2012 Northern Ontario Music and Film Awards – nominations

Music and Film in Motion (MFM) have announced the nominees for their 9th Annual Northern Ontario Music and Film Awards. MFM is a non-profit organization whose mandate is to foster and promote the development of the music and film industries in Northern Ontario.

In the film categories, John Alden Milne's The Standoff
 and Darlene Naponse's Every Emotion Costs

 led with three nominations each. Both were nominated for Film of the Year and Director of the Year. The Standoff
 picked up its third nomination for Editing while Every Emotion Costs

 received its additional nod for Screenwriting.

Dave vs. Death
 rounded out the Film of the Year category. David Lickley and Rob Gagne's Wildfires! A 4D Firefighting Adventure
 filled out the Director category and was the only other multiple nominee for film with a second nomination for Editing.

Call for submissions: Just For Laughs/NYTVF Sitcom Pitch Competition

JUST FOR LAUGHS AND THE NYTVF PARTNER FOR SITCOM PITCH COMPETITION

“From Set to Screen” Initiative Targeting Comedy Performers

Five Finalists to Pitch Live during Just for Laughs Comedy Conference; One Winner will be Invited as Official Artist to the 8^th Annual New York Television Festival

[NEW YORK, NY, March 12, 2012] – Just for Laughs and the NYTVF today announced a unique partnered initiative seeking original sitcom pitches from comedy performers. The competition is specifically seeking series that are based on or inspired by stories, sketches or characters that have been developed and honed by live performance. Five finalists will be invited to pitch their sitcom concepts live during an event at the Just for Laughs Comedy Conference (www.hahaha.com/conference) in Montreal, July 26 - 28, 2012, during the 30^th Anniversary of the Just For Laughs Montreal Comedy Festival. One winner and their sitcom will be selected for exclusive showcase opportunities and participation at the 8^th Annual New York Television Festival, scheduled for October 22 – 27, 2012, in Lower Manhattan.

The inaugural Soily Awards announces nominees

With the recent Golden Raspberry Award nominations announcement, there were some complaints about the nominees and the selection process. As a result, the film and entertainment website Movieline has launched a rival bad-movie-award called the Soily Awards. Their intent is to include movies that are high-minded yet fail.

The nominees for Worst Picture of 2011 were Abduction, Conan the Barbarian, Green Lantern, The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence) and Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Abduction also picked up a Bad Acting nomination for Taylor Lautner, who was also "recognized" for The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part I. Transformers: Dark of the Moon received an additional nomination in Bad Directing for Michael Bay.

Arthur and Your Highness picked up the most mentions with three each. Arthur received nods for Bad Acting (Russell Brand, Helen Mirren) and the Shart Prize. Your Highness was mentioned for Bad Directing (David Gordon Green, also with The Sitter), Bad Acting (Natalie Portman, also with No Strings Attached and Thor) and the Shart Prize.

2012 Constellation Awards - nominees

Nominations were announced this weekend at Toronto ComiCon for the 6th Annual Constellation Awards. The Constellation Awards are presented annually to the actors, producers, and technical teams behind the best science fiction film and television productions of the year, with a focus on Canadian contributions to the genre.

Superheroes dominated the film categories with Thor in the lead with four nominations. Captain America: The First Avenger and X-Men: First Class followed with three nominations each. All three were nominated for Best Science Fiction Film, TV Movie, or Mini-Series of 2011 as well as Best Male Performance (Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans and James McAvoy, respectively).

Rounding out the field for Best Science Fiction Film, TV Movie, or Mini-Series were Another Earth, Cowboys & Aliens, Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (also with three nominations) and Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Andy Serkis received a Best Male Performance nomination for his motion-capture work in Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

2012 Lëtzebuerger Filmpräis (Luxembourg Film Awards) – winners

The Discovery Zone, Luxembourg City Film Festival came to a close this weekend with a presentation of the 5th biannual Lëtzebuerger Filmpräis – or Luxembourg Film Awards – at the Casino 2000 in Mondorf-les-Bains (though the Lëtzebuerger Filmpräis were last staged in 2009). The event was hosted by Gabriel Boisanté and attended by 800 representatives of the local industry.

Taking the top prize of Best Luxembourg Film was writer/director Beryl Koltz' Hot Hot Hot in her fiction feature debut. Set at a sauna, Hot Hot Hot is an English-language comedy that stars Rob Stanley and Joanna Scanlan (trailer below).

Having been made with Belgium and France, Olivier Masset-Depasse's drama Illégal won Best Co-Production. It tells the story of a young Russian woman Tania who lives illegally in Belgium with her young son and her subsequent arrest.

