Monday, April 30, 2012

2012 Deep Wireless Festival of Radio and Transmission Art, May 1–31


11th annual DEEP WIRELESS Festival of Radio & Transmission Art
@ Artscape Wychwood Barns, 601 Christie Street, Toronto
May 1 - 31, 2012

Deep Wireless is a month-long celebration of radio and transmission art including performances, installations, radio broadcasts of commissioned works on CBC radio's Living Out Loud and the TransX Transmission Art Symposium. Featured artists: Christof Migone, Galen Joseph-Hunter, Kristen Roos, James Partaik, LeBlanc/Fahner/Moignard, Magz Hall, Victoria Fenner, Tetsuo Kogawa, Aynsley Moorehouse, Peter Courtemanche, Dominique Ferraton, Hector Centeno, Chris Myhr, Jennifer Cherniack, Amos Latteier, Gintas Telelis and many more.

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Thailand National Film Awards 2012 (Golden Swans) – winners


The สมาพันธ์สมาคมภาพยนตร์แห่งชาติ (Federation of National Film Associations of Thailand) hosted the 21st Annual รางวัลภาพยนตร์แห่งชาติ สุพรรณหงส์ (Thailand National Film Awards) or สุพรรณหงส์ (Supannahong or "Golden Swan") Awards at the Siam Pavalai Theatre, Paragon Cineplex in Bangkok tonight.

The horror-thriller ลัดดาแลนด์ (Laddaland) by โสภณ ศักดาพิศิษฏ์ (Sophon Sakdaphisit) was the night's biggest winner with six awards. It took the main prize of Best Picture as well as Best Actress for ปิยธิดา วรมุสิก (Piyathida Woramusik), Supporting Actress for สุทัตตา อุดมศิลป์ (Suthatta Udomsilp), Screenplay, Editing and Make-Up. It had led with fourteen nominations, one in every category except for Best Supporting Actor and Best Song.

ฝนตกขึ้นฟ้า (Headshot) by เป็นเอก รัตนเรือง (Pen-ek Ratanaruang) followed with four trophies. It too Best Director, Actor for นพชัย ชัยนาม (Noppachai Jayanama), Cinematography and Sound. Accepting one of its awards was producer เรย์มอนด์ พันธนวิรางกูร (Raymond Phathanavirangoon) who formerly was a programmer for the Toronto International Film Festival and the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival.

2012 Northern Ontario Music and Film Awards – winners


The 9th Annual Northern Ontario Music and Film Awards took place Saturday night at the Great Hall at Laurentian University, Sudbury. They were hosted by the non-profit organization Music and Film in Motion (MFM) whose mandate is to foster and promote the development of the music and film industries in Northern Ontario.

Heather K. Dahlstrom's Dave vs. Death
 took the Film of the Year category. David Lickley and Rob Gagne's Wildfires! A 4D Firefighting Adventure
 captured both prizes for which it was nominated, winning Director of the Year and Editor of the Year.

The Cinematographer award went to Dave Clement and Lee Chambers took the Screenwriter prize for Hugh Jackman Saves The World.

Cindy Doire captured Album Of The Year by a Solo Artist for Sticks and Mud
). Kalle Mattson picked up both Album Of The Year by a Duo or Group and SOCAN Songwriter Of The Year.

The Comedy Awards 2012 – winners


The second edition of The Comedy Awards organized by Comedy Central were held at New York City’s Hammerstein Ballroom last night. The event was hosted by Rob Riggle.

The winner for the Comedy Film was Paul Feig's Bridesmaids, which also earned Feig the Director award. Scene-stealer Melissa McCarthy beat out her co-star Kristen Wiig for Best Actress honours. Wiig, however, won for Comedy Screenplay which she co-wrote with Annie Mumolo.

Like Bridesmaids, Crazy, Stupid, Love by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa also received five nominations but ended up leaving empty-handed. The winner for Best Actor was Jean Dujardin yet again for The Artist. The Animated Film award went to Rango.

Louis C.K. ended up with four awards himself. He or his show Louie won for Comedy Directing–TV, Sketch/Alternative Comedy Series, Comedy Special and Stand-Up Tour.

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Israel Film Festival Montreal 2012, Apr 29–May 7


Starting Sunday, April 29, the 8th Israel Film Festival Montreal opens with screenings of Yossi Madmoni's Restoration and Guy Nattiv's The Flood.

The other features screening during the festival are My Australia by Ami Drozd, Playoff by Eran Riklis, Obsession by Nissim Notrika, Mrs. Moskowitz and the Cats by Jorge Gurvich, Melting Away by Doron Eran, My Lovely Sister by Marco Carmel, and Joseph Cedar's Oscar-nominated Footnote.

2012 Premios Ariel (Ariel Awards) for Mexican film – nominations


The Academia Mexicana de Artes y Ciencias Cinematográficas (Mexican Academy of Film Arts and Sciences) announced the full nominations for their 54th Premios Ariel (Ariel Awards) for Mexican film.

