TIFF in collaboration with Instagram has launched the TIFFxInstagram Shorts Festival, a digital shorts competition, which invites aspiring and established filmmakers from around the globe to upload their original 60-second-or-less short using Instagram video. Competition opens today; deadline for submissions is July 20, 2016. To submit, upload your entry on Instagram with hashtag #TIFFxInstagram and complete the submission form here.
“TIFF’s commitment to discovering and developing emerging filmmakers is unwavering,” said Piers Handling, director and CEO of TIFF. “Our collaboration with Instagram is the perfect opportunity to celebrate the work of filmmakers from all over the world and discover up-and-coming talent through the world’s largest creative digital community, showcased by the world’s largest public film festival.”
Marne Levine, chief operating officer of Instagram, said, “More than 500 million people are using Instagram each month for visual inspiration and creative expression, including video. Over the last six months, the total time people spent watching video on Instagram has increased by 150%. Filmmakers are already taking advantage of this platform to promote their work and to create films for the Instagram community. We are looking forward to be collaborating with TIFF to celebrate the craft of short filmmaking through the TIFFxInstagram Shorts Festival.”
TIFF programmers will select 30 finalists, which will be showcased on TIFF’s website and Instagram channel from August 8 to 17. A six-person jury comprised of film industry professionals and influential Instagram community members will then select one winner for Judge’s Choice Award. Judges include director Ava DuVernay (Selma) (@directher); writer-director Xavier Dolan (Mommy, I Killed My Mother) (@xavierdolan); music video director and photographer Nabil Elderkin, (Kanye West’s “Mercy”, John Legend’s “All of Me”) (@nabildo); and stop-motion animation artist Rachel Ryle (@rachelryle). In addition to the jury awards, online audiences can vote for their favorite film by liking it on Instagram. Voting closes August 17. The film with the most “likes” will receive the Fan Favorite Award. Awards will be announced August 18.
More judges and prizing will be announced in the coming weeks.
Netflix Series “The Leopard” Spots Classic Italian Novel, Remakes It As A Sumptuous Period Drama
"The Leopard," a new Netflix series, takes the classic Italian novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa and transforms it into a sumptuous period piece showing the struggles of the aristocracy in 19th-century Sicily, during tumultuous social upheavals as their way of life is crumbling around them.
Tom Shankland, who directs four of the eight episodes, had the courage to attempt his own version of what is one of the most popular films in Italian history. The 1963 movie "The Leopard," directed by Luchino Visconti, starring Burt Lancaster, Alain Delon and Claudia Cardinale, won the Palme d'Or in Cannes.
One Italian critic said that it would be the equivalent of a director in the United States taking "Gone with the Wind" and turning it into a series, but Shankland wasn't the least bit intimidated.
He said that he didn't think of anything other than his own passion for the project, which grew out of his love of the book. His father was a university professor of Italian literature in England, and as a child, he loved the book and traveling to Sicily with his family.
The book tells the story of Don Fabrizio Corbera, the Prince of Salina, a tall, handsome, wealthy aristocrat who owns palaces and land across Sicily.
His comfortable world is shaken with the invasion of Sicily in 1860 by Giuseppe Garibaldi, who was to overthrow the Bourbon king in Naples and bring about the Unification of Italy.
The prince's family leads an opulent life in their magnificent palaces with servants and peasants kowtowing to their every need. They spend their time at opulent banquets and lavish balls with their fellow aristocrats.
Shankland has made the series into a visual feast with tables heaped with food, elaborate gardens and sensuous costumes.... Read More