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Not even hurricane Ida could stop this festival, which started on Nov 5. New Orleanians do not like when we call them resilient, so let’s just say they are masters at success against all odds.

It’s that time of the year, when Hollywood pays renewed attention to Asian cinema thanks to the Asian World Film Festival, now celebrating its 7th edition and steadily growing thanks to the tireless efforts of West African-born, Lebanon and France-educated Georges N. Chamchoum, the Festival's Executive and Program Director.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) has announced the hiring of Neil Phillips as its first Chief Diversity Officer as an integral part of its continuing commitment to implementing reforms to promote greater diversity, equity, and inclusion both within the organization and within broader Hollywood and journalism communities.  Phillips is an innovative speaker and entrepreneur who works to shine a light on the most pressing issues of our time: value and equity, with a focus on creating opportunities elevating human value in education, business, and the public/private sector.

14 months ago, during the unprecedentedly difficult, pandemic-ravaged Venice Film Festival, a movie had its world premiere without the usual fanfare, with no receptions and a sad and empty red carpet where no fans cheered from the bleachers. The film was called The Duke and it deserved better.

One of the more difficult aspects of adolescence to capture on film is the overwhelming ambivalence that is often a staple of teenage life — the grappling with general uncertainty as well as contradictory feelings, frequently quite intense, as one prepares to leave whatever nest their family of origin provides, and more proactively chart their own path forward. Both through its subject matter and framing, the documentary At the Ready, a world premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival now enjoying a theatrical and VOD release, captures this mood with considerable sensitivity and insight, providing a fascinating look at the nexus of education, law enforcement, politics, and young adulthood.

The HFPA met Oliver Stone in Nursultan, Kazakhstan, and later at the Rome Film Fest in October to talk about his involvement in the new documentary Qazaq: History of the Golden Man, which is now showing at the Asian World Film Festival in Los Angeles. The film, available both as a feature-length version and as a six-hour series, is written, directed and produced by Igor Lopatonok, and Stone figures as the interviewer of Kazakhstan's former President, considered the founder of the country, Nursultan Nazarbayev, the larger-than-life and controversial subject of this intriguing project with the music score composed by Golden Globe nominee Carlo Siliotto.

Dune fended off competition from three new releases and current titles to stay on top on its second weekend. Despite several horror movies showing in time for the Halloween weekend, Denis Villeneuve’s Dune got the biggest treat with $15.

In 1999 Angelina Jolie spoke to the journalists of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association about Girl, Interrupted, directed by James Mangold, and co-starring Winona Ryder. Her performance as Lisa, the sociopath held in a psychiatric hospital in the 1960s, earned her a third Golden Globe award as Best Supporting Actress.

Found is an involving documentary that taps into a thick vein of universal feeling while also never running or trying to squirm free from the potential ambiguity inherent in its story. After DNA tests reveal that they are blood-related cousins, three American teenage girls, all adopted as babies from China, develop an online friendship built around the understandably complicated feelings they each have about their respective lost personal histories.

Although women still face considerable challenges to get their movies greenlit, Joanna Hogg has made a sequel to her breakout hit, The Souvenir. The story is about a young film student whose love is not enough to save a charismatic addict.