Everardo Gout's thriller Días de gracia (Days of Grace) led the way with fifteen nominations. It nods included Best Picture, Director, Actor (Tenoch Huerta), Supporting Actress (Eileen Yáñez) and Supporting Actor (both Krystyan Ferrer and Mario Zaragoza).

Following closely with fourteen bids was Emilio Portes' comedy Pastorela. Its mentions included Best Picture, Director, Actor (Joaquín Cosío), Supporting Actor and Screenplay.

Gerardo Naranjo's Miss Bala was the other nominee for Best Picture and Director. However, its only other nomination was for Noé Hernández as Best Actor.

2012 Gawad Urian Awards – nominations


The Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino (Filipino Film Critics) have announced the nominees for the 35th Gawad Urian Awards. The field was dominated by indie film productions.

The gritty drama Amok by Lawrence Fajardo led with a total of ten nominations. In addition to Best Film and Best Director, it picked up three nominations for Best Supporting Actor (Mark Gil, Dido dela Paz and Garry Lim).

Jeffrey Jeturian's Bisperas (Trespassers) followed closely with nine nominations. It received mentions in each of the major categories of Best Film, Director, Actress (Raquel Villavicencio), Actor (Tirso Cruz III) and Screenplay.

Eight nods apiece went to Marlon Rivera's Ang Babae sa Septic Tank (The Woman in the Septic Tank), Loy Arcenas's Niño, and Alvin Yapan's Ang Sayaw ng Dalawang Kaliwang Paa (The Dance of Two Left Feet). Each was received Best Film and Director nominations. Ang Babae sa Septic Tank (The Woman in the Septic Tank) and Niño were winners for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress respectively at the 6th Asian Film Awards.

Friday, April 27, 2012

Free Kathleen Turner Film Festival, April 28


Next month, Kathleen Turner will be appearing at TIFF Bell Lightbox for In Conversation with Kathleen Turner on May 7. She follows this with her Toronto debut in Matthew Lombardo's High at the Royal Alexandra Theatre from May 8 to 13.

In anticipation of these events, the Carlton Cinema is hosting a Kathleen Turner Film Festival all day Saturday, April 28. They will be screening four of her classic hit films from the 1980s: Francis Ford Coppola’s Peggy Sue Got Married, Robert Zemeckis’ Romancing The Stone, Danny DeVito’s The War Of The Roses, and Lawrence Kasdan’s Body Heat.

All shows are free, but the theatre accepts donations to YouthLink ($5 suggested).

2012 Drama Desk Awards – nominations


The Drama Desk Awards, the only major New York theatre awards where Broadway, Off-Broadway and Off-Off Broadway productions compete directly against each other, announced their nominations today for their 57th edition.

The musicals Death Takes a Holiday and Follies led the way with ten nominations each. Nice Work If You Can Get It starring Matthew Broderick followed with eight nominations. Six went to Leap of Faith, OnceQueen of the Mist, Richard III and By the Way, Meet Vera Stark.

The revival of Jesus Christ Superstar which started its run at Stratford, Ontario is in the running for Outstanding Musical Revival and Sound Design in a Musical.

62nd Deutscher Filmpreis (German Film Awards), Lolas - winners


The Deutsche Filmakademie (German Film Academy) held its 62nd Deutscher Filmpreis (German Film Awards) tonight at the Berliner Friedrichstadt-Palast.

Taking the top prizes was Andreas Dresen's cancer drama Halt auf freier Strecke (Stopped on Track). It won four awards including the top prize of Best Picture – Gold. Dresen won for Best Director while Milan Peschel won Best Actor and Otto Mellies claimed the Supporting Actor prize. Previously, the film shared the Un Certain Regard prize at Cannes in 2011 with Kim Ki-duk's Arirang.

Roland Emmerich’s pseudo-historical Shakespeare drama Anonymous captured more trophies. It took a total of six, but they were all in the technical/craft categories.

Christian Petzold's Barbara had led with eight nominations. Its only prize though was the Silver Best Picture award. The Bronze Best Picture winner was Kriegerin (Combat Girls) which also won for Best Screenplay and Actress (Alina Levshin).

2012 Vues d’Afrique, Apr 27–May 6


The 28th edition of Vues d’Afrique gets underway tonight in Montreal with an opening night screening of Lucien Jean-Baptiste and Philippe Larue’s comedy 30 degrés couleur. It takes place at the Cinéma Impérial, 1430, rue de Bleury.

The closing night film will be Leïla Kilani's Sur la planche (On the Edge). It played at the Cannes's Quinzaine des Réalisateurs (Directors's Fortnight) in 2011.

Other films playing at this year's festival include Narjiss Nejjar's L'amante du rif, Christine François' Le secret de l'enfant fourmi, Rumbi Katedza's Jeux de guerrières, Nathalie Borgers' Bons baisers de la colonie, Audrey Gallet and Alice Odiot's Zambie: à qui profite le cuivre, Elinor Burkett and Errol Webber's Ithemba, l'espoir, Hanne Phylpo and Catherine Vuylsteke's Silent Stories, Fatima Sissani's La langue de Zahra, and Nadia El Fani's Laïcité Inch'allah.

