TIFF's co-directors Cameron Bailey and Piers Handling have got us salivating with the smorgasbord list of world premiere offerings for next September. Opening film comes as a surprise, as we've haven't heard much about it, but seeing that doc filmmaker Davis Guggenheim has a great relationship with the festival, From The Sky Down a doc about U2 (20 or so years after Phil Joanou's U2: Rattle & Hum) will take centre stage. Doc-programmer guru Thom Powers makes sure that the fest will be a rocking good edition by also adding Pearl Jam Twenty from fanboy Cameron Crowe.
Running between August 31st and September 10th, the 68th edition of the Venice Film Festival would be a dandy last edition for festival impresario Marco Muller even if he doesn't nab the likes of Wong Kar-wai's The Grandmaster, Walter Salles' On the Road, Fernando Meirelles' 360 and/or Zhang Yimou's Heroes of Naking. In his final year of contract, with approximately twenty-two competition slots (minus the already confirmed opening film from Italian res George Clooney and his TIFF-bound The Ides of March), this thursday's announcement should be heavy on items from the the U.K along with a robust presence from European filmmakers headed by Roman Polanski's Carnage.
It looks like the people who brought us the indie-smash hit Little Miss Sunshine are looking to recreate some of that same magic with their next film and they plan on doing so by rounding up ‘Sunshine’ alums anywhere they can find them. According to 24 frames, the directors, producers, distributors and as of right now, one cast member of the 2006 Oscar nominated flic are on board for the upcoming dramedy He Loves Me.
The Berlin Film Festival begins today and in typical IONCINEMA.com fashion, I've decided to unveil my predictions for the 2011 edition of the Cannes Film Festival. I've taken the liberty at breaking down the predictions by what should logically fit into what sections: Main Comp, UCR and the Director's Fortnight sidebar.
July is a pretty big month for movie productions worth keeping tabs on - this month's IONCINEMA.com's "Tracking Shot" features a mix of indie and studio project, with helmer Chris Gorak (Right at Your Door) making the jump for low budget to huge budget with Summit Ent. distributing and Timur Bekmambetov producing an alien invasion project.