US actor, director and producer Robert Redford is to be one of the star attractions at this year's Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, organisers announced. This year the July 1-9 event, the only Category A film festival in central and eastern Europe, marks its 40th year and will feature 230 films from across the globe. Agence France Presse reports.

Bird's word: The San Francisco International Film Festival program Sunday night was billed as a "State of the Cinema Address.'' But Brad Bird immediately fessed up to feeling inadequate to deliver a lecture on such a lofty subject and proposed an alternate title -- "A Bunch of Stuff I Think I Know About Movies." Ruth Stein reports from the San Francisco International Film Festival for the San Francisco Chronicle.

"The Birds," one of Alfred Hitchcock's most celebrated horror thrillers, looks set to fly again as a remake. The 1963 original starred Tippi Hedren as the icy blonde fighting against avians terrorising a Californian town. The new version is to be produced by Michael Bay, better known as the director of Hollywood action flicks such as "Pearl Harbor," "Armageddon" and "The Rock." The Guardian reports.

The winners of the 2005 RiverRun International Film Festival audience awards and narrative and documentary juried competitions were announced yesterday at the festival’s closing award ceremony at the North Carolina School of the Arts. The best narrative feature award was given to "Innocent Voices" (Mexico), directed by Luis Mandoki. The award for best documentary feature was presented to "Parallel Lines" (USA), directed by Nina Davenport.

The best narrative feature audience award was presented to "How the Garcia Girls Spent their Summer" (USA), directed by Georgina Garcia Riedel, and the best documentary feature audience award was presented to "Barbecue is a Noun" (USA), directed by Hawes Bostic and Austin McKenna. For more information and a complete list of winners, visit the festival's website.

As it laid off a handful of employees today, Sundance Channel unveiled plans for a change in its strategic focus. Company president Larry Aidem said that the network, owned by NBC Universal, Showtime, and Robert Redford, will move towards creating more original programming and acquiring multi-part documentary and narrative series, shifting from internal production to licensing and commissioning work by TV and film directors and producers. More than a half-dozen staffers are understood to have been let go today, given their immediate walking papers.

Aidem also announced a number of key promotions and appointments, naming Jennie Morris from Showtime as Director of Scheduling and Program Planning, Gail Gendler as Senior Director of Acquisitions, both reporting to Christian Vesper, VP of Acquisitions, Scheduling and Program Planning. Adam Pincus remains Sundance Channel's SVP, Original Programming. They report to the recenly named Laura Michalchyshyn, EVP of Marketing and Programming.

In other changes, Valerie Bruce was named VP, Legal and Business Affairs, reporting to Jacqueline Moreton, SVP/General Counsel, Legal and Business Affairs.

Focus Features' Rogue Pictures has announced the start of production next month of the new Haxan Films' movie, "Altered." Eduardo Sanchez, co-director and co-writer of "The Blair Witch Project" will direct the movie, written by Jamie Nash from a story by Sanchez and Nash. Focus Features holds the worldwide rigths to the project, and Rogue will release the movie next year. The film is being produced by Robin Cowie and Gregg Hale and executive produced by Bob Eick. Matt Compton, Jeff Johnsen, and Mike Monello are co-producing.

Adam Kaufman will star in the film with Catherine Mangan, Brad William Hanke, Mile Williams, Paul McCarthy Boyington, and James Gammon. The film is described as the story of, "an all-new tale of horror which began in 1990, when a group of men's lives were forever altered. The story continues fifteen years later, over the course of one evening of unrelenting terror for the still-traumatized survivors."

In 1969, the San Francisco International Film Festival invited a little-known Greek director named Costa-Gavras to show his movie, "Z." A work commitment prevented him from attending and seeing for himself the enthusiastic response to "Z," which helped launch his now-classic political thriller in the United States.

As a belated show of gratitude, Costa-Gavras lent his considerable charm to the festival's opening night Thursday featuring his latest work, "The Ax." He brought along Michele Ray-Gavras, whom he introduced to the Castro Theatre audience as "my producer and also my wife, or my wife and also my producer.'' Ruth Stein reports in the San Francisco Chronicle.

