Actualités

Hillary Clinton, Chelsea Clinton, Siobhan Sinnerton of HiddenLight Productions serve as EPs.

The Lebanon-set feature documentary In The Shadow Of Beirut has been selected as Ireland’s entry for best international feature film at the 2024 Oscars.

‘In The Shadow Of Beirut’: Galway Review

Stephen Gerard Kelly, who co-directs with Garry Keane (Gaza), makes his feature directorial debut. Brendan J. Byrne and Myriam Sassine produced and Hillary Clinton, Chelsea Clinton, and Siobhan Sinnerton of HiddenLight Productions served as executive producers.

In The Shadow Of Beirut is a portrait of modern-day Lebanon as seen through the eyes of four families living in the city.

Bankside handles international sales.

Irish-language drama The Quiet Girl (An Cailín Ciúin) has been selected as Ireland’s entry for best international feature film at next year’s Academy Awards.

Writer-director Colm Bairéad’s debut feature has enjoyed a lengthy run in Irish and UK cinemas and grossed €870,000 at the box office. It premiered at the Berlinale and since then has since secured further releases in international territories including New Zealand and Australia. Bankside handles international sales.

Told almost entirely in the Irish language, the film recounts the story of a neglected young girl named Cáit (Catherine Clinch) who spends...

Written and directed by Tom Sullivan, the film is set on the eve of the Irish potato famine.

Irish-language feature Arracht has been selected by the Irish Film & Television Academy (IFTA) as Ireland’s entry for the best international feature film category at the Academy Awards.

Told almost entirely in the Irish language, Arracht debuted to strong reviews at the Tallinn Black Nights film festival in 2019. The film is set in 1845 on the eve of the Irish potato famine (known as The Great Hunger), when a fisherman takes in a stranger at the behest of a local priest. The stranger,...

Exclusive: Irish Film Board to back productions including Jim Sheridan’s The Secret Scripture and Tomato Red.

The Irish Film Board is to back productions from Juanita Wilson, Jim Sheridan, Julien Temple and Aisling Walsh in its latest round of funding decisions.

Noel Pearson (My Left Foot) is producing The Secret Scripture, which was announced in Berlin, with Jessica Chastain and Vanessa Redgrave attached, being sold by Voltage Pictures.

It has received this round’s biggest commitment of €600,000 ($820,000). In The Name Of The Father and My Left Foot’s Sheridan is now lined up to direct.

Johnny Ferguson’s adaptation of Sebastian Barry’s novel centres on the relationship between a 100-year-old woman who has been in a mental hospital for half her life and the psychiatrist who tries to understand why she is there. Production is due to get underway later this year.

Octagon Films production Tomato Red from writer-director Wilson (As If I Am Not There) has received...

Exclusive: Participants include Germany’s Sol Bondy, Jennifer Fox [pictured] from the Us, and Canada’s Lauren Grant.

Trans Atlantic Partners (Tap), the intensive training and networking programme for European Canadian and American producers, has announced the 26 participants selected for this year’s programme.

Partners on the initiative, which is now four years old, are the Erich Pommer Institut in Potsdam, Germany (the creator of Tap), Strategic Partners in Halifax, Canada and Ifp in New York. The scheme also includes observer producers from India and Mexico.

Tap is supported by the Media Mundus Programme of the European Union, by Telefilm Canada, and Vff (Verwertungsgesellschaft der Film- und Fernsehproduzenten mbH) Germany.

The three training modules are taking place in Berlin, Halifax and New York City between June and September 2013. The selected producers also participate in the Atlantic Film Festival’s Strategic Partners and the Ifp’s Independent Film Week in New York.

Nadja Radojevic...

Vol. I Issue 10 February 2013

Join us twice weekly. Send us links to your sizzle reels and film sites.

As this last weekend approached I was faced with marking my Academy Award ballot. This process is always really difficult. How does one sort out the “best” film or accomplishment of five or nine in the case of the Best Picture? For me it has been over 30 years of screenings. Thousand of films. Some really great films and many not so great. I also try to think what it means to be one of the nominees. What was the off-screen story but always more importantly what their contribution was to the work and how the film compares to others. What’s great about short films is that they can be made for almost nothing by a few filmmakers without a large budget, crew or cast.

The Academy has three nomination categories for films less than 41 minutes in length: short fiction, documentary and animation. Once nominated, there are public screenings and panels to celebrate the nominated films at the Academy in Beverly Hills. A group photograph of all the nominees is taken with a large Oscar in the lobby of the Academy headquarters. It is really a wonderful experience.

It wasn’t always like that. There were no special celebrations for the short or documentary films until the l980s. While the Foreign Language films had their seminar, nothing was done for these films. We tried to remedy that in the 1980s and started the Direct Cinema receptions and screenings with UCLA, USC and, a few years later, the Ida sponsored “Docuday” and the Academy started doing an annual reception for the shorts and documentary filmmakers. Today the Academy’s evening receptions for the short films, animated features (a relatively new Oscar category) and the documentaries are annual sell-out events. The filmmakers and their works are celebrated and it has become a highlight of the Oscar week for the filmmakers and those associated with the films.

When I first became a member of the Academy the short films and animation branch was headed by a number of extraordinary talents: T Hee, Saul Bass and June Forey. These three remarkable artists represented classic Disney animation (T. Hee), fiction and narrative short films (Saul Bass), and the television and theatrical films (June Forey, who voiced hundreds of characters.)

Saul Bass articulated the branch’s membership policy, “We want them to be part of our branch.” This liberal interpretation allowed documentary filmmakers like Ken Burns as well as voice artists and creatives like Stan Friedberg (and June Forey) to be part of a group that included IMAX filmmakers as well as classic character animation directors, colorists, layout artists, producers and other key short film and animation filmmakers. The animation filmmakers represent both the studio animators and the independent animators who work globally doing personal work as well as studio work. Other governors from 1979 to the present have included Hal Elias, who served on the Academy board for 37 years and was a short film publicist for MGM among other things; Bill Littlejohn, who worked on over 90 films as an animator ranging from Charley Brown, Peanuts Christmas Specials to working with the Hubleys’; Bill Scott, who acted and wrote over a hundred animated films, and Carl Bell, who worked on over 35 films at Disney in its animation department.

