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Lebanese director Cherri is also a celebrated artist whose work is currently showing at The National Gallery and Venice Biennale

Paris-based company Indie Sales has acquired world sales rights to Lebanese director and artist Ali Cherri’s first feature The Dam, ahead of its world premiere in Cannes Directors’ Fortnight (May 18-27).

As a first film, it is also a contender for the Caméra d’Or covering all the first films in Official Selection and the parallel sections of Directors’ Fortnight and Critics’ Week.

The drama is set against the backdrop of the 2018 Sudanese revolution, near the Merowe Dam in the north of the country.

The Cannes official competition lineup didn’t exactly see a surge in the number of female filmmakers represented. Enter Quinzaine, a.k.a. Director’s Fortnight, the beloved sidebar of the festival this year kicking off May 18. The lineup of titles includes 11 films directed by women, including Mia Hansen-Løve’s “One Fine Morning,” a romance starring Léa Seydoux and Melvil Poupaud; the new film from “Disorder” director Alice Winocour, “Paris Memories”; the feature directing debut of actor Charlotte Le Bon, “Falcon Lake”; and more.

This year’s lineup also includes new works from genre filmmakers: Alex Garland’s “Men,” releasing stateside May 20 from A24, will premiere as a Special Screening of the festival. Plus, there’s British director Mark Jenkin’s anticipated experimental horror film “Enys Men.” Paul Mescal stars in the psychological thriller “God’s Creatures,” directed by Saela Davis and Anna Rose Holmer, who directed the 2015 Venice hit “The Fits.

Following the main lineup, Quinzaine des Réalisateurs aka Directors’ Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival has unveiled their 2022 slate. Featuring the already-announced opening film, Scarlet, from Martin Eden director Pietro Marcello, the lineup also includes Mia Hansen-Løve’s One Fine Morning, Alice Winocour’s Paris Memories, Mark Jenkin’s Bait follow-up Enys Men, Anna Rose Holmer & Saela Davis’ God’s Creatures, João Pedro Rodrigues’ Will-o’-the-Wisp, Véréna Paravel & Lucien Castaing-Taylor’s De Humani Corporis Fabrica, and Alex Garland’s Men, which will arrive in the U.S. soon after its Cannes premiere.

See the lineup below.

Scarlet by Pietro Marcello – Opening Film

1976 by Manuela Martelli

The Water by Elena López Riera

The Dam by Ali Cherri

The Super 8 Years by Annie Ernaux & David Ernaux-Briot

Ashkal by Youssef Chebbi

The Five Devils by Léa Mysius

De Humani Corporis Fabrica by Véréna Paravel & Lucien Castaing-Taylor

Continental Drift (South) by Lionel Baier

Enys...

Directors’ Fortnight, the sidebar running alongside the Cannes Film Festival, has unveiled a strong lineup for its 54th edition, which will be the last one for outgoing artistic director Paolo Moretti.

The sidebar has landed a pair of movies from A24, Alex Garland’s horror film “Men” with Jessie Buckley which will play in the Special Screening section, and “God’s Creatures,” a psychological thriller directed by Saela Davis and Anna Rose Holmer, the filmmaking duo who made their feature debut with the Sundance film “The Fits.” Set in an Irish fishing village, “God’s Creatures” stars Aisling Franciosi, Emily Watson and Paul Mescal. Other elevated genre films on the roster include British helmer Mark Jenkin’s anticipated “Enys Men.”

Directors’ Fortnight will showcase films by 11 female directors and eight feature debuts. By comparison, Cannes Film Festival’s competition currently has only three films helmed by women.

Several French female helmers who...

Alex Garland’s “Men,” Mia Hansen-Love’s “One Fine Morning” and Alice Winocour’s “Paris Memories” are among the films that will screen in the independent Directors Fortnight section at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, Directors Fortnight organizers announced at a press conference in Paris on Tuesday.

