AFI FEST 2009: SOMETHING’S GONNA LIVE, ABOUT ELLY, DOCTOR PARNASSUS

Heath Ledger in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (top); A Lake by Philippe Grandrieux (middle); Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint in North by Northwest (bottom)

AFI FEST 2009 highlights, Nov. 2:

Daniel Raim’s documentary Something’s Gonna Live, which features interviews with several behind-the-scenes veterans, including Robert Boyle, Conrad Hall, and Haskell Wexler
Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, which marks Heath Ledger’s last film appearance
Asghar Farhadi’s drama About Elly, winner of the Silver Bear for best director at the 2009 Berlin Film Festival
Andrea Arnold’s family drama Fish Tank, winner of the Jury Prize at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival
Bahman Ghobadi’s No One Knows About Persian Cats, about the obstacles faced by a couple of Iranian teenagers trying to form a rock band [...]

Oscar 2010: Early Predictions – Best Foreign Language Film

Best Foreign Language Film

Baaria, Giuseppe Tornatore (Italy)
An autobiographical tale set in the director’s Sicilian hometown

Forever Enthralled, Chen Kaige (China)
Biopic chronicling the life of Mei Lanfang, China’s greatest opera star.

I Killed My Mother, Xavier Dolan (Canada)
A young gay man has some serious issues with his mother.

A Prophet, Jacques Audiard (France)
Prison drama in which a young hood learns what it takes to reach the top of that small (and nasty) world.

The White Ribbon, Michael Haneke (Germany)
As a prelude to both World War I and World War II, a German village unexpectedly becomes the setting of numerous acts of cruelty.

Quality (much like fairness) is in the brain of the judge. (Of course, if we’re lucky enough to have a judge [...]

Tribeca Awards 2009

Tribeca Film Festival Awards 2009
Tribeca Film Festival 2009: April 22-May 3, 2009

 
The Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature: About Elly / Darbareye Elly, directed and written by Asghar Farhadi
Best New Narrative Filmmaker: Rune Denstad Langlo for North / Nord, written by Erlend Loe
Best Actor: Ciarán Hinds in The Eclipse, directed and written by Conor McPherson
Best Actress: Zoe Kazan in The Exploding Girl, directed and written by Bradley Rust Gray
Best Documentary Feature: Racing Dreams, directed by Marshall Curry
Special Jury Mention: Defamation / Hashmatsa, directed by Yoav Shamir
Best New Documentary Filmmaker: Ian Olds for Fixer: The Taking of Ajmal Naqshbandi
 
New York Competition
Best New York Narrative: Here and There / Tamo i ovde, directed and written by Darko Lungulov
Best New York Documentary: [...]