The winner for Best Documentary was High Low by Jean-Louis Schuller and Sam Blair. Schuller also won Best Technical Contribution for his work as a cinematographer.

Toronto Fashion Week, March 12-16

Just as the weather has turned very spring-like, the Fashion Design Council of Canada (FDCC) begins its newly renamed World MasterCard Fashion Week at David Pecaut Square.

It kicks off tonight with a private reception before launching into shows starting with KORHANI—Home Fashion Rug Runway. In addition to the many runway shows, they will be having other events including an open house exhibit at the Textile Museum of Canada and a Fashion Film Festival.

Designers showing this season include Chloe comme Parris, Soia & Kyo, Lundström, Lucian Matis, Bustle, Melissa Nepton, Joe Fresh, Rudsak, OPPIO, Pink Tartan, 2011 Mercedes-Benz Start Up Recipient MARTIN LIM, David Dixon, KORHANI Home Rug Runway Show, Dare to Wear Love, Caitlin Powers, Cara Cheung, Ashtiani, Sanya Khan, and Travis Taddeo. In addition, Holt Renfrew will showcase Jeremy Laing, Lida Baday, Dennis Merrotto, Mackage, Line, Smythe, Twenty Cluny, and Judith & Charles.

2012 Soirée des Jutra (Jutra Awards for Quebec film) - winners

Tonight, the ceremony for the 14th Annual Soirée des Jutra (Jutra Awards night) for Quebec cinema took place at the Théâtre St-Denis, Montréal. The evening was hosted by Yves Pelletier and Sylvie Moreau.

Unsurprisingly, Philippe Falardeau's Oscar-nominated drama Monsieur Lazhar picked up the most awards with seven. It had led the nominations with nine. In addition to Best Film, it won for Director, Screenplay, Supporting Actress (Sophie Nélisse), Supporting Actor (Émilien Néron), Sound and Music. Furthermore, the production company micro_scope picked up the award for Film having the Most Success Outside Quebec with Denis Villeneuve's Jutra winner from last year Incendies.

Café de flore was next with three wins despite the fact it wasn't nominated for Best Film. It won for Best Actress (Vanessa Paradis), Cinematography and Art Direction. Unlike the Genie Awards where Sophie Nélisse was the only Canadian acting award-winner, Paradis was the lone foreign winner for the acting Jutras.

Much-loved Gilbert Sicotte won the Best Actor award and received a standing ovation. It was his first Jutra win despite a four-decade acting career dating back to Montréal blues in 1972.

2012 South African Film and Television Awards (SAFTAs) - winners

The National Film and Video Foundation of South Africa (NFVF) presented the 6th Annual South African Film and Television Awards (SAFTAs, also known as the Golden Horns) over the last two nights at Gallagher Estate in Midrand. Friday saw the presentation of the non-fiction categories and Saturday featured the fiction winners.

The film Black Butterflies led the film side with six wins including Best Feature Film which came with a prize of R50 000. The Dutch/German/South African co-production about the poet Ingrid Jonker also won for Cinematography, Production Design, Music, Costume Design and Make-Up/Hair. It had led the field with nine nominations.

Unfortunately, its star Carice van Houten was not eligible for Best Actress because she is Dutch and not South African. As there were only one other actress submitted for consideration, the NFVF chose not to have a Best Actress category this year. They wrote, "This is a far from desirable situation, and the panel urge writers and production companies to bear in mind that as an industry we need be telling more stories that provide a platform for the luminous female thespian talent our country has to offer."

Free screenings of Waste Land at the new Bloor Hot Docs Cinema

The newly renovated Bloor Hot Docs Cinema will be having its official grand opening on Wednesday, March 14 with invited guests being given an advance screening of a film premiering at this year’s Hot Docs Festival. But for everyone else, they will have an opportunity to screen Lucy Walker's Academy Award-nominated documentary Waste Land on both Monday and Tuesday night.

Tickets are free and are available for pick-up this weekend from noon – 5 p.m. at the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema box office (506 Bloor St. W). Tickets will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis and are subject to availability (limited to two tickets per person).

The Bloor Hot Docs Cinema's scheduled public programming, featuring recent critically acclaimed films, themed documentary programs, and weekly showcases, will commence on Friday, March 16. Learn more at www.bloorcinema.com.

