News

Spring release planned on British-Palestinian filmmaker Basil Khalil’s culture-clash comedy-drama.

Cohen Media Group has acquired US rights to British-Palestinian filmmaker Basil Khalil’s TIFF Discovery premiere A Gaza Weekend.

‘A Gaza Weekend’: Toronto Review

Khalil’s made his feature directorial debut on the culture-clash comedy-drama about a couple stranded amid a deadly virus outbreak which has sealed off Israel and turned the Gaza Strip into the safest place in the region.

A British journalist and his Israeli girlfriend who want to flee Israel must place their faith in two Palestinian street merchants who promise a way out in exchange for cash.

Six Saudi talents with new or upcoming projects.

For a country that only reopened cinemas five years ago, Saudi Arabia can certainly boast more than its fair share of film making talents, be it in front or behind the camera. Here we highlight two directors, two actors and two filmmaking sisters with current or upcoming projects.

Aisha Al Rifaie, actress VHS Tape Replaced

This actress first appeared on the big screen in Faiza Ambah’s mother son story Nour Shams. The short film was produced by Oscar-nominated Palestinian filmmaker Basil Khalil and for her touching performance Al Rifaie won a...

Six Saudi talents with new or upcoming projects.

For a country that only reopened cinemas five years ago, Saudi Arabia can certainly boast more than its fair share of film making talents, be it in front or behind the camera. Here we highlight two directors, two actors and two filmmaking sisters with current or upcoming projects.

Aisha Al Rifaie, actress VHS Tape Replaced

This actress first appeared on the big screen in Faiza Ambah’s mother son story Nour Shams. The short film was produced by Oscar-nominated Palestinian filmmaker Basil Khalil and for her touching performance Al Rifaie won a...

Six Saudi talents with new or upcoming projects.

For a country that only reopened cinemas five years ago, Saudi Arabia can certainly boast more than its fair share of film making talents, be it in front or behind the camera. Here we highlight two directors, two actors and two filmmaking sisters with current or upcoming projects.

Aisha Al Rifaie, actress VHS Tape Replaced

This Saudi-born actress first appeared on the big screen in Faiza Ambah’s mother son story Nour Shams. The short film was produced by Oscar-nominated Palestinian filmmaker Basil Khalil and for her touching performance Al Rifaie won...

Fipresci Jury Award-winning “A Gaza Weekend” made a splash at Toronto International Film Festival last week. Public and press alike flocked towards theaters for this film’s premiere weekend; each screening was packed. The film’s release could not have been more timely. Written during the swine flu and released after the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, British-Palestinian Basil Khalil pokes fun at plague paranoia in his narrative feature debut. In this punchy family-friendly comedy of the Gaza Strip, any and all traditional power hierarchies are out the window for the sake of survival.

A Gaza Weekend is screening at Red Sea International Film Festival

Like many films about Palestine, “A Gaza Weekend” follows the trajectory of a refugee couple – though this time, they’re from Israel. Englishman Michael (Stephen Mangan) and his Israeli partner Keren (Mouna Hawa) are desperate to leave the country after the outbreak...

Mena-based distributor and producer Front Row Filmed Entertainment has acquired Mena rights for British-Palestinian filmmaker Basil Khalil’s feature debut A Gaza Weekend, ahead of its regional premiere at the Red International Film Festival this December.

The acquisition marks the third collaboration between Khalil and Front Row, as the company previously distributed his 2015 Academy Award and Palme d’Or-nominated short Ave Maria, which debuted in Cannes in 2015 and has also recently boarded Nour Shams, a short film by Saudi filmmaker Faiza Ambah and produced by Khalil.

International sales on the film, which world premiered in Toronto in September, are handled by London-based sales and production company Protagonist Pictures. The feature is produced by U.K.-Emirati producer Amina Dasmal and executive produced by Robin C. Fox.

The comedy-drama is set in a world where Israel is sealed off after a deadly virus outbreak and Gaza has become the safest place in the region.

Dubai-based distributor and producer Front Row Filmed Entertainment has acquired Middle East and North Africa (Mena) rights to British-Palestinian filmmaker Basil Khalil’s action-packed drama “A Gaza Weekend” ahead of its regional premiere at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival.

Front Row, which is a prominent distributor of indie films in Mena region, picked up “Gaza Weekend” from London-based sales and production outfit Protagonist Pictures after it premiered positively at the Toronto International Film Festival in September.

Made by British-Emirati producer Amina Dasmal and Robin C. Fox, who executive produced, “Gaza Weekend” is set in a world where Israel is sealed off after a deadly virus outbreak and Gaza has become the safest spot in the region. British journalist (Stephen Mangan) and his Israeli girlfriend (Mouna Hawa) find themselves stuck on the wrong side of the border, needing the help of two Palestinian street merchants who promise them a...

BBC Film today announced an updated editorial team under the continued leadership of Director, Eva Yates.

