FRI, FEB. 5
Palm Springs International Film Awards Honors Anthony Hopkins With Career Achievement Award for “The Father”
Academy Award winner, and SAG nominee Anthony Hopkins will be presented with a Career Achievement award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival.
“Anthony Hopkins is one of the greatest and most respected actors of his generation, who has brought to the screen so many memorable performances from The Silence of the Lambs, The Remains of the Day, The Two Popes, Westworld and so many more. In The Father, Hopkins gives an outstanding emotional performance, his best in years, as an 80-year-old father whose grip on reality is unravelling,” said Festival Chairman Harold Matzner. “It is our honor to present the Career Achievement Award to the legendary Anthony Hopkins.”
Hopkins joins this year’s previously announced honorees Riz Ahmed (Desert Palm Achievement Award, Actor), Carey Mulligan (International Star Award, Actress), Leslie Odom, Jr. (Spotlight Award, Actor), Gary Oldman (Chairman’s Award), Chloé Zhao (Director of the Year Award) and The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Vanguard Award).
The Festival and Film Awards Gala will not be an in-person event. “Entertainment Tonight” will air a tribute to the honorees scheduled on February 11th and February 25th.
Variety’s Marc Malkin to Serve as Judge on Easterseals Disability Film Challenge Panel
Marc Malkin will serve on the judging panel for the 2021 Easterseals Disability Film Challenge.
The challenge is a film competition that helps people with disabilities build careers in the entertainment industry through exposure, mentorship, and collaboration.
Easterseals has been an indispensable resource for individuals with developmental disabilities and their families for over 100 years.
Most recently, “Easterseals in Entertainment” website and resource center offering tools for finding actors and creators within the disability community, providing a Best Practices Guide for writers looking to bring authentic disability representation to their work and writers rooms, and much more.
This year to ensure the safety of all our participants we will be holding a “home edition “of the film challenge where participants will be making mockumentary films, no longer than 5 minutes resulting in the creation of hundreds of amazing short films telling authentic stories.
Held on Tuesday, March 16 – 21 the “home addition” challenge will be sponsored by Adobe, Dell, IMDbPro, HBO, Sony, Warner Brothers, and others.
A virtual awards ceremony on May 6th. After eight years, the challenge has led to countless success stories for people with disabilities in front and behind the camera.
Winners will receive a $1,000 grant provided by NBCUniversal; a Dell Technologies Laptop; a one-year subscription to Adobe Creative Cloud – the entire collection of 20+ creative desktop and mobile apps including Premiere Pro CC, After Effects CC, and Photoshop; a one year of complimentary IMDbPro memberships.
The winning films will be highlighted on the IMDb homepage; screenings at numerous Academy Award-Qualifying festivals, including the Heartland Film Festival, HollyShorts Film Festival, Bentonville Film Festival and NewFilmmakers LA; a one year membership to Film Independent; and mentorship meetings with entertainment industry executives and talent.
Andra Day to Receive Breakthrough Performance Award at Palm Springs Film Festival
The Palm Springs International Film Awards has announced that Andra Day will be the recipient of the Breakthrough Performance Award for “The United States vs. Billie Holiday.”
“Few jazz vocalists are more beloved than Billie Holiday, and Andra Day brings Holiday and her iconic voice back to life through a sympathetic and nuanced portrayal that sheds new light on the U.S. government’s role in seeking to muzzle a homegrown legend,” said Festival Chairman Harold Matzner. “In her impressive feature film debut as an actress and her first leading role, it is our honor to present the Breakthrough Performance Award to Andra Day.”
Day who received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama. joins this year’s previously announced honorees Carey Mulligan (International Star Award, Actress), Leslie Odom Jr. (Spotlight Award, Actor), Riz Ahmed (Desert Palm Achievement Award, Actor), Gary Oldman (Chairman’s Award) and Chloé Zhao (Director of the Year Award) and The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Vanguard Award).
The Festival and Film Awards Gala will not take place as an in-person event this year, but honoree selections will be announced to recognize this year’s great performances and Entertainment Tonight will air a tribute to the honorees scheduled on February 11th and February 25th.
TUES, FEB. 2
SBIFF Announces Virtuosos Award Honorees – Riz Ahmed, Zendaya, Maria Bakalova, Andra Day and More
The 36th Santa Barbara International Film Festival announced this year’s recipients of the Virtuosos Award Honorees, Riz Ahmed (“Sound of Metal”), Maria Bakalova (“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”), Kingsley Ben-Adir (“One Night in Miami”), Andra Day (“The United States vs. Billie Holiday”), Sidney Flanigan (“Never Rarely Sometimes Always”), Vanessa Kirby (“Pieces of a Woman”), Tahar Rahim (“The Mauritanian”), and Zendaya (“Malcolm & Marie”).
The Award is an honor created to recognize a select group of talent whose noteworthy performances in film have elevated them into the national cinematic dialogue.
The awards will be hosted by TCM host Dave Karger.
