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2011 Sundance Film Festival Announces Jury Prizes In Short Filmmaking

Posted by admin On January - 26 - 2011

Sundance-Film-Festival-2011

2011 Sundance Film Festival Announces Jury Prizes In Short Filmmaking

Filmmakers from Australia, Poland, Spain, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Canada and the United States Celebrated for their Documentary and Narrative Work

Park City, UT –The 2011 Sundance Film Festival this evening announced the jury prizes in shorts filmmaking and gave honorable mentions based on outstanding achievement and merit. The awards were presented at a ceremony held in Park City, Utah. These award recipients will also be honored at the Festival’s Awards Ceremony hosted by Sundance Alum Tim Blake Nelson on Saturday, January 29.

The 2011 Short Film jurors are Barry Jenkins (director, writer, Medicine for Melancholy); Kim Morgan (Film and Culture writer, Sunset Gun, The Hitlist) and Sara Bernstein (Vice president, HBO Documentary films; supervising producer, Baghdad ER, White Light, Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki).

The Jury Prize in Short Filmmaking was awarded to Brick Novax pt 1 and 2 (Director and Screenwriter: Matt Piedmont)— Penniless and now living in a seedy motel with only weeks to live, international super legend Brick Novax records his amazing tales as an astronaut, movie star, corporate CEO, and famous musician to preserve his legacy as the coolest guy in the history of the world.

The Jury Prize in International Short Filmmaking was given to Deeper Than Yesterday Australia (Director and Screenwriter: Ariel Kleiman) – After three months submerged underwater in a submarine, the crew have become savages. Oleg, one of the men onboard, fears that losing perspective may mean losing himself.

In addition, The Shorts Jury awarded Honorable Mentions in Short Filmmaking to:

Choke / Canada (Drector and Screenwriter: Michelle Latimer)— Upon leaving his First Nations reserve, Jimmy encounters the lost souls of the city and is reminded that no matter how far you travel, you cannot escape who you are.

Diarchy / Italy (Director and Screenwriter: Ferdinando Cito Filmomarino) – Giano and Luc are traveling through the woods when a storm breaks, forcing them to take shelter in Luc’s villa. Gradually and insidiously, a competition emerges between them, with terrible consequences.

The External World / Germany, Ireland (Director and Screenwriter: David O’Reilly) – A boy learns to play the piano.

The Legend of Beaver Dam / Canada (Director: Jerome Sable; Screenwriters: Jerome Sable and Eli Batalion) – When a ghost story around the campfire awakens an evil monster, it’s up to nerdy Danny Zigwitz to be the hero and save his fellow campers from a bloody massacre.

Out of Reach / Poland (Director and Screenwriter: Jakub Stozek) – Karolina and Natalia seek refuge from their domineering father and reminiscence about sad childhood without a mother in a basement of their block of flats.

Protoparticles / Spain (Director and Screenwriter: Chema García Ibarra) – The experiment was a success: protomatter exists.

Festival Sponsors
The 2011 Sundance Film Festival sponsors include: Presenting Sponsors—Entertainment Weekly, HP, Acura, Sundance Channel and Chase SapphireSM; Leadership Sponsors—Bing™, Canon, DIRECTV, Honda, Southwest Airlines and YouTube™; Sustaining Sponsors—FilterForGood®, a partnership between Brita® and Nalgene®, The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, L’Oréal Paris, Stella Artois®, Timberland, and Trident Vitality™. Sundance Institute recognizes critical support from the Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Development, and the State of Utah as Festival Host State. The support of these organizations will defray costs associated with the 10-day Festival and the nonprofit Sundance Institute’s year-round programs for independent film and theatre artists. In return, sponsorship of the preeminent Festival provides these organizations with global exposure, a platform for brand impressions and unique access to Festival attendees.

