In the annual movie-awards hoopla over who's got the best what, it's easy to overlook one of the best bests: Best Film Festival Advertisement. They're tricky to produce: The ads must convey a sense of what the festival's about and what makes it unique while steering clear of the temptation to go the pomp-and-glam route. Because while festivals sound glamorous, and some can be, they're all going to look shabby next to what Hollywood can provide. Better to highlight your quirks (festivals specialize in indie film, after all). And best of all if the festival has the courage to not take itself too damn seriously. That last bit must be one of the hardest hurdles to overcome because festivals have many voices and it's easy for a great idea to be crushed in committee. Here's four that weren't. Adweek highlighted three ads from the just-ended Whistler Film Festival, but this one is my favorite as it renewed my faith in princesses: ...

Steve James’ documentary "The Interrupters" has been garnering praise since premiering at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, with many calling it the best documentary of the year. Below James shares a scene from his film (produced by James and Alex Kotlowitz, whose original New York Times article inspired the film), and offers a glimpse into his method. Honor Roll is a daily series for December that will feature new or previously published interviews, profiles and first-persons of some of the year's most notable cinematic voices. Today we're revisiting a first person in which Steve James shared a scene from his doc 'The Interrupters.' The Film For "The Interrupters," Alex and I had both been haunted by the persistent violence in communities like the ones I profiled in "Hoop Dreams," and he in his book “There Are No Children Here.” We felt that through the violence interrupters at CeaseFire we...

It was announced today that the Independent Film & Television Alliance's American Film Market will remain at the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel through 2017, with additional exhibition space at JW Marriott's Le Merigot Beach Hotel and with conferences continuing at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows. The next American Film Market will take place from October 31-November 7, 2012. Full press release reprinted below: AMERICAN FILM MARKET® TO STAY IN SANTA MONICA THROUGH 2017   Los Angeles -- Dec. 8, 2011 -- The American Film Market (AFM®), the premier event of the Independent Film & Television Alliance® (IFTA®), will remain in Santa Monica through 2017, IFTA leadership announced today.    New agreements will keep the AFM at the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel, its home since 1991, with additional exhibition space continuing at JW...

Back in the day, David Gordon Green made his name (and generated comparisons to Terrence Malick) with moody indies like "George Washington," "All the Real Girls," "Undertow" and "Snow Angels." He was an unlikely candidate to make the transition to mainstream, hard-R Hollywood comedies. That was before he joined the Judd Apatow crew in 2008 to helm stoner comedy "Pineapple Express." Since then the North Carolina School of the Arts grad has directed the fantasy comedy "Your Highness," episodes of HBO's "Eastbound & Down" and the latest Jonah Hill vehicle, "The Sitter," opening this Friday. Green sat down with Indiewire last night at New York's BAM (he's currently the company's Cinema Club Chair) following a special advance screening of "The Sitter" to discuss his reasons for abandoning his indie roots and what he has in the works. You made your name...

Montclair, NJ, has 37,669 residents - one of them is Stephen Colbert - but no film festival. Until now, that is. The inaugural Montclair Film Festival will launch May 2nd and it is moving closer to its deadline by adding two important contributors -- its directors: Raphaela Neihausen and Thom Powers, best known for starting up New York's documentary film festival DOCNYC as well as the IFC Center's documentary series Stranger than Fiction (Powers is also a programmer at the Toronto International Film Festival). The board of directors also includes Colbert and his wife Evelyn McGee-Colbert. The festival will include both fiction and documentary films and Colbert told The New York Times that it was likely he would be participating in plenty of festival events. Colbert hosted the festival's first major benefit last week at Montclair's Wellmont Theater. The Montclair Film Festival board, chaired by WNET VP Bob Feinberg, was established...

Want the name of the second assistant hair stylist on "Hairspray"? The sound recordist on Lynn Ramsay's 1996 short film "Kill the Day"? Continuity errors in "Charade"? The list of characters played by Frank Oz in "The Great Muppet Caper"? You should go to IMDB. (Perhaps you've heard of it.) But since IMDB isn't always quick at updating projects, Variety thinks talent agencies or production companies will pay $1,000 per "seat" for access to Variety's Flix Tracker, which has a team of 150 people to investigate film credits and production information. Fast Company reports that Flix Tracker (which follows on the heels of Variety's acquisition of TV Tracker) is a database that doesn't trust crowdsourcing. Flix Tracker intends to compete with the internal tracking departments in Hollywood agencies and production companies. With Flix Tracker, Variety wants to use the reporting it already does,...

For the past 15 years, European Film Promotion (EFP) has showcased ten young actors who have shown potential in feature films in order to help them expand their careers to a more international level. Previous Shooting Stars have included Thure Lindhardt, Mélanie Laurent, Elena Anaya, and Carey Mulligan. The actors will appear at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival, which runs February 9-19, 2012. Dutch Oscar winner Marleen Gorris, member of the Shooting Stars jury, commented: "the films were a real pleasure to watch. We came away marvelling at the often brilliant way the nominated actors portrayed the feeling of a kind of modern loneliness, taking you on a journey in their search for identity no matter which part of Europe they came from." The actors selected this year are: France: Adèle Haenel Nominated by uniFrance films ...

