"Camille Rewinds" (Camille Redouble) by Noémie Lvovsky (France 2012) won FIPRESCI Prize at Tromsø International film Festival

Tromsø is a city and municipality in Troms county, Norway. Tromsø International film Festival is a popular annual film festival held in the city of Tromsø started in 1992 and an important meeting point for Norwegian and international film industry. TIFF 2013  is the  23rd edition of the festival.TIFF is the largest film festival in Norway. FIPRESCI, the International Critics association, has awarded FIPRESCI Prize in the 23rd edition of TIFF to:   "Camille Rewinds" (Camille Redouble)  by Noémie Lvovsky (France 2012).FIPRESCI Jury consists of : Dominik Kamalzadeh, Austria ("Standard"), Maria Ulfsak-Sheripova, Estonia ("Eesti Ekspress"), Jan Landro, Norway ("Bergens Tidende").

Fill the Void ( Lamale et Ha'lahal) by Rama Burshtein won Critics' Prizes( FIPRESCI ) at Palm Springs

At the Palm Springs International Film Festival ((USA, January 3-14, 2013), the International Critics' Prize (FIPRESCI Prize) for the Best Foreign Language Film of the Year (2012) went to :  "Fill the Void" (Lamale et Ha'lahal) by Israeli director Rama Burshtein. The Winner of the Best Actor Award is an ensemble prize that goes to the cast of "Caesar Must Die" — Cosimo Rega, Salvatore Striano, Giovanni Arcuri, Antonio Frasca, and Vincenzo Gallo — by Italian directors Paolo and Vittorio Taviani. The Winner of the Best Actress Prize is Emilie Dequenne in "Our Children" (À perdre la raison) by Belgian director Joachim Lafosse. Jury members were:  Peter Keough, USA , Jacob Lundström, Sweden ,Malwina Grochowska, Poland .

5th International Theatre Festival of Kerala(ITFoK-Plays from abroad

The  plays from abroad to be staged in the 5th International Theatre Festival of Kerala (ITFoK)  include ‘Lynch Concert’ (Stuart Lynch Company, Denmark); ‘Fellini’s Dream’ (Teatro Potlach, Italy); ‘Petit Cheval Blanc’ (Ces Dac, U.K.); ‘The Last Song’ (Grusomhetens Theatre , Norway); ‘Two of Us’ (Passe Partout Dan Puric Theatre Company, Romania); ‘This is My Body, Come into My Mind’ (Create Act Enjoy, Romania); ‘King Lear’ (Awara Theatre, Uzbekistan); Carmen (Tbilisi Music and Drama State Theatre, Georgia); ‘Automatorium’ (Laitrum and David Berga Management); ‘Macbeth — Who is That Bloodied Man’ (Teatr Biuro Podrozy, Poland), ‘The Knocking Within’ (Anika Dance Theatre, U.S.); ‘The Colonial, the Convict, the Cockatoo’ (Gisborne Players); and ‘Indian Tempest’ (Footsbarn Travelling Theatre).The plays from other States include ‘Veerangana’ (Purbaranga, Assam); ‘Hidden in Plain Sight’ (Actor’s Ensemble, Bangalore); ‘S*x, M*rality and Cens*rship’ (Arpana, Mumbai); ‘Gajab Kahani’ (Aasaktha Kalamanch, Pune); ‘Kino Kaon’ (Dapon, Assam); ‘Ravanama’ (Vismaya, New Delhi).

5th International Theatre Festival of Kerala (ITFoK) 2013-Plays from abroad

The  plays from abroad to be staged in the , 5th International Theatre Festival of Kerala(ITFoK), include ‘Lynch Concert’ (Stuart Lynch Company, Denmark); ‘Fellini’s Dream’ (Teatro Potlach, Italy); ‘Petit Cheval Blanc’ (Ces Dac, U.K.); ‘The Last Song’ (Grusomhetens Theatre , Norway); ‘Two of Us’ (Passe Partout Dan Puric Theatre Company, Romania); ‘This is My Body, Come into My Mind’ (Create Act Enjoy, Romania); ‘King Lear’ (Awara Theatre, Uzbekistan); Carmen (Tbilisi Music and Drama State Theatre, Georgia); ‘Automatorium’ (Laitrum and David Berga Management); ‘Macbeth — Who is That Bloodied Man’ (Teatr Biuro Podrozy, Poland), ‘The Knocking Within’ (Anika Dance Theatre, U.S.); ‘The Colonial, the Convict, the Cockatoo’ (Gisborne Players); and ‘Indian Tempest’ (Footsbarn Travelling Theatre).The plays from other States include ‘Veerangana’ (Purbaranga, Assam); ‘Hidden in Plain Sight’ (Actor’s Ensemble, Bangalore); ‘S*x, M*rality and Cens*rship’ (Arpana, Mumbai); ‘Gajab Kahani’ (Aasaktha Kalamanch, Pune); ‘Kino Kaon’ (Dapon, Assam); ‘Ravanama’ (Vismaya, New Delhi).

