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The 5th annual Oakland Underground Film Festival, which runs this year on Sept. 25-29, features their usual mix of socially and politically relevant films, challenging genre fare and loads of short films.

The fest opens on the 25th with two provocative documentaries. First up is Tia Lessin and Carl Deal’s Citizen Koch, which shines a spotlight on the behind-the-scenes machinations of the billionaire Koch brothers who have greatly influenced modern politics. (Citizen Koch is also screening for free, which you can RSVP for on the Oakuff website.) Also on the 25th is a profile of Riot Grrrl icon Kathleen Hanna in The Punk Singer, directed by Sini Anderson.

Other films in the fest include the martial arts action romp Death Grip by Eric Jacobius; the anti-bullying drama The Dirties by Matt Johnson; the quirky family shenanigans of Toastmaster by Eric Boadella; and the Closing Night lyrical documentary about life on the U.

The Visual Effects Society has announced the nominees for their 11th Annual Ves Awards. From film to animation to television to commercials and video games, the Ves Awards honor the outstanding visual effects artistry.

"Life of Pi's" Ang Lee will be honored with the Visionary Award. Winners will be announced on Tuesday, February 5, at the Beverly Hilton.

Here's the complete list of nominees; for winners/nominees of other award-giving bodies, click here:

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Feature Motion Picture

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Joe Letteri

Eileen Moran

Eric Saindon

Kevin L. Sherwood

Prometheus

Paul Butterworth

Charley Henley

Allen Maris

Richard Stammers

Life of Pi

Thomas Fisher

Susan Macleod

Guillaume Rocheron

Bill Westenhofer

The Avengers

Susan Pickett

Janek Sirrs

Jeff White

Guy Williams

Battleship

Grady Cofer

Pablo Helman

Jeanie King

Glen Mcintosh

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Feature Motion Picture

Rust and Bone

Béatrice Bauwens...

Fuel VFX has received two award nominations from the Visual Effects Society.

The.peer-voted accolade for the company's work on Ridley Scott.s Prometheus follows the near-collapse of the VFX house, which was saved in October 2012 when Animal Logic acquired its assets.

Fuel co-founder Paul Butterworth was nominated for .Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Feature Motion Picture. for Prometheus (alongside non-Fuel nominations Charley Henley, Allen Maris and Richard Stammers).

The Fuel team of Xavier Bourque, Sam Cole, Simone Riginell and Denis Scolan - representing the hard work of all 16 compositors who worked on the film at the company - were nominated for Prometheus (Engineers & the Orrery) in the "Outstanding Compositing in a Feature Motion Picture" category.

Fuel has also provided effects on a number of Marvel films including Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger. Fuel continues to run from its Newtown, Sydney-based offices where Animal Logic...

Edoardo Ballerini (Boardwalk Empire, The Sopranos) will star in sci-fi thriller Omphalos, written and directed by Gabriel Judet-Weinshel.

Omphalos is set to begin in the summer in New York and New Mexico with Judet-Weinshel’s feature directorial debut from his own script; co-starring feature newcomers Greg Bennick and Sean Gaffney.

The flick will be photographed by George Nicholas and Aidan Fraser’s (Pirates of the Caribbean, Star Wars) FX visual effects will presumably play prominently in the film’s ambitious imagery.

Storyline follows Darius Lefaux, a private detective since murder comes in and Darius decides to take the case. There’s something curious about this one. In the blurry photograph of the body, the victim’s face looks oddly familiar. Darius heads to the scene of the crime and is astonished to see that the dead man on the ground is … him.

Darius Lefaux is played by Ballerini, who Variety...