2009 Stockholm Film Festival Breaks Attendance Record

Sasha Grey in The Girlfriend Experience (top); 9 by Shane Acker (middle); Mads Mikkelsen, Anna Mouglalis in Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky (bottom)

The 2009 edition Stockholm International Film Festival attracted the two-decade-old festival’s biggest audience ever: 130,000 moviegoers.
The Stockholm festival’s 20th anniversary was celebrated with screenings on ice, and the presence of international celebrities such as Lifetime Achievement Award winner Susan Sarandon, Luc Besson, and Precious director Lee Daniels.
The ten films that drew the largest crowds during the festival were mostly American-made fare: Up in the Air, starring George Clooney; Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox, featuring George Clooney’s voice; Lee Daniels’ Precious, which earned Mo’Nique the festival’s best actress award; Jim Jarmusch’s The Limits of Control; [...]

European Film Academy Ambassadors

Maria de Medeiros (top); Belén Rueda (middle); Kim Rossi Stuart (bottom)

The European Film Academy (EFA) has enlisted a group of Ambassadors of European Film to cooperate in the promotion of European cinema and the European Film Awards.
From the European Film Academy’s press release, the EFA Ambassadors are:

Moritz Bleibtreu, actor, Germany
One of the best-known German faces in international cinema, Moritz Bleibtreu first shot to international attention as Manni in Tom Tykwer’s RUN LOLA RUN (1998). He was nominated in 2001 for the EFA People’s Choice Award for THE EXPERIMENT by Oliver Hirschbiegel and is now nominated for European Actor for his role as Andreas Baader in THE BAADER MEINHOF COMPLEX by Uli Edel.
Stephen Daldry, director, UK
[...]

Cannes 2009: Out of Competition Films, Special Screenings

Cannes 2009: Out of Competition Films / Special Screenings
Below is a sample of out-of-competition films, special screenings, and midnight screenings at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.
Click on the photos to enlarge them.
 

Pete DOCTER, UP (Opening Night Film)

Anne AGHION, MY NEIGHBOR, MY KILLER

Alejandro AMENABAR, AGORA

Terry GILLIAM, THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS

Robert GUÉDIGUIAN, L’ARMÉE DU CRIME (The Army of crime)

Sam RAIMI, DRAG ME TO HELL

Marina de VAN, NE TE RETOURNE PAS (Don’t look back)

Jan KOUNEN, COCO CHANEL & IGOR STRAVINSKY (Closing Night Film)
 
Photos: Courtesy Festival de Cannes