Announcing the winners of the 2014 New Urbanism Film Festival.  Film receiving awards and honorable mentions will be screened in Dallas TX at the 23rd Annual Congress for the New Urbanism.

The Congress for the New Urbanism Award for Best of Fest

Big Kids, Little City

“Big Kids, Little City” is a web series developed by Envision Utah.  The series examines urban design concepts through the eyes of children.  They ask kids to explain concepts like density, pedestrian friendly streets, or transit oriented development, and then animate the explanations or have adult actors re-enact the explanations.  In this series, kids teach us that “‘pedestrian-friendly’ means not running people over.”  For the simple and effective and fun take on city planning, we award Big Kids Little City the top prize, the CNU Award for Best of Fest.

Best Urban Design Film

The Bus Stop: London’s Agent of Change

The Bus Stop: London’s Agent of Change re-imagines the bus stop.  First they look at the function and realize it is a transition place. Where the pedestrian become a transit rider.  And to make the change, we need to make it comfortable for change.  The next question was how can we make the bus stop a place where people want to be and where the bus also happens to stop.  The isolated take on a common urban fixture, inspires us to re-imagine other elements of urban design with new eyes, and for that reason we award it the Best Urban Design Film of 2014

Best Bicycling Film

Power to the Pedals

 Power to the Pedals tells the story of Wenzday Jane and her company Metro Pedal Power.  Her company consists of several cargo bikes and trikes which she uses to collect recycling, haul compost, and deliver CSA boxes.  Power to the Pedals does not limit bicycle advocacy to safety and transportation issues, rather it demonstrates the role the bicycle can play in economic development and how it can empower an individual’s resilience.

Best Healthy Cities Film

Oak & Scott: Pausing at High Speed

Oak & Scott is one intersection in San Francisco.  Pausing at High Speed tells the story of this intersection, how it shapes history and how it has been shaped by history.  From highway removal, to “the wiggle,” long term residents of this intersection have seen urban design right outside their front door. Rather that tout changes of city wide plans or regional development systems, this film brings home city planning to how it effects residents. And for that we award it 2014 Best Healthy Cities Film.

Best Walkability Film

Walk, Don’t Walk

Walk, Don’t Walk is a comedy where Andy Boenau plays all the characters involved in street design: city planner, engineer, professor, advocate, protester, yadda yadda yadda. The overall tone of the film is that modern street design discriminates against children.  It advocates for street design that is more inclusive and makes the streets comfortable for and usable by children, the elderly, everyone.  For that reason, we award Walk, Don’t Walk Best Walkability Film 2014.

Emerging Ideas Award

BUSted! Storytelling Show

BUSted! features true tales from people who ride the bus in Los Angeles. The stories are hilarious and often cathartic.  The stories delighted audiences while letting them know that even though the bus can be creepy at times, there are regular people on the bus.  Regular people who just might be performing later at the New Urbanism Film Festival.  For that reason we are happy to give BUSted! the Emerging Ideas Award.

The winners of the 2014 New Urbanism Film Festival will be screened in Dallas and elsewhere around the country for the next year as part of the Best of New Urbanism Film Ferstival.  These films are helping transform cities around the world.

17th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival – Images of the 21st Century ran March 13 - 22, 2015

AWARDS

EMBARGO: 21.00 CET, SATURDAY MARCH 21st

FISCHER AUDIENCE AWARDS 2015

- The Peter WintonickAudience Award for a film over 45’ in the International Selection goes to:

VIRUNGA by Orlando von Εinsiedel, UK, 2014

- The Audience Award for a film under 45’ in the International Selection goes to:

FLAME by Dress Code - Dan Covert, Andre Andreev, USA-Bulgaria, 2014

- The Audience Award for a Greek film over 45’ goes to:

PARADOXICAL FATHERLAND by Nikos Aslanidis, Greece, 2014

- The Audience Award for a Greek film under 45’ goes to:

OLYMPIA by Stavros Psillakis, Greece, 2015

FIPRESCI AWARDS

The FIPRESCI (International Federation of Film Critics) Jury consisting of:

Massimo Lechi (Italy), president

Mo Abdi (UK)

Gia Giovani (Greece)

Yoana Pavlova (Bulgaria)

Kirsten Kieninger (Germany)

Bestows the FIPRESCI award for a Greek film to:

HAIL ARCADIA by Filippos Koutsaftis, Greece, 2015

And the FIPRESCI award for an international film to:

EVERY FACE HAS A NAME by Magnus Gertten, Sweden, 2015

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL AWARD

The Amnesty International Jury consisting of:

The representatives of the Greek Section of Amnesty International:

Katerina Kalogera (President of the Greek Section of Amnesty International)

Marianna Leondaridou (Member of the Amnesty International – Thessaloniki Team, in charge of the annual film tribute to Human Rights)

Zoi Mavroudi (Filmmaker, director of the film Ruins)

Yorgos Roussos (Journalist, film columnist at the website www.tvxs.gr)

Panayotis Dendramis (Amnesty International member, filmmaker)

Awards the best film dealing with human rights issues to:

SILVERED WATER, SYRIA SELF-PORTRAIT by Ossama Mohammed & Wiam Simav Bedirxan, France-Syria, 2014

WWF AWARD

The WWFJury consisting of:

Yorgos Vellidis (Marketing Director WWF Greece)

Iason Kantas (Press Officer WWF Greece)

Alexandros Kandarakis (Communications collaborator WWF Greece)

Awards the best film in the HABITAT section to:

VIRUNGA by Orlando von Εinsiedel, UK, 2014

DOCS IN PROGRESS AWARD 2015

The Docs in Progress international jury, consisting of:

Peter Ηamilton (www.documentarytelevision.com, USA)

Μadeleine Avramoussis (Arte, France)

Alexandros Christoyiannis (ΟTE TV, Greece)

Awards the best documentary in the Docs in Progress session of the Doc Market to:

THE LONGEST RUN Production Company: Stefi & Lynx Director: Marianna Economou Producer: Daphne Panopoulou Co-producer: Taavi Vartia (Taavia Productions) Key Partner: NERIT Greece/ Finland

Jury rationale:“The jurors unanimously award the Docs in Progress prize to The Longest Run by Marianna Economou. The central characters, two young men, touched us with their individual plight, revealing the director’s talent for opening our hearts. The material we saw gives a human face to current tragedies of war, immigration and the crisis in European society, dealing fairly with these issues.”

The award is accompanied by a 15.000 euro award equivalent to services by the post-production company 2|35 Inc (Greece).

EDN AWARD 2014

The EDN Award is presented annually during Docs in Thessaloniki to an institution, group or person for outstanding contribution to the development of documentary culture.

The 11th EDN Award is presented to Caspar Sonnen, new media coordinator and curator of IDFA’s (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam) DocLab. He receives the award for his pioneering commitment to interactive documentary work and through this creating an outstanding contribution to the development of the European documentary culture.

Winner for Best Documentary Short at the Tribeca Film Festival 2015!

Out of 3100 submissions, only 60 short films were chosen to show at this years Tribeca Film Festival. As per the program director, all of the shorts revolved around the theme that “home is where the heart is”.

Produced by Olivia Wilde, Bryn Mooser, and written and directed by, David Darg, “Body Team 12″ tells the story of the people who don hazmat suits and dispose of contaminated, recently deceased patients during the height of the Ebola crisis in Monrovia, Liberia. The challenges the staff face while working under these stressful conditions, the reasons why they do what they do, and how people treat them once they find out what they do for a living, are all discussed in the 13 minute documentary, ‘Body Team 12′.

When the Ebola outbreak first began there were only 239 cases, three months later, the caseload grew to 14,342.

‘Body Team’ employees go to work at 5:30am and return home at 11pm-12 midnight. One of the women on the team explains that because women are strong, yet soft, she has to be strong for her country, and help to prevent the spread of the disease throughout Liberia, and worldwide.

The families of Ebola victims want closure. They want to give their recently deceased family members a proper burial, to have a gravesite to visit in order to pay their respects to them, however, because Ebola is so highly contagious, the bodies must be transported to a crematorium to be burned and disposed of straight away. The body team must plead and try to convince the family members to allow them to take the bodies away from them without them even so much as going near their loved one to give them a final hug goodbye.

http://www.ryot.org/cause/ebola
ebolaorphanproject.com

Article by Sharon Abella
http://1worldcinema.com

Cinequest Film Festival has been voted the Best Film Festival by USA TODAY Readers. This follows the wrap of Cinequest Film Festival (CQFF) 2015; Award Winners and Highlights included:

FUTURE OF FILM debut: Cinequest, Silicon Valley's creativity and film institute, keenly focuses on the exciting possibilities the future holds. Cinequest's unique nature and aggregate impact result from a powerful fusion of creativity, filmmaking and technological innovation-transforming our future in thrilling and provocative ways. Continuing this legacy, Future Of Film 1.0 brought a new way of making and watching films to artists and audiences and showcased the impressive work of high school and college students.

