The Circuit

Sean Penn and Sir Ben Kingsley have been tapped as presenters for the Gotham Awards.  Penn will present the Gotham Tribute to "Milk's" Gus Van Sant while Kingsley will honor his "Elegy" co-star, Penelope Cruz.

YouTube and Sundance are teaming again for "Project Direct," an online short film competition.  Winner gets a trip to the 2009 fest and a screening at a "non-theatre" festival event.  At the end of the submission period, Sundance programmers will trim down the submissions to 10 semifinalists, which will then be voted on by the YouTubers.  More info at youtube.com/projectdirect, including an address from "The Wrestler" helmer Darren Aronofsky filmed at a mysterious forest bunker.

Milan Intl Film Festival will now accept indie films for a new competition -- the Grand Audience Award, as MIFF calls it.  "“We want our films to be sold and distributed. With this in mind, I began thinking in reverse -- from the goal of releasing a film to understand the necessary steps,” said MIFF founder and director Andrea Galante.  Info at www.miff.it.

The Seattle Intl Film Festival got a grant from the Wallace Foundation to the tune of $750,000.  The cash, to be spent over four years, adds to the $30 grand they got from AMPAS.

Taking up the fallen torch of the NY Underground Film Festival, the Lausanne Underground fest unspools with weekend with a retrospective of the Beats, an homage to photog and filmmaker Richard Kern, and the world preem of Frank "Basket Case" Henenlotter's "Bad Biology" (pictured).  Too bad the fest's in Switzerland.

Back in New York, Brandon Harris' Cinema Echo Chamber has a short doc on Abel Ferrara, who's "Mary" will run for four days at the Anthology Film Archive. 

Shot by Evan Louison, it follows Ferrara around one evening in Little Italy -- "You wanna see where Heath Ledger ate breakfast?"

Leave it to the Fantastic Fest to trash your haunted hotel.  Fantastic and Nike are having a raging "Shining" party set at the Timberline Hotel in Portland, O -- the same resort where some of the Kubrick film was shot.  Check out shiningparty.com. And be careful who you make out with in the bathrooms.

Austin Film Festival will bring Bush back home with its opening night film -- Oliver Stone's W.  James Cromwell and a "special guest" will attend.  They'll also unspool the comedy "Role Models" starring Paul Rudd and Seann William Scott.

The Braunschweig International Film Festival hopes to answer the question "Can a video game make you cry?" with a series of events that explore the "emotionality in films and games."  They'll have a Machinima Workshop, a film program (screening "Tron," of course), and lectures. 

Ann Arbor fest has produced their first DVD - a collection of ten shorts culled from the 46th annual fest, including Michael Langan's "Doxology" (pictured) and Mike Brune's "The Adventure." ("I want this mime off my car.")  For a great snapshot of the stuff that American's oldest fest programs, it's a high recommend. Check out aafilmfest.org.

We The People Fest unspools this weekend, a non-partisan event designed to engage youth about the election.  Sponsored by Kent State U, they'll be screenings, guest speakers, and music throughout the weekend.  And Chuck Norris will be there.  Some Norris facts from the internet -- he endorsed Huckabee and apparently "destroyed the periodic table, because he only recognizes the element of surprise." More info at www.wethepeoplefest.com.

The first Paso Robles Digital Film Festival wants to be California's tank-of-gas vacation, says director Benford Standley.  Most screening will take place using the latest digital projector technology.  Lineup is coming but the music acts have been booked, including Kevin Bacon and his Bacon Brothers, Ramblin' Jack Elliot and the Kyle Eastwood Band (son of Clint).  Go to prdff.com.

For Bostonites without a lot of time, check out the 1-Minute Film Festival, run as a public art project by Lumen Eclispe.  The fest takes over length of Palmer Street in Harvard Square, screening over 100 films in the open air.  The band Pants Yell! will play throughout the night as a compliment.  More info at www.le60.org.

The touring film festival, LUNAFEST, comes to San Francisco's Palace of Fine Arts this Thursday.  Fest highlights ten short films by women illustrating women as leaders in society.  Sara Snow will MC the event, which also includes a celeb auction.  Proceeds will go to the Breast Cancer Fund.  Info and tickets at www.breastcancerfund.org/lunafest8.