New hires include Kristin Irving, who joins BBC Film as Commissioning Executive from the BFI, where she is currently Senior Production and Development Executive at the BFI’s Film Fund. Anu Henriques joins as Development Executive after previously working as a Development Associate at the production company Fable Pictures. Claudia Yusef has been named as Commissioning Executive expanding her responsibilities across development and production.

“Since taking the reins at BBC Film my priority has been building an outstanding creative team to ensure our filmmakers enjoy the most thoughtful, rigorous and dynamic support available,” Yates said. “I couldn’t be happier to announce Claudia’s expanded role and the appointments today of Kristin and Anu, all of whom bring exactly this energy. They are joining a passionate multi-disciplinary team dedicated to supporting and uplifting world-class...

After 11 days and over 200 films, Toronto International Film Festival finally came to a close on Sunday. On the ground, much of the buzz seemed geared towards upcoming fall releases, like “Glass Onion: Knives Out”, “The Fabelmans”, “The Woman King”, and “Pearl.” TIFF juries seemed to think otherwise, however. Independent productions have taken home most of the awards, with a good half of them being Asian identifying filmmakers took home near half of the awards. Of these, at least 25 percent identify as Asian Canadian, and at least three do not identify as cisgender male. The range has also been notable. With productions ranging from Mongolia (“Snow in September”) to Palestine (“A Gaza Weekend”), from sleepy towns in Canada (“Riceboy Sleeps”) to film sets in the Philippines (“Leonor Will Never Die”), the list of movies reveals the sheer diversity in the continent of Asia – and all the diasporas accompanying it.

But without further ado,...

While we’re in the middle of the fall festival season, with Telluride, Venice, and TIFF in the rearview, and NYFF, BFI London, and AFI Fest on the horizon, it’s time to round up some of our early favorites. We’ve polled our contributors from Venice and TIFF to share their top picks, which one can see below along with our ongoing coverage here.

David Katz (@davidfabiankatz)

1. Saint Omer (Alice Diop)

2. Trenque Lauquen (Laura Citarella)

3. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (Laura Poitras)

4. Master Gardener (Paul Schrader)

5. The Whale (Darren Aronofsky)

6. Love Life (Kôji Fukada)

7. Blonde (Andrew Dominik)

8. A Couple (Frederick Wiseman)

9. In Viaggio (Gianfranco Rosi)

10. The Eternal Daughter (Joanna Hogg)

Luke Hicks (@lou_kicks)

1. Bones and All (Luca Guadagnino)

2. Other People’s Children (Rebecca Zlotowski)

3. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (Laura Poitras)

4. The Eternal Daughter (Joanna Hogg)

5. Athena (Romain Gavras)

6. White Noise (Noah Baumbach)

7. The Banshees of Inisherin...

Fipresci Jury Award-winning “A Gaza Weekend” made a splash at Toronto International Film Festival last week. Public and press alike flocked towards theaters for this film’s premiere weekend; each screening was packed. The film’s release could not have been more timely. Written during the swine flu and released after the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, British-Palestinian Basil Khalil pokes fun at plague paranoia in his narrative feature debut. In this punchy family-friendly comedy of the Gaza Strip, any and all traditional power hierarchies are out the window for the sake of survival.

A Gaza Weekend is screening at Toronto International Film Festival

Like many films about Palestine, “A Gaza Weekend” follows the trajectory of a refugee couple – though this time, they’re from Israel. Englishman Michael (Stephen Mangan) and his Israeli partner Keren (Mouna Hawa) are desperate to leave the country after the outbreak of a new deadly Ars virus.

Iconic director Steven Spielberg has given cinema a wide variety of stories ranging from his famous fantastical sci-fi adventures to intimate character dramas and historical period pieces. The maestro’s latest outing is the semi-autobiographical The Fabelmans. After having a world premiere at TIFF (read our review), the movie just picked up the prestigious People’s Choice Audience Award, widely considered the fest’s top honor.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, this is Spielberg’s first film to debut at the festival, and it was a special film in which to do so, as the filmmaker explains.

Spielberg had this to say following his win,

This is the most personal film I’ve ever made, and the warm reception from everyone in Toronto made my first visit to TIFF so intimate and personal for me and my entire Fabelman family.”

Two films would tie for first runner-up for the award.

Canada’s Riceboy Sleeps wins Platform Prize.

Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical The Fabelmans has bolstered its awards season prospects by winning the TIFF People’s Choice Award on Sunday (September 18).

The award is a highly reliable bellwether of Academy voter attention. In the last ten years every TIFF audience award winner has earned a best picture Oscar nomination and three have gone on to win awards season’s top prize: Nomadland in 2021, Green Book in 2019, and 12 Years A Slave in 2014.

The Fabelmans earned a rapturous reception at its world premiere on September 10 and immediately announced itself in the awards race,...