Thursday, April 26, 2012

2012 PaekSang Arts Awards (Korean Film/TV) – winners


The IS PLUS Corporation held the ceremony for the 48th 백상예술대상 (PaekSang or BaekSang Arts Awards) tonight at the Seoul Olympic Stadium.

The historically-based crime drama 범죄와의전쟁 (Nameless Gangster) by 윤종빈 (Yun Jong-Bin) claimed the Grand Prize. It also won Best Rookie Actor for 김성균 (Kim Sung-Kyun). It had led with six nominations.

Another true crime story 부러진화살 (Unbowed) by 정지영 (Chung Ji-Young) was the only other film to win more than one award. It took trophies for Best Picture and Best Actor for 안성기 (Ahn Sung-Ki).

Otherwise, the awards were spread around. Best Director went to 변영주 (Byun Young-Joo) for 화차 (Helpless), while Debut Director was presented to 임찬익 (Lim Chan-Ik) for 체포왕 (Officer of the Year).

2012 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, Apr 26–May 6


A month after announcing its full programming, the 19th annual Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival opens with the Canadian premiere of Alison Klayman's Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry. This is a fascinating portrait of the famed artist who has become a leading Chinese dissident.

This year, Hot Docs screens 189 films from 51 countries, a slight drop from last year's 199+ titles. This is the first year led by new Director of Programming Charlotte Cook. It will also be the first year in which the newly renovated Bloor Cinema hosts the festival under Hot Docs' ownership.

Hot Docs introduces a new initiative this year, Hot Docs Live. The Canadian premieres of China Heavyweight and Indie Game: The Movie and the following discussions with filmmakers and guest will be simulcast live across Canada via Cineplex Entertainment’s Front Row Centre Events.

2012 Toronto Palestine Film Festival Launch Party


Debkeh with TPFF: 5th Season Launch Party!

We are excited to announce the launch of the fifth Toronto Palestine Film Festival (TPFF) in 2012. To celebrate, we are hosting our a debkeh (traditional Palestinian dance) themed party, featuring Layaleena Debkeh Group. Of course, our resident TPFF DJ Leila P will spin some amazing dabkeh music for everyone to enjoy and dance to afterwards! At the party, we will reveal the line-up of our pre-festival summer program. Save the date and spread the word - you don’t want to miss it!

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

2012 Sidabrinės gervės (Lithuanian film awards) – nominations


The Lietuvių kino akademijos (Lithuanian Film Academy) has announced the nominations for the 5th Annual Sidabrinės gervės (Silver Crane Awards).

Leading the field with seven nominations was Tadas Blinda. Pradžia (Tadas Blinda. The Legend is Born) by Donatas Ulvydas. It received nods for Best Picture, Best Actor (Mantas Jankavičius) and Best Supporting Actor for both Donatas Banionis and Vidas Petkevičius. However, it missed out in the Director category.

Next with five nominations was Miegančių drugelių tvirtovė (Citadel of Sleeping Butterflies) by Algimantas Puipa. It was nominated for Best Picture, Director and Actress (Janina Lapinskaitė). Curiously, Elze Gudavičiūtė, Giedrė Giedraitytė, Miglė Polikevičiūtė shared a Best Supporting Actress nomination while Arūnas Storpirštis and Adolfas Večerskis shared a Best Supporting Actor nomination.

Pitch workshop with Daniel Cross


DOC Toronto is hosting a pitch workshop tonight with one of the very best in the biz, Daniel Cross of EyeSteelFilm in Montreal. It will take place at the NFB Mediatheque at John and Richmond.

Cross is a highly experienced filmmaker and a pitching veteran. I have heard from those who have taken his workshops that they are very informative with lots of practical tips.

The session will be moderated by Charlotte Engel, who was for many years a commissioning editor on the receiving end of a great many pitches, before becoming a producer of her own work. She too is a very engaging speaker.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

2012 Drama League Awards – nominations


Nominations for the 78th annual Drama League Awards were announced by Megan Hilty, Justin Long and Raven-Symoné at Sardi’s in Times Square this morning.

Eleven plays are vying for the Distinguished Production of a Play Award including Clybourne Park, The Columnist, The Lyons, One Man, Two Guvnors, Other Desert Cities, Peter and The Starcatcher, Seminar, and Venus in Fur.

56 actors are contending for the Distinguished Performance Award. It is the only acting award given and the winners can only ever receive it once and cannot contend for it again. Among the nominees are Angela Bassett, Matthew Broderick, Kim Cattrall, Tyne Daly, Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Samuel L. Jackson, Christine Lahti, Angela Lansbury, John Larroquette, Carey Mulligan, Cynthia Nixon, Alan Rickman, Kevin Spacey and Blair Underwood.

International Polar Film Festival, Apr 24–25


International Polar Film Festival

The Canadian Film Institute is proud to present the International Polar Film Festival in Montreal, running April 24th and 25th at the Cinéma Impérial (Centre Sandra & Leo Kolber, Salle Lucie et André Chagnon). Featuring two nights of extraordinary films, the festival will present complex, fascinating and stunning visions of the Arctic and Antarctic worlds.

