Call for submissions: imagineNATIVE’s Documentary, Drama TV Pitch

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS:
2012 imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival
DOCUMENTARY & DRAMA TV PITCH:
Exclusive Professional Training & Pitch Sessions

This is your chance to be part of an intensive pitch training opportunity at this year's imagineNATIVE!

Do you have a great idea for a pilot episode of a series drama (30 or 60 min), OR a feature, short or series documentary?  Enter our competitions to pitch your idea to a panel of commissioning editors and acquisitions executives from the major Canadian broadcasters – who will provide valuable feedback and development advice.  You will also have a chance to win imagineNATIVE’s Documentary Pitch or Drama TV Pitch prizes to help your idea become a reality.

2012 Golden Icons Academy Movie Awards (GIAMA) – nominees

Nominees have been announced for the Inaugural edition of the Golden Icons Academy Movie Awards (GIAMA). Nominated films include South Africa’s Man on Ground, Nigerian Films Unge’s War, I’ll take my Chances, Two Brides and A Baby, Ghanaian Films Sinking Sands, Somewhere in Africa, The Groom’s Bride, Hands of Time, Deadly Affair, and Sierra Leone’s Enemy of the Family.

Only films that were produced and/or released between January 2011 and June 2012 were considered eligible for review and nomination.

The winners for the 1st Annual Golden Icons Academy Movie Awards will be presented at a ceremony on October 20, 2012, in Houston, TX and will be hosted by Nollywood Untamed Actor Jim Iyke.

Festival des Films du Monde 2012, Aug 23-Sept 3

The 36th Festival des Films du Monde (Montreal World Film Festival) begins Thursday night with a gala screening of the Chinese film Million Dollar Crocodile by Lisheng Lin. This year's festival features a focus on China and includes a China Film Business Week and a good number of Chinese films including Wings by Yazhou Yang and Bo Yang in the World Competition.

The festival presents 212 feature films of which 110 are world or international premieres; 16 medium length films (12 world or international premieres) and 144 short films (94 world or international premieres). There will be a master class featuring German director Volker Schlondörff. The festival also presents a tribute to Mel Hoppenheim, founder of Panavision Canada and supporter of the Canadian film and television industry and Montreal's Concordia University.

Call for entries: 2012 24-Hour Playwriting Contest

Stock up on coffee and dust off your lucky mug. Pat the Dog Playwright Centre is thrilled to announce we are hosting our fourth annual 24-hour playwriting contest. This means 30 adrenaline-pumped writers from across Ontario will be hitting the keyboards from 4:00 PM on Friday, October 5, 2012 to 4:00 PM Saturday, October 6, 2012.

All contestants write off-site, so you can write at home, in a coffee shop, on a bus… the location is up to you. There’s no entry fee and no restriction on final script length. All you have to do is write an original play using three secret words — in 24 hours. How easy it that?

Not very. But the rewards could be great. Our winning playwrights are everywhere!

2012 Artios Awards – nominees

The Casting Society of America has announced the nominations for its 28th Annual Artios Awards presented for Outstanding Achievement in Casting. The criteria are originality, creativity and the contribution of casting to the overall quality of a project.

Nominations in the Feature categories included many of the Awards-season films such as The Artist, The Descendants, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, The Help and Moneyball. Among the few recent films nominated were The Hunger Games and 21 Jump Street.

Bernard Telsey received ten nominations all on his own for his work on Margin Call and Friends With Kids, as well as on the television shows A Gifted Man, Smash and The Big C, and the stage shows A Streetcar Named Desire, The Best Man, Evita, Porgy and Bess and The Submission. Tiffany Little Canfield was nominated alongside Telsey for Margin Call, Friends With Kids and Smash.

TIFF announces final films, guest list, doc conference and more

FESTIVAL MASTERS PROGRAMME SERVES UP A CINEPHILE’S FEAST INCLUDING FILMS FROM MICHAEL HANEKE, BERNARDO BERTOLUCCI, MICHAEL WINTERBOTTOM AND HONG SANG-SOO

Toronto – The 37th Toronto International Film Festival®’s Masters programme presents a cinematic feast of 14 films by modern masters of celluloid, including the world premieres of new films by Goran Paskaljevic and Bernard Émond.

“These Masters films represent cinema’s living legacy,” said Piers Handling, Director and CEO, TIFF. “We are proud to present new work from directors as renowned as Manoel de Oliveira, Michael Haneke, Bernardo Bertolucci and Abbas Kiarostami. All 14 filmmakers command the respect of audiences, critics and above all their filmmaking peers.”