Unlike most of the other branches, the Short Films branch screens all of the submitted films in 16mm and 35mm and now in Digital Cinema, in an effort to find and nominate the best short films produced in the world. The branch rules allowed films to qualify in an effort to encourage more international entries in the 1990s by taking a first prize at key festivals in addition to the method that all Academy films can use to qualify, a theatrical week long (now three day for shorts) run in a theater in Los Angeles County. Branch screenings were expanded to New York to permit more members to participate in the nomination process in the 1990s. The final short listed screenings are in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Over one-third of the branch participates in the voting. The best change took place this year, sending DVD screeners to all Academy members of the short live action and animated nominated films. While this still won’t force members to watch them, members can’t claim they can’t see them. This is not only great for the branch but great for the nominated filmmakers. Who would not want to screen their short film for Academy members?

The process of the branch for selecting Nominees has remained unchanged for years—members screen the films in a theater rather than on DVDs, which is how the Documentary branch is dealing with the flood of feature docs and their unwillingness to trust committees. Nothing beats seeing films projected on a large screen with perfect sound and that is now lost. In a two step process, a committee (self selected from the branch membership) screens the films and the 15 films with the highest scores are short listed. The short listed films are then screened again and members vote.

The current Short Film Branch governors are Jon Bloom (pictured with the 2007 nominees), a 1983 fiction short nominee, filmmaker, editor and producer who chairs the branch, animator and Disney Creative Head and multi-Oscar winner, John Lasseter, and William "Bill" Kroyer,an award-winning director of animation and computer graphics commercials, short films, movie titles and theatrical films and faculty member Chapman College.

One of the challenges for the branch is how to grow live action producing members. With the addition of feature animation to the awards and the large number of feature animation films being released, the branch would like to have the most qualified animators to become members. The number of animators grows at a far faster rate than that of the live action filmmakers since only a few live action filmmakers can qualify for membership. The commercial success of animated features, the long production schedules and the large number of animators who work in qualifying positions allows for six plus individuals per picture to be eligible for membership. With five nominees a year, the number of individuals who can play a key role in two or three features becoming eligible for membership can easily approach 30 plus individuals annually. Add in the short animation nominees and competition for the limited new slots allocated to the branch can be brutal. The talent pool of animators is both astonishingly strong and suggests that Hollywood can easily double production from the 15 or so films made annually to 25 or 30 without having to compromise on talent.

Many of the filmmakers in the branch who make their Oscar nominated or winning live action short have made or are interested in making feature length works. A number of recent nominees or winners have made that transition. The following list looks at all of the live action nominees from 2001 to 2011, using the Internet Movie Database I looked up each nominee and listed what they reported they were doing professionally. Obviously, this is not intended to show everything. In each case, I listed credits or summarized credits shown in the IMDb listing.

Some observations about 11 years of Live Action Short Film Academy Award Nominees:

There were 86 nominations (out of a possible 110) This is because in some years only three films were nominated and in some cases only one filmmaker from a film was eligible for a nomination. Non-us based filmmakers dominate this category. Despite the huge number of short films being made annually in the Us, a majority of the nominated films come from filmmakers based abroad. In part this is due to the government subsidies available, but it is also due to the strong training programs, commercial support for the short films and a rich tradition of theatrical shorts. This year (2012) four of the five films in the live action category are from Us filmmakers. This is an unusual year. Few filmmakers have more than one nomination, only a handful of the nominees have made multiple Academy worthy short films. As one might expect, many of the filmmakers have continued their film work in television, some in features. The European Oscar winners (vs nominees) have done better at snagging features after a win than have their American counterparts. Again, this is likely a function of government support for entry features. Perhaps one of the short films seem to have been turned into a feature (or television) film. Some of the short films are intended to be sizzle reels for features, but it is not clear why so few of the nominated short films have been turned into features. A number of the Oscar winners have not continued working in film. No record of future productions are shown on IMDb. It would be interesting to see what they are doing now. Two of the Oscar winners have written critically award winning screenplays, one received two Academy Award nominations for his screenwriting. None of these nominees have gone on to win Oscars in directing or producing for feature films.

The data is from the Academy and the IMDb databases.

Apologies in advance, if credits were missed or other factual errors were made. In a week we’ll be able to add this year's winner.

2001 (74th)

Short Film (Live Action) (* won Academy Award)

*the accountant -- Ray McKinnon: Two Features: Randy and the Mob 2007 and Crystal 2004 Lisa Blount: Produced these features. Copy Shop -- Virgil Widrich Gregor's Greatest Invention -- Johannes Kiefer A Man Thing (Meska Sprawa) -- Slawomir Fabicki, Two Features: Loving 2012, Retrieval 2006 (Also wrote) Bogumil Godfrejow Has shot multiple features Speed for Thespians -- Kalman Apple, Shameela Bakhsh

2002 (75th)

Short Film (Live Action)

Fait D'Hiver -- Dirk Beliën, Anja Daelemans produced Comrade Kim Goes North I'll Wait for the Next One... (J'Attendrai Le Suivant...) -- Philippe Orreindy, Thomas Gaudin Inja (Dog) -- Steven Pasvolsky Feature, Deck Dogz Joe Weatherstone, produced episodic television. Johnny Flynton -- Lexi Alexander, directed 3 features: Lifted, Punisher: War Zone and Green Street Hooligans Alexander Buono as a Dp has shot series and features *This Charming Manon (Der Er En Yndig Mand) -- Martin Strange-Hansen, Mie Andreasen produced both features, series and documentaries.

2003 (76th)

Short Film (Live Action)

Die Rote Jacke (The Red Jacket) -- Florian Baxmeyer Multiple television films and series Most (The Bridge) -- Bobby Garabedian, William Zabka Mr. Zabka has appeared as an actor in numerous films and television shows Squash -- Lionel Bailliu Features: Fair Play and Denis (in post) (A) Torzija [(A) Torsion] -- Stefan Arsenijevic Directed: Lost and Found, Love and Other Crimes, and Do Not Forget Me Istanbul *Two Soldiers -- Aaron Schneider,Asc (Cinematographer numerous credits) and feature, Kiss the Girls, Andrew J. Sacks Series The Closer (98 episodes) and Major Crimes.

