April Film Festival Awards and Wraps

SERIES: Major Film Festivals

As April comes to a close, only two major film festivals that opened in April are still in progress: (1) Tribeca (TFF), which opened the 21st and will close May 2nd, and (2) San Francisco (SFIFF), which opened April 22nd and will close May 6th.Tribeca announced its film awards last night at W Union Square in New York City.

In the 2010 World Narrative Feature Competition, the Founders Award for Best Film went to WHEN WE LEAVE (Die Fremde, Germany), directed and written by Feo Aladag. Actress Sibel Kekilli won Best Actress in a Narrative Feature Film for he role as Umay in the movie. Best Actor in a Narrative Feature Film went to Eric Elmosnino as Serge Gainsbourg in GAINSBOURG, I LOVE YOU MORE THAN ME (Je t’Aime… Moi Non Plus, France), directed and written by Joann Sfar.

LOOSE CANNONS (Mine Vaganti, Italy) received a Special Jury Mention. It was directed by Ferzan Ozpetek. It was written by Ozpetek and Ivan Cotroneo. Kim Chapiron of France was named Best New Narrative Filmmaker for DOG POUND. Chapiron wrote the screenplay with Jeremie Delon.

In the Documentary World Competition, MONICA & DAVID, directed by Alexandra Codina, USA, was named Best Documentary Feature, and BUDRUS (USA, Palestine, Israel), directed by Julia Bacha, received a Special Jury Mention. Click the title of this post for all the awards, including New York and Short Film competitions, the monetary prizes, pictures and more. Also, see previous post for more about the Tribeca IFF.

On the West Coast, the San Francisco International Film Festival is also handing out awards. Tonight, Roger Ebert will receive the San Francisco International Film Festival's annual Mel Novikoff Award, and he'll be in attendance for "An Evening with Roger Ebert and Friends." His friends for the celebration include filmmakers Philip Kaufman, Errol Morris, Jason Reitman and Terry Zwigoff. A screening of Ebert's chosen film, Erick Zonca's uncompromising 2008 genre-buster JULIA, starring Festival favorite Tilda Swinton will follow.

The Kanbar Award for excellence in screenwriting will go to James Schamus, who will be on hand today for a retrospective clip reel and onstage interview with critic and cultural theorist B. Ruby Rich. Schamus' RIDE WITH THE DEVIL (director's cut), directed by his frequent collaborator, Ang Lee, will follow. SFIFF Official Site. Also see previous post for more about the SFIFF.

The regional festivals, covered in the previous post have now wrapped. The Florida Film Festival (FFF) in Orlando reports a successful and fun festival. I am pleased to report that WINTER'S BONE, the first motion picture I picked to do well this year based on the response it received at Sundance, won the Grand Jury Award for Best Narrative Feature. There is more about this movie, directed by Debra Granik, in the previous post. It is definitely one to follow this year.

Other narrative feature winners were:

Special Jury Award for Narrative Filmmaking, HOMEWRECKER, directed by Brad and Todd Barnes; Nestle® Cranberry Raisinets® Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature, DON’T LET ME DROWN, directed by Cruz Angeles; and Nestle® Cranberry Raisinets ® Audience Award for Best International Feature, THE TOPP TWINS: UNTOUCHABLE GIRLS, directed by Leanne Pooley. To see all the award winners, including documentary and short films, go here.

RiverRun in Winston-Salem, NC (RRFF), had a very good film schedule, but gave no awards, and the same for Ebertfest, Champaign, IL. On Location: Memphis, TN (MIFMF), gave awards but, frankly, I never heard of any of the films. Will report later if I lean the festival's picks scored at any other festival. Here is the Memphis list. For more about any of these regional festivals, see the previous post.

Some breaking news from Montreal. Above is the official poster of the 2010 Montreal World Film Festival (MWFF), 26 August - 6 September, unveiled yesterday. The poster was selected by public votes from among three finalists, all students in graphic arts at UQAM (Université du Québec à Montréal). Their professor, Philippe Béha, who designed the official MWFF poster in 1986, assigned his students the task of designing a poster for the 2010 Festival. The winner is Hubert Samson. Official Site.

COMING IN MAY: Cannes International Film Festival (CIFF), 12 - 23 May 2010; Mountain Film in Telluride, 28 - 31 May 2010.

Montreal WFF Awards Announced

The Montreal World Film Festival (MWFF) wrapped last night and presented a large slate of awards. The International Film Critics FIPRESCI PRIZE, as well as the Special Grand Prix of the Jury (feature film) went to WEAVING GIRL by Wang Quan'an (China).