2012 Amandaprisen, Norwegian Film Awards – winners

The 28th Annual Amandaprisen (Amanda Awards) for Norwegian cinema took place this weekend at the Haugesund Concert Hall during the opening night of the Norwegian International Film Festival in Haugesund, Norway. The host was Ingrid Bolsø Berdal.

The winner of the top prize of Best Norwegian Film was Jannicke Systad Jacobsen's Få meg på, for faen (Turn Me On, Dammit!). It also picked up Best Cinematography.

Pål Sletaune’s Babycall (The Monitor), however, picked up more trophies with four. It won for Best Actress (Noomi Rapace), Screenplay, Production Design, and Sound Design. It had led the field with eight nominations.

Joachim Trier won Best Director for Oslo, 31. august (Oslo, August 31st). It also scooped the prize ror Best Editing. Arild Andresen's Kompani Orheim (The Orheim Company) also won two awards, both for acting. Kristoffer Joner was named Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress went to Cecilie A. Mosli.

2012 Ophir Awards for Israeli film – nominations

Complete list of nominations for the 2012 Ophir Awards

Best Feature Film
The Ballad of the Weeping Spring – Producers: Haim Sharir, Moshe Edery, Leon Edery
God’s Neighbors – Producer: Mark Rosenbaum
The World is Funny – Producers: Talia Kleinhendler, Moshe Edery, Leon Edery
Fill the Void – Producer: Assaf Amir
Rock the Casbah – Producers: Michael Sharpstein, Moshe Edery, Leon Edery

Best Fringe Feature Film
Joe + Belle – Producers: Roni Kedar, Amir Fishman

RIDM's 15 years, 15 all-time favourites

Special RIDM program:
“15 years, 15 all-time favourites” chosen by 15 guest programmers

For the last 15 years, the Montreal International Documentary Festival (RIDM) has been an exceptional showcase for Canadian and international documentaries. To celebrate its 15th anniversary, the festival’s team invited 15 high-profile figures in the film world to share their all-time favourite documentary. 15 personal choices that add up to an original, subjective story of the first cinematic genre will be presented in a special section of this year’s programming.

The guest programmers are: Philippe Falardeau, Gael Garcia Bernal, Frederick Wiseman, Barbet Schroeder, Agnès Varda, Patricio Guzman, Lou Reed, Kim Longinotto, Jia Zhang-ke, Alanis Obomsawin, Gilles Jacob, Naomi Kawase, Philip Glass, Laura Poitras and Samira Makhmalbaf.

2012 Mascara & Popcorn Film Festival, Aug 16-19

The 3rd edition of the Mascara & Popcorn Film Festival starts tomorrow night. The festival spotlights genre and independent films but also includes music, fashion, visual arts and more.

"Mascara & Popcorn is a cultural event dedicated to promoting independent film and multi-disciplinarian art thus allowing film makers and artists to exhibit their craft in an atmosphere that's appropriate and thought-provoking. Our goal is to expose our film makers to producers, our partners and organizations. Short film and features, panels, cocktails, thematic events, emerging artists, networking events and unique opportunities to participate in workshops, attend interactive lectures, and listen to colleagues share their knowledge."

Call for submissions: 2013 ReelWorld Film Festival

The ReelWorld Film Festival (RWFF) is now accepting submissions for their 13th edition of the festival.

The ReelWorld Film Festival is Toronto's multicultural festival which promotes, encourages and showcases the work of racially and culturally diverse film and video makers. We are pleased to create an awareness of and appreciation for diverse stories. They accept Canadian and International submissions that reflect culturally and racially diverse content and features racially diverse people either in front of or behind the camera.

They accept feature narratives, shorts, documentaries, children’s programming, experimental films and student films. They only accept music videos from Canadian filmmakers.

Call for submissions: New Ideas Festival 2013

The Alumnae Theatre in Toronto has announced a call for submissions to its 25th anniversary edition of the New Ideas Festival.

New Ideas is a juried, 3-week festival which focuses on script development, and offers playwrights an opportunity to collaborate with other theatre artists. Playwrights are encouraged to participate in the whole production process, from choosing a director and cast to attending rehearsals and revising their work as it comes off the page. New Ideas offers dramaturgical support to playwrights who request it, free rehearsal and production space, technical support, access to Alumnae Theatre’s costume and props collections, publicity, and sold-out houses.

Anyone anywhere can submit up to two scripts that have not been previously performed outside of a workshop. The running time cannot exceed 40 minutes. All genres are accepted. Preference will be given to scripts that offer challenging roles for women of all ages.

