Two political films emerge the winners at the Rome International Festival today. Resolution 819 by Giacomo Battiato was awarded the The Audience Award for Best Film and Opium War by Siddiq Barmak was awarded The Critics Award for Best Film.
THE AUDIENCE AWARD
The Golden Marc’Aurelio Audience Award for Best Film
RESOLUTION 819 by Giacomo Battiato
[United Nations Resolution 819 guaranteed the safety and protection of the Muslim populations Srebrenica, Bosnia. In July 1985, General Mladic's Bosnian Serb soldiers took the protected area, under the eyes of the completely passive UN troops. Thousands were deported, of which 8000, mostly old people and children, completely disappeared. The International Criminal Tribunal at The Hague sent volunteer French investigator Jacques Calvez to find out what really happened to those people. It is a journey into hell. Jacques faces many kinds of adversity in a country still at war and, alone from the start, is met with hatred and sorrow. He will fight for years to find the mass graves and prove that innocent men were tortured and killed by the criminals lead by Karadzic and Mladic.]
THE AWARDS ASSIGNED BY THE CRITICS’ JURY
A jury, composed of Edoardo Bruno, Michel Ciment, Tahar Ben Jelloun, Emanuel Levy, and Roman Gutek, assigns the Marc’Aurelio Critics’ Award in three different categories:
The Golden Marc’Aurelio Critics’ Award for Best Film
[In a far mountainous place after Taliban regime in Afghanistan, two American soldiers - one white officer and the other an African-American soldier - are lost after their helicopter had crashed. The soldier waits for a chance to run away from the officer while the wounded officer coerces the soldier with a pistol to carry him around. The two are in discords but they need each other to survive in the hostile land. When they cross the poppy field, the two soothe the pain from the hurt, fatigue and dread from the war by licking the substance of the poppy capsules. They soon notice armored personal carriers (APC) with a white flag in the middle of the poppy field, a symbol of Taliban. With nothing much in their hands, they begin attacking the vehicles. But what they find inside in the APCs is an Afghan family living inside...]
Alicenella città Under 12 Prize for Best Film (ages 8 - 12)
The Golden Marc’Aurelio Acting Award to Gina Lollobrigida
The statuette for the Golden and Silver Marc’Aurelio Awards to be assigned by the third edition of the International Rome Film Festival was expressly designed for the Festival by Sinisca, internationally renowned artist, made in 9 copies. Sinisca’s association with the cinema is long-standing, and several paintings he created for films will be exhibited on the evening of the awards ceremony.
The 21st annual Virginia Film Festival, with the theme “Aliens!”, opens tonight. The weekend-long event will feature 80 films and more than 100 guests covering the spectrum of the alien experience, from immigrants to outsiders to extra-terrestrials. The guest list for the 21st annual event includes an international array of some of the most highly respected artists in the film industry today, including Mauritanian-French director Abderrahmane Sissako (screening “Waiting for Happiness” and “Life on Earth”) and Mexican-American director Gregory Nava, here for the 25th anniversary presentation of “El Norte.”
The first annual Bel Air Film Festival has unveiled its lineup of films to be screened in Bel Air and Beverly Hills from November 14 until November 19, 2008.
November 14th
Louise Dahl-Wolfe: Painting With Light
This short documentary film on the life of Louise Dahl-Wolfe draws upon her art and her personality. The documentary reviews how Dahl-Wolfe “discovered” Lauren Bacall, who at the time was a young actress (seventeen years-of-age) and worked as a model. It was Dahl-Wolfe’s photos of Bacall that film producer Harry Warner saw, and subsequently asked Bacall that she come to Hollywood for a screen test. As a result, Bacall was cast opposite Humphrey Bogart in the film To Have and Have Not (1944).
James Gill Full Circle
This is the story of pop artist James Gill and his meteoric rise to fame in the art world. This Texan goes from unknown to a museum acquired artist in less then 3 months. He is chosen as one of the top american artists in the San Palo exhibit along with Warhol, Rosenquist and Lichtenstein.Then at the zenith of his career, he walks away leaving behind celebrity status after running with the likes of Tony Curtis and John Wayne. Thought to be dead by those in the art world, after a 30 year hiatus, he returns with a bold, new style. This time around he carries with him a renewed sense of self, serenity and wisdom. He is not chasing the ghost of Warhol but hope to catch up with Picasso and Rembrandt.
