Film festival News

The start of spring and warmer weather marks the start of international film festival season. In the U.S. the popularity of international film festivals has grown with almost every state hosting their own festival.

San Sebastian - San Sebastián is the place to be in Spain on Friday, as the San Sebastián Film Festival kicks off, with 13 movies lined up for the best film award. Hugh Jackman is due to receive a lifetime achievement award during the event.

Toronto - The latest documentary tracking the photographic project of Canada's Edward Burtynsky is visually mesmerizing, but it's also layered with an urgent message on how mankind has mishandled water and its ecological value.

Toronto - "I got a bad feeling about this mission," says George Clooney's astronaut character in one of the more foreboding lines in the upcoming film Gravity. Thanks to skilled direction and awe-inspiring visuals, this lost-in-space story surpasses expectations.

Concert documentaries are not often remarkable. But Ron Howard's Made in America dazzles at almost every turn as he chronicles Jay-Z's massive 2012 music fest in Philadelphia, which brought together dozens of disparate acts.

Toronto - Forget its hefty three-hour runtime. Look beyond the explicit sex scenes. What makes Blue is the Warmest Color a standout film (and a deserved winner of Cannes' Palme d'Or) is the impressive acting courtesy of leads Léa Seydoux and Adèle Exarchopoulos.

Champaign - To the tune of Barry White's “You’re the First, the Last, My Everything”, Tilda Swinton jumped into the audience in Virginia Theater, Champaign, Il and inspired them to get up and dance in honor of the late Roger Ebert. Includes video of the event.

Chicago - One of the most famous film critics has died. Roger Ebert, a former television host and longtime Chicago newspaper columnist, has died at the age of 70 after a long battle with cancer.

Los Angeles - Angelus film festival was born 16 years ago, when a few people in Hollywood, disaffected by the negative coming out, got together to provide a venue for filmmakers to pursue positive themes and award them.

New York - The 2013 Athena Film Festival on the Barnard College campus at Columbia, NYC provides an engaging weekend of feature films, documentaries and shorts that highlight women’s leadership in real life and the fictional world.