• Barco Escape movies and experience: Cinequest audiences and artists experienced an exciting new three screen cinematic experience. Artists used the screens in profoundly different ways. Film highlights included comedy (The 9th Hole), immersive drama (Withdrawal), documentary (Burning Man) and live event (Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett in concert).
• Cinequest's new High School Film Competition and expanded College Film Competition brought a deepening commitment to the filmmakers of tomorrow.

Maverick Spirit Award Recipients: Cinequest's most prestigious accolade, the Maverick Spirit Award recognizes bold, visionary, and creative forces-the finest in the worlds of Silicon Valley innovation and the film arts. This year's recipients:

• John Boorman
• Rosario Dawson
• Dennis Lehane
• Mike Medavoy
• Lawrence Kasdan

Past Maverick Spirit guest recipients include Harrison Ford, Neil Gaiman, J.J. Abrams, Kevin Spacey, William H. Macy, Gus Van Sant, Spike Lee, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Sir Ian McKellen, Edward James Olmos, Alec Baldwin and Sir Ben Kingsley. For clips of previous Award winners' comments, please visit Cinequest's Maverick Voices video.

"I think the most important thing about Cinequest is it's definitely the first time I've ever come to a festival where my immediate reaction is, 'What do I have to do to be invited back?' and that's not normally my reaction. It's a perfect film festival in a glorious place." - Neil Gaiman, Maverick Spirit Award Winner

Media Legacy Award Recipients: Spotlighting writers who discover and follow cinematic art and innovation, Cinequest's Media Legacy Award recognizes the pivotal role journalists play in connecting audiences to films and technologies, providing insight into artists, technologists, and the collaborative nature of both disciplines. This year's recipients:

• Anne Thompson
• Richard von Busack

Previous Media Legacy Award recipients include: Eric Kohn of Indiewire, Harry Knowles, founder of Ain't It Cool News, and Kenneth Turan of The Los Angeles Times. Please watch Cinequest's Media Legacy video.

Film Premieres and Cinequest Award Winners: Ninety-one (91) World, North American and U.S. Premieres from 50 countries unveiled in the palatial California Theatre and state-of-the-art festival venues including opening night sensation Batkid Begins and closing night enchanter 5 to 7 starring Anton Yelchin (Star Trek). The following films won Jury and Audience awards:

• Best Feature Narrative, Drama: CORN ISLAND Director: George Ovashvili
• Best Feature Narrative, Comedy: THE ANNIVERSARY Director: Valerie Buhagiar
• Best Documentary Feature Film: ASPIE SEEKS LOVE Director: Julie Sokolow
• Audience Award, Narrative Feature: TRACES OF SANDALWOOD Director: Maria Ripoll
• Audience Award, Documentary Feature: BATKID BEGINS: THE WISH HEARD AROUND THE WORLD Director: Dana Nachman
• Kaiser Thrive Award: CRESCENDO! THE POWER OF MUSIC Director: Jamie Bernstein
• New Vision Award: ASTRAEA Director: Kristjan Thor
• Global Vision Award: APPLES FROM THE DESERT Directors: Arik Lubetzky and Matti Harari
• Best Narrative Short Film: SLAP Director: Nick Rowland
• Best Animated Short Film: GERMAN SHEPHERD Director: Nils Bergendal
• Best Documentary Short Film: LUCHADORA Director: River Finlay
• Best College Short Film: RATTLEFLY Director: Min Ding
• Best High School Short Film: GUMBALL Directors: Kris Theorin and Kurtis Theorin

Cinequest Screenplay Competition Award Winners:

FEATURES

• Sainte Chloe by Stacie Shellner (1st Place)
• Hooked by Allen Wolf (2nd)
• Art Brut by Michael Immerman and Benjamin The Great by Scott Ruane (Tied 3rd)

SHORTS

• The Yard by Eugenie Carabatsos (1st Place)
• Rocketship by Alfred Thomas Catalfo (2nd)
• Storm Fear by Eli Edelson (3rd)

TELEPLAYS

• Awareness by Sean Corrigan (1st Place)
• Corner King by Mono Ghose (2nd)
• Frat Lines by Jay Gormley (3rd)

Cinequest Film Festival 2016 occurs February 23 - March 6 in the Silicon Valley.

CQFF Partners: Applied Materials (NYSE: AMAT), City of San Jose, Barco, Kaiser Permanente, Knight Foundation, Harmonic (NYSE: HLIT), Synaptics (NYSE: SYNA), Quantum (NYSE: QUAN), National Association of Broadcasters of America, Canon (CAJ), Yellow Pages, Panasonic, Hint Water, NBC Bay Area, Metro, KGO 810, KFOG 97.7, Cisco (NYSE: CSCO), Dolby (NYSE: DLB), Stella Artois (NYSE: AHBIF), Tito's Handmade Vodka, Adobe (NYSE: ADBE), eBay Foundation (NYSE: EBAY), Macy's (NYSE: M), The Fairmont San Jose (NYSE: FHR), Seagate (NYSE: STX), VTA, and Agile Ticketing Solutions.

