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The Vietnamese American Arts and Letters Association (Vaala) is excited to announce the highly anticipated return of Viet Film Fest 2024, the largest international Vietnamese film festival in the diaspora. This year’s festival, with designs inspired by the surrounding Californian landscape, promises to be a must-visit destination festival. Celebrating over 20 years of Vietnamese cinema, Viet Film Fest 2024 will take place virtually on your home screens from October 5 to 20, and with a three-day in-person festival on October 11,12, and 13.

With its first screening in 2003 at University of California, Irvine, Viet Film Fest was created by Ysa Le and Tram Le to fill the void of underrepresented films centering around the Vietnamese experience. Now running successfully for over two decades, the festival has attracted thousands of national and international attention for its stunning showcase of shorts and features submitted from many corners of the world, including Australia, Cambodia, Canada, France, Germany, Israel, Japan,...

Today, Asian Pop-Up Cinema announced the full lineup of films and programs included in its 18th edition, running March 20 – April 21, 2024. Each week throughout the festival is dedicated to works from a different region, with films screened in person on weekends at AMC Newcity 14 (1500 N. Clybourn Ave.) and available via streaming on weekdays. This year’s festival also features an inaugural partnership with Northwestern University, Asian Pop-Up Cinema at the Block Museum, featuring special screenings and guest lecturers. Screening schedules and tickets are available now at www.asianpopupcinema.org.

The 18th season of Asian Pop-Up Cinema opens on March 20, 2024, with the Chicago Premiere of Charles-Olivier Michaud’s Ru, the story of a young Vietnamese girl adapting to life in Quebec and featuring an in-person appearance from lead actor Jean Bui. Closing Night features the Midwest Premiere of We Are Family, following the founder of a rent-a-family business navigating personal and professional conflicts,...

Toronto: “Humanist Vampire,” “Solo” Heat Up Market for Toronto’s Quebec Feature Slate

By Jennie Punter

Toronto has long been a go-to place for Quebec filmmakers to launch new work, connect directly to the U.S. marketplace and, by extension, propel their careers to the next level — Denis Villeneuve, Phillippe Falardeau and Jean-Marc Vallée, for example, premiered most of their early films here.

Many of this year’s bumper crop of mostly world-premiering Quebec titles explore less familiar corners of society — First Peoples and newcomer stories, the drag scene — and there are also fresh takes on romantic dramedy (Monia Chokri’s “The Nature of Love”), true-story-inspired WWII drama (Louise Archambault’s “Irena’s Vow”) and horror comedy.

Five of the festival’s eight Quebec features are directed by women. Sophie Dupuis, whose third film, the drag-scene character study “Solo,” told Variety that support from government funding agencies Telefilm and Sodec (Quebec...

The Toronto International Film Festival has added 59 more films to the lineup of its 2023 festival, including 47 international films in the Centrepiece program, which in previous years was known as Contemporary World Cinema. New films were also added to the Galas, Special Presentations and Documentary sections.

World premieres among the new selections include “Finestkind,” a crime thriller from Brian Helgeland (screenwriter of “L.A. Confidential”) starring Tommy Lee Jones and Ben Foster; The Movie Teller,” a film set in Chile starring Berenice Bejo from “An Education” director Lone Scherfig; and Jessica Yu’s “Quiz Lady,” with Sandra Oh and Awkwafina.

The Centrepiece selections include a number of films from May’s Cannes Film Festival, among them Wim Wenders’ “Perfect Days,” Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s “About Dry Grasses,” Aki Kaurismaki’s “Fallen Leaves,” Ramata-Toulaye Sy’s “Banel & Adama,” Amjad Al Rasheed’s “Inshallah a Boy,” Joanna Arnow’s “The Feeling That the...

Despite the ongoing SAG-AFTRA actors and WGA writers strikes, the Toronto Film Festival continues to turn up the star wattage for its 48th edition, adding movies with Dakota Johnson, Bérénice Bejo, Awkwafina, Sandra Oh and Mads Mikkelsen to its lineup on Thursday.

