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International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) has unveiled its “Cinema Regained” program for 2025, featuring 43 restored classics, documentaries, and film heritage explorations. The strand includes both contemporary works and pre-1970 restorations.

Key premieres include Mousso Fariman — the first film from Burkinabé director Drissa Touré (Haramuya) in 30 years, co-directed with Stéphane Mbanga — and The Lilac Wind of Paradjanov, a tribute to the late, legendary Soviet filmmaker Sergei Parajanov, from director Ali Khamraev. The film will screen in Rotterdam 38 years after Parajanov and co-director Dodo Abashidze’s The Legend of Suram Fortress premiered at IFFR in 1987, winning the prize for best innovative film.

The Cinema Regained program will also show a restored version of José Álvaro Morais’s The Jester, which was first screened at IFFR in 1988.

Other highlights include Lee Taewoong’s Korean Dream: The Nama-jinheung Mixtape, examining Korean Cold War history through archival footage; Khavn’s AI-driven Bomba Bernal, which pays homage...

French actress Christine Boisson, who got her big-screen break as a 17-year-old in Emmanuelle, has died at the age of 68 in Paris.

Boisson had just left school and was still a minor when Just Jaeckin cast her in his 1974 erotic classic as the sexually adventurous teenager Marie-Ange, who introduces Emmanuelle (Sylvia Kristel) to the shady libertine figure of Mario.

After being cast in a handful of smaller roles purely on the basis of her physique, Boisson decided to go back to school and studied acting at France’s prestigious Conservatoire.

On completing the three-year course, she refused to take on roles where the principal consideration for the casting was her physique.

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Over the course of her 40-year career, Boisson ratcheted up more than 50 film credits including Michelangelo Antonioni’s Identification of a Woman (1984), Daniel Schmid’s Jenatsch (1987), Jacques Bral’s Exterior, Night, Yves Boisset’s Radio Rave...

Above: Official poster by Yves Tinguely for the 12th New York Film Festival in 1974.The twelfth edition of the New York Film Festival, which took place 50 years ago this week, in September 1974, could have been convincingly called the New York European Film Festival. Out of the seventeen new feature films playing, all but two were European: seven French, three German, two Italian, two Swiss, and one British. Though festival director Richard Roud wrote in the program that “one of the most exciting developments in world cinema these past two years has been the re-emergence of the American film,” there was in fact only one American film in the main lineup (the world premiere of John Cassavetes’s A Woman Under the Influence) though there was also a program of four American shorts by Mirra Bank, Martha Coolidge, William Greaves, and an exciting upstart named Martin Scorsese. There was just one...

French actress Emmanuelle Béart and Belgian-Congolese director/songwriter Baloji will co-preside over the Caméra d’Or jury of the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.

The Caméra d’Or is awarded to the best first feature film in Cannes’ Official Selection, or in the parallel Critics Week or Directors’ Fortnight sections.

Béart’s long list of credits include 8 Women (2002), Mission: Impossible (1996), Nelly & Monsieur Arnaud (1995), Heart In Winter (1992), La Belle Noiseuse (1991) and Manon Des Sources (1986).

Baloji won the New Voice Prize in Un Certain Regard last year for his debut feature Omen.

This year’s Caméra d’Or jury includes director of photography Gilles Porte,...

Belgian rapper and filmmaker Baloji and French film actress Emmanuelle Béart have been announced as co-presidents of the Cannes Film Festival’s Caméra d’Or jury for the upcoming 77th edition, running from May 14 to 25.

The award for the best first film is open to all the debut feature films presented in Official Selection and the parallel sections of Directors’ Fortnight and Critics’ Week.

The Caméra d’Or Jury has been co-chaired three times before: by actress Françoise Fabian and director Daniel Schmid in 1996, by Marthe Keller and Géraldine Chaplin in 2002, and by brothers Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne in 2006.

Announcing the pair today, the festival described Baloji and Béart as “free spirits with no limits, who rely on their art to achieve creative freedom.” Baloji is best known for his directorial debut Omen, which debuted at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, where it picked up the New Voice Prize in Un Certain Regard.