2004 (77th)

Short Film (Live Action)

Everything in This Country Must -- Gary McKendry Directed Killer Elite, Joseph and the Girl Little Terrorist -- Ashvin Kumar Produced and Directed features (2) and documentaries (2) 7:35 in the Morning (7:35 de la Mañana) -- Nacho Vigalondo Directed and written multiple films, series, shorts Two Cars, One Night -- Taika Waititi, Acted and directed and written multi television and films Ainsley Gardiner Nz based producer of multiple shorts, television and feature films *Wasp -- Andrea Arnold Actor, director and writer of numbers films, television programs

2005 (78th)

Short Film (Live Action)

Ausreisser (The Runaway) -- Ulrike Grote Ms. Grote has acted in over 42 programs, features, television series and films Cashback -- Sean Ellis, Director/Writer Metro Manila, The Broken Lene Bausager Producer, The Broken, Ginger and Rosa The Last Farm -- Rúnar Rúnarsson, Director/Writer Volcano, Thor S. Sigurjónsson Produced multiple features Our Time Is Up -- Rob Pearlstein, Director/Writer multiple television and a feature Pia Clemente Producer, documentaries *Six Shooter -- Martin McDonagh Writer/Director Seven Psychopaths, In Bruges

2006 (79th)

Short Film (Live Action)

Binta and the Great Idea (Binta Y La Gran Idea) -- Javier Fesser, no other credits shown Luis Manso Produced multiple features Éramos Pocos (One Too Many) -- Borja Cobeaga Writer, multi films and television series Helmer & Son -- Søren Pilmark no other credits, Kim Magnusso Producer over 100 film, television films (4 Best Short Film Academy Award nominations) Won for Ernst & Lyset The Saviour -- Peter Templeman, no other credits Stuart Parkyn, Producer, multi-short film credits *West Bank Story -- Ari Sandel Director, one short, one documentary

2007 (80th)

Short Film (Live Action)

At Night -- Christian E. Christiansen, Directed, Features and television series Louise Vesth Producer, multi features Il Supplente (The Substitute) -- Andrea Jublin

*Le Mozart des Pickpockets (The Mozart of Pickpockets) -- Philippe Pollet-Villard Actor and director short films, a television film

Tanghi Argentini -- Guido Thys, Director, Multiple television series Anja Daelemans, nominated for 2 Short Film nominations (Gridlock, 2002) Producer/Pm various The Tonto Woman -- Daniel Barber, Directed The Keeping Room, Harry Brown Matthew Brown Produced 2 shorts

2008 (81st)

Short Film (Live Action)

Auf der Strecke (On the Line) -- Reto Caffi Manon on the Asphalt -- Elizabeth Marre, Director, Television series Olivier Pont Director, Television series New Boy -- Steph Green, Director Run and Jump Tamara Anghie Producer Run and Jump The Pig -- Tivi Magnusson, Producer Over 64 titles many short films, Dorte Høgh Writer multiple series, (Directed The Pig) *Spielzeugland (Toyland) -- Jochen Alexander Freydank Producer of multiple television series

2009 (82nd)

Short Film (Live Action)

The Door -- Juanita Wilson, Director As If I Am Not There James Flynn Multiple Producer credits for over 50 titles, television and theatrical Instead of Abracadabra -- Patrik Eklund, Director, Television film and feature Mathias Fjellström Kavi -- Gregg Helvey Miracle Fish -- Luke Doolan, Multiple credits as editor Drew Bailey Multiple credits as Assistant Director *The New Tenants -- Joachim Back, no other credits shown as a director, Tivi Magnusson This is Mr. Magnusson’s first Academy Award and second nomination. See 2008.

2010 (83rd)

Short Film (Live Action)

The Confession -- Tanel Toom The Crush -- Michael Creagh *God of Love -- Luke Matheny Feature Love Sick and multiple Television series episode Na Wewe -- Ivan Goldschmidt Wish 143 -- Ian Barnes, Multiple directing credits Television Samantha Waite Credits as production coordinator on multiple titles

2011 (84th)

Short Film (Live Action)

Pentecost -- Peter McDonald, Credits as actor Eimear O'Kane Credits as Producer on The Shadows and on television programs. Raju -- Max Zähle, Director, Television series Stefan Gieren Producer-Writer credit on feature film, Kunduz: The Incident at Hadji Ghafur *The Shore -- Terry George, Writer Two Oscar nominations for screenplays In the Name of the Father and Hotel Riwanda Producer and director on films and television series Oorlagh George Numerous credits as Assistant on features, documentaries and television shows Time Freak -- Andrew Bowler Writer and actor in a short film Gigi Causey Production manager, producer shorts, series and films

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Credits: Editing by Jessica Just for SydneysBuzz

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Mitchell Block specializes in conceiving, producing, marketing & distributing independent features & consulting. He is an expert in placing both completed works into distribution & working with producers to make projects fundable. He conducts regular workshops in film producing in Los Angeles and most recently in Maine, Russia and in Myanmar (Burma).

Poster Girl, produced by Block was nominated for a Documentary Academy Award and selected by the Ida as the Best Doc Short 2011. It was also nominated for two Emmy Awards and aired on HBO. He is an executive producer of the Emmy Award-winning PBS series Carrier, a 10-hour series that he conceived & co-created. Block is a graduate of Tisch School and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business. He is a member of Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, the Television Academy, a founding member of BAFTA-la and has been teaching at USC School of Cinematic Arts since 1979. Currently Block teaches a required class in the USC Peter Stark Producing Program.

______________________________________________________________________

©2013Mwb All Rights Reserved All Rights Reserved. All information and designs on the Sites are copyrighted material owned by Block. Reproduction, dissemination, or transmission of any part of the material here without the express written consent of the owner is strictly prohibited.All other product names and marks on Block Direct, whether trademarks, service marks, or other type, and whether registered or unregistered, is the property of Block.

Angelina Jolie's In the Land of Blood and Honey was bound to draw controversy when people still live in denial

When you decide to shoot a film about a war in the country where that war happened – even if it is long over – you should expect some complications. This is what happened to Angelina Jolie when she decided to film In the Land of Blood and Honey, her directorial debut, in Bosnia last year. Women raped in the war demanded that the authorities forbid her from making it, and especially from filming it in Bosnia. The love story between a raped woman and a perpetrator, they said, could not have happened. So, Jolie proceeded to film in Hungary.

She would be very naive not to have expected controversy after the film opened in Sarajevo earlier this week. But she probably did not expect physical threats, which were apparently made...

Join us from 7.40am when we'll be liveblogging the nominations in the second round of voting for this year's British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards

7.40am:

Tim Curry is teeing things up …

We're going to star those longlist contenders that make the shortlist:

Best Film

The Artist

The Descendants

Drive

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

The Help

Hugo

The Ides of March

The Iron Lady

Midnight in Paris

Moneyball

My Week with Marilyn

Senna

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

War Horse

We Need to Talk About Kevin

Film Not in the English Language

Extra Potiche 1

Abel

As If I Am Not There

The Boy Mir – Ten Years in Afghanistan

Calvet

Dhobi Ghat (Mumbai Diaries)

Incendies

Little White Lies

Pina

Post Mortem

Potiche

Le Quattro Volte

A Separation

The Skin I Live In

Tomboy

The Troll Hunter

Outstanding British Film

Attack The Block

Arthur Christmas

Attack the Block

Coriolanus...

