Roman Polanski's film Carnage will open the New York Film Festival

Deadline has the story:

Roman Polanski's Carnage will make its North American premiere Sept. 30 as the opening-night film of the 49th New York Film Festival, the event that kicked off The Social Network's big awards-season run last year. The film, starring Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz and John C. Reilly, is an adaptation of Yasmina Reza's Broadway smash God of Carnage, which won the Tony in 2009 at best play -- making its New York return a kind of fitting homecoming. The plot revolves around the events of an evening when two Brooklyn couples are brought together after their children are involved in a playground fight. Said Ben Said produced the film; Sony Pictures Classics is releasing it. Of course, it's a safe bet that the festival, which runs Sept. 30-Oct. 16, won't have the director of its kickoff film walking the red carpet, as Polanski remains a fugitive in the U.S. after fleeing sentencing following a 1977 conviction for unlawful sex with a minor.

-Joey's Two Cents: I'm always on the verge of going to the fest, and this might be the year. This particular film could be really interesting...thoughts?

The Venice Film Festival officially announces its lineup!

The last few days have seen plenty of festival news, and here's the actual slate of films to be playing at Venice:

Venice 2011 Competition

The Ides Of March – George Clooney (US) [opening film]
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy – Tomas Alfredson (UK, Germany)
Wuthering Heights – Andrea Arnold (UK)
Texas Killing Fields – Ami Canaan Maan (US)
Quando La Notte – Cristina Comencini (Italy)
Terraferma – Emanuele Crialese (Italy/France)
A Dangerous Method – David Cronenberg (Germany/Canada)
4:44 Last Day On Earth – Abel Ferrara (US)
Killer Joe – William Friedkin (US)
Un Ete Brulant – Philippe Garrel (France/Italy/Switzerland)
A Simple Life (Taojie) – Ann Hui (China/Hong Kong)
The Exchange (Hahithalfut) – Eran Kolirin (Israel)
Alps (Alpeis) -Yorgos Lanthimos (Greece)
Shame – Steve McQueen (UK)
L’ultimo Terrestre – Gian Alfonso Pacinotti (Italy)
Carnage – Roman Polanski (France/Germany/Spain/Poland)
Chicken With Plums – Marjane Satrapi, Vincent Paronnaud (France/Belgium/Germany)
Faust – Aleksander Sokurov (Russia)
Dark Horse – Todd Solondz (US)
Himizu – Sion Sono (Japan)
Seediq Bale – Wei Te-Sheng (Taiwan)

Out of Competition

Vivan las Antipodas! – Victor Kossakovsky
(Germany/Argentina/Holland/Chile/Russia) [opening film]
Damsels In Distress – Whit Stillman (US) [closing film]
La Folie Almayer – Chantal Akerman (Belgium/France)
The Sorcerer And The White Snake (Baish Echuanshuo) – Tony Ching Siu-Tung (China/Hong Kong)
Giochi D’estate – Rolando Colla (Switzerland/Italy)
La Desintegration – Philippe Fauchon (Belgium)
The Moth Diaries – Mary Harron (Canada/Ireland)
Alois Nebel – Tomas Lunak (Czech Republic/Germany)
W.E. – Madonna (UK)
Eva – Kike Maillo (UK)
Scossa – Francesco Maselli, Carlo Lizzani, Ugo Gregoretti, Nino Russo (Italy)
La Cle Des Champs – Claude Nuridsany, Marie Perennou (France)
Il Villaggio Di Cartone – Ermanno Olmi (Italy)
Wilde Salome – Al Pacino (US)
Tormented – Takashi Shimizu (Japan)
Contagion – Steven Soderbergh (US)
La Meditazione Di Hayez – Mario Martone (Italy) (short)
Tahrir 2011 – Tamer Ezzat, Ahmad Abdalla, Ayten Amin, Amr Salama (Egypt)
The End – Collectif Abounaddara (Syria)
Vanguard – Colleftif Abounaddara (Syria)
Evolution (Megaplex)(3D – Marco Brambilla (US)

Out of Competition Events


Questa Storia Qua – Alessandro Paris, Sibylle Righetti (Italy)
Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has To Travel – Lisa Immordino Vreeland (US)
Golden Career Lion – Nel Nome Del Padre – Marcho Bellocchio (Italy)

-Joey's Two Cents: A very interesting grouping of well known and under the radar auteurs...thoughts?

