Actor and comedian Patton Oswalt will serve as host for the 2014 Film Independent Spirit Awards. The 29th annual awards ceremony will take place on Saturday, March 1st with the premiere broadcast airing later that evening at 10:00 pm ET/PT exclusively on IFC.
David O Russell’s “AMERICAN HUSTLE” has been selected for the Closing Night film of the 10th edition of the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF), which runs from December 6th to 14th, 2013. “American Hustle” stars Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Louis CK and Robert De Niro.
ONE CHANCE directed by David Frankel
The 36th Starz Denver Film Festival (SDFF) announced its jury and audience award winners for the 2013 festival, which ran from November 6 to November 17 in Denver, Colorado, and featured more than 270 films from 44 countries. ONE CHANCE directed by David Frankel and produced by Simon Cowell, won the Starz People’s Choice Awards for Best Film, and CODE BLACK directed by Ryan McGarry won the Starz People’s Choice Awards for Best Documentary. ONE CHANCE is described as a classic underdog story of the sensitive, artistic kid triumphing over adversity, this gentle comedy reads like Billy Elliot but is based on the life of cellphone salesman Paul Potts, who stepped on stage for Britain’s Got Talent and amazed the world. CODE BLACK follows a group of young, energetic doctors battling an overburdened health-care system while training in the trauma bay at Los Angeles County General Hospital.
BAHAMIAN SON
The Bahamas International Film Festival (BIFF), celebrating its 10th anniversary and taking place December 5-13, 2013, revealed the complete lineup of films screening in the festival’s competition and sidebar sections. This year, the Festival will showcase 108 films from 32 different countries, including four features of which are world premieres and all Bahamian premieres. Andrew Melby’s and Reggie Henderson’s drama “BAHAMIAN SON” has been selected as this year’s Opening Night Film and will kick off the Festival on December 5th, while Travolta Cooper’s documentary “THE BLACK MOSES” will have the honor of closing the 10th edition of the Festival on December 13th.
Even if you don’t think you know who Bettie Page is, you know her. What do I mean by that? At some point of your life you have seen references to Bettie Page, the most popular pin-up model of the 1950s. That is because her style and persona has been a constant source of inspiration for decades by nearly every facet of pop culture. For example, just in the last few months pop star Katy Perry heavily referenced Page’s famed “Jungle Bettie” photo shoot in her artwork and video for her hit single “Roar.” It’s only one of hundreds of reference to Page’s famed pin-up photography that you probably encounter every year, a phenomenon that continues today (Bettie Page is one of the highest-earning deceased celebrities). In the new documentary Bettie Page Reveals All, the pin-up legend herself narrates her life story, revealing once and for all what the woman behind those photos was like and what happened to her after disappearing from modeling seemingly overnight in 1957. It’s an absorbing look at the life of an iconic woman, one many of us know little about beyond her photos. While this is the first film documentary that Mark Mori has directed since 1991’s Building Bombs (which was nominated for the Best Documentary Feature Oscar in 1991) and writer Doug Miller is film newcomer, the pair have created a loving in-depth portrait of Page with this documentary.
TIR directed by Alberto Fasulo
The 8th Rome Film Festival announced the winning films of the 2013 festival, with The Croatian film, TIR by Alberto Fasulo winning the Golden Marc’Aurelio Award for Best Film. In TIR, Branko leaves his job as teacher to become a truck driver. A more than understandable given that now earns three times as much compared to his salary as a teacher before. Yet everything has a price, even if not always quantifiable in money. Other noted winning films include DALLAS BUYERS CLUB by Jean-Marc Vallée winning BNL Audience Award for Best Film, and Best Actor Award for Matthew McConaughey. The festival ran November 8 to 17, 2013.
THE ROCKET
AFI FEST 2013 announced the features and short films receiving this year’s Audience and Jury Awards. THE ROCKET, an Australian film; THE SELFISH GIANT, made in the UK; WE GOTTA GET OUT OF THIS PLACE, an American independent film directed by Zeke Hawkins (AFI Class of 2009) and Simon Hawkins; and B FOR BOY, a Nigerian film, received Audience Awards. Grand Jury Awards were presented to BUTTER LAMP, in the Live Action Short category, and THE PLACES WHERE WE LIVED, in the Animated Short category. Special Jury Award winners were BALCONY and SYNDROMEDA.
The basketball documentary LENNY COOKE which World Premiere earlier this year at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival will open in theaters on December 6th, 2013. In the documentary, filmmaking brothers Joshua and Benny Safdie take a candid look and track the unfulfilled destiny of a man for whom superstardom was only out of reach.
Canoejacked
The LA COMEDY FESTIVAL runs from November 14 to17 and 21 to 24, 2013 at LET LIVE THEATRE showcasing features and Shorts, lots of world premieres and of course comedy acts. Films on the lineup include the USA Premiere of the Canadian film CANOEJACKED, directed by Jonathan Williams and starring Al Sapienza, Mpho Koaho, and Pat Thornton, about two escaped convicts fleeing from a trigger-happy prison guard hijack a getaway canoe owned by a nudist outdoorsman.
CLOSING FILM: WE ARE THE BEST! directed by Lukas Moodysson
The 13th Marrakech International Film Festival taking place from November 29 to December 7, 2013 announced the lineup of official film selections. More than 110 films from 23 nationalities will be screened during the event. As with every year for the past 12 years, the focus will be on films in competition, which comprises 15 films. The section “Cinema at heart” will focus on Moroccan cinema, the out-of-competition films will “distill the perfume of directors in touch with their audiences,” while the Cinécoles program of short films will reveal the filmmakers of tomorrow.
Director Joe Swanberg’s ALL THE LIGHT IN THE SKY, his next film after the indie-breakthrough hit from earlier this year, “Drinking Buddies” will be released theatrically in NYC on December 20, 2013 and and digitally on December 3, 2013, by Factory 25. “All the Light in the Sky” features what’s described as a leading performance from acclaimed veteran character actor Jane Adams.
Academy Award winning writer/director Oliver Stone will be honored at the 22nd Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival (SLIFF), taking place November 14 to 24, 2013. Stone will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award on Friday, November 22, 2013. Directors who have previously been honored with a SLIFF Lifetime Achievement Award include Paul Schrader, John Sayles, Michael Apted, and Joe Dante.