After two weeks and dozens of movies, the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival has come to a close. At Sunday’s Awards Breakfast, all eyes were on the People’s Choice Award, which is frequently a bellwether for the Oscar race. For the past decade, every winner of the coveted award has gone onto receive a nomination for Best Picture. Competition for the People’s Choice Award was stiff, with critical darlings such as “Women Talking” and “The Banshees of Inisherin” vying for the top prize. But ultimately, Steven Spielberg’s crowd pleasing, semi-autobiographical film “The Fabelmans” was named the winner.

“Above all, I am glad I brought this film to Toronto,” Spielberg said in a statement. “This is the most personal film I have made, and the warm reception from everyone in Toronto made my first visit to TIFF intimate and personal for me and my entire ‘Fabelmans’ family.”

“2022 brought...

Click here to read the full article.

Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans picked up the top People’s Choice honor Sunday at the Toronto Film Festival, which wrapped up its 47th edition.

Spielberg’s latest film grabbed TIFF’s top audience award, which is often a barometer of future Academy Award nominations. “This is the most personal film I’ve ever made, and the warm reception from everyone in Toronto made my first visit to TIFF so intimate and personal for me and my entire Fabelman family,” the director said in a statement following the announcement of his win.

The Fabelmans, co-written with Tony Kushner, marks the first time the Oscar winner debuted a movie at the Toronto Film Festival. The childhood memoir will be released Nov. 11 via Universal. Another autobiographical family film about a director’s childhood, Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast, was named the top audience prize winner in...

Updated, 9:45 Am with Steven Spielberg statement:

Here is Steven Spielberg’s full statement upon winning the Toronto Film Festival’s People’s Choice award for The Fabelmans.

“As I said on stage the other night, ‘Above all, I’m glad I brought this film to Toronto!.’ This is the most personal film I’ve ever made, and the warm reception from everyone in Toronto made my first visit to TIFF so intimate and personal for me and my entire Fabelman family. Thank you to Cameron Bailey and the incredible staff at TIFF; thank you to Universal Pictures; and a very special thank you to all the movie fans in Toronto who have made this past weekend one I’ll never forget.”

Previously: The People’s Choice Award from the just-wrapped 2022 Toronto Film Festival has gone to Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans. First Runner Up is Canada’s own Sarah Polley’s Women Talking.

Click here to read the full article.

Films can be given life or put to death in Cannes. Many are born from meetings there. But very few are dreamed up in a rush on the beach while trying to impress an industry exec. A Gaza Weekend is a rare exception, beginning its unlikely journey at the 2009 edition of the festival, where Basil Khalil was casually asked by a sales agent what project he was working on next.

“And I had absolutely nothing,” he tells The Hollywood Reporter. Not wanting to admit his creative shortcomings, the British-Palestinian filmmaker quickly came up with a project off the top of his head. “Swine flu had been in the news at the time, so I just said, ‘Ok, so there’s a virus in Israel and the only safe place is Gaza.’ And that’s all I had.” And did it have a name?...

Director Basil Khalil and co-writer Daniel Ka-Chun Chan waste no time setting the tone for their Middle Eastern comedy A Gaza Weekend. Conceived over a decade ago, its purpose is to satirize the very real conflict between Palestinians and Israelis to its most absurd extremes while also finding the common ground of humanity hiding beneath—much like Khalil’s enjoyable, Oscar-nominated short Ave Maria. As such, watching a scientist carelessly mill about an Israeli infectious disease center is less about her obvious lack of protocol and more about the color of her skin. Why? Because it means the country, despite being ground zero for a deadly disease, can absolve itself by blaming an Arab.

And what’s the point of making Israel the epicenter for a cataclysmic pandemic if you don’t also render Gaza the safest place on Earth? The reason: Israel has blocked the area off with walls...

In Conversation With… session hears how and director have fought for their success.

Viola Davis and director Gina Prince-Bythewood, the formidable forces behind TIFF world premiere The Woman King, have opened up in an on-stage festival discussion about their personal battles for success as Black artists.

‘The Woman King’: Toronto Review

The audience at Saturday’s (September 10) In Conversation With… session at TIFF Bell Lightbox heard how despite Davis’s talent, the Juilliard School graduate and eventual first African-American to achieve the “triple crown of acting” – Oscar, Emmy and Tony awards – wasn’t immune to rejection based on her gender and race.

