Nastri d'argento 2012 (Silver Ribbons for Italian film) – winners

Today, the Sindacato Nazionale dei Giornalisti Cinematografici Italiani (Association of Italian Film Critics) held the ceremony for their 66th Nastro d'Argento (Silver Ribbon) Awards at the Teatro Antico in Taormina, Sicily.

The top prize of Best Director went to Paolo Sorrentino for his English-language film This must be the place starring Sean Penn. It also won for Cinematography and Art Direction.

Daniele Vicari's Diaz (Diaz - Don’t Clean Up This Blood) also picked up three prizes, winning for Producer, Editing and Sound, as did Posti in piedi in paradiso (A Flat for Three) by Carlo Verdone, winning for Comedy, Actress (Micaela Ramazzotti) and Supporting Actor (Marco Giallini).

Marco Tullio Giordana's Romanzo di una strage (Story of a Massacre) and Ferzan Ozpetek's Magnifica presenza (Magnificent Presence) each led with nine nominations. Both films won a pair of awards.

AMPAS invites 176 new members to the Academy

Beverly Hills, CA (June 29, 2012) – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is extending invitations to join the organization to 176 artists and executives who have distinguished themselves by their contributions to theatrical motion pictures. Those who accept the invitation will be the only additions in 2012 to the Academy’s roster of members.

“These film professionals represent some of the most talented, most passionate contributors to our industry,” said Academy President Tom Sherak. “I’m glad to recognize that by calling each of them a fellow Academy member.”

New rules for the Academy Awards include Hairstyling

Yesterday, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences approved rule changes for the upcoming 85th Academy Awards. None are as dramatic as the previously announced changes to the Documentary category. The most significant of the new changes is the introduction of a Hairstyling Award to be jointly given with the Makeup Award.

I'm not so keen on this change. The Makeup Award is already dubious in that it inevitably goes to the most obvious prosthetic or special effects makeup work, never to the more subtle yet artistic work. I suppose this criticism is true of most categories, but makeup especially is almost always best when barely noticed if at all. By tacking hairstyling together with it (and not as a separate category) it will push this further towards the most garish and obvious choice.

Call for submissions: Telefilm Canada Producers' Mentorship Program

Telefilm Canada and the Canadian Media Production Association (CMPA) have announced their 2012 Telefilm Canada Producers' Mentorship Program. This ia a mentorship open to emerging and mid-level producers of any age across Canada.

This program gives emerging and mid-level producers the opportunity to gain above-the-line production experience. The program emphasizes one-on-one mentoring in a production environment, and creating enhanced professional development opportunities. This on-the-job training creates employment prospects, and gives participants production credits. It also solidifies their skills and increases the potential for career advancement in the film, televison and interactive media production industry.

2012 Festival International de Jazz de Montréal, June 28-July 7

After a special pre-opening concert by James Taylor and the presentation to him of the Montreal Jazz Festival Spirit Award, the 33rd edition of the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal officially gets underway tonight. The festival kicks off with one of their massive free outdoor parties featuring Rufus Wainwright. The other two big free shows will be the Brooklyn group Escort and the dance group Chromeo.

Over the next ten days, there will be over 180 concerts, many of them for free. Some of the highlights include Wayne Shorter, Stanley Clarke, Ron Carter, Chick Corea, John Scofield Trio, B.B King, Liza Minnelli, Tangerine Dream, Norah Jones, Sophie Milman, Esperanza Spalding, Ziggy Marley, Timber Timbre, Janelle Monáe and Fishbone.

MAFS presents Die Bad

Ciné Asie hosts the return of their Monthly Asian Film Screening (MAFS), starting tonight, Thursday, June 28. To lead off, they will present Ryoo Seung-wan's action anthology film Die Bad starring Seong-bin Park, Seung-beom Ryu and Jung-shik Bae.

After the screening, there will be a culinary workshop and food tasting.

The Monthly Asian Film Screening series will continue throughout the summer with a film from a different Asian country each month. There will also be special guests, artist talks, and food provided at each event.

Telefilm's Micro-Budget Production Program

TELEFILM OFFICIALLY LAUNCHES MICRO-BUDGET PRODUCTION PROGRAM

Telefilm Canada is pleased to announce that as of today, June 27, 2012, we are officially launching our new Micro-Budget Production Program. This program targets emerging talent in Canada’s audiovisual industry and will support them in the production and release of their first feature-length film, with an emphasis on digital platforms and their potential for wide distribution and audience involvement.

Toronto After Dark summer screenings

Although the Toronto After Dark Film Festival has moved back to a fall schedule, they will be hosting screenings of several films this summer in anticipation of the festival in October. The screenings take place at the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema.

Tonight, the films being screened will be Alejandro Brugués's Cuban zombie movie Juan of the Dead, and Nicholas McCarthy's The Pact. Afterwards, ticketholders are invited to Pub After Dark, an after-screening social event at Paupers Pub across the street from the Bloor Cinema.

In two weeks on Wednesday, July 11, the films being shown will be Joseph Kahn's sci-fi-horror-comedy Detention, followed by V/H/S a film made collectively by Ti West, Adam Wingard, Glenn McQuaid, Joe Swanberg, David Bruckner and Radio Silence.

