© Bronx (Paris). Photo : Claudia Cardinale © Archivio Cameraphoto Epoche/Getty Images

“True dialogue implies the recognition of the other for both his identity and his otherness!”

African Proverb

The 12th edition of the International Oriental Film Festival of Geneva (FIFOG) opens on April 1, with the projection of Chaâba, du Bled au Bidonville by Wahid Chaïb and Laurent Benitah, preceded by Make Art, Not War by Yannis Ben Jelloun. Azouz Begag, honorary president of FIFOG 2017 and two of the directors will attend this event.

During this Big Documentary Weekend, several movies dealing with topics like Daesh, Syria, Children rights and 'Living together' will be screened in presence of their directors. Among these movies, the world premiere of Fabrication d'un monstre by Paul Moreira, a Première Lignes production and Canal Plus participation.

FIFOG 2017 IN NUMBERS

·         100 movies

·         Special Documentary weekend: April 1st and 2nd at Fonction : Cinema

·         Opening Movie: Le Chant des hommes by Bénédicte Liénard and Mary Jiménez

·         Closing ceremony: My China Doll by Rachid Ferchiou.

·         3 categories: 16 documentaries, 40 feature films, 44 short films

·         Women directors : 8 documentaries, 11 feature films and 13 short films

·         3 movies by Youssef Chahine    

·         2 movies featuring Samy Naceri 

·         1 movie featuring Paul Riniker    

·         25 screening locations 

·         Partner Geneva Municipalities: Geneva, Vernier, Presinge, Grand-Saconnex, Vandoeuvres, Satigny, Perly-Certoux, Meinier.

·         30 countries: Afghanistan, Algeria, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Armenia, Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Canada, China, Egypt, France, Georgia, Great Britain, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Morocco, Palestine, Netherlands, Qatar, Switzerland, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey and the USA

·         109 directors: 35 women and 74 men

·         80 guests

·         8 competitions with 8 jurys : Competitions for feature films, shorts and documentaries; Golden Critic Award; Swiss Made Competition; 3 scholar competitions

·         More than 150 partners

TRAILER

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zk-93o2C5VU

CATALOGUE 

http://fifog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/CATALOGUE-FIFOG-2017.pdf

Website:

www.fifog.com

5 – 9 April 2017

The 15th annual Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles opens next week on Wednesday, April 5, and runs through Sunday, April 9. Passes and tickets are now on sale!

Our incredible lineup to celebrate this landmark year is filled with exciting in-person appearances, and has something for every taste.

Adil Hussain joins us for the Closing Night Gala of Shubhashish Bhutiani's debut feature HOTEL SALVATION. The film tells a wry but heartfelt story about an aging man who waits for the end of his life with his dutiful son in the holy city of Varanasi. Bhutiani is an IFFLA alum whose short film KUSH won our Audience Award in 2014. 

We're thrilled to welcome legendary tabla maestro Zakir Hussain and Symphony Orchestra of India associate music director Zane Dalal to the festival, for a screening of short documentary AN INDIAN ACCENT, and then a discussion recounting their work on brilliant orchestra concerto Peshkar. 

Nisha Ganatra, a multitalented director, writer and actor who has proven herself to be one of the leading voices of the filmmaking community, joins us for a discussion of her career along with some of her collaborators including Elaine Hendrix, Parish Cheen and Jason George, following a screening of her dazzling 1999 debut featureCHUTNEY POPCORN.

Filmmaker Roundtable offers the rare opportunity to see many of IFFLA's filmmakers in person all at once. Hosted by Sundance senior programmer John Nein, this event promises to be a lively discussion about the state of the Indian film industry.

The full lineup is here.

Documentaries at IFFLA 2017 This year IFFLA features three stunning and eclectic documentaries. Shirley Abraham and Amit Madheshiya's THE CINEMA TRAVELLERS is a poignant elegy for the end of traditional film exhibition. Khushboo Ranka and Vinay Shukla's AN INSIGNIFICANT MAN follows the AAP's yearlong campaign to wrestle power away from India's political establishment. And Rahul Jain's Sundance winner MACHINES gains almost unlimited access to the dehumanizing world of textile production.