Jonathan Caouette's Walk Away Renée premieres at Docville

“Walk Away Renée” by Jonathan Caouette
Quebec première at Docville

Montreal, August 14, 2012 - The Montreal International Documentary Festival (RIDM) is pleased to announce the seventh film in its monthly Docville series: Walk Away Renée, by American director Jonathan Caouette. The documentary will have its Quebec première on Thursday, August 30 at 7 p.m. at Cinéma Excentris, followed by a Skype Q&A session with the filmmaker.

In 2003, Caouette released his sensational first film, Tarnation. Made with footage he had been filming since the age of 11, the film was an unsettling self-portrait of a young man coping with a dysfunctional family and coming to terms with his homosexuality.

More TIFF films announced: Contemporary World Cinema, Wavelengths, Industry and more

WORLD PREMIERES FROM SION SONO, DROR SABO, EDWARD BURNS, ANNEMARIE JACIR, PELIN ESMER, CARLOS SORIN, ZÉZÉ GAMBOA AND LUU HUYNH ARE AMONG 62 INTERNATIONAL TITLES IN FESTIVAL’S CONTEMPORARY WORLD CINEMA PROGRAMME

Scholars from University of Toronto's Munk School for Global Affairs to lead conversations about 5 Contemporary World Cinema films

Toronto – The Contemporary World Cinema programme delivers cinematic gems from around the globe at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival®. Offering a variety of filmmakers’ voices and perspectives from around the world, the lineup draws from Argentina, Belgium, Denmark, Israel, India, Japan, Mozambique, Spain, Sri Lanka, South Korea, Canada and more. This smorgasbord of global trends in cinema also features the world premieres of films by directors such as Sara Johnsen, Kasia Rosłaniec, Edward Burns, Sion Sono, Robert Connolly, John Akomfrah, Saïd Ould-Khelifa, Annemarie Jacir, Jo Sung-hee and Licinio Azevedo.

2012 World Soundtrack Awards – nominations

The World Soundtrack Academy has announced the list of its nominees for the 12th World Soundtrack Awards.

The nominees for Film Composer of the Year are Alexandre Desplat, Alberto Iglesias, Cliff Martinez, Howard Shore, and John Williams. Desplat has won Film Composer of the Year award four times in the last five years, but has yet to win an Academy Award.

Nominees for Best Original Film Score of the Year are Drive by Cliff Martinez, Hugo by Howard Shore, The Adventures of Tintin by John Williams, The Ides of March by Alexandre Desplat, and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by Alberto Iglesias.

TIFF Asian Film Summit announces guests and programming

GUESTS AND PROGRAMMING ANNOUNCED FOR TIFF ASIAN FILM SUMMIT AT THE SHANGRI-LA HOTEL, TORONTO

Harvey Weinstein to MC Summit Banquet on Monday, September 10

Toronto – The Toronto International Film Festival^® today announced additional details for the TIFF Asian Film Summit, including an international guest list of notable industry experts and specialists as well as programming that explores the relationship between East and West. Harvey Weinstein, Co-Chairman of The Weinstein Company, will act as master of ceremonies for the closing banquet. Previously announced guests include international star, producer and director Jackie Chan who will attend the Summit as guest of honour and Senator Chris Dodd, chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). The TIFF Asian Film Summit will take place on Monday, September 10 at the Shangri-La Hotel, Toronto.

Call for submissions: 2012 Stiffed! Film Festival

The Stiffed! Film Festival has announced its call for submissions to its 3rd edition of the festival. It is a sort of Salon des Refusés for films submitted to the Toronto International Film Festival and other Toronto festivals but were not accepted.

They accept short films of no longer than 20 minutes in running time from Canadian filmmakers only. The films must have been submitted to TIFF or another Toronto Film Festival in the last three years, or have been finished too late for consideration in this year's edition of TIFF. Films must be in English or have English subtitles.

2012 Imagen Awards for Latino entertainment – winners

The 27th Annual Imagen Awards ceremony took place at the Beverly Hilton Hotel International Ballroom last night. The awards are given to recognize Latinos and their positive representations in the entertainment industry.

Patricia Riggen's Girl in Progress emerged with the most wins with three trophies from its leading five nominations. It won for Best Feature Film, Director, and Supporting Actress (Cierra Ramirez).

Filly Brown by Youssef Delara and Michael Olmos was next with two wins. It won both Lead Acting categories with Lou Diamond Phillips winning Best Actor and Gina Rodriguez winning Best Actress. Casa De Mi Padre actor Diego Luna won for Best Supporting Actor.

