Venice Film Festival

The 64th edition of the Venice Film Festival, which by the way is the oldest film festival of the world, kicked off on Wednesday with an opening movie called "Atonement". Cinema fans, film critics, actors and directors have arrived at the opening ceremony of the 64th Venice film festival, turning the event into a movie carnival. The event will go on until September 8th. The festival is famous for red carpet glamour and late night parties on the canals of Venice.

At this year's opening ceremony of the Venice Film Festival, hundreds of movie fans waited and screamed, just for a glimpse of their favorite stars. The festival has been a highlight of the city's culture for 75 years. Although it's the 64th anniversary of the festival, it is the 75th anniversary of the first event, wich took place in the lawn of the Lido's nearby Hotel Excelsior in 1932, and presenters used the occasion to look back at the past three quarters of a century.

Opening the 11-day festival was "Atonement", the screen adaptation of Ian McEwan's best-selling novel. Most of the cast of 'Atonement', including Keira Knightley and James McAvoy, were present during the screening.

Two-time Golden Lion-winning Chinese director Zhang Yimou chairs the seven-member jury this year. The other members of the main jury --Catherine Breillat (France), Jane Campion (New Zealand), Paul Verhoeven (Dutch), Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (Mexico), Ferzan Ozpetek (Turkish) and Emanuele Crialese (Italy) -- were introduced to the crowd in the packed Palazzo along with the members of the juries for the main two sidebars.

The annual festival is considered to be both a key showcase of art house cinema and an early marker for the Oscars in February. Ang Lee's "Brokeback Mountain" won the Golden Lion for best film in 2005, and went on to garner eight Oscar nominations. A long list of stars expected to attend this year will be hoping to generate a similar early buzz.

Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films Starts This Thursday

The 2007 Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films & Short Film Market (ShortFest) will be held at the Camelot Theatres in Palm Springs, CA. The Festival , now in its 13th years, has announced its roster of 332 films, selected from more than 2,500 worldwide entries.

This year's opening night screening will be highlighted by award-winning live-action and animated films including Contact/Raak (Netherlands), Everything Will Be OK (USA), Fair Trade (Germany/Morocco), Tanghi Argentini (Belgium), Love and War (Sweden) and The Pearce Sisters (UK).

There will be a number of films featuring familiar faces in front of and behind the camera. This includes Jennifer Aniston directing Room 10 (USA) starring Robin Wright Penn and Kris Kristofferson; Palm Springs International Film Festival Rising Star recipient Bryce Dallas Howard marking her directorial debut with Orchids (USA) starring Alfred Molina and Katherine Waterson (Sam Waterson's daughter); James Gandolfini, Louis Gossett, Jr., Joe Mantegna and Steven R. McQueen (Steve McQueen's son) in Club Soda (USA); Patrick Stewart and Joanna Lumley in The Audition (UK); Hugo Weaving narrating The Girl Who Swallowed Bees (Australia) starring Pia Miranda; Ron Livingston in Life Happens (USA); Margaret Cho and Jane Lynch in Love is Love (USA); David Morse in A.W.O.L. (USA); Ron Silver and JoBeth Williams in Call it Fiction (USA); Wendie Malick in Waiting For Yvette (USA); Richard E. Grant in Always Crashing in the Same Car (UK); John Hannah in Stone (UK); and Ruta Lee and Steve Rossi in Sadie and the Slot Machines (USA).

The Festival will showcase 54 World Premieres, 12 North American Premieres and 20 U.S. Premieres. The selection of films for screening and competition features star-studded casts as well as award-winning films from 50 countries around the world.

All selections are structured into 50 themed programs covering a variety of topics including war stories, security issues, immigration, animation, crime, romance, sex, friendship, work, travel, horror, musicals, westerns, mothers, the Jewish experience, gay and lesbian lifestyles, and a special focus on films from the United Kingdom. For the first time this year there will be short films from Kenya, Russia, Croatia, Greece, Iran, Hungary and Poland.

Eighty-three of the films in the Festival line-up have won awards at major film events and competitions worldwide including Berlin, Sundance, Annecy, Clermont-Ferrand, Aspen, Tribeca, Los Angeles, Montreal Melbourne, Brussels, Rotterdam, Flanders, Chicago, USA, CineVegas and South by Southwest Film Festivals as well as the Toronto Worldwide Short Film Festival. Over the past eleven years, the Festival has presented 53 films that have gone on to receive Academy Award nominations.

For more details, visit http://www.psfilmfest.org/ for a complete list of this year's film programs. You may also call toll-free number (800) 778-8979.