The WhaleWAVELENGTHS - FEATURESConcrete Valley (Antoine Bourges)De Humani Corporis Fabrica (Véréna Paravel, Lucien Castaing-Taylor)Dry Ground BurningHorse Opera (Moyra Davey)Pacifiction (Albert Serra)Queens of the Qing Dynasty (Ashley McKenzie)Unrest (Cyril Schäublin)Will-o’-the-Wisp (João Pedro Rodrigues)Wavelenghths - SHORTSAfter Work (Céline Condorelli, Ben Rivers)Bigger on the Inside (Angelo Madsen Minax)Eventide (Sharon Lockhart)F1ghting Looks Different 2 Me Now (Fox Maxy)Fata Morgana (Tacita Dean)Hors-titre (Wiame Haddad)I Thought the World of You (Kurt Walker)Moonrise (Vincent Grenier)The Newest Olds (Pablo Mazzolo)Puerta a Puerta (Jessica Sarah Rinland, Luis Arnías )The Time That Separates Us (Parastoo Anoushahpour)What Rules the Invisible (Tiffany Sia)Gala PRESENTATIONSAlice, Darling (Mary Nighy)Black Ice (Hubert Davis)The Greatest Beer Run Ever (Peter Farrelly)Butcher’s Crossing (Gabe Polsky)The Hummingbird (Francesca Archibugi)Hunt (Jung-jae Lee)A Jazzman’s Blues (Tyler Perry)Kacchey Limbu (Shubham Yogi)Moving On (Paul Weitz)Paris Memories...

New work from Benjamin Millepied, Kim Hongsun, Tim Story populate latest selections.

The Toronto International FiLm Festival has unveiled its Discovery, Midnight Madness and Wavelengths strands.

Midnight Madness returns to its 10-film format and will screen at new venue the Royal Alexandra Theatre. The section opens with Eric Appel’s US biopic Weird: The Al Yankovic Story featuring Daniel Radcliffe in the title role.

The section presents Finecut’s Project Wolf Hunting (South Korea) by Kim Hongsun, whose genre oeuvre includes Metamorphosis and The Chase. Finland has been stepping up its festival presence of late and Jalmari Helander will premiere...

Click here to read the full article.

The Toronto Film Festival’s Midnight Madness sidebar will open with Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, with Daniel Radcliffe playing the prolific musician behind humorous songs like “Eat It” and “Amish Paradise.”

Eric Appel directs the biopic for The Roku Channel that also stars Evan Rachel Wood and will have a world premiere Sept. 8 at TIFF at the Royal Alexandra Theater.

“I couldn’t have hoped for a more appropriate opening night film than Weird: The Al Yankovic Story — a beautifully deranged biopic made in the great Midnight movie tradition of challenging conventions and forging one’s own path, no matter how weird,” Midnight Madness curator Peter Kuplowsky said in a statement Thursday.

The latest additions to the Toronto Film Festival also include the lineups for the Discovery and Wavelengths programs unveiled Thursday.

The gore-filled Midnight Madness program has world bows for Tim Story...

Further titles include ‘Doctor Jekyll’ and ‘Starve Acre’.

The UK Global Screen Fund is to award 10 features with support for their international distribution, including upcoming comedy A Gaza Weekend and period romance Summerland.

The titles will receive a share of £273,000 allocated through the international distribution stand of the £7m fund, which was piloted last year by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (Dcms) to boost international opportunities for the UK’s independent screen sector following the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. It is administered by the British Film Institute (BFI), which confirmed the scheme’s renewal for...

In the run-up to Cannes, the British Film Institute and the British Council held the Great8 showcase, which presented eight U.K. films from emerging filmmakers. Here are the films selected:

“Aftersun” (drama)

Director/writer: Charlotte Wells

Cast: Paul Mescal, Frankie Corio, Celia Rowlson-Hall

Sales: Charades

Sophie reflects on the shared joy and private melancholy of a holiday she took with her father 20 years earlier. Memories real and imagined fill the gaps between miniDV footage as she tries to reconcile the father she knew with the man she didn’t.

“Birchanger Green” (sci-fi)

Director/writer: Moin Hussain

Cast: Faraz Ayub, Natalie Gavin, Claire Rushbrook, Simon Nagra

Sales: Bankside Films

Adam lives a solitary life. Upon hearing that his estranged father has died, he finds himself in search of answers. Piecing together a complicated image of a man he never knew, Adam starts to become convinced he is descended from an alien race.

Titles include ’Aftersun’, ’Enys Men’, ‘Birchanger Green’ and ‘A Gaza Weekend’.

Cannes premieres Aftersun, sold by Charades, and Enys Men, sold by Protagonist Pictures, are among the titles selected for year’s Great 8, the annual Cannes buyers’ showcase of UK films from emerging directors.

The other six titles are all in post-production.

Now in its fifth edition, the 2022 Great 8 showcase is funded and run by the BFI and the British Council, in partnership with BBC Film and Film4.

Unseen footage from all of the titles will be introduced by their filmmakers and screened on May 12 exclusively to buyers and festival programmers during the online-only showcase,...

The BFI and British Council have revealed the line-up for this year’s Great8 showcase, which allows international distributors and festival programmers to get an early look at eight releases from emerging U.K. filmmakers in the run-up to Cannes Marché.

Now in its fifth year, the showcase on May 12 will allow filmmakers to screen unseen footage from the films, which will be available to buy during the market, which runs from May 17-28.

Of the eight films selected for the showcase, one has also been selected for the official Directors’ Fortnight and another for the Critics’ Week line-up. The remaining six films are in post-production.

