The highly reputed South Asian International Film Festival was concluded on November 23rd 2014. Indian Film Fraternity has a very happy news to rejoice this year, as ‘Titli’ directed by Kanu Behl bagged the Grand Jury Prize for the ‘Best Feature Film’. Another Indian Film, ‘Killa’ directed by Avinash Arun was declared as the second best movie which was screened in the festival.
The awards were presented at Manhattan’s Carlton Hotel on November 23rd. The event was splendid in all means, and it was blessed with the presence of some eminent personalities.
Afia Nathaniel who directed ‘Dukhtar’ was selected as the ‘Best Director’. The film is an intense drama, and it is the official selection of Pakistan for the 87th Academy Awards. The movie also won the Festival’s audience award.
Gitanjali Rao’s True Love Story was awarded the ‘Short Grand Jury Prize’. This is a highly impeccable animated short film which showcases the story of a young man who makes use of Bollywood movies to tame the girls. ‘Veil’ directed by Sreemoya Bhattacharya won the Audience Award for the ‘Best Short Film’.
Noida International Film Festival which was earlier known as Miniboxoffice International Film Festival is one of the growing film festive events in the nation, and the number of spectators who are following NIFF is increasing day by day. Miniboxoffice International Film Festival started its journey as a short film competition, and after three years, the festival has added the feature film segment as an addition. The recent news from this corner is regarding the call for entries for this year’s festival.
Filmmakers can submit their movies to this festival now, and the early bird deadline is December 20th 2014. The regular deadline and late deadline are January 15th and January 22nd respectively.
This is the second edition of the festival after renaming it to NIFF. The festival aims to feature some of the impeccable movies in world cinema, and paving way for filmmakers and spectators to know the current trends which are ruling the entertainment sector. Another mission of the festival is to cater the growth of Independent Film Makers in the country.
Last year, films from more than 35 countries have been screened in the festival. This year, the organizers expect something big from the corner.
San Francisco International Ocean Film Festival is one of the rarest film festivals in the world which is completely dedicated for ocean related Independent films. The 12th annual edition of this festival is scheduled from February 27 – March 1, 2015. The festival will be conducted at Cowell Theater, Fort Mason Center in San Francisco.
Filmmakers can submit their documentaries, narratives, shorts, animation and full length films to this festival, and the only criteria should be followed is its relation with ocean. The movie should be cinemaquatic, and it should be somewhere related to oceans.
Apart from oceanic themes, movie makers can also submit movies which are related to wildlife, environmental, conservation, seafaring adventures, sports and coastal cultures. The festival has huge number of people following, and it will surely help filmmakers to take their movies to a new level of exposure.
The 39th edition of Cleveland International Film Festival will be conducted from March 18th – 29th 2014, in Cleveland, Ohio. The film festival will be conducted with much grandeur and exposure than the previous years, and the organizers are trying their best to make it a memorable event for both the spectators and the audience. The recent news from this corner is regarding the call for entries for this year’s film festival.
Filmmakers can now submit the films and the extended deadline is November 30th. Films with 45 minutes or more running time will be considered as feature films whereas movies with less than 45 minutes time will be considered as short films. The film festival has 9 competitions for feature films and 11 competitions for short films. This year, the film festival plans to give away more than $60,000 as cash prize.
The films which are being sent to the festival should be made after June 1st 2013.
Cleveland International Film Festival is widely considered as one of the top notch film festivals in United States of America. Last year, the film festival screened more than 350 films from 65 countries.
Greer Grammar, better known as the daughter of ace actor Kelsey Grammar has been selected as Miss Golden Globe 2015 for the 72nd Golden Globe Awards. The title has been announced by Hollywood Foreign Press Association, and this clearly indicates the entry of Greer to the big league.
Greer Grammar is 22 years old, and she has been named after actress Greer Garson. The finalization of Greer Grammar as the Miss Golden Globe has created a wave of ecstasy in the mind of this ravishing beauty. “I screamed and I jumped up and down. I was just so happy when the Hollywood Foreign Press Association reached out to me this year. It was such a dream come true”, the actress said about this achievement according to Peoples Magazine.
Her dad and mom are both excited about this news. Parents of Greer Grammar are highly excited about this news, and they are literally proud to see their daughter on the screen.
As the miss Golden Globe, Greer Grammar will be doing the most elegant job an anchor can do in this planet. She will be taking the presenters on and off the screens, and sometimes, she will be assisting with delivering trophies.
The Golden Globe awards will be conducted at January 11th 2015.
A glad news for filmmakers is awaiting in Goa, as the NFDC Film Bazaar helps movie directors to complete their projects by providing finishing funds. The film bazaar will be conducted from October 20th – 24th 2014, and the new segment which is being introduced in this event is expected to fetch benign benefits for filmmakers who wish to make their film a reality.
As per reports, eighteen projects will be pitched in front of investors in Goa this year. Deepti DCunha, the curator of Investor Pitch told that they aim to provide financial assistance for films which runs out of budget in the post production stage. She added that the prospective investors will be given the chance to watch full films and this will help them to create an idea about the quality of films. Some of the noted investors who participating in the event includes, Dar, Disney UTV, Essel Entertainment, Holy Basil and Navlakha Arts and Sikhya Entertainment.
Last year, Pushpendra Singh, the director of ‘Lajwanti‘ found his co producer from the NFDC Film Bazaar. Sanjay Gulati who viewed the movie agreed to produce the film and the decision was validated as ‘Lajwanti’ got selected in Berlinale Panorama.
