Open Roads: New Italian Cinema 2011

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Monday, 30 May 2011 05:00

Written by L E Shannon

Open Roads: New Italian Cinema is back again from June 1 - 8, 2011 at the Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center in New York City.

This 11th edition also marks the 150th anniversary of the Risorgimento, the movement that united the assorted city-states into the modern Italy that we know and love.

As a tribute to this milestone, the Series is screening two films that commemorate this event:

We Believed / Noi Credevamo
dir. Mario Martone
US Premiere of an epic reconstruction and re-imagination of the social and political forces that led to Italian independence.

1860 (I Figli Di Garibaldi)
dir. Alesasandro Blassetti (1934)
A rare screening, this epic of the Risorgimento follows a group of peasants on their road to joining Garibaldi.

The Opening Night Film is the US Premiere of The Salt of Life, directed by Gianni Di Gregorio. Starring Di Gregorio, Valeria de Franciscis, Teresa Di Gregorio, Alfonso Santagata
In this follow-up to his 2010 sleeper hit Mid-August Lunch, Di Gregorio plays a middle-aged retiree. As his friends snare "beautiful younger women on the sun-kissed cobblestones of Trastevere," Gianni tries his "polite, utterly gracious best to generate some kind of extracurricular love life -- with both hilarious and poignant results." Di Gregorio will be in attendance on June 1.

Some of the other films are:

20 Cigarettes / 20 Sigarette
dir. Aureliano Amadei
starring Vinicio Marchioni, Carolina Crescentini, Giorgio Colangeli
"When a young antiwar activist heads to Iraq to work on a film, he quickly finds himself a victim of sectarian violence and soon an unlikely media sensation. Amadei’s powerful debut feature is based on his own experiences as the only civilian survivor of the 2003 suicide bombing of Italian military HQ in Nasiriyah."

Unlikely Revolutionaries / Figli delle Stelle (Children of the Stars)
dir. Lucio Pellegrini
starring Pierfrancesco Favino, Lidia Biondi, Edoardo Gabbriellini
After botching a high-profile kidnapping, a group of disillusioned northeasterners are forced to learn how to coexist under absurd and clandestine conditions. A comedy of modern times.

The First Assignment / Il primo incarico
dir. Giorgia Cecere
starring Isabella Ragonese, Alberto Boll, Francesco Chiarello
Nena, a girl from the south of Italy, has to travel far from home to get her first job as a teacher. She arrives to find a world beyond her imagination: a school isolated on a high mountain plain, wild children, people she has nothing in common with and a hostile environment.

The Passion / La Passione
dir. Carlo Mazzacurati
After a leak in his Tuscan apartment destroys a 16th century chapel’s fresco, a has-been director agrees to stage some Good Friday celebrations. Dead-easy penance, right? Doesn‛t he wish...

For more information, go to www.filmlinc.com.

Open Roads: New Italian Cinema
June 1 - 8, 2011

Walter Reade Theater
at Lincoln Center
165 West 65th Street
New York City

Worldwide Short Film Festival

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Saturday, 28 May 2011 05:00

Written by L E Shannon

The 17th annual CFC Worldwide Short Film Festival runs May 31 - June 5, 2011 at the Canada Film Centre in Toronto, Canada.

Presented by TELUS, North America’s largest short film festival showcases the best short films from Canada and around the world, with an unparalleled line-up of contemporary short films in 33 programs specially selected from a record-breaking 4,200 submissions.

"This year the WSFF has really come into its own," says Festival Director Eileen Arandiga. "Short films have never been more popular. The record number of submissions received is clearly a testament to the growing popularity and importance of short film. This is a very exciting time for shorts, and we have never seen so many recognizable faces both in front of and behind the camera."

Directors with shorts screening include:

• Spike Jonze
• Michel Gondry
• Neil LaBute
• Taika Waititi
• Sima Urale
• Jonathan Caouette
• Harmony Korine
• and the directorial debut of Rachel Weisz

Starring in shorts are:

• Colin Firth
• Anthony Hopkins
• Imelda Staunton
• Tom Hardy
• Chloë Sevigny
• Scott Thompson
• Jeremy Irons
• Max von Sydow
• Steve Coogan
• Joseph Fiennes
• Ian McKellan
• John Slattery
• Gerard Depardieu
• Rosemary DeWitt
• Selma Blair
• Jeremy Davies
• Julia Stiles
• Debra Winger
• Keira Knightley

Opening Gala: Award-Winning Shorts from Around the World – Hailing straight from some of the film world's most competitive forums, The Festival Opening Gala offers a selection of the most celebrated films from Canada and across the globe.