Garland, the director of “Ex Machina,” will be making his Cannes debut with “Men,” while Hansen-Love will be returning to a different section of the festival where she was in the main competition a year ago with “Bergman Island.”

Other films include Owen Kline’s “Funny Pages,” produced by the Safdie brothers. Of the 23 films announced on Tuesday, 11 have female directors.

Previously, Directors Fortnight announced that Pietro Marcello’s “L’envol” (“Scarlett”) would serve as the opening screening in the section.

Directors Fortnight is an independent section that runs concurrent with the main Cannes Film Festival. It was launched in 1969 on the heels of the...

Cannes Directors’ Fortnight has unveiled its line-up for 2022. Scroll down to see the full list.

The selection include Alex Garland’s Cannes debut Men, the Jessie Buckley-starring movie from the surreal sci-fi master. The film will play as a Special Screening in Cannes before A24 releases in the U.S. in May.

Opening the selection will be Pietro Marcello’s Scarlet, and closing will be The Green Perfume by Nicolas Pariser.

Prominent French director Mia Hansen-Løve is back with One Fine Morning, starring Lea Seydoux, and Proxima filmmaker Alice Winocour will show her new pic Paris Memories.

Also on the list is the Paul Mescal and Emily Watson starring God’s Creatures (a second A24 title), and Mark Jenkin’s follow-up to his indie UK breakout Bait, the 1970s-set horror Enys Men.

Kelly Reichardt will receive this year’s Director’s Fortnight’s honorary Carrosse d’Or honor and will...

The parallel section unveiled 23 titles on Tuesday, with a 24th selection to follow in the coming days.

UK director Alex Garland’s horror film Men and French filmmaker Mia Hansen-Løve’s romantic drama One Fine Morning are among the 24 features due to world premiere in the 54th Cannes Directors’ Fortnight, running May 18-27.

The non-competitive Cannes parallel section, run by French directors guild the Société des Réalisateurs (Srf), unveiled 23 of the selected titles at a news conference at the Forum cultural centre in central Paris on Tuesday morning. A final selected film will be revealed in the coming days along with the short film line-up.

After the worldwide recognition and Academy Award selection in 2011, DAM999, the debut direction venture of Sohan Roy, now enjoys the double pleasure of being selected to Golden Rooster Awards, which is mostly referred to as China's Academy Awards. DAM999 is the very first film from India to be qualified for this prestigious award.DAM999, the most controversial movie of the year 2011, with 5 Oscar selections under the categories of 'Best Picture, 'Original Score' and 'Original Read More...

After the worldwide recognition and Academy Award selection in 2011, DAM999, the debut direction venture of Sohan Roy, now enjoys the double pleasure of being selected to Golden Rooster Awards, which is mostly referred to as China's Academy Awards. DAM999 is the very first film from India to be qualified for this prestigious award.DAM999, the most controversial movie of the year 2011, with 5 Oscar selections under the categories of 'Best Picture, 'Original Score' and 'Original...

Kochi, April 11: 'DAM999', a controversial movie released last year, has bagged two honorary awards at the Global Music Awards (Gma) held in California.

Gma has bestowed the Award of Excellence for the movie's soundtrack and Award of Merit for original score to the film, directed by Sohan Roy.

Roy's 'Dam 999', a $10 million film, tells the tale of a cracking dam built during colonial rule and nine people whose lives revolve around the the pressure-mounted dam.

Kerala-born marine engineer-turned-film director, Roy's movie was last year selected for the 2011 Oscar race in three categories - original.

DAM999 a controversial movie released last year, has bagged two honorary awards at the Global Music Awards (Gma) held in California.Gma has bestowed the Award of Excellence for the movie.s soundtrack and Award of Merit for original score to the film, directed by Sohan Roy.Roy.s Dam 999, a $10 million film, tells the tale of a cracking dam built during colonial rule and nine people whose lives revolve around the the pressure-mounted dam.Kerala-born marine engineer-turned-film director, Roy.s movie was last year selected for the 2011 Oscar race in three categories - original song, original score and best picture, but failed to secure a place in the final nomination list.The Gma honours talented musicians from around the world.