The Cinema Eye Honors for Nonfiction Filmmaking will present Frederick Wiseman's 1967 documentary "Titicut Follies" with the 2012 Legacy Award. Wiseman will accept the award on behalf of the film on January 11, 2012 at the 5th Annual Cinema Eye Honors ceremony in New York. “It’s hard for me to believe that Titicut Follies was shot forty-six years ago,” said Wiseman. “I’m thrilled to receive the Cinema Eye Legacy Award but it is tough for me to deal with the implications.” Full Cinema Eye release follows: Cinema Eye to Present 2012 Legacy Award to Frederick Wiseman’s Titicut Follies New York - The Cinema Eye Honors for Nonfiction Filmmaking today announced that the 2012 Legacy Award will be presented to the landmark 1967 documentary, Titicut Follies, a stark and graphic portrayal of the conditions that existed at the State Prison for the Criminally Insane at Bridgewater, Massachusetts. Filmmaker Frederick...

Rachid Bouchareb's "London River" is simultaneously quaint and far-reaching, a tension the filmmaker never fully resolves. Set in the immediate aftermath of the 2005 London bombings, the movie follows a pair of single parents -- a middle-class widow, Elisabeth (Brenda Blethyn), who heads from her country home to the city in search of her grown daughter; and a soft-spoken African man, Ousmane (the late Sotigui Kouyaté), who seeks his estranged son. Drawn together in search of their missing children, they embark on a mission to follow their childrens' footsteps. The outcome of their investigation matters less than the cultural and ethnic tensions between them. While the conflicts are rooted in credibility, the story feels simplistic. A political filmmaker to the core (see the Algerian war drama "Days of Glory" for a better example of his strengths), Bouchareb litters news coverage throughout "London River," but he focuses soley on the...

Here's your daily dose of an indie film in progress; at the end of the week, you'll have the chance to vote for your favorite. In the meantime: Is this a movie you’d want to see? Tell us in the comments. "God's Army: The Real Story" Tweetable Logline: When child soldiers successfully fight genocide in Burma they become legendary, but once they give refuge to radicals they fortunes run out. Elevator Pitch: In this cynical age we live in, is there anything for which we would risk our lives? Maybe freedom? I've got a strange but true story with two young twin boys who founded a child army and though out-numbered, they held off the genocidal forces of their countries' military aided by alleged magical powers. Add another group of radical students seizing a hospital and an embassy escaping via helicopter, 56 missing people, and two governments seeking to suppress this story for the sake of an oil pipeline and precious stones,...

Below Academy Award nominated director Rachid Bouchareb ("Days of Glory") shares a scene from his drama "London River," starring Brenda Blethyn ("Secrets and Lies"). The film follows two parents are they search for their respective children following the aftermath of the London bus bombings. It's currently playing in New York and opens December 16 in Los Angeles. This scene was a total improvisation.  When we finished a scene earlier in the day, I saw this bench in the park and I decided to create an intimate moment with the actors. For me, it was the first time in the movie when these two characters make a real connection.  Our discussion was: how we could show this for the first time? And then we sat together on that bench and talked about what connections their characters might have coming from such disparate backgrounds. She works the land; she’s a small farmer and he’s an arborist, working with...

Age: 18 Hometown: Hoboken, NJ Why He's On Our Radar: After a string of well received performances in indies like "Afterschool," "City Island" and "Another Happy Day," Ezra Miller has been given the greatest showcase for his talents yet in Lynne Ramsay's "We Need To Talk About Kevin." In his portrayal of the titular character - a sociopathic teen who goes on a school shooting rampage - Miller goes head to head with his on screen mother Tilda Swinton in one of the year's most impressive acting duels. Indiewire sat down with Miller a few months back at the Toronto International Film Festival, where the film made its North American debut. How did you end up becoming a part of "We Need To Talk About Kevin"? My agent sent me the script and I went into sort of a wrathful, thirsting pursuit. I immediately became ravenous for this movie. And I just started pursuing it like a stalker. I went in the first time...

Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences President Tom Sherak has announced Walt Disney Co. president Bob Iger as the chairman of the capital campaign for the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures Tom Hanks and Annette Bening will join as co-chairs. "The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures represents a bold new way of saving and presenting film history," said Iger. "It will innovate not only the museum experience, but also the public's relationship to the art form." Full press release below: BOB IGER TO CHAIR FILM MUSEUM CAPITAL CAMPAIGN ANNETTE BENING, TOM HANKS TO CO-CHAIR Beverly Hills, CA – Academy President Tom Sherak announced today that Walt Disney Co. President and CEO Bob Iger will serve as chairman of the capital campaign for the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. Actress Annette Bening and actor-producer Tom Hanks will join as co-chairs. "With Bob, Annette, and Tom's leadership, our dream of finally opening a...

