Viva Italia! Paolo and Vittorio Taviani’s Cesare deve morire (Caesar Must Die) has become the first Italian film in over two decades to carry the Golden Bear, top prize of the Berlin Film Festival. In last night’s award ceremony, the eight-member international jury, headed by British-director Mike Leigh and featuring actors Jake Gyllenhaal and Charlotte Gainsbourg, awarded the Taviani’s ... more >
FESTIVALS
IMAGES from the Berlinale
The latest pictorial from Berlin (Javier Bardem, Madds Mikkelsen and festival director Dieter Kosslick) ... more >
62ND BERLINALE – Captive
A new film from Serbis director Brillante Mendoza
Inspired by the 2001 Dos Palmas kidnapping of foreign tourists and missionaries by the Islamic separatist group Abu Sayyaf in the Philippines, Philipino director Brillante Mendoza (Kinatay, Serbis) Captive excruciatingly follows the twenty hostages as they are dragged at gunpoint from their hotel, spirited onto a fishing boat and led through various towns and jungles for over a year. Isabelle ... more >
62ND BERLINALE – Caesar must die
New from the Taviani Bros
In Berlin for a while, everyone talked about Caesar must die, a historical and literary reenactment filmed by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani in superb documentary style--but it's a feature film documenting a jail bound theater production. The Tavianis (Padre Padrone, Kaos), who are now in their eighties, entered a high-security prison near Rome to film a production of Shakespeare’s “Julius ... more >
62ND BERLINALE – Farewell my Queen
It's the halftime report
Halfway through the 62nd installment of the Berlin Film Festival, no single film has emerged to carry the fest’s top prizes. The international jury, this year’s headed by British director Mike Leigh, will have a difficult time distributing the Gold and Silver bears if the competition fare remains this lackluster. Benoît Jacquot’s French-Revolution drama, Les Adieux à la Reine was the ... more >
Habemus Praesidem
Nanni Moretti to head Cannes jury–-we have a president.
Nanni Moretti the genial filmmaker from Rome is a multitasking kind of individual. He’s directed (The Caiman), worked as screenwriter (Habemus Papam) and produced extensively—read some early interviews of him and you’ll find out that he’s hedged his bets this way from the beginning of his career in cinema. And last night, Moretti landed the best job of all. But how will he make use of ... more >
Cannes leadership renewed through 2014
Board vote sealed the deal
Thierry Frémeaux (pictured) and Gilles Jacob, artistic director and festival president respectively, have had their contracts renewed through the end of 2014 following a vote by the Cannes Festival's board of trustees. This is great news for cinema people everywhere, of course, and the legions of established and upcoming filmmakers who have found motivation and encouragement under both men's ... more >
