Thursday, October 26----As the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival (FLIFF) moves into its second consecutive weekend, the schedule for Friday is a full and varied one. Listed in the Guiness Book of World Records as "the world's longest film festival", this year's edition runs for 30 days, with an extra week of programming and special events to be held in the resort town of Key West when the Festival comes to an end in its Fort Lauderdale home on Sunday, November 12. When do these Festi...

Sal de Mar Award Monday, October 23----The first annual Turks & Caicos International Film Festival (TCIFF) announced its winners on Saturday evening at a gala Closing Night Awards Ceremony, held on the Carribean island nation of the Turks and Caicos Islands. Premier Michael Misick ed with his wife, actress LisaRaye Misick to congratulate the night's winners and honorees. Michael and LisaRaye Misick Nearly two hundred guests ed the Premier and First Lady, as well as Festival co-di...

Monday, October 23----A celebration of African dance and film will be the high point on today’s agenda, as the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival moves into its second week of film discoveries and excitement. The Festival will screen the Sundance Film Festival hit SON OF MAN this evening at 8:00pm at the Cinema Paradiso. The special screening tribute to South African film will be preceded by an African Dance performance by the Le Jump Afrique dance troupe. The troupe includes membe...

Hip Hop Artist Kazi Performs Saturday, October 21---As the Turks and Caicos International Film Festival, an event devoted to the relationship between film and music, moves into its final stanza, one of the relevatory aspects of the event has been the remarkably vibrant rainbow of contemporary black music. While rap, hip hop and rhythm and blues (or a mix of all of the above) is clearly the dominant trend, black artists continue to expand the form of jazz, reggae, singer-songwriter and rock musi...

The Music of Raoul Midon Thursday, October 19----As the Turks and Caicos International Film Festival moved into high gear, a number of provocative and controversial films were unspooled on Wednesday, along with some special events that have already made the event memorable for its core of attendees. The difficult road for black rock-n-rollers is explored in the dynamic feature documentary ELECTRIC PURGATORY, directed by Raymond Gayle. Featuring early clips from such pioneer rockers as Little R...

Writer/Director Dito Montiel and Executive Producer Sting Thursday, October 19---With the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival already in high gear, a number of special guests and VIPs are expected in town over the next few days, bringing some film star power to South Florida audiences. Tonight, writer/director Dito Montiel will be present at the screening of his debut film A GUIDE TO RECOGNIZING YOUR SAINTS. The film, which had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, was a d...

Wednesday, October 18----The 7th Woodstock Film Festival, which wrapped this past Sunday, has announced its Audience Award winners for this year. Two virtual ties for the 2006 Audience Awards for Best Narrative Feature and Best Documentary saw the awards go to four films instead of two this year. The Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature was shared by AFTER THE WEDDING, a Danish film that was the Festival's Centerpiece Film and FORGIVENESS, an Israeli film by Udi Aloni. AFTER THE WEDDI...

Wednesday, October 18----The first of several professional s was held today at the Turks and Caicos International Film Festival, exploring the connection between cinema and music. An intimate group of filmmakers, musicians, industry executives, film critics and cultural officials convened at the Palms Resort for a lively discussion of the challenges and opportunities of mixing the two art forms. The discussion was led by film journalist David Poland, along with film director Sanaa Hamri a...

Tuesday, October 17----The Turks and Caicos International Film Festival, a unique mix of films and music events, hit the beach on Tuesday evening in a series of kick off events that lived up to their hype. The event, which runs through this weekend, will feature the international premieres of over 30 films, as well as offer provocative seminars, special events, live music concerts and, of course, glamorous parties all set in the natural beauty of this Caribbean island archipelago. The Festiva...

Monday, October 16----Filmmakers, musicians, industry professionals and film buffs began arriving today for the official launch of the TURKS AND CAICOS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, which opens tomorrow. The Festival, which will explore the interrelationship between film and music, will present over 30 narrative and documentary films, along with an impressive mix of professional seminars, special events and live music concerts, all set on this beautiful island archipelago in the Eastern Caribbea...

