Monday, September 15------In celebration of its 30th anniversary, the Independent Feature Project (IFP), one of the oldest filmmaker organizations in America, is hosting this week's Independent Film Week (formerly the IFP Market). The name change reflects the organization's mission of discovering, showcasing, and ing new independent film projects and talent. For full information, visit: www.independentfilmweek.comSince its founding in 1979, IFP has facilitated the development, financi...

Monday, July 28-------As the summer sizzles in New York City, the sound of samba cannot be too far behind. A revival of an old tradition----dancing to live music under the stars----has swept New York in the last few seasons, with many venues and styles of music for budding Fred Astaires. A favorite for summertime heat is samba, the music of Brazil. This summer, the sizzle is not only on the street, but up on the big screen.Since last week, the Museum of Modern Art has been presenting Premiere ...

 by Sandy Mandelberger, Film New York Editor Friday, July 18-------The winner of this year’s Cannes Film Festival’s most prestigious award, the Palme d’Or, will open the 46th edition of the New York Film Festival (NYFF), one of the most important film showcases in North America.The Class (Entres Les Murs), a gritty but very human story of the dysfunctional French education system, won the top prize at Cannes for its director Laurent Cantet. Three of Cantet's four features have played in ...

 Friday, July 11-----What most American do not know about the country of Slovenia could easily fill the mileage that separates the two countries. Well, with the idea that film can be an informative and illuminating guide to other cultures, New York's Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Slovenian Film Fund will be presenting a program of classic and contemporary Slovenian films from July 16 to 22. So ladies and gents, it’s time to brush up on your Slovene savvy.Let’s start with some basic...

 Wednesday, June 25------European Film Promotion (EFP), the pan-European association of governmental promotion agencies that represent the film industries of 25 European countries, continues its New York Industry Screenings as a way of targeting New York-based distributors, programmers and press. Over the past two days, EFP presented a program of 4 critically acclaimed European feature films with special screenings and receptions at the Tribeca Cinemas in lower Manhattan.   Films Distribution ...

 Friday, May 23-----If you are a lover of film (guilty) and also a lover of jazz (guilty again), then you are destined for movie and musical heaven at the on-going film series Jazz Score at the Museum of Modern Art. Starting last month, this unique retrospective will showcase 50 feature films and a selection of shorts that meld the power of jazz and the moving image.The series celebrates well-known and obscure jazz scores composed for films from the 1950s to the present, with a particular emph...

 Thursday, May 15-----The timing could not be more perfect. On the same day that the California Supreme Court issued a historic reversal against the ban on gay marriage, the Jacob Burns Film Center in New York's Westchester County is launching its annual Out At The Movie series, focusing on films made by and targed to the gay and lesbian community (and those who love and ire them).Whatever one's position on the subject of gay marriage, the civil rights of gay couples is an issue that goes be...

 Tuesday, May 13------Poland has had an active film industry since the beginning of the 20th century and continues to be one of the most active players on the Eastern European film scene. Having produced such acknowledged film masters as Roman Polanski, Andrzej Wajda, Agnieszka Holland, Krzysztof Kieślowski, Jan Lenica, Lech Majewski and Jerzy Skolimowski, the Polish film scene has flourished, even under the strict demands of 40 years of Communist rule. As the economic dynamo of the “new Eur...

 Wednesday, May 7-------This May marks a milestone in recent world history. It is the 40th anniversary of the “events of 1968”, a series of revolutionary protests that spanned the globe and created social and political turmoil, particularly in the United States, England and . While the protests centered on the escalating war in Vietnam, the main engine was a discontent with politics as usual. In , in particular, art mixed with politics, as leading filmmakers, artists and philoso...

 Tuesday, April 22----In the world of cinema, there is always a “new wave” occurring in a country or region or even genre. No question, in 2007/2008, that new wave is centered in the country of Romania, which has flexed its muscles on the international stage with a series of lauded films. At last year’s Cannes Film Festival, the Romanian abortion drama 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS AND 2 DAYS by Cristian Mingui was the surprise winner of the Palme d’Or, the Festival’s highest honor. Another Roman...

 Thursday, April 3-------New Directors/New Films,  one of New York’s film world rites of Spring, is now mid-way through its program. Dedicated to the discovery and of emerging artists, New Directors/New Films has earned an international reputation for its cutting-edge programming and commitment to more artistically ambitious filmmaking. This year, a total of 26 features and 6 short films made the cut, spotlighting first and second-time directors who are beginning to make their mark ...

 Wednesday, April 2------One film/one party…..it’s a formula that has served the Gen Art Film Festival well during the last dozen years. Well, the film + party theme kicks off again this evening, as the 13th Annual Gen Art Film Festival begins a week-long showcase of the best of new American independent cinema. The Festival, presented by Acura, offers spotlight showcases seven features and seven shorts from emerging filmmakers, which are followed by seven premiere parties at some of New Yor...

 Wednesday, March 26----As another sign of seasonal change, the venerable New Directors/New Films festival returns to the Museum of Modern Art and the Film Society of Lincoln Center in what is one of New York’s rites of Spring. Dedicated to the discovery and of emerging artists, ND/NF has earned an international reputation for its cutting-edge programming and commitment to more artistically ambitious filmmaking. This year, a total of 26 features and 6 short films made the cut, spotlig...