Dhobi Ghat (Mumbai Diaries) directed by Kiran Rao made it to the longlist of the British Academy Film Awards 2012 in the Non-English Films category. It will compete with films like Asghar Farhadi’s Nader and Simin: A Separation and Wim Wender’s Pina to secure a nomination for the prestigious awards.

The Longlist that was announced recently is the result of Round One voting by members of the Academy. With 285 films entered this year, the first round of voting reduced the list of eligible films to 15 in each category.

Round Two voting will reduce these 15 contenders down to the five nominations in each category. The winners will be announced at the Orange British Academy Film Awards on Sunday, 12 February,2012.

Complete Longlist:

Film Not in the English Language

Abel

As If I Am Not There

The Boy Mir – Ten Years in Afghanistan

Calvet

Dhobi Ghat (Mumbai Diaries)

Incendies

Little White Lies...

Benedict Cumberbatch in Tomas Alfredson's Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy The asterisk ("*") denotes "Chapter selection from Round One," i.e., the top five choices (except in the Best Film, Best Film Not in the English Language, and Best British Film categories) of voters of each branch. Apart from three categories (see below), the full BAFTA membership is allowed to vote for the five final nominees out of the fifteen longlist entries per category. This year, in the Supporting Actress category six individuals were flagged as a result of a tie. Also of note: Documentary, Outstanding British Film and Film Not in the English Language are "Chapter votes" in Rounds One and Two of voting. In other words, in a manner akin to that of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, only a select group of BAFTA members vote for the final nominees in those three categories. Best Film...

I've said it before and I'm forced to say it again. I'm *so* glad that the American Academy does not publish a long list. i.e. the semi-finals. You see, It's so much more bearable / engaging when you can imagine that straight up great achievements or achievements you really responded to personally but you knew might have trouble rallying huge swaths of support were in 6th or 7th place or 10th place in voting. The way BAFTA does it, however, you are forced to understand that Oscar buzz is everything and Super Size Mediocrities will always triumph over critical darlings or more challenging Art.

Take the Best Picture categories for a prime example. Notice that Weekend for example, a very British and very acclaimed film is not one of their "outstanding" homegrown products (they might want to check the reviews again) and notice that auteurist films frequently called masterpieces by...

The full list of contenders in the first round of voting for this year's British Academy Film Awards

Best Film

The Artist

The Descendants

Drive

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

The Help

Hugo

The Ides of March

The Iron Lady

Midnight in Paris

Moneyball

My Week with Marilyn

Senna

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

War Horse

We Need to Talk About Kevin

Film Not in the English Language

Abel

As If I Am Not There

The Boy Mir – Ten Years in Afghanistan

Calvet

Dhobi Ghat (Mumbai Diaries)

Incendies

Little White Lies

Pina

Post Mortem

Potiche

Le Quattro Volte

A Separation

The Skin I Live In

Tomboy

The Troll Hunter

Outstanding British Film

Arthur Christmas

Attack the Block

Coriolanus

The Guard

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2

The Iron Lady

Jane Eyre

My Week with Marilyn

Senna

Shame

Submarine

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Tyrannosaur

War Horse

We Need to Talk About Kevin...

The complete list of submissions for the nomination for Best Foreign Language Academy Award, has been announced. 63 countries' selections have been accepted. Last year there were 65 selections. I have added the international sales agents and when there is one, the U.S. distributor. The Female Factor: 8 of 63 films or 13%. Last year, of the 65 films submitted, 9 were directed by women — that’s 14%. The films by women are Leticia Tonos' Love Child ♀ (the Dominican Republic), Valerie Donzelli's Declaration of War ♀ (France), Ann Hui's A Simple Life ♀ (Hong Kong), Juanita Wilson's As If I Am Not There ♀ (Ireland), Nadine Labaki's Where Do We Go Now? ♀...

The complete list of submissions for the nomination for Best Foreign Language Academy Award, has been announced. 63 countries' selections have been accepted. Last year there were 65 selections. I have added the international sales agents and when there is one, the U.S. distributor. The Female Factor: 8 of 63 films or 13%. Last year, of the 65 films submitted, 9 were directed by women — that’s 14%. The films by women are Leticia Tonos' Love Child ♀ (the Dominican Republic), Valerie Donzelli's Declaration of War ♀ (France), Ann Hui's A Simple Life ♀ (Hong Kong), Juanita Wilson's As If I Am Not There ♀ (Ireland), Nadine Labaki's Where Do We Go Now? ♀ (Lebanon), Maria Peters' Sonny Boy ♀ (the Netherlands), Anne Sewitzky's Happy, Happy (Norway) ♀ and Pernilla August's Beyond ♀ (Sweden).

From Albania to Vietnam, 63 countries are hoping that their film entry will get picked to fill one of the five slots for Best Foreign Language Film for the 84th Annual Academy Awards.

Five slots, 63 countries, the competition is fierce! Is your country of choice one of the 63 hopefuls?

I'm happy that my home country, the Philippines, has an entry, the dramedy "The Woman in the Septic Tank" from director Marlon N. Rivera. Released in the Philippines on August 3rd, the film became the highest grossing independent movie in my country's cinema history. So keeping my fingers crossed for this movie!

The shortlist will be released in January and then it will be whittled down to five contenders when the nominations are announced on Tuesday, January 24, 2012. The winner will be announced on Oscar night on Sunday, February 26, 2012.

Take a look at the complete list of Best Foreign Language hopefuls:

Albania, "Amnesty,...

Yesterday the Academy finally released the full list of 2012 Foreign Language Oscar contenders adding four films I did not have on my previous list from the Dominican Republic, Indonesia, United Kingdom and a mysterious title I can't find anything about from Kazakhstan and now that the short list has been announced and everyone has posted the Academy's press release it's like searching for a needle in a haystack if you go looking for more information on it. That said, if anyone has a link to any information on Egor Mikhalkov-Konchalovsky's Returning to the 'A' I would love to share it as I have links and information for all other 62 films submitted for consideration. As I said in my last post addressing the category, I haven't seen any of these films, a rarity for me, but based on buzz the top contenders would seem to include Zhang Yimou's The War of Flowers,...