Passes and tickets now on sale! All Access or Fest Pass are the best way to experience the festival. As a Pass holder you have the opportunity to immerse yourself in our entire five-day program of screenings and events (including opening night film LIPSTICK UNDER MY BURKHA, and closing night film HOTEL SALVATION), meet filmmakers and fellow festival goers at parties, and enjoy the IFFLA lounge between screenings. Learn more.

OMEGRANATE AWARD FOR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT OPENING NIGHT

Morocco’s culture of co-existence between Muslims and Jews will be celebrated on Opening Night of the NY Sephardic Jewish Film Festival’s 20th Anniversary Edition on 30 March. The evening is dedicated to Mr. André Azoulay, who serves as Counsellor to His Majesty Mohammed VI, King of Morocco. US government officials, foreign diplomats, and leaders within the cultural, academic, philanthropic, and business communities will join the American Sephardi Federation (ASF) in honoring Mr. Azoulay.

Mr. Azoulay is receiving ASF’s Pomegranate Award for Lifetime Achievement in recognition of his remarkable life’s work exemplifying the Moroccan tradition of tolerance through the arts, especially with the founding of the Essouira-Mogador Foundation for Arts, Culture, and Heritage and Essouira’s Festival des Andalousies Atlantiques, as well as his support of Association Mimouna, a movement of young Moroccan Muslims who preserve and promote the Moroccan Jewish heritage as an essential part of the Moroccan identity.

Mr. Azoulay’s fête, co-presented with Association Mimouna, will include a reception of kosher Moroccan delicacies and live musical performances, including by Israeli-Moroccan singer Neta Elkayam, who, with her partner Amit Cohen, creates original Moroccan Judeo-Arabic compositions.

The Pomegranate Award is designed by renowned Baghdad-born artist and ASF Board member Oded Halahmy, the proprietor of the Pomegranate Gallery in Soho and Jaffa.

Mr. André Azoulay

21/29 April 2017 – Udine – Teatro Nuovo and Visionario

First preview of the 2017 line-up: from the bizarre comedy - produced by Pang Ho-cheung - Nail Clipper Romance about a red-haired girl who lives off nail clippers through the amazing trans costumes of Die Beautiful to the splatter-horror-gore of The Sleep Curse;

from 52Hz, I Love You, the Taiwanese La La Land, to the International Premiere of Love Off The Cuff and Kung Fu Yoga with Jackie Chan, a packed programme from the most anarchic and surprising corners of Asian cinema.

Press release of the 31 March 2017

For immediate release

Ø  Click here to download hi-res photos

UDINE - Expect the unexpected isn't just the title of a (wonderful) old Hong Kong detective movie by Patrick Yau: it's the short, perfect chemical formula which captures the essence of all – absolutely all - of Asian cinema. There are places, like those we find in fairy tales or in dreams, where anything can happen, and Asian cinema is undoubtedly one of them. The fans know that, as does the Far East Film Festival in Udine  from the 21^st to the 29^th of April, which is about to declare its nineteenth edition open and which has never stopped exploring, experiencing and describing the unexpected.

Nearly twenty years of visions which are extreme, anarchic and unsettling whatever their genre or narrative slant: rather than being a question of technique or aesthetic, it's a question of soul. A natural inclination (and a formidable talent) for the unexpected, in fact, and once again this year visitors will have a great deal to admire. A great deal, running the gamut from comedy to splatter, for example as well as from love story to musical. A preview of the substantial 2017 line-up which, let's not forget, will be unveiled in full on the 13^th of April.