You can approach old classics just like new films, argued participants during Locarno’s Heritage Monday panel.

“I talked to an exhibitor in Paris and they don’t consider repertory cinema to be different from contemporary cinema. They are collapsing both models into one and it’s very interesting,” said K.J. Relth-Miller of the Academy Museum.

Swiss Film Archive director Frédéric Maire noted that they also mix “fresh” films with older titles. “This idea of separating them can be useful for communication, but we try to avoid it. Yesterday, I was watching [Daniel Schmid’s 1974 film] ‘La Paloma’ [at the festival] and it felt modern and new. I don’t want to make these distinctions in terms of cultural perspective,” he said.

Such an approach can be beneficial also when it comes to raising audience’s awareness, argued Film Movement’s Erin Farrell.

“When we talk about ‘heritage films’ in the same breath as our new releases,...

Do Not Expect Too Much Of The End Of The World (Radu Jude).The lineup for the 76th edition of the festival has been announced, including new films by Eduardo Williams, Leonor Teles, Lav Diaz, Radu Jude, and others.Concorso INTERNAZIONALEAnimal (Sofia Exarchou)Critical Zone (Ali Ahmadzadeh)Essential Truths of the Lake (Lav Diaz)Home (Leonor Teles)The Human Surge 3 (Eduardo Williams)The Invisible Fight (Rainer Sarnet)Do Not Expect Too Much Of The End Of The World (Radu Jude)Lousy Carter (Bob Byington)Manga D’Terra (Basil Da Cunha)Nuit Obscure – Au Revoir Ici, N’Importe Où (Sylvain George)Patagonia (Simone Bozzelli)The Permanent Picture (Laura Ferrés)Rossosperanza (Annarita Zambrano)Stepne (Maryna Vroda)Sweet Dreams (Ena Sendijarević)The Vanishing Soldier (Dani Rosenberg)Yannick (Quentin Dupieux)Excursion (Una Gunjak).Concorso Cineasti Del PRESENTECamping du Lac (Eléonore Saintagnan)Ein Schöner Ort (Katharina Huber)Excursion (Una Gunjak)Family Portrait (Lucy Kerr)Dreaming...

A stellar precursor to the busy fall film festival season, Locarno Film Festival annually premieres some of the year’s most exciting cinema and 2023 looks to be no different. Taking place from August 2-12 in the Swiss town, the festival has now unveiled its lineup for the 76th edition. Highlights include Eduardo Williams’ The Human Surge 3 (brilliantly forgoing a second film), Radu Jude’s Do Not Expect Too Much Of The End Of The World, Lav Diaz’s Essential Truths of the Lake, Sylvain George’s Nuit Obscure – Au Revoir Ici, N’Importe Où, and Quentin Dupieux’s Yannick.

Speaking to its main section, Giona A. Nazzaro, artistic director of the Locarno Film Festival, said, “From Quentin Dupieux and his edgy surrealism to Lav Diaz. From the sarcastic humor of Radu Jude to the night poetry of Sylvain Georges. From the mad inventions of Rainer Sarnet to the abstract psychedelia of Eduardo Williams.

UK star Riz Ahmed will be feted with a career achievement award at the upcoming 76th edition of the Locarno Film Festival, running August 2 and 12.

The Sound Of Metal actor will be presented with the Excellence Award Davide Campari at the opening night ceremony on the festival’s landmark Piazza Grande open-air cinema.

The ceremony will premiere Yann Mounir Demange’s semi-autobiographical short film Dammi, in which Ahmed participated alongside Isabelle Adjani, Souheila Yacoub, Sandor Funtek and Suzy Bemba.

The tribute will also screen Bassam Tariq’s 2020 rapper drama Mughal Mowgli, which Ahmed starred in and also produced and co-wrote, as part of it program.

Locarno announced the tribute during its announcement on Wednesday of its full 2023 line-up.

