Festival Reports

By Gary M. Kramer. The 51st New York Film Festival opens September 27 with the World Premiere screening of Paul Greengrass’ dramatic thriller, Captain Phillips and closes three weeks later with the World Premiere of Spike Jonze’s Her. In between, there are Gala Tributes (Cate Blanchett, Ralph Fiennes), Views from […]

By Moira Sullivan.  Venice is the oldest film festival in which artistic films that abandon the safe predictability of conventional narratives are often rewarded. This year’s festival featured fifty-two world and two international premieres. The festival has expanded with a need for larger facilities, and has created a “light market” […]

By Oliver C. Speck. In June 2012, it seemed that the 58th Taormina Film Fest might be the last one: too many changed schedules, too many bad projections and too many uninspired films marred what was once one of Europe’s premiere international film festivals. After being moved twice, the festival finally […]

By Patrick Keating and Lisa Jasinski. During its eight day run in July 2013, the 27th Cinema Ritrovato Film Festival offered a dizzying schedule of screenings, conversations, and special events at five local venues throughout the compact city center of Bologna, Italy. The festival brought together 17 programs, celebrating rarely […]

By Michael T. Toole. I’ve been covering the San Francisco Silent Film Festival (SFSFF from here on out) for several years now and I’m generally asked if I still have the same sense of wonderment as when I first attended the festival eleven years ago. It’s with validated pleasure that […]

By Steven Yates.  There have been mutterings on the inside (chiefly from journalists and critics) that the Berlinale has become somewhat predictable in recent years, particularly compared to its immediate annual predecessor Rotterdam. For a long while now, with undoubted conscientiousness, the Berlinale has programmed plentiful films from the war […]

By Michael Miller. Sporting a new name and new venues, AFI Docs presented by Audi (formerly Silverdocs) unspooled from June 19 – 23 in Washington DC and Silver Spring, Maryland. Dedicated fans of non-fiction film had much to enjoy in this the 11th edition of the festival. The work of […]

By Robert Buckeye. Film festivals tend to be generic and are, as Tolstoy said about happy families, alike, even if each, in its disappointments, is different in its own way. ArtFilm in Trencin and Trencianske Teplice, Slovakia, follows the festivals at Cannes and Berlin and precedes the one immediately after […]

By Yun-hua Chen.  Continuing with last year’s commitment to world cinema from both established and emerging filmmakers, EIFF 2013 showcased films from more than 60 countries this year. Apart from the usual strands of animation, Black Box, International Competition, and Michael Powell Award Competition, the programme includes Focus on Korea […]

By Gary M. Kramer. AFI Docs, formerly known as Silverdocs, took place June 19th through June 23rd in Silver Spring, MD and this year, for the first time, at several venues in Washington, DC. The program–54 features and 8 shorts, plus panels, Galas, and other special events–made for a busy […]