Pushpendra Singh is back in action this year with the same old Gulati, and they are participating in NFDC with his new movie, ‘Ashwathama’.
To know more details about NFDC, please visit the official website by clicking the link given below, http://www.filmbazaarindia.com/.
HBO’s South Asian International Film Festival 2014 began on Tuesday, 18th November 2014 in Manhattan. ‘X’ directed by eleven directors opened the film festival, and after screening, it received highly positive reviews from both spectators and audiences. The other feature films which will be screened in the festival includes, ‘Ek Hazarachi Note’ directed by Shrihari Sathe, Karthik Subbaraj’s ‘Jigarthanda’, Kanu Behl’s ‘Titli’, Avinash Arun’s ‘Killa’ and ‘Dukhtar’ directed by Afia Serena Nathaniel.
‘X’ is a movie which is special in all means, and it is directed by eleven directors. ‘Jigarthanda’ crafted by Karthik Subbaraj is one real gem of a film, and this Tamil movie is widely considered as the best one which got released in Tamil Nadu in 2014. The movie showcases the story of a young filmmaker who follows the life of a goon to make his first movie.
‘Titli’ produced by Aditya Chopra in the banner of Yash Raj Films showcases the story of ‘Titli’ the youngest member of a carjacking family. He is very much frustrated about his family business, and he always plans things to combat it. Titli’s marriage changes his life from grass root level as he finds an unlikely ally in his new wife, Neelu.
The film festival will also screen short films, and the list includes, ‘Enough’, ‘23 Winters’, ‘True Love Story’ (animation), ‘The Gatekeeper’ and ‘Veil’. The festival will also screen Hindi movie ‘Happy Ending’ as the center piece. The film stars Saif Ali Khan, Ileana D’Cruz, Kalki Koechlin, Ranvir Shorey and Govinda in the lead roles.
Chaithanya Tamhane‘s ‘Court’ is literally continuing its dream journey in the International Film Festival circuit as the film won three more awards to its credit from three reputed film festivals which concluded recently.
This debut feature film of Chaithanya won the ‘New Talent Award‘ at the Hong Kong Asian Film Festival 2014. ‘Court‘ recieved highly positive reviews from critics and judges after the screening, and they praised it as a well executed film with a bold cinematic language.
The film also won the Victor Turov Memorial Award for Best Film in the ‘Youth on the March’ Feature Films Competition which was conducted at the 21st Minsk Film Festival Listapad. The film added one more award to its credit by winning the Special Jury mention from Molodist Film festival, Ukraine.
‘Court‘ is a real gem of a film, and it is made with an uncompromising cinematic language. The movie showcases a story in the backdrop of Indian Judiciary system. Certain hot topics are being handled in this movie, and the director has succeeded to craft it with perfection.
‘The Heritage Film Festival’ 2014 is all set to begin on 30th October 2014, and it will run through November 2nd 2014. The organizers are trying their best to make the event special in all means, and this year’s festival is expected to be bigger and mightier than the two previous editions. The impeccability of this year’s festival will be clearly evident if you take a look to the jury panel, and the films for screening.
The jury panel for the 2014 edition of the festival comprises of Esther David, Villoo Mirza, Ravjo Sondarva and Aditi Desai. As we all know, Esther David is a well known writer, and her novels based on her Jewish experiences in India have fetched her unending numbers of fans in all corners of the nation. She has received the Sahitya Akademi Award for 2010 for English Literature from the Government of India. The mesmerizing lady has worked with many untrained artists and folk artists for many years, and she has also associated with Lalit Kala Academy and West Zone Cultural Centre.
Ravji Sondarva is an impeccable Cinematographer, and he has worked in many TV Serials, Ads and in Hindi Feature Films. Aditi Desai is a renowned theater actress known for her realistic portrayal of characters. She has also made her presence felt in the Television and Film Industry. Villoo Mirza is such an aspiring lady who has dedicated her complete life for the empowerment of women through skill building and livelihood programs.
The Award winning films in the Heritage Film Festival clearly indicates the class and quality of the jurisdiction process. The films which won awards in the festival includes, ‘Unfolding The Pata Story’, ‘Tradition’ and ‘The Idols of Kinnal’. Films which won special mentioned are ‘A collection of 5 films by Nidhi Kamath and Keya Vaswani’ and ‘Kabir Ke Julahe’.
‘Yeti’ directed by Abhijit Mazumdar will be screened at the much reputed platform of Torino Film Festival. The 32nd edition of this festival will be conducted from November 21st – 29th, 2014 in Italy. The film will be screened in the ‘Onde’ section of the festival which is a non competitive category dedicated for experimental movies.
‘Yeti’ showcases the story of a film crew which is shooting a movie in Mumbai. Tensions in the group hinders the normal proceedings, and soon reality becomes more unbelievable than fiction. ‘ Yeti ‘ is a disturbing and at times surprising theorem of cinematography and cinephiles, suspended between Blow-Up, The Conversation and, above all, the cinema of Tsai Ming-liang’, the festival says about ‘Yeti’.
Abhijit Mazumdar is not a new face in the International Film Festival circuit. His short film ‘Vanishing Point’ was screened in the Indian Panorama section of the International Film Festival of India, 2012.
‘Yet’ is 61 minutes, 52 seconds long. The film will be screened on November 25th 2014.