European Presence at the Oscars
Two European films made this last nomination round in the Best Foreign film category: "The White Ribbon" by Michael Haneke (Germany) and "un Prophète" by Jacques Audiard (France) while "An Education", a UK production by Danish filmmaker Lone Scherfig, contends in the Best Picture Category. The Irish have "The Secret of Kells" vying for Best Animated Feature, "The Door" for Best Short Film (Live Action) and Brown Bags produced "Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty" for Best Animated Short Film. All the other nominees for the latter category are European.
An intriguing title, "Rabbit à la Berlin", a Polish-German co-production, competes in the Short Documentary section. European actors and actresses nominated for an Oscar are Colin Firth, Helen Mirren, Carey Mulligan (Leading Roles) and Christoph Waltz and Penélope Cruz (Supporting Roles). Some nominees in other categories are "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus" and "The Young Victoria" for Art Direction, "Coco Before Chanel" for Costume Design, Alexandre Desplat for his Original Score of "Fantastic Mr. Fox", "Paris 36" for Best Original Song, and more.
Cinemagic International Film & Television Festival for Young People Comes to Los Angeles
To mark the 20th anniversary of the Cinemagic International Film & Television Festival for Young People, the award-winning Northern Ireland based charity is visiting Los Angeles to deliver a satellite festival.
Cinemagic will be working in partnership with REDCAT International Children's Film Festival from Monday 1st to Thursday 4th March 2010 to offer young people the opportunity to attend film screenings and participate in masterclasses and workshops with leading industry professionals.
From a social perspective the Festival provides a channel for young people to increase their personal understanding of different cultures and in the process appreciate the value of different perspectives. It is a real opportunity to expand horizons and explore the cultural infrastructure that exists in other parts of the globe.
ELMA is proud to welcome and support their event in Los Angeles.
Read more on Cinema Without Borders
Looking back at Scandinavian Film Festival Los Angeles, 2010
We've just wrapped up the 11th Annual Scandinavian Film Festival L.A. I kept telling the audience-- we've started a second decade of Nordic film's annual residency in Southern California! I was really pleased with the festival-- we had more films than ever, more audience than ever, and a wonderfully diverse mix of people which I found better than ever. The film industry is really a global industry. It's only human to be territorial or nationalistic--but I'm more interested in bridges than borders. I always hear questions like "Which Scandinavian country are you from?" or "Are you Scandinavian?"
James Koenig reflects back on festival on Cinema Without Borders
European selections and winners at the Golden Globe Awards
“The White Ribbon” won the 67th Golden Globe Award for the Best Foreign Language film. Other nominees in this category were “Baaria”, “Broken Embraces”, “La Nana” and “Un Prophète". Directed by Michael Haneke, “The White Ribbon” was filmed in Northern and Eastern Germany. It shows the evil roots, guilt and repression of Germany just before World War I. A village in Protestant Northern Germany, 1913-1914, on the eve of World War I. The story of the children and teenagers of a choir run by the village schoolteacher, and their families: the baron, the steward, the pastor, the doctor, the midwife, the tenant farmers. Strange accidents occur and gradually take on the character of a punishment ritual.
Viennese actor Christoph Waltz received the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Quentin Tarentino’s German co-production "Inglourious Basterds". The latter film, which vied for Best Feature, lost to "Avatar". German/US title "The Hangover" won the award for Best Comedy or Musical Picture. The other European actors nominated, including Colin Firth, Helen Mirren, Marion Cotillard and Penélope Cruz (the latter two chosen for their performance in Italian co-production "Nine"), went home empty-handed.
Cinema Without Borders: "The White Ribbon" wins Golden Globe Award
Belmondo to receive the 2009 LAFCA Career Achievement Award
Jean-Paul Belmondo will receive the 2009 Los Angeles Film Critics’ Career Achievement Award. Jean-Paul Belmondo, son of the renowned French sculptor Paul Belmondo studied at Conservatoire National Superieur d'Art Dramatique (CNSAD); after the minor stage performances he made his screen debut in "A pied, à cheval et en voiture" (1957) but the episodes with his participation were cut before release. However, the breakthrough role in Jean-Luc Godard's "A bout de souffle" (1960) made him one of the key figures in the French New Wave.
Read more on Cinema Without Borders
LAFCA Award Ceremony this Saturday
The 35th annual Los Angeles Film Critics Association awards ceremony will be held Saturday, January 16 at the InterContinental, Los Angeles.
The awards will be dedicated to the French New Wave in commemoration of its 50th anniversary.