The Great8 showcase is funded and organized by the BFI and the British Council, in partnership with BBC Film and Film4. It has previously presented films including “I Am Not A Witch” and “Calm with Horses.”

Neil Peplow, the BFI’s Director of Industry and International Affairs,...

Leading Arab producer Ossama Bawardi is in development with Palestinian director Annemarie Jacir’s fourth film, a period drama set in Palestine, with European and Arab characters, in what he describes as “a very competitive Arab market” for Arab films. Speaking to Variety at the El Gouna Film Festival in Egypt, Bawardi spoke about his upcoming slate.

Jacir, who served on the Berlinale’s International Jury this year, has just finished the script for her next project. The plan is for it to qualify under the British-Palestinian co-production agreement. “We have begun reaching out to international partners, to those who want to be part of Annemarie’s new film, which she calls the project of her life,” Bawardi said.

Even with the global pandemic, and at times because of it, it’s been a busy year for Bawardi and Philistine Films, the company he runs alongside Jacir. The husband-and-wife team...

They join Zvyagintsev, Weerasethakul and Rosi for event, which runs March 9-14.

Oscar-winning costume designer Sandy Powell and Us director Bennett Miller have been named as the final two masters at the Doha Film Institute’s talent and project event Qumra, running March 9-14.

Organisers the Doha Film Institute also unveiled details of the 34 projects from 25 countries – in various stages of production - that have been selected to attend the event.

They include Weldi, the upcoming feature by Tunisian director Mohamed Ben Attia, whose picture Hedi won best first feature at the Berlinale in 2016, as well as Palestinian-British director Basil Khalil’s A Gaza Weekend, his feature debut feature after Oscar-nominated short Ave Maria.

Powell and Miller join previously announced masters Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev, Thai filmmaker Apitchatpong Weerasethakul and Italian documentarian Gianfranco Rosi who will mentor participants attending the bespoke meeting aimed at first and second time filmmakers.

The five masters will attend the event unfolding in and...

The organizers of the festival have announced the films that will compete for the Korean and International Section.

This year the Korean Competition will showcase 17 films (14 fictions, 1 experimental, 1 documentary and 1 animation) and the International Competition consists of 37 films (28 fictions, 5 documentaries, 3 experimental and 1 animation). The 33rd Busan International Short Film Festival (Bisff) will take place from April 22th to 26th at the Busan Cinema Center in Busan (South Korea). We will keep you updated as soon as more information about the films is available.

Korean Competition

Ga Hyang: a road of no return by Kim Youngjae (Fiction)

The Plants: Jakarta Monorail 103 by Park Yongseok (Experimental)

My fact_or_y by Park Koonje (Documentary)

New Rapids by Choi Jungmoon (Fiction)

iLuv by Park Junghwan (Fiction)

The Transfer Student by Park Jiin (Fiction)

Bargain by Lee Chunghyun (Fiction)

Seol-hee by Bae Yeonhee (Fiction)

Fangs by Shin Jonghun (Fiction)

Like soldiers, like children by...

Like last year, all of this year's nominees for Best Live Action Short Film are contending at the Oscars for the first time. The films touch on a variety of subjects including religion, war, kidnapping, trauma and the longing for human connection. The comedic charmer "Ave Maria" has the edge over the four dramas as it fits our old "apple in a bag of oranges" theory. Below, we take a closer look at it and the competition. -Break- Subscribe to Gold Derby Breaking News Alerts & Experts’ Latest Oscar Predictions "Ave Maria" A car being driven by a Jewish family in the occupied West Bank crashes in front of a convent occupied by Arab nuns. The family, who are restricted from using machinery on the Sabbath, must rely on help from the sisters, who live on a vow of silence. is currently leading in our predictions center. Pros: The film by...

On Tuesday evening, The Academy kicked off Oscar Week. In the final days leading up to Oscar Sunday, movie fans will be offered throughout the week a up-close look with a series of public programs celebrating this year’s nominees in the Animated Feature Film, Documentary Feature, Documentary Short Subject, Foreign Language Film, Makeup and Hairstyling, and Animated and Live Action Short Film categories.

Hosted by Jennifer Yuh Nelson, Oscar Nominated for Kung Fu Panda 2, and director of Kung Fu Panda 3, the evening spotlighted the Animated Short Film and Live Action Short Film categories.

The “Oscar Week: Shorts” event, held at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, featured a screening of all 10 nominated shorts in their entirety, as well as discussions with all of the nominated filmmakers.

On the heels of breaking box office records for this year’s Oscar nominated short films in theaters across the country,...

