In the December issue of  Sight & Sound Geoff Andrew interwievs the director Michael Haneke. Geoff Andrew interviewed Michael Haneke in summer 2009, aftter his latest film The White Ribbon had won Palme d’Or in Cannes Film Festival. Recently in the European Film Academy’s annual Awards ceremony, which was taking place in Bochum, Germany on 12th December, it received even more prizes. The White Ribbon received both main prizes: Best European film of 2009 and Best European Director for Haneke.   

The winner announced In  Saturday’s afternoon of 24th of October during the Closing ceremony the decision of Media Jury of 10th Riga’s Nordic Film Days was announced and the winner awarded with the symbolic NorthernTable, which became incarnated into a chamomile ornamented cup. Film Days’ jury - satori.lv journalist Irbe Treile, DJ of Radio SWH Toms Grevins and magazine’s Klubs chief

The 10th Nordic Film Days were ceremoniously opened with huge ice cubes from the North, Scandinavian ice - fishermen, presentation of Medium Jury and Icelandic comedy Back Soon. Could there be a better proof of proper opening than the snow this morning, an affectionate greeting for organizers of the film days? While waiting for the evening films and your herbal tea to infuse, you are welcome to have a glance into off-stage of

The 10th Nordic Film Days are approaching From 16th to 24th of October the International Centre of Cinema in collaboration with Nordea Bank and the Nordic Council of Ministers, presents the 10th Nordic Film Days (NFD) which have become a regular event in Latvia’s cinema life since the beginning of 90ties. The most recent films from Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, Finland and Norway will be screened during nine days.

As a playwright, Harold Pinter had a unique and unmistakable voice. But as a screenwriter, argues Ian Christie, he was a meticulous and highly sensitive adaptor of other writers, including Fitzgerald, Kafka – and himself. Between the 1960s and the 1990s, Harold Pinter actually wrote almost as many screenplays as stage works. As a screenwriter he is probably best remembered for the ingenuity of his John Fowle’s adaptation The French Lieutenant’s Woman (1981), with its intertwined parallel stories, and for his unfilmed adaptation of A la recherche du temps perdu,

It has finally happened – the 62nd Cannes International Film Festival. In addition to new made films – mostly the world premiers which during the next year will be screened in different film festivals, Cannes offer the unique possibility to everybody being a spectator who has arrived to the cinema without any preconceptions, without having read reviews (because they are not available yet) and as much as possible (taking into account the factor of certain directors) free of conceptions about the specific cinema work. Professionally it is just like a drug which stimulates an addiction. Step by step everything falls into place – there is disillusionment, joy, possibly – incomprehension, but eventually everyone is waiting for HIS film. Beside the Competition festival also offers special sessions (the greatest hit of this edition was Martin Scorsese’s restored Michael Powell’s The Red Shoes), Out of Competition films, films in beach (free of charge event in the beach with Ziggy Stardust or Pink Floyd The Wall on the screen), not to mention the film market of Cannes. There also are parallel festivals like Quinzaine des Realisateurs and Semaine de la Critique, but for Arsenals the most significant is the second programme of competition Un Certain Regard frequented by already familiar director works (Pavel Lungin, Hirokazu Kore-eda) as well as debut works with an unifying element – qualitative author cinema. These are the films which eventually become the discoveries of festivals. I also discovered some. I recommend: Tzar, director Pavel Lungin, Russia, 2009 The last cinema role of Oleg Yankovskiy. Samson and Delilah, director Warwick Thornton, Australia, 2009 The winner of Camera d'Or. It gives an insight into Central Australia aborigine village life. The tragedy sneaks up quietly. Interaction with the surrounding world out there for two youngsters becomes irreversible. Nang Mai, director Pen- Ek Ratanaruang, Thailand, 2009 The new film of Arsenal’s favored director. A meditative story about a young couple which reveals the importance of their relationship during a trip to the forest where one of them disappears. Silence, directorž. Laila Pakalniņa, Latvia, 2009 A film of Laila Pakalnina which has passed a competition between more than 3000 short films to become one of the 9 which were selected for Festival de Cannes Short Films selection. Sarlote Photos from Cannes:

The New Wave at 50: A priest and his flock When cinephiles think of the critic and co-founder of Cahiers du cinéma André Bazin, a number of given concepts arise: according to his disciple François Truffaut, he “wrote about film better than anybody else in Europe”; he was perhaps the first to form a coherent theory of cinema: he championed the auteur theory, argued for the moral and spiritual superiority of deep-focus realism over the associative poetics of Soviet

April issue of Sight and Sound is cinematography special with a title “Seeing the Light”. S&S contributors Roger Clarke and Edward Lawrenson at Poland’s Cameraimage festival (held in December in Lodz) had the chance to interview international cinematographers about their craft and currently ongoing debate on digital and analogue cinema. Viewpoints of  a baker’s dozen cameramen are assembled in the cover story “Cinematography. Talking Shop.”

The 8th International Children’s Film festival Berimor’s Cinema has concluded! The festival’s main prize „Berimor’s Big Pillow” was given to Latvian director’s Armands Zvirbulis film „Mazie Laupītāji”. The winner of audience prize „Berimor’s Small Pillow” is Finnish director’s Kaisa Rastimo film „Stormheart”.

CHILDREN’S FILM FESTIVAL “BERIMOR’S CINEMA” – OPENED ON SATURDAY The opening of the 8th Riga International Children’s film festival “Berimor’s Cinema” took place on Saturday, April 4, at the small screening hall of cinema “Rīga” and offered the Finnish family musical “Rikky Rapper” as the evening’s film.