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Tag: Academy Awards

  • Indian films promotion: No claimant for up to Rs 1-crore aid

    Indian films promotion: No claimant for up to Rs 1-crore aid

    NEW DELHI: Minister of state for information and broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore has said his ministry has introduced an additional activity under existing Plan Scheme for providing financial assistance to filmmakers whose films are selected in competition section of an international film festival of repute or India’s official nomination for Academy Awards under Foreign Film Category.

    Rethore told the Parliament that the Directorate of Film Festivals has been designated as the nodal agency for implementing this activity. The details of the scheme are available at http://mib.nic.in/WriteReadData/documents/Film_Promotion_Fund_-_procedure.pdf.

    The scheme was introduced with effect from 3 October 2016 and, so far, no eligible proposal for seeking assistance under the film promotion scheme has been received, and therefore no assistance has been provided, Rathore said.

    Early this month, union minister M Venkaiah Naidu had announced at a press meet here that the Fund was aimed at promoting Indian cinema at International Film Festivals. This initiative would help independent filmmakers to promote their work across the globe.

    Naidu claimed that the Government’s efforts to project India as a soft power and filming destination has been a win-win situation so far, in terms of attracting global stakeholders from various quarters of film industry to India as well as Indian films, expertise and talent being accepted globally at international festivals.

    According to details on the website, the Festivals to be covered are:

    Eligible Film Festival/Award & Corresponding Fund Value

    No. Feature Film Festival Key Sections Fund value (INR)
    1. Sundance Film Festival – January World Cinema Dramatic competition 15,00,000

    2. Sundance Film Festival – January Premieres 10,00,000

    3. Int. Film Festival of Rotterdam -January Hivos Tiger Awards Competition 10,00,000

    4. Int. Film Festival of Rotterdam -– January Bright Future 7,50,000

    5. Int. Film Festival of Rotterdam – January Spectrum 7,50,000

    6. Berlin International Film Festival – February Competition 15,00,000

    7. Berlin International Film Festival – February Panorama 10,00,000

    8. Berlin International Film Festival – February Forum 10,00,000

    9. Berlin International Film Festival – February Generation K-plus
    & Generation 14plus 10,00,000

    10. Festival de Cannes – May In Competition 20,00,000

    11. Festival de Cannes – May Un Certain Regard 15,00,000

    12. Directors’ Fortnight– May World Premiere 15,00,000

    13. International Critics’ Week – May World Premiere 10,00,000

    14. Venice International Film Festival – September In Competition 15,00,000

    15. Venice International Film Festival – September Orizzonti 10,00,000

    16. International Critics’ Week – September Official Selection 7,50,000

    17. Venice Days – September Official Selection 7,50,000

    18. Toronto Int. Film Festival – September Special Presentation 15,00,000

    19. Toronto Int. Film Festival – September Discovery 10,00,000

    20. Busan Int. Film Festival –October New Currents 10,00,000

    21. Busan Int. Film Festival – October Window on Asian Cinema 7,50,000

    22. Locarno Int. Film Festival Concorso Internazionale 7,50,000

    23. Oscars Foreign Language Film 50,00,000 to 1,00,00,000

  • Sony Pix to premiere ‘The Hobbit’ finale

    Sony Pix to premiere ‘The Hobbit’ finale

    MUMBAI: Hollywood movie channel Sony Pix will premiere the mega finale of the epic series The Hobbit. 

     

    The Hobbit: the Battle of the Five Armies, adapted from the 1937 masterpiece novel The Hobbit, will premiere on 24 October at 9 pm. 

     

    The Academy award winning director Peter Jackson, who has acclaimed movies to his credit, such as The Lord of the Rings, created The Hobbit: the Battle of the Five Armies as a sequel to The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in 2012 and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug in 2013. Together they act as the prequel to the Lord of the Rings film trilogy.

     

    The movie bagged various nominations in 2014, including an Academy Awards, Screen Actors’ Guild Awards and Critics Choice Awards. Apart from Luke Evans, Richard Armitage and Martin freeman, The Hobbit: Battle of the five armies also stars Orlando Bloom as Legolas, Ian McKellen as Gandalf, and Cate Blanchett as Lady Galadriel.

  • Film on Tagore’s sister-in-law wins top award at Washington S. Asian Fillmfest

    Film on Tagore’s sister-in-law wins top award at Washington S. Asian Fillmfest

    NEW DELHI: Bengali film Kadambari by Suman Ghosh about Kadambari Devi, sister-in-law of Rabindranath Tagore with whom he is supposed to have had a close personal relationship and who eventually committed suicide, won the Best Film award at the Fourth Washington South Asian Film Festival.