The curtain rises for the 5th International Theatre Festival of Kerala (ITFoK) 2013

The 5th International Theatre Festival of Kerala (ITFoK) began yesterday evening at the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi in Thrissur. Around 40 plays, from Romania, England, Poland, France, Uzbekistan, Czech Republic ,Norway, Georgia, and Slovenia and various parts of India will form the part of this unique festival in four segments . International Theatre Festival of Kerala (ITFoK) is designed to bring some of the best contemporary theatre of the world, with an emphasis on Europe. The festival is scheduled to take place from 15th to 22nd of January 2013. The fifth ITFoK is an attempt to explore the wide spectrum of innovative and experimental theatre activities of Europe.  During the eight days of spectacular theatre activities ITFoK is poised to showcase some of the best contemporary Indian productions. As an attempt to add more verve to local theatre there will be a special section of contemporary theatre from Kerala also. A special segment featuring the productions won prizes in the Akademi’s annual theatre competitions will be another highlight of the current edition of the festival. Also there will be five solo performances by leading performers from India and Uzbekistan, to throw more light into this emerging phenomenon of performance making. Major pedagogues, academics and practitioners from theatre and performance studies will lead the brainstorming  sessions.  All together 32 groups and  around 40 shows in the eight days of festival will certainly be a treat to theatre lovers. Cultural Affairs Minister K C Joseph declared the festival open at Bharat Murali Open Auditorium, yesterday evening  . In a symbolic act, senior actor KPAC Lalitha donned the grease-paint to mark the inauguration. She then enacted a skit to the accompaniment of the mizhavu (a percussion instrument). Kalaratna awards were presented to artist Sujathan, singer Ananthalakshmi Venkataraman, and dancer Kalamandalam Sugandhi. ‘Celebrating Abilities’, a dance show by physically challenged artistes, followed the inaugural function. ‘Hamletmachine’ (La M.ort Theatre, Poland), a postmodernist drama by German playwright and theatre director Heiner Müller that is loosely based on William Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet,’ opened the festival.Cooperation Minister C N Balakrishnan inaugurated the ‘Black Box’ theatre, designed by the festival organisers, at Nattygraham on Monday. A venue for performances called ‘Vana Jyotsana’, was inaugurated by Thermabil Ramakrishnan MLA. Surya Krishnamurthy , Chairman, Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi  said that the distribution of around 800 delegate passes have been completed.. A special workshop will be held for the directors and artists each day. The inaugural show will be "Hamlet Machine", by La Mort Theatre from Poland, at Regional Theatre. In regional language category Malayalam drama "Uthuppante Kinar" will be staged at the Town Hall. ‘Celebrating Abilities’, a dance show by physically challenged artistes, followed the inaugural function. ‘Hamletmachine’ (La M.ort Theatre, Poland), a postmodernist drama by German playwright and theatre director Heiner Müller that is loosely based on William Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet,’ opened the festival.

The 11th Pune International Film Festival (PIFF) inaugurated

The 11th Pune International Film Festival (PIFF)was  inaugurated with the presentation of Life Time Achievement Awards to  Actors Jeetendra Kapoor and Ramesh Deo at the City Pride in Kothrud. Several prominent film personalities, including actors Mohan Agashe, Mukta Barve, director and producer Subhash Ghai, sound designer Resul Pookutty and Jabbar Patel, director of PIFF were present. State minister for cultural affairs, Sanjay Deotale, state forest minister, Patangrao Kadam and  Prakash Javadekar were also at the festival.PIFF organisers also presented the S D Burman Sound of music award to Pandit Shivkumar Sharma and Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia. Clips from films of the four stalwarts were shown before each one was felicitated.Israeli film Hayuta and Berl by Amir Manor was screened during the inagural function.Seven Marathi films will vie for the state government's 'Sant Tukaram' trophy while 13 films will be competing in the world cinema category. Besides 80 contemporary films from more than 50 countries, a retrospective segment, which will feature films by renowned Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni, French director Claude Chabrol as well as popular films of Indian actor Smita Patil, will also be screened.This year, PIFF will present milestone feature films in the history of Indian cinema to mark the centenary of Indian films. The screenings are scheduled in seven theatres across the city, including all multiplexes of City Pride, E-Square, National Film Archive of India and PVR - Ahmednagar road.