Nadine Labaki, Where Do We Go Now? Today it was announced that Patty Jenkins, whose Monster earned Charlize Theron a Best Actress Oscar in early 2004, will be directing Thor 2. Officially, Perkins is the first woman director at the helm of a big-budget, Hollywood superhero movie. Below you'll find ten movies directed by female filmmakers that are among the 63 contenders for nominations for the 2012 Academy Awards' Best Foreign Language Film category. Seven of those hail from Europe; one is from the Americas, one from East Asia, and one from West Asia (or the Middle East). They are: the Dominican Republic's Leticia Tonos for Love Child, France's Valérie Donzelli for the semi-autobiographical Declaration of War, Greece's Athina Rachel Tsangari for Attenberg, Hong Kong's Ann Hui for A Simple Life, and Ireland's Juanita Wilson for As If I Am Not There. Also: Lebanon's Nadine Labaki for Toronto Film Festival Audience Award winner Where Do We Go Now?...

Nuri Bilge Ceylan's Once Upon a Time in Anatolia Oscar 2012: New Zealand/First Samoan Feature Among Best Foreign Language Film Contenders Albania, Amnesty, Bujar Alimani, director; Argentina, Aballay, Fernando Spiner, director; Austria, Breathing, Karl Markovics, director; Belgium, Bullhead, Michael R. Roskam, director; Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belvedere, Ahmed Imamovic, director; Brazil, Elite Squad: The Enemy Within, José Padilha, director; Bulgaria, Tilt, Viktor Chouchkov, Jr., director; Canada, Monsieur Lazhar, Philippe Falardeau, director; Chile, Violeta Went to Heaven, Andrés Wood, director; China, The Flowers of War, Zhang Yimou, director; Colombia, The Colors of the Mountain, Carlos César Arbeláez, director; Croatia, 72 Days, Danilo Serbedzija, director; Cuba, Havanastation, Ian Padrón, director; Czech Republic, Alois Nebel, Tomás Lunák, director; Denmark, Superclásico, Ole Christian Madsen, director; Dominican Republic, Love Child, Leticia Tonos, director; Egypt, Lust, Khaled el Hagar, director; Estonia, Letters to Angel, Sulev Keedus, director; Finland, Le Havre, Aki Kaurismäki, director; France, Declaration of War,...

We gave you an update a few weeks ago, but The Academy now has its final list of the 63 films competing for Best Foreign Film Oscar. This list will get cut down as films screen and the committee decides on a final five when the nominations get announced late January. The notable films include Iran’s A Separation, which we adored and China’s massive budget The Flowers of War starring Christian Bale (which isn’t even complete to my knowledge).

Mexico’s Miss Bala (read our Cannes and Vancouver reviews) and Finland’s Le Havre (our Cannes and Toronto reviews) are also contenders. Lebanon’s Where Do We Go Now? is also in the mix, a drama that won the top prize at Toronto. There are many others we’ve seen at festivals, so follow that coverage here as we head into Oscar season. Check out the press release below.

Press Release:

Beverly Hills, CA - Sixty-three countries, including first-time entrant New Zealand, have submitted films for consideration in the Foreign Language Film category for the 84th Academy Awards®.

The 2011 submissions are:

Albania, “Amnesty,” Bujar Alimani, director;

Argentina, “Aballay,” Fernando Spiner, director;

Austria, “Breathing,” Karl Markovics, director;

Belgium, “Bullhead,” Michael R. Roskam, director;

Bosnia and Herzegovina,”Belvedere,” Ahmed Imamovic, director;

Brazil, “Elite Squad: The Enemy Within,” José Padilha, director;

Bulgaria, “Tilt,” Viktor Chouchkov, Jr., director;

Canada, “Monsieur Lazhar,” Philippe Falardeau, director;

Chile, “Violeta Went to Heaven,” Andrés Wood, director;

China, “The Flowers of War,” Zhang Yimou, director;

Colombia, “The Colors of the Mountain,” Carlos César Arbeláez, director;

Croatia, “72 Days,” Danilo Serbedzija, director;

Cuba, “Havanastation,” Ian Padrón, director;

Czech Republic,”Alois Nebel,” Tomás Lunák, director;

Denmark, “Superclásico,” Ole Christian Madsen, director;

Dominican Republic,”Love Child,” Leticia Tonos, director;

Egypt, “Lust,” Khaled el Hagar, director;

Estonia, “Letters to Angel,” Sulev Keedus, director;

Finland,...

Update: The total is now 60 films as Steve Pond at The Wrap informs us the Domenican Republic's submission La hija natural has been accepted. He also says we should expect four or five more films to be added to the list by the time things are said and done. My original post follows...

The deadline for countries to submit films for consideration at this year's Oscars was Monday, October 3 and this year's list is a little lighter than last (so far) as 60 countries have offered up submissions compared to 66 last year and 67 the year before that. Looking over the complete list, which I have included directly below and can always be viewed in my "The Contenders" section right here, there are a few that stand out based on what I've heard, but then again, this is the first year I can ever remember where I haven't seen a single one of the entries.

★★★★☆ As If I Am Not There (2010), the second feature from Irish writer-director Juanita Wilson and starring Stellan Skarsgård, Miraj Grbic and Natasa Petrovic, opens on a young woman tearfully looking at her unwanted newborn baby, before taking a shower as blood trickles into the drain. Of all the films based around the conflict in Bosnia, few have focused solely on the plight of ethnically cleansed civilians, and none are likely to be as relentlessly sombre in tone. Yet as uncomfortable as it is to watch, it's also extremely powerful and engaging.

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(Yes, I already wrote up this impressive but deeply flawed movie when it screened at the 2011 Bradford International Film Festival - but the amount of positive press it received made me want to give it a second chance, so this is more or less a completely new review.)When you see footage from a war zone, especially footage shot by someone who knows what they're doing, you can respond to it in a number of different ways but you'd probably never think of it a good film. Juanita Wilson's As If I Am Not There feels something like this; based on true accounts of some of the atrocities visited on prisoners in the Bosnian conflict, it's put together by a talented director with a profound...