Unexpected is certainly the right word for Nail Clipper Romance by Jason Kwan, produced by one of the FEFF's dearest friends (and based on his own short story): we're talking about that bad boy Pang Ho-cheung, icon of indomitable made-in-Hong Kong creativity, who will also be presenting Love Off the Cuff (third chapter in the bizarre romantic saga that began with Love in a Puff and continued with Love in the Buff) at Udine. The debut film by Jason Kwan, filmed in Hawaii and with a score by Italian composer Gabriele Roberto, stars a girl who is on a slightly unusual diet: ...nail clippers! Is there anything else to say, except that Nail Clipper Romance is a romantic comedy?

Unexpected is definitely the word for the question mark that gave birth to Kung Fu Yoga by Stanley Tong (it will be released in Italy with Notorious): what happens when two completely different disciplines – two disciplines no one (let's be honest) imagines having anything in common – are brought together? His Majesty Jackie Chan makes an appearance is what happens – the super guest of the 2015 FEFF is once again a guarantee of full-power action and comedy! We're in the world of family-friendly popcorn movies here, of course, with the same dream team which in recent years has dominated the Asian box office (Police Story 3: Super Cop, Rumble in the Bronx) and delighted millions of viewers.

Unexpected is also definitely the right word for The Sleep Curse by Herman Yau, another old friend of the Festival, who, to the delight of his most fervent admirers, returns to his first (great) love: splatter. Or, to be precise, gore. If you think you're ready for anything, prepare yourselves to see the glorious duo from Untold Story (1993) and Ebola Syndrome (1996) back in action: yes, the legendary Herman has brought the equally legendary Anthony Wong back to the set ! An extreme film, not recommended for the easily-shocked, which rewrites - in blood - the rules of the genre. 

Unexpected is the perfect description of 52Hz, I Love You by Wei Te-sheng, which we can consider to all intents and purposes Taiwan's answer to La La Land (or should that be the other way round?), and just as unexpected is the Philippine Die Beautiful by Jun Robles Lana: an irresistible, chaotic, multicoloured transgender comedy that is already destined to become a cult! It is the story of Trisha, played by actor Paolo Ballesteros, a beauty queen who dies suddenly during her coronation ceremony. Her last wish is to have an unforgettable wake so, to get around her ultra-right wing father, her friends steal her corpse. They will leave it on display for ten days, as per Filipino tradition, and every night it will be transformed by make up into a different celebrity, from Madonna to Shakira!

Nearly twenty years of extreme, anarchic and unsettling visions bursting from the big screen of the Far East Film Festival, we were saying, and as happens only in fairy tales or in dreams, Asian cinema continues to fill our eyes with wonder...

4 nights of amazing indie films await you as FirstGlance Film Festivals celebrates its 17th year in Los Angeles in a brand new venue in the amazing North Hollywood Arts District at the Laemmle Theatre.

Get ready for more screenings, more films and more nights as FirstGlance expands due to popular demand!

Over 40 award winning films from features to shorts, to webseries and more! One of the most diverse array of filmmakers in our history and amazing films from all corners of the planet!

And for the first time in our history, a LIVE AWARDS CEREMONY on SUNDAY CLOSING NIGHT!

FirstGlance Film festivals began in 1996 in the basement of a small theater in Center City Philadelphia. It started as a small theatre company in Philadelphia that wanted to help fellow filmmakers get their projects shown in a public venue for others to enjoy. Its mission was a one time weekend to show projects that might otherwise not be seen by moviegoers in the Philadelphia area. With a rented video projector and a bunch of large screen TVs, they had a successful weekend showing about 20 projects to about 150 people...The FirstGlance Film Festival was born. FirstGlance decided to move forward and make its festival an annual event. With filmmaker interest, their sister festival opened in Burbank California in 2000 to a similar audience in a 35 seat screening room and has also become a growing annual event.

Having currently produced 34 independent film festivals, FirstGlance is Philadelphia's Independent Film Festival since 1996 and one of the fastest growing indie film fests in Los Angeles!

The 16^th edition of Transilvania International Film Festival (June 2-11, 2017) announces increased joined activities related to film industry, as part of the continuous work to promote cinema and establish a platform for international co-production.