About Sundance Film Festival
Supported by the nonprofit Sundance Institute, the Festival has introduced global audiences to some of the most ground-breaking films of the past two decades, including sex, lies, and videotape, Maria Full of Grace, The Cove, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, An Inconvenient Truth, Precious, Trouble the Water and Napoleon Dynamite and, through its New Frontier initiative, has brought the cinematic works of media artists including Isaac Julian, Doug Aitken, Pierre Huyghe, Jennifer Steinkamp and Matthew Barney. www.sundance.org/festival

Sundance Institute
Sundance Institute is a global nonprofit organization founded by Robert Redford in 1981. Through its artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers, composers and playwrights, the Institute seeks to discover and support independent film and theatre artists from the United States and around the world, and to introduce audiences to their new work. The Institute promotes independent storytelling to inform, inspire, and unite diverse populations around the globe. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival, Sundance Institute has nurtured such projects as Born into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Son of Babylon, Amreeka, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, Light in the Piazza and Angels in America. www.sundance.org

Sundance Film Festival

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Two African films compete for Foreign Language Oscar

Posted by admin On January - 19 - 2011

Two African films, Outside the Law from Algeria and Life Above All from South Africa are among the 9 films that will advance to the next round of voting in the Foreign Language Film category for the 83rd Academy Awards. They were selected from 66 films that qualified in the category.

Hors-la-loi-Movie-Poster

Notably is Rachid Bouchareb’s “Outside the Law,” the French-Algerian film that annoyed French Prime Minister Nicolas Sarkozy’s political party, who wanted the film banned at the last Cannes Film Festival, because “it denigrates France and the French military.”

“Outside the Law”, tells the story of three brothers who fought for Algeria’s independence from France after World War II. After losing their family home in Algeria, three brothers were scattered across the globe. Messaoud joined the French army fighting in Indochina; Abdelkader became a leader of the Algerian independence movement; whilst Said moved to Paris to make his fortune in the shady clubs and boxing halls of Pigalle. Gradually, their interconnecting destinies reunited them in the French capital, where freedom is a battle to be fought and won.

“Life, Above All” an emotional and universal drama about a young girl who fought the fear and shame that have poisoned her community. It was directed by South African filmmaker Oliver Schmitz who adapted the international award winning novel “Chanda’s Secrets” by Allan Stratton.

Life-Plakat_web

Chanda, 16, is a smart and determined South African girl on track to win a scholarship – but she’s suddenly thrust into an impossible situation, forcing her to adopt maturity beyond her years. When we first meet her, she’s making funeral arrangements for her year-old sister, Sara. If people begin to suspect Sara’s death was due to more than a passing flu, Chanda will be faced with shame and stigma, not only for the victim, but also for their entire family.

When Lilian’s (Chanda’s mother) illness becomes impossible to hide, their nosy, eccentric next-door neighbor, Mrs. Tafa, engages a spirit doctor to perform a startling ritual. The spirit doctor determines that a curse is hanging over her and her children. In order to lift it,
Lilian must return to the village from where she was banished decades before, leaving Chanda alone to care for her siblings.

Meanwhile, Chanda’s best friend, Esther, has turned to prostitution in a desperate attempt to survive and reunite her own family. Though the community shuns Esther, Chanda refuses to reject her friend. To the horror of those around her, Chanda opens her house to Esther at her friend’s moment of greatest need. That’s just the beginning of Chanda’s fight against convention.

When Chanda discovers that her mother may have gone away to die in order to spare her children shame, she ignores the cautions of the meddling Mrs. Tafa, and embarks on a fateful journey to bring her mother home. And in doing so, challenges the people around her to reject their prejudices and embrace the truth.

The 9 films, listed in alphabetical order by country, are:

Algeria, “Outside the Law”), Rachid Bouchareb, director;
Canada, “Incendies,” Denis Villeneuve, director;
Denmark, “In a Better World,” Susanne Bier, director;
Greece, “Dogtooth,” Yorgos Lanthimos, director;
Japan, “Confessions,” Tetsuya Nakashima, director;
Mexico, “Biutiful,” Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, director;
South Africa, “Life, above All,” Oliver Schmitz, director;
Spain, “Tambien la Lluvia” (“Even the Rain”), Iciar Bollain, director;
Sweden, “Simple Simon,” Andreas Ohman, director.