2012 EMA Awards for environmental film/TV – nominations

The Environmental Media Association has announced the nominations for their 22nd Annual EMA Awards.

The feature film nominees are 21 Jump Street by Phil Lord and Chris Miller, Big Miracle by Ken Kwapis and The Lorax by Chris Renaud and Kyle Balda.

The nominees in the documentary category are Jeff Orlowski's Chasing Ice, Chimpanzee by Alastair Fothergill and Mark Linfield, and Last Call at the Oasis by Jessica Yu.

Call for submissions: The Canadian Film Centre's Features program

The Canadian Film Centre in Toronto is now taking submissions for their Features program.

The CFC is a leading educational centre for advanced filmmaking training. Over 50 alumni of the CFC will be participating in programs or having works premiere at the 37th Toronto International Film Festival in September. Features presented at TIFF include Ruba Nadda's Inescapable; Manon Briand's Liverpool; Sarah Polley's Stories We Tell; Sudz Sutherland's Home Again; Anita Doron's The Lesser Blessed.

The Features Program (formerly known as the Feature Film Project) is a development program for filmmaking teams who are trying to get a film made with a budget of $1 million or less. The program is able to provide up to $600,000 of the final budget. None of the team members need to be alumni of the CFC, but must be Canadian citizens or residents. The film can be made anywhere in Canada as long as the budget accounts for the location.

Call for submissions: RIDM's T-shirt Design Contest

Announcing the RIDM 15^th Anniversary T-shirt Design Contest

As part of its 15^th anniversary celebration, the Montreal International Documentary Festival (RIDM) is holding a t-shirt design contest in collaboration with Chic Moustache.

The competition is open to all amateur and professional creatives, including graphic designers, illustrators and photographers. Participants are invited to submit original ideas inspired by RIDM’s slogan: “Where all stories meet / Là où toutes les histoires se rencontrent.” The theme reflects the great diversity of the films programmed by the festival for the last 15 years.

2012 SummerWorks Theatre Festival, Aug 9-19

The 22nd SummerWorks Theatre Festival begins its eleven-day-long run today in Toronto.

"As the largest juried theatre festival in Canada featuring predominantly New Canadian plays, SummerWorks programs a festival that uniquely reflects Toronto and Canada’s cultural zeitgeist. Since 1991, SummerWorks has continued to explore and respond to the needs and wants of audiences and the theatre community.

"The festival has grown to become of the country’s preeminent multi-disciplinary hubs featuring a Music Series, a mentorship program (SummerWorks Leadership Intensive Program –S.L.I.P.); and the National Series, showcasing works from across Canada. The festival adds new initiatives yearly, including performance-based programs such as the Performance Bar."

First Weekend Club's Toronto Screening Series starts Aug 9

The First Weekend Club is an organization dedicated to supporting Canadian films. They encourage viewers to attend Canadian films on their all-important first weekend of their theatrical runs, since a strong showing helps keep it in the theatres while a poor showing will result in it getting yanked. Sadly, Canadian films are rarely given the longer runs of American films with comparable box office, so you can never assume that you'll be able to see a Canadian film on a later week.

After running a monthly screening series in Vancouver, they are bringing the series to Toronto. Tonight, they present a special screening of The Whistleblower by Larysa Kondracki and starring Rachel Weisz. The screening takes place at the theatre of the post-production studio Deluxe, 424 Adelaide St East.

There will be a reception at 7pm featuring music by The Weather Station. The screening of the film takes place at 8pm and will be followed by a Q&A with producer Christina Piovesan who will be in attendance. Kondracki will also participate in the Q&A via Skype. All this for just $12 in advance, $14 at the door.

Toronto International Film Festival announces 2012 Canadian film lineup

GLOBAL STORIES, THRILLERS AND EH CLASS COMEDY HEADLINE DIVERSE CANADIAN LINEUP AT TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

Toronto – The Toronto International Film Festival® today announced the Canadian features lineup including first-time feature filmmakers Jason Buxton, Brandon Cronenberg, Igor Drljaca and Kate Melville, as well as filmmakers returning to the Festival — including Bruce Sweeney, Sarah Polley, Xavier Dolan, Michael McGowan and Bernard Émond.

“Through comedy, thrills, drama and suspense, films in the lineup present stories of youth and violence, coming of age, the environment, dysfunctional families, sex and celebrity,” said Steve Gravestock, Senior Programmer, TIFF. “From intimate, affecting stories with big impact to films with global scope, the Canadian films in this year’s Festival will move audiences.”

