Film Festivals

NNewly elected Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (New York’s 14th district) in Knock Down The House by Rachel Lears (Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Rachel Lears) All 121 Features Screened Eligible for Award The Sundance Institute today announced Knock Down the House as the winner of the Festival Favorite Award, selected by audience votes from the 121 features screened at the 2019 …

CLAIRE FOY, RICHARD E. GRANT, THOMASIN HARCOURT MCKENZIE, JOHN DAVID WASHINGTON ALSO TO BE HONORED WITH THE VIRTUOSOS AWARD AT 34TH ANNUAL SANTA BARBARA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL Today the 34th Santa Barbara International Film Festival announced its recipients for the Virtuosos Award presented by UGG, an honor created to recognize a select group of talent whose noteworthy performances in film have elevated them …

SFFILM, in partnership with the Westridge Foundation, announced today the projects that will receive a total of $100,000 in funding in the latest round of SFFILM Westridge Grants. Five filmmaking teams were granted funding to help support the screenwriting and project development stages of their narrative feature films. SFFILM Westridge Grants, which are awarded twice annually, are designed for US-based filmmakers whose stories take …

Green Book (Universal Pictures) Fresh off its People’s Choice Award win at the Toronto International Film Festival last month, Peter Farrelly’s Green Book is now the Overall Favorite of the 41st Mill Valley Film Festival. The film, which chronicles the real-life relationship between virtuoso pianist Don Shirley (played by Academy Award winner Mahershala Ali) and his driver Tony Lip (Academy …

The Peter Farrelly race relations road comedy Green Book, starring Academy Award winner Mashershala Ali (Moonlight) and Academy Award nominee Viggo Mortensen (Eastern Promises, Captain Fantastic) has won the top prize at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival, the Grolsch People’s Choice Award. The win gives the film a massive boost in the Oscar race, where for many people it …

Alfonso Cuarón’s ROMA has won the Golden Lion from the Venice Film Festival, the second year in a row the top prize has gone to a film from a Mexican director. Last year’s winner, The Shape of Water, was directed by Guillermo del Toro who went on to win Best Picture and Best Director at the Oscars. del Toro was …

The Romanian meta-drama I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History as Barbarians is the Grand Prize winner of the 53rd Karlovy Vary Film Festival. The film’s title refers to the Council of Ministers, who, in the summer of 1941, started an ethnic cleansing on the Eastern Front. The film was a huge critical success with Variety calling it “blistering” …

The 2018 San Francisco International Film Festival (April 4-17) announced the winners of the juried Golden Gate Award (GGA) competitions and the two Audience Awards (for Documentary and Narrative features) at an event held at The Lab. This year the Festival awarded nearly $40,000 in prizes to emerging and established filmmakers. The SFFILM Golden Gate Awards have honored deserving filmmakers and their …

  The Berlin Film Festival ended yesterday after a strong competition lineup and a shocking Golden Bear win for Touch Me Not, an explicit film about intimacy and sexual desires. Last year, the Berlinale played a considerable role in launching several Oscar hopefuls, having screened four of the 9 eventual Foreign Language Oscar shortlisted films in addition to Best Picture …

Touch Me Not (above), the debut film Romanian director Adina Pintille and about the graphic sexual awakening of a 50-something woman, won the Berlin International Film Festival’s top prize, the Golden Bear. It was somewhat of a surprise pick from the Tom Tykwer-led jury. The film also won the first feature prize. In this decade, three countries have won the Golden …