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Posted by editor@vimooz.com on November 7, 2009 under AFI Los Angeles International Film Festival | 
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'Fish Tank'
Andrea Arnold’s “Fish Tank” and Javier Rebello’s “Woman Without Piano” were announced as the winners of the inaugural AFI Fest New Lights Competition. Scandar Copti’s and Yaron Shani’s “Ajami” received a special jury mention.
Posted by editor@vimooz.com on September 17, 2009 under AFI Los Angeles International Film Festival | Be the First to Comment
AFI FEST 2009 presented by Audi announces 12 films that will screen at this year’s Festival in Los Angeles (October 30-November 7) including Lee Daniels’ PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL PUSH BY SAPPHIRE, Werner Herzog’s THE BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL NEW ORLEANS and Bong Joon-ho’s MOTHER.
The twelve official selections include:
Posted by editor@vimooz.com on May 8, 2009 under AFI Los Angeles International Film Festival | Be the First to Comment
AFI FEST 2009 presented by Audi will be held October 30 - November 7 in Hollywood, California, celebrating its 23rd year as Los Angeles’ premier film festival. This year, in recognition of Audi’s 100 years of automotive innovation, AFI and Audi will offer complimentary tickets to all screenings, including a limited number of seats at the evening screenings and Galas, including Opening and Closing Night.
The festival will be headquartered at the historic Mann’s Chinese Theatre between October 30 and November 5th, and then move to the seaside for screenings in Santa Monica presented in association with the American Film Market (AFM). The Hollywood Roosevelt returns as the festival’s host hotel.
“AFI FEST presented by Audi brings the best of global cinema to the world capital of the art form,” said Bob Gazzale, AFI President & CEO. “Presenting the screenings compliments of AFI and Audi is our way of reaching out to film lovers in these challenging times and inviting them to see a movie on us.”
The festival will be programmed by Rose Kuo, AFI FEST Artistic Director, in partnership with longtime film writer Robert Koehler and AFI FEST programmer Lane Kneedler. ” It is a thrill to have Robert join the AFI FEST team,” said Kuo. “His critical eye has long been respected in the film community, and he has been an unwavering voice on behalf of the array of international filmmakers whom AFI FEST has championed from its very beginning.”
AFI FEST 2009 presented by Audi will feature domestic and international works from emerging filmmakers, global showcases of the latest offerings from established artists, and red-carpet gala premieres. In addition to complimentary seating on a “first come” basis, patron passes for guaranteed seats at evening galas and tributes will be available for purchase and will allow priority access to all regular screenings.
AFI FEST presented by Audi is the only film festival in the United States to hold the prestigious FIAPF accreditation (www.FIAPF.org), assuring a high standard of quality and reliability for the international film community. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognizes AFI FEST as a qualifying festival for the Short Films category
of the annual Academy Awards.
The AFI FEST presented by Audi early film submission deadline is June 19, 2009. The final deadline for shorts (under 30 minutes) is July 17, 2009. The final deadline for features (over 30 minutes) is July 31, 2009. Acceptance decisions will be announced no later than October 1, 2009. Submissions can be made at www.AFI.com/AFIFEST or by calling 1.866.AFI.FEST for more information.
The American Film Market (AFM), to be held November 4 -11, 2009, is the market partner of AFI FEST. Since its formation in 2004, this alliance has grown into the largest gathering of film professionals in North America. The association between the two events connects art and commerce, broadening the opportunities for all participants. A total of 30 films selected for last year’s AFI FEST were also represented
at AFM 2008.
AFI FEST 2008 presented by Audi enjoyed record attendance, as audiences turned out in force to view films and special events. Programming highlights from AFI FEST 2008 presented by Audi included the World Premiere of DOUBT with Meryl Streep and Amy
Adams in attendance; a Tribute to Danny Boyle, which included the U.S. premiere of SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE with the director and cast on the red carpet; the U.S. premiere of THE WRESTLER with Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei and Darren Aronofsky in attendance; red carpet appearances by Benicio Del Toro, Dustin Hoffman, Emma Thompson, Mark Ruffalo, Joaquin Phoenix, Michelle Williams, Steven Soderbergh, Ed Zwick and Arnaud Desplechin; and access to the AFI Digital Content Lab’s 2-day DigiFest conference.