French directorial duo Fiona Gordon and Dominique Abel’s The Falling Star will open the festival as part of the Piazza Grande program, which also features Justine Triet’s 2023 Cannes d’Or Winner Anatomy of a Fall,...

The Locarno International Film Festival unveiled the full program for 2023 on Wednesday, with dozens of world premieres set to screen in the 76th edition of the Swiss festival.

Locarno’s main Piazza Grande section will include several of this season’s festival favorites, among them Cannes Palme d’Or winner Anatomy of a Fall from French director Justine Triet starring Sandra Hüller; Ken Loach’s latest (and possibly last) feature, The Old Oak; Noora Niasari’s Sundance audience award winner Shayda, featuring Holy Spider star Zar Amir Ebrahimi; and Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman’s comedy Theater Camp, which won a special jury prize at Sundance. Other highlights include U.S. horror feature Falling Stars by directors Richard Karpala and Gabriel Bienczycki; Dammi from 71′ and White Boy Rick-helmer Yann Demange; and Magnetic Continent, the new nature documentary from March of the Penguins‘ filmmaker Luc Jacquet about the continent of Antarctica.

Medusa Deluxe (Thomas Hardiman).The lineup for the 75th-anniversary edition of the festival has been announced, including new films by Helena Wittmann, João Pedro Rodrígues, Aleksandr Sokurov and others, alongside retrospectives, tributes, and much more.Piazza GRANDEAlles über Martin Suter. Ausser die Wahrheit. (Everything About Martin Suter. Everything but the Truth.) (André Schäfer)Annie Colère (Blandine Lenoir)Bullet Train (David Leitch)Compartiment tueurs (The Sleeping Car Murder) (Costa-Gavras)Delta (Michele Vannucci)Home of the Brave (Laurie Anderson)Imitation of Life (Douglas Sirk)Last Dance (Delphine Lehericey)Medusa Deluxe (Thomas Hardiman)My Neighbor Adolf (Leon Prudovsky)Paradise Highway (Anna Gutto)Piano Piano (Nicola Prosatore)Printed Rainbow (Gitanjali Rao)Semret (Caterina Mona)Une femme de notre temps (Jean Paul Civeyrac)Vous n'aurez pas ma haine (You Will Not Have My Hate) (Kilian Riedhof)Where the Crawdads Sing (Olivia Newman)Human Flowers of Flesh (Helena Wittmann).Concorso INTERNAZIONALEAriyippu (Declaration) (Mahesh Narayanan)Balıqlara xütbə...

Swiss national film archive Cinémathèque Suisse is finishing up a new restoration of Hans Trommer and Valerien Schmidely’s 1941 romantic drama “Romeo und Julia auf dem Dorfe” (“Romeo and Julia in the Village”), considered one of Switzerland’s best films of all time.

It is one of a number of recent restorations carried out or made possible by the film archive, which recently opened its impressive new Research and Archive Center in Penthaz, equipped with a film digitization lab and a vast storage facility.

“Romeo and Julia in the Village” is particularly significant for the Cinémathèque Suisse. “It was totally unsuccessful when first released, but it is considered one of the best, if not the best Swiss film,” says Cinémathèque Suisse director Frédéric Maire. “We wanted to restore it for a long time but it was very difficult to find all the necessary elements because the original negative was recut...

A force on Europe’s film archive scene, the Cinémathèque Suisse is near to finishing a restoration of “The Written Face,” regarded as one of the best films by one of Switzerland’s most prominent filmmakers, Daniel Schmid.

News of the reissue comes as heritage becomes an ever more familiar part of the major festival landscape – as a promotion agency, the Cinémathèque Suisse is at Locarno with six titles, far more than any sales agent.

Switzerland, moreover, has been chosen as the Guest Country of the Lumière Festival’s 9th International Classic Film Market, running Oct.12-15; and, post Covid-19, audiences are warming to heritage fare, says Frédéric Maire, director of the Cinémathèque Suisse and president of the International Federation of Film Archives (Fiaf).