At 22, the gifted and singular actress Isild Le Besco can already claim an extensive career in French cinema. At 14, she starred in "La Puce," Emmanuelle Bercot's short film about a girl's first sexual experience. A couple of years later, she was playing the love interest in Benoît Jacquot's "Sade" and Cédric Kahn's "Robert Succo." And by 18, Ms. Le Besco, was writing and directing "Demi-Tarif," shot with a digital camera mostly in the apartment where she grew up, in a working-class Paris neighborhood. Opening here this summer, it follows three children, largely abandoned by their mother, who make do on their own. Leslie Camhi reports in the New York Times (free subscription required to view).

A gay and lesbian film festival due to be held at the weekend at Beijing University was forced to change venue when campus officials refused to allow the event to go ahead, organisers said. Agence France Presse reports.

Islamic film-makers have always had to subvert the rules of clerics and censors. It's what makes them some of the world's best directors, says Tariq Ali in The Guardian.

Hollywood stars Salma Hayek and Jake Gyllenhaal joined Canadian Inuits in the Arctic Circle for a traditional spring dance on Earth Day Friday, seeking to highlight the effect of global warming on northern Canadians. Beth Duff Brown reports in A.P.

We've selected a dozen promising offerings from each of the two major categories of the 48th San Francisco International Film Festival. Excluded from consideration were films scheduled for what the festival calls the "Big Nights" (the opening and closing and other headliner events), along with shorts and most movies competing for the various awards and prizes.

The list features work by familiar names and unknowns, and includes a strong showing of French films (after the United States, France is by far the most heavily represented nation in the festival). The San Francisco Chronicle's Walter Addiego gives his picks for SFIFF, currently underway in the Bay Area.

Six years after the death of Stanley Kubrick, his widow Christiane Kubrick is keen to dispel the enduring rumours about his 'eccentricity' and has produced a sumptuous book based on his archives as a memorial to his work. Sean O'Hagan reports in The Guardian.

Ruth Hussey, who was nominated for an Academy Award for her role as James Stewart's wise-cracking girlfriend in 1940's "The Philadelphia Story," has died. She was 93. Associated Press reports.

fter hearing Mike Nichols take some digs at his nose and Robert de Niro joke about his age, Hollywood veteran Dustin Hoffman took to the stage of New York's Lincoln Center late Monday and spoke about his sense of failure. "I became an actor because I believed I was a failure," said Hoffman, this year's honoree at the Center's annual tribute gala. Agence France Presse reports.

BC could create Internet blogs for its top news anchors and celebrity interviewers as it seeks to maintain the appeal of U.S. network news, its top executive said on Tuesday. NBC Universal Television Group President Jeff Zucker said entering the generally opinionated world of blogs might be one way television networks could keep their grip on viewers who increasingly use the Internet for news. Reuters reports.

Maverick film-maker Michael Moore on Wednesday announced a "freedom of speech" scholarship for students at a Southern California university who defy the administration and stand up for student rights. Moore, whose popular documentary "Fahrenheit 9/11" helped polarize America in the run-up to the 2004 U.S. presidential elections, established the $2,500 award for students attending California State University San Marcos. Reuters reports.

The film of Douglas Adams' cult novel "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" finally opens on Wednesday after 26 years in the pipeline. The cast, from John Malkovich to Bill Nighy, is set to turn out in force for the red carpet premiere in London's Leicester Square. Lydia Bell reports for Reuters.

The European Parliament said Wednesday it had scrapped the screening of murdered Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh's short film criticizing the treatment of women under Islam because of legal concerns and security fears. "Submission" was to be shown by Italian euro-skeptic lawmaker Mario Borghezio on Wednesday at the European Union assembly's press center. Parliament stopped the screening due to concern over a possible legal suit from the films owners. Constant Brand reports in A.P.

Hollywood has a long tradition of luring wealthy outsiders to its gleaming lair, from William Randolph Hearst, the newspaper millionaire, in the silent movie era to Paul Allen, the Microsoft billionaire, who is a principal investor in DreamWorks, the 10-year-old studio. What distinguishes the current crop of outsiders is the sheer number who have arrived in the last two years or so, many of them very young and prepared to make the movies themselves rather than relying on studio executives or other insiders. Sharon Waxman reports in the New York Times (free subscription required to view).

Russian cinema is going through a revolution - and wants to take on Hollywood. Nick Paton Walsh reports in The Guardian.

To understand how the Tribeca Film Festival has evolved since its creation just three years ago, start by looking at the opening-night film: "The Interpreter," a thriller set at the United Nations and the first to be shot inside its shrouded halls. The Associated Press reports.

A documentary about two activists whose libel battle with McDonald's became the longest case in English legal history has been updated, expanded and re-released. Neil Smith reports for BBC.