Fourteen different films will be screened, with eight Canadian entries highlighting the festival’s programming line-up. Entries from the United Kingdom, Norway and Sweden will also be presented. All films will be screened free of charge and in their original languages with English subtitles.

Various themes will be explored throughout the festival including: The politics of global warming, the impact of climate change on the polar regions of the earth and the natural beauty of these extreme landscapes.

Programming announced for 2012 Directors' Fortnight


Yesterday, the Semaine de la Critique (Critics' Week) announced their programming and today the other Cannes sidebar – the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs (Directors' Fortnight) – followed suit with their full programming slate.

The opening film will be Michel Gondry's latest film The We and the I. Filmed with non-acting high school students, it is the only American film along with the documentary Room 237 about Stanley Kubrick's The Shining. The closing film will be Noémie Lvovsky's Camille redouble.

Canadians are represented with Yulene Olaizola's Fogo, a co-production with Mexico. In the short film selection, one of the ten films is Avec Jeff, à moto (With Jeff ) by Marie-Eve Juste.

Monday, April 23, 2012

2012 WGC Screenwriting Awards – winners


The Writers Guild of Canada held the 16th annual WGC Screenwriting Awards ceremony tonight at Maro in Toronto. The event was hosted by comedian Ryan Belleville.

The award for Movies and Miniseries went to John A: Birth of a Country by Bruce M. Smith. It had been up against Take This Waltz by Sarah Polley and Afghan Luke by Patrick Graham, Douglas Bell, Mike Clattenburg and Barrie Dunn.

The WGC Award for Documentary was presented to Waking the Green Tiger, A Green Movement Rises in China by Gary Marcuse.

Programming announced for 2012 La Semaine de la Critique at Cannes


The complete lineup of films for the 51st La Semaine de la Critique (Critics' Week) has been announced. La Semaine de la Critique is a sidebar that takes place during the Festival de Cannes and is programmed by the Syndicat Français de la Critique de Cinéma (French Union of Film Critics).

All of the feature films programmed are by first-time filmmakers. Hors les murs (Beyond the Walls) is a Canadian co-production made with Belgium and France. The only American representation is the Spain/U.S./Mexico co-production Aquí y allá by Antonio Méndez Esparza.

The only English-language selection is the opening night film Broken by Rufus Norris. It stars Tim Roth and Cillian Murphy and is based on the novel by Daniel Clay. It plays out of competition.

2012 Romy Awards (Austrian Film/TV) – winners


The Austrian newspaper Kurier held their 2012 Kurier Romy Awards for film and television last night at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna. Among the guests was Canadian actor Jason Priestley.

Til Schweiger's romantic comedy Kokowääh came out on top with two prizes. It won for Best Picture and Best Director. "Kokowääh" is the German transliteration of how they would try to say "coq au vin."

The profile of the boxing champion brothers Klitschko also claimed two awards. It won for Best Documentary and Best Documentary Producer.

While Der Mann mit dem Fagott (The Man with the Bassoon) won for Best TV-Film, the only multiple winner for television was Das Wunder von Kärnten (The Miracle of Carinthia). It won for Best Writing and Producer.

Call for submissions: TWAT/fest (Trans Women’s Arts Toronto)


TWAT/fest CALL for SUBMISSIONS!!
TWAT/fest
(Trans Women’s Arts Toronto)

CALL OUT FOR SUBMISSIONS

Due June 10th, 2012

Please distribute widely!

Do you identify as a trans woman (MTF, MAAB genderqueer, transsexual, tgirl, transgender, hijra, travesti, transvestite, woman of transsexual experience, etc etc etc etc etc)?

Do you create fine art? (Film/video, visual art, performance, dance, sculpture, photography, music, and everything else that we create and destroy)

Sunday, April 22, 2012

2012 Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) – winners [UPDATED]


Tonight, the 2012 Africa Movie Academy Awards ceremony took place at the Expo Hall of the Eko Hotel and Suites, Lagos. It was hosted by Heroes star Jimmy Jean-Louis and Nigerian actor O.C. Ukeje. Music performers included Yinka Davies, Asa and 2Face.

The big winner of the night was Charlie Vundla's How To Steal 2 Million with four awards. It picked won for Best Film, Best Director, Supporting Actress (Terry Phetto) and Editing.

Adesuwa by Lancelot Oduwa Imaseun came away with three prizes in the categories of Best Costume Design, Visual Effects and Nigerian Film.

Sara Bletcher's Otelo Burning picked up two awards. It won for Cinematography and Best Child Actor (Tsepang Mohlomi). It had led with thirteen nominations.

2012 FITC Toronto, Apr 23–25


After a day of Sunday workshops, Monday April 23 marks the opening of FITC Toronto 2012, The Digital Technology Festival. FITC stands for Future, Innovation, Technology, Creativity and is a art, design and technology conference that takes place in cities around the world including Tokyo, Los Angeles and Amsterdam.

