from palm springs international film festival

Palm Springs, CA (December 17, 2010) – The 2011 Palm Springs International Film Festival announced today a new program highlighting African Cinema as well as films selected to compete for the FIPRESCI Award, New Voices/New Visions Award and John Schlesinger Awards. The Festival will screen 40 of the 65 official submissions to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for Best Foreign Language Film. The Festival will announce its complete line-up of films next week.

“Our African films showcase reflects our delight at the discovery of a vital new arena in world filmmaking, with the emergence of a large number of bold new talents and singular stories from a continent that has not previously been known for its wealth of cinematic storytelling,” said Festival Director Darryl Macdonald. “And while our competitive juried sections allow us to single out films we feel are worthy of particular merit or distinction among the festival selections this year, the audience awards allow filmgoers to vote for their own favorite films on view at the festival, giving all of these films an extra boost towards broader distribution in the U.S.”

“In addition to presenting the biggest selection of foreign language Oscar submissions of any festival, we are shining the spotlight on some dynamic emerging filmmakers,” said Helen du Toit, Director of Programming. “Our New Voices/New Visions Showcase for first narrative features and the John Schlesinger Award for best first documentary feature are two distinctive ways that the Festival will be identifying exciting new talent who are stretching boundaries and forging new ground in narrative and non-fiction storytelling.”

For more info on the below programs click here:

CINEMA SAFARI: A Showcase of AFRICAN Cinema
AWARDS BUZZ
NEW VOICES/NEW VISIONS
JOHN SCHLESINGER AWARD