El Gouna Film Festival Confirms 6 Coronavirus Cases Among Attendees

Naman Ramachandran As is customary, the local fare on offer at the Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF) is linguistically and thematically diverse, reflecting the nature of the island city-state.The opening film, Tan Bee Thiam’s “Tiong Bahru Social Club,” is presented in several languages, including English, Cantonese, Mandarin, Hokkien, Malay and Tamil.

The Luang Prabang Film Festival, a Laos-based boutique event showcasing emerging cinematic voices from Southeast Asia, has unveiled an ambitious lineup despite being forced to shift its activities entirely online in response to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefThe Laos-based Luang Prabang Film Festival has set out a selection that focuses strongly on films from South East Asia, or were made in or about the region. Now entering its tenth edition, the independent festival will be held fully online this year and run Dec.

After being dealt some major personal and professional blows in 2020, things seem to be ending on a brighter note for Johnny Depp. The actor just accepted an award from the Polish EnergaCamerimage Film Festival, and decided to show off holding his trophy in an usual setting.

Anna Marie de la Fuente In a nod to the exponentially growing interest in premium TV content and the swelling number of content-ravenous platforms, the Guadalajara Film Festival (FICG)’s industry section has launched a competitive television section dubbed Episode 0: Series in Development.Its participants will be given the opportunity to network and vie for prizes that consist of post-production services worth a combined total of some $35,000 (700,000 pesos) from Cinecolor Mexico and Shalala

Will Tizard ContributorIndie ethos, costume drama and rich fantasy won the day at Poland’s top cinematography fest this year, with Joshua James Richards’ naturalistic filming in Chloé Zhao’s “Nomadland” taking the Golden Frog plus FIPRESCI jury honors.

Andreas Wiseman International EditorThe Berlin Film Festival is still planning a physical event in February but will reduce its lineup in the face of COVID-19 restrictions, the festival has confirmed.The event, which is due to run February 11-21, has said it is “too early to consider cancellation”.Tickets for screenings will have to be pre-booked and capacity in cinemas will be reduced by 45-50% in order to abide by social distancing rules.The festival confirmed to us today that the Competition

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefWen Tien-hsiang is one of the few film festival bosses who have been able to go ahead with an in-person event this year. He spoke with Variety to describe the challenges that remain.Variety: What are the conditions that have allowed the GHFF to go ahead as an in-person event this year?Wen Tien-hsiang: Good control of the COVID-19 situation in Taiwan has enabled this.

Jill Goldsmith Co-Business EditorThe Tribeca Film Festival will launch a juried podcast category at its next edition in June of 2021.The festival Thursday announced Tribeca Podcasts, a new vertical dedicated to audio storytelling timed to its 20th anniversary to run June 9-20.

Tom Grater International Film ReporterThe 10th edition of U.S. In Progress Wroclaw, the industry wing of the American Film Festival in Poland which was held online this year, wrapped over the weekend and presented a variety of awards to the participating American film projects.The awards range from post-production services to travel bursaries and cash.

Christopher Vourlias “Identifying Features,” Fernanda Valadez’s searing abduction drama set along the U.S.-Mexico border, was awarded the Golden Alexander for best feature film at the 61st Thessaloniki Film Festival.The awards were announced Monday at the conclusion of the Greek fest’s digital edition, which ran Nov. 5-15.

Tom Grater International Film ReporterEXCLUSIVE: This year’s Hainan International Film Festival (December 5 – 12) will host China’s biggest retrospective of Charlie Chaplin films in collaboration with Trinity CineAsia and Mk2.The event will host 20 screenings of Chaplin films across the island, encompassing five of his classic comedies: Modern Times, The Kid, City Lights, The Great Dictator and Monsieur Verdoux.

Christopher Vourlias The Thessaloniki Film Festival’s industry arm, Agora, announced the awards from this year’s online edition at a virtual ceremony held Friday.The Crossroads Co-Production Forum’s Two Thirty-Five Co-Production Award, which offers full post-production image and sound to the winning project, went to writer-director Estibaliz Urresola’s “20,000 Species of Bees,” produced by Lara Izagirre of Spain’s Gariza Films.The jury praised the project “for the exceptional directorial vision

Jazz Tangcay Artisans EditorNow in its 25th year, the Red Nation Film Festival looks to shine a light on the voices, stories, contributions and assets of contemporary Native peoples in replacing dangerous stereotypes that Native peoples face in media and academia.Festival curator Joanelle Romero says, “I have created a 25-year history of cohesive research-informed strategies, ground-breaking initiatives, though cinematic excellence, media and strong focus on partnerships.”Due to the coronavirus

Christopher Vourlias As the industry arm of the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, the leading cinematic showcase for the Baltic nations, the five-day Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event has grown into a lynchpin for conversations about the current and future state of production in the region, bringing together leading entertainment, tech and VC professionals.This year will be no different, even as the coronavirus pandemic has forced organizers to shift to a virtual-only edition—something the

Anthony D'Alessandro Editorial Director/Box Office EditorEXCLUSIVE:  Cinema Guild has picked up all U.S. distribution rights to Jia Zhangke’s documentary Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue.The Chinese film premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in February and made its U.S.

Tom Grater International Film ReporterThe International Film Festival & Awards Macao has unveiled its program and jury ahead of its 5th edition taking place digitally December 3 – 8.Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Koreeda will receive the festival’s ‘Spirit of Cinema’ award at a virtual awards ceremony taking place online December 8.