Festivals

Director Batbayar Chogsom’s Out of Paradise took the Golden Goblet, the top award of the Shanghai International Film Festival. Besides the Mongolia-Switzerland co-production, the 21st edition of the festival awarded the Best Actress prize to Isabelle Blais, for the Canadian film Tadoussac, the Best Actor, to the US’ Tye Sheridan for Friday’s Child, and Best Director to Rodrigo and Sebastian Barriuso for the Cuba-Canada co-production A Translator.

Wait! What do you mean? Caucasians aren’t the only people making art? Yes, there are some impactful films to be seen at Cannes, but the biggest headline is that the world is represented in all its variations and it’s wonderful to see.

Who cares who wore what on the Cannes red carpet! Women are not a minority in the world, yet the current state of our industry says otherwise.   Women in film - directors, writers, producers, actors - joined forces with the filmmakers responsible for in-competition entry Girls of the Sun  - to make a stand about representation, inclusion, and justice.

On this year’s Cannes red carpet the mini had disappeared, but on Thursday it returned. Up-dos continued to trend.

Showcasing films outside the mainstream and connecting indie filmmakers is part of the mission of the IndieLisboa International Film Festival, which held its 15th edition this year in Lisbon, Portugal. Nuno Sena, one of the three festival directors, is very happy how it went: “The most remarkable achievement of this year's festival was the increase in audience numbers.

And we're off…. Hours before the opening ceremony and the screening of Asghar Farhadi’s Spanish language Todos lo saben, starring the high voltage husband-and-wife team of Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz, the Competition Jury press conference signaled the 71st Cannes Film Festival is officially underway.

The 71st Cannes Film Festival begins under the pressure from assorted and interesting forces: the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements, which put women’s rights front and center in the entertainment industry; the clash between French distributors and streaming platforms, especially Netflix; and the growing disenchantment from major studios and independents with the cost, the length, the timing and the peculiarities of the festival. At a last-minute, unscheduled press conference on the eve of the festival, Cannes artistic director Thierry Fremaux handed out #MeToo flyers to participants, announced a hotline – a phone number an email address – to allow attendees to reach out and denounce instances of harassment.

In a country whose film industry has rapidly – and firmly – established itself as one of the most dynamic in the world, it's no wonder that the Jeonju International Film Festival, which runs May 3 -12, is quickly finding an international – not just Asian – recognition. The festival takes place in the old town of Jeonju, one and a half hour fast-train ride south of the capital of Seoul, a much smaller town filled with traditional houses, restaurants, walkways, street food and young people often wearing the traditional Hanbok costume strolling its streets and parks.

South by Southwest, the little festival that could, is proving, once again, to be a thoroughly original lineup with its three-pronged approach to Film, Interactive Arts and Music. The latter, of course, constitutes the core of a festival which grew around what this musical capital of the Southwest is known for, showcasing over 1,000 bands from all over the world.

The Berlinale Palast is getting ready to welcome scores of high-profile participants and screenings for the ten-day run of the 68th Berlin International Film Festival, from February 15 to 25. The festival will open with the world premiere of Wes Anderson’s animated film Isle of Dogs.