After making his mark with his feature debut about drug-running, "Maria Full of Grace" writer-director Joshua Marston is turning his attention to the story of American truckers working under contract in Iraq. Nicole Sperling reports for the Hollywood Reporter.

An Israeli film distributor will show an Academy Award-nominated movie about Hitler to general audiences after the film received positive feedback from viewers during a test screening, the company's owner said Wednesday. Josef Federman reports for A.P.

On the occasion of the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival currently underway, David Thomson looks at queer images and subtext in American cinema, for The Independent:

Yes, it's fair to say that for several decades the mainstream of American film did not acknowledge gayness as part of American life. Still, it's crazy to ignore the underground ways in which gayness was at work in American film - and that is no huge surprise when one considers how many gay people there were functioning successfully in Hollywood in this craft or that, and leading gay lives (though sometimes that got them into trouble). I want to go farther, still: I think that the movies have no equal as a cultural force maintaining, or demonstrating, for decades the place of a gay sensibility in life as a whole. The question that remains fascinating is how far that pressure was consciously exercised, and how far it comes from a medium that redefined fantasy in fresh ways.

Flushed with the success of last year's The Passion of the Christ, Mel Gibson appears poised to embark on another high-minded religious epic. His subject on this occasion, according to a swirl of reports in the US, is the life and times of Pope John Paul II. The Guardian reports.

The man suspected of killing Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh made his first public appearance Wednesday since his arrest more than five months ago, walking into court with the help of crutches before briefly addressing the judges.
Mohammed Bouyeri, 27, took a bullet in the leg during a shootout with police minutes after Van Gogh was shot and stabbed to death on a busy Amsterdam street on Nov. 2. The defendant has spent several months at a medical clinic where doctors sought to evaluate his mental condition. Toby Sterling reports in A.P.

At Jeremy Walker + Associates in NY, Christine Richardson and Jessica Grant, senior publicists at the agency, have been named Vice Presidents.

Mary Litkovich, a publicist at the agency for nearly three years, has amicably departed the firm for competitor Rogers & Cowan.

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At mPRm in LA, Ariel Carpenter has re-joined the company as VP of Emerging Media and Technology, while Jennifer Lopez rejoins as Senior Account Executive in the Film practice.

Elana Altshuler, Tom Chen and Katie Sanseverino have all been promoted to Senior Account Executive. Laura Howell and Katie Watson upped to Account Executive in the Film and General Entertainment practices respectively. Finally, Ayn Allen, Tracy Forrester and Kate Hubin, were promoted to Account Coordinators in EMT, General Entertainment and Film. respectively.

With the nearly $5-billion acquisition of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. by a Sony Corp.-led investment group now final, the lion's roar is being reduced to a meow. Already, the job cuts started Monday, when about 185 executives received pink slips. MGM's staff of nearly 1,500 is expected to shrink in the coming months to around 200. Claudia Eller reports in the Los Angeles Times.

Going to the movies no longer has to feel like you're riding in coach or sitting in the bleachers. But do moviegoers care? At about a dozen National Amusements Inc. theaters around the country, some auditoriums have been fitted with extra-wide, VIP leather seats — no arm-rest sharing here — and private concession stands. Some other theater chains offer valet parking and fine dining — all at a higher price. John Seewer ponders the cinema experience in an article appearing in the Austin American-Statesman.

Spanish film "Ferpect Crime" (El Crimen Ferpecto) won the top award at the Cognac thriller film festival on Sunday, beating Brit gangster drama Layer Cake. The Cognac festival, which takes place every year in south-western France, is dedicated to suspense dramas, cop thrillers and other edge-of-the-seat, nail-biting films. Batman director Joel Schumacher headed this year's jury. The Guardian reports.

Hanging out with aliens, monsters and conspiracy nuts made a star of David Duchovny. He's had a tough time without the creatures and wackos of "The X-Files," though. David Germain reports for A.P.

Martin Scorsese is known for his feature films, but classics such as "Goodfellas" and "Raging Bull" are rooted in the realism of documentaries, the director said during a visit to the Full Frame Film Festival, A.P. reports.

Filmmaker Edward Yang will head the Cinéfondation and Short Films Jury at the 58th Festival de Cannes. He won the directing award for his film "Yi Yi" at the 2000 festival.