“Even though the movie industry was turned upside down in 2020, this year’s impressive—and international—roster of Virtuosos proves that there is still a great deal of exciting rising talent delivering wonderful work. I can’t wait to gather this phenomenal group and introduce them to the Santa Barbara audience.” says Dave Karger.
The 36th Santa Barbara International Film Festival will take place March 31st through April 10th, 2021. The Virtuosos Awards will be handed out on Saturday, April 3rd.
MONDAY, FEB. 1
Palm Springs International Film to Honor Leslie Odom, Jr.
Leslie Odom, Jr. will receive the Palm Springs International Film’s spotlight award, actor for his performance in “One Night in Miami.”
“Leslie Odom, Jr. is a truly talented performer. In his latest project, ‘One Night in Miami,’ Odom, Jr. brilliantly portrays singer Sam Cooke with charisma and tenacity, as he joins iconic figures Malcolm X, Cassius Clay and Jim Brown in this fictionalized account that is based on their actual meeting,” said Festival Chairman Harold Matzner. “It is our honor to present the Spotlight Award, Actor to Leslie Odom, Jr.”
Past recipients of the award include Timothée Chalamet, Bryan Cranston, Jamie Foxx, Andrew Garfield, Sam Rockwell and J.K. Simmons. In the years they were honored, Rockwell and Simmons went on to win Academy Awards for best supporting actor.
Odom, Jr. joins this year’s previously announced honorees Riz Ahmed (Desert Palm achievement award, actor), Carey Mulligan (international star award), Gary Oldman (chairman’s award), Chloé Zhao (director of the year award) and “The Trial of the Chicago 7” (vanguard award).
The festival and film awards gala will not be held in-person this year, but Entertainment Tonight will air a tribute to the honorees on Feb. 11 and Feb. 25.
Cinedigm Acquires North American Rights To Riveting Documentary ‘Killing Beef’
Cinedigm Corp announced today that it has acquired all US and Canadian rights to “Killing Beef.”The raw and moving documentary is set for release on Digital February 16 via Apple TV, and it will be available to Own or Rent on Amazon, FandangoNow, VUDU, and other platforms.
As the senseless murder of young men of color has become an epidemic, one man makes it his mission to stop the cycle of violence and start “Killing Beef.” The documentary takes an intimate look at gun violence and the factors that lead people to fall into that lifestyle. After recovering from a near-fatal shooting, former drug dealer and award-winning journalist Samson Styles searches to find meaning in his
life and, through the reconciliation with his shooter, this journey takes the form of a life-lesson told to a young boy.
“Killing Beef” is written and directed by Samson Styles, as it takes a hard look at the violence that ravages communities of color. The film was produced by Samson and Tyese Styles with Co-Producer Norman “Storm” Bell.
Sundance Darling ‘Summertime’ Gets a Trailer
Carlos López Estrada’s “Summertime” has a new trailer. The movie, which screened at the Sundance Film Festival last year, follows 25 young Angelenos’ interconnected stories, told through spoken-word poetry. After attending a spoken-word showcase featuring high school performers in 2019, Estrada felt invigorated by the artists’ vibrant, young voices, and asked them to collaborate on a loose narrative film, inviting the non-actors to express themselves and their relationship to the city in an authentic way on screen. As a result, the film’s diverse cast and writers average 21 years old, with the majority making their feature film debut.
“We just witnessed on Inauguration day the power of spoken word poetry and the ability that it has to inspire real positive change,” Estrada said. “The work of the ‘Summertime’ poets has had a profound impact on me, and I hope the movie is able to bring even more awareness to these brilliant and powerful voices.”
25th Satellite Awards Nominees Announced
The International Press Academy announced its nominations for the 25th Satellite Awards in Motion Pictures and Television on Monday, along with special achievement award recipients.
“Promising Young Woman” director Emerald Fennell was honored with the auteur award for her directorial debut, and “Miss Juneteenth” helmer Channing Godfrey Peoples received the best first feature award.
The Satellite Awards recognized “The Trial of Chicago 7” and “The Good Lord Bird” in its ensemble categories for film and TV, respectively.
Oscar contenders “Nomadland,” “Promising Young Woman,” “Minari,” “Sound of Metal,” “One Night in Miami,” “The Father” and “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” all earned nominations in the motion picture, drama category.
The IPA was first to change the foreign films category to international films, and created a separate category for best animated or mixed media in motion pictures. Other major awards shows have subsequently implemented similar changes.
The International Press Academy selects Satellite Awards nominees from domestic and international submissions in 22 motion picture and 13 TV categories. Nominations are derived from advanced screenings, worldwide film festivals (including BAFTA, Cannes, Sundance, Telluride and TIFF), as well as from screeners to journalists and/or sanctioned lists.
One of the primary goals of the IPA and its Satellite Awards is to celebrate new works from both established and developing independent filmmakers, giving them access to the widest audience from around the globe.
The winners will be announced on Feb. 15. Full nominations can be found here.