India’s aspiration for the Oscars 2012 came to an end today with Sohan Roy’s Dam999 not making it to the nominations for the 84th Academy awards. Three songs from the film were long-listed for the Original Song category.

Salim Ahamed’s Adaminte Makan Abu, India’s official entry to the Oscars hadn’t made it to the shortlist in the Foreign language category announced last week.

In the Best Film Category, nine films including The Artist, Tree of Life and Hugo were nominated.

Complete list of nominations:

Best picture

War Horse

The Artist

Moneyball

The Descendants

The Tree of Life

Midnight in Paris

The Help

Hugo

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Best director

Michel Hazavanicius, The Artist

Alexander Payne, The Descendants

Martin Scorsese, Hugo

Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris

Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life

Best actor in a leading role

Demián Bichir, A Better Life

George Clooney, The Descendants

Jean Dujardin,...

A.R. Rahman has said he hopes Sohan Roy's Dam 999 will win an Oscar at the 84th Academy Awards. The film has been nominated in the longlists for the 'Best Film' and 'Best Original Song' categories. Speaking to Ians at the music launch of Ek Deewana Tha, Rahman - who won two Oscars for his work in Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire - told reporters: "It's very exciting and I want someone to join my league. I hope one of the songs wins the Oscar trophy." DAM999 (more)...

Of the 265 films eligible [1] for Oscars at the 84th Annual Academy Awards in February, 97 of them have been deemed worthy to be nominated for Best Original Score. Thomas Newman (The Adjustment Bureau, The Debt, The Help, The Iron Lady) and Michael Giacchino (Cars 2, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, Monte Carlo, Super 8) lead all eligible composers with four films this year while Alexandre Desplat (Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, The Ides of March), Tyler Bates (Conan the Barbarian, The Darkest Hour, The Way), Mark Isham (The Conspirator, Dolphin Tale, Warrior) and Henry Jackman (Puss in Boots, Winnie the Pooh, X-Men First Class) all have three. Other familiar names are on the list too such as John Williams (The Adventures of Tintin, War Horse), James Newton Howard (Green Lantern, Water for Elephants) and Danny Elfman (Real Steel, Restless) who along with Alberto Iglesias (The Skin I Live In,...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced that ninety-seven scores from eligible feature-length motion pictures are in contention for nominations in the Original Score category for the 84th Academy Awards®.

The eligible scores along with the composer are listed below in alphabetical order by film title:

“The Adjustment Bureau,” Thomas Newman, composer

“The Adventures of Tintin,” John Williams, composer

“African Cats,” Nicholas Hooper, composer

“Albert Nobbs,” Brian Byrne, composer

“Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked,” Mark Mothersbaugh, composer

“Anonymous,” Thomas Wander and Harald Kloser, composers

“Another Earth,” Phil Mossman and Will Bates, composers

“Answers to Nothing,” Craig Richey, composer

“Arthur Christmas,” Harry Gregson-Williams, composer

“The Artist,” Ludovic Bource, composer

“@urFRENZ,” Lisbeth Scott, composer

“Atlas Shrugged Part 1,” Elia Cmiral, composer

“Battle: Los Angeles,” Brian Tyler, composer

“Beastly,” Marcelo Zarvos, composer

“The Big Year,” Theodore Shapiro, composer

“Captain America: The First Avenger,” Alan Silvestri, composer

“Cars 2,” Michael Giacchino, composer

“Cedar Rapids,...

I was actually beginning to believe Cliff Martinez's score for Drive may actually have a shot with all the love it has received in the precursor awards, but last night the Academy announced the list of 97 scores eligible for Best Original Score at the 2012 Oscars and, oops, what do you know, both Drive and Attack the Block didn't make the cut. The only other score I had on my current list of predictions for the category to not make the cut was Howard Shore's music for David Cronenberg's A Dangerous Method. Why? Well, I would assume somewhere inside there the rules for requirement weren't met. As per the Academy, "To be eligible, the original score must be a substantial body of music that serves as original dramatic underscoring, and must be written specifically for the motion picture by the submitting composer. Scores diluted by the use of...