ReelHeART International Film Festival, June 27-30

The 8th Annual ReelHeART International Film Festival gets underway today. The featured event will be a live reading of one of their Top 3 Feature Screenplay Winners. William, Will you Dance? by Mary Huckstep tells the story about a shy Scottish farmer in search of love. Thirteen actors will participate in performing this script.

This will be followed by a live reading of several short film scripts. They will perform Spin by Tom McIntire, We’ll Meet Again by W. Daniel Whiddden, and Playing Through by John Harris. Afterwards, they will have a screening of David Wild's Seventeen People from Toronto.

The official opening night film will take place tomorrow night. We Run Sh*t by Scott Storm and Michael Creighton Rogers is a music documentary about the Miami club scene.

TIFF in the Park: Screwball Comedies

Every Wednesday at sunset beginning in June, TIFF and the Toronto Entertainment District BIA present FREE outdoor screenings of classic screwball comedies at David Pecaut Square, directly west of Roy Thomson Hall — so in the words of Oscar Wilde, "Take a seat on the lawn and laugh your grass off!"

Films in TIFF in the Park: Screwball Comedies

Trouble in Paradise
Ernst Lubitsch
A gentleman thief (Herbert Marshall) romances a rich Parisian widow (Kay Francis) — to the distress of his smitten partner in crime (Miriam Hopkins) — in this sparkling romantic comedy from the great Ernst Lubitsch.

Film review: The Girl in the White Coat

Writer/Director: Darrell Wasyk
Producer: Michel Ouellette, Darrell Wasyk
Cast: Pascale Montpetit, Joey Klein, Monique Mercure, Louise Marleau, Paul Savoie, Julien Poulin
Gritty Indie Drama
1 hours, 53 minutes
English and French with subtitles

Back in 1990, Darrell Wasyk made H his startling debut about two heroin junkies that earned its star Pascale Montpetit a Genie Award for Best Actress. He then made Mustard Bath in 1993 before moving on to television, painting and theatre.

After a long absence, he has returned to the big screen and reunited with Montpetit. The Girl in the White Coat is an adaptation of sorts based on the short story Шинель (The Overcoat) by Nikolai Gogol. But you needn't know anything about it beforehand. Gogol's story of a poor Russian bureaucrat is merely used as the jumping-off point for Wasyk who re-imagines and reinvents it in Montreal with a female protagonist.

Call for submissions: 2012 CaribbeanTales Market Incubator Program

The call has been put out for the 2012 CaribbeanTales Market Incubator Program for producers and filmmakers of Caribbean-themed content.

The Incubator Program is a 5-day industry event that brings producers together with industry professional from Canada, the Caribbean and around the world. The program overlaps slightly with the Toronto International Film Festival to provide participants the opportunity to pitch their projects to visiting delegates.

To apply, you should submit your film project with your info to Malinda Francis, Incubator Co-ordinatoe at CaribbeanTales@gmail.com by July 15.

Italian Contemporary Film Festival, June 26-July 1

The inaugural Italian Contemporary Film Festival (ICFF) gets underway tonight with a screening of the Canadian documentary Piazza Petawawa: The Paradox, before the official opening night gala screening of La Kryptonite nella Borsa (Kryptonite!). This will be followed by the opening night party at Maison Mercer.

The closing film will be the Canadian Premiere of Woody Allen's latest film To Rome with Love. The film stars Allen himself as well as Alec Baldwin, Roberto Benigni, Penélope Cruz, Judy Davis, Jesse Eisenberg, Greta Gerwig and Canadian actress Ellen Page. Actress Monica Nappo will be in attendance at the screening.

Other highlights at the festival include recent Italian hits Terraferma, Che Bella Giornata (What a Beautiful Day), Il Gioiellino (The Jewel), La Scomparsa di Patò (The Vanishing of Patò), Basilicata Coast to Coast, Letter One, Posti in Piedi in Paradiso and Nanni Moretti's Habemus Papam.

2012 Dora Mavor Moore Awards – winners

The 33rd annual Dora Mavor Moore Awards took place tonight at the Bluma Appel Theatre in the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts. The event was hosted by Thom Allison.

The top winners on the night were Theatre Passe Muraille's Crash, and Caroline, or Change by Acting Up Stage Company with Obsidian Theatre Company, each with four awards. Crash won in the General Theatre Division with Outstanding New Play and Performance by a Female in a Principal Role for Pamela Mala Sinha as well as for Lighting Design and Sound Design. Caroline, or Change won (mostly) in the Musical Theatre Division, taking Outstanding Production of a Musical, Actress (Arlene Duncan), Actor (Sterling Jarvis) and Musical Direction.

Topdog Underdog, which Obsidian Theatre Company produced with the Shaw Festival, won three major awards in the General Theatre Division. It won Outstanding Production, Outstanding Male in a Principal Role (Nigel Shawn Williams) and Outstanding Musical Direction (Reza Jacobs).

TIFF packages go on sale starting today

The Toronto International Film Festival has begun selling its ticket packages starting today to those with TIFF memberships. This is one of the many perks of getting a membership with TIFF, which also gives members access to discounts and free tickets to events at TIFF Bell Lightbox throughout the year.

New this year, they are introducing four new packages: the 6 Premium Ticket Pack, customizable Flex Packs, the Premium Sampler, and Contemporary World Cinema selected by TIFF programmers.

Next week on July 3, sales for ticket packages will open for those with Visa credit cards. Visa is the preferred credit card of TIFF and a festival sponsor. For the general public, all ticket packages will be available on July 9.