Film Festials of Summer 2012

This is the time of year in the United States that the movie calendar is full of big budget loud movies meant to appeal to the youngsters on summer break from high school and college. Amidst all the shouting, I like to see what films the festivals in the U.S., and around the world, are highlighting. I love to look for little gems that will be big movies when the major awards season arrives in November.

In Scotland, wedged between the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and the Olympic games in the U.K., the prestigious Edinburgh International Film Festival, Edinburgh, Scotland (EIFF), opened 20 June 2012, and closed today, 1 July, after the final big screening last night of Disneys latest animation from Pixar, BRAVE. This year, the Festival returned to bestowing awards and the big winners are:

Director Penny Woolcock was awarded The Michael Powell Award for Best British Feature Film for ONE MILE AWAY, which received its World Premiere at the Festival. The Jury choosing the Michael Powell award winners was chaired by actor Jim Broadbent

Andrea Riseborough and Bríd Brennan jointly won The Michael Powell Award for Best Performance in a British Feature Film for their performances in James Marsh’s SHADOW DANCER, which had its UK Premiere last night.

The Award for Best Film in the International Feature Competition went to the drama HERE, THEN, about rootless youngsters in China, from director Mao Mao, with his first credit as a director. Elliot Gould presided over the Jury.

WEBSITE  

Heart of Sarajevo

Next up is a festival that most in the world may never have heard of, but one that has the backing of the likes of Actor Kevin Spacey and U2's Bono. It's the 18th SARAJEVO FILM FESTIVAL (SFF) held in Bosnia Herzegovina, opening July 6 and running through the 14th. Because this festival arose from the ashes of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina between April 1992 and December 1995, we feel it is important to cover it. Last year, Angelina Jolie was awarded the Heart of Sarajevo for her efforts to bring awareness of the war through her movie, LAND OF BLOOD AND HONEY.

The Festival Program Journal has been published. It is available at the Main Box Office, and single tickets are on sale. This year the Festival will present 210 films from 57 countries. There is also an online version of this year's Program Journal with information about all the screenings. We highly recommend you take a look at it as it is bilingual with English, and there is a beautiful spread featuring handsome Michael Fassbender:    
JOURNAL

Special screenings will include Steven Spielberg's SCHINDLER'S LIST, and some screenings will take place under the stars. The opening feature is Aida Begic's CHILDREN OF SARAJEVO (Dejeca), which won the Special Distinction of the Jury at this year's Cannes Film Festival. THE ANGEL'S SHARE will close. The already award-winning THE BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD, filmed in and around New Orleans will screen in competition, and it is the directorial debut of U.S. director Benh Zeitlin.

WEBSITE (English)   

VENICE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

The 69th Venice International Film Festival (VIFF) will run August 29th to September 8th, directed by Alberto Barbera. New features of the next edition include a new foyer of the Palazzo del Cinema; the Venice Film Market, a new service that will join the Industry Office; and Biennale College - Cinema, a workshop open to young filmmakers for the production of low-budget films.

 

The Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement has been awarded to Italian director and screenwriter Francesco Rosi. The award will be presented on August 31st, on the occasion of the screening of the restored copy of Rosi's masterpiece, Il caso Mattei (The Mattei Affair, 1972).

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The 36th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), originally known as the Festival of Festivals, will be held in September from the 6th to 16th in Toronto, Canada. The Festival will be screening more than 300 films from over 60 countries, as it does every September. Tickets sales are available, but the full program has not yet been announced.

Toronto's programers have earned a reputation for excellence, and a diverse array of films are shown. There are Hollywood galas, complete with red carpet glamor but, most of all, the best in international cinema and potential Academy Award winners are screened. Toronto's track record of booking eventual Academy Award winners is legendary.

WEBSITE 

 

Could this be the surprise movie of the year?

BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD

Israeli Film Wins Lion at Venice

LEBANON

The 66th Venice International Film Festival (Le Biennale di Venezia)(VIFF), which ran from 2 - 12 September, wrapped yesterday evening with a somewhat surprising list of winners, and only two for the USA. The awards ceremony in the Sala Darsena was followed by the screenings of LOVE YOU (Chengdu, wo ai ni, China) by Fruit Chan and Jian Cui, and RAMBO (Director's Cut) by Sylvester Stallone.