Posted by editor@vimooz.com on November 27, 2008 under AFI Los Angeles International Film Festival | Be the First to Comment
AFI FEST 2008 presented by Audi announced the 2008 award winners on Nov. 9, with Federico Veiroj’s ACNE named as the recipient of the Grand Jury Prize for International Feature Competition. Special Mention went to Igor Voloshin’s NIRVANA.
Kief Davidson’s KASSIM THE DREAM took the International Documentary Grand Jury Prize. Special Mention went to Jan Louter’s THE LAST DAYS OF SHISHMAREF.
The Shorts Jury Prize went to Michel Lipkes’s THE LEGLESS BOY CANNOT DANCE. Daniel Stamm’s A NECESSARY DEATH won the Audience Award for best feature film, while Davidson’s KASSIM THE DREAM and Patrick Davidson’s THE WORLD WE WANT shared the Audience Award for best documentary. Lagan Sebert’s and Sandra Sampayo’s BUSCO PERSONAS: THE FACES OF COLOMBIA’S WAR won the Audience Award for the Short section.
Pictured above:(From LEFT to RIGHT) Daniel Stamm (DIR: A NECESSARY DEATH), Brian Udovich(PROD: A NECESSARY DEATH) Audience Award winner for Narrative Feature, Kief Davidson (DIR/PROD: KASSIM THE DREAM) Grand Jury Prize winner and Audience Award co-winner for Documentary Feature, Rose Kuo (Artistic Director), Lane Kneedler (Senior Programmer), Kassim “The Dream” Ouma, Igor Voloshin (DIR: NIRVANA) Special Mention for Narrative Feature, Shaz Bennett (Associate Director of Programming)
Posted by editor@vimooz.com on October 27, 2008 under AFI Los Angeles International Film Festival | Be the First to Comment
Miramax Films’ DOUBT has been selected to replace THE SOLOIST as the AFI FEST’s Opening Night Gala presentation. The Festival will screen an unfinished version of DOUBT when it opens AFI FEST on Thursday, October 30, 2008, at ArcLight Hollywood’s Cinerama Dome Theatre. The Opening Night Gala is the film’s World Premiere and is presented by Audi of America.
Directed and adapted by John Patrick Shanley from his Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning play, DOUBT is the tale of a nun who confronts a priest when she suspects him of abusing a black student, which he denies. It is a gripping story about the quest for truth, the forces of change, and the devastating consequences of blind justice in an age defined by moral conviction.
The film stars Academy Award-winners Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman, Academy Award-nominee Amy Adams, and Viola Davis. It is produced by Scott Rudin and Mark Roybal. The Miramax Films release is due in theaters on December 12.
Meryl Streep received the 2004 AFI Life Achievement Award, the highest honor for a career in film.
“The movie is still being finished, but we were so excited to show DOUBT and help our friends at AFI FEST and the American Film Institute at the same time. We couldn’t possibly pass up the opportunity,” said Miramax president Daniel Battsek.
“We are grateful to Miramax Films and producers Scott Rudin and Mark Roybal for providing AFI the honor of premiering this highly anticipated, unfinished version of DOUBT. There is no doubt that bringing together Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams in concert with the extraordinary talents of writer-director John Patrick Shanley promises an evening that will celebrate the finest in American film,” said Rose Kuo, AFI FEST Artistic Director.
Posted by editor@vimooz.com on October 23, 2008 under AFI Los Angeles International Film Festival | Be the First to Comment
THE SOLOIST, starring Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey, Jr, has been pulled as the AFI Festival’s Opening Night Gala presentation. AFI FEST will announce its new Opening Night film today.