The conference includes workshops, lectures and panels, and offers over seventy guest speakers. Highlights include Through the Shredder: The Magic Behind Making Abstract 3D Portraits with Ayaka Ito and Randy Church; The Future of HTML5 Motion Design with Mark Anders; Kinect-Based MoCap for After Effects with Nick Fox-Gieg; and BLA BLA: Making a Film for Computer with Vincent Morisset.

2012 GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles – winners


The second of three ceremonies took place last night for the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation's 23rd Annual GLAAD Media Awards. The GLAAD Media Awards recognize and honor media for their fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the LGBT community and the issues that affect their lives.

Director Mike Mills accepted the award for Outstanding Film - Wide Release for his film Beginners. The film had already earned many accolades including the Best Supporting Actor award for Christopher Plummer at the recent 84th Academy Awards.

The Best Documentary prize went to Becoming Chaz about the gender transformation of Chastity Bono to Chaz Bono. Chaz was also honoured with the Stephen F. Kolzak Award which is presented to an openly LGBT media professional who has made a significant difference in promoting equality. Congresswoman Mary Bono Mack (Chaz Bono’s stepmother and the widow of his father Sonny Bono) made the presentation. His mother Cher also showed up in support of her son's work.

2012 Montreal Film Festival on the Environment, Apr 22–May 3


The 4th Festival de Films de l’Environnement de Montréal (Montreal Film Festival on the Environment) got off to an early start with yesterday's screening of Koyaanisqatsi. But it officially begins today, Earth Day. This year's theme is Oil: Blessing or Curse?

Koyaanisqatsi screens again this afternoon, while tonight's screenings will be The Big Fix about the BP Oil spill of two years ago, and También la lluvia (Even the Rain) which dramatizes the true story of “Water War” of Cochabamba in 2000 when a corporate consortium of Bechtel and others acquired the rights to Bolivia's water and citizens could not even collect rain water without payment.

Other films screening during the festival include Black Tide: Voices from the Gulf, Petropolis, White Water Black Gold, The Pipe and Surviving Progress. Classic films being shown include Giant, There Will Be Blood and Night of the Living Dead.

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Call for submissions: Infinithéâtre's Write-On-Q 2012


Infinithéâtre has begun accepting submissions for their Write-On-Q! competition for aspiring and established Québec playwrights. Scripts will be accepted for original, unproduced English or bilingual plays.

The winning play as selected by an industry jury will receive the Pam Dunn Prize which comes with a cash prize of $1,000. The winner and other top selected plays will received a staged reading at Infinithéâtre's annual reading series The Pipeline, which takes place in December over several nights.

Last year's winner of the Write-On-Q! script writing competition was Alyson Grant, for her play Trench Patterns. The jury awarded a runner-up prize to Mike Czuba and he received $500 prize for his play Reprise.

2012 Feminist Porn Awards – winners

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Friday, April 20, 2012

2012 South Australian Screen Awards – winners


The Media Resource Centre – South Australia’s centre for screen culture development – held their 13th Annual South Australian Screen Awards (SASAs) tonight at the Mercury Cinema in Adelaide.

Anthony Maras' The Palace about a family’s struggles during the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus was the night's big winner with six awards from its leading seven nominations. Maras himself won for Best Direction, Best Screenplay, and Best Editing, and was co-winner for Best Film and Best Drama. It also picked up the award for Cinematography. Its only miss was for Sound Design.

No other film won multiple awards. The Best Documentary prize went to Ball of Light by Sam Collins. Chad Leader's Steak Knife won Best Comedy while Sometimes the Stars by Luke Jurevicius won Best Animation. The Best Non-Narrative Film award went to A Dance in the Garden Reminds Me by Gemma Soloman.

The award for Best Feature Film went to Sophie Hyde and Matthew Bate's Shut Up Little Man. It played at the Sundance Film Festival in 2011.

Announcing the 2012 Bootleg Film Festival


Film Festival founded in Scotland makes North American debut
- Toronto home to 2012 Bootleg Film Festival -

TORONTO (April 20, 2012) – For the first time since its inception in 2008, the Bootleg Film Festival will be held in North America, May 10, 11, 12 at the TRANZAC in Toronto. Each day will feature a stellar lineup of officially selected national and international short and feature length films, concluding with special evening programming including comedy, music and an awards ceremony. Filmgoers will have the opportunity to view as many films as they like each day and participate in the evening programming with Pay What You Can entrance at the door.

We are pleased to welcome the Bootleg Film Festival to Toronto,” says 2012 festival programmer and organizer Jeffrey P. Nesker“The programming team this year has put together a dynamic program to entertain and inspire filmgoers and filmmakers alike.”

2012 PRISM Awards – winners


The 16th Annual PRISM Awards took place last night at the Beverly Hills Hotel to honour accuracy in the storytelling of substance use and mental health concerns.