Leo
The Helping Hands Community Outreach has placed Leo into a job that he can enjoy and feel proud of. An alone and quite man, whose simple gratification comes from videogames, movies and childish romantic crushes. Slow and always left out, this office gopher is always happy to be the first one in, and the last one to leave. Leo is the teddybear surrounded by foxes and wolves, a pure victim in a hungry world of corporate finance. A melting pot of people, whose reasons for being there range from mere enjoyment of numbers, to the need to claw the corporate ladder of success. Who and how they ascend can sometimes be unkind and criminal, but once in a while someone comes to orchestrate the perfect crime. A deployment of deception over the course of years. This is no gun-toting hold up but a slow casual walking away with the grandest of treasure… Penny by penny over time, dripping from the innumerable accounts, someone from this small firm has remained incognito… till now.
“Carissa” is a documentary short that tells the story of Carissa Phelps. Last year, Carissa graduated with both a law degree and an MBA from UCLA. But when she was 12, she was homeless and forced into prostitution in Fresno. The film tells Carissa’s inspirational story as we travel back with her to the places it happened.
“Carissa” has won jury prizes at four film festivals, including Best Documentary Short at the Newport Beach Film Festival, and was featured in USA Today and on Good Morning America. It is directed by David Sauvage, a classmate of Carissa’s at UCLA and son of documentary filmmaker Pierre Sauvage. The film is also Executive Produced by Davis Guggenheim, the Academy Award-winning director of “An Inconvenient Truth” and Jamie McCourt, Owner and President of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and sponsored by Virgin Mobile and the Los Angeles Dodgers Dream Foundation.
HECKLER is a comedic feature documentary exploring the increasingly critical world we live in. After starring in a film that was critically bashed, Jamie Kennedy takes on hecklers and critics and ask some interesting questions of people such as George Lucas, Bill Maher, Mike Ditka, Rob Zombie and many more. This fast moving, hilarious documentary pulls no punches as you see an uncensored look at just how nasty and mean the fight is between those in the spotlight and those in the dark. Winner of the 2007 HBO Comedy Festival, Tribeca Film Festival, and AFI Film Festival. Produced by Jamie Kennedy and Michael Addis. Directed by Michael Addis
The Jill & Tony Curtis Story proves the key to fulfillment comes from something much more rewarding than fame or fortune. Screen legend Tony Curtis himself claims he’s never been happier than he is now. Meeting the young, beautiful Jill Vandenberg in 1992, he could not have imagined how much she would change his life. An award-winning equestrian, Jill grew up loving horses and broke down in tears at her computer one day upon discovering how each year over a 100,000 horses of all ages, often in the best of health, are being brutally slaughtered for human consumption overseas. Right then and there Jill knew her life’s purpose. And when she told Tony-who rode in many films-the terrifying fate of these horses, he offered to do all he could to help her rescue them. Jill and Tony Curtis are a fascinating couple whose double-life adventures, though non-stop, never distract them from what matters most. Join them in a great variety of experiences, including an actual slaughter auction in Utah (never before filmed, since cameras are forbidden); Tony’s private art studio in Nevada, where the acclaimed painter transforms a blank canvas into a work as colorful as his conversation; a celebrity convention in Los Angeles that includes Debbie Reynolds and Angie Dickinson; the many happenings at Shiloh, the horse rescue they founded in a desert valley not far from Las Vegas; and their visit to the nation’s capitol-where, along with Bo Derek, Jill and Tony share their compassion to persuade representatives and senators to vote for a bill to stop the slaughter of horses in America. Whether feeding an infant burro with a giant baby bottle or telling anecdotes about Marilyn Monroe to captivated students, Tony never loses his legendary humor. All leads up to Jill and Tony truly knowing fulfillment as they celebrate the rescue of their 400th horse.
Blessed Is The Match Sponsored by the Zigi Siering Institute
7:00pm | American Jewish University | 15600 Mulholland Dr., Bel-Air. California 90077
Honoree: Producer Marta Kauffman (Friends)
Q & A by Director Roberta Grossman following the screening.
Blessed is the Match
Narrated by three-time Academy Award nominee Joan Allen, Blessed Is the Match is the first documentary feature about Hannah Senesh, the World War II-era poet and diarist who became a paratrooper, resistance fighter and modern-day Joan of Arc. Safe in Palestine in 1944, Hannah joined a mission to rescue Hungary’s Jews. Shockingly, it was the only outside rescue mission for Jews during the Holocaust. Hannah parachuted behind enemy lines, was captured, tortured and ultimately executed by the Nazis. Incredibly, her mother Catherine witnessed the entire ordeal - first as a prisoner with Hannah and later as her advocate, braving the bombed-out streets of Budapest in a desperate attempt to save her daughter.