For the Gala section, TIFF unveiled the A-list heavy crime drama Finestkind from Brian Helgeland, the Oscar-winning writer-director behind Mystic River and L.A. Confidential; and A Knight’s Tale, which stars Ben Foster, Jenna Ortega, Tommy Lee Jones and Toby Wallace.

Also headed to Roy Thomson Hall is the South Korean drama A Normal Family, directed by Hur Jin-ho, the Korean auteur who in the past premiered Dangerous Liaisons and April Snow in Toronto. TIFF earlier tapped fellow Korean director Ryoo Seung-wan’s Smugglers for its Special Presentations sidebar, and has now bumped that drama up to a gala screening in Toronto after a world bow in Locarno.

Exclusive: Eight-strong line-up of titles includes Martin Hawie’s Toro.

Italian sales and acquisitions veteran Francesco Manno has launched the inaugural slate of her new Rome-based sales and co-production company Summerside International at the Efm.

Manno, former VP at Gianluca Curti’s Rome-based Minerva Pictures, has pulled together an eight-title line-up of edgy, youthful titles including German director Martin Hawie’s Toro, which is screening in Perspektive Deutsches Kino.

Set against a social-housing facility in Germany, Toro revolves around an unusual friendship between a Polish male escort and a drug-addicted friend who is on the run from three young, ruthless drug-dealers.

“I’m looking for director-driven titles with strong stories, art-house films with commercial potential,” explained Manno, who launched the company in December.

Other titles on the Summerside’s first slate include Charles-Olivier Michaud’s thriller Anna, starring Anna Mouglalis as a photojournalist who falls victim to the prostitution gangs she is investigating in Asia, and the Milan-set...

The 20th Busan International Film Festival (Biff) has announced its line-up of 304 films from 75 countries with 121 world and international premieres.

The fest in South Korea will open Oct 1 with the world premiere of Indian film Zubaan, the feature directorial debut of independent film producer Mozez Singh (White Noise, Peddlers).

Produced by Guneet Monga (The Lunchbox), Zubaan is about a young man’s search for values and self.

Biff will close Oct 10 with the world premiere of Chinese film Mountain Cry, directed by Larry Yang, based on Ge Shui-ping’s award-winning novel.

Gala Presentations will include Hou Hsiao-hsien’s The Assassin, Jia Zhangke’s Mountains May Depart, Luca Guadagnino’s A Bigger Splash and the world premiere of previously announced Busan-Youku collaboration project Color Of Asia - Masters, directed by Im Sang-soo, Naomi Kawase, Wang Xiaoshuai and Apichatpong Weerasethakul.

Other Asian masters set to attend include Eric Khoo with Singaporean 50th anniversary omnibus 7 Letters, Bahman Ghobadi with the...

The determination to win every competition and continuously show your talent isn’t the sole plot point that emotionally drives a sports film forward. Director Charles-Olivier Michaud powerfully showcased that perseverance in sports also requires connecting with those around you who support your goals and dreams in his new independent drama, ’4 Minute Mile.’ The film, which is now available in theaters and on VOD nationwide, smartly relies on the importance of uniting loved ones in times of emotional need, and how that influential bond can be just as important as the extensive training athletes utilize for their competitions. ’4 Minute Mile’ tells the inspirational story of Drew (Kelly Blatz), a [ Read More ]

The post Interview: Kelly Blatz Talks 4 Minute Mile appeared first on Shockya.com.

Running is a very hard sport to depict onscreen. Without a rousing score by Vangelis or the horns of “Gonna Fly Now” blasting through the speakers, it is very hard for any filmmaker or actor to show off a character’s speed or endurance in a memorable way. Leg power does not often translate to emotional power on the screen, which is one of the many problems facing 4 Minute Mile, a sports drama that barely goes the distance to be either inspirational or inspired.