Paramount Pictures, Dreamworks Pictures and Participant Media released a joint statement:
“Due to the change in THE SOLOIST release date, we unfortunately had to withdraw from the AFI FEST Film Festival. It was an honor to be invited as the Opening Night film and we are very grateful to the festival for their support and understanding. THE SOLOIST filmmakers, DreamWorks, Universal, Participant and Paramount are very proud of this film and we are excited and committed to bring it to the world in March.”
“While we are greatly disappointed that AFI FEST will not have the opportunity to offer the World Premiere of THE SOLOIST, AFI’s priority is to honor the artists,” said AFI FEST Artistic Director Rose Kuo. “We wish to be supportive in any endeavor that will help a film of this quality reach a greater audience”
Posted by editor@vimooz.com on September 25, 2008 under AFI Los Angeles International Film Festival | Be the First to Comment
AFI Los Angeles International Film Festival has announced that DreamWorks Pictures and Universal Pictures’ “The Soloist” has been selected as the Festival’s Opening Night Gala presentation. “The Soloist” will have its North American Premiere when it opens AFI FEST on Thursday, October 30, 2008 at ArcLight Hollywood’s Cinerama Dome Theatre. The Opening Night Gala is presented by Audi of America. THE SOLOIST, produced by DreamWorks and Universal in Association with StudioCanal and Participant Media, is an emotionally inspiring drama about the redemptive power of friendship and music. Journalist Steve Lopez (Oscar nominee Robert Downey Jr.) discovers Nathaniel Anthony Ayers (Oscar winner Jamie Foxx), a former classical music prodigy, playing his violin on the streets of L.A. As Lopez endeavors to help the homeless man find his way back, a unique bond is formed, one that transforms both their lives. “The Soloist” is directed
Paramount Vantage’s DEFIANCE has been selected as the Festival’s Closing Night Gala presentation. DEFIANCE will have its World Premiere at the Festival on Sunday, November 9, 2008 at ArcLight Hollywood’s Cinerama Dome Theatre. The Closing Night Gala is presented by Audi of America. DEFIANCE will be in theaters this December.
Directed and co-written by Edward Zwick, DEFIANCE is based on a true story of family, honor, vengeance and salvation in World War II. Managing to escape certain death, three brothers take refuge in the dense woods they have known since childhood. There they begin their desperate battle against the Nazis. At first it is all they can do to stay alive. But gradually, as whispers of their daring spreads, they begin to attract others – men and women, young and old – willing to risk everything for the sake of even a moment’s freedom. As a brutal winter descends, they work to create a community, and to keep faith alive when all humanity appeared to be lost. Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber and Jamie Bell star as brothers who turn a primitive struggle to survive into something far more consequential – a way to avenge the deaths of their loved ones by saving thousands of others.
AFI Los Angeles International Film Festival earlier this month announced 14 films that will screen at this year’s Festival (October 30-November 9) including the World Premiere of the documentary, PLAYING COLUMBINE, as well as the North American Premieres of THE DESERT WITHIN, GOGOL BORDELLO NON-STOP and LAKE TAHOE.
Danny Ledonne’s PLAYING COLUMBINE takes a look at the history and controversy created by the video game “Super Columbine Massacre RPG!” from its creation through the 2006 shooting at Dawson College in which the game was singled out by the media as an influence on the shooter. The game’s removal from the Slamdance 2007 Guerrilla Gamemaker Competition resulted in half of the competition’s entries, as well as a sponsor, pulling out of the festival in protest. The screening will mark the highly anticipated film’s World Premiere.
Making their North American Premieres at AFI FEST this year are two Mexican films, THE DESERT WITHIN and LAKE TAHOE. Directed by Rodrigo Pla, THE DESERT WITHIN is a drama which follows the downward spiral (and resulting influence on his children) of a father convinced that he has received a vision from God telling him that he must take his family to the desert to build a church and forge a new life. Fernando Eimbcke’s LAKE TAHOE is a minimalist comic-drama about a young man who meets a handful of bizarre and off beat characters in a Yucatan one-horse town as he seeks replacement parts for the car he just
crashed.