     

    Chaitanya Tamhane won the Best Director award for Court, a Hindi and Marathi film, which is India’s official entry for the Academy Awards.

     

    Aparna Sen received the Special Achievement Award, while Huma Beg from Pakistan (Veils and Walls) got the Special Appreciation Award Documentary. Sarmad Khoosat received the Special Award for Contribution to Pakistan TV and Films.

     

    The Festival of independent alternate cinema on the theme of “Art and culture transcend boundaries” had 14 features, 10 shorts and one documentary from India, Pakistan, the United States and Canada.

     

    Rough Book by Anant Mahadevan won the best story award, while the actor awards went to Kishor Kadam (Partu) and Konkona Sen Sharma (Kadambari). Bonjour ji by Satinder Kassona was adjudged the best short film.

     

    The audience rated Partu by Indian-American Nitin Adsul as the Best Film and Billu’s Flight by India’s Mayank Tripathi as the Best Short Film.

     

    Indian-American entrepreneur and philanthropist Frank Islam, who inaugurated the festival said the theme of the Festival reflected a reality. “This is so even though we live in a deeply divided world. These are unsettling times-wars, refugees, terrorism, hate crimes of all types, and boundary disputes. Events such as these dominate the headlines daily,” he said.

     

    He said marketing was a big challenge for independent films, which had to compete with extravagant, studio-backed and star-studded films from Bollywood.

     

    In order to succeed, independent films from India must overcome this stereotype and sea of noise, Islam said.

     

    “This year there was more awareness about the film festival here in the US and in South Asian countries,” said DCSAFF executive director Manoj Singh.

     

    Saari Raat, Aparna Sen’s film adaptation of Bengali playwright Badal Sircar’s drama, was the opening film. There were three films from South Asian Americans: Partu, Miss India America by Ravi Kapoor and For Here or To Go by Rucha Humnabadkar.

     

    The festival also featured two Pakistani films, Manto by actor-director Sarmad Sultan Khoosat on the life of short-story writer Sadat Hassan Manto, and Shah by actor-director on Pakistani boxer Hussain Shah who won the bronze medal at 1988 Summer Olympics. 

  • Academy Awards producers Meron and Zadan step down

    Academy Awards producers Meron and Zadan step down

    MUMBAI: After producing the Oscars for three consecutive years, Neil Meron and Craig Zadan have decided not to return for a fourth stint. 

     

    Zadan and Meron will not be back to take charge of The Academy Awards next year, after fulfilling the terms of a secret contract they signed when they first accepted the job. 

     

    “Craig and Neil have been wonderful creative partners over the last three years, contributing some of the most innovative and memorable Oscar moments. They are true showmen with enormous talent and expertise. We’re looking forward to seeing the exciting projects they have in the works,” said Academy president Cheryl Boone-Isaacs.

     

    During their three-year terms, the producer duo brought on board Seth MACFarlane, Ellen DeGeneres and Neil Patrick Harris as the host for the Oscars.

  • George Lucas is Hollywood’s richest movie mogul

    George Lucas is Hollywood’s richest movie mogul

    MUMBAI: In the run up to the Academy Awards on 22 February, Wealth-X has released a list of the top 10 richest individuals in the American film industry. George Lucas tops the list with $5.4 billion as the wealthiest Hollywood tycoon.

     

    Lucas is the director and producer of the Star Wars blockbuster films. His fortune of $5.4 billion is mostly derived from revenue from the Star Wars franchise and the sale of LucasFilm to Disney for $4 billion in 2012.

     

    Unlike other directors and producers, Lucas, 70, banked on one film idea, directing only six feature films over the course of his career – four of which were Star Wars movies.

     

    In contrast, Steven Spielberg – who ranks third on the Wealth-X list with an estimated fortune of $3.3 billion–has directed more than 30 feature films, including classics such as ET, Jaws and Jurassic Park.

     

    All 10 individuals on the Wealth-X Hollywood Rich List are male film producers and directors. Collectively, they control more than $20 billion of personal wealth.

