Latest in Festivals

The Cannes Film Festival’s "Spécial" three-day event kicked off at the Palais this evening with the Lumière theater at half capacity, and fest chief Thierry Fremaux urging attendees to “applaud at 100%.” They did, despite muted proceedings given the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. Earlier this year, the 73rd edition of the…

Johnny Depp will head to Poland next month to pick up a special acting award at the 28th edition of the Camerimage festival. The event, running November 14-21 in the city of Torun, will close with a screening of Andrew Levitas' Depp-starring drama Minamata, which features the actor as celebrated photographer W. Eugene…

AFI Fest on Friday announced the winners of its jury and audience awards, with marquee honors going to Secret of Kells duo Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart’s animated Wolfwalkers, which won the audience award for narrative feature, and 76 Days, the documentary about the first days of the COVID-19 virus in China, taking the…

For at least some of us who lived through the counter-culture/psychedelic era of the late '60s and early '70s, Timothy Leary was one of the most annoying or, at least, equivocal figures of a time that hardly lacked for colorful characters. The most famous utterance of this often articulate, madly attention-seeking…

It's the rare documentary film premiere that triggers worldwide headlines, but that's what has happened with Evgeny Afineevsky's Francesco. The film about Pope Francis debuted at the Rome Film Festival today and first the Catholic press and then secular media picked up on something the pope told Afineevsky in the…

Two of the most engaging and beguiling talkers—and, oh yes, two of the better writers—of the last century share the spotlight in Truman & Tennessee: An Intimate Conversation. Good friends in real life—both were from the South and gay, had difficult upbringings, made it big with early works that were made into popular…

During a virtual screen talk today at the 64th BFI London Film Festival, George Clooney discussed the importance of journalistic integrity, the COVID-19 pandemic, his upcoming Netflix film, The Midnight Sky, and the highlights of his illustrious career. Throughout the hour-long conversation with Scottish broadcaster…

The Adult Swim Festival has set Friday Nov. 13 and Saturday, Nov. 14 for this year’s free, two-day, virtual event on YouTube. Music, comedy, panels and meet & greets with Adult Swim talent are on tap for the event, which also promises exclusive festival merchandise and “unexpected surprises.” The weekend will feature…

Quite like the scorpion that stings the frog that's offered to transport it to the other side of the river, simply because it's in its perverse nature to do so, so does Martin Eden offer up an ultimately caustic view of human endeavor that gives the heave-ho to constant striving and the best intentions. This vividly…

Cooley High director Michael Schultz will be honored October 24 by the Black Hollywood Education and Resource Center as part of its 26th annual African American Film Marketplace and the S.E. Manly Short Film Showcase, which runs from October 23-November 29. "Michael represents the best of the best in Hollywood, a true…

EXCLUSIVE: Oscar-nominated 12 Years a Slave actor Chiwetel Ejiofor is to narrate a film about the world’s water shortage crisis, which is funded by an executive from Chinese tech giant Tencent and co-directed by Emmy-winner Kevin Sim. Housed at Keo Films and OoS Pictures, Day Zero is the brainchild of Tencent’s chief…

The Film Life Foundation’s inaugural Social Justice Now Film Festival (SJNFF) has unveiled its robust program including its spotlight screenings including the documentaries 40 Years A Prisoner from HBO, Us Kids, and SNCC executive produced by Pharell Williams as well as I Am Other. and the narrative feature REEFA. The…