Film Movement has acquired American-Israeli filmmaker Ela Thier's debut feature "Foreign Letters." The film will open in New York in early 2012 and will also be available On Demand. "Foreign Letters" tells the story of a young Israeli immigrant girl and her friendship with a Vietnamese refugee her own age. Full press release below: FILM MOVEMENT ACQUIRES ELA THIER’S DEBUT FEATURE “FOREIGN LETTERS”, BASED ON HER ACCLAIMED  SHORT “A SUMMER RAIN”   Autobiographical Drama to be Distributed in all of North America December 7th, 2011 (New York, NY) - Film Movement (www.filmmovement.com), the North American film distribution company that brings first-run, award-winning independent and foreign films to fans all across the U.S. and Canada, announced today their acquisition of FOREIGN LETTERS.  This debut feature film from American-Israeli filmmaker Ela Thier is a nuanced...

indieWIRE will provide regular updates of our predictions for the 69th Golden Globe Awards through mid-December, when the nominations are announced. The Golden Globes tend to somewhat unpredictable in an embarrassing kind of way, particularly in the "musical or comedy" categories (where last year they infamously nominated Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp for the critical and commercial disaster "The Tourist"). Both Jolie and Depp could end up with nominations again if the Globes continue their star-f**king ways, Jolie for directing and/or writing "In The Land of Blood and Honey" and Depp for starring in either "The Rum Diary" or "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides." They also have the opportunity to nominate Jolie's other half Brad Pitt twice this year, and it's likely they'll opt to do so.  And who knows how they'll handle Madonna's "W.E." Critically panned or not, can the Hollywood...

Editor's Note: Critical Consensus is a biweekly feature in which two critics from Indiewire's Criticwire network (currently in hibernation while we prepare its new design) discuss new releases with Indiewire's chief film critic, Eric Kohn. This week, we turn to Movieline Chief Film Critic Stephanie Zacharek and Film Society of Lincoln Center associate programmer Scott Foundas (also a contributing editor to Film Comment) for their takes on two new movies opening on Friday: "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" and "Young Adult." Since Criticwire is currently undergoing renovation, no average grades are available for films this week, but links to individual film pages for new releases follow after the discussion. ERIC KOHN: Stephanie, when "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" premiered at Venice, you called it a "beautifully constructed thriller," but what I found particularly interesting about your review was...

This week marks the 70th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 - the event that mobilized America to enter World War II. In recognition, the latest Indiewire-curated selections on Hulu's Documentaries page look back on that "date which will live in infamy" and the combat that followed on both the Pacific and European fronts. In "The Secret Sub Attack on Pearl Harbor," part of the "Pure History" series, scientists locate a Japanese midget submarine more than sixty years after the attack, submerged nearby. Their investigation presents intriguing evidence about its ill-fated role in the history-changing event. Operation Downfall is the subject of "Japan: The Invasion That Never Was," part of the "Secrets of War" series. Late in the war, working from the assumption that the war in Europe would soon be ending, the US developed a plan to end the Pacific fighting through a strategic and...

Digital entertainment curator FilmBuff is teaming up with international platform to bring independent entertainment to worldwide audiences. The new platforms include China's You On Demand, India's Nyoo TV, Sweden's Voddler, Australia's BigPond and FetchTV and Canada's Rogers On Demand Online. With this latest expansion, FilmBuff's titles are now available to be streamed or rented on four different continents. Full press release below: FilmBuff Expands With New Global Partners Reaching new audiences via You On Demand, Voddler, NYOO TV & BigPond and more NEW YORK, NY - December 7, 2011 - FilmBuff, one of the world’s largest digital entertainment curators, is partnering with international platforms to bring independent entertainment to global audiences. The platforms include: You On Demand (China), Nyoo TV (India), Voddler (Sweden), BigPond (Australia), FetchTV (Australia) and Rogers On Demand Online (Canada). With this...

David Cronenberg's "A Dangerous Method" - an adaptation of Christopher Hampton's stage play "The Talking Cure" - is a look at the relationship between Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender), Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen) and the woman that came between them, Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley). Honor Roll is a daily series for December that will feature new or previously published interviews, profiles and first-persons of some of the year's most notable cinematic voices. Today we're revisiting an interview we did with David Cronenberg who just made the 11th annual list of the year's best Canadian films as deemed by the Toronto International Film Festival. The film's gained a considerable traction since its debut at the Venice Film Festival earlier this year. Admirers include Indiewire critic Eric Kohn, whose review suggests "Method" as an excellent starting point for anyone new to Cronenberg's work. Sony Pictures...

Director Phyllida Lloyd's upcoming "The Iron Lady" took center stage Tuesday night at the Director’s Guild of America Theater in New York City. Starring Meryl Streep as Great Britain's maverick '80s era three-term prime minister, The Hollywood Reporter’s Scott Feinberg led a discussion with Lloyd and Streep at the midtown Manhattan venue, which was also streamed live online. Lloyd had the evening’s best anecdote, relaying the tale of an in-costume, in-character Streep inspecting both the catering wagon and the paparazzi-laden crowd that had gathered in a nearby area where everyone assumed she’d be. But for many people (certainly those who gave her a standing ovation as she entered the stage), Ms. Streep was the main attraction. Ranging from the playful to the most sincere, IW gathered some of her best lines from the conversation.   [The Weinstein Company begins to roll out "The Iron Lady" December 30.] ...