Other jury heads this year include filmmaker Emir Kusturica heading the competition jury, filmmaker Alexander Payne presiding over the Un Certain Regard jury, and filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami leading the jury for Camera d'Or films.

Director Yoshitaro Nomura, whose 1974 suspense thriller "Castle of Sand" has been ranked by critics as one of Japan's best films ever, died Friday at 85. Kenji Hall reports for A.P.

Todd Solondz, the twisted mind behind "Welcome to the Dollhouse" and "Happiness," has gone to extremes in all his films. Think of the rape looming over the heroine of "Welcome to the Dollhouse," or the obsessive masturbation in "Happiness." His latest, "Palindromes," does feature some of the squirm-inducing scenes that audiences have come to expect. But its most outrageous stunt comes in the casting, not the script. Ted Loos reports in the New York Times (free subscription required to view).

Arnaud Desplechin who has directed six movies since 1991, is one of the most intriguing French filmmakers of his generation: those directors, mostly in their 40's, who came up in the long shadow of the new wave, too young to have participated in the tumult of the 1960's but too close to that decade to shake off its hangover. He is also among the most puzzling. His work, the subject of retrospectives starting this week at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus, Ohio, is always challenging, sometimes elusive and often difficult to categorize. Is he a moderate or an extremist? An exponent of civilization or an avatar of savagery? Are his movies meant to be brutally naturalistic or elaborately artificial? Comedies or catastrophes? Raw or cooked? A.O. Scott profiles the director in the New York Times (free subscription required to view).

For his new film, Match Point, Woody Allen has abandoned Manhattan, the backdrop for so many of his films, and come to London. The director talks to a href="http://film.guardian.co.uk/features/featurepages/0,4120,1455231,00.html">Peter Kelly in The Guardian about the settings that inspired him - and how he put them on film.

Actress Kristin Scott Thomas has said that the resurgence in French cinema is down to a new approach amongst film-makers - who are no longer scared of commercial movies. On the heels of "Amelie" and "The Chorus," Scott Thomas' latest film "Arsene Lupin," an unusual mix of costume drama, martial arts and computer-generated imagery, is another box office success story. BBC reports.

It's very sad. MGM is gone. So is United Artists. The deal, expected to close on Friday, for a consortium of companies (including Sony Corp (SNE.N).) to purchase the MGM assets for some $4.8 billion reminds us that in today's entertainment universe, it's all about selling DVDs. Ted Turner was right: It's the library, stupid. All 4,000 titles. Anne Thompson remembers the legendary film company.

For years, independent films and the theaters showing them have been mainly the domain of adult stories, but two new movies and one on the way are bolstering the idea that U.S. art houses can be family friendly. Bob Tourtellotte reports for Reuters.

Many pining looks, a story of forbidden love, whirlwind changes of scenery and costumes were revealed after more than 75 years when a long lost silent film featuring Rudolph Valentino and Gloria Swanson was shown in Amsterdam. The only known copy of the 1922 classic "Beyond the Rocks", with an imaginative and playful new score by Dutch composer Henny Vrienten, premiered in style at Amsterdam's art deco Tuschinski theatre to mark the start of the Filmmuseum's Biennal festival. Agence France Presse reports.

Quentin Lee is sick of romantic comedies. "We're in a culture where being gay is accepted, but there's still pressure to be liked by everybody, to be nice -- especially among gay Asian teens," he says. "I want to go against that conformity. Go out and kick ass." The movie "Ethan Mao" is Lee's answer. Fresh from the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, the black-comic thriller is Lee's third feature work, and he says it's a much-needed "gay teen rebel" film. Annie Nakao speaks to the director in the San Francisco Chronicle.

A film festival dedicated to Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan is to be held in New York. The 13-film retrospective of the actor's career will be held at the Lincoln Center from 8-19 April, BBC reports.

After wowing critics and crossing over from art-house favorite to mainstream hit, the wine-soaked road comedy "Sideways" is off to a strong start in the home video market. The small-budget film, which grossed $70 million at the domestic box office, sold more than 1.5 million DVD and VHS units combined on Tuesday, its first day in release on home video, industry sources said. Brett Sporich reports for the Hollywood Reporter.

Actor Ben Kingsley and U.S. philanthropists unveiled an Arabic version of the film "Gandhi" on Wednesday, hoping to bring the legendary Indian revolutionary's message of nonviolent resistance to Palestinian towns, villages and refugee camps. Ravi Nessman reports for the A.P.