30th Film Independent Spirit Awards Nominations Announced

Film Independent, the nonprofit arts organization that produces the Film Independent Spirit Awards, the Los Angeles Film Festival and Film Independent at LACMA, announced nominations for the 2015 Spirit Awards this morning. Film Independent President Josh Welsh presided over the press conference held at the W Hollywood, with actors Rosario Dawson and Diego Luna presenting the nominations. Nominees for Best Feature included Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), Boyhood, Love is Strange, Selma and Whiplash.

"As we celebrate 30 years of great independent film," said Josh Welsh, President of Film Independent, "this year's nominees are an astonishingly strong group of films and filmmakers which demonstrate the uniqueness of vision we honor at this show."

Inherent Vice was selected to receive the Robert Altman Award, which is bestowed upon one film's director, casting director and ensemble cast. The Altman Award was created in 2008 in honor of legendary director Robert Altman who was known for creating extraordinary ensemble casts.

2014 American Music Awards – winners

The 42nd American Music Awards was held tonight at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live in Los Angeles, California. The event was hosted by Pitbull, and performers included Taylor Swift, Charli XCX, Magic!, 5 Seconds of Summer, Imagine Dragons, Sam Smith, Iggy Azalea, Lorde, Ariana Grande, The Weeknd, Selena Gomez, One Direction, Nicki Minaj, Fergie, Garth Brooks, Mary J. Blige and Jennifer Lopez.

The top winner was One Direction. They took three awards – Artist of the Year, Favorite Band, Duo Or Group – Pop/Rock, and Favorite Album – Pop/Rock. Katy Perry also claimed three wins. She won Single of the Year, Favorite Female Artist – Pop/Rock, and Favorite Artist — Adult Contemporary.

Iggy Azalea and Beyoncé both won two apiece. Iggy Azalea's wins were for Favorite Artist and Favourite Album in the Rap/Hip-Hop category. Beyoncé was winner for Favorite Female Artist and Favourite Album in the Soul/R&B Female section.

2014 Rencontres internationales du documentaire de Montréal awards – winners

The 17th annual Rencontres internationales du documentaire de Montréal / Montreal International Documentary Festival held its awards presentation last night prior to the closing night screening of Spartiates (Spartans) by Nicolas Wadimoff. The film is an observational look at a mixed martial arts trainer in a rough neighbourhood of Marseille struggling to keep his school going while also being competitive himself.

The top prize of Best Canadian Feature went to Sol by Marie-Hélène Cousineau and Susan Avingaq, while the Best International Feature was Once Upon a Time by Kazim Öz. The Audience Award went to the timely and relevant Citizenfour by Laura Poitras. Amar Wala's The Secret Trial 5 was winner of the Magnus Isaacson Award, given in honour of the late, great documentarian for socially-conscious work of cinema by an emerging director.

10 live action shorts advance in 2015 Oscar race

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that 10 live action short films will advance in the voting process for the 87th Academy Awards®. One hundred forty-one pictures had originally qualified in the category.

The 10 films are listed below in alphabetical order by title, with their production companies:

Cinema Eye Honors Announces Nominees For 8th Annual Nonfiction Film Awards

Thirty-six feature films and six shorts will vie for this year’s Cinema Eye Honors for Nonfiction Filmmaking as nominees were announced this evening at a reception at CPH:DOX in Copenhagen, Denmark. Winners will be announced January 7, 2015 at the Museum of the Moving Image in New York City.

Laura Poitras’ first-person recounting of Edward Snowden’s NSA leaks, Citizenfour, led all films with six nominations, including Outstanding Nonfiction Feature, while Steve James’ documentary about film critic Roger Ebert, Life Itself, and Iain Forsythe & Jane Pollard’s intimate look at musician Nick Cave, 20,000 Days on Earth received five each. They are joined in the Nonfiction Feature Film category by The Overnighters, Jesse Moss’ tale of a a North Dakota oil boom town, which has two nominations, and Virunga, Orlando von Einsiedel’s story of an African National Park under siege, which scored three.