Official Selection – The competitive programming debuts the films that become the world‛s most critically acclaimed short films. The 12 programs of selected shorts are a diverse blend of 95 engaging live action, animation, documentary and experimental films from Canada and 25 countries across the globe. Some of them are:

Shorts for Shorties – Visit the CN Tower’s theatre and watch some of the best short films for kids. These two colorful collections of animated tales from far and wide will entertain both the young and young-at-heart.

After the screening, kids can participate in the NFB Mediatheque’s hands-on 3-D animation workshops. Experienced NFB workshop facilitators will introduce children aged 3-13 to stop motion animation, before helping them create their own original films.

Spotlight on Italy – Each year the Festival focuses on a region or country. This year the spotlight is on Italy, showcasing contemporary shorts in two programs.

Straight 8 – See what no-budget, guerilla filmmakers can do with only one cartridge of film. A 10-year "Best of" retrospective from the Straight 8 filmmaking challenge: one Super 8 cartridge, no editing.

Tel Aviv University Film School Spotlight – Each year, the WSFF highlights the work at an exceptional film school, giving local film students a chance to see what’s coming out of other academic institutions.

This year, the WSFF presents a spotlight on Tel Aviv University’s (TAU) Film School. Israel’s oldest and biggest film school has launched the careers of a generation of filmmakers and is internationally respected for the work it produces.

Laughter Without Borders – This fresh crop of comedy shorts from home and abroad is proof that comedy is truly a universal language.

Indie Comedy Showcase – "For Shorts & Giggles" brings the funny to both screen and stage with a sidesplitting showcase of comedians and comedic short films. The brightest, weirdest and wildest emerging comedians from Toronto, New York and L.A. gather for this red-hot combination of laugh inducing live performances and crazy-indie-cool comedy shorts.

CFC Short Dramatic Films – An eclectic crop of award-winning films created by CFC‛s Short Dramatic Film Program in 2010.

Scene Not Herd – A snapshot of the hottest and most creative music videos from around the world, this cinematic treasure chest of short film gems give music and sound a starring role.

Two Programs of Celebrity Shorts – Hollywood stars love short films: they’re a playground for trying out new characters as actors, or testing new roles behind the camera. This year, a record number of A-listers perform, write and direct in these two programs of star-studded short films.

Sci-Fi: Out There – This global array of animation and live action sci-fi shorts is always a great bet for fantastically imaginative works and a taste of sharp parody.

Trilogy of Trilogies: New Zealand’s Got Talent – This year’s trilogy program turns the spotlight on the many and varied talents of some of New Zealand’s most unique filmmaking voices: Taika Waititi, Jason Stutter and Sima Urale.

Slap ‘N’ Tickle and Introducing Slap ‘N’ Tickle: Hardgore – Two programs of titillating shorts: true stories, naughty animations, seductive dramas and saucy comedies.

Midnight Mania – The two midnight programs, "Freaky" and "Creepy," are a mélange of the most unsettling, eerie and flat-out frightening shorts the world has to offer laced with the occasional dose of comic relief.

Symposium 2011
Short Film Big Ideas is a four-day symposium on the art and commerce of short filmmaking, the largest short film marketplace in North America.

A variety of panels cover a diverse range of topics including:

• funding
• self packaging
• casting
• finding and working with an agent
• digital distribution
• music licensing

New this year is The Feedback Loop, where selected filmmakers can have their short film critiqued by industry professionals in front of a live audience with the aim of helping filmmakers to monetize their shorts.

For more information, go to worldwideshortfilmfest.com.

Worldwide Short Film Festival
May 31 - June 5, 2011

Canadian Film Centre
2489 Bayview Avenue
Toronto, Ontario
M2L 1A8 Canada

Seattle Intl Film Fest: "See Interesting Films First"

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Tuesday, 17 May 2011 05:00

Written by Lynne Shannon

The 37th annual Seattle International Film Festival 2011 (SIFF) is screening May 19 - June 12, 2011 at SIFF Cinema, SIFF Film Center, and several other venues around Seattle, as well as festival branches in Everett, Kirkland and Renton, in Washington State.

SIFF ("See Interesting Films First") is the largest and most highly attended film festival in the United States, showcasing more than 400 films from over 60 countries to an audience of 150,000 attendees annually.

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