Film Festivals
In honor of the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival‘s 20th Anniversary next year, the SLOIFF will celebrate by screening Hollywood movies that have been made in San Luis Obispo County over the past 90 years. SLO County on the Silver Screen will present a wide variety of notable films, and screen each in the part of the County they were principally filmed in. The series will begin in August and run through the next Festival, scheduled for March 5-9, 2014.
THE LAND OF HOPE
The 34th edition of the Durban International Film Festival announced its award-winners, presenting the award for Best Feature Film to the film THE LAND OF HOPE. The International Jury commended Sion Sono for a film that “masterfully and humbly draws together an array of cinematic means of expression to engage us in a story”. The Best South African Feature Film was awarded to South African filmmaker Andrew Worsdale for his film DURBAN POISON.
WORLD WAR Z Director Marc Forster
Swiss-German director, producer and screenwriter Marc Forster, whose most recent film WORLD WAR Z starring Brad Pitt is currently in theaters will preside over the jury for the 2013 Zurich Film Festival (ZFF), taking place September 26 – October 6.
Keanu Reeves directs MAN OF TAI CHI
Keanu Reeves’ MAN OF TAI CHI is among the initial lineup of films screening at this year’s Fantastic Fest taking place September 19-26 in Austin, Texas at the Alamo Drafthouse Lakeline. Keanu Reeves stars in and makes his directorial debut in the multi-lingual narrative, MAN OF TAI CHI. Partly inspired by the life of Reeves’ friend, stuntman Tiger Chen, MAN OF TAI CHI tells the story of a young martial artist whose unparalleled Tai Chi skills land him in a highly lucrative underground fight club. As the fights intensify so does his will to survive and his desire to protect his way of life.
The 2013 Fantastic Fest will open with the world premiere of Robert Rodriguez’s MACHETE KILLS on September 19, 2013. Robert Rodriguez along with Danny Trejo and Alexa Vega, both featured in the film, are expected to be in attendance at the premiere. The festival will be held in Austin, Texas at the new Alamo Drafthouse Lakeline location from September 19-26, 2013.
American Dreams in China
The Toronto International Film Festival unveiled the first round of titles set to premiere in the Galas and Special Presentations programs at the 38th Toronto International Film Festival. This first slate of films includes 40 world premieres from filmmakers including: Bill Condon, Steve McQueen, Sylvain Chomet, John Carney, Jean-Marc Vallée, Atom Egoyan, Amma Asante, Godfrey Reggio, Jason Reitman, John Wells, Denis Villeneuve, Don McKellar, Jasmila Žbanić, Justin Chadwick, Mike Myers, Liza Johnson, Richard Ayoade, David Gordon Green, Ralph Fiennes, Paul Haggis, Manuel Martín Cuenca, Jason Bateman, Bertrand Tavernier and Matthew Weiner.
The Toronto International Film Festival will close with the world premiere of Daniel Schechter’s sly crime story LIFE OF CRIME. Based on Elmore Leonard’s novel The Switch, the closing night Gala features a stellar cast including Jennifer Aniston, John Hawkes, yasiin bey (a.k.a. Mos Def), Isla Fisher, Will Forte, Mark Boone Jr, and Tim Robbins.
The world premiere of the WikiLeaks movie’ THE FIFTH ESTATE will open the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival on September 5. A dramatic thriller based on real events, directed by Bill Condon THE FIFTH ESTATE reveals the quest to expose the deceptions and corruptions of power that turned an Internet upstart into the 21st century’s most fiercely debated organization. The film, based on the book Inside WikiLeaks by Daniel Domscheit-Berg and the Guardian book WikiLeaks by David Leigh and Luke Harding, will be released in North America on October 18, 2013.
Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine
Academy Award-winning filmmaker Michael Moore announced the lineup of 150 plus films for his ninth annual Traverse City Film Festival (TCFF), to be held July 30 to August 4 in Traverse City, Michigan. The festival kicks off with Woody Allen’s latest film “BLUE JASMINE”. After a stretch of films set abroad, his latest work brings us back to American soil, where a wealthy New York socialite, played by Cate Blanchett, moves to San Francisco to escape her faltering marriage to a wealthy Wall Street executive, played by Alec Baldwin.
L’Armée du salut (SALVATION ARMY) by Abdellah Taïa
Nine films, including seven in competition, have been selected for the 28th Venice International Film Critics’ Week, August 28 through Sept. 7, 2013. The seven films in competition are eligible for two awards – RaroVideo Audience Award and the USD$100,000 Lion of the Future – “Luigi De Laurentiis” Award for a Debut Film. The week of screenings will open with world premiere of the Italian film L’arte della felicità (THE ART OF HAPPINESS) by Alessandro Rak and close with International Premiere of the Chilean film Las analfabetas (ILLITERATE) by Moisés Sepúlveda.
Director Paul Schrader at 44th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
Paul Schrader, Shekhar Kapur, and Apichatpong Weerasethakul are amont 70 movie directors from all over the world invited to make a short film lasting between 60 and 90 seconds, for a special project, Venezia 70 – Future Reloaded, in celebration of the 70th Venice International Film Festival (August 28 – September 7, 2013).
IT’S ALL SO QUIET, directed by Nanouk Leopold
Outfest Los Angeles wrapped its 31st festival and awarded IT’S ALL SO QUIET, directed by Nanouk Leopold the Grand Jury Award for Outstanding International Dramatic Feature Film, and BORN THIS WAY, directed by Shaun Kadlec and Deb Tullman won the Grand Jury Award for Outstanding Documentary Feature Film. The Audience on the other hand picked REACHING FOR THE MOON, directed by Bruno Barreto with the Audience Award for Outstanding Dramatic Feature Film and BRIDEGROOM, directed by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason won the Audience Award for Outstanding Documentary Feature Film.