Picture The Possibilities Partners: Kaiser Permanente, The Hearst Foundations, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, The David & Lucile Packard Foundation, Morrison & Foerster Foundation, Capital Group, Hewlett Packard Workstations (NYSE: HPQ), Brett Company, Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV), Liquid Agency, Seagate (NYSE: STX), Litepanels, Cisco (NYSC: CSCO), AudioTechnica, Media Center, Adobe (NYSE: ADBE), Eddie Lira, GlideCam, CreaTV, Rhino Camera Gear, Manfrotto, Red Giant (NYSE: REDG)

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At the 5th Beijing International Film Festival held Apr 16th–23rd, both acting prizes went to Russian thespians, Julya Peresild for The Sevastopol Battleand Artyom Tsypin for White, White Night.

Julya Peresild, actress: "A successful performance is such a rare treat it always makes you happy, but then, on top of that, it turns out other people agree with you! At a time like this, it's almost embarrassing to be happy, but I couldn't even dream of Luc Besson watching me act on screen!"

Artyom Tsypin, actor: “To hold this award in my hand is magic, unbelievable and completely unexpected. Movies are all about magic, and I'm so happy now – acutely happy – because happiness always comes with no warning. I want to thank my director for casting me."

The Sevastopol Battle by Sergey Mokritsky is a WWII period drama that portrays legendary sniper Lyudmila Pavlichenko. A Russo-Ukrainian co-production, it was released in Russia on Apr 2nd and has since grossed a respectable $7 million. The director and the leading lady, a star of the Nation Theater Julya Peresild, both attended the Beijing premiere where The Battle was met with thunderous applause.

Ramil Salakhutdinov's White, White Night premiered in Beijing to a full house. The Chinese audiences were delighted to discover the Leningrad school of filmmaking. The movie tells the story of a young man who comes to Saint-Petersburg for a show and goes missing. To find him, a private detective is dispatched from Moscow. Svetlana Karmalita and Alexey German-Jr. provided artistic guidance.

Svetlana Karmalita, artistic counselor, SEVER Film Company: "Our company has supported Ramil Salakhutdinov for years, ever since he made his first short, "On the Eve." We soon realized that he, as a filmmaker, had a vision and knew full well how to put into practice. Our future collaborations were all informed by this realization. We did argue, but we also trusted him and it paid off every time. Behind the plotline of White, White Night, there lurks the main character's intensified inhabitance of the world around him. A work of great profundity, it seems to me to occupy one of the higher rungs in what we call "the art of cinema," and I'm not alone in this opinion."

The full list of the festival awards (The Tiantans):

Best Film: El Comienzo Del Tiempo / Beginning of Time (Mexico)

Best Director: Jean-Jacques Annaund (Wolf Totem)

Best Cinematography: Deti / Children (Slovakia / Czech Republic)

Best Special Effects: Wolf Totem (China / France)

Best Soundtrack: Gruber Geht (Austria)

The awards were given out by the Luc Besson-led jury including: director and producer Fedor Bondarchuk; directors Ki-duk Kim (South Korea) and Fernando Meirelles (Brazil); screenwriter Robert Mark Kamen (USA); producer and director Peter Chan (Thailand); and actress Zhou Xun (China).

The Beijing International Film Festival is co-sponsored by the People’s Republic of China State Department of Press, Publishing, Radio, Film and Television, and by the government of the Municipality of Beijing.

The annual film forum has been held in Beijing since 2011. Over the last three years, the BIFF has welcomed more than 10,000 distinguished guests and millions of visitors. The festival has been attended, among others, by James Cameron, John Woo, and Keanu Reeves.

Kitty Percy of London has been selected as the winner of the 2015 BlueCat Screenplay Cordelia Award for best screenplay from the UK, for her script, BUTTER SIDE UP. Kitty will be awarded a $1,500 cash prize.

BUTTER SIDE UP  follows a hopelessly unlucky smalltime criminal who kidnaps a celebrity by mistake and soon after finds his luck starting to change in unexpected ways.

An interview with Kitty Percy can be found on BlueCat’s website: http://www.bluecatscreenplay.com/interviews/2015-bluecat-cordelia-award-winner-kitty-percy/

BlueCat’s alumni include Ana Lily Amirpour, currently teaming up with Megan Ellison’s Annapurna Pictures for her sophomore feature film THE BAD BATCH, and Aaron Guzikowski (Prisoners, The Red Road) recently hired to scribe Universal’s upcoming THE WOLFMAN. BlueCat was founded in 1998 by filmmaker Gordy Hoffman.  