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16th Annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards

Posted by admin On January - 16 - 2011

“The Social Network”was chosen as the Best Picture and the director David Fincher won Best Director for the film.

Colin Firth, won the Best Actor award for his role in “The King’s Speech” and Natalie Portman, who won Best Actress for her role in “Black Swan.” Christian Bale got the Best Supporting Actor award and Melissa Leo for Best Supporting Actress both for their outstanding roles in “The Fighter.”

Click here for the photo gallery of the red carpet at the 16th annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards at the Hollywood Palladium in L.A. on Jan. 14.

The Best Action Movie was “Inception,”, Best Art Direction and Best Editing went to “The Social Network”, “The Fighter” had Best Acting Ensemble, the Best Original Screenplay award was won by David Seidler for “The King’s Speech”, Best Young Actor/Actress was Hailee Steinfeld for her remarkable role in “True Grit”, “Toy Story 3″ won Best Animated Feature and “Easy A” was the Best Comedy.

Nominees in attendance included: Amy Adams, Ben Affleck, Christian Bale, Annette Bening, Helena Bonham Carter, Robert Duvall, Jesse Eisenberg, Elle Fanning, Colin Firth, Andrew Garfield, Ryan Gosling, Jon Hamm, Nicole Kidman, Mila Kunis, Jennifer Lawrence, Melissa Leo, Julianne Moore, Mandy Moore, Jeremy Renner, Sam Rockwell, Mark Ruffalo, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Aaron Sorkin, Steven Spielberg, Jacki Weaver, Hailee Steinfeld and Michelle Williams.

Presenters at the gala included: Hank Azaria, Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin, Ice Cube, Jesse Eisenberg, Jane Fonda, Jon Hamm, Ed Helms, Rob Huebel, the Kardashians (Khloe, Kim), Jimmy Kimmel, Greg Kinnear, Jennifer Lawrence, Julianne Moore, Joan Rivers, Tim Roth, Paul Scheer, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sarah Silverman, Kevin Spacey, Emma Stone and Sofia Vergara .

Maroon 5 was this year’s house band. In addition to entertaining the audience throughout the awards ceremony, the band gave a special red carpet performance during the live pre-show, and also performed “Stuck in the Middle with You” from the movie “Reservoir Dogs.” Keri Hilson also performed “Son of a Preacher Man” during the Critic’s Choice Music+Film Award tribute to Quentin Tarantino.

Click here for the full news release.

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‘The Social Network’ wins Best Picture at Critics’ Choice Movie Awards

Posted by admin On January - 15 - 2011

15 Jan 2011 06:43 Africa/Lagos

The 16th Annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards Select ‘The Social Network’ as Best Picture and David Fincher as Best Director

“THE SOCIAL NETWORK” LEADS THE NIGHT WITH 4 AWARDS
COLIN FIRTH WINS BEST ACTOR FOR “THE KING’S SPEECH” BEST ACTRESS AWARD GOES TO NATALIE PORTMAN FOR “BLACK SWAN”
WINNERS ANNOUNCED AT AWARDS CEREMONY BROADCAST LIVE ON VH1
WATCH THE SHOW’S BEST MOMENTS ONLINE NOW AT CRITICSCHOICE.VH1.COM

PR Newswire

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 15, 2011

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 15, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — The Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA) announced the winners of the 16th annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards earlier this evening. The star-studded ceremony was held at the Hollywood Palladium and aired live on VH1. “The Social Network” was named the year’s Best Picture and David Fincher won Best Director honors for the film.