Earlier in the month we celebrated with Happy Happy director Anne Sewitsky when her dulcet dogme dramedy was selected as Norway’s submission for the 84th Annual Academy Awards’ foreign-language category. Since then a bevy of other countries have chosen their entries, many of which will be screened at part of the New York Film Festival in a few weeks including: Wim Wenders’s Pina, Aki Kaurismaki’s Le Havre, Béla Tarr’s The Turin Horse, Joseph Cedar’s Footnote, Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation and Gerardo Naranjo’s Miss Bala. {Look for reviews in the coming weeks here.}

Among other notable entries is China’s submission The Flowers of War, a historical drama that reveals the invasion of the Japanese Imperial Army in 1937 Nanking. The film’s director Zhang Yimou has twice earned Oscar nods in this category (for Raise the Red Lantern and Ju Dou) and notably directed...

Weekend Preview: Weekend Preview: Testosterone Rules Box Office with Moneyball, Killer Elite, Machine Gun Preacher Interviews: Gordon-Levitt and Rogen Talk 50/50: “It’s Honest, That’s Why It’s Funny” Albert Brooks Talks Drive, Comedy as Anger, Tweeting and Stanley Kubrick Contagion Holds Strong at Box Office; Burns Talks Script, Viral Power of Blogger Awards: China Selects Zhang Yimou's Flowers of War Starring Christian Bale as Oscar Oscar Talk: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Melancholia, Moneyball, Ides of March, New Oscar Rules Footnote is Israel’s Official Oscar Entry, Wins Ophir Academy Clamps Down on Campaign Violations, Social Media Honor Roll: Producers Guild Recognizes Steven Spielberg Oscar Watch: Ireland Submits As If I Am Not There 63rd Emmy Awards: Video & Photo Highlights, Movie Stars as TV Stars Vote for ...

The Irish Film and Television Academy (Ifta) today announced that Juanita Wilson's 'As If I Am Not There' will be Ireland's submission for the Foreign Language category for the 2012 Academy Awards. 'As If I Am Not There' is set in during the Balkan war of the 1990s and tells the story of a young schoolteacher from Sarajevo whose life is changed forever when Serbian soldiers overrun the village and send the women to be imprisoned in a warehouse in remote Bosnia. The film is shot primarily in the Serbo-Croatian language, filmed on location in Macedonia in 2009...

The Irish Film & Television Academy (Ifta) announced that Juanita Wilson's As If I Am Not There is Ireland’s submission for the Foreign Language category for the 2012 Academy Awards. As If I Am Not There joins Wim Wenders’s Pina (Germany), Aki Kaurismaki’s Le Havre (Finland), Béla Tarr’s The Turin Horse (Hungary), Anne Sewitsky's Happy Happy (Norway) and others as foreign language contenders submitted for Oscar consideration. IndiewIRE is keeping an updated list of films submitted for the Foreign Language Academy Award. As If I Am Not There is an atmospheric and moving feature debut from Irish director and writer Juanita Wilson (trailer posted below). The movie, based on a book by Croatian journalist Slavenka Drakulic, follows a young woman from Sarajevo, who is rounded ...

Three Irish co-productions have been selected by the European Film Academy's for this year's European Film Awards. Juanita Wilson's 'As If I am Not There' has been selected along with Fastnet Film's Irish/Finnish co-production 'Silent Sonata' and Element Pictures co-production 'Essential Killing'. The Efa have selected 45 offerings from 32 countries, with the Irish competitors facing strong competition from 11 French productions (eight co-productions), seven German nominations (four co-productions) and four Spanish nominations. Competition from the UK includes 'We Need to Talk About Kevin', 'Neds' and 'The King's Speech'.

A schoolteacher suffers brutality at the hands of Serb soldiers during the Bosnian War.

With Ratko Mladic’s arrest and ongoing trial at the Hague for alleged war crimes during the Bosnian War, Juanita Wilson’s debut feature, As If I Am Not There, serves as a timely reminder of the atrocities suffered during the period, and the difficulty in resuming any sense of normality in its aftermath.

Based on Croatian writer Slavenka Drakulic’s best-selling novel of the same name, the film tells the story of Samira, a young teacher who arrives in a small rural village as supply...

Tom Hanks's later-life rom-com flops as Transformers clanks home and Bridesmaids lives happily ever after

The winner

The biggest film in the market by a huge margin, and the second-biggest opener of 2011, is Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Opening with £10.73m including Wednesday/Thursday previews of £4.23m, the metal-bashing actioner is this year second only to the debut of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, which began its run in May with £11.63m, including previews of £3.07m. Next comes The Hangover Part II, which opened with £10.41m, including previews of £2.03m.

At first glance, UK grosses across the Transformers franchise seem to have taken a small leap forward: the original film debuted in 2007 with £8.72m, and Revenge of the Fallen followed two years later with £8.35m. However, the latter achieved its opening salvo without any previews. Strip out the previews from Dark of the Moon's tally, and it...

The soundtrack during the press screening of As If I Am Not There at London's Ica briefly cut out, leaving only images on screen. Strangely, that silence spoke volumes, as I focused more intently on the haunted faces of the women and children crammed on to a bus heading to a Bosnian concentration camp. Irish director Juanita Wilson's film tells of a young teacher, Samira (played by debutant Natasha Petrovic), who happily leaves Sarajevo to take up a position at a rural school. The outbreak of civil war shatters her idyll and finds her enslaved in a "rape camp", where she and several other women are nightly brutalised for the soldiers' relaxation.

Based on true-life testimonies and a novel by Slavenka Drakulic, the film, whose title refers to the out-of-body numbness described by victims, is about Samira's instinct for survival and the choices she makes to ensure it. How...

Transformers: Dark Of The Moon (12A)

(Michael Bay, 2011, Us) Shia Labeouf, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Josh Duhamel, Frances McDormand, John Turturro, Josh Dempsey, John Malkovich. 155 mins

Despite the bombastic patriotism, drooling machine porn, all-round political dodginess, atrocious comedy, antiquated alien-invasion plot, etc, there's something oddly compelling about metropolitan destruction and high-tech combat rendered on this scale. If only there weren't those irritating humans getting in the way. It's an improvement on the last one, but this is so defiantly crass, it's almost admirable. Best watched with a 10-year-old boy, a hangover, or a cultural historian by your side to tell you how wrong it all is.

A Separation (PG)

(Asghar Farhadi, 2011, Iran) Peyman Moaadi, Leila Hatami. 123 mins

The complete opposite of Transformers: a complex, intricate and deeply satisfying study of Iranian society. Built around a divorcing couple, but ranging far wider, it's a web of social taboos, domestic clashes and building tension.

Bridesmaids (15)

(Paul Feig, 2011, Us) Kristen Wiig, Rose Byrne, Maya Rudolph, Jon Hamm, 125 mins.