The second annual New York Peace Film Festival opens Saturday, September 27, at the Anthology Film Archives with a screening of "On a Paper Crane: Tomoko's Adventure."  Ten other peaceful films will unspool over 2 days.  Info here.   

The first LA Irish Film Festival will open with Declan Recks' "Eden," produced by "Once" exec-producer David Collins.  Other Irish films include Cathal Black's docu "Learning Gravity" about the poet/undertaker Thomas Lynch, and Irvin Kershner's "The Luck of Ginger Coffey," (pcitured) starring Robert Shaw.

The first US Sports Film Fest will unspool in Philly, October 23-26.  Lest you think your film will not qualify, check their website which lists their top 100 sport films, including "Gladiator," "Love Bug," and "Heaven Can Wait."

And the first Drive-In Film Festival will roll into New Jersey this weekend, showing a Lisa Kudrow-starrer, "Kabluey."  From there the fest screens in a studio in New York and a restaurant in Pennsylvania.  Go figure.

Tribeca has announced their call for entries for the eighth fest, running April 22 - May 3, 2009.   Starting September 15 they'll accept narrative and doc features and shorts.  Deadline is December 15, 2008.  Tribeca's All Access program (pictured), which provides high-level meetings between select producers and execs, will run April 20-25.  Check out tribecafilmfestival.org.

Slamdance is looking for films for their 15th fest, skedded for January 15-23, 2009.  New this year -- they're taking music video submissions.  Forms and rules are at slamdance.com.

Film Independent's fourth annual Filmmaker Forum is set for September 26-28, 2008.  The Forum gives attendees access to indie execs via panels on all aspects of filmmaking and distribution.  This year's panelists will be announced shortly.  Go to filmindependent.org.

Kevin Spacey will be a guest of honor at the Sarajevo Film Festival, where he'll attend a gala screening of "The Usual Suspects" and the fest's Dubrovnik Film Meetings.

Blythe Danner will receive Rhode Island fest's Creative Vision Award.  Danner's film "Side by Each" will have its world preem there on Aug 9.

Charlize Theron will be at the Impact Film Festival, set to unspool films at the Dem Convention.  Theron will be there for the "Battle in Seattle" screening, as will Elvis Mitchell with his doc "Black List."  Both films will also screen at the Repub Convention.   Check out impactfilmfestival.org for the lineup and Cinemocracy.org for the short film competition. 

• To debut their new vid-game, Fallout 3, Bethesda Softworks and Geek Monthly are putting on the Post-Apocalyptic Film Festival in Santa Monica, August 22-23.  They'll unspool six features that "depict life or events that occur after a global catastrophe." On tap are "Wizards" (Ralph Bakshi), "Damnation Alley" (Jack Smight), "A Boy and His Dog" (L.Q. Jones), "Last Man on Earth" (Ubaldo Ragona), "The Omega Man" (Boris Sagal), and "Twelve Monkeys" (Terry Gilliam).

• How about attending a fest that spurns "Hollywood connections"?  Whose rules mandate that "films involve no well-known directors, actors, writers, or producers"?  Hollywood's "last standing indie film fest" whose 80-plus film program is built mostly of premieres? 

  That's Dances With Films pitch.  But don't be fooled.  They have names.  Their presser leads with the fact that their opening night film, "Route 30", is directed by John Putch, son of “All in the Family” star Jean Stapleton, and stars David DeLuise, son of comedian Dom DeLuise.  See, it's always who you know.

• SXSWclick, the fest's online competition of short work, has picked 15 finalists, including Becky James' animated "Snake."  Other films are divied up into five categories: Old School Shorts, Really Real Shorts, Animate-It, Sound Checks, and What the F*#!?.  SXSWclick.com to watch.

• The inaugural LA Irish Film Festival will run October 2-5, and they're looking for films.  They're advisory board has directors Jim Sheridan, Neil Jordan, and Mary McGuckian on it.  Check out lairishfilm.com.

