John Hurt, Tahar Rahim, Yoav Shamir: London 2009

Tahar Rahim, the star of Jacques Audiard’s widely praised prison drama A Prophet, winner of the best picture award at the London Film Festival and a likely best foreign language film Oscar contender, arrives for the Times BFI 53rd London Film Festival Awards Ceremony at Inner Temple on October 28. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)

John Hurt and Ann Rees Meyers arrive for the Times BFI 53rd London Film Festival Awards Ceremony. Hurt and filmmaker Souleymane Cissé were given BFI Fellowships at the awards ceremony. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)

Filmmaker Yoav Shamir, whose documentary Defamation won the London Film Festival’s top prize in that category, arrives for the Times BFI 53rd London Film Festival Awards Ceremony. Defamation [...]

Charlotte Rampling, Anjelica Huston, John Hurt: London 2009

Veteran actresses Charlotte Rampling and Anjelica Huston attend a cocktail reception at the Times BFI 53rd London Film Festival Awards Ceremony. (Photo by Samir Hussein/Getty Images)

Filmmaker Yaron Shani poses with the Sutherland award for the film Ajami, voted the most original and imaginative first feature. Mexican filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón is standing next to him at the Times BFI 53rd London Film Festival Awards Ceremony. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)

John Hurt poses with his BFI Fellowship. Next to him are Jeremy Thomas (on his left) and Michael Caton-Jones (on his right) at the Times BFI 53rd London Film Festival Awards Ceremony. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)

London Film Festival Awards 2009

Star of London for Best Film: Jacques Audiard’s A PROPHET
On behalf of the London Film Festival jury, Anjelica Huston stated: “A masterpiece: Un prohète has the ambition, purity of vision and clarity of purpose to make it an instant classic. With seamless and imaginative story-telling, superb performances and universal themes, Jacques Audiard has made a perfect film.” In A Prophet, Tahar Rahim stars as a prison newcomer who learns how to become that realm’s top dog.

Special mention: John Hillcoat’s THE ROAD

Best British Newcomer: Jack Thorne, screenwriter of the film THE SCOUTING BOOK FOR BOYS

Sutherland Award for most original and imaginative first feature: Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani for AJAMI

Grierson Award for Best Documentary: Yoav Shamir for [...]

Outfest 2009: Bisex Shorts, John Hurt, RAGING SUN, RAGING SKY

Outfest 2009 hightlights on Sunday, July 12. Synopses from the Outfest website.

Bi-Definition by Kai Salim (top); Mano-a-Mano by Todd Strauss-Schulson (middle); Clearing the Air by David Morgasen (bottom)

Shorts Program: The Bro Job (Sun, Jul 12th 11:30am, DGA 1)
Program Running Time is 92 min
A Mate
Directed By: Teemu Nikki
Finland, 2007, 7 min
Pera wants to try something kinky in the bathroom, so he asks his mate to help him. However, Pera’s wife comes home a bit too soon.
The Watch
Directed By: Marco Berger
Argentina, 2008, 15 min
Two young men find a surprise connection during an impromptu sleepover.
Mano-A-Mano
Directed By: Todd Strauss-Schulson
USA, 2008, 5 min
Two dudes go head to head [...]

Frameline 33: The 2009 San Francisco LGBT Film Festival

Frameline 33, the 2009 San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival, kicks off on Thursday, June 18, with screenings of Richard Laxton’s An Englishman in New York (above, top photo), starring John Hurt as Quentin Crisp, and Bonham Sláma’s rural Czech drama The Country Teacher (above, lower photo), set universes away from glamorous Park Avenue and the superciliousness of Crisp and his milieu.

Among Frameline 33’s other films are:

Shine Louise Houston’s Champion (above, top photo), the tale of a tough female wrestler who must decide between success and "being herself." ("If you liked Girlfight, but felt like it was missing strap-on action and penetration," reads Frameline’s info on the film, "then Champion is for you!")
Auraeus Solito’s Boy, described as "An exquisitely [...]

London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival 2009: Fred Halsted, THE NAKED CIVIL SERVANT

London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival 2009
Friday, March 27, highlights
Schedule and synopses from the LLGFF website
 

The Naked Civil Servant

Directed by:
Jack Gold

Cast:
John Hurt, Liz Gebhardt, Patricia Hodge

Country:
UK

Year:
1975

Running time:
85min

 
This dramatization of Quentin [Crisp]’s first volume of autobiography won BAFTAs for its director Jack Gold and its star. John Hurt gives a dazzling performance as the young Quentin, a flame-haired flamboyant homosexual when such things were not permitted. It contains much of the wit and wisdom of Quentin and celebrates a life lived in a refusal to conform. The highlight is Quentin’s impassioned speech from the dock when charged with soliciting for an immoral purpose.
Plus an interview with Bernard Braden filmed in 1967. Previously [...]