Director George Lucas recently announced that filming for the highly-anticipated “Indiana Jones” movie will begin next year and he promised it will be “the best one yet.” Lucas said he and director Steven Spielberg recently finalized the script. The movie stars Harrison Ford, who appeared in the three earlier flicks. The fourth chapter of “Indiana Jones” has been in development for over ten years with several screenwriters taking attempting a script, but it only recently gained strength and popularity. While Lucas kept quiet about the plot, he promised the latest action flick will be a “character piece” that will include…

The critics of the Windy City have spoken and Martin Scorsese’s “The Departed” has earned the awards of best picture, best director and best adapted screenplay from the Chicago Film Critics Association Thursday. Helen Mirren (“The Queen”) and Forest Whitaker (“The Last King of Scotland”) won awards as well in lead acting categories. Best supporting performance awards were given to Rinko Kikuchi for “Babel” and Jackie Earle Haley for “Little Children.” Sacha Baron Cohen won the most promising performer award for his roles in “Borat” and “Talladega Nights.” Rian Johnson won most promising director honors for “Brick.” Clint Eastwood’s “Letters…

Enjoy lavish Versailles on the big screen with this series of classic French films set at the famous French palace, a chateau that is gaining renewed celebrity in the wake of Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette! Versailles is not only an important part of French history, but also of our American heritage. It’s at Versailles that the New World took a new path when LaFayette and Benjamin Franklin convinced Louis XVI to engage France as the United States ally in the War of Independence. It’s at Versailles that President Woodrow Wilson organized a conference in 1919 that confirmed the United States…

Pablo Aravena’s film “NEXT, a Primer on Urban Painting” will be having its Los Angeles premiere in the documentary competition at the prestigious AFI Film Festival. On Saturday, November 4th, 2006 there will be a premiere party featuring a collection of new work by artists featured in the film curated by Pablo. The show will remain open to the public until Sunday, November 12th, 2006. The Film “NEXT, a Primer on Urban Painting” is a documentary exploration of a phenomenon that was born on the streets of American cities and has come to influence youth culture all over the world.…

The Popular Jury, made up of 50 members and presided over by Ettore Scola, has yesterday assigned the Rome FilmFest’s official awards to the following films: The award for Best Film goes to Izobrajaya Zhertvy / . The RomeFilmFest – BNL Best Actress Award is for Ariane Ascaride in Le Voyage en Arménie / Armenia by Robert Guédiguian. The RomeFilmFest – Chamber of Commerce award for Best Actor Award goes to Giorgio Colangeli in L´ aria Salata by Alessandro Angelini. Finally, the Jury Special Prize is for This is England by Shane Meadows A special Rome FilmFest – BNL Award…

A great new festival taking place in a great city: for the first time, the city of cinema will host an international festival of cinema. Did you remeber? I announced it last month, and now it is at its kick off. For nine days, in fact, from 13rd to 21st October, Rome will transforme the Auditorium Music Centre (the Rome’s new Auditorium designed by architect Renzo Piano) in the Cinema Centre. Auditorium will be the heart of the event, with four screening theatres vaunting state-of-the-art equipment, as well as conference rooms and reception areas. But all the city is involved…

The evolution of Mexican cinema, the important role of Mexican filmmakers working in Hollywood and the influence of international filmmakers working in Mexico all will be explored in a new exhibition that will open to the public in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Fourth Floor Gallery on Friday, October 13. In a first for an Academy exhibition, all of the explanatory text and captions will be provided in both English and Spanish. “Made in Mexico: The Legacy of Mexican Cinema” has been produced in association with the Cervantes Center of Arts & Letters. Admission to the exhibition…

The competition section of the International Women’s Film Festival, Cologne, Germany will be held between October 11-15 and the Jury members are Madhusree Dutta, Tahmineh Milani and Anke Scheib. Madhusree Dutta Madhusree Dutta was born 1959 in Jamshepur/Jharkhand, India. In 1980, she graduated with a degree in business studies from Jadavpur University in Kolkata. Three years later, in 1983, she gained a further qualification in drama and acting at the National School of Art and Drama in New Delhi. She learnt the practical side of film creation working as an assistant director and editor for the Bollywood film industry between…