Since 1998, the BlueCat Screenplay Competition has developed and discovered thousands of writers through our commitment to providing written feedback to all entrants and substantial cash awards to their best screenplays. This year, BlueCat received 4,494 feature screenplay submissions and 1,730 short submissions.

BlueCat will begin accepting submissions for the 2016 competition starting June 1, 2015.

The 2015 edition of the Universe Multicultural Film Festival complete its 3 full day film screening and programs.  This year, the UMFF screening 75 films from 28 countries, 12 screenplay finalists and two screenplay showcases;  hosted  5 industry panels and  2 film maker mixers and  one red carpet award ceremony with high standard performance art.   

There were film maker delegations from China, Mexico, Japan, Russia and Hollywood.  The part of VIPs  are:  Tracy Reiner; Richard  Horowitz (Golden Global winner); David Hardly ( CA assembly ); Actress Miaomiao ( China),  Yuichi Ito ( Japanese animator) ;  Serita Stevens ( Emmy award) ，Daniel Kenneth， Erik Lundmark;  Alex Chionetti;  Mark Schaefer；Javier Palenzuela；and Kenneth Hughes; etc.

Two international films titled “Hiding Sword” and “  Shandong man in USA” were auditing actresses  at the festival site.

The cultural theme is Qipao fashion show and 250+ people participated   the competition and the winners were appearing at the red carpet; add more multicultural characters to the award ceremony.

The award completed list is here: 

2015 Universe Multicultural Film Festival Award Winners

FEFF 17:  The audience crowned 3 Korean movies

Ode to My Fatherdi JK Youn

The Royal Tailor di Lee Won-suk

My Brilliant Lifedi E J-yong.

Theseventeenth edition wraps up with 60.000 viewers and, compared with the 2014 edition, with an increase in revenue of more than 20%.

Joe Hisaishi and Jackie Chan: it is impossible not to start from there, if we want talk about the Far East Film Festival, because talkingabout the Far East Film Festival means talkingabout its internationalreputation. A goal, conquered gradually – and tenaciously built – throughout the years, dream after dream, year after year, up to the seventeenth edition finish line and its two most symbolic guests.

By accepting the invitation from the UdineseCEC, mister Hisaishi and mister Chan officially legitimized the major role FEFF fulfills in the Far East. And, just like them, so did all the other guest stars, more than 40 from 11 different Asian countries.

After 10 days of showings and meetings at Teatro Nuovo “Giovanni da Udine”, and of colorful raids downtown (this year, about a hundred events linked to the Festival), it is now time to settle the 2015 edition accounts. An edition that, cutting out all the bad luck coming from the number 17 and cutting out the unfortunate coincidence of weekends and bank holidays, saw a 20% increase in direct revenue (165 thousand euro profit from passes, tickets and merchandising), with a total of about 60 thousand viewers. Such a loyal audience, the fareasters, European and international, made of journalists, critics, students, experts, insiders and, especially, people who love Far Eastern visions.

And fareasters themselves, who since 1999 have been the only judge and jury of the movies in competition, have awarded Korea with an historic triple victory: the moving Ode to My Father by Jk Youn takes home the 2015 Golden Mulberry! First runner-up is also from South Korea, The Royal Tailorby Lee Won-suk, followed by My Billiant Life by E J-yong.

Black Dragon holders have crowned the moving melodrama The Last Reel, the very first Cambodian movie in the history of FEFF, while the Mymovies web-jury has chosen The Royal Tailor.

Briefly going back to the numbers, the Festival has exceeded the 2014 threshold in other areas too: 1273 pass holders (coming from a total of 16 different nations), a remarkable increase in sales for the bookshop (books, DVDs and, given the event, music sheets by Joe Hisaishi). Several thousands were the people who moved around thanks to the Events, simultaneously with the movie program, that, once again, reached their peak with the sixth edition of the Far East Cosplay Contest and with the YellowNight. Big, significant numbers, to which we cannot forget to add the so precious help of 150volunteers who supported the staff.

And now? Looking at the Far East Film Festival 18, the organizers disclose the intention, the necessity, of expanding the section dedicated to the film market. It is time for investments!

On Sunday, April 26, 2015, the USA Film Festival announced the Winners of the 37th Annual International Short Film & Video Competition.  The awards program took place on Closing Night of the 45th Annual USA Film Festival in Dallas.