Director Ang Lee, two-time Golden Lion (Leone d'Oro) winner, served as head of the Jury that selected the top prizes, and he personally awarded the Golden Lion for Best Film. He first won the Golden Lion in 2005 for BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, and again for the World War II drama LUST, CAUTION in 2007. His latest movie, TAKING WOODSTOCK, screened out of competition at Venice.

The festival top prize, the Golden Lion for Best Film went to LEBANON (Levanone, Israel), a debut feature film for director Samuel Maoz. Set in June, 1982, the start of the Israel-Lebanon War, four young Israeli soldiers operate a tank that is assigned to go into a Lebanese village to clear it of PLO terrorists, the first tank to cross the border in what was supposed to be a one-day mission. It turns into much more than that.

Director Maoz was only 22 when he fought in the Israel-Lebanon War. He spent years in after-combat distress, suffering outbursts of anger and extended episodes of depression. After 25 years, he decided that creating a fictionalized version of his experiences might help him, and others.

The buzz started early at the Festival for this film as a contender for a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar® for Israel, and it will now kick into high gear. That remains to be seen, as much will depend upon what it does at Toronto, and what distributor picks it up for the U.S. Market.

Shirin Neshat was awarded the Silver Lion (Leone d'Argento) for Best Director for WOMEN WITHOUT MEN (Zanan Bedone Mardan, Germany), and another coveted award, the Special Jury Prize was awarded to SOUL KITCHEN by Fatih Akin (Germany). Note to myself: Films about cooking are coming out of the woodworks this year from a variety of countries on the heels of the Julia Child take-off, JULIE AND JULIA.

The Volpi Cup (Coppa Volpi) for Best Actor / Actress went to British actor Colin Firth for his role in Tom Ford's debut film, A SINGLE MAN (USA), and Russian actress Ksenia Rappoport for her role in the film THE DOUBLE HOUR (La doppia ora, Italy) by Giuseppe Capotondi. A SINGLE MAN is based on the novel by Christopher Isherwood, and the buzz is that this could be Firth's Oscar year. This role is, after all, a strait man who portrays a gay. Again, a lot depends on what happens at Toronto and with the film's yet-to-acquire distributor.

Todd Solondz is bringing home to the USA the "Osella" for Best Screenplay for LIFE DURING WARTIME (USA). Joe Dante will do the same with a Persol 3-D Award for the Best 3-D Stereoscopic Film of the Year (Prize awarded on 11th September 2009) for THE HOLE, a film described as a, "Kiddie horror film." The prize is given to a film that best explores (the) new cinematic frontier” of 3-D. These were the only two Venice Festival awards for the USA.

The Horizon's Award (Orizzonti) went to ENGKWENTRO by Pepe Diokno (Philippines). China's Du Haibin received the Horizon Best Documentary award for 1428. THE MAN'S OTHER WOMAN AND OTHER STORIES (Aadmi ki aurat aur anya kahaniya, India) by Amit Dutta received a special mention.

For list of all awards, click title of this post.

Telluride Wraps, Toronto Opens

Abbie Cornish in the period drama BRIGHT STAR, directed by Jane Campion

One of America's most prestigious film festivals wrapped Labor Day in Colorado. That was, of course, the Telluride Festival (TFF). This year was the 36th and it did not disappoint. Telluride, like the New York Film Festival, is a non-competitive festival. No special awards are given. People go to enjoy restful and beautiful Telluride, to see, appreciate, and to talk, film.

As Oscar® looms, with Telluride under the belt, and Venice closing Saturday (12th), here are some of the films many have tapped as possibly being Oscar bound. First and foremost from Telluride is Jason Reitman's UP IN THE AIR. George Clooney's much-praised performance is considered by many to be a timely theme about an American culture hurting for connection and basic humanity. It now heads to Toronto with a Special Premiere.

Clooney stars in a second much talked about movie this year, THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS, and both will screen at Toronto. He squired Miss Elisabetta Canalis in Venice and Telluride and, most likely, will do it again in Toronto.