Yesterday the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences released the 97 original film scores that will running for the final five nominations for the Best Original Score category at the upcoming 84h Academy Awards. Billy Crystal will be hosting the annual awards show, which be presented on February 26, 2012. Some how I am not surprised that Attack the Block got nixed, seeing that Tron: Legacy pretty much got the same treatment last year. Glad to see that Henry Jackman’s X-Men: First Class is getting a nod, and of course Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross had to be in it. Check out the full list below.

December 22, 2011

For Immediate Release

97 Original Scores in 2011 Oscar® Race

Beverly Hills, CA – Ninety-seven scores from eligible feature-length motion pictures are in contention for nominations in the Original Score category for the 84th Academy Awards®, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced today.

The...

The Academy has studied their byzantine rules and determined that 97 original scores are in the running for the Oscars this year. Leading the pack among the contenders are four scores by Thomas Newman (“The Adjustment Bureau,” “The Debt,” “The Help,” and “The Iron Lady”) and three composed by Alexandre Desplat (“Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close,” “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2” and “The Ides of March”). Since this pretty much includes everybody who penned a score that met the rules for nomination, there are quite a few surprises in the mix, such as “The Greatest Miracle,” a Mexican animated film that looks like it was created using a high-end Etch-a-Sketch and “DAM999,” which director Sohan Roy describes as “an emotional thriller” but seems like a Bollywood update of “Hard Rain.” All the big time Oscar contenders are on the...

Beverly Hills, CA – Ninety-seven scores from eligible feature-length motion pictures are in contention for nominations in the Original Score category for the 84th Academy Awards®, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced today. The eligible scores along with the composer are listed below in alphabetical order by film title: “The Adjustment Bureau,” Thomas Newman, composer “The Adventures of Tintin,” John Williams, composer “African Cats,” Nicholas Hooper, composer “Albert Nobbs,” Brian Byrne, composer “Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked,” Mark Mothersbaugh, composer “Anonymous,” Thomas Wander and Harald Kloser, composers “Another Earth,” Phil Mossman and Will Bates, composers “Answers to Nothing,” Craig Richey, composer “Arthur Christmas,” Harry Gregson-Williams, composer “The Artist,” Ludovic Bource, composer “@urFRENZ,” Lisbeth Scott, composer “Atlas Shrugged Part 1,” Elia Cmiral, composer “Battle: Los Angeles,” Brian Tyler, composer “Beastly,” Marcelo Zarvos, composer “The Big Year,” Theodore Shapiro, composer “Captain America: The First Avenger,” Alan Silvestri, composer “Cars 2,” Michael Giacchino,...

The recently released film Dam 999, has created buzz within the industry, after being shortlisted among the 265 films that made to the list for the 2012 Academy Awards. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced, 'Two hundred sixty-five feature films are eligible for the 2012 Academy Awards' and joining this list is the debut venture of Sohan Roy's Dam 999. If that wasn't enough, of the final 39 songs selected for the Academy's Original Songs category, three songs are credited to the movie Dam 999. The selected songs are 'Dam999-Theme Song', 'Dakkanaga Dugu Dugu' and 'Mujhe Chodke', whose lyrics have been penned by the debut director, Sohan Roy himself. The 84th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Tuesday, January 24, 2012; at 5:30 a.m. Watch 'Dam 999' promo:...

Three songs from the India-uae co-production Dam999 have made it to the long-list of nominations for the Original Song category for the 84th Academy Awards. The songs are: “Dakkanaga Dugu Dugu”, “DAM999 Theme Song” and “Mujhe Chodh Ke”.

Written and directed by Sohan Roy, the 3-D film was released in theatres on November 25, 2011 by Warner Bros.

