GOA, June 29, 2008: For a country sometimes viewed as 'the enemy' in geopolitical rivalries or the cricket-field, the films of neighbouring Pakistan, currently being screened at the South Asian Film Festival here in Goa, are drawing significant interest and appreciation.Screened in Panaji (also called Panjim or Ponnje) -- though with a small audience, reflecting the overall lack of publicity for the first SAFF being held here -- was reporter Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy's documentary 'Pakistan's Doubl...

[Photo, venue of the SAFF at Goa, housed in an old colonial palatial mansion. Photo FN] Eight diverse countries, very differing historical and political traditions, unmatched cinematographic backgrounds, and over 45 films. Mixed together, the result is a South Asian Film Festival, the latest version of which is underway in Goa.This four-day festival, which ends on Monday, is seeing films from eight South Asian Countries -- Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepa...

Films bring in the diverse hues of South Asia to Goa From Frederick Noronha in IndiaSpread over four days, the South Asian Film Festival, being held in the coastal holiday resort of Goa, brings in diverse moving images to three screening halls in Panaji, the Goan capital that is also host to India's international film fest IFFI towards Nov-Dec each year.After its launch on Friday (June 27), the first film to be screened here has been 'Osama' from Afghanistan.This 2003-award winning film is about...

 Saturday, June 21-------How does one make a film based in a divided East Jerusalem that is not overtly political? That was the challenge for French director Georgi Lazarevski in his documentary film THS WAY UP, which had its East Coast Premiere at SILVERDOCS yesterday.The film is set in the Our Lady of Sorrows nursing home in East Jerusalem, a venerable (if delapidated) institution for aging Catholic Palestinians. Residents once had a sweeping view of the city of Jerusalem but that has been ...

Monday, June 9------Celebrated Israeli director Amos Kollek arrives at Festroia later today, in preparation for the screening of his new film RESTLESS in the Official Competition here.The director, the son of long time Jerusalem mayor Teddy Kollek (about whom he made a documentary in the 1980s) was born in Jerusalem in 1947, a year before the State of Israel was declared. He is a renaissance man, who has directed feature films and shorts, written five novels and is a regular contributor to news...

Why should Siem Reap and Phnom Penh get all the fun? More on this later to confirm, but just returned from Kratie where I spoke with a friendly venue owner, and things look good for a remote screening in small-town Cambodia for CamboFest...(check back for updates)...

Real “coup de Coeur” of this beginning of Festival, Je veux voir (I Want To See) by Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige is a little cinematographic pearl all in smoothness and sensibility. Screened at “Un Certain regard”, this docu-drama sends Catherine Deneuve (as herself) to the south of Lebanon, a region destroyed by the recent war. Accompanied by Rabih, a young man who comes back to his homeland, she travels across the ruins of a nation, disappeared forever.    F...

Thursday, May 8: Opening Night Gala, the LA premiere of The Little TraitorBased on Panther in the Basement by world renowned novelist, Amos Oz, the movie takes place in Palestine in 1947. Proffy, a spirited 11 year old militant wants the occupying imperialists off his land. A chance meeting with British officer Sergeant Dunlop builds into a friendship between these two foes. Q&A with director and cast. WGA Theater, Beverly Hills, 8:00 p.m. *This film is part of the Spotlight on Israel section...

The Northwest Film Center and the Institute for Judaic Studies present the 16th annual Portland Jewish Film Festival. The selection of films express specific Jewish experiences, resonate beyond their cultural inspiration and speak to ideas, experiences and issues that confront our common humanity. APRIL 3 THUR 7 PMFUGITIVE PIECESCANADA 2007DIRECTOR: JEREMY PODESWA Based on the international best-seller by Anne Michaels, FUGITIVE PIECES is a poetic and emotionally charged film about love, loss a...

A collection of photographs by the Canadian Embassy, shot during the presence of Canada in Afghanistan, in an effort to rebuild the country after a long legacy of conflict. The "Rebuilding Afghanistan" photo exhibit showcases nineteen photographs illustrating the difference Canada is making in the lives of the people of Afghanistan.The collection presents a compelling visual story of the spirit and resilience of Afghans who have overcome a long legacy of conflict. With the internationa...

12TH NY SEPHARDIC JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL OPENING NIGHT US PREMIERE FILM "GOT NO JEEP AND MY CAMEL DIED" By Maria Esteves - March 5, 2008 The New York Sephardic Jewish Film Festival (NYSJFF) 2008, Opening Night US Premiere film GOT NO JEEP AND MY CAMEL DIED, directed by Ehud Tomalak, was held at the Center For Jewish History, Thursday, February 7, 7:30 PM. A special performance by Yair Dalal and Q&A session preceded the Opening Night Reception. Presented by the American Sephardi...

Israel Non-Stop opens this Thursday night with the riveting and innovative Black Rain, performed by the Herzliya Theater Ensemble and Haifa Theater. Don't miss this exceptional and moving performance - get your tickets now! The JCC's signature festival is the perfect way to begin your celebration of Israel's 60th. Saturday night sizzles with Shalom Hanoch: Live in Concert; the famed Batsheva Ensemble performs throughout the festival, bringing the new dance Kamuyot, as well as New Works and their...