Making sense of what's playing (and not playing) on the festival circuit this year...

...especially in terms of the Oscar hopefuls. Here's the story from Deadline:

With today's announcement of the 36th annual Toronto International Film Festival lineup (or at least the first phase of titles) and the imminent announcement Thursday of the Venice International Film Festival lineup, the buzzing about Oscar possibilities -- at least as far as the all-important Fall Festival circuit is concerned -- is off and running, even with five weeks to go before Venice and Telluride's increasingly important Labor Day weekend festival get the six-month season off to its official launch. As for that latter fest, we will have to wait until Sept. 1, the day before it opens, to find out what potential Oscar goodies it might have in store.

There is indeed a pecking order in the way these announcements are made, and the reason Telluride does not go the splashy weeks-in-advance press conference route like Toronto (this year's dates: Sept. 8-18) and Venice (Aug. 31-Sept. 10) do -- as well as October's New York Film Festival -- is because it doesn't mind keeping its lineup secret and not labeled as "World" or "North American" premieres in return for actually getting the movies and their filmmakers to attend the oh-so-cool movie geek fest (my fave) high in the Colorado mountains. Studios and distributors who participate in Telluride are sworn to secrecy as to their plans as usual (one publicist was even afraid to admit to me they weren't going for fear of retribution), but that can't keep us from some informed speculation which Oscar hopefuls will be making the trip there as well as to the other fests. Last year, you may recall Telluride was the first North American stop for The King's Speech, 127 Hours and Black Swan among other big Oscar titles.

Strategies abound as to which festival is right for your film, and jockeying will continue long after these announcements and right up to festival time. A wrong decision can be deadly for a film's potential marketing and awards campaign, which is why studios and distributors are so cautious about jumping into the early fall festival waters, particularly, as in many cases this year, where the film isn't even scheduled until the holiday season.

What was interesting about today's Toronto list was not so much what wasincluded but what wasn't. My colleague Mike Fleming in his story about the announcement intriguingly speculated that Focus Features' Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy might have been left off because it may be going to lead off the New York Film Festival, which demands complete exclusivity for their opening-night film on Sept. 30. Last year that fest scored big by grabbing the true world premiere ofThe Social Network, which became an instant Oscar player. Focus says there is no official word yet on anything NY Fest-related for Tinker Tailor (which is said to have major awards bait in Gary Oldman's lead performance in the John le Carre ilm adaptation), but they do confirm its world premiere will be at Venice largely because its UK and Ireland opening date of Sept. 16 is far ahead of other territories such as the U.S. (Nov. 18) and a Venice unveiling was a necessity due to the timing of the Euro launch. I have learned Tinker Tailor will not be making a stop in Toronto. Incidentally, another strong potential for the NYFF opening (or closing) slot might be Clint Eastwood's J. Edgar, with Leonardo DiCaprio in the title role. Eastwood is a favorite there, and the film's Oct. 21 release date would fit nicely into the NY Fest's timeline and Warner Bros' marketing plans.

Also conspicuously missing from today's Toronto announcement was Paramount's eagerly awaited Young Adult, directed by Jason Reitman, written by Diablo Cody and starring Charlize Theron in a performance said to have some awards potential. I would have bet this film (which Paramount just dated for Dec. 9) would show up in Toronto, but I have confirmed it definitely won't be riding the fest circuit -- a first for Reitman. Don't look for it in Telluride either despite being Reitman's "good luck" festival where future Best Picture nominees Juno and Up In The Air had wildly successful unofficial premieres. Last year, Paramount's The Fighter skipped the fest circuit entirely (except for an unadvertised sneak intro'd by Mark Wahlberg at the AFI Fest in November) and went on to win two Best Supporting Oscars and a Best Pic nom.

