News 2009
European Film Awards 2009 : and the winners are...
Michael Haneke's "The White Ribbon" ("Das Weisse Band") won the EFA awards for Best Film, Best Director and Best Screenwriter. Ken Loach was honored with the European Film Academy Lifetime Achievement Award. In the Animated Feature category, children's film "Mia and the Migoo" ("Mia et le Migou") by Jacques-Rémy Girerd won the prize.
Nominations for the European Film Awards 2009
At the Seville European Film Festival the European Film Academy and EFA Productions announced the nominations for the 22nd European Film Awards. The new EFA website about the Awards went online at www.europeanfilmawards.eu Over 2,000 EFA Members will now vote for the winners which will be presented during the Awards Ceremony on December 12 in Bochum.
Read about EFA nominees on Cinema Without Borders
Cinema Italian Style 2009
CINEMA ITALIAN STYLE 2009 will kick-off with the U.S. premiere of The Offical Italian Entry for Best Foreign Language Film, Academy Awards® 2009, Giuseppe Tornatore’s (OSCAR® winning director for “Cinema Paradiso”) BAARÌA, which opened this year’s Venice Film Festival. Legendary director Tornatore will be in Los Angeles for the premiere. Each year CINEMA ITALIAN STYLE brings a piece of Italy to Los Angeles, offering some of the finest contemporary Italian films and documentaries which have made an impact in both Italy and abroad.
An event supported by ELMA
Cinema Italian Style on Cinema Without Borders
Hungarian Film Festival Los Angeles 2009
9th Hungarian Film Festival of Los Angeles will run from November 5th through November 15th, 2009. The Festival will feature multiple U.S. premieres of Hungary’s latest and
greatest films as well as a compilation of American films directed by Hungarians called “Hungarians in Hollywood.”
Read more at Cinema Without Borders:
9th Hungarian Film Festival
GERMAN CURRENTS: New Films from Germany 2009
GERMAN CURRENTS: New Films from Germany / Focus Northrhine-Westphalia 3nd Annual Festival of German Films in collaboration with Filmstiftung NRW, the American Cinematheque and German Films American audiences have been treated to an amazing spectrum of German films over the years. The past decade has been no exception. Having won two Oscars® for Best Foreign Language Film and having been nominated five times during the last seven years is proof that German films are a force on the international film scene.
An event supported by ELMA
Read more at Cinema Without Borders
LA Irish Film Festival 2009 Premieres Five Titles in US
Irish films receiving their US premieres at the festival include Lisa Barros D’Sa’s ‘Cherrybomb’, Macdara Vallely’s ‘Peacefire’ and Pat Collins’
‘Gabriel Byrne:Stories from Home’. Other films being showcased include Vittoria Colonna di Stigliano’s ‘Identities’ and Tomm Moore’s ‘The Secret of Kells’.
IFTA winner Lance Daly’s ‘Kisses ’ and Joel Conroy’s ‘Waveriders’ which won the George Morrison Feature Documentary IFTA earlier in 2009 will also be shown
at the Aero Theater in Santa Monica’s American Cinematheque.
Read more on The Irish Film & Television Network 's website
2009 Los Angeles Irish Film Festival Announces Program
The Los Angeles Irish Film Festival (LAIFF) today announced the program for the 2009 Los Angeles Irish Film Festival (Wednesday, September 23 - Sunday, September 27, 2009) including the U.S. premieres of Cherrybomb, Peacefire, Identities, Gabriel Byrne: Stories from Home and The Secret of Kells and a series of events and workshops.
An event supported by ELMA
Read more at Cinema Without Borders
Standing ovations for Agnes Varda
July 2nd, 2009. The Aero Theatre has been filled to capacity this past week while hosting a series of Agnes Varda's films, featuring the rare "Lion's Love" and "Murs Murs" amongst her more well-known work. Last night saw the premiere of her latest "Les Plages d'Agnes", a reflection on her own life and the social changes she has witnessed. The audience rose in ovation as Varda walked down the aisle to present her films.
An event supported by ELMA
Read more at Cinema Without Borders
LA Greek Film Festival 2009 to screen premiere of Nia Vardalos's debut film
The Los Angeles Greek Film Festival announces the World Premiere of I HATE VALENTINE’S DAY which marks Nia Vardalos’ directorial debut on Saturday, June 27 at 7:30 p.m. at the Egyptian Theatre. Vardalos, who wrote the screenplay, also stars in the movie with her MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING co-star John Corbett. I HATE VALENTINE’S DAY will be available On Demand July 1 and in theaters July 3.