Chosen from more than 500 international entries, the winners included:

FIRST PLACE / NARRATIVE
The Way of Tea (Les fremissements du thé), Marc Fouchard, director

FIRST PLACE / NON-FICTION
Boxeadora, Meg Smaker, director

FIRST PLACE / ANIMATION
Soar, Alyce Tzue, director

FIRST PLACE / EXPERIMENTAL
Migration, Fluorescent Hill, directors

STUDENT AWARD
Nabilah, Paul Meschuh, director

THE TEXAS AWARD
Master Hoa's Requiem, Scott Edwards, director

NATIONAL JURY AWARDS
Speed Dating, Meghann Artes, director
War Within the Walls, Courtney Marsh, director
The Answers, Michael Goode, director
Against Night, Stefan Kubicki, director
Through the Breaking Glass (A través del espejo), Iván Mena Tinoco, director

The 2015 National Jury included writer/director/producer John Putch, writer/actor Jamie Rose, writer/director/actor Christina Beck.

This year marks the 45th Anniversary of the Festival, which has awarded more than $350,000 in cash prizes, including prizes to many (then) emerging filmmakers, including Don Hertzfeldt (Lilly and Jim), Bill Plympton (Your Face), Jessica Yu (Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of Mark O'Brien), Wes Anderson (Bottle Rocket), Marlon Riggs (Tongues Untied), Todd Haynes (Superstar), Alexander Payne (The Passion of Martin), George Hickenlooper (Some Folks Call it a Sling Blade), Alan Taylor (That Burning Question) and John Lasseter (Tin Toy).

In addition to the Jury awards, FESTIVAL-AWARDED PRIZES also went to the following Official Selection short works:

In the Clouds (En las nubes), Marcelo Mitnik, director
Election Night, Tessa Blake, director
The Emissary, Rudy Dobrev, director
Caring for the Recently Deceased, Henry Davies, director
The Other Side, Scott Brown, director
Run Fast, Anna Musso, director
Scrabble, Cristian Sulser, director
Deep Dance, Marco Erbrich, director
The Looking Planet, Eric Anderson, director
Day One, Henry Hughes
Mara, Yi Zhong
Between Times, Ru Kuwahata & Max Porter, co-directors

OFFICIAL SPONSORS -- Sponsors of the 45th Annual USA Film Festival include Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate, Gaedeke Group, Whole Foods Market, Suddenlink Communications, Dallas Film Commission, Texas Film Commission, Magnolia Pictures On Demand, Sidley Austin LLP, HBO, Jackson Walker LLP, SAG-AFTRA, Texas Association of Motion Media Professionals, Alford Media Services and Ticketmaster. The USA Film Festival is supported in part by the City of Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs. This program is supported in part by a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts.

ABOUT THE USA FILM FESTIVAL -- The USA Film Festival is a 45-year-old Dallas-based 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to the recognition and promotion of excellence in the film and video arts. Year-round events include KidFilm®; monthly screenings; special programs and premieres; and the USA Film Festival, held each spring. Throughout the year, the Festival presents a variety of membership, exhibition, educational, and cultural programs designed to bring together audiences and filmmakers for a "live cinema" experience.

Screenwriter Stefano Sardo with the EFA Young Audience Award 2015 for THE INVISIBLE BOY (picture: Carlo Bansini)

Having watched the three nominated films on today’s Young Audience Film Day, the young cinema-lovers across Europe had the opportunity to discuss the films before electing their favourite. The results were then reported live via video conference to Erfurt (Germany) where German TV host, author and director Thomas Hermanns moderated the awards ceremony transmitted online as a live stream.

EFA Director Marion Döring presented the award to screenwriter Stefano Sardo who said: “Thank you so much, this was unexpected! We made a film for kids and we’re sooo happy that they like it!”

This year’s fourth edition of the EFA Young Audience Award with a record 25 participating countries was realised with the following partners: Art Fest (Bulgaria), BFI British Film Institute, BUFF (Sweden), Children KinoFest (Ukraine), Cinematheque Tel Aviv (Israel), Creative Europe Desk Malta&  Culture Directorate Ministry for Justice, Culture and Local Government (Malta), DokuFest (Kosovo), EducaTIFF (Romania), Estonian Film Institute, EYE Film Institute Netherlands, Film Center Serbia, Filmoteca de Catalunya (Spain), German Children’s Media Foundation GOLDEN SPARROW, Hellenic Film Academy (Greece), Hungarian National Film Fund, Macedonian Film Agency, Museo Nazionale del Cinema & Film Commission Torino Piemonte (Italy), National Film Centre of Latvia, New Horizons Association (Poland), NNLE Noosfera Foundation (Georgia), Otok - Institute for the Development of Film Culture (Slovenia), University College Northern Jutland, The Centre for Educational Resources (Denmark), Visegrad Film Forum (Slovakia), Yapimlab & Edge (Turkey) and Zagreb Film Festival (Croatia).  

