News

The 65th edition of the San Francisco Film Festival, the oldest annual film festival in the United States, ran from April 21 to May 1. The documentary-rich festival featured a diverse selection of films highlighting work that has yet to secure financing in the United States, in addition to star-studded and festival circuit darlings.

At 49 years old and with a career that encompasses advertising television projects, film, and television, Rafa Lara, who has been behind the camera for 30 years, considers himself first and foremost a filmmaker. His film Cinco de Mayo: La Batalla (The Battle) (2013), with its spectacular scenes, has become a point of reference in terms of what Mexican cinema can achieve in the epic genre.

Taiwan has been drawn to cinema as an art form since the summer of 1900 when Oshima Inoshi and his projectionist Matu-ura Shozo brought to Taipei and other cities, the dreamy new moving images created by the Lumière brothers, a mere four years after the novelty had been shown to enthralled audiences in Japan and China. The island, caught between history’s many chapters made of darkness and light, seems to still be looking for its own identity after centuries of dispute between European powers, Tokyo and Beijing.

“I’m real proud to introduce this next artist whose name became synonymous with courage and integrity,” Kris Kristofferson says as he introduces Sinéad O’Connor at Bob Dylan’s 30th-anniversary concert. This was 13 days after O’Connor appeared on Saturday Night Live, performing an emotional, acapella version of Bob Marley’s “War.

The poster for director Jean Renoir’s 1946 film Diary of a Chambermaid shows a large photo of Paulette Goddard wearing a (very short) maid’s uniform and a knowing smile, holding up a key and resting her arm on a very large book (the diary) against a bright yellow background. Elsewhere on the poster are pictures of her embracing three different men.

Celebrating Cinco de Mayo, a holiday to commemorate Mexican culture and heritage, is synonymous with the term, Tequila time!  And if you’re looking to spend the day toasting with some of Mexico’s finest, the choices are endless, especially with an ever-increasing array of new brands on offer from your favorite celebrity, some of whom include Michael Jordan, Carlos Santana, Kendall Jenner, Rita Ora, and Nick Jonas.   The gold standard, Casamigos, was founded by George Clooney and friend entrepreneur Rande Gerber and launched in 2013.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) announced its sponsorship of The American Pavilion, the center of business and hospitality for the American film community at this year’s 75th Cannes Film Festival, kicking off its year-long celebration of the upcoming 80th Annual Golden Globe® Awards. “We are pleased and honored to sponsor this year’s American Pavilion at such a historic time with the 75th Cannes Film Festival and the upcoming 80th Golden Globes.

Karen Sharpe had an illustrious career, which included winning a Golden Globe Award in 1955 as New Star of the Year, in The High and the Mighty, in which she starred alongside John Wayne. She also acted with Jerry Lewis in The Disorderly Orderly in 1964.

 Welcome to the Golden Globes Around the World podcast. This week’s episode is a colorful CinemaCon wrap-up from HFPA members Brent Simon, David Caspi, and Earl Gibson III.

A colossal, odd-shaped spaceship crash landed in the Haeundaegu-District of Busan, South Korea’s second-largest city, and nobody cleaned up the mountain of debris. That could be the first impression a visitor has at the sight of a remarkable building.