the snap.

Michelle Rodriguez and Tyrese Gibson, Walker’s co stars in the ‘Fast and Furious’ franchisee offered tributes to the star through their respective social media pages.

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Leviathan‘ directed by renowned Russian Filmmaker Andrey Zvyagintsev won the ‘Golden Peacock’ Award at the reputed platform of ‘IFFI’. The award was jointly presented to Andrey by Goa Governor Mrudula Sinha and veteran actor Waheeda Rehman.

Indian films too had rejoicing factor during the 45th edition of the festival. Srihare Sathe’s Marathi language film ‘Ek Hazarachi Note‘ bagged the Special Jury Award. The award consisted of a Silver Peacock Prize and 15 Lakh INR cash prize. The film also won the centenary award which comprised of another Silver Peacock and 10 Lakh INR.

Dulal Sarkar, for his performance in Bengali Film, ‘A Short Story’ won the Best Actor Male Award, and this made India’s achievement in the platform two. Russian actor Alexey Serebryakov shared the Best Actor Award along with Dulal. He immortalized the role of Nikolay in ‘Leviathan’, and this helped him to grab the honor.

Nadav Lapid who made, ‘The Kindergarten Teacher‘ has been selected as the Best Director. Alina Rodriguez and Sarit Larry shared the Best Actress Award for their performances in ‘Behaviour’ and ‘The Kindergarten Teacher‘ respectively. Wong Kar-Wai, Hong Kong Filmmaker has been honored with a lifetime achievement award.

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Academy Award winner Natalie Portman is one of the most demanded actresses in the World. The 33 year old actress has enacted some impeccable roles in her career, and this has fetched her millions of fans from all corners of the world. The recent news about Natalie is regarding her possible role in the new biopic movie on Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.

As per reports, Natalie Portman will do a prominent role in this Universal’s production. The details about the character is not yet revealed, but it is sure that she is going to enact a very vital role in the film. This movie will be directed by none other than award winning filmmaker, Danny Boyle. The movie will be produced by Scott Rudin, Christian Colson, Mark Gordon and Guymon Casady.

Michael Fassbender will play the role of Steve jobs in this new movie. The movie will be based on the famous book ‘Steve Jobs’ written by Walter Isaacson.

Natalie Portman is currently awaiting the release of her new movie, “Jane Got a Gun” directed by Gavin O’Connor. Her co stars in this movie includes, Joel Edgerton, Ewan McGregor, Alex Manette etc.

Christoph Walts to act as Ernst Blofeld in ‘Bond 24′

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Bond movies have a global audience and most of these films will be welcomed with an open heart by people in all nooks of the world. The upcoming Bond film, ‘Bond 24’ will be much bigger and mightier than never before, as Director Sam Mendez have roped acclaimed actor Christoph Waltz to play the role of classic villain, ‘Ernst Blofeld’.

The news has been confirmed, and this has raised the expectations to a next level about this new Bond movie. The two time Academy Award winner will be seen in the role of the most powerful Bond villain created by Ian Fleming.

Daniel Craig will reprise the role of James Bond in this new movie. Ralph Fiennes, Ben Whishaw and Naomie Harris will reprise their roles from Sky Fall.

Christoph Waltz is widely considered as one of the finest actors in the modern world. His impeccable performances in movies like ‘Django Unchained’ and ‘Inglorious Bastards’ have fetched him umpteen numbers of recognitions which includes The Academy Award for the Best Supporting actor.

Bond 24 is slated for release on 6th November 2015.

DIFF 2014

The 11th edition of the highly reputed Dubai International Film Festival is scheduled from December 10th – 17th 2014. The Steel Jubilee edition of DIFF will be much bigger than never before, and the organizers are trying hard to bring some eminent names in World Cinema under one roof. The recent news from this corner is regarding the selection of Indian movies in this year’s festival.

Court’ directed by Chaithanya Tamhane, Rajeev Ravi’s ‘I am Steve Lopez’, ‘The Crow’s Egg’ directed by M.Manikandan and Bikas Mishra’s ‘Chauranga’ are all selected for screening in the ‘Cinema of the World’ Section.

All the movies mentioned above are special in one way or the other. ‘Court’ showcases the flaws in Indian Judiciary in the rawest manner. The film showcases the trial of a street singer who was accused of performing a very sensitive song.

I am Steve Lopez’ is a 2014 Malayalam Movie directed by award winning cinematographer Rajeev Ravi. The film tells a story through the eyes of Steve Lopez, a jovial young man. The film tries to reflect the loss of innocence in the materialistic world. The movie has huge significance in this 21st century where people lead a life for themselves.

Crows Egg’ aka ‘Kaaka Muttai’ is crafted by Manikandan, and it is produced by none other than National Award winning Indian actor Dhanush. The movie showcases the story of two brothers who tries to eat the first pizza in their lifetime.

Tigers’, directed by Danis Tanovic will be also screened in the ‘Cinema of the World’ section. The movie stars Emraan Hashmi and Geethanjali Thappa in the lead role, and it portrays the unholy pharma deals in Pakistan.

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Mostofa Sarwar Farooki, the renowned Bangladeshi director won the NFDC Development Award at the Film Bazaar which was conducted at Goa. His recent project, ‘No Land’s Man’ fetched him this recognition. The award of 10 Lakh INR was handed over by Marco Muller, Artistic Director, Rome Film Festival during the closing day of the Film Bazaar.

Mostofa Sarwar Farooki is not a new name in the International Film Festival circuit. He is known for bringing modern realism in Bangladeshi cinema, and he has millions of fan following in the country. He is the king pin behind the Bangladeshi new wave cinema movement.

His previous movies, ‘Television’ and ‘Ants story’ were favorite picks in the Film Festival circuit. Both these projects has been selected for the Asian project market at the Busan International Film Festival.

Thithi’ directed by Ram Reddy won the ‘Work in Progress labaward in the fiction category, whereas Khushboo Ranka and Vinay Shukla’s ‘Proposition for a Revolution’ bagged the same honor in the nonfiction category. Both these films will get free Digital intermediate services at the Prasad Lab.

In the investor’s pitch, ‘Haraamkhor’ directed by Shlok Sharma was awarded an interest free 10 Lakh INR from Vinod Chopra Films and Rajkumar Hirani. ‘For the Love of a Man’ directed by Rinku Kalsy and ‘The strange case of Shiva’ by Arun Karthick also bagged 10 Lakh interest free loan from Manish Mundra, an independent producer.