Another high-profile movie, THE ROAD, which had screened to a good reception at the Venice International Film Festival, screened Sunday night at Telluride with an opening ovation. The fact that Viggo Mortensen stars, received a special fest tribute, and was on hand for questioning, helped to brighten this adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's bleak, Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. John Hillcoat directs and the movie will also receive a Special Premiere at Toronto.

Werner Herzog's BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL NEW ORLEANS, reportedly pleased Telluride fest goers. Herzog, along with star Nicolas Cage, will now take their film North to Port of Call Toronto. Herzog will have another movie this year at Hollywood North, MY SON, MY SON, WHAT HAVE YE DONE? A USA - German co-production.

Other notable movies at Telluride will now go to test their metal at Toronto. Among them, Jane Campion's BRIGHT STAR, Jacques Audiard's A PROPHET, and Michael Haneke's THE WHITE RIBBON (Das Weisse Band) winner at Cannes this year.

The Toronto International Film Festival Group (TIFFG) is a charitable, not-for-profit, cultural organization, which is often dubbed Hollywood North, and ranks with Cannes, Sundance, Berlin and Venice as one of the world's most influential film festivals. I is considered the kick-off of the film awards season, which culminates with the Academy Awards® 7 March 2010.

The lineup of directors, producers, actors, and others for the 34th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), when compared to other film festivals this summer, is huge - - over 500 expected. The Festival opens this Thursday, the 10th and closes on the 19th.

Like many festivals this year, TIFF has expanded its Outdoor programs and free screenings. There are not just free films but also free concerts at the Live at Yonge and Dundas Square.

The winner of the Cadillac People's Choice Award will be announced on the afternoon of 19 September. The presentation that evening on the closing night of the festival is free. Last year, the People's Choice went to Danny Boyle's multiple Academy Award®-winning SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE. It was then that I felt almost certain that the movie had "The It" to win the Academy Award, having also followed its reception at Telluride.

Opening Night - Live satellite feed from the Roy Thomson Hall red carpet for the Opening Night Gala Presentation of CREATION. TIFF YDS Spotlight: Opening Night concert by DJ Champion, hosted by Canadian soprano Measha Brueggergosman.

Closing Night - TIFF Live In Concert Film Series: world premiere of COPYRIGHT CRIMINALS. The Festival Wrap Party, presented in association with Future Projections and hosted by Chuck D, featuring the infectious improvised audiovisual "mashups" of Eclectic Method. With special guest Clyde Stubblefield, plus the presentation of the Cadillac People's Choice Award.

Full Screening List For Toronto

Venice IFF Opens Today

The 66th Venice International Film Festival (VIFF) opens today with Italian director Giuseppe Tornatore's BAARIA, hyped as a Sicilian drama that includes Fascism, World War Two and Communism. Tornatore won an Oscar® for CINEMA PARADISO. The festival on the Lido waterfront runs through the 12th.

Because Italian movies have tended to disappoint in the past three years, and film festival attendance is down in general, festival director Marco Mueller is leaning more heavily on American movies that have stars and directors with international reputations.

Expected to walk the red carpet during the festival are Nicolas Cage, George Clooney, Matt Damon, Colin Firth, Tom Ford, Richard Gere, Werner Herzog, John Lasseter, Julianne Moore, Michael Moore, Viggo Mortensen, Eva Mendes, Omar Sharif, Todd Solondz, Sylvester Stallone, Oliver Stone, Charlize Theron, and others.

George Clooney, who has a home in Italy and is a local favorite, appears in the oddly titled movie, THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS, directed by Grant Heslov, along with Ewan McGregor, Jeff Bridges and Kevin Spacey. The movie is about a reporter, a U.S. military unit in Iraq and the paranormal. The movie is not in competition. Neither are John Lasseter's TOY STORY, 3-D, and TOY STORY 2, 3-D.

Oliver Stone brings SOUTH OF THE BORDER about Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, and Tom Ford makes his feature debut with A SINGLE MAN, starring Colin Firth and Julianne Moore, about fashion. Stallone is there to receive a special award.