Honored European talent includes Agnes Varda who wins Best Documentary
for "Les Plages d'Agnes", Yolande Moreau who wins
the Best Actress Award for her performance in "Seraphine", Olivier Assayas's "Summer Hours" which wins the Best Foreign-Language Film Award. Michael Haneke's
"The White Ribbon" is runner-up in several categories but wins the Best Cinematography award. "The Anchorage", from Sweden, wins The Douglas Edwards Experimental/
Independent Film/Video Award. French New Wave luminary Jean-Paul Belmondo
will be distinguished with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Founded in 1975, The Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA) is comprised of Los Angeles-based, professional film critics working in the Los Angeles print and electronic media. Each December, LAFCA members vote on the year's Achievement Awards, honoring screen excellence on both sides of the camera. Plaques of recognition are then presented to winners during LAFCA's annual awards ceremony, held in mid-January.
Aside from honoring each year's outstanding cinematic achievements, LAFCA has also made it a point to look back and pay tribute to distinguished industry veterans with its annual Career Achievement Award, which is announced in October, as well as to look forward by spotlighting fresh, promising talent with its annual New Generation Award. In addition, over the past three decades, LAFCA has sponsored and hosted numerous film panels and events and donated funds to various Los Angeles film organizations, especially where film preservation was concerned. LAFCA members have also collectively been vocal about taking up causes they have felt passionate about, from drafting formal protests against censorship and colorization to lending their support to controversial films.
An event supported by ELMA
See all LAFCA Award winners for 2009 here
French New Wave film director Eric Rohmer dies
Monday, January 11th, 2010. Eric Rohmer, a pioneer of the French "New Wave" which transformed cinema in the 1960s, has died, his production house said on Monday. He was 89.
In a movie career spanning half a century, Rohmer made some 50 pictures, first gaining international acclaim for "Ma Nuit Chez Maud" ("My Night at Maud's") which was
nominated for an Oscar for Best Screenplay in 1969.
Henrik Ruben Genz on "Terribly Happy", Danish Oscar submission
The official Danish selection for this year’s Academy Awards and winner of 7 Robert Awards (Danish Oscars) including Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress and Screenplay, TERRIBLY HAPPY spins a riveting yarn about Robert Hanson (Jakob Cedergren), a Copenhagen police officer who, following a nervous breakdown, is transferred to a small provincial town to take on the mysteriously vacated marshal position and subsequently gets mixed up with a married femme fatale. Robert’s big city temperament makes it impossible for him to fit in, or understand the uncivilized, bizarre behavior displayed by the townspeople. Quickly spiraling into an intense fable, director Henrik Ruben Genz displays a unique and sometimes macabre vision of the darkest depths to which people will go to achieve a sense of security and belonging.
Read Henrik Ruben Genz's interview on Cinema Without Borders
Klaus Härö on Letters to Father Jacob, Finnish Oscar submission
Finnish director/writer Klaus Härö is an award-winning filmmaker, best known for “Mother of Mine” (Audience Award/Palm Springs International Film Festival; Crystal Bear/Cairo International Film Festival); “Elina: As if I Didn’t Exist” (Crystal Bear/Berlin International Film Festival) as well as “The New Man.” In total, Härö’s films have won more than 60 prizes in festivals around the world, and in 2004 he was awarded the Ingmar Bergman Award, the winner of which is chosen by Bergman himself. His latest, Letters to Father Jacob, is an award-winning film and is Oscar contender for Best Foreign Film.
Read Klaus Härö's interview on Cinema Without Borders
Scandinavian Film Festival L.A. Latest News
The 11th Annual Scandinavian Film Festival L.A. begins a second decade of films from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden at the Writers Guild Theater, in Beverly Hills on January 9th, 10th, 16th, 17th during the Pre-Oscar "Winter Film Season".
Scandinavian Film Festival L.A. on Cinema Without Borders
James Koenig talks about Scandinavian Film Festival L.A.
James Koenig is Founder and Director of the Scandinavian Film Festival L.A. (SFFLA), yet his voice can be heard in various arts arenas. A graduate of Northwestern University with a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree, he wrote poetry while there, published by the University of Chicago Press. He continued writing: song texts, theatrical pieces, journalism, articles on classical music, and even a novel — The Meter Is Running. He has been decorated as a Knight of the Order of the Finnish Lion for his musical activities and cultural work for Finland and his work with the American Scandinavian Foundation of Los Angeles. Yet there is one last talent — perhaps his foremost — Koenig is a classical singer, a baritone who has performed in opera, concerts, and recitals in the United States, Italy, and Scandinavia. He enjoys teaching and coaching vocal students, and in the summer he teaches at the Bel Canto Institute in Firenze.
Read James Koenig's interview on Cinema Without Borders
European Submissions for Best Foreign Film Oscar 2010
Over thirty films are submitted from Europe alone. See all Foreign Film Oscar contenders here
News Archives
Acess more news on European cinema in our news archives.