The 88th Annual Academy Awards are just around the corner on Sunday evening, so once again, it’s time to lay down my predictions for who has the best chance of winning in each of the 24 categories, along with a bit of analysis as to why they appear to be the frontrunners. As usual, I’ll start from the smallest categories and work my way up, so let’s get started:

Best Animated Short Film

“Bear Story” Gabriel Osorio and Pato Escala

“Prologue” Richard Williams and Imogen Sutton

“Sanjay’s Super Team” Sanjay Patel and Nicole Grindle

“We Can’t Live without Cosmos” Konstantin Bronzit

“World of Tomorrow” Don Hertzfeldt

Best Live Action Short Film

“Ave Maria” Basil Khalil and Eric Dupont

“Day One” Henry Hughes

“Everything Will Be Okay (Alles Wird Gut)” Patrick Vollrath

“Shok” Jamie Donoughue

“Stutterer” Benjamin Cleary and Serena Armitage

Best Documentary Short Subject

“Body Team 12...

By Patrick Shanley

Managing Editor

With the Oscars coming right around the corner, many film fans will be filling out their annual Oscar prediction sheets in hopes of taking home their office pool. However, with certain categories, such as that of this year’s Oscar nominated shorts (broken into three categories: live action, animation, documentary), it can feel like you’re making a shot-in-the-dark prediction.

Well, fear not, Oscar prognisticators, for here is a breakdown of this year’s nominees for best live action short and who you should be pulling for in this year’s pool.

Ave Maria: This quirky and humorous tale of a Jewish family whose car breaks down in front of a convent in The West Bank in Palestine is a trilingual film (English, Arabic, and Hebrew are all spoken) from France, Germany, and Palestine. The film was directed and co-written by 34-year-old British-Palestinian, Basil Khalil,...

More than 150 Oscar nominees came together at noon on Monday at the Beverly Hilton as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences honored this year’s Oscar contenders at its annual Nominees Luncheon.

From Left to Right:

Seated: Adam Benzine, Paul Massey, Michael Standish, Chris Jenkins, Randy Thom, Jason Smith, Josh Cooley, Maryann Brandon, Richard Williams, Patrick Vollrath, Ed Lachman, Mary Parent, David Acord, Anders Langland, Henry Hughes, Kristie Macosko Krieger, Tom Yellin

First Row: Rosa Tran, Jacqueline West, Ed Guiney, Evgeny Afineevsky, Matthew Shumway, Amy Hobby, Jonas Rivera, Gregg Rudloff, Signe Byrge Sorensen, Love Larson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Courtney Marsh, Nomi Talisman, Mark Ruffalo, Diane Warren, Paco Delgado, Bryan Cranston, Jistin Wilkes, Blye Pagon Faust, Roger Guyett, Basil Khalil, Drew Kunin, Sian Grigg, Andrea Berloff,

Second Row:Adam Stockhausen, Tom McArdle, Keith Redmon, Damian Martin, Ale Abreu, Matthew Heineman, Matt Damon, Bernhard Henrich, Cameron Waldbauer, Alan Robert Murray,...

“Day One” is a wartime drama the likes of which we have not seen before, with a marvelous Layla Alizada as an interpreter with U.S. forces in Afghanistan. I’m “biast” (pro): nothing

I’m “biast” (con): nothing

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)

It’s really tough for me to pick a single best film among the excellent crop of Oscar nominees for Best Live Action Short. They are all very personal, even when the backdrops of some are huge conflicts. That’s probably necessary when telling a story in a small space, but it helps to make all of them feel very intimate; even the ones most remote from my own experience instantly felt recognizable. If these five films — the longest of which is only 30 minutes, and most are much shorter — can be said to have a unifying theme, it’s this: We’re not alone.

Ahead of the Academy Awards, we’re reviewing each short category. See the Live Action section below and the other shorts sections here.

Ave Maria – Palestine/France/Germany – 15 minutes

Director Basil Khalil and co-writer Daniel Yáñez have come up with a cutely comic conceit for their short film Ave Maria. It’s the West Bank—miles from civilization—and a car carrying a Jewish man, his wife, and his mother crashes into a Catholic church run by five Arab nuns who have taken a vow of silence. If everyone follows the rites of their religion, the women able to help the family mustn’t talk and the family, who realize that it’s now the Shabbat, can’t operate any machinery necessary to move along. It’s quite the conundrum for the devout and a perfect recipe for discovering a common ground as human beings with enough laughs to keep us entertained for the duration.

ShortsHD, the Only Short Film Channel (www.shorts.tv), working with Magnolia Pictures, will open “The Oscar Nominated Short Films 2016” on over 400 screens across the United States, Canada, Europe and Latin America on Friday January 29, 2016. “The Oscar Nominated Short Films 2016” will showcase the Live Action, Animation and Documentary short film nominees compilation as three separate theatrical events.

This marks the 11th year of the Oscar nominated short films theatrical experience and is the only opportunity for audiences to watch the nominated short films prior to the 88th Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday, February 28, 2016.