For the Feature Film – Substance Use category, the award went to the mixed martial arts drama Warrior starring Tom Hardy, Joel Edgerton and Nick Nolte. The Feature Film – Mental Health award was presented to the indie hit Take Shelter by Jeff Nichols which features a brilliant performance by Michael Shannon. Russell Brand won out over his Arthur co-star Helen Mirren to take the prize for Performance in a Feature Film.

In the television section, Parenthood dominated with three awards. It won Drama Series Episode – Substance Use for its episode "Damage Control"; Drama Series Multi-Episode Storyline – Mental Health for the Asperger’s storyline about Max Braverman; and Craig T. Nelson took the award for Male Performance in a Drama Series Multi-Episode Storyline.

Thursday, April 19, 2012

2012 Billboard Music Awards – nominations


The 2012 Billboard Music Awards nominations were earlier today. British singer Adele leads the field with a whopping 20 nominations in 18 categories.

Her nods include Top Artist, Top Female Artist, Top Billboard 200 Album (21), Top Pop Album (19 and 21), Top Pop Song (Rolling In The Deep), Top Rock Song (Rolling In The Deep), and Top Alternative Song (Rolling In The Deep).

Well behind her were Rihanna with 13 and Lady Gaga with 11 nominations. Both will compete with Adele for the Top Artist and Top Female Artist awards.

Rounding out the Top Artist category were Lil Wayne and Katy Perry.

Festival Temps d'images, April 19–27


The 7th edition of the Canadian edition of Festival Temps d'images begins tonight in Montreal.

Festival Temps d'images is an event featuring unexpected international bridges between performing and visual arts. It was begun a decade ago by ARTE and La Ferme du Buisson at the National Theatre in Marne-La-Vallee, Noisiel, France. It has since expanded to ten other countries – Portugal, Italy, Hungary, Belgium, Germany, Poland, Estonia, Romania, Turkey and Canada, its only North American edition.

Tonight, the festival offers up the installations Cargo, Tête à tête, Tableaux and Peptone. There are also two performances with Points, lignes avec haut-parleurs and Haptic / Holistic Strata.

The festival continues with projections of Quarantaine and The cost of living, and shows of Trieste, Soak, Kiss and Cry and White Box.

2012 Hot Docs announces guests, directors in attendance


HOT DOCS TO WELCOME INTRIGUING FILM SUBJECTS AND A RECORD NUMBER OF GUEST DIRECTORS AT FESTIVAL SCREENINGS

Toronto, April 19, 2012 – Hot Docs is honoured to welcome a number of guest subjects, including rock star Rick Springfield, director Jennifer Lynch, video game creator Phil Fish, war photographer Don McCullin, artist and Pee-wee’s Playhouse puppeteer Wayne White, and Dahmer-case detective Pat Kennedy, who are featured in films at the upcoming Festival, April 26 to May 6. In addition to guest subjects, 146 directors - a record number - will be in attendance at the Festival to introduce their films and participate in post-screening audience Q&As.

Featured guests are listed below. In most cases, the guests will be present at one or more screenings.

Cannes announces full 2012 lineup


Early this morning at the Intercontinental – Le Grand Hôtel in Paris, a press conference was held by Cannes President Gilles Jacob and Artistic Director Thierry Fremaux to unveil the official line-up for the 65th Annual Festival de Cannes.

Among the selections are three Canadian features. David Cronenberg's Cosmopolis starring Robert Pattinson plays in Competition. His son Brandon Cronenberg sees the premiere of his debut feature Antiviral play in the Un Certain Regard section for emerging filmmakers. Also playing in Un Certain Regard is the third film by Quebec's enfant terrible Xavier Dolan, Laurence Anyways. All three of his films have played at Cannes – not bad for a 23-year-old.

It's disappointing though to see how over-represented North American films are and how few Asian films there are. It is also scandalous how few women there are, and that there are none in Competition.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

2012 Slnko v Sieti (Sun in a Net) Awards for Slovak film – winners


The Slovenská filmová a televízna akadémia (Slovak Film and Television Academy) held the ceremony on Tuesday night for their Národné filmové ceny Slnko v sieti (Sun in a Net National Film Awards) at the Slovak National Theatre. The awards are given every two years and are named in honour of Štefan Uher's 1963 film Slnko v Sieti (The Sun in a Net) which was the first of the Czechoslovak New Wave.

Zuzana Liová's Dom (The House) led the winners with six awards. It took Best Picture, Screenplay and all four acting awards for Actress Judit Bárdos, Actor Miroslav Krobot, Supporting Actress Taťjana Medvecká and Supporting Actor Marek Geišberg.

Martin Šulík's Cigán (Gypsy) also came away with six awards. It claimed Best Director as well as Cinematography, Editor, Sound, Original Score and Costume Design. In addition, Šulík won the Best Documentary prize with his film 25 zo šesťdesiatych alebo Československá nová vlna I. a II. (Golden Sixties) about the Czechoslovak New Wave which began with Slnko v Sieti (The Sun in a Net).

Call for submissions: Festival du nouveau cinéma 2012


Montreal's Festival du nouveau cinéma has put out a call for submissions for their 41st edition later this year. The festival accepts films, crossmedia projects, installations and performances.