• NYC's second annual Japan Cuts will unspool 18 mostly-recent films from Japan, including Naomi Kawase's Cannes 2007 Grand Prix winner "The Mourning Forest" (pictured).  Other flicks include Takashi Miike's "Sukiyaki Western Django," starring Quentin Tarantino and "The Inugami Family" to commemorate the late director Kon Ichikawa.  Full lineup here.

• Gen Art has brought its film/party/film/party/film/party recipe to Chicago, closing it out this week.  Tonight is "The Living Wake," and a party.  Thursday night will see Rachel Samuels' "Dark Streets," followed by a party.  Friday gets Mark Webber's "Explicit Ills."  And then a party.  Saturday will see a run on hang-over cures.

• The Angelus Student Film Festival has picked a doc jury comprised of HBO's Sara Bernstein, "51 Berch Street" director Doug Block, Michael Kaufman from Al Roker Entertainment, editor Geof Bartz, and doc filmmaker Hilla Medalia.  Fest boasts a $10 grand prize.  Check it out here. 

• While not at all fest related, we were enthralled by an email from Chris Hepburn, thrown like a message-in-a-bottle from across the Atlantic:

"This is a dark tale of Kafkaesque like perversity it relates to an evil E-list actress by the name or Elizabeth Gracen, who's claim to fame is she screwed Bill Clinton to obtain a Miss Arkansas crown." 

His website goes on to say that he's begging on the streets of France, that he hates French people, and "The Amazing Race" was his idea until "Mr. Celluloid Vomit Jerry Bruckheimer" stole it.

• Staten Island fest named Greg Chwerchak's drama "Greetings from the Shore," starring Paul Sorvino, as its best film.  Anthony Tarsitano's "Calling it Quits" got best director and best actor honors for Dennis Boutsakaris.  Frank Nasso's "Officer Down" won Best Local Staten Island Movie and Best Crime Drama Short.  Full list of winners at www.sifilmfestival.org.  Proud to be called "New York City's Other Film Festival," the city is eager to get something on their map other than the Fresh Kills Landfill, which can be viewed from space.

• Ojai Film Fest will honor sci-fi author Ray Bradbury, producer Lauren Shuler Donner and director Richard Donner at its November event.  New exec director Mo McFadden also told us that Ojai is the only fest to have a celebrity golf tourney, headed by Ojai resident Malcolm MacDowell.  Check out www.ojaifilmfestival.com.

• The Action on Film fest is moving to Pasadena from Long Beach, CA, probably because of the better schools.  Michael Madsen will be on hand for his feature "Strength and Honour" and John Savage will show "The Red Canvas."  Check out www.aoffest.com.

• Marfa fest gets "Blood."  The baby-fresh fest will open with Paul Thomas Anderson's "There Will Be Blood," unspooling it in the place where it all began - on its set in Marfa, TX.  In fact, it'll be screening on an outdoor screen owned by Alamo Drafthouse's Tim League, who preemed the film at the 2007 Fantastic Fest in Austin.

• Telluride fest is accepting entries for its 35th event, running August 29 – September 1.  Feature and short film submissions completed after July 15, 2007 will be received until July 15.  Only feature-length films looking for their North American premiere will be accepted.  As always, the program is kept under tight lock-and-key until opening day, after which the fest unspools 25 features and 30-40 shorts. Rules and entry forms can be grabbed here.

• The California Independent Film Festival will honor legendary producer John Daly ("Platoon," The Last Emperor") with a Lifetime Achievement award on April 20.  Also on tap is a "Actor's Studio-esque" talk with Penny Marshall, with John Madden in the role of James Lipton.  Mary Stuart Masterson will get the Diamond Award given to excellent women in film.  She'll also screen her film "Cake Eaters."  More info here.

• Sprockets, Toronto's kid film fest, kicks off this weekend.  Some of their titles?  "My Happy End," "My Greatest Day Ever," and "A Sunny Day."  The most depressing title of the lot is "Giraffe in the Rain" and he doesn't look that sad about it.

• The British Academy of Film and Television Arts/Los Angeles will launch the BAFTA/LA British Comedy Festival in LA on April 28 that will honor the best in Brit TV and film comedy.  A panel that included Judd Apatow, Jake Kasdan, Adam Shankman, Nicholas Stoller, Hollywood Reporter's Elizabeth Guider and Variety's Steve Gaydos has chosen "Hot Fuzz," "Magicians," and "Run, Fatboy, Run" as finalists.  The winner will be announced May 1.

