Wednesday, December 13---The San Francisco Film Critics Circle has named the emotional domestic drama LITTLE CHILDREN as its Best Picture of the Year. The group, which includes twenty-three film critics from around the Bay Area, will present their awards next month at a special evening ceremony. This is the first win for LITTLE CHILDREN among film critics associations, and portends well for some key Golden Globe and Oscar nominations for the film, its director Todd Field, and its stellar ...

Tuesday, December 12---UNITED 93, the harrowing re-enactment of the last hours on one of the doomed planes hijacked on September 11, 2001, has received the nod as Best Picture of the Year, from the New York Critics Circle, considered the most prestigious and influential of all the national film critics associations. The win by UNITED 93, which was echoed last week by the Washington DC Film Critics Association, catapults the docudrama into prime position for multiple Golden Globe and Oscar nomi...

Tuesday, December 12---UNITED 93, the harrowing re-enactment of the last hours on one of the doomed planes hijacked on September 11, 2001, has received the nod as Best Picture of the Year, from the New York Critics Circle, considered the most prestigious and influential of all the national film critics associations. The win by UNITED 93, which was echoed last week by the Washington DC Film Critics Association, catapults the docudrama into prime position for multiple Golden Globe and Oscar nomi...

Monday, December 11----With the glut of announcements from various film critics associations, the Oscar race is beginning to take shape. However, as opposed to recent memory, when one film (be it GLADIATOR, LORD OF THE RINGS or MILLION DOLLAR BABY) was recognized across the board as the Best Film of the Year, this year's race has been flung wide open, with a few films making an impression and certain to be among Oscar nominees for the Academy's highest honor. In the past 72 hours, film critic...

Monday, December 4---- The 19th edition of the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) came to a rousing end on Saturday evening, with the awarding of the IDFA prizes in a number of categories. Films from Denmark made a remarkably strong showing, winning several major prizes at the Awards Ceremony held at De Zwijger, an Amsterdam hotspot. The VPRO Joris Ivens Award for the best long documentary was presented to Danish director Pernille Rose Grønkjær for her documentary THE ...

Monday, December 4---- The 19th edition of the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) came to a rousing end on Saturday evening, with the awarding of the IDFA prizes in a number of categories. Films from Denmark made a remarkably strong showing, winning several major prizes at the Awards Ceremony held at De Zwijger. The VPRO Joris Ivens Award for the best long documentary was presented to Danish director Pernille Rose Grønkjær for her documentary THE MONASTERY--MR. VIG &...

The European Film Award has certainly changed...changed sex, changed location, and now ,at 19, Europe's attempt to emulate the "Oscar" has finally come of age with a well-presented,dignified ceremony and a splashy but stylish party in Warsaw, not perhaps the most beautiful of Old Europe's capitals,but the first venue in Eastern -sorry, Central- Europe to host the event so far.And, contrary to those who may think that most of the Polish population has recently taken up residence in England, the l...

Friday, December 1----As the International Documentary Filmfestival Amsterdam (IDFA) heads into its final weekend, the speculation is growing on which films will win the major prizes at the ceremonies on Saturday night. There has been, as one would expect at a festival with many heart-felt opinions, many ionate discussions on the merits (or demerits) of certain films. Last evening, the nominations were announced for IDFA’s competition programs: the Joris Ivens Competition for best lon...

Friday, December 1-----The Gotham Awards, held in a former luxury cruise line docking pier on the Hudson River, has become New York's biggest film party. Now in its 16th year, it has established a reputation and a following among the indie film world, particularly filmmakers, executives and talent that call New York home. It has reorganized in the past year (after splitting with the former IFP West, which presents the Independent Spirit Awards in Los Angeles over Oscar weekend), putting great...

Winners to be Unveiled at the Slamdance Film Festivali in Park City, January 18-27 Slamdance, an organization always looking to foster new and innovative ways to assist emerging artists and writers, has established the Slamdance Guerilla Gamemaker Competition. This contest is a natural extension of Slamdance’s stated mission to nurture, and showcase truly independent works and will be held concurrently with the Slamdance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, January 18-27, 2007. A gam...

Wednesday, November 29----The Sundance Institute and NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) announced today the 12 finalists for the 2007 Sundance/NHK International Filmmakers Awards. These annual awards recognize emerging artists in international cinema and are presented to film directors from four global regions (Europe, Latin America, the United States and Japan) to them in realizing their next projects. The four winners, selected by of an international jury, will be announce...

The European Film Academy and the International Federation of Film Critics FIPRESCI have announced that the EUROPEAN FILM ACADEMY CRITICS’ AWARD 2006 – Prix FIPRESCI goes to LES AMANTS REGULIERS by Philippe Garrel As Andrei Plakhov, president of FIPRESCI, has explained, "Philippe Garrel made his first film when he was 16, and by 20 had earned the reputation of the Nouvelle Vague's Wunderkind and 'younger brother of Godard'. His sophisticated cinematographic style, with long concentrated ...

Monday, November 27----Oscar-winning actor Nicolas Cage will be the recipient of the Career Achievement Award at the 3rd annual Bahamas International Film Festival (BIFF), which runs from December 7 to 10 in the beautiful island nation in the Carribean. Cage, a long time Bahamas resident, will receive the Award by screen icon Sean Connery, who was recently honored himself at the inaugural Rome Film Festival last month. Over the four day Festival, BIFF will screen a selection of Nicolas Ca...

Monday, November 27----Three of the fifteen documentary feature films selected by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) as contenders for this year's Best Documentary Oscar are associated with the International Documentary Filmfestival Amsterdam (IDFA). The 79th Academy Awards will be given out on Sunday, February 27, 2007 in Los Angeles. SISTERS IN LAW, co-directed by Kim Longinotto and Florence Ayisi, opened last year's Festival and also copped the prestigious IDFA Audi...

Saturday/Sunday, November 25/26----The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) has announced the "short list" of feature documentaries that will compete for Best Documentary honors at the 79th Academy Awards in February, 2007. The AMPAS Documentary Screening Committee viewed 81 eligible documentary features, shortening the list to 16 contenders. From this group will come the 5 films that will be compete for the final Best Documentary Oscar. Films on the "short list" include such r...

2004 VPRO Joris Ivens Award Winners for STAND VAN DE MAAN Saturday, November 25---- of the juries for the major competitions at the International Documentary Filmfestival Amsterdam (IDFA) have begun their process of screening films in contention and evaluating their worthiness for a series of top awards. Jurors in four separate competition categories will be among the busiest people as the Festival enters its first big weekend of screenings and events. In the Joris Ivens Competition, ...