News

Most people know him for his films, most notably the ones he produced for Quentin Tarantino. Not enough people know him for the incredible work he has been doing for environmental and other causes.

As the CEO and Artistic Director of BlackStar Projects which she founded in 2012, Maori Karmael Holmes is doing her part to ensure diversity in representation becomes an unremarkable reality in all roles of the industry. A writer, curator, and filmmaker, Holmes started the BlackStar Projects in 2012 after noticing a lack of venues for groundbreaking, independent work by Black filmmakers.

Movie enthusiasts probably had seen George Méliès' A Trip to the Moon (Un voyage dans la lune) many times. It’s fun, beautiful, energetic, and full of complex special effects - an extraordinary picture for 1902.

In celebration of the month in which we focus our attention on our home, planet Earth, and the numerous problems that plague it, for many of which humans are responsible, we look back at the cinema which, for a hundred years, has contributed to creating awareness of the importance of caring for nature. Reflecting on the screen the wonders of nature and the current dramas about the interrelation between man and the environment have been, and continue to be, an adventure that has had many exponents in world cinema.

Bif&st-Bari, a small international film festival offering a broad selection of high cultural films, has vastly become one of the leading cinematic events in Italy, a jewel of a place where many artists are awarded the Federico Fellini Platinum Award for Cinematic Excellence. Journalist, film, and television critic, Felice Laudadio has a long history as cultural director in multiple Italian film festivals and is the artistic creator, founder, and director of Bari International Film Festival, which is held in four beautiful theatres, with the stunning Teatro Petruzzelli being one of the most beautiful theatres in the world.

Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon have long been advocates for environmental issues. So too has Mark Ruffalo, as one of the most vocal celebrities on the issue of fracking – hydraulic fracturing of the earth to release and harness gas.

Kyle Bowser – the Senior Vice President of the Hollywood bureau of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) – is very familiar with the acronym DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion). Fiercely committed to all of them, he’s still questioning where it all fits in with Hollywood today.

The year is 2022. The Earth is overpopulated, and more than 40 million people are starving.

French actor-writer-director Eva Husson and Mothering Sunday star, Australia’s Odessa Young (A Million Little Pieces, Assassin Nation, Shirley), were on hand via Zoom to conduct a Q & A about this evocative and inspiring film presented by Sony Picture Classics and Women in Film (WIF). Based on the heartbreaking novella by Graham Swift, the film was adapted to the screen by Alice Birch (Golden Globe Nominee Normal People).

The Dropout on Hulu is based on the story of Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of Theranos, who, blinded by ambition and hubris rose to great prominence only to endure an equally spectacular fall, that shook America. Amanda Seyfried is most convincing in the skin of this brilliant and controversial business leader.