1943. Ils n'avaient encore jamais foulé le sol français, mais parce que c'est la guerre, Saïd, Abdelkader, Messaoud et Yassir vont s'engager comme 130 000 autres "Indigènes" dans l'armée française pour libérer "la mère patrie" de l'ennemi nazi. Ces héros que l'histoire a oubliés vaincront en Italie, en Provence, et dans les Vosges, avant de se retrouver seuls à défendre un village alsacien contre un bataillon allemand. Le film a été dévoilé au dernier festival de Cannes ou il a r...

Festival Closing Night Gala Saturday, October 14---The 44th edition of the New York Film Festival is drawing to a close, but not without one more weekend of film excitement and diversity. Saturday sees repeat screenings of two of the Festival's most anticipated and debated films, Sofia Coppola's post-modern take on the French Revolution, MARIE ANTOINETTE, and Emmanuel Bordieu's homo-erotic POISON FRIENDS. Another film having its final screening on Saturday is the Turkish drama CLIMATES by d...

Saturday, October 14----Aside from all the films, the parties, the music concerts and other special events, the Woodstock Film Festival offers local filmmakers and visiting film talents an intensive education on all aspects of the filmmaking and distribution process through an exhaustive series of professional seminars. Drawing mainly on film executives, film critics and film mavens from Manhattan (only 100 miles to the south), the Festival offers a rare opportunity to get the lowdown on the s...

Tupac Shakur Friday, October 13----The First Annual Turks & Caicos International Film Festival begins next week on Tuesday, October 17, and runs through Saturday evening, October 21. As part of the celebration of the fusion of music and cinema, the TCIFF will honor two innovative and talented artists: composer John Debney and the late actor/musician Tupac Shakur, ten years after his death. Award-winning composer John Debney will be recognized for his unique ability to create memorable wor...

Friday, October 13---As the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival turns 21, and now can legally go out and drink some hard liquor, the Festival is celebrating with a series of parties. In fact, the Festival has a reputation on the festival circuit as being one of the most "party friendly", with a terrific array of indoor/outdoor venues that take advantage of the South Florida weather and beach atmosphere. This year, the Festival is pulling out all the stops....with a party schedule that...

Né au Bénin en 1967, Idrissou Mora-Kpaï a quitté son pays à l’âge de 19 ans et après un séjour en Algérie et en Italie, il s’installe en Allemagne où il fait des études de cinéma dans la section réalisation. Après quoi, il s’installe à Paris où il réalise son premier doc « Si-Gueriki, la Reine mère » qu’il a tourné au nord du Bénin et pour lequel il a reçu plusieurs prix dont celui du meilleur documentaire francophone à Namur en Belgique. Son film « Arlit, deuxi�...

Le festival a choisi pour son Jury Cinéma un Président libanais: Elias Khoury (Liban) (Né en 1948 à Beyrouth. Chroniqueur, essayiste, critique littéraire et romancier, Elias Khoury est actuellement Rédacteur en Chef du supplément culturel du quotidien libanais al-Nahar après l’avoir été pour al-Safir. Il tient une rubrique hebdomadaire dans le quotidien arabe paraissant à Londres al-Quds al-Araby. Il est parmi les meilleurs écrivains arabes de sa génération. De ses roman (tradu...

Meira Blaustein Thurday, October 12----As the 7th annual Woodstock Film Festival kicks into gear this evening with the avant premiere of Douglas McGrath’s INFAMOUS, Festivals Editor Sandy Mandelberger sat down with Festival Director Meira Blaustein to get her thoughts on this year’s edition. Sandy Mandelberger (SM): What is new this year that you might be experimenting with? Meira Blaustein: Most of the new elements are more of the inner structure and perhaps not so visible. In of ...

Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes Thursday, October 12---Music is the message for the 2nd annual Turks and Caicos International Film Festival, which launches next Tuesday with an ambitious program of film premieres, information seminars and live concert events...all set on the beautiful Caribbean archipelago of the Turks and Caicos Islands. One of the films having its International Premiere at the event is generating big buzz. A profile of the short and tumultuous life of Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes of the all-...