An event supported by ELMA
Read more at Cinema Without Borders
3rd Greek Film Festival of Los Angeles: June 25th-28th 2009
The Los Angeles Greek Film Festival announces Christos Georgiou's SMALL CRIME as the festival’s Opening Night Gala presentation and Alexis Kardaras' GUINNESS, starring Antonis Kafetzopoulos, as its Closing Night Gala presentation. This marks the 3rd year of the Festival, which takes place at The Egyptian Theatre from June 25 through June 28, and will feature 7 feature films, 7 documentaries and 8 shorts, with 15 films enjoying their U.S. premieres.
An event supported by ELMA
Read more at Cinema Without Borders
Spanish Series at the American Cinematheque: June 4-10, 2009
American Cinematheque in collaboration with the Instituto de la Cinematografía y de las Artes Audiovisuales (ICAA) of the Spanish Ministry of Culture and Consulate General of Spain in Los Angeles and with the support of EGEDA, ELMA (European Languages and Movies in America) and the Tourist Office of Spain presents the RECENT SPANISH CINEMA XV.
An event supported by ELMA.
Read more at Cinema Without Borders
South East European Film Festival 2009: April 30th-May 4th
The fourth annual South East European Film Festival will take place in Los Angeles from April 30 to May 4.
Designed to showcase films from the region but also educate about its troubled history and cultural diversity, the festival will feature titles such as Zrinko Ogresta’s Behind The Glass from Croatia, Monica Lleo’s documentary Tunnel’s End from Bosnia & Herzegovina, Adela Peeva’s documentary Divorce Albanian Style, Huseyin Karabey’s My Marlon And Brando from Turkey and Dejan Zecevic’s The Fourth Man from Serbia.
For the first time, the festival will also host a business conference on the region’s cinema entitled “Bridging The Divide: Unlocking The Byzantine Film Model” on May 4.
“We bring to light innovative, different films that create an in-depth portrait of south east Europe, where countries are sandwiched between defunct empires and mixed legacies”, said festival director Vera Mijojlic. "They symbolize many different perspectives, something south east Europe and Los Angeles have in common."
Rooster's Breakfast wins CWB Award at SEE Film Fest
An event supported by ELMA.
Polish Film Festival in Los Angeles 2009: April 23rd-May 3rd
The Polish Film Festival will celebrate its 10th anniversary this year. The Gala opening will take place at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood,
while the remainder of the screenings
will be hosted at the Laemmle Sunset 5. During the opening ceremony, the Pola Negri award will be presented as well as awards for best film and best documentary.
Films in competition are: "33 Scenes from Life" by Malgorzata Szumowska, "Drowsiness" by Magdalena Piekorz, "Louise's Garden" by Maciej Wojtyszko,
"The Offsiders" by Kasia Adamik, the multi-awarded "Tricks" by Andrzej Jakimowski, "Four Nights with Anna" by Jerzy Skolimowski.
Many guests will be present including Jerzy Skolimowski ("Deep End") and Andrzej Jakimowski. Two of influential filmmaker Krzysztof Zanussi will be screened during the week:
"The Year of the Quiet Sun" and "Our God's Brother."
An event supported by ELMA.
Please visit the Polish Film Festival L.A. 's website for more info
CWB interviews François Truffart, director of COLCOA
April 14th, 2009. François Truffart talks about the upcoming thirteenth edition of COLCOA, a week of French Film Premieres, and presents this year's selection and guests. Read interview here
LA High School Students Meet French Cinema at COLCOA 2009
For the second consecutive year, ColCoa will invite High School students
to a free screening. This year's selection is the comedy "Final Arrangements". Colcoa takes place from April 20th through the
26th at the Director's Guild of America, Los Angeles.
An event supported by ELMA.
More info on these screenings at Cinema Without Borders
Cesars 2009 (the "French Oscars")
Friday February 27th marked the 34th annual Cesar ceremony. It is a surprise triumph for "Séraphine" by Martin Provost, which swept up seven Cesars: Best Film, Best Actress for Belgium’s Yolande Moreau (who also won a Cesar for "Quand la mer monte" - When the Sea Rises), Best Original Screenplay, Best Original Score, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design and Best Costume Design.
"Mesrine" is not far behind, sweeping three cesars:
Best Director, Best Actor for Vincent Cassel, Best Sound.
Some of the other winners are as follows:
Best Debut Film
"Il y a longtemps que je t'aime" (I’ve Loved You So Long) - Philippe Claudel
Best Documentary Film
"Les plages d'Agnès" (The Beaches of Agnès) - Agnès Varda
Best Adapted Screenplay
Laurent Cantet, François Begaudeau & Robin Campillo - "Entre les murs" (The Class )
Best Editing
Sophie Reine - "Le premier jour du reste de ta vie" (The First Day of the Rest of Your Life)
Best Short Film
Les miettes - Pierre Pinaud
Please visit the official site of Les Cesars for the complete list of winners
Two European Films win at the Spirit Awards 2009
February 21st, 2009, Santa Monica, California - Two European Films win at the Independent Spirit Awards 2009. The Best Foreign Film Award went to "Entre les Murs" aka The Class, a French film
directed by filmmaker Laurent Cantet ("Ressources Humaines" aka Human Resources, "L'Emploi du Temps" aka Time Out), who is known to tackle sensitive social issues very skillfully.
