Jury for Competition films in Festival de Cannes 2009

Jury for Competition films in Festival de Cannes 2009 will be presided by eminent actress Isabelle HUPPERT ( France).
Other members are:
Asia ARGENTO (Actress, Director, Screenwriter- Italy)
Nuri BILGE CEYLAN (Director, Screenwriter, Actor - Turkey)
Lee CHANG-DONG (Director, Writer, Screenwriter - South Korea)
James GRAY (Director, Screenwriter – United States)
Hanif KUREISHI (Writer, Screenwriter – United Kingdom)
Shu QI (Actress - Taiwan)
Robin WRIGHT PENN (Actress - United States)
Sharmilla TAGORE ( Actress- India)

Source : Festival de Cannes news letter

The Official Selection in Festival de Cannes 2009

The Official Selection in Festival de Cannes 2009 is dedicated to the memory of Wouter Barendrecht (1965 - 2009).
Opening Film : Pete DOCTER - UP - Out of Comp.- 1h44

THE COMPÉTITION :

Pedro ALMODÓVAR - LOS ABRAZOS ROTOS (Broken Embraces) - 2h09
Andrea ARNOLD - FISH TANK - 2h04
Jacques AUDIARD - UN PROPHÈTE - 2h30
Marco BELLOCCHIO - VINCERE - 2h08
Jane CAMPION - BRIGHT STAR - 2h00
Isabel COIXET - MAP OF THE SOUNDS OF TOKYO -1h44
Xavier GIANNOLI - A L’ORIGINE - 2h30
Michael HANEKE - DAS WEISSE BAND (The White Ribbon) - 2h24
Ang LEE - TAKING WOODSTOCK -2h00
Ken LOACH - LOOKING FOR ERIC - 1h56
LOU Ye - CHUN FENG CHEN ZUI DE YE WAN (Spring Fever) - 1h55
Brillante MENDOZA - KINATAY - 1h40
Gaspar NOE - ENTER THE VOID - 2h30
PARK Chan-Wook - BAK-JWI - (Thirst) - 2h13
Alain RESNAIS - LES HERBES FOLLES (Wild grass) - 1h36
Elia SULEIMAN - THE TIME THAT REMAINS - 1h49
Quentin TARANTINO - INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS - 2h40
Johnnie TO - VENGEANCE - 1h48
TSAI Ming-liang - VISAGE (face)- 2h18
Lars VON TRIER - ANTICHRIST - 1h44
Closing Film : Jan KOUNEN - COCO CHANEL & IGOR STRAVINSKY - Out of Comp. - 2h00

UN CERTAIN REGARD

BONG Joon Ho - MOTHER - 2h10
Alain CAVALIER - IRENE -1h23
Lee DANIELS - PRECIOUS - 1h49
Denis DERCOURT - DEMAIN DES L'AUBE - 1h36
Heitor DHALIA - À DERIVA (Adrift)- 1h43
Bahman GHOBADI - KASI AZ GORBEHAYE IRANI KHABAR NADAREH (Nobody Knows About The Persian Cats)- 1h30
Ciro GUERRA - LOS VIAJES DEL VIENTO (Les Voyages Du Vent) - 1h57
Mia HANSEN-LOVE - LE PÈRE DE MES ENFANTS - 2h00
Hanno HÖFER, Razvan MARCULESCU, Cristian MUNGIU, Constantin POPESCU, Ioana URICARU:
AMINTIRI DIN EPOCA DE AUR (Tales from The Golden Age) - 2h18
Nikolay KHOMERIKI - SKAZKA PRO TEMNOTU (Tale In The Darkness)- 1h12
HIrokazu KORE-EDA - KUKI NINGYO (Air Doll)- 2h05
Yorgos LANTHIMOS - KYNODONTAS (Dogtooth) - 1h36
Pavel LOUNGUINE - TZAR (Le Tsar) - 1h56
Raya MARTIN - INDEPENDENCIA - (Independence) - 1h17
Corneliu PORUMBOIU - POLITIST, ADJECTIV (Policier, Adjectif) - 1h55
Pen-Ek RATANARUANG - NANG MAI (Nymph)- 1h49
João Pedro RODRIGUES - MORRER COMO UM HOMEM (Mourir Comme Un Homme) - 2h13
Haim TABAKMAN - EYES WIDE OPEN - 1er film -1h31
Warwick THORNTON - SAMSON AND DELILAH - 1er film - 1h41
Jean VAN DE VELDE - THE SILENT ARMY - 1h32