A close friend of Rainer Werner Fassbinder, who starred in his 1976 Cannes competition entry “Shadow of Angels,” Schmid was known for his tales of romantic obsession and scathing satires,...

Brücher piloted international promotions at Swiss Films and was a well-known figure on the festival and market circuit.

The Swiss and European film industry has paid tribute to film sales and marketing pioneer and veteran Francine Brücher, who died at the age of 77 in Munich after a long illness on May 6.

With her calm manner and sympathetic smile, Brücher was a well-known and much-liked figure on the festival and market circuit. She was best known in the latter part of her career for her work at Switzerland’s national cinema promotional body Swiss Films.

During her time at the agency...

Above: French poster for A Grin Without a Cat.Starting today, the Metrograph in New York will be launching an extensive series celebrating the 40th anniversary of one of the most dedicated, unsung heroes of U.S. film distribution: Icarus Films. Founded in 1978 by filmmaker Ilan Ziv and sold two years later (in exchange for a video camera) to Jonathan Miller who has run the company ever since, Icarus has become one of the leading repositories for aesthetically challenging, politically engaged documentary cinema. The two-week long series contains 56 films by some of the most important names in documentary film: Chantal Akerman, Jean Rouch, Peter Watkins, Chris Marker, Marcel Ophuls and Wang Bing, to name just a few.Finding posters for a lot of these films was not easy. Many of the titles were never really theatrical material (they range in length from 44 minutes to 345) and so a theatrical poster would...

We're very excited that Lola, one of our favorite film journals, has started to roll out its 5th issue entitled "Shows." The pieces published so far include Joe McElhaney on German filmmakers in Hollywood, Lesley Stern on the "Ghostliness of Gesture", and Dorian Stuber & Marianne Tettlebaum on To Be or Not to Be. Still to come: "essays on Claire Denis, Eduardo Coutinho, anime, Blade Runner, the filmic object, film criticism, and more ... plus a special interview with James Benning." The Museum of the Moving Image's "First Look" lineup has been announced and includes new films by Ulrich Seidl, Ken Jacobs, and Gina Telaroli. The series will be running between January 9th and 18th. For Criterion, Farren Smith Nehme writes on Frank Capra's It Happened One Night:

"An ideal romantic comedy doesn’t ignore reality; it converses with it. The Depression may be softened by moonlight and shining eyes,...

Toh! has scored a trailer exclusive to the 30th anniversary restoration of Daniel Schmid’s classic music documentary “Tosca’s Kiss,” which centers on the lives and passions of a group of retired opera singers living in the Casa Verdi home in Milan. The re-release is being presented by Dustin Hoffman. The doc holds a special place in Hoffman’s heart; his 2012 narrative film and directorial debut, “Quartet,” was inspired by the real-life characters in the Casa Verdi.Here’s some more background on the founder of the unique retirement home, Giuseppe Verdi, and Swiss director Schmid:Described by composer Giuseppe Verdi as his “finest work,” the Casa Verdi, the world’s first home for retired opera musicians, was founded in 1896 and still stands today on the Piazza Buonarotti in Milan, Italy. In Tosca's Kiss, the Swiss director Daniel Schmid (1941-2006), a friend and colleague of German filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder...

Following the announcement that came earlier this week, launching yet another hugely impressive line-up at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival, the respective line-up has now been announced for what is in some ways its European counterpart, the 2013 Venice Film Festival.

The announcement shows that the two will continue to have a number of films overlapping, including Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity (the Opening Night Film in Venice), Peter Landesman’s Parkland, Stephen Frears’ Philomena, and more. But it also brings with its news of where a number of films will be making their debut, including Terry Gilliam’s The Zero Theorem; the latest film from Hayao Miyazaki, The Wind Rises; James Franco’s Child of God; Lee Sang-il’s Yurusarezaru Mono, the Japanese remake of Unforgiven; and Steven Knight’s Locke, led by Tom Hardy, and shot in one take.