The other top top feature film prize, the Grand prix des Americas, went to KORKORO (FREEDOM) by Tony Gatlif (France), which also garnered the Public Award for the most popular film of the Festival, and Special mention of the Ecumenical Jury.

The Award for Best Documentary Feature went to THE MAIN THING IS TO STAY ALIVE (L'IMPORANT C'EST DE RESTER VIVANT) de Roshane Saidnattar (France-Cambodia). In the short films category the First Prize went to PIGEON IMPOSSIBLE by Lucas Martell (U.S.A.)m abd the Jury Award went to ATTACHED TO YOU (FÄST VID DIG) de Carin Bräck, Cecilia Actis, Mia Hulterstam (Sweden).

OTHER FEATURE-FILM AWARDS:

Best Director: VILLON'S WIFE (VIYON NO TSUMA) by Kichitaro Negishi (Japan);

Best Actress: MARIE LEUENBERGER for the film WILL YOU MARRY US? (DIE STANDESBEAMTIN) by Micha Lewinsky (Switzerland);

Best Actor: CYRON MELVILLE for the film LOVE AND RAGE (VANVITTIG FORELSKET) by Morten Giese (Denmark);

Best Screenplay: I'M GLAD THAT MY MOTHER IS ALIVE (JE SUIS HEUREUX QUE MA MÈRE SOIT VIVANTE) by Claude Miller and Nathan Miller, screenplay by Alain Le Henry (France);

Best Artistic Contribution: SAINT GEORGE SHOOTS THE DRAGON by Srdjan Dragojevic (Serbia-Bosnia-Bulgaria);

Innovation Award: ATASHKAR (FIRE KEEPER) by Mohsen Amiryoussefi (Iran).

ZENITHS FOR THE BEST FIRST FICTION FEATURE FILMS 2009:

Golden Zenith for the Best First Fiction Feature films: JE TE MANGERAI (YOU WILL BE MINE) by Sophie Laloy (France);

Silver Zenith for the First Fiction Feature Film: WHEN THE LEMONS TURNED YELLOW by Mohammadreza Vatandoost (Iran);

Bronze Zenith for the Fisrt Fiction Feature Film: LOS CANALLAS (RIFF RAFF) by Cristina Franco, Jorge Alejandro Fegan; Diego Coral López, Nataly Valencia (Ecuador).

PUBLIC AWARDS (not noted above)

Public Award for the most popular Canadian Feature Film: A CARGO TO AFRICA by Roger Cantin (Canada).

Award for Best Canadian Short Film: SURMENAGE by Alexandre Leblanc, Benoît Bourbonnais (Canada).

Glauber Rocha Award for the Best Latin American Film: ANDRÉS NOS QUIERE DORMIR LA SIESTA (ANDRÉS DOESN'T WANT TO TAKE A SIESTA by Daniel Bustamante (Argentina).

ECUMENICAL PRIZE (not noted above), CEASEFIRE (WAFFENSTILLSTAND) by Lancelot von Naso (Germany).

OTHER AWARDS

Special Awards for their exceptional contribution to the cinematographic art: PIERRE LEBEAU (Canada) and GU JUN (China).

Montreal World FF Opens Thursday

The 33rd Montreal World Film Festival (MWFF, Le Festival des Films du Monde Montréal) opens Thursday, 27th, and will run through 7 September. The Iranian New Wave director, Jafar Panahi, will preside over the international jury, and the full film lineup is available for download in PDF on their Web site. Most of Panahi's films are banned in his home country.

Other members of the jury include Japanese actor-turned-director Eiji Okuda, Quebec actor-producer David La Haye, Spanish writer-director Fernando Méndez-Leite Serrano, French director Pascal Thomas, French film music composer Reinhardt Wagner, and Diane Demers of Montreal, who was chosen in a contest to represent the public on the official jury.

Unfortunately, their press release with the list of films is one big muddle, and the PDF file is by venue and date. There is an alphabetized index at the end of the document, but it is in French.

Thus, I apologize for not giving Film highlights here. I have not the time to wade through it all, so you are on your own. See previous posts on this blog about this year's festival, and click title of this post for link to Web site.

Sorry, that's all I can do concerning Montreal until the jury awards are announced, unless, I get some press releases that are better written.

SERIES: "Upcoming Film Festivals"

Montreal, Venice and Telluride

MONTREAL





The 33rd Montreal World Film Festival (MWFF): Le Festival des Films du Monde Montréal, 27 August - 7 September. The world première of Ricardo Trogi's 1981 will open the Festival 27 August at the Théâtre Maisonneuve of Place des Arts. The semi-autobiographical dramatic comedy will open in Quebec theaters 4 September.