     

    The complete list of the richest movie moguls in Hollywood is as follows: 

     

    1) George Lucas – $5.4 billion (Star Wars films)

    2) Arnon Milchan – $5.2 billion (Pretty Woman, 12 Years A Slave)

    3) Steven Spielberg – $3.3 billion (ET, Jaws)

    4) Austin Hearst – $1.9 billion (The Vow)

    5) Ryan Kavanaugh – $1 billion (The Social Network, Little Fockers)

    6) Jeffrey Katzenberg – $910 million (The Lion King, Shrek)

    7) Thomas Tull – $870 million (The Hangover, 300)

    8) Jerry Bruckheimer – $850 million (Top Gun, Pirates of The Caribbean)

    9) Steve Tisch – $720 million (Forrest Gump)

    10) James Cameron – $670 million (Avatar, Titanic)

  • East Europe dominates Palm Springs Awards

    East Europe dominates Palm Springs Awards

    NEW Delhi: ‘Selma’ received the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature while ‘Keep On Keepin’ On’ received the Audience Award for Best Documentary feature, both sponsored by Mercedes Benz, at the 26th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival.

     

    ‘Leviathan’ received the FIPRESCI Prize given by the International federation of film critics while Haluk Bilginer and Anne Dorval received the FIPRESCI Acting Prizes.

     

    ‘No One’s Child’ was awarded New Voices/New Visions Award; ‘Flowers’ got the Cine Latino Award; ‘Walking Under Water’ won the John Schlesinger Award and ‘Corn Island’ got the HP Bridging The Borders Award.

     

    The Festival held earlier screened 196 films from 65 countries, including 51 of the 83 foreign language entries for this year’s Academy Awards.

     

    Festival director Darryl Macdonald said, “Eastern European filmmakers – both emerging and established – have utterly dominated our juried awards this year: first time feature director Vuk Rsumovic from Serbia takes the New Visions New Voices prize for No One’s Child, the Bridging the Borders award goes to Georgian director George Ovashvili’s Corn Island plus a special jury prize to Kosovo’s Three Windows and a Hanging directed by Isa Qosja, and the Schlesinger award goes to Polish director Eliza Kubarska for her debut documentary Walking Under Water. The power of stories from this region is palpable and infectious.”

     

    The runner-up documentary film was ‘The Salt of the Earth’ (France). Popular documentary selections in alphabetical order included: ‘Back on Board: Greg Louganis’ (USA), ‘Holbrook/Twain: An American Odyssey’ (USA), ‘How I Got Over’ (USA), ‘Limited Partnership’ (USA), ‘The Breach’ (USA).

     

    The winner and runner-ups were picked on the basis of over 70,000 ballots cast by audience members during the Festival.  Both winners received the John Kennedy Statue (“The Entertainer”) specially designed for the Festival.

     

    The 2015 FIPRESCI jury members were Ella Taylor (film critic), Michael Oleszczyk (film critic and scholar) and Ernesto Diezmartínez Guzman (columnist and author).

  • Academy Award Winner Luise Rainer passes away at 104

    Academy Award Winner Luise Rainer passes away at 104

    MUMBAI: The star of cinema’s golden era and the first person ever to win back-to-back Oscars, Luise Rainer, 104, died of pneumonia on 30 December at her home in London.  Born on 12 January 1910 in Dusseldorf, Germany, Rainer astonished her director with a terrific audition when she was 16, and he cast her in several of his stage productions.  She was then reportedly discovered by an MGM talent scout.

     

    Rainer will be remembered for her brilliant portrayal in films like The Emperor’s Candlesticks (1937), Big City (1937), The Toy Wife (1938), The Great Waltz (1938) and Dramatic School (1938). She had an unprecedented back-to-back Oscar wins for The Great Ziegfeld and The Good Earth.

     

    The only other actress to win back-to-back Oscars was Audrey Hepburn for Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner and A Lion in Winter.

     

    However, it is reported that Rainer became increasingly dissatisfied with the movie business. She had to be ordered by MGM, studio head, Louis B. Mayer to attend the Academy Awards ceremony to accept her second Oscar. She stunned reporters by claiming that she hated being molded by Hollywood. Disgruntled with the film business, she became reclusive.

     

    In 1937, Rainer married American playwright Clifford Odets but soon, their marriage became stormy and the couple divorced after three years. She developed a friendship with Albert Einstein and broke her contract with MGM in 1938.

     

    Her last major film was Hostages in 1943 before she left her Hollywood career behind, eventually settling in London with her second husband, publisher and England native Robert Knittel.

     

    After her move to England, Rainer did appear occasionally on U.S. television. It took another two decades before she showed up again on TV when producer Aaron Spelling coaxed her into appearing in a 1983 episode of The Love Boat. Three years later, she performed in a Swiss telefilm titled A Dancer, and in 1997, at age 86, she had a 10-minute scene in a version of Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s The Gambler.