With unprecedented access to the Senesh family archive, this powerful story unfolds through the writings and photographs of Hannah and Catherine Senesh.
The 11th annual Savannah Film Festival, hosted by the Savannah College of Art and Design, presented acclaimed songwriters Alan and Marilyn Bergman with a Lifetime Achievement Award Oct. 27.
The weeklong Savannah Film Festival, scheduled for Oct. 25-Nov. 1, already has honored Variety vice president and editor-in-chief Peter Bart and actor Malcolm McDowell with Lifetime Achievement Awards. Entertainment entrepreneur Suzanne de Passe will be honored Saturday, Nov. 1.
The South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference & Festival announce the first round of confirmed speakers for the 2009 event, to be held March 13-21, 2009 inAustin, Texas. The event will feature acclaimed writer/directors Todd Haynes and Richard Linklater in conversation together, as well as a rare appearance by Col Needham, Founder and Vice President of IMDb Service Limited to discuss the nature of information in the entertainment industry. Longtime Stanley Kubrick producer, Jan Harlan rounds out the group and will speak on his vast filmmaking experience.
The American Indian Film Institute (AIFI) and Title Sponsor the Seminole Tribe of Florida are proud to announce the nominees for the 33rd annual American Indian Film Festival. The awards will be presented at the annual American Indian Motion Picture Awards Show on Saturday Nov. 15 at 6:00p.m at the historic Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco.
The American Indian Motion Picture Awards Show, (established in 1978), has recognized excellence in American Indian cinematic achievement, making the annual awards show one of the most prominent Indian Country and Native Cinema showcases.
Over 100 films have been screened and judged by a jury panel designated by the American Indian Film Institute (AIFI). Fourteen prestigious awards will be recognized to those with outstanding cinematic accomplishments, including: Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Documentary Feature, Best Documentary Short, Best Live Action Short, Best Animated Short, Best Public Service, Best Music Video, Best Industrial, and Eagle Spirit Awards.
BEST FILM
Older Than America, Georgina Lightning, Director
In A World Created By A Drunken God, John Hazlett, Director
Before Tomorrow, Marie-Helene Cousineau and Madeline Piujuq Ivalu, Directors
BEST DIRECTOR
Georgina Lightning, Older Than America
John Hazlett, In A World Created By A Drunken God
Marie-Helene Cousineau and Madeline Piujuq Ivalu, Before Tomorrow
BEST ACTOR
Adam Beach, Older Than America
Trevor Duplessis, In a World Created By a Drunken God
Ron Dean Harris, Moccasin Flats: Redemption
BEST ACTRESS
Candace Fox, Moccasin Flats: Redemption
Georgina Lightning, Older Than America
Madeline Piujuq Ivalu, Before Tomorrow
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
George Leach, Moccasin Flats: Redemption
Wes Studi, Older Than America
Paul-Dylan Ivalu , Before Tomorrow
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Misty Upham, Frozen River
Kaniehtiio Horn, Moccasin Flats: Redemption
Tantoo Cardinal, Older than America
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Weaving Worlds, Bennie Klain, Director
Summer Sun Winter Moon, Hugo Perez, Director
River of Renewal, Carlos Bolado, Director
Power Paths, Bo Boudart, Director
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
Reservation Soldiers, Lisa Jackson, Director
Byron Chief-Moon: Grey Horse Rider, Philip Szporer and Marlene Miller, Directors
Magic On The Water, Tracey Bonneau, Director
It Had To Be Done, Tessa Desnomie, Director
BEST LIVE SHORT SUBJECT
Shadow Of The Salmon, Michael Pearce, Director
Sikumi, Andrew Okpeaha MacLean, Director
Out In The Cold, Colleen Murphy, Director
Niigaanibatowaad: Front Runners, Lori Lewis, Director
BEST ANIMATED SHORT
By The Rapids, Joseph Lazare, Director
Darkness Calls In Gitxsan, Anthony Wong, Director
BEST MUSIC VIDEO
Seminole Wind, Micki Free, Director
One Drum, Helen Haig-Brown, Director
Ua Uitumupan, Louis- Philippe Eno, Director
You Can Let Go, Courtesy of 2008 BMG Music
BEST PUBLIC SERVICE
Hope On The Rez, Rick Williams, Director
Modern Day Warriors, Jenni Monet, Director
For his short film “13th Amendment,” Mike Dennis of Philadelphia, Pa., followed his 90-year-old great-great-grandmother on her trek to vote for Barack Obama in the 2008 Pennsylvania primary. The film, depicting the lifelong voter’s first opportunity to cast a vote on behalf of a black man for U.S. president, took the Grand Jury Award at the iReport Film Festival, CNN’s first user-generated short film competition.