Having recovered from the shocking revelation that women can be funny, rude, and entertaining in the absence of men, we can at last put the debates and Hangover comparisons this movie has prompted behind us now and just enjoy a satisfying prenuptial comedy. Led by Wiig's anxious maid of honour, it certainly matches male equivalents in the grossness stakes at times, but it also finds deeper, smarter ways to make us laugh.

Incendies (15)

(Denis Villeneuve, 2010, Can/Fra) Lubna Azabal, Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin, Maxim Gaudette. 131 mins.

A mother's death sets her two children on an investigation into their personal and political history in this powerful mystery, set in an unnamed Middle Eastern country.

Countdown To Zero (Nc)

(Lucy Walker, 2010, Us) 89 mins.

Not got enough things to worry about? That's because you forgot about the threat of nuclear annihilation that still hangs over us.

“To Be Heard” and “Hot Coffee” win big at Seattle International Film Festival’s awards ceremony today at Seattle’s Space Needle.

See below for the full list of winners and runners-up:

Siff 2011 Competition Awards

Siff 2011 Best New Director

Grand Jury Prize

Gandu, directed by “Q” Kaushik Mukherjee (India, 2010)

Jury Statement: “We chose to give the prize to a movie that bowled us over with its kinetic, brash humor and style-hoping dexterity, a portrait of tortured youth that refreshingly pokes fun at adolescent self-centeredness while simultaneously exploring the anger, despondency and malaise of a generation.”

Siff 2011 Best Documentary

Grand Jury Prize

Hot Coffee, directed by Susan Saladoff (USA, 2011)

Jury Statement: “Going beyond a well-known headline that was the butt of many jokes, Hot Coffee makes dry legal boilerplate spring to life in portraying human dramas with tragic consequences. It makes us all question our simple assumptions – it’s a film that needs to be seen.

“To Be Heard” and “Hot Coffee” win big at Seattle International Film Festival’s awards ceremony today at Seattle’s Space Needle.

See below for the full list of winners and runners-up:

Siff 2011 Competition Awards

Siff 2011 Best New Director

Grand Jury Prize

Gandu, directed by “Q” Kaushik Mukherjee (India, 2010)

Jury Statement: “We chose to give the prize to a movie that bowled us over with its kinetic, brash humor and style-hoping dexterity, a portrait of tortured youth that refreshingly pokes fun at adolescent self-centeredness while simultaneously exploring the anger, despondency and malaise of a generation.”

Siff 2011 Best Documentary

Grand Jury Prize

Hot Coffee, directed by Susan Saladoff (USA, 2011)

Jury Statement: “Going beyond a well-known headline that was the butt of many jokes, Hot Coffee makes dry legal boilerplate spring to life in portraying human dramas with tragic consequences. It makes us all question our simple assumptions – it’s a film that needs to be seen.

The 14th annual Long Island International Film Expo (Liife) will be held at the historic Bellmore Movies. The Expo will show over 115 films from around the world with an abundance of documentaries and foreign films taking front and center.The Irish/Bosnian film, As If I Am Not There, will be the official opening night feature on Friday, July 8, 2011 at 7:00 pm. The feature film, which opened at the Toronto Film Festival and won many awards at major film festivals worldwide, realistically depicts the atrocities that occurred during the Bosnian/Serbian war. The documentaries that will be screened cover such diverse subjects as how a community comes together to honor their wounded warriors; how Burmese citizens suffer adverse conditions in...

Juanita Wilson's feature film 'As If I Am Not There' has won the Film Award of the Council of Europe (Face) at the Istanbul Film Festival this weekend. Presented at the festival's closing gala on Saturday night (16 April), the festival's Golden Tulip awards were announced. 'As If I Am Not There', from Irish writer/director Juanita Wilson received the Film Award of the Council of Europe Face.

Juanita Wilson's feature film 'As If I Am Not There' has won the Film Award of the Council of Europe (Face) at the Istanbul Film Festival this weekend. Presented at the festival's closing gala on Saturday night (16 April), the festival's Golden Tulip awards were announced. 'As If I Am Not There', from Irish writer/director Juanita Wilson received the Film Award of the Council of Europe Face.

'As If I Am Not There', the feature film debut from Oscar nominated filmmaker, Juanita Wilson (The Door) will start a special national theatrical release on Friday, March 4th. On this date the film will open in several cinemas in Dublin as well as The Gate in Cork. Later this month the film will also open in Sligo, Wicklow and Galway. Iftn spoke to Juanita about the making of the gritty, multi award winning film.

Irish stars Pierce Brosnan and Saoirse Ronan took home top acting prizes at the Irish Film & Television Awards (IFTAs) in Dublin on Saturday.

The former James Bond won Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Ghost, while the 16-year-old actress' turn in The Way Back earned her the supporting actress honour.

Martin McCann was named Best Actor for Swansong - Story of Occi Byrn, while Amy Huberman was crowned Best Actress for Rewind at the ceremony celebrating the Irish film and television industry.

Bosnian war drama As If I Am Not There received three trophies, including the Ifta for Best Film, Director and Script for the film's Irish writer/director Juanita Wilson.

In the international categories, The Social Network won the top film prize, with its star Jesse Eisenberg winning Best Actor. Annette Bening took Best Actress for The Kids Are All Right.

In the TV categories, the fourth and final series of The Tudors was named Best Drama Series, while the show's producer Morgan O'Sullivan received the Outstanding Contribution to Industry Award.

Winners in Bold Film As If I Am Not There - James Flynn & Nathalie Lichtenthaeler (Octagon Films) Perrier's Bounty - Alan Moloney (Parallel Films) Sensation - Katie Holly & Kieron J Walsh (Blinder Films) Swansong - Story of Occi Byrne - Edwina Forkin & Herman Florin (Zanzibar Films / Florin Films) The Runway - Macdara Kelleher & Ian Power (Fastnet Films) Director Film Juanita Wilson - As If I Am Not There (Octagon Films) Pj Dillon - Rewind (Carbon Films) Tom Hall - Sensation (Blinder Films) Ian Power - The Runway (Fastnet Films) Script Film Juanita Wilson - As If I Am Not There (Octagon Films) Will Collins - My Brothers (Rubicon Films) Conor McDermottroe – Swansong - Story of Occi Byrne (Zanzibar Films / Florin Films) Mark O'Rowe - Perrier's Bounty (Parallel Films) Actor in a Lead Role - Film Martin...