In 2015, the Oscar Nominated Short Films earned over $2.4 million worldwide, nearly doubling from just a few years prior. One of the most diverse categories in Academy consideration, this year’s Oscar® Nominated Short Films feature with projects originating from United States, France, Germany, Palestine, United Kingdom, Kosovo, Austria, Chile, Russia, Liberia, Pakistan, Vietnam, and Canada.

“Films...

Leyla Bouzid’s As I Open My Eyes won best fiction film in the Muhr Feature competition at this year’s Dubai International Film Festival (Diff), while Mahmood Soliman’s We Have Never Been Kids scooped best non-fiction film and best director.

Bouzid’s Tunis-set drama tells the story of a young woman singing in a political rock band in the run-up to the Tunisian revolution. Soliman’s documentary is about an Egyptian woman trying to look after her four children around the time of her divorce.

Salem Brahimi’s Let Them Come, about a family affected by a rising tide of Islamic fundamentalism in 1990s Algeria, scooped the Special Jury Prize in the Muhr Feature competition.

Best actress went to Menna Shalabi for her performance in Egyptian filmmaker Hala Khalil’s Nawara, while best actor went to Lotfi Abdelli for Tunisian director Fares Naanaa’s Borders Of Heaven.

“We have been so impressed with the female...

If there’s a trio of categories that aren’t given the respect that they deserve (or frankly, any respect at all), it’s the short film categories. Be it Best Animated Short, Best Documentary Short, or Best Live Action Short, they all are mostly ignored by the masses, especially when the first two have feature length cousins in Best Animated Feature and Best Documentary Feature to compete with as well. Still, they deserve to be noticed, so I wanted to quickly list what’s in contention this year. I’ve included the categories in my most recent Oscar prediction update, so there’s that as well. The Academy Awards are the sum total of all the categories, so these have their place, no doubt about that. It’s just a shame that more folks don’t recognize this. Here are the three short subject categories and the remaining contenders...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that 10 live action short films will advance in the voting process for the 88th Academy Awards. One hundred forty-four pictures had originally qualified in the category.

The 10 films are listed below in alphabetical order by title, with their production companies:

“Ave Maria,” Basil Khalil, director, and Eric Dupont, producer (Incognito Films)

“Bad Hunter,” Sahim Omar Kalifa, director, and Dries Phlypo, producer (A Private View)

“Bis Gleich (Till Then),” Philippe Brenninkmeyer, producer, and Tara Lynn Orr, writer (avenueROAD Films)

“Contrapelo (Against the Grain),” Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer, director, and Pin-Chun Liu, producer (Ochenta y Cinco Films)

“Day One,” Henry Hughes, director (American Film Institute)

“Everything Will Be Okay (Alles Wird Gut),” Patrick Vollrath, director (Filmakademie Wien)

“The Free Man (Zi You Ren),” Quah Boon-Lip, director (Taipei National University of the Arts)

“Shok,” Jamie Donoughue, director (Eagle Eye Films)

“Stutterer,” Benjamin Cleary, director (Bare Golly Films)

“Winter Light,...

Members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Short Films and Feature Animation Branch viewed all 144 eligible short film entries for the preliminary round of voting, selecting 10 live action short films to advance in the voting process for the 88th Academy Awards. These shorts were deemed eligible by qualifying at top-ranked film festivals around the world. The branch will now select five nominees from among the 10 titles on the shortlist. Branch screenings will be held in Los Angeles, London, New York and San Francisco in December. Here are the 10 films in alphabetical order by title, with their production companies (trailers below): “Ave Maria,” Basil Khalil, director, and Eric Dupont, producer (Incognito Films) “Bad Hunter,” Sahim Omar Kalifa, director, and Dries Phlypo, producer (A Private View) “Bis Gleich (Till Then),” Philippe Brenninkmeyer, producer, and Tara Lynn Orr, writer (avenueROAD Films) “Contrapelo (Against...

The Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences announced on Thursday the shortlists for both categories.

The live-action selections were culled from 144 eligible submissions while there were 60 for animation.

Members of the short films and feature animation branch viewed all the eligible entries for the preliminary round of voting and will next select five nominees.

Branch screenings will be held in Los Angeles, London, New York and San Francisco in December.

The 10 live-action films appear below in alphabetical order by title, with their production companies:

Ave Maria, Basil Khalil, director, and Eric Dupont, producer (Incognito Films);

Bad Hunter, Sahim Omar Kalifa, director, and Dries Phlypo, producer (A Private View);

Bis Gleich (Till Then), Philippe Brenninkmeyer, producer, and Tara Lynn Orr, writer (avenueROAD Films);

Contrapelo (Against the Grain), Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer, director, and Pin-Chun Liu, producer (Ochenta y Cinco Films);

Day One, Henry Hughes, director (American Film Institute);

Everything Will Be Okay (Alles Wird Gut), Patrick Vollrath, director (Filmakademie...

The Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences announced on Thursday its shortlist from 144 submissions.

Members of the short films and feature animation branch viewed all the eligible entries for the preliminary round of voting and will next select five nominees.