Film review: Friends with Kids

Writer/Director: Jennifer Westfeldt
Producer: Riza Aziz, Joey McFarland, Joshua Astrachan, Jake Kasdan, Jon Hamm, Jennifer Westfeldt
Cast: Adam Scott, Jennifer Westfeldt, Jon Hamm, Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Chris O'Dowd, Megan Fox and Edward Burns
Raunchy Indie Comedy
1 hours, 47 minutes

Jennifer Westfeldt first gained acclaim with her role as the titular character in Kissing Jessica Stein which she co-wrote with her co-star Heather Juergensen. Next, she wrote and starred in Ira and Abby, which also explored the world of relationships. With Friends with Kids, she completes a relationship trilogy by performing quadruple duty as writer, director, producer and star of the film and acquits herself admirably.

It might appear at first that Friends with Kids is yet another in the same vein as last year's interchangeable comedies No Strings Attached and Friends with Benefits. Even the titles share some similarity, but instead of sex without commitment it would deal with raising a child without commitment.

Spirited Away: The Films of Studio Ghibli, Mar 10 – Apr 13

TIFF Bell Lightbox begins a retrospective screening series today of animated films entitled Spirited Away: The Films of Studio Ghibli.

Studio Ghibli (株式会社スタジオジブリ) is a Japanese animation (or "anime") production company founded in 1985 by directors Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata with producer Toshio Suzuki. Miyazaki in particular has achieved international renown with films such as Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle and Ponyo. Spirited Away shared the Golden Bear with Bloody Sunday at the 2002 Berlinale, and won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature at the 75th Academy Awards. It is the only non-English film to win that award, and it holds the world box-office record for a non-English film with $275 million.

The films are uniquely expressive and suitable for the whole family without the pandering childishness of many American family films. The main characters are most often children that have a degree of maturity and wisdom.

2012 Toronto Irish Film Festival, March 9-10

The second annual Toronto Irish Film Festival (TIRFF) begins tonight.

It kicks off with the Canadian Premiere of Dreaming the Quiet Man. The film is a portrait of director John Ford and the making of his movie The Quiet Man. Gabriel Byrne provides the narration for the film. Afterwards, the opening night party will take place at Quinn’s Steakhouse & Irish Bar located at 96 Richmond Street W.

Other films screening during the festival include Diaspora, aLive from the Divis Flats, Hot Press – The Write Stuff, Sensation, and the closing night film Parked which stars actor Colm Meaney.

The Toronto Irish Film Festival continues until tomorrow night at the TIFF Bell Lightbox, 350 King Street West.

AmérAsia's National Video Portrait / Smartphone Film Challenge screening

AmérAsia Film Festival is screening the competing films submitted to their 4th National Video Portrait Competition and to their first Smartphone Film Challenge.

The National Video Portrait competition required filmmakers to made a short piece from 30 seconds to five minutes in length on the theme "family." Prizes will be awarded by a jury panel and an additional prize will be decided by audience vote.

For the Smartphone Film Challenge, filmmakers were given three days to create a short film of four minutes or less on the theme "City vs. Country." Fifteen of the submissions were selected for screening tonight, and three will be selected by the jury for prizes, including a top prize of $1000.

A film that I made with some friends will be on of the fifteen screening in competition. Naturally, the short piece is called Smart Phone. Because it took me a while to write it and try unsuccessfully to find another actor, the entire production and post-production took less than twelve hours. But we are pleased with how it turned out.

Amy Greenfield: free screenings, lecture, installations, March 9-10

Ryerson’s Kodak Lecture Series
and The Loop Collective

Co-present

AMY GREENFIELD
THE BODY: CROSSING BOUNDARIES

March 9 – 10, 2012
with Amy Greenfield in person!
Events include:

– Kodak Lecture: Friday, March 9, 7pm, Ryerson University’s Eaton Lecture Theatre

Free Game of Thrones exhibition, March 9–18

HBO Canada, in association with TIFF, presents
Game of Thrones: The Exhibition, March 9–18 at TIFF Bell Lightbox

Free timed ticket available as of Monday, February 27

Exhibit features costumes, weaponry, props, photography and video from the set of HBO’s epic fantasy Game of Thrones, including never-before-seen items

Fans can have their picture taken sitting on the iconic Iron Throne

Game of Thrones: The Exhibition is a free, timed ticketed event. Fans are invited to reserve a free ticket to the exhibition starting Monday, February 27 at 10 am ET, either in-person at TIFF Bell Lightbox or by calling the TIFF Box Office at 416-599-TIFF/1-888-599-8433. Hours of operation for the exhibition are 12pm to 8pm daily, except on March 12: 12pm to 10pm; and March 13: 10am to 8pm. The exhibition is recommended for ages 14+. Tickets are limited at 4 per person.