2012 Australian Film Critics Association Awards – winners

2012 Film Award Winners

Although it might be somewhat overshadowed by a slightly bigger Film Awards Ceremony that’s just taken place on the other side of the world, the Australian Film Critics Association (AFCA) is delighted to announce the winners of its 2012 Film Awards.

Local thriller, Snowtown, continued its critical winning streak, taking top honours in four major categories including Best Australian Film, Best Actor, Best Director and Best Screenplay.

2012 Images Festival, April 12–22

25th Anniversary Images Festival. "Expanding cinema since 1988."
Opening weekend starting this Thursday (+ bonus screening on Wednesday!)

The 2012 Images Festival programming showcases vanguard contemporary media-based artworks. Located in 20+ venues across Toronto, the festival presents screenings, live performances, online projects, gallery exhibitions as well as artist talks, gallery tours and parties. The Images Festival crosses international boundaries again this year with 120+ works by artists from 26 countries, as well as local and national artists, students and accomplished artists. The Images Festival screens and exhibits a wide range of works from many disciplines – everything from formal materialist experiments to innovative documentaries, from film with live performance to works which address a range of issues from the political to the personal and everything in between!

2012 ReelWorld Film Festival, April 11-15

Thanks to the generous support of our returning partners, TD Bank Group, NBC Universal and Cineplex Entertainment, the ReelWorld Film Festival (RWFF) is proud to announce the screenings of  "LUV" and "Hopelessly In June."   "LUV", directed by Sheldon Candis will be the festival’s Opening Night Gala, Wednesday, April 11th at Cineplex Odeon Sheppard Cinemas.


"LUV" is the journey of eleven-year-old Woody Watson, a timid Baltimore orphan who dreams of a better life, and his absentee mother who may or may not be in North Carolina fighting drug addiction.  Woody puts his hopes into the hands of his uncle Vincent, who he looks up to as the father figure he never had.  Vincent, a street hustler and former drug dealer is fresh off an eight-year stint in prison, but wants to take a new direction in his life.  When Vincent offers to show his nephew how a man handles his business, Woody jumps at the opportunity to join him on a field trip of life lessons.  Vincent's plan is to open his own crab shack restaurant, however, when he's denied a bank loan, the temptations of his old life, working for Baltimore crime boss Mr. Fish return to haunt him.  A day once bright with optimism quickly spirals downward into a world of violence. Coming of age all too fast by day's end, Woody starts to doubt his hero and ultimately must decide where he stands.

Thailand National Film Awards 2012, Golden Swans – nominations

The สมาพันธ์สมาคมภาพยนตร์แห่งชาติ (Federation of National Film Associations of Thailand) has announced the nominations for the 21st Annual รางวัลภาพยนตร์แห่งชาติ สุพรรณหงส์ (Thailand National Film Awards) or สุพรรณหงส์ (Supannahong or Golden Swan) Awards.

Leading the field with fourteen nominations was the horror-thriller ลัดดาแลนด์ (Laddaland) by โสภณ ศักดาพิศิษฏ์ (Sophon Sakdaphisit). It received a nomination in each of the sixteen categories except for Best Supporting Actor and Best Song.

The stylish drama ฝนตกขึ้นฟ้า (Headshot) by เป็นเอก รัตนเรือง (Pen-ek Ratanaruang) was close behind with twelve nominations including Best Picture, Director, Screenplay and Actor for นพชัย ชัยนาม (Noppachai Jayanama). It recently led the 2012 Bangkok Critics Assembly Awards.

2012 Hugo Awards – nominations

The nominations for the 2012 Hugo Awards for science-fiction and fantasy were announced this weekend.

As it happens the nominees for Best Dramatic Presentation – Long Form included the film Hugo by Martin Scorsese. The other Long Form nominations went to Captain America: The First Avenger, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, and Source Code, plus the television series Game of Thrones (Season 1).

For Best Dramatic Presentation – Short Form, three of the five nominations went to the BBC series Dr. Who. The remaining bids went to Community and the acceptance speech by Christopher J Garcia and James Bacon of The Drink Tank when it won for Best Fanzine at last year's Hugo Awards.