Branch screenings will be held in Los Angeles, London, New York and San Francisco in December.

The 10 films appear below in alphabetical order by title, with their production companies: 

Ave Maria, Basil Khalil, director, and Eric Dupont, producer (Incognito Films);

Bad Hunter, Sahim Omar Kalifa, director, and Dries Phlypo, producer (A Private View);

Bis Gleich (Till Then), Philippe Brenninkmeyer, producer, and Tara Lynn Orr, writer (avenueROAD Films);

Contrapelo (Against the Grain), Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer, director, and Pin-Chun Liu, producer (Ochenta y Cinco Films);

Day One, Henry Hughes, director (American Film Institute);

Everything Will Be Okay (Alles Wird Gut), Patrick Vollrath, director (Filmakademie Wien);

The Free Man (Zi You Ren), Quah Boon-Lip, director (Taipei...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced the 10 finalists vying for the live-action short trophy at the 88th Academy Awards. Member of the Short Films and Feature Animation Branch will select five nominees from group during branch screenings in Los Angeles, London, New York and San Francisco in December. They finalists, which emerged from a group that initially consisted on 144 films, are: Ave Maria, Basil Khalil, director, and Eric Dupont, producer…...

According to Thierry Frémaux, Cannes Film Festival Director, this past year has been an outstanding year for French production and the submissions received for consideration were of exceptional quality. Five French films are in competition in the official selection and will have the honor to be presented at the red carpet events, there are also numerous coproductions, films screening out-of-competition and others in the parallel sections.

Official Selection - In Competition

-"Standing Tall" (La tête haute) - Opening Film

Dir. Emmanuelle Bercot

World Sales: Elle Driver

World Premiere

- "Dheepan - L'homme qui n-amait plus la guerre"

Dir. Jacques Audiard

World Sales: Celluloid Dreams / Wild Bunch

World Premiere

-"The Measure of a Man" (La loi du marché)

Dir. Stéphane Brizé

World Sales :mk2

World Premiere

-"Marguerite & Julien"

Dir. Valérie Donzelli

World Sales: Wild Bunch

World Premiere

-"Mon Roi"

Dir. Maïwenn

World Sales: StudioCanal

World Premiere

- "Valley of Love"

Dir. Guillaume Nicloux

World Sales: Le Pacte

World Premiere

-"Ice and the Sky" (La Glace et le Ciel"

Dir. Luc Jacquet

World Sales: Wild Bunch

World Premiere

Short Film Competition

-"Le Repas dominical" de Céline Devaux – Sacrebleu Productions

-"Sali (Mardi) de Ziya Demirel – oriGine films – Istos Films

-"Ave Maria" de Basil Khalil – Incognito Films – Flying Moon Filmproduktion

Cinefondation

-"Léonardo" de Félix Hazeaux, Thomas Nitsche, Edward Noonan, Franck Pina, Raphaëlle Plantier – Mopa

-"Les Chercheurs" de Aurélien Peilloux – La fémis

Official Selection - Special Screenings

-"Asphalte"

Dir. Samuel Benchetrit

World Sales: TF1 International

World Premiere

-"L'esprit de l'escalier"

Dir. Elad Keidan

Israel/ France

World Sales: The Match Factory

World Premiere

-"Don't Tell Me the Boy Was Mas"(Une histoire de fou)

Dir. Robert Guédiguian

World Sales: mk2

World Premiere

Official Selection - Un Certain Regard

-"I'm a Soldier" (Je suis un Soldat)

Dir. Laurent Larivière

World Sales: Le Pacte

World Premiere

-"Close Protection" (Maryland)

Dir. Alice Winocour

World Sales: Indie Sales

World Premiere

Director's Fortnight

-"In the Shadow of Women" (L'Ombre des Femmes)

Dir. Philippe Garre

l

World Sales: Wild Bunch

World Premiere

-"Les Cowboys"

Dir. Thomas Bidegain

World Sales: Pathé Distribution

World Premiere

-"My Golden Days" (Trois Souvenirs de Ma Jeunesse)

Dir. Arnaud Desplechin

World Sales: Le Pacte

World Premiere

-"Fatima"

Dir. Philippe Faucon

World Sales: Pyramide International

World Premiere

Short Films

-"Calme ta joie" de Emmanuel Laskar – Ecce Films

-"Pitchoune" Reda Kateb – 31 Juin Films

Critic's Week

-"The Anarchists" (Les Anarchists) - Opening Film

Dir. Elie Wajeman

World Sales: Wild Bunch

World Premiere

-"The Wakhan Front" (Ni le Ciel, Ni la Terre)

Dir.Clément Cogitore

World Sales: Indie Sales

World Premiere

-"Les Deux Amis"

Dir. Louis Garrel

World Sales: Indie Sales

World Premiere

-"Learn By Heart" (La Vie en Grand)

Dir. Mathieu Vadepied

World Sales: Gaumont

World Premiere...