The 4^th edition of Transilvania Pitch Stop (TPS), the successful initiative focused, until recently, only on development and pitching of local feature film projects, extends internationally as of this year. The program was included by Eurimages Fund among the European industry events to present the Eurimages Co-production Development Award amounting to €20,000.

TPS aims to discover a strong selection of projects from Romania and the countries around Romania destined for European co-production such as: Hungary, Bulgaria, Serbia, Ukraine, Russia, Moldova, Greece, Turkey and Georgia. The program aims to foster cross-border cooperation especially between the Black Sea countries and other countries invited to be part of the initiative.

“It's an honor for us to be among the 10 European festivals to grant the Eurimages Co-production Development Award. It's a sign of appreciation for the success of our industry-related initiatives throughout the years and for the efforts to boost international co-productions. We continue our mission, to discover young talents, by developing a platform for the countries around Romania and the Black Sea. It's always hard to co-produce for 1st and 2nd time directors, especially in this part of Europe”, says Dorina Oarga, Head of Industry, Transilvania IFF.

TPS will presents a selection of approximate 12 projects, coming from 1st and 2nd time directors, currently in development and financing to international film professionals, facilitating their international visibility and establishing the right connections to ensure financing for their projects. Directors and producers of the selected projects will be invited to the industry event organized by Transilvania IFF on June 9th & 10th, to publicly present their project, followed by one-to-one meetings and discussions.

A jury of international professionals along with a representative from Eurimages will award the Eurimages Co-production Development Award, which goes to one of the projects presented in the TPS co-production market.

Additionally, first and second time filmmakers from Romania and Moldova are eligible for the TPS development workshop, providing guidance on script development, as well as training and a platform for pitching the projects in front of prospective partners. Up to five projects will take part in a four-day workshop (between June 5th– 8th). Only two of them will be selected to compete, along with the international ones, for the TPS awards.

The regulations can be checked here.

Deadline: 27th of April, 2017
Selected projects to be announced by May 8th, 2017.
In order to submit the project and the required material, applicants need to create an account on eventival.eu, following this link: https://vp.eventival.eu/tiff/2017 

More details on www.tiff.ro.
For inquiries, please contact us: tps@tiff.ro.

***

In 2017, the industry program at Transilvania IFF consists also of Transilvania Talent Lab (TTL), a workshop dedicated to professionals involved in the management of cinemas. Together with Shorts TV, Transilvania IFF will organize the second edition of The Pitch, giving filmmakers from Transylvania the chance to win a € 5,000 funding for their short film. This year, the festival will host project partners LIM - Less is More, the European platform for project development of limited budget feature films created by Le Groupe Ouest, and First Films First, an intensive professional training program aimed at supporting young Southeast European film directors to develop their first feature-length fiction film, initiated by Goethe-Institut Young Directors´ Academy South-Eastern Europe.

The industry program will also include closed screenings for industry members and special screenings of the newest Romanian films, debates and masterclasses, lining-up experts in audience development, and script writing, film directors. 

Oscar-Qualifying Screenings 

Submit by July 31, 2017

Click to enter: http://www.manhattanshort.com/film-entry.html

I Website I Submit I Facebook I Twitter I Contact Nick Mason

During one week of the year over 100,000 film-lovers gather in over 300 Cinemas across 6 Continents to view and vote on the Finalists Films' in the Annual MANHATTAN SHORT Film Festival - MANHATTAN SHORT is more than just one of the largest short film festivals in the world....it's the World's First Global Film Festival.

If making short films is about getting your work out there, nothing compares to MANHATTAN SHORT.

Every Film Selected is eligible to enter the Oscars: 
MANHATTAN SHORT does a full week's run at Laemmle Cinemas in Santa Monica, California. This theater booking means all ten finalists in the 2017 MANHATTAN SHORT Film Festival will be eligible to enter the Oscar competition for 2018.