Israeli film Hayuta and Berl will open the 11th Pune International Film Festival 2013

This festival's 11th edition will run from January 10-17, 2013 with  nine sections: International Competition, Marathi Competition, Student Competition (live action and animation), Global Cinema, Country Focus, Retrospective, Tribute, Indian Cinema and Regional Cinema.

Israeli film Hayuta and Berl by Amir Manor will open the festival on 10th January. Hayuta and Berl depicts an elderly couple and the troubles they have adjusting to the social and economic changes surrounding them. One painful night, they decide to put an end to their physical and spiritual suffering .The awards would be for the Best Film, Best Director and Government of Maharashtra “Sant Tukaram” Best International Marathi Film Award.  The Marathi films in competition will vie for the Best Director, Best Actor, Best Screenplay and Best Cinematography Awards. The Student Competition will also have a Special Award and a cash prize.

Eighty films from more than 50 countries will be screened under the Global Cinema section. This edition's countries in focus areHungary and South Korea . The Films of Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni, French director Claude Chabrol, Indian music director Vasant Desai and Indian actress Smita Patil will form the retrospective section.The following films will be screened in the respective sections.

Marathi Competition

Tukaram by Chandrakant Kulkarni

Pune 52 by Nikhil Mahajan

What’s Your Religion? by Satish Manwar

Samhita by Sumitra Bhave

Anumati by Gajendra Ahire

BP Balak Palak by Ravi Jadhav

Kaksparsh by Mahesh Manjrekar

 World Competition

White Lions / Beli Lavovi by Lazar Ristovski (Serbia)

The Last Step / Pele Akher by Ali Mosaffa (Iran)

The Tortoise, an incarnation / Kurmavatara by Girish Kasaravalli (India)

The Delay / La Demora by Rodrigo Pla (Uruguay – Mexico – France)

Rose / Roza by Wojciech Smarzowski (Poland)

The Towrope / La Sirga by Vega William (Columbia – France – Mexico)

The Parade / Parade by Srdjan Dragojevic (Serbia – Slovenia – Croatia – Montenegro – Macedonia)

Barbara by Christian Petzold (Germany)

80 Million / 80 Milionow by Waldemar Krzystek (Poland)

Hella W by Juha Wuolijoki (Finland – Estonia)

Frozen Silence / Silencio en la nieve by Gerardo Herrero (Spain – Lithuania)

Araf – Somewhere in Between by Yesim Ustaoglu (Turkey – France – Germany)

The Fifth Season of the Year / Piata Pora Roku by Jerzy Domaradzki (Poland)

 Student Competition (Live Action)

Allah is Great (India)

Back Against The Wall (Belgium)

Last Calls (Israel)

My Father is Bjorn Borg (Spain)

Reaching Out To Mama (Russia)

Shoot the Moon (USA)

Silent River (Romania)

The Genius from Quintino (Portugal)

The Greyhounds (Spain)

The Minutes, The Hours (Cuba)

Bawdi (India)

 Student Competition (Animation)

Abuelas (UK)

Chocolate Bacon (USA)

Contre Temps (France)

Flippin the Bird (Dublin, Ireland)

Friendsheep (Spain)

Howl (Israel)

In Between (France)

Kachho Gadulo (India)

Masquerade (USA)

Mirage (India)

Strings (Israel)

The Renter (USA)

7th Signs Documentary and Short Film Festival 2013

Entries are invited for the 7th edition of SiGNS , the pioneering festival in India for digital videos, organised by Federation of Film Societies of India,Kerala Region, featuring national level competition for documentaries and short features for the prestigious John Abraham National Awards.Online submission forms can be viewed and downloaded from http://www.signsfestival.com/entryform/sf.php

Last date for submission is  5th January 2013. Awards are under four categories:Best Documentary, Best Short feature(Duration less than 70 minutes), Cinema of resistance(Award for the best short feature/documentary on subjects like state oppression, human rights violation, environmental issues, especially in areas like gender equality, social/cultural identity etc.), and Cinema experimenta. (Award for the best experimental attempt either technically or aesthetically, which challenges the existing concepts of medium) .The awards for cinema of resistance and cinema experimenta  will cover all  categories. Apart from prize money, all awards carry a Certificate of Merit and a Memento (Prize money will be shared equally between producer and director). More details can be had from www.signsfestival.com.