Bosnian war drama As If I Am Not There received three Ifta awards for Best Film, Director and Script for the film's Irish writer/director Juanita Wilson at tonight's Ifta awards, celebrating the Irish film and television industry.

Martin MCCann was named Best Actor for 'Swansong - Story of Occi Byrn', while Amy Huberman was got Best Actress for 'Rewind.'

Pierce Brosnan and Saorise Ronan took home the supporting honours at the awards with Brosnan winning Best Supporting Actor for his role in 'The Ghost', while Ronan's part in The Way Back earned her the supporting actress honour.

In the international categories, 'The Social Network' won the best international film, with its star Jesse Eisenberg winning Best Actor. Annette Bening took Best Actress for 'The Kids Are All Right'.

Winners Of The 8th Annual Irish Film & Television Awards:

Outstanding Contribution to Industry...

Filed under: Features, Cinematical

Probably the most renowned Swedish actor working onscreen today (next to the venerable Max von Sydow), Stellan Skarsgård is a reliably solid presence in any film, big or small. And he's done it all, from obscure, harsh dramas like Juanita Wilson's recent 'As If I Am Not There' to big, fluffy musicals like 'Mamma Mia!' (granted, that was his only fluffy musical). A major part of the American movie-going public knows him as Bootstrap Bill from the last two 'Pirates of the Caribbean' movies; a smaller segment recognizes him mainly from Lars von Trier films, and then there's Verner Vollstedt, his crazily overbearing director character on HBO's 'Entourage.'

Opening Friday is 'Frankie and Alice,' in which Skarsgård plays a psychiatrist to Halle Berry's multiple personalities. Most recently he gave a wonderful performance in dark Norwegian (redundant?) crime...

Filed under: Features, Cinematical

Probably the most renowned Swedish actor working onscreen today (next to the venerable Max von Sydow), Stellan Skarsgård is a reliably solid presence in any film, big or small. And he's done it all, from obscure, harsh dramas like Juanita Wilson's recent 'As If I Am Not There' to big, fluffy musicals like 'Mamma Mia!' (granted, that was his only fluffy musical). A major part of the American movie-going public knows him as Bootstrap Bill from the last two 'Pirates of the Caribbean' movies; a smaller segment recognizes him mainly from Lars von Trier films, and then there's Verner Vollstedt, his crazily overbearing director character on HBO's 'Entourage.'

Opening Friday is 'Frankie and Alice,' in which Skarsgård plays a psychiatrist to Halle Berry's multiple personalities. Most recently he gave a wonderful performance in dark Norwegian (redundant?) crime...

Crime drama “Love/hate” has been nominated for 10 awards for the upcoming Irish Film and Television Awards (Ifta), to be held in Dublin on Saturday, February 12. Brendan Gleeson and his two actor sons, Domhnall and Brian have all been shortlisted in separate categories for the awards ceremony. Juanita Wilson’s Bosnian-set drama “As If I Am Not There” has been nominated for six awards. In the best actor categories, Cillian Murphy and Brendan Gleeson were both nominated for their performance in the Irish gangster comedy “Perrier’s Bounty”. Co-stars Colin Farrell and Saoirse Ronan are shortlisted for their supporting rles in Peter Weir’s “The Way Back”. Ruth Bradley is up for best actress for her role in “Love/Hate”, she will be judged against Amy Huberman (“Rewind”), Ruth Bradley (Love/Hate), Orla Brady (Mistresses), Sarah Flood (Fair City) and Charlene McKenna (Raw). Aine Moriarty, Ifta chief executive, spoke about...

Variety’s list leaves out women. You stink, Variety!

Variety's announcement/award/whatever will have a new home at the 2011 Palm Springs International Film Festival. Variety has been doing these lists since 1996 at the Sundance Film Festival before moving it to the Palm Springs International Film Festival this year.

"10 Directors to Watch" is the first of Variety’s "10 to Watch" series spotlighting the most exciting new talents in the fields of directing, writing, producing, acting, cinematography and comedy. This year’s "10 Directors to Watch" are:

Daniel Espinosa (Easy Money), Ed Gass-Donnelly (Small Town Murder Songs), Baran Bo Odar (The Silence), Juanita Wilson (As If I Am Not There), Richard Ayoade (Submarine), Elgin James (Little Birds), Patrick Lussier (Drive Angry), Andre Overdal (The Troll Hunter), Denis Villeneuve (Incendies) and Jason Weiner (Arthur).

Where are all the women? Why is the list 90% male when Debra Granik (Winter's Bone), Tanya Hamilton (Night Catches Us...

Irish director Juanita Wilson has been shortlisted in the 16th annual directors “One to Watch” list by Variety. The Oscar nominee received her place on the list for her new feature film “As If I Am Not There”. The prestigious list is drafted annually by industry insiders, editors, reporters and Variety critics. Based on the novel by Slavenka Drakulic, the film tells the story of a young Sarajevo woman, whose life is shattered when a soldier walks into her home and forces her to pack up all her belongings and abandon her life. Held captive in a warehouse with other woman from her village, she quickly learns that survival means more than staying alive. Juanita was recently award the Silver Pyramid Award at the Cairo International Film Festival for “As if I am Not There” which is due to have it’s North American premiere at the upcoming Palm Springs International Film Festival next month.

Variety has unveiled its 16th annual directors to watch list and Irish helmer Juanita Wilson (The Door) is named in this year's shortlist. The Ifta winner and Oscar nominee received her place on the prestigious list for her new feature 'As If I Am Not There'. She is the only female director on the list. The list of directors is chosen annually through surveys of industry insiders as well as Variety's critics, editors and reporters.

Oscar nominated and Ifta winning filmmaker Juanita Wilson (The Door) recently returned from her first trip to the Toronto Film Festival where her feature debut, 'As If I Am Not There' screened in the Discovery section of the event. The film is produced by James Flynn (King Arthur) and Nathalie Lichtenthaler (Cowboys and Angels) for Irish production outfits Octagon Films and Wide Eye Films. We asked Juanita to keep a diary of her first encounter with the Toronto Film Festival.

The Toronto International Film Festival (Tiff) today announced more projects that will feature in its 2010 event. The festival's line-up will include screenings of several Irish productions and co-productions including Tom Hall's 'Sensation'; Jerzy Skolimowski's 'Essential Killing'; Juanita Wilson's 'As If I'm Not There; Dome Karukoski's 'Lapland Odyssey' (which will enjoy its world premiere at the event) and the previously announced feature documentary, 'The Pipe' from Risteard O'Domhnall.