Also making its North American Premiere will be Margarita Jimeno’s GOGOL BORDELLO NON-STOP. The documentary is a behind-the-scenes look at the gypsy punk band Gogol Bordello and their charismatic leader and front man, Eugene Hütz.
AFI FEST also announces 10 films currently playing at the Toronto International Film Festival that will screen for Los Angeles audiences for the first time at AFI FEST this fall.
“These films represent remarkably unique views of our world from newer artists like Matteo Garrone, Ari Folman, Kelly Reichardt and Lisandro Alonso to the more established voices such as Arnaud Desplechin and Paul Schrader. They are films that have either already been celebrated and talked about at film festivals, internationally, or are sure to inspire enthusiastic discussion and debate at ours,” said Rose Kuo, AFI FEST Artistic Director.
Those films include:
ADAM RESURRECTED (Germany/Israel/USA)
Director: Paul Schrader
Based on the novel by Yoram Kaniuk, the film by AFI alum Schrader (D ‘69) is about a former circus clown who was spared the gas chamber so that he might entertain thousands of Jews as they marched to their deaths. Years later, he becomes the ringleader at an asylum in the Negev desert populated solely by Holocaust survivors. The film stars Jeff Goldblum and Willem Dafoe.
A CHRISTMAS TALE (Un conte de Noël) (France)
Director: Arnaud Desplechin
A drama focusing on a tense Christmas reunion of a family fractured by a past tragedy and forced to reconcile despite their dysfunction due to the onset of another crisis. The film stars Mathieu Almaric and Catherine Deneuve.
GOMORRAH (Italy)
Director: Matteo Garrone
Based on Roberto Saviano’s expose’ of Italy’s Neapolitan Camorra crime organization, the film traces the day-to-day lives of various people touched by the syndicate and the ever-simmering betrayal, violence and often tragic results of its influence.
THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE WEIRD (South Korea)
Director: Kim Jee Woon
Set in the 30s, the film is a reinvention of the Spaghetti western, featuring three men embodying the title descriptions who each meet on a train in the middle of the lawless Manchurian desert and face off against each other - as well as the Japanese army and hordes of bandits.
LION’S DEN (Argentina/South Korea/Brazil)
Director: Pablo Trapero
The film is a profile of a woman jailed for a murder she may or may not have committed, who discovers she is pregnant and now must raise her child behind bars.
LIVERPOOL (Argentina/France/The Netherlands/Germany/Spain) Director: Lisandro Alonso
The film follows the journey of an alcoholic ship worker who takes leave of his job to make an unwelcome return to his small hometown and visit his dying mother and developmentally challenged daughter.
SHAKESPEARE AND VICTOR HUGO’S INTIMACIES (Mexico)
Director: Yulene Olaizola
This documentary uses the recollections of the director’s grandmother to explore her relationship with a former lodger and his possible connection to a series of murders in Mexico City.
SKIN (UK/South Africa)
Director: Anthony Fabian
Set in 1955 and based on a true story, the film looks at the social and personal impact on two white Afikaner parents and their daughter in rural South Africa, after the girl is born with dark skin. The film stars Sophie Okonedo, Sam Neill and Alice Krige.
WALTZ WITH BASHIR (Israel/Germany/France)
Director: Ari Folman
The animated documentary investigates the involvement of an Israeli army brigade in the wholesale slaughter of a Lebanese refugee camp by Christian Phalangist militiamen.
WENDY AND LUCY (USA)
Director: Kelly Reichardt
Michelle Williams stars as a young woman, broke and out of options, who sets out on a dramatic journey to find a better life with her dog. The cast also includes Will Patton, Larry Fessenden, and Will Oldham.
AFI FEST 2008 will run October 30-November 9, 2008. Passes went on sale September 2 and individual film and event tickets go on sale to the public on October 10. To order passes and tickets and to get more information, visit www.AFI.com or call 1.866.AFI.FEST.