The European Film Academy Young Audience Award is organised and presented by the European Film Academy and EFA Productions with the support of the Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung (MDM). The DCP production is supported by dcinex, Ymagis Group. Media partner was FRED FM Film Radio. 

The South East European Film Festival (SEEfest) (seefilmla.org) celebrated a milestone 10th anniversary year, culminating with a closing night gala event and awards presentation at The Mark in Beverly Hills, where the 2015 SEEfest Jury Awards were presented.

“I have watched the films with festival audiences for the second or third time, and it did not dim their beauty one bit,” said Vera Mijojlic, founder and director, SEEfest. “These films deserve to be seen beyond the festival and I hope that SEEfest will provide an ongoing platform for a larger audience to discover and enjoy the cinema from the borderlands of the Balkans and the Caucasus.” 

Best Feature Film, Grand Jury Prize, Bridging the Borders Award was awarded to the opening night film “The Japanese Dog” (Romania) by director Tudor Cristian Jurgiu. In the drama, an old widower is forced to cope with the aftermath of the recent floods that devastated an entire village. A visit from his estranged son with a young Japanese family in tow stir deep-seated emotions on both sides.

Additional awards included:

Special Jury Mention, Feature Film: “Cowboys” (Croatia), Director Tomislav Mršić. A strong contender for the foreign language film category for the 2014 Academy Awards, the comedy is the story of eight outsiders in a deep Croatian province audition for a theater play, breaking every rule of stage craft.

Special Jury Prize for Best Ensemble Cast: “Bota” (Albania/Italy) with cast Flonja Kodheli, Fioralba Kryemadhi, Artur Gorishti, Tinka Kurti, Alban Ukaj, Guljelm Radoja, Luca Lionello. “Bota” also received the Audience Award for Best Feature. By directors, husband and wife team Iris Elezi and Thomas Logoreci, the film is the story of two young waitresses stuck in a roadside cafe where a middle-aged owner presides over a cast of odd patrons, including a construction crew building a new road.  The film was the Critics’ Prize Winner (FEDEORA Award) at the 2014 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

Best Cinematography, Feature Film: “Rat Poison” (Bulgaria/Romania), Cinematographer: Krasimir Andonov. The comedy is a story of four young, petty thieves who meet in a juvenile hall on the eve of tectonic changes that swept Eastern Europe with the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Best First Feature: “Down the River” (Azerbaijan), Director: Asif Rustamov. The sumptuously photographed psychological drama powers through rowing races in a provincial town where a coach is caught in a web of his own midlife crisis and a desire to win a trophy at the expense of his trainee son. The first ever title from Azerbaijan in the festival, the film was nominated for the ‘East of the West’ Award at the 2014 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

In the documentary category, Best Documentary Film was shared with awards presented to

“The Undertaker” (Serbia), Director: Dragan Nikolić and “Flowers in the Shadows” (Romania), Director: Olivier Magis.

“Although the film deals with such a dark subject as death and the funerary business, in the end, we are left feeling uplifted with a sense of life,” commented Jury Member John Fitzgerald Keitel.

Best Cinematography, Documentary: “In the Dark” (Serbia), Director: Goran Stankovic, Cinematographer: Dragan Vildović. The film was also awarded the Audience Award for Documentary (Narrative).

Best Short Fiction: “Nine Days” (Serbia), Director: Strahinja Savić;

Best Short Documentary: “Once Upon Another Time” (Georgia), Director/Producer: Alexandr Baev;

Best Animation Short: “Elmando” (Romania), Director: Anton Octavian.

From April 30 through May 7, 2015, SEEfest showcased North American and West Coast premieres of nine feature films, 11 documentaries, nine fiction shorts, seven documentary shorts, and 11 animation shorts, with attendance by filmmakers, industry professionals and cultural dignitaries from Los Angeles and South East Europe.

The opening night gala, held at the Writer’s Guild Theater, featured SEEfest’s inaugural Lifetime Achievement and Legacy Awards, presented to legendary Romanian actor Victor Rebenguic, who starred in “The Japanese Dog,” and acting legend George Chakiris, Academy and Golden Globe Award winner for his role as Bernardo in “West Side Story.”

About The South East European Film Festival (SEEfest)

SEEfest presents cinematic and cultural diversity of South East Europe to American audiences and creates cultural connections through films, artistic and social events. SEEfest was founded in 2006 by Vera Mijojlic, long-time film critic and cultural entrepreneur. 