     

    In 2010, on the year of her centenary, the British Film Institute held a tribute to Rainer at London’s National Film Theater, where she was interviewed by Richard Stirling.

  • Indian documentary becomes eligible for entry into Academy awards

    Indian documentary becomes eligible for entry into Academy awards

    NEW DELHI: Love.Love.Love directed by FTII alumna Sandhya Daisy Sundaram, which won the Silver Hugo for Best Short Documentary at the 50th Chicago International Film Festival, has now become eligible for being nominated to the documentary section of the Academy awards.

     

     It has been screened at over 40 festivals and won eight awards till date including Special Jury Mentions at Sundance Film Festival and Indian Film Festival, Los Angeles 2014.

     

     Love.Love.Love was made as part of Cinetrain, a Russian winter project held in Russia in January 2013. Set against the Russian winter landscape, it is a film about a Russian woman and her big love. It explores the different voices of the Russian women and examines themes such as love, sacrifice, family and values that are ingrained in the Russian women.

     

    During the 1930s in Soviet Russia, film crews, under the guidance of Aleksandr Medvedkin, used to travel through the Soviet Union in specially equipped wagons, with the idea of giving power of speech to people who did not normally have the opportunities to voice out opinions. Cinetrain is based on this concept, where filmmakers from across the globe set out to make documentaries travelling about in trains. Every other year, a different route and a theme is chosen.

     

    In 2013, the topic was Russian stereotypes set in the Russian winter. Seven films were made, of which Love. Love. Love. was one. The sub themes were pre-decided when the applications were out and the film was based on stereotypes about the Russian women. The team included director of production from Russia, Alexey Filippov, sound designer from Poland, Marcin Knyziack, producers from Russia and France – Tanya Petrik and Guillaume Protsenko and the director and editor.

     

    Over a period of a month, all participants travelled through the vast landscape of Russia in the extreme Russian winter, shooting and editing on the go. It was shot in Moscow, Irkutsk, St. Petersburg, Tomsk, Murnmask and the Baikal. The journeys were set in the train and for the most part of it, the trains became the base for all post-production.

  • ‘Liar’s Dice’ chosen as India’s entry for Oscars

    ‘Liar’s Dice’ chosen as India’s entry for Oscars

    MUMBAI: National Award winning Hindi film Liar’s Dice, starring Geetanjali Thapa and Nawazuddin Siddiqui, has been chosen as India’s entry for the ‘Best foreign film’ category at the 87th Academy Awards.

     

    Directed by the film debutant Geetu Mohandas the film has been chosen by a 12-member jury appointed by the Film Federation of India (FFI). The film has been shortlisted out of 30 contenders, the largest number FFI has ever considered including Priyanka Chopra’s Mary Kom,  Kangna Ranaut starrer Queen, Hansal Mehta’s acclaimed Shahid and Riteish Deshmukh-produced Marathi film Yellow, Rani Mukherji’s comeback Mardaani  among others.

     

    The movie tells the story of a young tribal mother who, along with her three-year-old daughter, embarks on a journey in search of her missing husband. On the way, she meets an army deserter, who decides to accompany them to their destination.

     

    Early this year, Liar’s Dice won the special jury award at the Sofia International Film Festival in Bulgaria. In addition to traveling at various festivals, it went on to win the National Awards honor for best actress (Geetanjali Thapa) and cinematography (Rajeev Ravi).

     

    The last Indian film that made it to the final five nominees at the Oscars was Ashutosh Gowariker’s Lagaan. Mother India and Salaam Bombay are the only other two Indian films to have made it to the top five.

     

    The 87th Academy awards will take place on 22 February.

  • HBO strengthens movie library with 2014 Oscar winners

    HBO strengthens movie library with 2014 Oscar winners

    MUMBAI: The Home of Box Office (HBO) is all set scorch television sets this summer with some of the best award winning movies of 2013.

     

    The channel has acquired Gravity, 12 Years a Slave, Dallas Buyers Club, The Great Gatsby and many other path-breaking 86th Academy Award winning movies and will be premiering them on its 100 per cent Ad-Free HBO premium channels HBO Defined and HBO Hits.

     

    The 86th Academy Award celebration was a spectacular affair, and saw many unexpected, unbelievable wins. Hence, the mesmerising event has now escalated the Oscar fever more than ever and has got everyone clamouring to watch the award-winning movies. HBO is giving its viewers the best movies that swept the most number of Academy Awards.