The Best Documentary Award goes to "Man On Wire" directed by James Marsh (UK) on Philippe Petit, daring, unstoppable tightrope acrobat/poet.
Read more detail at Cinema Without Borders
See list of all nominees and winners here
Foreign Language Film Nominees for the Oscars, 2009
This Sunday, the 81st annual Academy Awards ceremony will be held at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood.
The five nominees for the Best Foreign Language film of 2009 are “The Baader Meinhof Complex” A Constantin Film Production, Germany,
“The Class” (Sony Pictures Classics), A Haut et Court Production, France, “Departures” (Regent Releasing), A Departures Film Partners Production,
Japan, “Revanche” (Janus Films), A Prisma Film/Fernseh Production, Austria, and “Waltz with Bashir” (Sony Pictures Classics), A Bridgit Folman Film Gang Production, Israel.
For more detail on these films, please visit
Cinema Without Borders.
European Oscar Nominations, 2009
Jan 22, 2009. European films and artists are selected in various categories. The British are well represented this year. "Slumdog Millionaire" (Danny Boyle, also known for "Trainspotting") gets 10 nominations. Amongst others, it will compete for Best Picture and Best Director, so will "The Reader" (Stephen Daldry, UK). British actress Kate Winslet is nominated for the Best Actress Oscar for "The Reader". Some other British talent in the running are in the category of Best Original Screenplay (Mike Leigh for "Happy-Go-Lucky" and Martin McDonagh for "In Bruges"), Best Adapted Screenplay (David Hare for "The Reader" and Simon Beaufoy for "Slumdog Millionaire"), Achievement in Art Direction and Achievement in Costume Design ("The Duchess" running in both).
Penelope Cruz is nominated for Best Supporting Actress in Woody Allen's "Vicky Cristina Barcelona". In the Best Foreign Language Film category, France's Palme d'Or winner "The Class" will compete against Germany's "The Baader Meinhof Complex", Austria's "Revanche", Israel's "Waltz with Bashir" and Japan's "Departures". The French "Man on Wire" is selected for Best Documentary award. The ceremony will take place on the evening of February 22 in Los Angeles.
Please click here for a complete list of nominees.
French director-producer Claude Berri passes away
Jan 13, 2009. Claude Berri (né Claude Langmann) died in Paris on Monday, January 12 at the age of 74. His career spanned over 45 years. Berri’s major works include "Tchao Pantin" (1983), the diptych "Jean de Florette" - "Manon of the Spring" (1986), "Germinal" (1993) and, more recently, "Hunting and Gathering" (2007). He was referred to as a "pillar" of French cinema and was offered a tribute by Culture Minister Christine Albanel who praised the director's achievements.
European Films at the Golden Globes, 2009
Jan 11th, 2009. At this rate, Danny Boyle's "Slumdog Millionaire" will soon be a millionaire of nominations and awards: the film wins the Golden Globes for Best Motion Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Original Score. Other European winners are British actress Kate Winslet (Best Actress in "Revolutionary Road" and Best Supporting Actress in "The Reader") and Irish actor Colin Farrell (Best Actor in "In Bruges").
Please click here for a complete list of Golden Globe nominees and winners
Scandinavian Film Festival L.A. in the news
Jan 5-12th, 2009. Cinema Without Borders presents an interview with James Koenig, founder and director of the Scandinavian Film Festival, an overview of the festival, and a review of "Dancers", Danish film by Pernille Christensen.
10th Scandinavian Film Festival in L.A.
Jan 10-18th, 2009. Missing the seasons? Pining away in Hollywood for a real snow job? Then don't miss the 10th Anniversary Scandinavian Film Festival L.A. taking place the first
two week-ends of January at the Writers Guild Theater in Beverly Hills. The festival offers outstanding Nordic films, including Oscar contenders and other
current films from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. One of the films is "Everlasting Moments"-- latest opus of veteran Swedish Director Jan Troel,
considered one of the best, standing alongside Ingmar Bergman and Bo Widerberg. It is a chronicle of a dysfuntional family in Sweden's working class at the turn of
the 20th century and how a camera transforms a woman's bleak life as she captures "everlasting moments." New directors and established stars of Nordic cinema will be
represented: Niels Arden Oplev from Denmark, Baltasar Kormakur from Iceland, and others.
An event supported by ELMA.