In Competition

Es-Stouh – Merzak Alloucache (Algeria, France, 94’) L’Intrepido – Gianni Amelio (Italy,...

Italian actress Claudia Cardinale to be guest host for the section at the 70th Venice International Film Festival where William Friedkin will receive a lifetime achievement honour.

Claudia Cardinale, best known for roles in Once Upon a Time in the West and Fellini’s 8 ½, is to be the guest host of Venezia Classici, the section devoted to restored films and to documentaries about cinema of the 70th Venice International Film Festival (August 28 – September 7.

The section, introduced last year, features a selection of classic film restorations completed over the past year by film libraries, cultural institutions or production companies around the world.

Cardinale will attend the screening of Vaghe stelle dell’Orsa, Luchino Visconti’s 1965 film in which she starred that won the Golden Lion at the 30th Viff and has been restored by Sony Pictures Entertainment.

It is is one of the four classics restored this year that has been conserved at the Historic Archives of the...

L to R: Werner Nievergeit, Amole Gupte, Kamal Musale

European Film Festival organized by Taj Enlighten Film Society was inaugurated at the Ncpa in Mumbai on Friday. Werner Nievergeit, Consulate General of Switzerland in Mumbai, Swiss-Indian filmmaker Kamal Musale and Indian filmmaker Amol Gupte were present at the opening ceremony of the festival.

Two short films by Kamal Musale: Les Trois Soldats (Three Soldiers) and Raclette Curry; and Two English Girls directed by François Truffaut were presented as the opening films of the festival.

The festival which will run through the month of June will focus on Switzerland. Documentaries and shorts of Kamal Musale and Daniel Schmid will be screened as part of the festival. The Swiss film package titled ‘Swiss Film 101’ will be complemented by 3 films by Jean-Luc Godard, the renowned French filmmaker who spent the later part of his career in Switzerland.

Werner Nievergeit, Consulate General of...

The city of dreams is set to host a month-long European Films Festival, where works of greats like French-Swiss director Jean-Luc Godard and Swiss master Daniel Schmid will be showcased. The event starting Friday is curated by Taj Enlighten Film Society and supported by the Consulate of Switzerland. 'The exhibition of masters like Godard to an Indian audience places these works out of their 'Art House' comfort zone and instead engages with a cinema of experienced time,' Pranav Ashar, chairman, Taj Enlighten, said in a statement. 'Bed & Board', 'Army of Shadows', 'Le Petit Soldat', 'Oh Woe is Me' and 'Shoot The Piano Player', among others, will be showcased at the festival which will go on till June 26. Bollywood filmmaker Amole Gupte, who will inaugurate the festival, said: 'European films stand for the superior-most quality, both in terms of both narrative as well as detailing.

Still from Soul Kitchen

Taj Enlighten Film Society, supported by the Consulate of Switzerland will organise an European Film Festival in Mumbai in June .

The selection will include a retrospective of Jean-Luc Godard and a Swiss film package.

The festival will be inaugurated by Swiss-Indian filmmaker Kamal Musale and Indian filmmaker Amole Gupte. There will also be a workshop on documentary filmmaking by Kamal Musale.

The screenings will be held across five venues in Mumbai: National Centre for Performing Arts, Cinemax Versova, Metro Big Cinemas, World Media College and Mumbai Times Cafe.

The schedule for the festival:

Ncpa

3rd June, 2011, 6.30 Pm -Inauguration by Kamal Musale and Amole Gupte

Screening: 2 short films by Kamal Musale: Three Soldiers (1987) and Raclette Curry (1999)

Screening: Two English Girls (Francois Truffaut, 1971)

24th June, 2011-6.30 Pm- Bed&Board (Francois Truffaut, 1970)

Cinemax Versova

5th June-12 Pm– Army of Shadows (Jean Pierre Melville, 1969)

12th June- 12 Pm-Le Petit Soldat (Jean-Luc Godard,...