On the other hand, I would bet the ranch that Fox Searchlight's George Clooney-starrer The Descendants from director Alexander Payne, announced today as one of Toronto's World Premieres, will also likely have a warm-up fest run in Telluride, where Payne is a favorite and former guest programmer. Clooney's own directorial effort, The Ides of March (the screen adaptation of the play Farragut North, in which he also has a starring role), will likely hopscotch from its Venice opening-night world premiere straight to Toronto.

Also missing from the initial Toronto list and any speculation about Venice is Meryl Streep's The Iron Lady,which will likely hold off emulating the route The Weinstein Company's eventual Best Picture The King's Speech followed last year as it kicked off in Telluride and Toronto. Since the film doesn't open until Dec. 16 in the U.S. and the logistics of getting Streep to go on the fest circuit is challenging, I would think Harvey Weinstein might want to wait. The film is still in post-production, another drawback, and I have heard Harvey is worried about competing with himself as Madonna's W.E. (also tipped for Venice) and Cannes sensation The Artist are going to have major unspoolings in Toronto -- to name just two Weinstein Co. products on the circuit. The Artist, a new silent film, would seem to be a no-brainer as well for Telluride, which caters to classic silents as part of its programming.

Among Toronto's most intriguing "gets" are the world premieres of Roadside's Glenn Close Oscar hopeful Albert Nobbs; Jim Field Smith's Jennifer Garner/Hugh Jackman Capra-esque comedy Butter; David Cronenberg's A Dangerous Method; Fernando Meirelles' 360 with Jude Law, Anthony Hopkins and Rachel Weisz; Friends With Kids from Jennifer Westfeldt, starring Jon Hamm and Kristen Wiig among others; and Bennett Miller's (Capote) baseball yarn Moneyball with Brad Pitt, the project started by Steven Soderbergh before he had a parting of the ways with Sony just before production was to begin. Luc Besson's world premiere of The Lady is also one to watch with what I have been told is a world-class Oscar nomination-bound performance by Michelle Yeoh as Burma's national heroine Aung San Suu Kyi. The film needs a distributor though before it can jump into this year's Oscar race.

A good number of the Toronto titles will have first premiered at Venice, likely including Steve McQueen's (Hunger) second film, Shame, and Andrea Arnold's Wuthering Heights, which both have some Oscar potential, at least on paper.

Two films tipped only for Venice include the movie Soderbergh did make (and which I have seen), Contagion, a tight thriller with an all-star cast caught up in a world health catastrophe. It screens on the fest's second day and will open in the U.S. on Sept. 9. Another film currently scheduled only for Venice is Roman Polanski's screen adaptation of God Of Carnage, now called simplyCarnage, which Sony Pictures Classics is hoping has Oscar potential for stars Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz and John C. Reilly. Other fests it may turn up at are still a question (or least being kept quiet so far), in part due to the ability of its director to attend I would imagine.

Of course the Fall Fest circuit will also include a number of movies and stars with Oscar potential that we already saw in Cannes including Tilda Swinton in We Need To Talk About Kevin; Drive with Ryan Gosling and an award-worthy supporting turn from Albert Brooks; Pedro Almodovar's The Skin I Live In; as well as several Sundance refugees including Focus Features' well-reviewed Pariah, which I am told is definitely going to be added to the Toronto lineup in upcoming announcements.

The list of potential awards fodder goes on and on, but many of these films first need to find distributors, so its unlikely a large number of them will show up in this year's race. Last year, Rabbit Hole was a rare exception that came into Toronto distrib-less; it left holding hands with Lionsgate and eventually nabbed a Best Actress Oscar nod for Nicole Kidman.

The first bell in the 2011 Oscar race has been rung, and we will keep following it as the contenders start to pile up.