FNC is one of the top film festivals in both Montreal and Canada. The programming is always strong and it is well-attended. It recently won the Grand Prix of the Conseil des arts de Montréal for its “diligence, avant-gardism, originality, and diversity of the festival’s programming” of the festival’s 40th edition in October 2011.

Only works produced after January 1st, 2011 and not previously shown in the province of Québec are eligible. All selected entries must be in their original language and subtitled in French (preferably) or in English.

2012 Blue Metropolis Festival, April 18–23


The 14th edition of the literary festival Blue Metropolis starts today in Montreal. This year, they will be centred at Hôtel Opus at 10 Sherbrooke St. W. on the corner of St-Laurent. The festival will host 156 activities from 10 countries and in 5 languages.

Highlights of the festival include Arab Prize Winner, UK/Egyptian writer Ahdaf Soueif in conversation with CBC's Paul Kennedy; Esi Edugyan on stage with CBC's Shelagh Rogers; Cuban writing with Leonardo Padura, Wendy Guerra and Eduardo Manet; Crime writing with crime writers from Canada, Spain, Cuba, and the US; Two staged events featuring the work of Irving Layton and Saint-Denys Garneau; Writing from Newfoundland with Paul Kennedy; and Face to Face with Colombian writer Juan Gabriel Vasquez.

For the fifth year, Blue Met will also be hosting a parallel Children's Festival at 55 venues (libraries, cultural and community centres) with over 60 free activities for the whole family.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Cannes announces 2012 Cinéfondation and Short film lineups


In advance of their Thursday announcement of their official selections, the Festival de Cannes has announced the films for the Short Film Competition and the Cinéfondation Selection.

The Cinéfondation selection of 15 films were taken from the more than 1,700 submissions from 320 film schools from around the world. The ten short films were selected from 4,500 submissions and will compete for the 2012 Short Film Palme d'Or. The Canadian film Chef De Meute by Quebec director Chloe Robichaud is among the ten films.

The Cinéfondation and Short Film jury will be presided over by Jean-Pierre Dardenne, who with his brother Luc has won two Palme d'Or awards at Cannes for Rosetta and L’Enfant (The Child). The other jurors are Canadian actress Arsinée Khanjian, Brazilian writer-director Karim Ainouz, French writer-director Emmanuel Carrere and Chinese director 余力为 (Yu Lik-Wai).

Ivor Novello Awards – nominations


The British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA) and the Performing Right Society (PRS) for Music unveiled the nominees for the 57th Annual Ivor Novello Awards for excellence in British and Irish songwriting.

Continuing with her winning ways, Adele leads the field yet again with four nominations. Her mentions were for Best Song Musically and Lyrically, the Album Award for 21, and Most Performed Work for both Rolling In The Deep and Someone Like You. Competing with Adele for the Album Award are Kate Bush with 50 Words For Snow and PJ Harvey with Let England Shake. This is the first time ever that all three Album Award nominees are women.

Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead picked up a nod for Best Original Film Score with his music on We Need To Talk About Kevin. He competes against Harry Gregson-Williams and Matthew Herbert for Life In A Day and Alex Heffes for The First Grader.

Monday, April 16, 2012

2012 Canadian Cinema Editors Awards - nominations


The Canadian Cinema Editors have revealed their nominations for the 2nd Annual Canadian Cinema Editors Awards.

The nominations for Best Editing in Feature Length Dramatic went to Lisa di Michele for High Chicago, Roger Matussi for Afghan Jake, Matthew Hannam for I'm Yours, Ron Sanders for A Dangerous Method and Mark Arcieri for House of the Rising Sun. Matthew Hannam picked up a second nomination for Best Editing in 1/2 hour Broadcast Short Form with his work on the television show Michael: Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Other double nominees for editing included Brigitte Rabazo, Teresa De Luca, Annellie Samuels, and Robert Henry.

2012 Rosie Awards for Alberta film and television – nominations


The Alberta Media Production Industries Association (AMPIA) has announced the nominations for the 38th Annual Alberta Film & Television Awards or Rosie Awards for excellence and outstanding achievement in Alberta film, television and new media.

The comedy The Burlesque Assassins by Jonathan Joffe leads the film nominees with ten nominations. Those included Best Dramatic Feature, Director (Over 30 Minutes), and Screenwriter (Over 30 Minutes).

For Best Dramatic Feature, it compete against Justin Thomas Ostensen's Below Zero, Michael Peterson's Lloyd the Conqueror, Andrew Silke's Love/Hate and Vern Wutzke's There By Grace.

The Academy Award-nominated animated short film Wild Life by Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis picked up three nominations including Best Short and Best Animator(s) or Motion Graphics Artist(s).

Sunday, April 15, 2012

2012 Hong Kong Film Awards – winners


The ceremony for the 31st 香港電影金像獎 (Hong Kong Film Awards) took place tonight at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre.

Ann Hui's 桃姐 (A Simple Life) swept the top awards. It captured five awards, all considered the top prizes: Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, Actor for 刘德华 (Andy Lau) and Actress to 葉德嫻 (Deannie Yip).