Nicolas Cage appears in Werner Herzog's BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL NEW ORLEANS, a remake of the 1992 movie directed by Abel Ferrara, which may break the record for movies with long titles. Mortensen, Theron and Robert Duvall star in THE ROAD.

Venice has always had a global reach and this year is no exception. Who better to represent that than Omar Sharif in Egypt's THE TRAVELER. China, Austria, Israel, Japan, France, Hong Kong and Germany all have films representing their country.

SERIES: Upcoming Film Festivals - August III

VENICE (VIFF - Labiennale)

The 66th Venice International Film Festival, oldest of all, will run at Venice Lido from 2nd to 12th September 2009.The film program has been announced. The USA is well represented this year.

In the International Feature Competition, as mentioned earlier here, BAARÌA, written and directed by Italian Oscar-winner Giuseppe Tornatore (CINEMA PARADISO), will open the Festival. The film will screen in competition.

Some U.S. films in competition that caught my eye, featuring world premieres for all, are:

Director Werner Herzog's BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL NEW ORLEANS, starring Nicolas Cage, Eva Mendes, Val Kilmer and Michael Shannon; Tom Ford's A SINGLE MAN, Colin Firth, Julianne Moore and Matthew Goode; John Hillcoa's THE ROAD, Charlize Theron, Viggo Mortensen, Robert Duvall and Guy Pearce; and MICHAEL MOORE's new documentary - CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY.

Three interesting USA productions screening out of competition are:

Director Grant Heslov's THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS, with George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Jeff Bridges and Kevin Spacey; John Lasseter's TOY STORY, 3-D, and TOY STORY 2, 3-D; and Antoine Fuqua's BROOKLYN’S FINEST, with Richard Gere, Don Cheadle, Ethan Hawke, Wesley Snipes and Ellen Barkin, among Hollywood's finest.

American actor Sylvester Stallone will receive a special award. The retrospective section is on Italian cinema rediscovered, and there will be a new trends in world and Italian cinema section, plus an international short film competition.



TORONTO (TIFF)

Toronto International Film Festival, which runs 10 to 19 September will offer 21 Special Presentations. These will feature the works of Alejandro Amenábar, Miguel Arteta, Sylvain Chomet, Rodrigo Garcia, Werner Herzog, Grant Heslov, John Hillcoat, and Tom Ford's directorial debut.

They will include on-screen performances by international superstars Annette Bening, Jeff Bridges, Michael Cera, George Clooney, Willem Dafoe, Robert Duvall, Colin Firth, Zach Galifianakis, Samuel L. Jackson, Ray Liotta, Ewan McGregor, Demi Moore, Julianne Moore, Viggo Mortensen, Guy Pearce, Natalie Portman, Til Schweiger, Charlize Theron, Naomi Watts and Rachel Weisz.

Canadian favorites include Christopher Plummer, Jay Baruchel, Atom Egoyan, Don McKellar, Dilip Mehta, Ruba Nadda, Sandra Oh, Saul Rubinek, Lisa Ray, Peter Stebbings and Jacob Tierney.

Born in India and now Canadian citizens, siblings Deepah and Dilip Mehta wrote the latest Hinglish movie, COOKING WITH STELLA, and brother Dilip directed. The film will premiere 16 September at Toronto in the Roy Thompson Hall. Deepah is best known for her trilogy, FIRE, EARTH, WATER, and BOLLYWOOD / HOLLYWOOD.

The new film center, known as the Bell Lightbox, is now taking shape at the corner of King and John Streets in downtown Toronto. Bell Lightbox will not be ready for this year's festival, but promises to be spectacular.

The five-story complex will bring together the film-loving public, Canadian and international filmmakers, industry professionals, academia and visitors to Toronto from around the world to explore the power of cinema.

Toronto International Film Festival Will again offer a series of free outdoor events at Yonge-Dundas Square (YDS) taking place 10 - 19, and featuring special appearances by George A. Romero, Neil Young, Joan Baez, Jonathan Demme and more.

This year, the Festival is on Facebook. The full film list will be available 20 August, and the schedule goes live on Facebook 25 August, so sign up now. The current film list is posted, but it is not the full one, yet.