Other big winners of the night included Colin Firth, who took Best Actor for his role in “The King’s Speech” and Natalie Portman, who won Best Actress for her role in “Black Swan.” Also honored were Christian Bale with the Best Supporting Actor award and Melissa Leo for Best Supporting Actress both for their work in “The Fighter.”

Best Action Movie went to “Inception,” while Best Art Direction and Best Editing went to “The Social Network.” “The Fighter” was honored with Best Acting Ensemble and Best Original Screenplay honors went to David Seidler for “The King’s Speech.” Best Young Actor/Actress went to Hailee Steinfeld for “True Grit.” “Toy Story 3″ won Best Animated Feature and Best Comedy went to “Easy A.”

Distinguished actor and humanitarian Matt Damon was honored with the fourth annual Joel Siegel Award presented by Emily Blunt and Jimmy Kimmel. The BFCA created this award to honor those in the film community whose actions demonstrate that the greatest value of celebrity is the ability to do good work for others. This award pays homage to beloved “Good Morning America” film critic and BFCA member Joel Siegel, who lost his struggle with cancer in June, 2007.

The 16th Annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards also included a special nod to iconic film director Quentin Tarantino, who received the inaugural Critics’ Choice Music+Film Award, presented by Tim Roth and Ice Cube. The all new Critics’ Choice Music+Film Award was created to honor a single filmmaker who has not only inspired moviegoers with his cinematic storytelling, but has heightened the impact of film through the brilliant use of source and soundtrack music.

Nominees in attendance included: Amy Adams, Ben Affleck, Christian Bale, Annette Bening, Helena Bonham Carter, Robert Duvall, Jesse Eisenberg, Elle Fanning, Colin Firth, Andrew Garfield, Ryan Gosling, Jon Hamm, Nicole Kidman, Mila Kunis, Jennifer Lawrence, Melissa Leo, Julianne Moore, Mandy Moore, Jeremy Renner, Sam Rockwell, Mark Ruffalo, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Aaron Sorkin, Steven Spielberg, Jacki Weaver, Hailee Steinfeld and Michelle Williams.

Presenters at the gala included: Hank Azaria, Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin, Ice Cube, Jesse Eisenberg, Jane Fonda, Jon Hamm, Ed Helms, Rob Huebel, the Kardashians (Khloe, Kim), Jimmy Kimmel, Greg Kinnear, Jennifer Lawrence, Julianne Moore, Joan Rivers, Tim Roth, Paul Scheer, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sarah Silverman, Kevin Spacey, Emma Stone and Sofia Vergara .

The show featured Maroon 5 as this year’s house band. In addition to entertaining the audience throughout the awards ceremony, the band gave a special red carpet performance during the live pre-show, and also performed “Stuck in the Middle with You” from the movie “Reservoir Dogs.” Keri Hilson also performed “Son of a Preacher Man” during the Critic’s Choice Music+Film Award tribute to Quentin Tarantino.

Viewers also got an exclusive sneak preview of VH1’s upcoming 2-hour scripted series premiere event “Single Ladies,” a comedic drama premiering Monday, May 30th at 9 PM ET/PT on VH1. Produced by Queen Latifah’s Flavor Unit Entertainment, “Single Ladies” asks the question: What do women really want in a relationship? The preview is now available on VH1.com.

For the show’s best moments, acceptance speeches, red carpet photos and interviews and a complete list of winners visit criticschoice.vh1.com.

Historically, the Critics’ Choice Movie Awards are the most accurate predictor of the Academy Award nominations. All four major acting category winners at the Academy Awards in 2010 were first Critics’ Choice Movie Awards winners in the same categories and were present at the January 15, 2010 ceremony to graciously give their first acceptance speeches of the awards season. The BFCA also recognized “The Hurt Locker” for “Best Picture” and Kathryn Bigelow as “Best Director,” making her the first female to win the award. “The Hurt Locker” and Bigelow also went on to win the Academy Award for “Best Picture” and “Best Director” but were both overlooked at the Golden Globes.