TIFF Kids International Film Festival 2012, Apr 10–22

From April 10 to 22, TIFF Bell Lightbox will be turned over to the next generation of cineastes and filmmakers as the TIFF Kids International Film Festival (formerly the Sprockets Toronto International Film Festival for Children and Youth) takes over the building. Celebrating fifteen years of great children's cinema with more than one hundred films from over twenty countries, TIFF Kids brings a world of film to Toronto's youngest audiences, along with an exciting lineup of special guests, imaginative and interactive activities and showcases for young filmmakers.

TIFF Kids offers a diverse slate of films from Canada and around the world – films that take children and parents out of the everyday, and use the power of film to foster thought and encourage discussion about the complex and challenging issues facing young people today, and have lots of fun doing it.

Whenever possible screenings include an opportunity to engage in discussions with filmmakers and special guests to further explore the film's ideas, themes, storytelling techniques and much more.

Chinese Film Directors Guild Awards – winners

Last night in Beijing, the 中国电影导演协会 (Chinese Film Directors' Guild) held their Chinese Film Directors' Guild Awards ceremony for the films of 2011.

让子弹飞 (Let the Bullets Fly) by 姜文 (Jiang Wen) topped the awards with three wins from its four nominations. It took the top prizes for Film of the Year and Director of the Year. Both of its stars 葛优 (Ge You) and 周润发 (Chow Yun-Fat) were also in the running for Actor of the Year, with Ge You coming away with the award. In addition, it claimed a special award as the Top-Grossing Asian Film.

Actress of the Year was awarded to 章子怡 (Zhang Ziyi) for her starring role in 最爱 (Love For Life). She was moved to tears during her acceptance speech, and said she was touched and very fortunate to have worked with many great directors.

Hart House film courses, May–August

The University of Toronto's Hart House has announced their classes for their spring-summer 2012 arts courses. Included in their calendar is a wide range of filmmaking classes.

The courses are excellent and quite affordable, especially if you are a University of Toronto student or a member of Hart House. The instructors are experienced and often award-winning filmmakers themselves.

Subjects covered include documentary, sound, lighting, editing, writing and directing.

2012 Кинопремия Ника (Nika Awards) for Russian film - winners

The Академии кинематографических искусств (Russian Academy of Cinematic Arts and Sciences) in Russia held their 25th Annual Кинопремия Ника (Nika Film Awards) tonight at the Крокус Сити Холле (Crocus City Hall) in Moscow.

The World War I/Russian Revolution film Жила-была одна баба (Once Upon a Time There Lived a Simple Woman) by Андрей Смирнов (Andrey Smirnov) led the field with six wins from its leading nine nominations. It not only claimed Best Picture but also took Best Screenplay, Actress for Дарья Екамасова (Darya Ekamasova), Supporting Actor for оман Мадянов (Roman Madyanov), Art Direction and Costume Design. Ekamasova shared her Actress Award with Надежда Маркина (Nadezhda Markina) who starred in Елена (Elena).

Елена (Elena) by Андрей Звягинцев (Andrei Zvyagintsev) was next with four awards. In addition to the Best Actress win, it scooped the prizes for Best Director, Cinematography and Supporting Actress for Елена Лядова (Yelena Lyadova). Those were the same three categories it won at the rival премия Золотой Орёл (Golden Eagle Awards) where it also claimed Best Picture.

Film Review: Fightville

Writer/Director/Producer: Petra Epperlein and Michael Tucker
Producer: Thomas Kufus
Featuring: Dustin “The Diamond” Poirier, “Crazy” Tim Credeur, Gil “The Thrill” Guillory and Albert Stainback
Biographical Sports Documentary
1 hour, 37 minutes

After making four documentaries about the Iraq War (Gunner Palace, The Prisoner or: How I Planned to Kill Tony Blair, Bulletproof Salesman, How to Fold a Flag) the filmmaking team of Petra Epperlein and Michael Tucker (a.k.a. Pepper & Bones) decided to turn their cameras on another form of fighting in the aptly named neighbourhood of Fightville in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Fightville shows the world of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighting through the lens of a minor league promoter Gil “The Thrill” Guillory – himself a former fighter – and the Gladiators Academy run by the no-nonsense “Crazy” Tim Credeur. There, life is simply hard work and a daily grind of training and sparring.