Call for submissions: Tarragon Theatre's Young Playwrights Unit

The Tarragon Theatre has announced their call for submissions to their Young Playwrights Unit. Created in 2000, the YPU provides free training experience for young people ages 16-21 who are curious and passionate about play-making.

Interested applicants are required to submit a short writing sample, two possible story ideas for development and a letter explaining your interest in the program. Successful applicants will require a high level of commitment. YPU members will be expected to attend a series of performances and participate in play reading sessions alongside their own writing and creative processes.

2012 Festival des Films du Monde (Montreal World Film Festival) announces full lineup

THE WORLD FILM FESTIVAL OFFERS YOU THE WORLD 432 FILMS FROM 80 COUNTRIES

212 feature films (110 world or international premieres)
16 medium length films (12 world or international premieres)
144 short films (94 world or international premieres)
60 films in the Canadian Student Film Festival

The sections:
World Competition (features and shorts)
First Films World Competition (features)
Out of Competition (features)
Focus on World Cinema (features and shorts)
Documentaries of the World (features, medium-length films, shorts)
Canadian Student Film Festival (short films)
Loto-Québec Movies Under the Stars (features)
Our Cinema – Review of a year of hits (features)

2012 Luna Awards for Filipino cinema – nominations

The Film Academy of the Philippines (FAP) has revealed the nominees for the 30th Luna Awards.

Paul Soriano's Thelma leads the field with nine nominations. Its mentions included Best Film, Director, Actress (Maja Salvador), Supporting Actress (Tetchie Agbayani) and Screenplay.

Next with eight nominations was Manila Kingpin: Asiong Salonga Story. In addition to nods for Best Film, Actor (Jeorge ‘E.R.’ Estregan), Supporting Actor (John Regala, who competes against himself in this category) and Screenplay, it was nominated for Best Director. This was in spite of the fact that the reshooting of scenes and re-scoring of the film led director Tikoy Aguiluz to ask to have his name removed from the film.

Ruel S. Bayani's No Other Woman received seven nominations including Best Film, Director, Screenplay and Actor (Derek Ramsay).

2012 Osheaga Music and Arts Festival, Aug 3-5

The 7th edition of the Osheaga Music and Arts Festival starts today at Montreal’s Parc Jean-Drapeau on Île Sainte-Hélène.

Over the weekend, performers will include The Black Keys, Snoop Dogg (aka Snoop Lion), Metric, Sigur Rós, Feist, Florence + The Machine, City And Colour, The Shins, MGMT, The Weeknd, Bloc Party, M83, Franz Ferdinand, and Garbage.

In addition, the festival also hosts an industry gathering, exhibitions, shows, parties and other related events.

2012 Sight & Sound lists of greatest films according to critics and directors

Sight & Sound released the results of their latest poll which is taken every ten years to determine the "greatest" films as chosen by critics and directors. The critic's poll was decided by 846 critics, programmers, academics and distributors. The directors' poll was taken from the responses of 358 directors.

Orson Welles' classic Citizen Kane is no longer the reigning champion. Although it was not among the top ten of the first critics' list in 1952, it assumed the number one spot in 1962 and then remained there for the next five lists up to 2002. It was chosen number one on the first directors' list in 1992 and was also number one for the directors' 2002 list.

But it has now been replaced on both lists. For the director's list, the number one film is now Ozu's Tokyo Story while on the critics' list the top film is now Hitchcock's Vertigo. Citizen Kane is number two on the critics' list and tied for second with Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey on the directors' list.

X-Men Master: Gordon Smith exhibition announced

Free exhibition celebrates Canadian special effects master Gordon Smith with a behind the scenes look at his groundbreaking work on X-Men and X2.

Toronto – While over 80,000 comic and sci-fi fans prepare to gather in Toronto this summer for Fan Expo Canada, TIFF today announced the latest free exhibition opening this month at TIFF Bell Lightbox. Launching on August 17, 2012 and running through March 2013, X-Men Master: Gordon Smith explores and celebrates Ontario native Gordon Smith’s 30-year career in special effects and makeup design, focusing on his exceptional work for the major box office hits X-Men and its sequel X2. Curated by Sylvia Frank, Director of the Film Reference Library and Special Collections at TIFF Bell Lightbox, X-Men Master: Gordon Smith showcases some of Smith’s most important contributions to the industry — including his innovative use of silicone prosthetics which gave audiences spectacular film interpretations of the original Marvel comic characters such as the blade-knuckled Wolverine, the feral strongman Sabretooth, the long-tailed Nightcrawler, and most memorably, the blue-skinned, distinctly underdressed shapeshifter Mystique.