2013 Heartland Film Festival Grand Prize Awards;

2013 Heartland Film Festival Grand Prize Awards;

2013 Heartland Film Festival Awards Winners2013 Heartland Film Festival Awards Winners

The 22nd annual Heartland Film Festival taking place October 17 to 26, 2013 in Indianapolis, Indiana, announced its four Grand Prize Awards.  HIDE YOUR SMILING FACES directed by Daniel Patrick Carbone received the award for Best Narrative Feature Film and THE NETWORK directed by Eva Orner received the award for Best Documentary Feature. In addition actress Vanessa Hudgens received the Pioneering Spirit: Rising Star Award for her role in GIMME SHELTER, the Festival’s Opening Night Event film that held its world premiere at the festival.

IT'S BETTER TO JUMP Gets November 2013 Release Date | TRAILER

IT’S BETTER TO JUMP Gets November 2013 Release Date | TRAILER

IT'S BETTER TO JUMP

IT’S BETTER TO JUMP, a documentary film about the ancient walled city of Akka in northern Israel, inhabited by Muslims, Christians, Jews, and Baha’i, and focuses on the aspirations and concerns of the Palestinian inhabitants who call the Old City home, opens in NYC on November 22, 2013 at The Quad Cinema. The film, directed by Patrick Alexander Stewart, Gina M. Angelone, and Mouna B.Stewart, will also be featured in a number of film festivals including the Boston Palestine Film Festival on October 21st and the Other Israel Film Festival in New York on November 19.

Winners Announced For Academy Nicholl Fellowships

Winners Announced For Academy Nicholl Fellowships

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented its Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting awards dinner

Four individual writers and one writing team have been selected as winners of the 2013 Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting competition.  Each winner will receive a $35,000 prize, the first installment of which will be distributed at an awards presentation on Thursday, November 7, at 7:30 p.m. at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.  For the first time, the event will also feature a live read of selected scenes from the fellows’ winning scripts.

57th BFI London Film Festival Awards; IDA Wins Best Film

57th BFI London Film Festival Awards; IDA Wins Best Film

 Ida, directed by Pawel PawlikowskiIda, directed by Pawel Pawlikowski

IDA, directed by Pawel Pawlikowski is the winner of Official Competition Best Film award at the 57th BFI London Film Festival which ran October 9 to 20, 2013.  Philip French, recent BFI Fellow and President of the Official Competition jury said, “The jury greatly admired Ida, the first film made in his native Poland by a director who came to prominence while living in Britain. We were deeply moved by a courageous film that handles, with subtlety and insight, a painfully controversial historical situation – the German occupation and the Holocaust – which continues to resonate. Special praise went to his use of immersive visual language to create a lasting emotional impact.”

Film Review: THE PRIME MINISTERS

Film Review: THE PRIME MINISTERS

THE PRIME MINISTERS, a documentary film by Richard Trank

THE PRIME MINISTERS documentary directed by Richard Trank is based on the eponymous best-selling book, The Prime Minister, written by Ambassador Yehuda Avner.  Yehuda Avner, who served as a chief aide, English language note-taker and speechwriter to former prime ministers Levi Eshkol, Golda Meir, Yitzhak Rabin, Menachem Begin, and Shimon Peres, takes the audience into this powerful office, with never before seen and heard details on major historical events such as the Six-Day War, the development of Israel’s close strategic relationship with the United States, the fight against terrorism, the Yom Kippur War and its aftermath. 

2013 Bel-Air Film Festival Award Winners; RETURN TO A HIDING PLACE is Top Winning Film

2013 Bel-Air Film Festival Award Winners; RETURN TO A HIDING PLACE is Top Winning Film

 RETURN TO A HIDING PLACERETURN TO A HIDING PLACE

“RETURN TO A HIDING PLACE” is the top winning film of the 2013 Bel-Air Film Festival (BAFF) which was held October 7th to13th throughout Los Angeles.  RETURN TO A HIDING PLACE is the winner of the Jury Awards for Best Jury Feature Film, Best Jury Feature Film Cinematography, and Best Jury Feature Film Directing. Written and directed by Peter Spencer, the film is based on a true story about a group in Holland called The Resistance that fought against the Nazis to save lives and help the Jews during the World War II Era.

GLORIA, Chile's Oscar Entry Gets U.S. Release in January 2014 | TRAILER

GLORIA, Chile’s Oscar Entry Gets U.S. Release in January 2014 | TRAILER

GLORIA directed by Sebastian Lelio

GLORIA directed by Sebastian Lelio and Chile’s entry in the Best Foreign Language Film category for the Oscars, will be released in the US on January 17, 2014 by Roadside Attractions. GLORIA stars Paulina García who won the Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival for her performance as a vivacious, middle-aged divorcée who finds what may be her last chance for love while grooving on the dance floor of the local singles club.

GABRIELLE, Canada's Oscar Entry, to Get US Release in Winter 2013 | TRAILER

GABRIELLE, Canada’s Oscar Entry, to Get US Release in Winter 2013 | TRAILER

Gabrielle directed by Louise Archambault

GABRIELLE, directed by Louise Archambault, and Canada’s entry in the Best Foreign Language Film category for the Oscars, is scheduled to be released in the US, in Winter 2013 by Entertainment One Films. GABRIELLE, which premiered earlier this year at the 2013 Locarno International Film Festival and also screened at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival, is described as a film about a developmentally challenged young woman’s quest for independence and sexual freedom.

DOC NYC To Run November 14-21; Opens with NYC Premiere of THE UNKNOWN KNOWN

DOC NYC To Run November 14-21; Opens with NYC Premiere of THE UNKNOWN KNOWN

THE UNKNOWN KNOWNTHE UNKNOWN KNOWN

DOC NYC documentary festival returns for its fourth year to the IFC Center in Greenwich Village and Chelsea’s SVA Theatre in New York City from November 14 to 21, 2013.  DOC NYC will showcase 131 films and events, including screenings of 72 feature-length films and 39 shorts as well as 20 doc-related panel discussions and masterclasses. The festival opens on November 14th with the NYC premiere of THE UNKNOWN KNOWN, presented by director Errol Morris, in which he engages in a verbal duel with former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld over recent history.