Our plucky underdog is Drew Jacobs (Kelly Blatz), a track-and-field senior in Seattle who has a drug-dealing brother (Cam Gigandet), an absent mother (Kim Basinger, also mostly absent from the film) and a dead father. Besides these autobiographical details, there is not much to Drew. He likes to run and he hopes his speed can catapult him out of a life being a mule for his...

While cinema has had no shortage of stories about young people finding their way out of a hard life through the arts or sports, we'd wager there have been few that have positioned hope of a successful future on the race track. But in "4 Minute Mile" running is indeed the conduit through which a life can be changed forever. Directed by Charles-Olivier Michaud, and starring Kelly Blatz, Richard Jenkins, Cam Gigandet, Analeigh Tipton, Rhys Coiro and Kim Basinger, the story follows high school student Drew whose life is stuck between running drug payments for a local dealer, dealing with his deadbeat brother and overworked mother, all while trying to maintain the attentions of girl at school. But Drew is changed and finds purpose when he meets an ex-track coach who decides to take him under his wing. And in this exclusive clip, we see Jenkins as that mentor, giving Drew...

See the struggles of the ’4 Minute Mile’ in the new poster and trailer for the drama. The poster and trailer for the movie were issued by the film’s distribution company, Gravitas Ventures, which will distribute it in theaters on August 1. The movie is now available on VOD. The drama was directed by ‘Snow & Ashes’ helmer Charles-Olivier Michaud, and written by Josh Campbell and Jeff Van Wie. ’4 Minute Mile’ stars Kelly Blatz, Academy Award-nominee Richard Jenkins, Cam Gigandet, Analeigh Tipton, with Rhys Coiro and Academy Award-winner Kim Basinger. The following synopsis for ’4 Minute Mile’ has been released by Gravitas Ventures: ’4 Minute Mile’ is the inspirational [ Read More ]

The post See the 4 Minute Mile In New Poster and Trailer appeared first on Shockya.com.

Marketing and distribution company DisruptiveLA has picked up Us rights to James Cameron’s Deep Sea Challenge 3D directed by John Bruno, Andrew Wight and Ray Quint. The film will open in theatres on August 8.Distribution Round-UPGravitas Ventures has picked up Us rights from Gersh Agency to Charles-Olivier Michaud’s 4 Minute Mile starring Kelly Blatz, Richard Jenkins, Cam Gigandet and Kim Basinger ahead of its world premiere at the Seattle International Film Festival. The inner city drama’s pre-theatrical window is set for July 1 followed by theatrical on August 1.

Screen Media Films has acquired Us rights from Wme Global to Jesse Zwick’s recent Tribeca premiere and friendship drama About Alex starring Aubrey Plaza and will release day-and-date theatrically and on VOD on August 8.

Abramorama will handle the theatrical release of Jonathan Demme’s stage play adaptation A Master Builder. The film will be released at Film Forum in New York City on July 23 followed by nationwide...

Marketing and distribution company DisruptiveLA has picked up Us rights to James Cameron’s Deep Sea Challenge 3D directed by John Bruno, Andrew Wight and Ray Quint. The film will open in theatres on August 8.

Gravitas Ventures has picked up Us rights from Gersh Agency to Charles-Olivier Michaud’s 4 Minute Mile starring Kelly Blatz, Richard Jenkins, Cam Gigandet and Kim Basinger ahead of its world premiere at the Seattle International Film Festival. The inner city drama’s pre-theatrical window is set for July 1 followed by theatrical on August 1.

Screen Media Films has acquired Us rights from Wme Global to Jesse Zwick’s recent Tribeca premiere and friendship drama About Alex starring Aubrey Plaza and will release day-and-date theatrically and on VOD on August 8.Abramorama will handle the theatrical release of Jonathan Demme’s stage play adaptation A Master Builder. The film will be released at Film Forum in New York City on July 23 followed by nationwide rollout...

Only a couple of weeks after landing their directing team in Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, the formerly titled “Peste” has according to Variety secured it’s lead in Analeigh Tipton for Viral. Blumhouse Productions’ Jason Blum, Chapter One Films’ Matt Kaplan and Busted Shark’s Sherryl Clark are producing the Dimension Films thriller which will probably get released sometime in 2015.