In comments about “13th Amendment,” film reviewer Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times said: “In less than five minutes, Mike Dennis tells a complete story with an inspirational message. I was impressed by all the entries, and I’m sure I’ll see many of these names on feature-length films and documentaries in the years to come.”
Following the theme “Campaign 2008,” the iReport Film Festival provided a platform for filmmakers to document this year’s presidential campaign from their personal vantage point, whether they were volunteering for a campaign or had compelling stories about this election they wanted to document creatively. This short film can be found at http://www.iReport.com/docs/DOC-90261.
The12th Annual “Do It Your Damn Self!!” National Youth Video and Film Festival will be held November 14-15, 2008 at the Boston Public Library and M.I.T.’s Wong Auditorium. The DIYDS!! Festival was created in 1996 by four inner-city teenage girls who felt misrepresented in the media and wanted their videos seen by a wider audience. It now serves as a tool of empowerment for youth to gain important leadership and public speaking skills as well as express their vision of the role they play in society.
The festival has also become a nexus in the growing youth media field. A School Screening at the Boston Public Library attracts hundreds of students and teachers from media production classes all over Massachusetts. This year, Cambridge teens screened over 100 entries and selected the final 13 films based on 5 criteria including technical quality and strength of message. Film selections for DIYDS!! 08 include:
The Y Project (Teen Media Project, Cambridge, MA)
A creative narrative about questioning assumptions inspired by Ralph Brancaccio’s Y-Project sculptures erected at various locations installed in various Cambridge parks.
Racism in Espanola (Espanola High School, Espanola, NM)
A documentary about the racism experienced by people around our country in which teens ask why Mexican-Americans are discriminated against.
Hard Knot Life (Truce Harlem Children’s Project, Harlem, NY)
This documentary takes a realistic look at ghettos and substance abuse in Harlem.
Applying for Change (Community Television Network, Chicago, IL)
A narrative of two brothers, one hustles his way through the streets, one wants to go to college.
Filmmakers from around the country will arrive in Cambridge Friday Nov. 14th to participate in a panel discussion at the School Screening at Boston Public Library from 10am - 2:00 pm. Over 300 students and teachers from the Boston area will attend the screening and workshop. On Saturday families and children are invited to join the first ever CommUNITY Media Day at Central Square Theater from 1-3 pm, featuring workshops for families, a screening of the new DIYDS Jr!! features films by 6-12 year old filmmakers and The Chickens of Ventura Fabien, directed by Nina Hasin. Saturday evening brings the ticketed public Premiere Screening to M.I.T.’s Wong Auditorium. A moderated discussion and Q&A session with filmmakers allows the audience to interface with the films in a unique way. Celebration follows at the Premiere Party at MIT’s Morss Hall from 9-12 pm. Tickets for the Premiere Screening or Premiere Party can be purchased online at www.diyds.org.
The Clip Film Festival Jury has made their decision and now it’s time for you to cast your vote on the “Best of the Fest”. The polls are now open! Voting continues till Monday, November 3, 2008 at 10:00am.
Winners of the Jury and select Audience awards receive a beautiful etched crystal platter from Tiffany & Co.
Men’s Favorite Feature
Women’s Favorite Feature
Overall Favorite International Film
Best Actor
Best Actress
Best Supporting Actor
Best Supporting Actress
Best Director
Best Screenplay
Best Cinematography
Here is how the 2008 Clip Film Festival Jury voted:
Best Documentary: Pageant
Best Feature Film: XXY
Best Short Film: I’m Jin Young
Best Director, Documentary: Ron Davis/Stewart Halpern, “Pageant”
Best Director, Feature Film: Shamim Sarif, “World Unseen”
Best Director, Short Film: Edward Gunawan, “Laundromat”
Best Actor: Tye Olson, “Watercolors”
Best Actress: Christine Evangelista, “Goodbye Baby”
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