MANHATTAN SHORT is now in compliance with the rules governing the Oscar Awards set forth by the Academy of Motion Pictures of Arts and Sciences

MANHATTAN SHORT also conducts a screenplay competition for screenplay for short films only (20 pages and under)

Awards & Prizes

Rules & Terms

In the spotlight today is India’s first ever Horror Film festival, the Sixth Sense Horror Film festival, dedicated to showcase some extra ordinary short films catering horror genre from around the globe. Sixth Sense Horror Film Festival is open to take short films from reputed film makers as well as film makers who are students, learning film making having VFX background and want to make some serious career in horror industry which is vastly spreading across India!
We came up with this unique idea in the year 2016 to launch a film festival which will showcase only horror films and entertain the Indian audience as they are much fascinated with this genre, as films from all around the globe are doing a great business here. There was no festival prior to Sixth Sense Fest was doing that in India!
Sixth Sense Horror Film festival is giving cash prizes to film makers worth 2,00,000 Indian rupees and all the nominees will be getting a definite cash reward along with a beautifully designed trophy!
MORE ABOUT FESTIVAL:
We are not restricting film makers for a particular format of film. Film makers can shoot the film in any format and can submit it to our festival. This can be helpful for students to endure there talent and make it big in this particular region! We promise them for a great screening and viewership as we are having a program of screening and question/ answer sessions with known film makers and the film makers who are going to be nominated at our fest. Your film might be seen by a studio in India and you can be the lucky one to make it big here, in the biggest industry we ever have!
So we urge all the young, talented film makers across the globe to be a part of this revolutionary event, which is going to change the vision of watching horror films in India!
You can reach us on :
www.sixthsensehorrorfest.com
https://www.facebook.com/SSHFilmFest/
https://twitter.com/SSHFF2017
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCp_Att4dREuC472XmBEDbbA
https://www.instagram.com/sixthsensehorrorfilmfest/

This chart shows the amount of media coverage the Festival has received since 1966. Note how the number of journalists has been multiplied by 5 in 40 years.
 
 
This table charts the amount of professionals attending the event since 2003, where they’ve come from and a breakdown of their roles. You’ll see that producers continue to be the highest number of attendees.

Starts Tonight!

The 64th Sydney Film Festival today announced 28 prominent new films to be featured in this year’s 7-18 June event, and the first of over 150 Festival guests: award-winning British filmmaker Nick Broomfield, director of the hotly anticipated Whitney Houston documentary Whitney ‘Can I Be Me’.   

Also revealed in advance of the full program launch of 200+ films on Wednesday 10 May is a new Festival location:  Randwick’s iconic Ritz Cinema.

“These films bring together thousands of talents and perspectives from across the globe, to create a lens - a way of looking at and experiencing aspects of the world and ourselves,” Sydney Film Festival Director Nashen Moodley said. “And it’s as entertaining as it is enlightening.”

“From the view backstage with Whitney Houston to the view from the top in Mountain or An American Werewolf in London viewed through the windscreen of your car, the 2017 Festival is a collection of film from every angle, from everywhere, for every kind of film lover.”

Leading the pack…

Leading the titles announced today in the Festival’s sneak peek is high-profile documentary Whitney ‘Can I Be Me’, Nick Broomfield’s never-before-seen backstage look at the height of six-time Grammy winner Whitney Houston’s stardom. Also topping the list are non-traditional horror A Ghost Story, starring Oscar winner Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea) and Rooney Mara (Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), and Filipino independent filmmaker Lav Diaz’s haunting drama The Woman Who Left, winner of the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. 

Industry masterclass guest

The first of many Festival guests to be announced is award-winning filmmaker Nick Broomfield (Whitney ‘Can I Be Me’) who is renowned for his iconoclastic documentaries Kurt & Courtney, Biggie and Tupac, Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer, Soldier Girls and the dramas Battle for Haditha and Ghosts. He will also be presenting an industry masterclass at the Festival.