• Bill Stamets and Roger Ebert

The 46th Chicago International Film Festival will play this year at one central location, on the many screens of the AMC River East 21, 322 E. Illinois. A festivalgoers and filmmakers' lounge will be open during festival hours at the Lucky Strike on the second level. Tickets can be ordered online at Ciff's website, which also organizes the films by title, director and country. Tickets also at AMC; sold out films have Rush Lines. More capsules will be added here.

"127 Hours" (USA)A tour de force by James Franco and Danny Boyle ("Slumdog Millionaire"). Many are familiar with the true story, and just as many probably thought it could never be filmed. Boyle succeeds. A climber named Aron Ralston went climbing by himself in remote canyons, and was trapped deep in a crevice when a falling rock pinned his arm. He had limited food and water, no...

The 46th Chicago International Film Festival is coming, and The Scorecard Review will be there will exclusive interviews, movie reviews and red carpet events beginning October 7, 2010.

Here is the news release on the documentaries at this year’s festival.

Chicago, September 7, 2010 – As documentary films gain ever-increasing recognition in theaters around the world, the 46th Chicago International Film Festival announces the 2010 lineup of its Docufest documentary program and new series for true movie buffs, “Film on Film.” Sponsored by DePaul University, Docufest and the Film on Film program feature four world premieres, one international premiere, two North American premieres and two USA premieres.

Special guests attending this year range from award-winning filmmakers Alex Gibney and Lucy Walker to debuting directors making bold first impressions and even troupes of circus performers, slam poets, and a “minuteman” border guard. Twelve countries are represented across these 17 films. The Docufest competition jury includes the winner...

The Vancouver International Film Festival is my baby. In its 29th year, this is the event I look forward to every year. The lists I've kept through the year come out and I eagerly look through the list of titles in search of those little gems and every year Viff responds with a huge assortment of titles. This year's festival is no different.

Some of the titles we're most eagerly anticipating include Tsumetai Nettaigyo’s Cold Fish (trailer), Gareth Edwards’ Monsters (trailer, review), Jo Sung-Hee’s apocalyptic road movie End of Animal, Carl Bessai’s Repeaters (trailer) and Xavier Dolan's Heartbeats (trailer, review).

There's loads more so be sure to check the titles (so far) after the break. Many more to be announced in the coming days.

Canadian Images

Altitude (Kaare Andrews), B.C.

View trailer

A weekend getaway aboard a small plane turns deadly for a rookie pilot and four teenage friends.

With the kickoff of the 37th Telluride Film Festival, so begins the 2010 Awards Season. Of special note are the special sneak previews of The King’S Speech starring Oscar hopeful Colin Firth, Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan via the Venice Film Festival and Danny Boyle’s 127 Hours. Also on the schedule are Mike Leigh’s Another Year, Mark Romanek’s Never Let Me Go with Andrew Garfield, Carey Mulligan and Keira Knightley, and Peter Weir’s The Way Back starring Colin Farrell, Mark Strong, and Ed Harris. Many of the films listed below will continue onto the Toronto International Film Festival which runs September 9-19. So fellow Awards Watchers…let the games begin.

Press Release:

37th Telluride Film Festival Announces 2010 Festival Lineup Twenty-four new feature films to preview in Festival’s main program, the “Show” Claudia Cardinale, Colin Firth and Peter Weir to receive Silver Medallion Awards Special revival programs...

The line-up for the 2010 Telluride Film Festival has been announced and there are some exciting inclusions. If I were attending Telluride, the two films at the top of my must-see list would be Errol Morris’ new documentary Tabloid which is about former-Miss Wyoming/convicted rapist/dog-cloning advocate Joyce McKinney, and Peter Weir’s war film The Way Back, which is the director’s first film since 2003’s Master and Commander.

The line-up also includes other films that are making the festival rounds including Mark Romanek’s Never Let Me Go, the financial-collapse documentary Inside Job, Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Biutiful, Sylvain Chomet’s The Illusionist, Mike Leigh’s Another Year, and Stephen Frears’ Tamara Drewe. Hit the jump to check out the full line-up. The Telluride Film Festival runs from September 3 – 6th.

