Festivals

Boats, pasta and amore may provide the backdrop to the Venice festival but it is cinema that matters most. This year more than ever.

The HFPA’s Silvia Bizio spoke exclusively to the actress who graces the festival’s poster. Nastassja Kinski will be at the Venice Film Festival, not as lead actress of a film as she has many times in the past, but as the festival icon.

D23 is Disney’s response to Comic-Con, a “fan fest” designed to foster maximum engagement and excitement for the studio projects, memorabilia and that elusive (and lucrative) concept: Disney culture. So on the weekend of August 14-15, when temperatures soared over 100 degrees throughout Southern California, the studio gathered fans and media at the Anaheim Convention Center for the fourth D23 Expo – the bi-annual celebration of all things Disney.

The HFPA gave away more than $2 million in donations during a gala dinner packed with stars and surprises at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. The amount tops last year's contributions of more than $1.

From July 30 to August 16 the second largest city in Australia, has been living and breathing film: Melbourne is hosting its annual Film Festival, created in 1952 and one of the oldest international events in the festival circuit. Over the span of three weeks, the event, has managed to jam pack a true marathon of screenings that includes all kinds of film.