Follow SEEfest at www.seefilmla.org, www.facebook.com/seefest, twitter.com/seefilmla

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After eight days and 47 films shown to diverse audiences in Los Angeles, the 10th anniversary South East European Film Festival, SEEfest 2015 concluded Thursday night with an awards gala presentation at The Mark.

Director Tudor Jurgiu from Romania won Bridging the Borders award for Best Feature Film of the festival for his debut film, The Japanese Dog. Special Jury Mention went to Croatian filmmaker Tomislav Mršić for his debut film, Cowboys, and Special Jury Prize for Best Ensemble Cast was awarded to Albanian feature Bota, co-directed by Iris Elezi and Thomas Logoreci.

Down the River by Asif Rustamov from Azerbaijan won the Best First Feature award. Two narrative documentaries shared the Best Documentary Award, The Undertaker by Dragan Nikolić from Serbia, and Romania's Flowers in the Shadows by Belgian director Olivier Magis.   Awards for Best Cinematography went to Bulgarian Rat Poison director of photography Krasimir Andonov (feature film), and Dragan Vildović (documentary film) for his work in In the Dark from Serbia.

In the shorts category Strahinja Savić from Serbia won Best Short Fiction award for Nine Days, Alexandr Baev's Once Upon Another Time from Georgia won for Best Documentary short, and Anton Octavian from Romania won Best Animation Short award for Elmando.

Winners of 2015 Audience Award were Albanian Bota (feature film), and Serbian In the Dark (narrative documentary). 

The 2015 Juries included AFI faculty member and industry veteran Barry Sabath, filmmaker Mimi Freedman, Sundance associate programmer for international feature films Heidi Zwicker, actresses-turned-directors Christina Beck and Christiane Georgi, director of the cinematheque and the Frida cinema Logan Crow, filmmakers Guido Santi, Tina Mascara, John Fitzgerald Keitel, Jay Miracle, filmmaker and director of the Echo Park Film Center Paolo Davanzo, director of the Villa Aurora artist residence Margit Kleinman, Oscar-winning filmmaker and designer Arnold Schwartzman, filmmaker and cinematographer Roger Staub, and visual artist, designer and educator Jerry W. McDaniel.

FINCH & PARTNERS and JAEGER-LeCOULTRE ANNOUNCE THE RECIPIENT OF THE 7th ANNUAL FILMMAKERS AWARD : GUS VAN SANT

Finch & Partners, in partnership with Jaeger-LeCoultre, will award Gus Van Sant on May 15th 2015 during the Annual Filmmakers dinner, hosted by Charles Finch.

Now in it’s 7th year the Annual Filmmakers Dinner, held at the Hotel du Cap in Antibes, continues to develop into one of the most important events during the Cannes Film Festival.

“Gus is a huge talent, it’s with great pleasure that we honor his achievements this year and with great anticipation that we wait to see his next work,” said Charles Finch.

Previous recipients of the Filmmakers Award have included remarkable Oscar- winning filmmakers, Alfonso Cuaron, Christopher Hampton and Bernardo Bertulluci.

The dinner draws together some of the Film Industry’s most talented and celebrated individuals, during which the Filmmakers Award is presented. Previous guests have included, Martin Scorsese, Kevin Spacey, Mads Mikkelsen, Ewan McGregor, Robert De Niro, Rachel Weisz, Mick Jagger, Adrien Brody, David Cronenberg, Ralph Fiennes, Glenn Close, Gael Garcia Bernal, and Naomi Watts.

Also, for the first time, guests will also be able to enjoy 'The Art of Behind The Scenes’ exhibition. A photographic exhibition showcasing pictures from some of the world’s most accomplished ‘on-set’ photographers, produced by Finch & Partners and Jaeger-LeCoultre.

Screenlights on Mobile coming soon!
 


 

MIAFF 2015 Winners

Octavio Nadal and Patricia Primon from Aura Films) will take the prize for Best Feature in MIAFF Competition: Anima Buenos Aires by Maria Veronica Ramirez

Matteo Lovadina CEO - Sales & Acquisitions with ReelSuspects will receive the price for Sensum Award: Manieggs: Revenge of the hard egg, dir. Zoltán Miklósy.

Bruno Chatelin (filmfestivals.com founder) willpick up the prize for Audience Award for Best Short Film competition: World of Tomorrow, dir. Don Hertzfeldt

4 days of animation feature films, shorts workshops, panel discussions, interactive performances and parties at The Montréal International Animation Film Festival, in association with Teletoon, www.filmfestivals.com and MTL Digital Spring (Printemps Numerique) has just wrapped up with a stunning closing gala and award ceremony.