Gist: Written by Barbara Marshall with rewrites by Christopher Landon (Paranormal Activity 3) , this follows Emma Drakeford, struggling after a recent family tragedy, who begins a video documentary about her life for a school project. But when their county succumbs to the spread of a parasitic virus, they’re put to the test to survive a city-wide quarantine.

Worth Noting: Analeigh Tipton is currently padding her indie film resume with upcoming parts in Charles-Olivier Michaud’s 4 Minute Mile, Max Nichols’ Two Night Stand, and the highly anticipated Mississippi Grind...

I was going to kick off by saying “It’s been some time since Kim Basinger really graced our screens” — but that’s technically not true. While she hasn’t made an onscreen appearance in about two years — itself not such a long time — it was in the relatively successful Charlie St. Cloud, and that only came a few years after parts in The Informers, The Burning Plain, and The Sentinel. Even if you didn’t see those, there’s a fair chance you’ve heard of them. Shouldn’t that count for something?

And although I can’t say if One Square Mile might some kind of reintroduction into mainstream cinema, the actual film doesn’t sound half-bad. Richard Jenkins was, back in April, signed to lead the film, a drama about the important lessons an older man instills into a young boy (Kelly Blatz). (That role was originally set for Cameron Bright,...

• Shia Labeouf — apparently undeterred by the onslaught of “Shia Labuff” jokes in the wake of his full-frontal appearance in a recent Sigur Ros music video — is in talks for an unspecified role in director Lars von Trier’s Nymphomaniac. As the title implies, the film follows the erotic adventures of a woman (Charlotte Gainsbourg) from her first sexual experience through age 50, with von Trier shooting both explicit and not-as-explicit versions of the film. Stellan Skarsgard will play the woman’s husband, but likely not her only sexual partner, because that would be a bit of a let down, frankly. [THR]

• Ryan Reynolds is going spooky,...

Kim Basinger has joined the cast of the independent movie One Square Mile. She will play Claire, the mother of a troubled son (Kelly Blatz) who is at a difficult and violent junction in his life. Her other son is his older brother (Cam Gigandet). Richard Jenkins plays the boy’s neighbor, a basketball coach who becomes the trouble young man’s reluctant mentor. The cast also includes Analeigh Tipton and Rhys Coiro. One Square Mile, being made on a budget under $5 million, is the first English language production from director Charles-Olivier Michaud since his film Snow & Ashes, which

read more...

One Square Mile

Kim Basinger has joined the cast of Charles-Olivier Michaud's "One Square Mile" at Phoenix Rising Motion Pictures. Basinger will play the mother of a troubled son (Kelly Blatz) who is at a difficult and violent junction in his life.

Richard Jenkins plays the boy’s neighbour and reluctant mentor, and Cam Gigandet plays his older brother. Shooting kicks off later this month on location in Seattle. [Source: Screen Daily]

Robocop

Michael Kenneth Williams ("Boardwalk Empire," "The Wire") is in negotiations to join the cast of Jose Padilha's "Robocop" remake at MGM and Sony. Shooting kicks off this September in Toronto.

Williams will play the partner to Joel Kinnaman’s police officer Alex Murphy who is tight with Murphy’s family. [Source: Heat Vision]

Untitled Nicole Holofcener Project

Catherine Keener and Toni Collette have joined Fox Searchlight’s untitled Nicole Holofcener project which began shooting this week.

The story centers on a...

Richard Jenkins and Cameron Bright have been cast in the upcoming drama ‘One Square Mile.’ Principal photography on the film, which is being directed by Charles-Olivier Michaud and was written by Josh Campbell and Jeff Van Wie, is scheduled to begin in August, tentatively in Seattle. Phoenix Rising Motion Pictures’ Howard Burd and Micah Sparks will produce ‘One Square Mile’ with Inner Primary Entertainment’s Deborah Moore. ‘One Square Mile’ emotionally follows a disenfranchised teen, played by Bright, living on the wrong side of the tracks. While desperate to find a way to fix his life, the teen’s life intersects with an old reclusive track coach, portrayed by Jenkins. The coach [ Read More ]...