Tsui Hark's 龍門飛甲 (Flying Swords of Dragon Gate) and Jiang Wen's 讓子彈飛 (Let The Bullets Fly) had led with thirteen nominations each. 龍門飛甲 (Flying Swords of Dragon Gate) also picked up five awards, for Editing, Art Direction, Action Choreography, Sound Design and Visual Effects. 讓子彈飛 (Let The Bullets Fly) managed only a single win, however, for Costume Design/Make-Up.

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Call for submissions: Montreal HorrorFest 2012


Montreal Comiccon has put out its call for submissions to its film festival known as HorrorFest.

Montreal HorrorFest 2012 takes place from September 14-16, at the same time as Montreal Comiccon 2012. This year, they will be moving to the Palais des Congrès and will be adding an additional day of activities and screenings. The guests for 2012 will include Star Trek: The Next Generation actors Wil Wheaton and Brent Spiner.

Festival Musiques du Monde à Montréal 2012, April 14 – 21


FESTIVAL MMM - MUSIQUES DU MONDE À MONTRÉAL
From SATURDAY APRIL 14, 2012 to SATURDAY APRIL 21, 2012

Musique Multi-Montréal officially launches the 22nd edition of its MMM Festival dedicated to World Music in all its forms. This year, it is orchestrated by the artistic directors duet Guilaine Royer and Moïse Matey and inspired by new creative energy and fresh visual language. The 2012 edition offers a bold program designed to bring World Music and Jazz together, showcasing more than 70 local, national and international artists.

A very important indoor world music festival in Canada For 22 years now, Multi-Montreal Music (MMM) has promoted diversity in culture. Each year, the organization produces a festival entirely dedicated to World Music, whose mission is to introduce artists from everywhere, of all origins, so as to bring cultures together and communicate through music. The MMM Festival is proud to work actively to provide a space for established and emerging artists as well as professionals and the public so that together, we can expand the limits of the world we live in.

Friday, April 13, 2012

Watch a film I co-directed Notes from the Kuerti Keyboard


A film that I co-directed with Montreal filmmaker Katarina Soukup of Catbird Productions is now available from the broadcaster Bravo! on Youtube.

It is a fun short film that we made with renowned Canadian pianist Anton Kuerti called Notes from the Kuerti Keyboard. He performs the very playful second movement scherzo (Italian, meaning "joke") from Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 18 on an antique Underwood Model 1 typewriter from the 1890s, courtesy of The Martin Howard Collection of Antique Typewriters. The film is a visual pun on the words "notes", Kuerti/Qwerty and "keyboard."

During the making of Notes from the Kuerti Keyboard, I kept a diary of the process. Here again are the entries I made on the pre-production and production of the film:

2012 XRCO Awards – winners


The X-Rated Critics Organization had to reschedule their 28th annual XRCO Awards originally scheduled for April 19, and held them last night instead. The show at The Highlands Nightclub was hosted by Dylan Ryder and Kayden Kross.

Elegant Angel's Portrait of a Call Girl picked up the prizes for Best Epic and earned director Graham Travis the trophy for Best Director – Features. Its star Jessie Andrew claimed the awards for Best Actress and New Starlet.

Asa Akira was herself a double winner for Female Performer of the Year and Superslut. The film Asa Akira Is Insatiable 2, also from Elegant Angel, was named Best Gonzo Movie.

Other winning titles included: Best Release Lost & Found, Best Parody (Comedy) Rocki Whore Picture Show, Best Parody (Drama) Taxi Driver, Best Parody – (Comic Book) Spiderman XXX and Best 3D Release This Ain’t Ghostbusters XXX.

2012 Everyday Heroes Festival, April 13 - 22


Everyday Heroes Festival 2012
April 13 - 22
Showcasing great film, video and animation with an environmental focus by Canadian youth aged 13–24.

2012 Theme
Going environ-MENTAL: Cool Tricks to Solve Climate Change

The 3rd annual Everyday Heroes film festival takes place from April 13 - 22, 2012, reaching over two million viewers a day. Unique in North America, the festival plays on Onestop’s TTC subway platform screens in Toronto, and on screens in malls across Canada. All official selections will also be featured on the Everyday Heroes Festival website.

Each year, at the same time Earth Week is celebrated around the world, we showcase truly unique and wholly creative one-minute eco-films. New this year, the festival is now focused on Canadian youth, and the theme of Climate Change. Our actions are changing our climate in a way that is negatively affecting our health and the ability of some parts of the world to meet the basic necessities of life (food, clothing, shelter).

Thursday, April 12, 2012

2012 David di Donatello Awards – nominations


Nominations for the 2012 David di Donatello Awards

Best Film
Cesare deve morire (Caesar Must Die), Paolo and Vittorio Taviani
Habemus Papam (We Have a Pope), Nanni Moretti
Romanzo Di Una Strage (Story of a Massacre), Marco Tullio Giordana
Terraferma, Emanuele Crialese
This Must Be the Place, Paolo Sorrentino