The 16th annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards, honoring the finest in cinematic achievement among 2010 film releases, announced its nominees on Monday, December 13, 2010. Final ballots went out to the BFCA members on January 10, 2011 with the deadline for returning final ballots on January 12, 2011. For a full list of this year’s nominees and information about the show visit CriticsChoice.VH1.com.

The 16th annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards is executive produced by Jesse Ignjatovic for Den of Thieves, Joey Berlin for Berlin Entertainment and Lee Rolontz for VH1.

About The Broadcast Film Critics Association:

The Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA) is the largest film critics organization in the United States and Canada, representing more than 250 television, radio and online critics. BFCA members are the primary source of information for today’s film going public. The very first opinion a moviegoer hears about new releases at the multiplex or the art house usually comes from one of its members.

About Den of Thieves:

Founded in 2007 by Jesse Ignjatovic and Evan Prager, Den of Thieves has quickly emerged as a force for ambitious event shows and uniquely stylized reality television series. Using their extensive experience working with talent, Ignjatovic and Prager launched Den of Thieves as the TV arm of the Warner Music Group in 2007. After a successful three year partnership there, they branched out and are now fully independent. With an array of formats ranging from Comedy Central’s stand-up special “Russell Brand in NYC” to VH1’s “The T.O. Show” to the MTV Video Music Awards, Den of Thieves continues to create, develop and produce original television.

About VH1:

VH1 connects viewers to the music, artists and pop culture that matter to them most with TV series, specials, live events, exclusive online content and public affairs initiatives. VH1 is available in 98 million households in the U.S. VH1 also has an array of digital channels and services including VH1Classic, VH1 Soul, VH1 Mobile, VH1Games and extensive broadband video on VH1.com. Connect with VH1 at VH1.com.

MEDIA: For additional information on this event, contact Andy Gelb or Stephanie Samson of Slate PR at (310) 556-0444 or andy@slate-pr.com / stephanie@slate-pr.com.

WINNERS OF THE 16TH ANNUAL CRITICS’ CHOICE MOVIE AWARDS

BEST PICTURE

“The Social Network”

BEST ACTOR

Colin Firth – “The King’s Speech”

BEST ACTRESS

Natalie Portman – “Black Swan”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Christian Bale – “The Fighter”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Melissa Leo – “The Fighter”

BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS

Hailee Steinfeld – “True Grit”

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE

“The Fighter”

BEST DIRECTOR

David Fincher – “The Social Network”

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

“The King’s Speech” – David Seidler

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

“The Social Network” – Aaron Sorkin

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

“Inception” – Wally Pfister

BEST ART DIRECTION

“Inception” – Guy Hendrix Dyas, Larry Dias and Doug Mowat

BEST EDITING

“Inception” – Lee Smith

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

“Alice in Wonderland” – Colleen Atwood

BEST MAKE-UP

“Alice in Wonderland”

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

“Inception”

BEST SOUND

“Inception”

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

“Toy Story 3″

BEST ACTION MOVIE

“Inception”

BEST COMEDY

“Easy A”

BEST PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

“The Pacific”

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

“Waiting for Superman”

BEST SONG

“If I Rise” performed by Dido and A.R. Rahman. Music by A.R. Rahman. Lyrics by Dido and Rollo Armstrong – “127 Hours”

BEST SCORE

“The Social Network” – Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

JOEL SIEGEL AWARD

Matt Damon

CRITICS’ CHOICE MUSIC+FILM AWARD

Quentin Tarantino

SOURCE VH1

CONTACT: Andy Gelb, Andy@slate-pr.com, or Stephanie Samson, Stephanie@slate-pr.com, both of Slate PR, +1-310-461-0111; or Scott Acord, +1-310-752-8075, Scott.Acord@vh1.com, or Candice Ashton, +1-310-752-8352, Candice.Ashton@vh1.com

Web Site: http://www.vh1.com

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