2014 Rencontres internationales du documentaire de Montréal, Nov 12–23

The 17th annual Rencontres internationales du documentaire de Montréal / Montreal International Documentary Festival is coming up from November 12 to 23. With 141 films from 44 countries and more than a hundred guests, this year’s RIDM is more exciting than ever.

The festival will present 21 world premieres, 19 North American premieres, 21 Canadian premieres and 47 Quebec premieres. Quebec has pride of place in the line-up with no fewer than 35 local films of all lengths by our most accomplished filmmakers and our most promising up-and-comers.

The RIDM is honoured to open with the world premiere of Le nez by Quebec filmmaker Kim Nguyen. The Rebelle (War Witch) director takes us on a fascinating journey through the mysterious world of the sense of smell. Closing the festival is another world premiere: the new documentary Spartiates by Swiss filmmaker Nicolas Wadimoff (Clandestins and Aisheen - Still Alive in Gaza). We travel to the outskirts of Marseille, where a mixed martial arts instructor - a larger-than-life personality and a strict taskmaster - is struggling to keep his school open.

20th Anniversary MTV Europe Music Awards (EMA) – winners

One of the biggest global annual music events celebrating the hottest artists from around the world, the 2014 MTV EMA (Europe Music Awards) was punctuated with outrageous, unexpected moments, once-in-a-lifetime collaborations and rousing performances that will undoubtedly go down in history. This year's show transformed Glasgow's SSE Hydro into an unforgettable time-travelling extravaganza, catapulting viewers through memories of the most outlandish moments in the MTV EMA's 20-year history.

The show kicked-off by transporting viewers back to 1994, where a young Nicki Minaj watched the first-ever MTV EMA from her bedroom before traveling into the future, making a grand entrance into the 2014 MTV EMA in a frilled ball gown and sequined bra . "Her Royal Minajesty" truly commandeered the evening, taking home the award for Best Hip Hop, and even giving the audience a show-stopping, jaw-dropping blend of her biggest hits including 'Super Bass', 'Anaconda' and a global debut performance of her new track 'Bed of Lies', which featured a surprise appearance by Skylar Grey. The host also made it rain, telling the Glasgow crowd, "it's my round!" before showering them with enough "Minaj money" for 1,000 free drinks.

Nominations and first winners announced for the EFA (European Film Awards) 2014

At the Seville European Film Festival the European Film Academy and EFA Productions proudly announced the nominations for the 27th European Film Awards. The more than 3,000 EFA Members will now vote for the winners who will be presented during the awards ceremony on 13 December in Riga, European Capital of Culture 2014.

Pawel Pawlikowski’s black-and-white film Ida led the field with five nominations. They were for Best European Film, Director, Screenplay, and Actress nominations for its co-stars Agata Trzebuchowska and Agata Kulesza. Lukasz Zal and Ryszard Lenczewski were named European Cinematographer by a jury selecting winners for the craft/technical categories.

Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev‘s Leviathan was next with four nominations. It was also nominated for Best European Film, Director and Screenplay, and Aleksei Serebryakov was nominated for European Actor.

Shortlist of 10 animated shorts announced for 2014 Oscars

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that 10 animated short films will advance in the voting process for the 87th Academy Awards. Fifty-eight pictures had originally qualified in the category.

The Academy’s Short Films and Feature Animation Branch Reviewing Committee viewed all the eligible entries for the preliminary round of voting at screenings held in New York and Los Angeles.

Short Films and Feature Animation Branch members will now select three to five nominees from among the 10 titles on the shortlist. Branch screenings will be held in Los Angeles, London, New York and San Francisco in December.

20 Animated Features submitted to 2014 Oscars

Twenty features have been submitted for consideration in the Animated Feature Film category for the 87th Academy Awards®.

Several of the films have not yet had their required Los Angeles qualifying run. Submitted features must fulfill the theatrical release requirements and comply with all of the category’s other qualifying rules before they can advance in the voting process. At least eight eligible animated features must be theatrically released in Los Angeles County within the calendar year for this category to be activated.