Global

It’s hard to believe Australian actor Heath Ledger has been gone six years but his legacy lives on with scholarship in his name that is given annually by Australians in Film. The sixth annual Australians in Film Heath Ledger Scholarship was awarded June 12th to Cody Fern.

Film can be and invaluable tool to capture the mood of a country and an entire culture. It’s no surprise then that Greek cinema has been informed by the deep crisis that has hit Greece in the last years.

Films Festivals in Los Angeles happen all year round, no surprise perhaps in the city that invented the movie business. Although the global festival circuit is dominated by Cannes, Venice or Toronto, and while Sundance is still the preferred forum for “indies” – in any given week there are venues right here in Los Angeles that delight film lovers with screenings of films from around the globe.

Slowly, gradually but inexorably, over the past decade, something extraordinary has been happening in Brazil : after half a century of total domination as the country’s go-to form of audio-visual entertainment, the telenovela is steadily fading, its audience in a continuous free fall. In its place, a new generation of viewers, who grew up with American series and sitcoms, from Friends to The X Files and Lost, are seeking out the local equivalent of their passions.

Adrien Brody is on the stage and he’s holding a big envelope. Behind him, there’s a glitzy set, with big screens everywhere and the kind of set design than can be seen in any big awards show in the world.

The 33rd edition of the Istanbul Film Festival showcased more than 200 films in over 20 different categories from April 5-20 in the Turkish city. Turkish Cinema is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year and the festival paid tribute with a series of panels devoted to different genres including documentaries, drama, horror as well as Q&As with filmmakers and crews alongside production and distribution meetings such as the traditional “Meetings on the Bridge” panel.

.

.

The Galapagos Islands are famous for their remote and unique ecosystem and for their historic role in inspiring Charles Darwin’s theory of natural evolution. What is surely less known is how, in the 1930s, this idyllic archipelago far off the coast of Ecuador fired the imaginations of a group of Eurpoean eccetrics.

With a lineup of over 30 films, the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles is once again showcasing a selection from one of the world’s vital cinema traditions. Now in its 12th year, the festival founded by Christina Marouda has become an important window on Indian cinema, particularly on the burgeoning independent scene emerging on the Subcontinent.