‘Gokogu no Neko’ (The Cats of Gokogu Shrine) by Kazuhiro Soda
With the Competition titles still to be announced, the Berlin Film Festival is already showing some great bridge building colors, as well as panache, good taste and humor. And a film that starts out being about cats, but turns into so much more...
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Lily Gladstone, photo by Virisa Yong, courtesy of the Golden Globes
Perfectly somber, in tone with the dire worldwide situation, but also celebrating diversity and awarding long overdue prizes to exceptional filmmakers, the Golden Globes are back, Baby! And they are better than ever, so don’t listen to those jealous critics.
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Simon Baker sporting a cropped do and beard in Ivan Sen’s hauntingly beautiful ‘Limbo’
Instead of making a “best films of 2023” list, I’m just going to name a few gems, which can take us seamlessly into the new year.
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Every year in cinema calendars February belongs to the Berlin International Film Festival, and this year it will be extra special, as the upcoming edition marks the last one with Carlo Chatrian as Artistic Director.
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With ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ and ‘Poor Things’ tying for third place.
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The list of films and TV series nominated will be unveiled this Monday, December 11th by Cedric “The Entertainer'' and Wilmer Valderrama.
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After all was said and done, there were no losers at this year’s Marrakech International Film Festival, where audiences got a free taste of great cinema and Moroccan films made history.
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The films — hailing from 11 countries with 11 helmed by women filmmakers — include the highly anticipated ‘Motherhood’ by Meryam Joobeur, Tunisian filmmaker Ala Eddine Slim’s next project, and Erige Sehiri’s follow up to her critically acclaimed ‘Under the Fig Trees’.
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Plus, the official film selection is announced for the highly anticipated 20th edition of the festival which will take place from November 24th to December 2nd.
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The upcoming festival, which is due to take place from November 24th to December 2nd, in the northern Italian city of Turin, will also feature a retrospective dedicated to American movie star par excellence John Wayne, who is also featured on their poster.
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The festival released its program announcement on Monday, which will feature 250 plus films in more than 70 languages, over 70 countries, 20 screens, 8 venues, a state-of-the-art festival hub (NMACC), and a great number of women directors, with over 70 films. Mira Nair will head the South Asia Competition jury.
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Photo courtesy of La Biennale di Venezia
Clearly it was a man’s world last night in Venice, as the winners of the Film Festival were announced. Including a very masculine take on being a woman, which snatched the coveted Golden Lion.
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Photo courtesy of the Vilnius International Film Festival
The 26th edition of the Vilnius International Film Festival has been taking place from March 18 through to April 4, 2021. The festival this year reinvented itself in these times of pandemic so it has taken place in the Lithuanian capital’s six top hotels. And, for couch potatoes, also online. Its program brings recently awarded festival hits and some of Lithuania’s best features and shorts into people’s homes. Or hotel rooms.
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A still from ‘Mornings in Jenin’, a series project participating in this year’s Qumra event
For film insiders the Qumra event — held once a year in Doha, Qatar and bringing together industry experts and filmmakers from all over the world — was always a highly anticipated time to put on our calendars. But in the age of pandemic, where we need all the inspiration we can get to simply continue onward, Qumra has become a lifeline.
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The poster for this edition of FIFDH is based on an image by American photographer Jack Howard
These are unprecedented times and they call for courage and action. And it seems that the Geneva International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights possesses a heavy dose of both.
The festival will take place this year from March 5th to the 14th and will feature films, talks, art events and in-depth conversations with distinguished guests on everything from racism to migration, with a heavy dose of pandemic response and the consequences of our global lockdowns thrown in.
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Photo courtesy of the Red Sea Lodge, an initiative by the Red Sea International Film Festival
The Red Sea International Film Festival in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, has just announced their Red Sea Lodge edition for 2021.
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Katara Opera House on the opening night of Ajyal Film Festival in Doha, Qatar
This year, the Doha Film Institute has managed to put together a hybrid online and in person (for Qatari residents only) version of its annual Ajyal Film Festival dedicated to young audience and there was even a red carpet last night and an opening ceremony. I’m sharing the video of the latter below.
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A still from Iran’s submission to the Oscars, ‘Sun Children’ by Majid Majidi
I’ve long been a fan of everything that the Doha Film Institute has to offer. Their Qumra event is a phenomenal way to witness how filmmakers go about constructing their films, from pre-production to grants and securing funding to finish their projects. For a culture journalist, it’s a valuable way to experience, quite literally, how cinema is made.
But personally, the event that remains near and dear to my heart is always the Ajyal Film Festival.
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Photograph courtesy of the Pordenone Silent Film Festival
There is no more perfect time to watch silent films than the present. Apart from the intimacy and preciousness of the art form, which is the great-grandfather of modern day blockbusters, these days the era from which a lot of those movies come from can provide both a guide and inspiration to move forward.
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A still from ‘Mirrors of Diaspora’ by Kasim Abid
When we think of Iraq these days, we hardly think of poetry, art and cinema. It’s a land that evokes visions of war and destruction, not the land of the iconic architecture of Mesopotamia anymore.
But living around the world, making up the diaspora from the Region, there are quite a few wonderfully creative Iraqis who continue to provide humanity with the beauty of their work. Among them, personally I can name at least two — both dear friends and wonderful innovators. And one of those happens to be Shahnaz Dulaimy.
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