Here’s the full line-up (via Telluride’s official website):

The “Show”

“A Letter to Elia,...

With Berlinale wrapped, let's take one last looksie at random celebs working the premieres and photo ops. Part of our irregular red carpet lineup tradition. And then the awardage.

From left to right: I didn't know what Michael Winterbottom looked like, so I've included him here. He's a boyish 48. I think his career is pretty fascinating because it covers so much global ground and differing genre terrain. He's so prolific while still making intelligent films. I'm impatient so prolific works for me. That said, his new noir The Killer Inside Me might be one I'll have to skip. If festival types are so horrified by the violence I'm sure it's more than I can take.

Julianne Moore looking foxy on her way to fifty. She's gone a bit goth here with smoky eyes, black dress and black fingernails. More on her in a bit.

Two-time Oscar nominee Isabelle Adjani, who hasn't been working much,...

What do Central Station (1998), The Thin Red Line (1999) and Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia (2000) all have in common? They were awarded the top honor at the Berlin Film Festival and you can add Honey, the final leg in Semih Kaplanoglu's trilogy which commenced with Egg and last year's Milk, to that grouping. - What do Central Station (1998), The Thin Red Line (1999) and Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia (2000) all have in common? They were awarded the top honor at the Berlin Film Festival and you can add Honey, the final leg in Semih Kaplanoglu's trilogy which commenced with Egg and last year's Milk, to that grouping. Florin Serban's If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle, which won Alfred Bauer Prize, also claimed 2nd place prize in the Silver Bear - The Jury Grand Prize - thus continuing the wave of film festival winning Romanian cinema.

ROME -- Taiwanese filmmaker Hou Hsiao-hsien will be awarded the Leopard of Honor lifetime achievement prize during this summer's Locarno International Film Festival.

Hou has been nominated for six Palme d'Or prizes in Cannes, taking home a special jury award for "Hsimeng Jensheng" (In the Hands of a Puppet Master) in 1993. He also won Venice's Golden Lion for "Beiqing Chengshi" (A City of Sadness) in 1989.

Hou's current project is "The Red Balloon", set in Paris and starring Juliette Binoche.

The award will be one of the highlights of the 60th edition of the Locarno event, which has in the past similarly honored Bernardo Bertolucci, Joe Dante, Daniel Schmid, Ken Loach, Ermanno Olmi, Terry Gilliam, Wim Wenders and Alexander Sokurov.

LOCARNO, Switzerland -- The Locarno International Film Festival paused Sunday to mourn the death of Swiss director Daniel Schmid, who succumbed to cancer earlier in the day. He was 64. Schmid, one of a small handful of Swiss directors with an international reputation, had been a regular at the Locarno fest, where he was given the Leopard of Honor award in 1999. He was best known for his 1984 documentary Il Bacio di Tosca (Tosca's Kiss) and Schatten der Engel (Shadow of Angels), which screened in competition at the Festival de Cannes in 1976. "This is a sad day; Switzerland lost one of its most important and talented directors," said Locarno artistic director Frederic Maire, who paused the evening's screenings at the festival's Piazza Grande to pay respects to Schmid.

COLOGNE, Germany -- Tom Tykwer's Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, picked up €600,000 ($726,000) in production financing from European film funding body Euroimages, the group announced Thursday. The adaptation of Patrick Sueskind's best-selling novel, which stars Dustin Hoffman, Alan Rickman and Ben Whishaw, will start filming this summer in France and Germany. Euroimages, which backs European co-productions, also ponied up €500,000 ($605,000) for Du Levande, the upcoming feature from Swedish helmer Roy Andersson (Songs from the Second Floor); €480,000 ($581,000) for Gene Astaire from Belgium director Alain Berliner; €450,000 ($545,000) for Chamelle from director Marion Haensel (Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea); and €450,000 for Portovero from Swiss filmmaker Daniel Schmid (The Last Days of Switzerland).