Thirty-nine songs from eligible feature-length films are contesting for nominations in the Original Song category. To be eligible, a song must consist of words and music, both of which are original and written specifically for the film. A clearly audible, intelligible, substantive rendition of both lyric and melody must be used in the body of the film or as the first music cue in the end credits, as mentioned on the official website of Academy Awards.

On January 5, the Academy will screen clips featuring each song, in random order, for voting members of the Music Branch in Los Angeles.

Jesse Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway, George Lopez provide voices for tropical birds in Carlos Saldanha's Rio

Thirty-nine songs from eligible movies are in the running for nominations in the Academy Awards' Best Original Song category for the 2012 Oscars. Madonna's Golden Globe-nominated "Masterpiece" from W.E. isn't to be found on the longlist, but Elton John is on there for Gnomeo and Juliet's "Hello Hello." As usual, kiddie flicks dominate the list, with Rio, Happy Feet Two, Winnie the Pooh, Gnomeo & Juliet, and The Muppets featuring multiple contenders.

The original songs and their respective movies are listed below in alphabetical order by film and song title. Note that several of the songs are not in English, e.g., Sohan Roy's thriller DAM999 is in Hindi and Malayalam, the biographical documentary José and Pilar's "Já Não Estar" is in Portuguese, and "Coeur Volant," from Martin Scorsese's Hugo, is in French.

Kochi, Dec 6: Multilingual movie 'DAM999', the tale of a dam built during colonial rule cracking, has got a good rating from IMDb, the award winning movie website.

The $10-million film directed by Sohan Roy has received huge popularity on IMDb and is rated among the 5,000 best movies of the week worldwide at 737th, a press statement said.

At present, according to the IMDb ratings, Roy is the most popular Malayalam director of the week.

'DAMM999' was released end of last month in 550 theatres across the country and got a huge boost on account of the ongoing dispute between Kerala and Tamil Nadu over the leaking.

Movie Review: 'Dam999', Director: Sohan Roy; Actors: Ashish Vidyarthi, Joshua Fredric Smith, Rajit Kapur, Vinay Rai, Vimala Raman, Linda Arsenio; Rating: * - Politically incorrect and mediocre fare.

There are films that are bad and those that are terrible. The first can be tolerated, but the latter, need to be avoided like a disease. 'Dam 999', that upholds everything from superstition to Brahminical supremacy and racism, is one such film.

A rickety dam threatens millions of life even as a corrupt major ignores it. A young man who returns to his ayurvedic healer father to help cure his son, falls in love with his childhood.

Ashish Vidyarthi has done films in several languages and now the talented actor is all set for his first major English film DAM999, releasing on 25th November 2011. However Ashish calls it his second film in English. Says Ashish, "Actually DAM999 is my second English film. I did a film called Nightfall, based on Isaac Asimov life, which was directed by an American director. However it was a short film. So you can say DAM999 as my first major English film."...

The two time national award winner editor, Suresh Pai, who's done editing for numerous films like Snip, Page 3, Raghu Romeo, Jhankar Beats, Mixed Doubles, Bheja Fry, Mithya, Aladin et al, is eagerly looking forward at his first Hollywood film DAM999 releasing this Friday.Says Suresh, "Dam 999 is one relevant film. Nobody thinks about reservoirs and problems attached with it... Read More...

The two time national award winner editor, Suresh Pai, who's done editing for numerous films like Snip, Page 3, Raghu Romeo, Jhankar Beats, Mixed Doubles, Bheja Fry, Mithya, Aladin et al, is eagerly looking forward at his first Hollywood film DAM999 releasing this Friday.Says Suresh, "Dam 999 is one relevant film. Nobody thinks about reservoirs and problems attached with it. - the construction part, the maintenance part, etc. And presenting it in a film format is definitely on...

The movie Dam 999 is a film based on the Banqiao dam disaster, which happened in 1975 in China. The film is directed by Sohan Roy, and stars Ashish Vidyarthi, Rajit Kapur, Linda Arsenio and others.

