A Secret Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Foreign Language Oscar: Belgium Selects 'Ben X'
Filed under: Drama », Foreign Language », Independent », Oscar Watch », Cinematical Indie »
Don't worry, we've only got about 40 or 50 more entrants to wade through in the next month! I hope that the AMPAS offices have cleared enough space to accommodate all the candidates / film prints that must be flooding in as the deadline approaches for Best Foreign Language Film submissions. The latest hails from Belgium: Variety reports that Nic Balthazar's Ben X has been officially submitted.As Monika Bartyzel told us, Ben X triumphed at the recently-concluded Montreal World Film Festival, sharing the jury's Grand Prix of the Americas award with Claude Miller's A Secret as well as winning the the audience award for Most Popular Film. The official site says that Ben's "life is a universe to itself," where he plays his favorite computer game avidly, trying to train himself to deal with constant bullying at school until "Scarlite comes into his life, the girl he has met in his on-line game." Dennis Harvey of Variety felt that the film's "mix of fantasy computer graphics ... classic misfit-vs.-bullies youth drama, hyperactive p.o.v. and some overly twisty plot developments doesn't quite cohere." He acknowledged, however, that the film's reception in Montreal "proved it's a potential crowd-pleaser."
Director Nic Balthazar is a former theater and film critic who has also worked extensively in television and enjoyed success as a playwright and stage director. Newcomer Greg Timmermans plays the title role. The trailer looks like a music video -- pretty cool. So far, Ben X does not have North American distribution; it opens in Belgium on September 26.
'Ben X' Reigns with 'A Secret' at Montreal World Film Festival
Filed under: Independent », Awards », Other Festivals », Cinematical Indie »
There's only a few days left until movie mania takes over the T-Dot for this year's Toronto International Film Festival, but as one gears up, another closes. Monday marked the end of Montreal's 31st World Film Festival, and this year there was a tie for the top. The Grand Prix of Americas jury prize went to two pretty different films -- Nic Balthazar's Ben X, about an autistic boy bullied at school, and Claude Miller's A Secret, about a Jewish family during and after WWII. While Balthazar's film had to share the top honor, it did get a boost by also nabbing the audience award for Most Popular Film. Sometimes juries and audiences do agree!But of course, the winners don't stop there. The Special Grand Prix from the jury went to a film called Noodle by Ayelet Menahemi, Best Director was given to Jacob Berger for 1 Day, Best Artistic Contribution went to Ray Loriga for Teresa: El Cuerpo de Cristo, Best Actress was given to Andrea Sawaktzki for The Other Boy, Filipe Duarte and Tomás Almeida will share the Best Actor award for A Outra Margem, Samira's Garden picked up Best Screenplay for Latif Lahlou, and D75-Tartina City got the Innovation Award. There's also a bunch of Zenith awards and further audience picks which you can check out over at the Festival's awards press release. With that said and done, who will win Canada's next list of festival awards at TIFF?
It's Alive! Montreal Festival Returns From Dead, Announces Lineup
Filed under: Comedy », Documentary », Drama », Foreign Language », Horror », Independent », Other Festivals », Cinematical Indie »
True, the Montreal World Film Festival wasn't actually pronounced dead two years ago. But the vultures were definitely circling. As noted by The Hollywood Reporter, both local government film financier SODEC and its federal counterpart, Telefilm Canada, withdrew funding in 2005 and prospects for the festival looked bleak. Happily, things have changed for the better. Founder Serge Losique now declares that the festival is in good health with "renewed financial commitment from all levels of government," according to a story in the Montreal Gazette. The upcoming 31st edition of the festival will screen 230 features and 210 shorts from 70 countries.Twenty films are part of the official competition for the "Grand Prize of the Americas." Monika Bartyzal wrote about the contemporary drama Spinning into Butter a few days ago; it stars Sarah Jessica Parker and is one of two US films in the competition. Matt Bradshaw wrote about the other one, September Dawn, back in January. The US release date for this historical drama starring Jon Voight has now been set for August 24. Other titles competing for the Grand Prize include Abel Ferrara's Go Go Tales and veteran French director Claude Miller's A Secret, which will also serve as the closing night presentation.
New directors have their own section: 21 will be presented in the "First Films World Competition." Ten horror films, including Rob Zombie's Halloween remake, will be screened in the new "Midnight Slam" program. Among the documentaries, Running With Arnold caught my eye because I remember that Cinematical's Jette Kernion had strong words about the film's fairness when she saw it at South by Southwest. But what's a festival without a little controversy? At least this one is alive and well. The Montreal World Film Festival runs from August 23 to September 3; much more information is available at the official site.
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