Prolific progressive filmmaker Ken Loach will present his new film “Route Irish” in Competition at the Cannes International Film Festival it was announced at the last minute just before the Festival’s opening.

Jafar Panahi arrested in Iran. Protests from across the world. Sign Cineuropa.org’s petition.

In what many claim to be the longest, coldest winter they can recall, the 60th Berlin International Film Festival and the younger, smaller, but no less vital, Jameson Dublin International Film Festival kept the chilly winds of winter at bay by unspooling a hot array of new movies.

Guadalaja, based in the state of Jalisco, Mexico, is host to what has become one of the most significant film events in Latin America, FICG or the International Cinema Festival of Guadalajara. The Festival runs from March 19-27, 2009. [...]

As November approaches, we are on route to the AFI and AFM in Los Angeles, via Valencia, Torino and Rome where each offers a special view of the international film scene. The adventure culminates in Los Angeles where the AFI Fest and American Film Market (which have established a partnership) take over the film scene [...]

IN THIS CHARMED PART of northern Spain just next to the French border there are two official languages and the street signs reflect Castilian Spanish and Euskara, the Basque language. At this gem of a Festival the official publications are also bilingual and sometimes include English as a third language. On the streets the most common sound is Basque, considered to be the oldest existent language.

And the Award goes to…

In the 54th edition of the San Sebastian International Film Festival we saw an unusual coincidence of “dualism” … two grand prize winners and a few films that dealt with doubles and dual personalities.

Doris Dörrie is more than just one of the leading German directors. She is also a writer of novels, short stories, children’s books and has directed several operas. Dörrie joins Margarethe von Trotta as Germany’s preeminent woman directors of modern times. Her most recent film “Cherry Blossoms” (“Hanami”) marks her return to Japan to tell the story of Rudi and his wife Trudi, a German elderly couple.