Call for submissions: Praxis Feature Film Screenplay Competition 2012

A call for submissions has been put out by the Praxis Centre for Screenwriters at Simon Fraser University for the Praxis 2012 Feature Film Screenplay Competition.

The competition is for screenwriters with feature-length screenplays to participate in their Fall Screenwriting Workshop in Vancouver, B.C. They will select eight applicants to work with an advisor to develop further develop the script. Aside from the application cost, there is no charge for the program.

Writers who complete the Fall Screenwriting workshops are given an invitation-only opportunity to apply for our Summer Readings, an annual event where their new screenplay drafts are professionally cast for table readings.

Karnataka State Film Awards – winners

The winners for the Karnataka State Film Awards for the Kannada-language film industry in South India were announced yesterday for the years 2010 and 2011. The awards are given by the Government of Karnataka and chosen by a committee of eminent film industry professionals. This year's jury of 10 people was headed by actress Dr Bharathi Vishnuvardhan.

The big winner was Upendra's Super. It won Best Film and Best Director. The award for Second Best Film went to Bhagavathi Kaadu while Shabdamani was named third best film. Shabdamani picked up an additional award for Best Female Playback Artiste (dubbing). Top award winners receive a medal and a cash prize.

Sanju Weds Geetha picked up three awards. They were in the technical categories of Cinematography, Editing and Sound.

Curiously, Byaari came away empty-handed even though it shared Best Film at the 59th National Awards. Some felt that perhaps the top winners were those that were close to Dr Vishnuvardhana.

Film Review: The Forgiveness of Blood

Writer: Joshua Marston, Andamion Murataj
Director: Joshua Marston
Producer: Paul Mezey, Andamion Murataj, Gwen Bialic
Cast: Tristan Halilaj, Sindi Lacej, Refet Abazi, Ilire Vinca Celaj, Zana Hasaj
Foreign Indie Drama
1 hours, 49 minutes

As a follow-up to the Colombian-set film Maria Full of Grace, Joshua Marston chose to make the completely Albanian-set film Falja e Gjakut (The Forgiveness of Blood). He takes as his focus the moral code known as the Kanun which was instituted in the 15th century by the Albanian prince Leke Dukagjini. According to the Kanun, a victim's family members have the right to exact revenge on any adult male member of the perpetrators. But as long as they stay in their home, they are exempt from punishment.

The Kanun was recently featured in the excellent Jennifer Baichwal documentary Payback, based on the Margaret Atwood book Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth. In examining the concept of debt from various perspectives, we see the Kanun being enforced in a real-life situation and to what ridiculous lengths people will cling to their anger and grudges.

Free screenings of WWI films at Carlton Cinema

The Magic Lantern Theatres' Carlton Cinema in Toronto will be screening free films about World War I all day on Saturday, April 7 as part of a Vimy Ridge Anniversary Celebration. The Battle of Vimy Ridge took place from April 9-12 1917 and brought together all four Canadian divisions from every part of the country to participate in victorious battle.

The four films will be Richard Attenborough's musical Oh! What A Lovely War, Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Un long dimanche de fiançailles (A Very Long Engagement), Paul Gross' Passchendaele and Peter Weir's Gallipoli.

2012 Festival Du Cinéma Latino-Américain De Montréal, Apr 6 – 22

The third Festival du Cinéma Latino-américain de Montréal (FCLM) kicks off two-and-a-half weeks of Latin American films starting tonight. The opening films are El lenguaje de los machetes (Machete Language) and Medianeras (Sidewalls). They will be followed by screenings of Silencio en el Paraiso (Silence in Paradise) and Bonsai.

Highlights from the festival include the Oscar-nominated films A Better Life (Best Actor nomination for Demian Bichir) and the animated feature Chico Y Rita (Chico and Rita). Pedro Almodovar's latest dark thriller La Piel que Habito (The Skin I Live In) will screen, as will the Sundance Film Festival selection Joven y alocada (Young and Wild) about a young woman's awakening sexuality.

The documentaries being co-presented with Rencontres Internationales du Documentaire de Montréal are José y Pilar (José and Pilar) about the Nobel Prize-winning novelist and his wife, and Yatasto which profiles young recyclables collectors.