-Joey's Two Cents: I'm very surprised that Reitman isn't taking his film the festival route, especially since it sounds like a harder sell than usual...thoughts?

Here are your winners from the 2011 Los Angeles Film Festival!

Take a gander:

Narrative Award (for Best Narrative Feature)
Winner: Familiar Ground written & directed by Stéphane Lafleur
Producers: Luc Déry, Kim McCraw
Cast: Francis La Haye, Fanny Mallette, Sylvain Marcel, Michel Daigle, Suzanne Lemoine
Film Description: (Canada) This droll, deadpan comedy from snowbound Quebec features an unhappy brother and sister whose fates seem to be known by a mysterious Man From the Future. Not too far in the future though. Just next September.
The Narrative Award carries an unrestricted cash prize of $15,000 funded by Film Independent, offering the financial means to help filmmakers transfer their vision to the screen. The award recognizes the finest narrative film in competition, and is given to the director. A special jury selects the winner, and all narrative feature-length films screening in the Narrative Competition section were eligible. In bestowing Stéphane Lafleur with the Narrative Award, the Jury stated: “An entire tree sticking out of a fireplace…a beaten-up snowman…an operatically dancing inflatable blue dude…the anything but familiar images of Familiar Ground won’t soon be forgotten. In a strong narrative competition this year, this was the singular vision that stood out the most.”