Writer-director Ricardo Trogi came to critical and popular attention in 2003 when his debut feature QUEBEC-MONTREAL won four Jutras, including best film, script and direction, enjoyed box office success in Quebec, and won plaudits in festivals around the world. Trogi's second film, (DODGING THE CLOCK) won the Olivier prize in 2006 for best comedy, and scored a similar hit at the box office.

The Festival will pay tribute to Quebec film, television and stage actor Pierre Lebeau, and will honor him with Festival's highest award, the Grand Prize of the Americas. As a corollary to this tribute, the World Film Festival will show Lebeau's latest starring vehicle, Roger Cantin's CARGO FOR AFRICA (Un Cargo pour l'Afrique), which will receive its world première in the World Competition of this year's Festival.

The complete program has not yet been announced. For more info about tickets, etc., visit the Web Site, call 514-848-3883, or send an e-mail: info@ffm-montreal.org.

VENICE

The 66th Venice International Film Festival (VIFF), the world's oldest film festival, opens in Venice 2 September and runs through the 12th. BAARÌA, written and directed by Italian Oscar-winner Giuseppe Tornatore (Cinema Paradiso), will be the Opening Film of the 66th Venice International Film Festival, to be held at the Venice Lido from 2 to 12 September 2009, again under the direction of Marco Müller and organized by the Venice Biennale, which is chaired by Paolo Baratta. The film will screen in competition.

It will also be the gala world première for BAARÌA in the Sala Grande of the Palazzo del Cinema at the Lido. It is the first Italian film to open the Venice Film Festival for two decades and is the Italian film industry’s most costly production for many years.

The Festival also offers an online channel with video and interactive elements. The final film program has not yet been announced. Web Site.

TELLURIDE

Alexander Payne, American director and screenwriter, will be this year's Guest Director at the 36thTelluride Film Festival (TFF), 4-7 September 2009, in Telluride, Colorado, presented by National Film Preserve LTD. Director, Alexander Payne.

Each year the Festival’s directors select one of the world’s great film lovers to join them in the creation of the Festival. The Guest Director serves as a key collaborator in the Festival’s programming decisions, bringing new ideas and overlooked films to Telluride.

ACME Passes are sold out - Cinephile, Festival, and Patron Passes still available!

Kudos to the Festival for a much-improved Web Site.

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QUICK NOTES:

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TRAVERSE CITY



Additional screenings have been added at the Traverse City Film Festival due to demand. Also, some additional special programs. The Festival runs Tuesday, 28 July, through Sunday, 2 August. Check the Web Site for more info.

Become a 2010 Friend of the Film Festival before noon on 2 August 2009, to be entered into a Grand Prize Drawing for the chance to win a FESTIVAL PASS FOR LIFE and passes to next year's film festival! And Friends who join before 1 September will pay the original Friends prices before they double again!

For current ticketing info call 231-946-3731, or send an email: info@traversecityfilmfestival.org. Web Site.

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NEW YORK

The 47th New York Film Festival (NYFF) will return to the newly renovated Alice Tully Hall in NYC. Presented by The Film Society, the 17-day New York Film Festival runs 25 September to 11 October, 2009. September 25 - October 11, 2009. Film submissions have now closed.

This year is the 60th year of the People’s Republic of China, and a Festival sidebar will showcase the first major U.S. retrospective of Chinese cinema between establishment of the People’s Republic in 1949 and the beginnings of the Cultural Revolution in 1966. Also scheduled is a tribute to Hindi director, producer, and actor Guru Dutt, frequently credited with ushering in the golden era of Indian cinema in the 1950s and ’60s. Festival Web Site. Film Society of Lincoln Center.

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SAN SEBASTIAN

The San Sebastián International Film Festival's (SSIFF) early planning and work are paying off as the Festival is ahead of schedule in programming. American filmmaker Quentin Tarantino will open the Zabaltegi-Pearls section with his anticipated INGLOURIOUS BASTARDS, which won the Best Actor Award for Christoph Waltz at Cannes. It will be screened on the first day of the 57th edition, Friday, 18 September.

Already locked are new films by Woody Allen, Ang Lee, Jim Jarmusch, Bahman Ghobadi, Bong Joon-ho and Johnnie To, among others. Much, much more in next post. Web Site.

The films of director Richard Brooks and French Movie Trends will top the retrospective section. Web Site.

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TORONTO

The Toronto Film Festival (10 - 19 September) has announced the 20 films from film festival around the world. Documentary program announced. Canadian films will be announced 4 August. Web Site.