He can currently be seen scaring things up for Joss Whedon’s Cabin In The Woods, but Richard Jenkins plans to be a little nicer to the human race for his next trick. He’s signed on to star as a reclusive track coach in One Square Mile. The film finds Cameron Bright as a young man from the wrong side of the tracks who fears his life may forever be mired in poverty. But a spark of hope comes in the shape of his running talent, and he gets some encouragement and training when he somehow persuades a grouchy trainer (Jenkins) to help him out. Sounds a bit like Finding Forrester meets Chariots Of Fire, which we guess could be a good thing - especially with Jenkins aboard.Charles-Olivier Michaud is the director in charge of this one, which has been written by Josh Campbell and Jeff Van Wie.

Academy Award-nominated actor Richard Jenkins (.The Visitor.) and Cameron Bright (.The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.) have joined the cast of Charles-Olivier Michaud.s latest drama One Square Mile. Written by scribes Josh Campbell and Jeff Van Wie, the film will be produced by Howard Burd and Micah Sparks of Phoenix Rising Motion Pictures, and Deborah Moore of Inner Primary Entertainment. Martin Harmon is executive producing for Phoenix Rising Motion Pictures. International sales are being handled by Lawrence Meyers, Bobby Meyers and Peter Rowley of Meyers Media Group. Principal photography is scheduled to begin in August with Seattle, Washington as a possible location.

One Square Mile is ahighly charged, emotional story of a disenfranchised teen (Bright) living on the wrong side of the tracks. Desperate for a way out, his life collides with an old reclusive track coach (Jenkins), angry at the world with no purpose in life. The two form a...

Here we may have a film where I use the star to generate some interest. THR informs us that Richard Jenkins (The Cabin in the Woods, Step Brothers) will be starring with Cameron Bright (Twilight, Running Scared) in One Square Mile, an indie drama from French-Canadian helmer Charles-Olivier Michaud.

Written by Josh Campbell and Jeff Van Wie, the picture centers on ” a disenfranchised teen (Bright) living on the wrong side of the tracks. Desperate for a way out, his life collides with an old reclusive track coach (Jenkins), angry at the world with no purpose in life. The two form a reluctant bond that forces them to face their circumstances as they race to save each other and ultimately – themselves.”

That’s just slightly familiar to another upcoming drama, Life at These Speeds, although I have enough affection for Jenkins not to completely dismiss Mile right off the bat; it should be well acted,...

One Square Mile

Richard Jenkins will star in Charles-Olivier Michaud's $5 million indie drama "One Square Mile". Shooting kicks off in August in Seattle.

Jenkins plays a reclusive track coach who forms bond with a young man (Cameron Bright) from the wrong side of the tracks who becomes an outstanding runner. [Source: The Hollywood Reporter]

Grace

Maiara Walsh ("Desperate Housewives," "Switched at Birth") has scored the leading role in John Stimpson's indie drama "Grace."

Marcy Holland penned the script about a woman named Grace (Kelcie Stranahan) accused of killing another woman in an accident. The victim reaches out from beyond the grave to help unveil the truth about what happened. [Source: Variety]

Defiance

Mia Kirshner ("The Vampire Diaries") and Fionnula Flanagan ("Lost") have joined the cast of Syfy’s new drama series "Defiance". Set in the near future after a universal war, the action is set in one of the new world’s few oasis of civility and inclusion.

Academy Award-nominated actor Richard Jenkins ( The Visitor ) and Cameron Bright ( The Twilight Saga: Eclipse ) have joined the cast of Charles-Olivier Michaud's latest drama One Square Mile . Written by Josh Campbell and Jeff Van Wie, the film will be produced by Howard Burd and Micah Sparks of Phoenix Rising Motion Pictures, and Deborah Moore of Inner Primary Entertainment. Martin Harmon is executive producing for Phoenix Rising Motion Pictures. Principal photography is scheduled to begin in August with Seattle, Washington as a possible location. One Square Mile is a highly charged, emotional story of a disenfranchised teen (Bright) living on the wrong side of the tracks. Desperate for a way out, his life collides with an old reclusive track coach (Jenkins), angry at the...