****

Documentary Award (for Best Documentary Feature)
Winner: Wish Me Away directed by Beverly Kopf & Bobbie Birleffi
Producer: Beverly Kopf, Paul Mailman
Film Description: This intensely personal documentary chronicles the heart-wrenching decision Nashville singing star Chely Wright to come out of the closet despite the potentially crushing response from the industry and her fans.
The Documentary Award carries an unrestricted cash prize of $15,000 funded by Film Independent, offering the financial means to help filmmakers transfer their vision to the screen. The award recognizes the finest documentary film in competition, and is given to the director. A special jury selects the winner, and all documentary feature-length films screening in the Documentary Competition section were eligible. In bestowing Beverly Kopf & Bobbie Birleffi with the Documentary Award, the Jury stated: “For its honesty, humor and potential to change minds and even save lives, the jury awards the Documentary Award to Wish Me Away.”
****
Best Performance in the Narrative Competition
Winner: Amber Sealey, Kent Osborne, Amanda Street and Gabriel Diamond in Amber Sealey’s How to Cheat
Film Description: An L.A. couple’s struggle to get pregnant sets off the husband’s wandering eye in this comedy that reveals marriage to be as funny as it is heartbreaking.
In bestowing the actors with the Best Performance, the Jury stated: “At a time where actors are often asked to take a larger role in the creation of what is said in a film and how it’s done, the performers of How to Cheat deserve special distinction. Kent Osborne, Amber Sealey, Amanda Street, and Gabriel Diamond dug deeper and messier, heroically past the point of comfort.”
****
Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature
Winner: Attack the Block directed by Joe Cornish
Producers: Nira Park, James Wilson
Cast: Jodie Whittaker, John Boyega, Alex Email, Franz Drameh, Leeon Jones, Simon Howard, Luke Treadaway, Jumayn Hunter, Nick Frost
Film Description: (England) – From the producers of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, Attack the Block follows a gang of tough inner-city kids who defend their turf against an invasion of savage alien creatures, turning a South London apartment complex into an extraterrestrial warzone.
This award is given to the narrative feature audiences liked most as voted by a tabulated rating system. Select narrative feature-length films screening in the following sections were eligible for the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature: Narrative Competition, Gala Screenings, International Showcase, International Spotlight, Summer Showcase, Community Screenings, Ford Amphitheatre Screenings, and The Beyond.
****
Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature
Winner: Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest directed by Michael Rapaport
Producers: Edward Parks, Bob Teitel, Frank Mele, Robert Benavides, Eric Matthies, Michael Rapaport, Debra Koffler
Film Description: The rancorous break-up of a Tribe Called Quest frames Michael Rapaport’s exuberant exploration of the turmoil and joy that drove these pioneers of bohemian hip hop.
This award is given to the documentary feature audiences liked most as voted on by a tabulated rating system. Select documentary feature-length films screening in the following sections were eligible for the Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature: Documentary Competition, International Showcase, International Spotlight, Documenting Mexico, Summer Showcase, Community Screenings, and Ford Amphitheatre Screenings.
****
Audience Award for Best International Feature
Winner: Senna directed by Asif Kapadia
Producers: James Gay-Rees, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner
Film Description: (England) A high-octane look at the most exciting driver to ever race Formula One — Brazil’s Aryton Senna — this edge of your seat documentary explores the politics, rivalries and glamour of a sport that leaves no room for error.
This award is given to the international feature audiences liked most as voted on by a tabulated rating system. Select international feature-length films, both narrative and documentary, in the Narrative Competition, Documentary Competition, International Showcase, International Spotlight, Documenting Mexico, Summer Showcase, Ford Amphitheatre Screenings, and The Beyond were eligible for the Audience Award for Best International Feature.
****
Best Narrative Short Film
Winner: The Wind Is Blowing on My Street by Saba Riazi
Producer: Mohammad Hoseseni
Cast: Rahman Houshyar, Sajjad Salehivand, Forough Bonakder, Ashraf Abolfazlian
Description: (Iran) A young girl in Tehran is accidentally locked out of her home with no scarf on her head.
In bestowing Saba Riazi with Best Narrative Short Film, the Jury stated: “For offering insight into the specifics of life under theocratic rule in Iran in a way that speaks to us all, with a remarkable lead performance by an actress forced by circumstances to remain anonymous, the jury presents the Narrative Short Film Award to Saba Riazi for The Wind is Blowing on My Street.”
****
Best Documentary Short Film
Winner: I Am a Girl! by Susan Koenen
Producer: Albert Klein Haneveld
Description: (Netherlands) Joppe dreams of love, marriage and children. Being born a boy only complicates things slightly.
In bestowing Susan Koenen with Best Documentary Short Film, the Jury stated: “For using gorgeous cinematography and energetic editing to capture a young woman’s journey from biological maleness to forthright femininity, and for giving us a glimpse at an open-minded new generation with a better understanding of gender and sexuality issues than their parents ever dreamed, the jury presents the Documentary Short Film Award to Susan Koenen for I Am a Girl!”
****
Best Animated Short Film
Winner: The Eagleman Stag by Mike Please
Producer: Royal College of Art
Cast: David Cann, Tony Guilfoyle
Description: (England) This unique stop-motion animated film depicts a man’s haunting obsession with the passage of time and his unorthodox relationship with a beetle.
In bestowing Mike Please with Best Animated Short Film, the Jury stated: “For mixing innovative three-dimensional paper-cut animation, a stunning white-on-white visual style, and a wryly original sense of storytelling, the jury presents the Animated Short Film Award to Mikey Please for The Eagleman Stag.”
****
Audience Award for Best Short Film
Winner: Blind Date by Joe Rosen
Producer: Joe Rosen, Abigail Blackmore
Cast: Abigail Blackmore, Cavan Clerkin, Zeben Jameson, Matthew Blackmore
Description: (England) Waiting for her date, Rachel has an unexpected encounter.
Awarded to the short film audiences liked most as voted on by a tabulated rating system. Short films screening in the Shorts Programs or before Narrative Competition, Documentary Competition, or International Showcase feature-length screenings were eligible for the Audience Award for Best Short Film.
****
Audience Award for Best Music Video
Winner: Can’t Shake This Feeling by The General Assembly’s Adam Littke, Ryan McNeill, Adam Willis
Music: Grum
This award is given to the music video audiences liked most as voted on by a tabulated rating system.

-Joey's Two Cents: It seems like Attack the Block is really winning people over. I'm supposed to go to a screening tomorrow (I've missed two already), so hopefully it works for me as well...thoughts?