OUT OF COMPETITION:
Alejandro AMENABAR - AGORA - 2h21
Terry GILLIAM - THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS - 2h02
Robert GUÉDIGUIAN - L'ARMÉE DU CRIME (The Army of crime) - 2h19

MIDNIGHT SCREENINGS :

Stéphane AUBIER, Vincent PATAR - A TOWN CALLED PANIC -1st film - 1h16

Sam RAIMI - DRAG ME TO HELL - 1h39

Marina de VAN - NE TE RETOURNE PAS (Don't look back) - 1h50

SPECIAL SCREENINGS:

Anne AGHION - MY NEIGHBOR, MY KILLER - 1h20
Adolfo ALIX, JR., Raya MARTIN - MANILA -1h30
Souleymane CISSE - MIN YE - 2h15
Michel GONDRY- L'EPINE DANS LE COEUR (The thorn in the heart) - 1h26
Zhao LIANG - PETITION - 2h04
Eduardo VALENTE - NO MEU LUGAR (Eye of the storm) - 1st film - 1h53
Keren YEDAYA - JAFFA - 1h44

Tribute to Fanny Ardant

Fanny ARDANT - CENDRES ET SANG (Ashes and blood) -1st film - 1h45

Lee Chang-Dong presents

Ounie LECOMTE - UNE VIE TOUTE NEUVE (A brand new life) - 1st film - 1h32

THE SHORT FILMS IN COMPETITION

Mark ALBISTON, Louis SUTHERLAND - THE SIX DOLLAR FIFTY MAN-15' New Zealand
Daniel BORGMAN - LARSOG PETER-15' Denmark
Alex BRENDEMÜHL - RUMBO A PEOR-12' Spain
Jochem DE VRIES - MISSEN -12' The Netherlands
Jean-Christophe LIE - L'HOMME A LA GORDINI-10' France
Goran ODVORCIC - CIAO MAMA-10' Croatia
Laila PAKALNINA - KLUSUMS-14' Latvia
João SALAVIZA - ARENA-15' Portugal
Emma SULLIVAN - AFTER TOMORROW-15’United Kingdom

Source: Festival de Cannes news letter -4

Un Certain regard in 62 nd Festival de Cannes 2009

The Jury Un Certain regard 2009 will be presided by the Italian director and screenwriter Paolo Sorrentino, awarded the Jury Prize in 2008 for il Divo.He will be surrounded by Julie Gayet (actress, France), Piers Handling (director of the Toronto Festival, Canada), Uma Da Cunha (journalist and festival programmer, India) and Marit Kapla (journalist, Göteborg Festival, Sweden).The opening film of Un Certain Regard, programmed for Thursday May 14th in the Salle Debussy, will be Nobody Knows About The Persian Cats, directed by the Iranian filmmaker Bahman Ghobadi.

source: Festival de Cannes News Letter

Miloš Forman film to be screened in 44th Karlovy Vary IFF 2009 in world premiere

Celebrated filmmaker Milos Forman will present his new film, A Walk Worthwhile, at the 44th Karlovy Vary IFF 2009.The presentation of the jazz opera A Walk Worthwhile (Dobře placená procházka) was originally a product of the Semafor theatre run by legendary writers Jiří Suchý and Jiří Šlitr, and the first premiere was held in 1965 in the Semafor theatre itself. The production was adapted for the television screen in 1966 by directors Ján Roháč and Miloš Forman.More than forty years later, the well known opera buffa A Walk Worthwhile made its triumphant return. The premiere of the new production took place on 22 April 2007 at the National Theatre in Prague. The link between the Semafor staging and the new performance is, on the one hand, Jiří Suchý as writer and actor playing the role of the Postman, and, on the other, filmmaker Miloš Forman, who directed A Walk Worthwhile with his son Petr; his other son Matěj Forman created the stage designs. The production was one of the major theatre events of the year, also for the collaboration between the world famous film director and his sons, celebrated theatre artists in their own right, both at home and abroad.As in the case of the original version, the new stage production of A Walk Worthwhile was also adapted for the screen. Initially, the filmmakers and producers intended to release the film A Walk Worthwhile only on DVD, however, since the outcome was a resounding success, it was decided that this unique film should be offered to cinema audiences as well.
Courtesy:Karlovy Vary festival news

Anhad activists beaten up in Gujarat

The Hindu reports

NEW DELHI: Over two-dozen activists of ANHAD, a trust that works towards pluralism, secularism and democracy, were allegedly beaten up at Gandhinagar in Gujarat on Monday during an election campaign.