A Dangerous Method

Although I'm not a fan of biopic, I'm a little bit fascinated by how Sigmund Freud developed his own brand of psychology. Besides, any film directed by David Cronenberg, one of Canada's finest, is an event. Add to this the wonderful cast made of Viggo Mortensen, Michael Fassbender and Keira Knightley. Date of release: December 23.

Monsieur Lazhar

This film won't be a box-office success in Quebec because it features a foreign actor (French comedian Fellag) and a character who's supposed to be an immigrant. Yes, many Quebeckers are that close-minded. However, once in  a while, it's a blessing to see that some Quebecker directors - in this case Philippe Falardeau - try to talk about immigration in films. Date of release: October 28.

Roméo Onze

Well, we've been hearing about this film during the summer and this might be the best film ever made by a Quebecker from ethnic minorities.

Director Charles-Olivier Michaud can say whatever he wants. The fact remains that like most Quebecker movie makers, Michaud is trying to make commercial films that are as fun as American films.

Although his film isn't revolutionary, it will please to its audience.

The very thin story follows Delphine Lamarre (Mylène St-Sauveur), a girl of twenty years old. She wants to be a professional dancer, but Delphine's parents (Marina Orsini and Paul Doucet) wants her to study medecine at the university. With the support of her grand-mother (France Castel), Delphine gives up her studies behind her parents' back.

In fact, a famous American choreographer drops by Montreal in search for dancers who are fit to be a part of a world tour. This is why Delphine wants to train hard. Besides, her partner is Marc Painchaud (Nico Archambault), an arrogant dancer who once was her best friend's boyfriend.

This film has...

After How She Move, here comes another Canadian dance flick: Charles-Olivier Michaud's Sur le rythme. So far, only the teaser is available online.

Delphine Lamarre (Mylène St-Sauveur) is twenty years old. She has to make a choice between living her dream as a profesional dancer or taking the path imposed by her parents, which means studying medecine. However, her encounter with Marc Painchaud (Nico Archambault) will give her hope. In fact, she'll take part in more and more auditions and she'll stand up before her parents.

This film was penned by Caroline Héroux (À vos marques, party!) and was entirely produced with private funds.

Moreover, Sur le rythme also stars Marina Orsini, Paul Doucet, France Castel, Miles Faber and Lina Roessler.

Yesterday, Montreal's Festival du nouveau cinéma (Fnc), which will take place from October 13 to 24, revealed its full line-up of films. Nineteen Canadian feature films and documentaries will be presented. However, don't expect to see all films that were screened at the latest Toronto or Vancouver International Film Festivals.

Opening film:

10 1/2

Director: Daniel Grou (Podz)

Starring: Claude Legault, Robert Naylor and Albert Kwan

International selection

Jo pour Jonathan

Director: Maxime Giroux

Starring: Jean-Sébastien Courchesne, Raphaël Lacaille, Jean-Alexandre Létourneau and Vanessa Pilon

Focus Québec/Canada

A Night for Dying Tigers

Director: Terry Miles

Starring: Jennifer Beals, Gil Bellows, Lauren Lee Smith, Tygh Runyan, Kathleen Robertson, John Pyper-Ferguson, Leah Gibson, Sarah Lind and Jessica Heafey

Affinity Point

Director: Deeh

Starring: Danielle Hubbard, Jason D. Pitre, Sophie Ricard and Yann Faussurier

2 fois une femme

Director: François Delisle

Starring: Evelyne Rompré, Marc Béland and Catherine de Léan

Falardeau (Documentary)

Director: German Gutierrez and Carmen Garcia...