Film Festival Page Updated

My new updates include the about-to-wrap San Diego Latino and the just-wrapped South by Southwest (SXSW) Festivals. There is new information on the upcoming Memphis (TN), River Run (NC), Canadian Hot Docs Documentary (Toronto), Ebertfest (IL), Tribeca (NYC), San Francisco (CA), and the festival most festival-watchers consider the world's most prestigious film festival, Cannes (France).

You can read about those already completed this year, which included Berlin (Germany), Santa Barbara and Palm Springs (CA), Sundance (UT), Miami (FL), and the Mexican sister-festivals, Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta (MX). That's just Part I of Mimi Film Festivals 2008.

Part II, which will include festivals from June through September 2008, will go online sometime in April. The festivals highlighted will begin with Jackson Hole (WY) and probably conclude with San Sebastián (Spain) or San Diego (CA), but new ones are always cropping up, so there are no guarantees at this point.

In between, there will be the world's oldest festival, Venice (Italy), and the world's bravest, Sarajevo (Bosnia). Major festivals in the USA include Los Angeles (CA) and Telluride (CO). Foreign ones, other than San Sebastián, include Montreal and Toronto (Canada), Deauville (France), and Edinburgh (UK), plus any new ones that may spring up during this time frame.

My Film Festival Page News

Counted today and found there is information and links for 34 film festivals so far this year on my Film Festival Page, including some that are difficult to find information about such as the Festival of New Latin American Cinema held each December in Havana, Cuba. Ten are upcoming, or going on now, with the rest already completed this year. Altogether, there's a wealth of info. Here is the list of the 34:

AFIFEST, Berlin, Boston, Times BFI London, Canadian Hot Docs, Cannes, Deauville, Edinburgh, Guadalajara, Huelva, Havana, Jackson Hole, Los Angeles Independents, Memphis, Miami, Montreal, New York, Palm Sprngs, Puerto Valarta, River Run, Rome, San Diego, San Sebatian, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Sarajevo, Sitges, Sundance, SXSW, Telluride, Toronto, Tribeca, Vancouver, and Venice.

This weekend, I installed quick links to help you find the festivals in which you are interested. Just find the name of the festival you want, click, and you are there. Click the title of this post, which will take you to my Film Festival Page, and near the top you will find the links for the festivals going on now, or upcoming through December, including the one in Havana. There is a separate set of links for those already completed. Remember, there is always a link to my Film Festival Page on the right sidebar of this blog as well.

George Clooney and Jerry Weintraub at a recent Boston Film Festival gala.

My Film Festiva Page News

Wes Anderson’s new film, THE DARJEELING LIMITED, featuring Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, Jason Schwartzman, and Anjelica Huston. (Fox Searchlight)

Winners at the Sarajevo and Edinburgh Film Festivals were posted today on my Film Festival Page as the fall film festival season is underway. My MIMI'S FILM FESTIVAL PAGE is currently reporting on happenings at the Edinburgh (England) and Sarajevo (Bosnia) festivals as well as the following: Montreal (Canada), Venice (Italy), Telluride (Colorado, USA), Toronto (Canada), San Sebastián (Spain), Vancouver (B.C.), New York (NYC, USA), Catalonian (Sitges, Spain), and the Times BFI London (UK) festivals. Others will be added as information becomes available.

The page is designed as a "quick stop" for viewers/readers to catch the highlights, and access the official sites immediately through quick links. Updates are sporadic, because they are made whenever information is received from various sources.

So, go visit and bookmark/favor the page for convenient frequent checking.

My Film Festival Page News

My Film Festival Page is updated! Tomorrow, 15th, the 61st Edinburgh International Film Festival (Edinburgh, Scotland), kicks off the late-summer into fall season. The updates begin in Scotland and run through the Times BFI London Film Festival closing 1 November.

In between, you will find information about others, including festivals in New York (NYC), Montreal, San Sebastian, Sitges (Barcelona), Telluride, Toronto, Venice, etc. I try to find and post interesting highlights before the festivals, but you will always find links to the Official Web Sites and a notification, with highlights, when the awards are presented with easy links for more information.

This page is not static. I am constantly updating it as I receive new information, and there is a permanent link to it on the right sidebar of this blog. Visit often and enjoy!