Check out a synopsis of the film, the cast and crew, a trailer, and some working stills and movie stills of the film!

Synopsis:

A corrupt mayor builds a new dam for political gains and personal glory endangering millions of innocent lives; A mariner desperate to save his sister from evil; Two not-so-young lovers challenging destiny in a bid to unite; A woman on a mission to win her family back; A little boy battling a deadly disease; A devoted wife wants to be with her husband even in death; And the astrologer who has foreseen their ominous fate – Nine lives entwined by the impending disaster. Take the journey of a lifetime – Nine characters, Nine moods...

DAM999 – the forthcoming movie from BizTV Network and directed by Sohan Roy, is this year's officially selected movie screenplay to be placed in the racks of Academy's Library. The Library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences has added the screenplay of DAM999 as part of its Permanent Core Collection, which is accessible to students, film makers, writers, actors and others from the field of cinema, for the purpose of research. Though many movie screenplays from Read More...

DAM999 - the forthcoming movie from BizTV Network and directed by Sohan Roy, is this year's officially selected movie screenplay to be placed in the racks of Academy's Library. The Library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has added the screenplay of DAM999 as part of its Permanent Core Collection, which is accessible to students, film makers, writers, actors and others from the field of cinema, for the purpose of research. Though many movie screenplays from...

Kochi, Oct 28: 'DAM999', a film about the 1975 Banqiao dam disaster in China that killed around 250,000 people, will be screened at Laemmle Theatres in Los Angeles Oct 28-Nov 3 for the Academy Qualifying Run.

Produced by BizTV Network and directed by Keralite Sohan Roy, the film is slated for a nationwide 3D release in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and English Nov 25.

The multi-starrer international venture has an ensemble cast staring Rajit Kapur, Joshua Fredric Smith, Linda Arsenio, Jaala Pickering, Ashish Vidyarthi, Vinay Rai, Vimala Raman, Megha Burman, Gary Richardson and Jineet Rath.

'Dam 999' was made.

Warner Bros has picked up the theatrical distribution rights for the 3D drama DAM999, it's been announced today.

The "emotional thriller" tells the story of nine characters against the backdrop of a 100-year-old dam built by the British during their colonial days in India.

Inspired in part by China's Banqiao Dam disaster of 1975, in which 250,000 people died, the Indian production is scheduled for release in November.

A trailer will be shown in cinemas with this week's new release Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2.

DAM999 is also being dubbed into Hindi, Tamil and Telugu for various regions of India. An official poster and press statement are included here, along with the trailer.

Official description

This 3D movie is the first of its kind. It is an Indo-uae conceptual epic, produced by Biz TV Network, UAE and directed by award-winning filmmaker Sohan Roy.

It is an emotional thriller that speaks...

While most actors make headlines to promote their movies, Tulip Joshi is in the middle of a controversy without even having completed the film involved. A UAE (Dubai) based production house called Biz TV Network has allegedly sued the actor for absconding with part of her remuneration worth Rs 8.5 lakh without having completed the shoot for their film, DAM999. However, Joshi denies all claims. Says director Sohan Roy, “Tulip asked for half of the payment (Rs 7 lakh) before the film. We also paid her Rs 1.5 lakh as the instalment for the first schedule. She came and shot ...

Everyone is going 3D.  We see China working on a few, Japan has notoriously decided to go 3D with Battle Royale, and we all know that Hollywood can't seem to get enough.  It is about time a truly massive film industry got on the 3D train, like India's for example. 

India has been putting out word of several 3D productions in the last year or so, but none seem to be quite as far along as DAM999.  DAM999 is an India/Hollywood co-production with Indian and Western actors.  The film is based upon a tragic disaster in 1975 that took the lives of a quarter of a millions people.  No much footage is available yet, but it could be interesting.  I am a fan of disaster movies, and I really think that if there is anywhere this 3D film fad could be really fun, it is in this specific genre.  DAM999...