The Vancouver International Film Festival, which will take place from September 30 to October 15, is known for bringing the world to people in and around Vancouver. Moreover, it also has Canadian films in its line-up. All in all, expect to see some Canadian films that are currently screened at the Toronto International Film Festival.

The opening film will be the Canadian-Italian co-production Barney's Version. Other Canadian films include:

* A Drummer's Dream, by John Walker

* A Night for Dying Tigers, by Terry Miles

* A Simple Rhythm, by Tess Girard

* Altitude, by Kaare Andrews

* Amazon Falls, by Katrin Bowen

* An Ecology of Mind, by Nora Bateson

* Barney's Version, by Richard J. Lewis

* Breaking the Silence: Burma's Resistance, by Pierre Mignault and Hélène Magny

* Curling, by Denis Côté

* Everywhere, by Alexis Durand-Brault

* Father & Sons, by Carl Bessai

* Force of Nature: The David Suzuki Movie, by Sturla Gunnarsson

* Guido Superstar: The Rise of Guido, by Silvio Pollio

* Les amours imaginaires,...

The Vancouver International Film Festival is my baby. In its 29th year, this is the event I look forward to every year. The lists I've kept through the year come out and I eagerly look through the list of titles in search of those little gems and every year Viff responds with a huge assortment of titles. This year's festival is no different.

Some of the titles we're most eagerly anticipating include Tsumetai Nettaigyo’s Cold Fish (trailer), Gareth Edwards’ Monsters (trailer, review), Jo Sung-Hee’s apocalyptic road movie End of Animal, Carl Bessai’s Repeaters (trailer) and Xavier Dolan's Heartbeats (trailer, review).

There's loads more so be sure to check the titles (so far) after the break. Many more to be announced in the coming days.

Canadian Images

Altitude (Kaare Andrews), B.C.

View trailer

A weekend getaway aboard a small plane turns deadly for a rookie pilot and four teenage friends.

Now that the production is over for Charles-Olivier Michaud's Sur le rythme, the film's first stills have been released on its Facebook page. Moreover, this Canadian dance flick will hit Quebec's theatres on April 17, 2010.

Delphine Lamarre (Mylène St-Sauveur) is twenty years old. She has to make a choice between living her dream as a profesional dancer or taking the path imposed by her parents, which means studying medecine. However, her encounter with Marc Painchaud (Nico Archambault) will give her hope. In fact, she'll take part in more and more auditions and she'll stand up before her parents.

This film was penned by Caroline Héroux (À vos marques, party!) and was entirely produced with private funds.

Moreover, Sur le rythme also stars Marina Orsini, France Castel, Miles Faber and Lina Roessler.

Is it a revelation or a revolution? It’s both! The Revelation Perth International Film Festival is tackling the theme of “Revolution” when its 13th annual edition begins violating Australia on July 8-18. Get set for 11 days filled French zombies, Belgian cowboys, outer space outlaws, Beat poets, cat ladies, gospel musicians and other revolutionaries.

Actually, one of the main features of the festival this year is a slew of music documentaries, mostly spotlighting both American and Australian music. On the U.S. side of things there’s Wheedle’s Groove, a look at the history of Seattle funk; Rejoice and Shout, which examines gospel music’s impact on African-American culture — and vice versa; Tom Dicillo’s Doors documentary When You’re Strange; plus The Family Jams and 72 Musicians. And, from Australia, there’s Megan Simpson-Hubberman’s classic concert film The Night of the Triffids.

There’s lots more than music docs,...

The Slamdance Film Festival winners were announced Jan. 29. The Grand Jury Award for Best Narrative Film went to Charles-Olivier Michaud’s Snow and Ashes (above), in which a war correspondent wakes from a coma to discover that his collaborator has disappeared. The Best Documentary Film was Mark Claywell’s American Jihadist. The synopsis below is from the Slamdance website: "American Jihadist is a look at militant Islam through the eyes of an African- American who fought and almost died for it. This is the story of Isa Abdullah Ali, aka Clevin Raphael Holt, an African- American Muslim from the ghettos of Washington, DC, labeled a ‘known terrorist’ by the U.S. Defense Department though he’s never been charged [...]...