True stories

Highly anticipated true stories include Oscar-nominated I Am Not Your Negro: a timely perspective on race in America using the words of James Baldwin narrated by Samuel L. Jackson. Controversial post-apartheid South African first lady Winnie Madikizela-Mandela gets an extensive portrait in Winnie, and Rumble: Indians Who Rocked the World is a celebratory examination of Native American musicians and their role in the development of American popular music. Ethan Hawke and Sally Hawkins (Happy Go Lucky, SFF 2008) star in Maudie, based on the life story of Canada’s best known folk artist Maud Lewis.

New films from Australia and New Zealand

Closer to home, the Festival will premiere the new Australian feature That’s Not Me, a hilarious local indie with a strong Australian cast including Isabel Lucas and actor-writer-producer Alice Foulcher. Mountain is a new documentary from acclaimed Australian director Jennifer Peedom (Sherpa – SFF 2015) with a score created by Richard Tognetti and performed by the Australian Chamber Orchestra. Controversial documentary The Opposition is finally screening at Sydney Film Festival after being suppressed by a court order last year, as well as Spookers, a look into the inner workings of the Southern Hemisphere’s largest horror theme park and the tight-knit New Zealand family who run it.

New venue

In 2017 the Festival will continue to bring films from the world’s top film festivals to venues across Sydney including for the first time at Randwick’s Ritz Cinema – celebrating its 80th birthday this year. The State Theatre, Dendy Opera Quays, the Art Gallery of NSW, Event Cinemas George Street, the Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace Cremorne, Dendy Newtown, Casula Powerhouse, and the Skyline Drive In Blacktown return as official festival screening venues. An expanded virtual reality program will also pop up at the Festival Hub at Sydney Town Hall premiering cutting edge films.

Horror at the Drive In

Of the 28 films announced in the preview, 14 are new features and 13 are new documentaries, including 16 Australian Premieres and one retrospective.  The retrospective being cult classic Oscar-winning horror comedy An American Werewolf in London, directed by John Landis (The Blues Brothers), screening under the full moon at the Skyline Drive In on Friday 16 June.

Big festival winners

Prestigious new features included in the preview are Amat Escalante’s imaginative drama The Untamed, which won the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival for Best Direction. Cristian Mungiu’s tale of moral compromise, Graduation, won the filmmaker the Best Director Prize at Cannes 2016, and Afghanistan’s first female director Shahrbanoo Sadat’s debut feature Wolf and Sheep won the Art Cinema Award at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight. Documentary prize-winners include Nowhere to Hide (main award-winner at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam), and three winners from the 2017 Sundance Film Festival; Winnie, Motherland, and Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World.

Quirky hits

Other feature highlights include delightful family animation, the Oscar-nominated My Life as a Zucchini, voiced by Ellen Page (Juno), Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation) and Will Forte (Saturday Night Live), and Malaysia’s answer to Kill Bill, Mrs K, with an all-star cast including Hong Kong’s leading lady Kara Wai, Taiwanese rockstar Wu Bai, and martial arts film legend Lau Wing.

Outstanding documentaries

Outstanding documentaries remain essential to the Festival, and this year’s program has many award-winners and enthralling themes from factual filmmakers around the world. Untitled is the final film of the late Michael Glawogger (Whores’ Glory - SFF2012), created after his death by collaborator Monika Willi.

Slovenian metal band Laibach and their Latvian-Norwegian film crew get unprecedented access into North Korea in Liberation Day, and Hoop Dreams director Steve James’s David vs Goliath tale Abacus: Small Enough to Jail is a story about America’s financial crisis that actually manages to paint a bank as the small guys.

The Festival is supported by the NSW Government, through Screen NSW and its tourism and major events agency Destination NSW, the Federal Government through Screen Australia, and the City of Sydney.

The full Sydney Film Festival program will be announced on Wednesday 10 May at 11am.

Note: Flexipasses and subscriptions to Sydney Film Festival 2017 are on sale now. Please call 1300 733 733 or visit http://www.sff.org.au for more information.

FULL LIST OF FILMS HERE