  Wednesday, March 19------In a bitter twist of irony, Americans know far more about the film culture of Europe and Asia than they do about their neighbor to the north. Canadian cinema, which has flourished for decades, makes an occasional dent in the United States in an unfair balance of trade that sees American films flooding the Canadian market (as they do everywhere else in the world).  Well, for the past week, the Museum of Modern Art has attempted to redress this imbalance with thei...

 Friday, January 11-------With the explosion of film festivals over the past two decades, no specialized genre has been more potent, and had more loyal audiences, than the Jewish film festival, which has become a cultural staple in communities across North America, Europe and South America. In all, there may be almost 300 of these events in a given year.....each a mix of film appreciation and something more fundamental, an opportunity for the Jewish community (and those involved with them) to s...

 Wednesday, January 9-------The cinema of Eastern Europe is one of the world’s most complex and rewarding for filmgoers willing to take the journey into the hearts and minds of its singular film artists. Among the most idiosyncratic of these talents is Goran Paskaljevic, one of Europe’s most respected and critically acclaimed directors. While New York audiences may have caught a few of this iconoclastic director’s choice films at film festivals over the years, the Museum of Modern Art (Mo...

 Friday, December 14---------Leave it to the good taste and the subversive spirit of the Film Forum to resurrect Woody Allen's dysfunctional family comedy classic HANNAH AND HER SISTERS, just in time for our own familial crises for the Hannukah and Christmas holidays. Woody got it so right in this tale of three sisters (the sublime Mia Farrow, Barbara Hershey and Oscar-winner Dianne Wiest) who can't help but compare their professional and personal lives in a case of sorority sister sibling riva...

 Wednesday, December 12---------It's one of the frustrating feelings of the true buff......a film you were hoping to see in theaters that disappears about its first week's run. In this age of the rapid release, where specialty titles often don't have much staying power, unless you catch them in their first week of release, it's possible to miss out on them until them turn on pay television or DVD. This is true not only of the smallest indie titles but of some major releases as well that, for re...

 Friday, December 7-----------New York film audiences will be able to add a bit of Spanish spice to their seasoned greetings this holiday season, as the Film Society of Lincoln Center unveils its annual survey of the best of the new Spanish cinema. With such Spanish names as Pedro Almodovar, Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz (among others) becoming international superstars, the red hot Spanish cinema is certainly one of the most vital and varied film cultures around. For its 16th edition at the ...

 Wednesday, December 5----------After last year's introduction, New York's prestigious Metropolitan Opera has announced that it has expanded its program of live high definition digital transmissions to move theaters of a new season of opera highlights. The second season of METROPOLITAN OPERA: LIVE IN HIGH DEFINITION, will premiere on December 15 with a live broadcast of Gounod's ROMEO ET JULIETTE, performed by the opera diva Anna Netrebko and the Spanish tenor Roberto Alagna, conducted by opera...

 Monday, December 3-------Pier Paolo Pasolini, a son of privilege who was a lifelong Communist, a poet who some called a pornographer, a moralist and a sensualist rolled up in one astonishing filmmaking talent, has been the subject of a retrospective salute at the Film Society of Lincoln Center. The program, called PIER PAOLO PASOLINI: POET OF ASHES is a mixed media salute of film, staged readings, music concerts and other presentations. At the heart of the celebration of this vital and controv...

 Friday, November 16-------Although every Friday sees a glut of film openings making their way to film theaters, the truth is that a large number of worthy films never find traditional theatrical distribution. That is one of the reasons that the brave new worlds of internet s and other non-traditional distribution methods hold such promise. However, until these new methodologies take hold in such a way that they can generate the same or similar revenue, theatrical distribution remains t...

 Wednesday, November 7-------------The Margaret Mead Film and Video Festival, the longest-running documentary film festival in the United States, celebrates 31 years of bringing international documentaries to New York audiences with an eclectic program of 29 films from all over the planet. The Festival will unspool at the American Museum of Natural History this coming weekend.Other topics include -generated Web content, disability and community, struggles with sexual identity in Iran, reinc...

 Monday, November 5-----------CINEMA CHILE, a survey of contemporary films from the South American nation, comes to New York for an unprecedented survey of the trends, talents and templates of the next wave of Chilean film. The program will screen from Friday, November 9 to Thursday, November 15 at the Quad Cinema, one of New York's most adventurous art-house cinemas, located in the heart of Greenwich Village. CINEMA CHILE is a co-production between ProChile, the Chilean Trade Commission, th...

 Monday, October 29--------Former Vice President and possible Presidential candidate Al Gore will give the Keynote Speech at the sympsium A DAY OF DIALOGUE: THE FUTURE OF NON-FICTION FILM. Gore, who recently was a co-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and whose film AN INCOVENIENT TRUTH (directed by Davis Guggenheim) won the Oscar this past year as Best Documentary, is expected to talk about the current state of the world of documentary and non-fiction reportage and where it is heading in the fu...