Last week Dread Central's own Heather Wixson (aka The Horror Chick) and Brian Dreads packed up and headed off to the snow-covered hills of Park City, Utah for both the Sundance and Slamdance Film Festivals.

On Saturday night Slamdance held its press event at the Treasure Mountain Inn, and the red carpet was packed with up and coming filmmakers and actors as well as some veterans to the genre.

While at the Slamdance event, Dread Central had the opportunity to talk with the cast and crew of the horror comedy The Scenesters, which focuses on a serial killer stalking hipsters in Los Angeles' Silver Lake neighborhood.

Also, we took some time to talk with the creators and cast of The Last Lovecraft, a cool new flick centered around the last descendant of the legendary H.P Lovecraft.

The geek out moment for yours truly came when it was time to...

The 16th annual Slamdance Film Festival just wrapped up in Park City and gave out 10 awards to 12 films and 1 screenplay. There are jury awards, audience awards and two sponsored awards. Out of the 91 films that screened this year, here’s the full list of award winners:

Grand Jury Awards

Grand Jury Sparky Award for Best Narrative Film

Snow and Ashes, dir. Charles-Olivier Michaud

Special Jury Mention: One Hundred Mornings, dir. Conor Horgan

Grand Jury Sparky Award for Best Documentary Film

American Jihadist, dir. Mark Claywell

Grand Jury Sparky Award for Best Animated Short

Seed, dir. Ben Richardson and Daniel Bird

Grand Jury Sparky Award for Best Narrative Short

Prvi Dan Mira (First Day of Peace), dir. Mirko Rucnov

Special Jury Mention for a short documentary film: Bout That Bout, dir. Nico Sabenorio

Audience Awards

Audience Sparky Award for Best Narrative Film

The Wild Hunt, dir. Alexandre Franchi

Audience Sparky Award...

We're calling it a day in Sundance, but keep looking at our Sundance home page and Cheat Sheet for continuing coverage from this year's fest. Since returning from Park City, we've already posted new photo galleries from the "Get Low" and "Winter's Bone" premieres, and more is on the way. In the meantime, check out Matt Singer's review of "Sympathy for Delicious" and our roundup of Sundance and Slamdance award winners, news of who will be distributing the Ryan Gosling-Michelle Williams romantic drama "Blue Valentine" and other Sundance flicks, and where you can see some clips of those films right now.

Matt Singer wasn't very sympathetic to Mark Ruffalo's directorial debut, "Sympathy for Delicious." Here's an excerpt from his review, which can be found in full here:

The Lord may work in mysterious ways; "Sympathy For Delicious" does not. The only thing that's mysterious about this unsubtle...

Charles-Olivier Michaud’s “Snow and Ashes” won the Sparky Award for Best Narrative Film and Mark Claywell’s “American Jihadist” won the Sparky Award for Best Documentary Film at the 2010 Slamdance Film Festival. The story of a war correspondent who has awakened from a coma in Eastern Europe, “Snow and Ashes” follows his search for a fellow journalist who has disappeared. Meanwhile, “American Jihadist” looks at militant Islam through the story of …...

By Wrap Staff

Slamdance, that other Utah independent film festival, handed out its hardware on Friday.

Winning the top prize at the festival was Charles-Olivier Michaud's "Snow and Ashes." The documentary award went to Mark Claywell's "American Jihadist."

Alexandre Franchi's "The Wild Hunt" and Adam Barker's "Mind of the Demon: The Larry Linkogle Story" were among the audience award winners.

The annual festival received ...

The winners of the 16th annual Slamdance Film Festival were awarded yesterday in Park City, Utah. Walking away with the top honors were Charles-Olivier Michaud for his film Snow And Ashes, about a war correspondent in Eastern Europe who wakes from a coma to find his collaborator missing, and Mark Claywell's documentary American Jihadist, about what brings a man to die or kill in the name of religion. Picked from a group of eighteen films in competition, the night's winners themselves came...