War zone filmmaking: Going into battleBy Kellie SouthanSo you’re an independent filmmaker and you’ve got it pretty tough. Filmmaking is an expensive business, and you have to tell your story with a limited budget. Worse, you’ve got to fight tooth and nail to find the revenue in the first place. If you work long and hard enough, you might finish your project on schedule and then it’s up to you to promote it, get it seen, take it to festivals, find a distributor and garner . Not exa...

For several years now India has been the second largest television market in the world and with more than 300 million viewers one of the world’s largest market for satellite television. Its box office receipts are growing at an annual rate of 20-25%. Her information technology sector is expanding thus enhancing existing new distribution platforms and developing new ones which in turn provide more space feature films. India’s film and television audience is young with about half of all view...

Considered to be with the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival among the most important Jewish Film Festivals in the United States, the New York Jewish Film Festival provides a significant platform for new features and documentaries about and from Jewish life in and outside of Israel. Held this year from January 9th to 24th it has retained its importance among the close to 60 US Jewish film festivals staged currently in the United States(not counting those specifically focused on the Holocaust and...

FINDING A LOST KABUL IN OUTBACK CHINAAustralian born producer Rebecca Yeldham has been through some wild filmmaking when shooting The Motorcycle Diaries in deepest Peru, but that now seems tame after “the wild ride” that was the making of The Kite Runner in even deeper Western China, she tells Andrew L. Urban.From the start, the question of where to shoot The Kite Runner loomed over the production. The story would require the wholesale re-creation of several disparate worlds that no longer e...

Launching it’s 12th Year The New York Sephardic Jewish Film Festival continues To Explore the Cinema of this Rich and Diverse Culture:February 7-14, 2008The American Sephardic Federation/Sephardic House, in association with Yeshiva University Museum, announces the 2008 New York Sephardic Jewish Film Festival line up, celebrating a dozen years of exciting and thought provoking films. With the expansion to multiple locations, this one-of-a-kind event running February 7 – 14, 2008 will offer a...

The Kite Runner, the highly anticipated film adaptation of the best-selling novel, directed by Marc Forster (Finding Neverland, Monster’s Ball) will close this year’s prestigious 4th Dubai International Film Festival 2007 on December 16, it was announced today. The closing night event will be attended by author Khaled Hosseini and the film’s key cast including Khalid Abdalla (United 93), Homayoun Ershadi, Zekiria Ebrahami, Ali Danesh Bakhtyari, Ahmad Khan Mahmoodzada and Sayed Jafar Massi...

TÜRKIYE : A 2-WORLD BALANCE ACT It is hard not to notice a certain dichotomy in Turkish society which has exacerbated with the recent elections held in that country. Although democracy has definitely expanded throughout the land, the cherished secularism of Mustafa Kemal ATATÜRK, founder of the modern nation, is now being challenged by the ruling AKP party.This Justice and Development Party (AKP), after its July 2007 reelection, has gained a larger share of the popular vote, meaning that now a...

  Listen and SEE Erkan Ogur - Bulbulum Altin Kafeste : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21FHBHPQE94 and Hear ZEYNEP here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKAOTzzb6nk One of the biggest highlights at the Kars stop of the Festival on Wheels in Turkey in November 2007 was the last night performance of Erkan Oğur and İsmail H.Demircioğlu in the bustling Bolero Club in KARS, Turkey. Genial, warm and unassuming, performing his traditional folk repertoire before mesmer...

Panjim (Goa), Nov 23: India's media and entertainment (M&E) sector is close to a "large-scale, game-changing evolution". Digital technology and distribution, the growth of home entertainment, new distribution media like internet and IPTV, and the growing global appeal of new Indian movies are all driving this trend, says a new report here. Business lobby network CII (Confederation of Indian Industry) commissioned international management consultants A.T. Kearney to "provide insights on actual bu...

The Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) today introduced its new initiative, ‘The Scene: Your UAE Film Network,’ a series of monthly screenings at the DUCTAC auditorium at Mall of the Emirates, facilitated by UAE National filmmaker Nayla al Khaja. The first screening will be held November 30, and will showcase three award-winning films by Arab filmmakers. The series is dedicated to films that have not been commercially released in the UAE.  Director and producer al Khaja, whose short f...

Baghdad International Film Festival is staged Dec. 16 to 19.Films for the fest will mainly be submitted from Egypt, Jordan and Iran, according to Iraqi helmer Dr. Abdul Basit Salman. Egypt plans to send 27 films, most of them shorts made by students at the High Institution for Cinema, although the country's two main television channels and some private production houses will be sending in features, he said.The last time a film festival was held in Baghdad was in September 2005 when 58 locally ma...

Silard Somorjay concert pianist with his international musiciansThailand Bangkok 2008 March 18...