• In other inaugural news, Charleston gets a film festival. Their first annual event kicks off on May 1 for four days in South Carolina.  For info, go to www.charlestonIFF.com.

• The Nashville Film Festival has award the NPT Human Spirit Award to Barry Simmons' "Sons of Lwala."  The docu is about two Kenyan brothers whose village sends them to the US to become doctors.  The award comes with $1,000 and a broadcast on Nashville Public Television.  The Nashville Film Festival runs April 17-24.

• Nick Lowe will kick off the Tribeca fest's ASCAP Music Lounge on April 29.  The 4th event will also include preformances by Regina Spektor, Sia, Jon Foreman, Joseph Arthur, Sondre Lerche, Rachael Yamagata, and Chris Thile.  The Lounge will be located at the Canal Room, 285 West Broadway at Canal Street.

• Rita Moreno and Bill Pullman are slated to attend the Rochester High Falls International Film Festival.  Pullman will introduce his film "Phoebe in Wonderland."  Later Pullman and Moreno will be at the screening of "Fermat's Room," where Moreno will be presented the Susan B. Anthony "Failure is Impossible" Award by Pullman.  The fest showcases the work of women in front and behind the camera.

• The April 7th issue of The New Yorker has an extensive piece by Richard Brody on the birth of the French New Wave ("Auteur Wars"), opening with the 1959 screening of Truffaut's "The 400 Blows" at the Cannes Film Festival.  While it's nothing new to film schoolers, it should be required reading for anyone thinking about film school.  Truffaut (pictured) "learned his craft not in film school or through on-set experience but from endless hours of watching movies..." Alas, the article is not online, but it's worth the cover price.

• The 2008 Indianapolis International Film Festival announced its lineups. The fifth annual festival takes place April 23 – May 3, 2008 in Indiana. 74 films will compete for Grand Jury Prizes and the NUVO Audience Award for Best Short Film.  Full list is here.

• Sundance's Geoff Gilmore will deliver a keynote speech at the 2nd annual Europe edition of the International Film Festival Summit in London on April 16.  He's expected to talk on "on festival trends, the state of independent film and where the festival community is headed."  More info here.

• Provincetown International fest will award Quentin Tarantino with its 2008 Filmmaker on the Edge Award.  It's also invited the 9 previous Edge winners to town to celebrate the fest's 10th anniversary - John Waters, Christine Vachon, Ted Hope, James Schamus, Gus Van Sant, Todd Haynes, Jim Jarmusch, Mary Harron, Gregg Araki, and Todd Solondz.

• City of Lights, City of Angels fest, LA's torrid one-week affair with French film, has announced their lineup.  It includes Sandrine Bonnaire's doc, "Her Name is Sabine," a portrait of the filmmaker's austic sister taken from 25 years of footage.  Variety will also host Happy Hour Talks, a series of panels featuring fest filmmakers. 

• I'm not really sure what the Los Angeles United Film Festival is all united about. From their website, it seems the fest was suddenly created by Jason Connell upon the completion of his first first feature length film "Strictly Background."  He's also created New York United and Tulsa United fests.  And wouldn't you know it -  "Strictly Background" has played those fests, too.

• Malibu resident Michael Madsen will be honored for achievements in acting at the 9th edition of the Malibu International film fest on April 6.  They'll also show Madsen's "Strength and Honor" as their closing night.

• Ashland Independent fest will host doc filmmaker Albert Maysles and Helen Hunt, fresh from opening her film, "Then She Found Me," at AFI Dallas fest.  Among their programming picks - "When Did You Last See Your Father?", Mary Stuart Masterson's "The Cake Eaters," and the Slamdance winner "The New Year Parade."

• Method Fest starts its 10th edition in Calabasas, CA on March 27.  On the screen will be Tom McCarthy's "The Visitor," Hunt's "Then She Found Me," and the world preem of Rick Bieber's "Crazy," based on the life of guitar player Hank Garland.