The attack took place in the afternoon when the ANHAD activists were campaigning in Naranpura in the Shastri Nagar area asking people to use their Constitutional rights and exercise their franchise.

“The campaign started in the morning and the activists formed three separate groups to reach out effectively to the electorate. It was around 1 p.m. when a large number of goons owing allegiance to the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bharatiya Janata Party wielding lathis surrounded them. Our activists, including women, were abused and pushed around. Two of them, Sachin Pandya and Robin Soni, were allegedly kicked and punched all over,” said ANHAD founding member Shabnam Hashmi, at a press conference here.

The campaign aimed at awakening people towards their Constitutional rights, including right to vote, and exploding the “myth” of vibrant Gujarat was kicked-off on Sunday.

Ms. Hashmi said the attackers took away leaflets and other printed material carried by the ANHAD activists and threatened them with dire consequences if they reported the matter to the police. “Though the activists escaped with minor injuries, but it could have turned either way. It has happened to our activists many times in the past six months. Even lodging a First Information Report is dangerous in such cases. We are now planning to approach the Election Commission in the present case,” Ms. Hashmi added.

Alleging that the BJP cadres even stopped them from filing a police complaint, Sachin Pandya, said: “When we reached the Gatlodiya police station in the evening, we found a dozen BJP cadres standing near it. Not willing to take risk, we returned without filing a report. Now we are planning to approach the Police Commissioner.”

Source: The Hindu (http://www.hinduonnet.com/2009/04/21/stories/2009042157260400.htm)

opinion poll by I.M.E.G - results announced

-U.D.F (Congress and allies may get11-14 seats and the L.D.F (C.P.I (M)
and allies may get 6-9 seats.
Institute For Monitoring Economic Growth ( I.M.E.G) ,a research organization based at Thiruvananthapuram , Kerala having a Psephology centre , has conducted an opinion poll in connection with the ensuing 15th Lok Sabha election-Parliament elections 2009 -in Kerala .The Lok Sabha elections are going to be conducted on 16th April 2009 in Kerala .The survey was conducted between April 3 and April 10 . The results were announced in a press conference held in the Press Club Hall, Thiruvananthapuram by Meera Sahib ,Director of the organization an . A total of 65418 eligible voters across 20 constituencies were surveyed from the State. Two types of swing surveys and an opinion poll were conducted using random sampling techniques and the results were pooled and final results prepared. The Survey results reveal that Congress and allies - U.D.F - are expected to get between 11-14 seats against one seat in 2004.The C.P.I (M) and allies may get 6-9 seats against 18 seats in 2004. BJP may not open account in this election in Kerala. Same is the case with B.S.P which is contesting in 20 seats and N.C.P contesting in 4 seats . The voters especially educated youth are strongly against the political parties having alliance with communal forces ,the survey reveals. The average voting percentage in 2004 L.S Election was 71.45. It will be less this time due to this factor ,the survey results say. The report further says that the CPI(M) led front may win in Kasaragod , Alathur ,Alappuzha ,Kollam ,Idukki and Attingal constituencies and there are winning chances in Kannur ,Vadakara,Kottayam constituencies. There is good prospects for Sasi Tharoor ,former Under Secretary General of U.N.O ,the Opinion Poll results forecast. The voters are not happy with the politicians and candidates having more wealth as they are not serving offices of profits, the survey results opine. The survey was conducted by a team of professional psephologists , Prof. M.M Safarulla Khan, A.M Joseph ,T.P.Mukundan and, P.V.Unni under the leadership of A. Meera Sahib ,the Director of the I.M.E.G.

Critics( FIPRESCI ) Prize in Guadalajara and Toulouse

Toulouse Festival(Rencontres des Cinémas d'Amérique Latine )in France( March 20-29, 2009). FIPRESCI Jury consisting of Bojidar Manov, Bulgaria; Wolfgang Hamdorf, Germany; Maria Teresa Oleksiewicz, Poland awarded Critics prize to "Stories"(Historias extraordinarias) by Mariano Llinás (Argentina, 2008, 252 min)in Toulouse Festival in France..

Guadalajara (Mexico, March 19-27, 2009). FIPRESCI Jury consisting of Joao Antunes, Portugal, president; Francisco Eduardo Padrón Nodarse, Cuba; Dennis West, USA; Chiara Arroyo Cella, Spain/Mexico,awarded Critics prize to Ibero american Competition: The Maid (La nana) by Sebastián Silva (Chile, 2009). Prize Mexican Competiton: Black Sheep (Oveja negra) by Humberto Hinojosa Ozcariz (Mexico, 2009). .
Source: FIPRESCI