NewEnglandFilm.com

Academy Awards

Put on your Sunday best (literally, since it’s on Sunday) on March 7th, when the Ellie Fund hosts its annual Oscar Night gala at the Langham Boston (250 Franklin Street, Boston). The black tie event for guests 21 and over begins at 6:30 pm and includes red carpet arrivals hosted by Mix 104.1 and WCVB-TV5, food and drink, auctions, and the chance to pose with an Oscar statuette. Tickets are $175 before March 2nd, $225 after that, and proceeds benefit the Ellie Fund’s fight against breast cancer. Visit http://www.elliefund.org/Oscars2010 for more information.

Celebrate the Academy Awards at the Brattle Theatre’s Tenth Anniversary Oscar Party. The pre-awards party and fundraiser include hors d’oeuvres, open bar, silent auction, and a special guest, director James Ivory. The party is March 7th from 5:30 to 7:30 pm and requires a minimum donation of $75. Visit http://www.brattlefilm.org/brattlefilm/movie_detail/100307.html#a to RSVP. A members-only viewing of the Academy Awards ceremony will follow at 8:00 pm.

Red River Theatres in Concord, New Hampshire hosts its second annual Red Carpet Awards benefit on March 7th beginning at 6:00 pm. Tickets are $45 for Red River members, $50 general admission. Proceeds will go to community and educational programming at Red River Theatres. The event includes wine and champagne tastings, cash bar, hors d’oeuvres, desserts, and movie trivia before the Oscars viewing party at 8:00 pm. See http://www.redrivertheatres.org/redcarpetawards/ for more details.

There will be several native New Englanders in the Kodak Theatre on March 7 when the Academy Awards are presented. Nominees this year include Invictus Supporting Actor Matt Damon (Massachusetts), Up in the Air Supporting Actress Anna Kendrick (Maine), Precious Adapted Screenplay writer Geoffrey Fletcher (Connecticut), and Inglourious Basterds Cinematographer Robert Richardson (Massachusetts). Visit http://www.oscars.org/ for the full list of this year’s nominees.

This year’s Oscar Night® America in Providence, RI benefits Flickers/Rhode Island International Film Festival (RIIFF), which is dedicated to the advancement of understanding and cultural exchange among the peoples of Rhode Island and New England through the medium of film. The celebration in Providence is one of 51 official Oscar viewing parties in cities across the country and is the only official Oscar Night® America party in Rhode Island. The benefit event will be held in the historic VMA Arts & Cultural Center, 1 Avenue of the Arts in Providence. Arrivals and party begin at 6:30 pm. Tickets cost $55 and can be purchased at www.film-festival.org/OscarNightAmericaTKTS.php.

Happenings

The Camera Company’s 20th Annual Pro Video Show will take place on March 12 and 13 at The Dedham Holiday Inn where you can see the latest broadcast and pro video equipment from Sony, Panasonic, JVC, Canon and many more. For info, see their website.

Brattleboro, Vermont hosts the Women’s Film Festival 2010 this month. The festival opens March 5th with a screening of the Academy Award-nominated Precious, then continues March 12-21. Presented films include The Beaches of Agnes, The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls, Rough Aunties, and The Jazz Baroness. Visit http://www.womensfilmfestival.org/ for showtimes and ticket information.

The Maine Jewish Film Festival celebrates 13 years! The festival runs March 20-25 in Portland, and begins with an Opening Night Party at 6:00 pm on March 20th at Greenhut Galleries (146 Middle Street, Portland). Party tickets are $25. Movie tickets are $8 per show, $6 for students and adults over 65. Screenings include Ajami, The Debt, and Leaving the Fold. Check out http://www.mjff.org/schedule/index.html for more details.

Vinfen presents their 3rd Annual Moving Images Film Festival on March 27th at the Joseph B. Martin Conference Center at Harvard Medical School (77 Avenue Louis Pasteur, Boston). The festival will raise awareness by showcasing films by and about people with developmental and psychiatric disabilities, with discussions to follow. Sopranos actor Joe Pantoliano will present his documentary on depression, No Kidding, Me Too! Films Shooting Beauty and The Soloist will also be screened. The event is free and open to the public. Registration and refreshments begin at 10:30 am. Visit http://www.vinfen.org/news-events/film-festival/ for the schedule and more information.

How Numerous Were His Movies: The Harvard Film Archive continues its John Ford retrospective through March 29th. Films screened this month include The Grapes of Wrath, The Quiet Man, Stagecoach, and yes, How Green Was My Valley. Visit http://hcl.harvard.edu/hfa/films/2010janmar/ford.html for more information.

Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts screens Werner Herzog’s feature film My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done?, produced by David Lynch, March 18-20 and March 25-26. Tickets are $8 for members, seniors, and students, $10 general admission. Visit http://www.mfa.org/calendar/index.asp?keywords=Werner+Herzog&_submit.x=14&_submit.y=14&category=&collection=&cal_language=&week= for more details. In addition, this month the MFA features New Films from Québec and New Films from Spain from March 4-13. Visit http://www.mfa.org/calendar/sub.asp?key=12&subkey=1 for showtimes and ticket information.

Boston College celebrates student filmmaking at the 6th Annual Baldwin Awards on March 26th at 7:30 pm. The 14 categories presented include Best Picture of the Year, Viewers’ Choice Award, and Critics’ Choice Award. The red carpet ceremony and film festival are free and open to the public, first come, first served. Visit http://omc.bc.edu/baldwin/ for more details.

Boston’s Underground Film Festival is scheduled to run from March 25th to April 1st. Check http://bostonunderground.org/ for updates.

Industry Buzz

On the heels of Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick’s proposal to cut state film tax credits comes a UMass Boston study suggesting that the state has the potential to develop a successful film industry, reports the Boston Globe: http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2010/02/11/film_projection/. Read more about the film credits and the study in the article from this month’s NewEnglandFilm.com: Say Goodbye to Hollywood? Massachusetts Considers a Cap on Film Tax Credits. Also read about a similar issue in Rhode Island: Film Tax Credits Under Fire in the Ocean State.

The ABC Studios pilot Body of Evidence will film throughout Rhode Island this month. The procedural drama, written by Chris Murphey, focuses on a female medical examiner. Executive Director of the Rhode Island Film & TV Office Steven Feinberg says, “This is further proof that, working with our cities and towns, the Ocean State has the heart and resources to compete in even the most challenging of climates.”

Variety (http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118015392.html?categoryid=1237&cs=1) reports that Massachusetts natives Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are in talks for a producing deal at Warner Brothers. Affleck and Damon previously produced the series Project Greenlight along with Chris Moore, and more famously co-wrote the Oscar-winning screenplay for Good Will Hunting together.

With the release of Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island, Dorchester native Dennis Lehane explains to the Boston Globe (http://www.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2010/02/14/dennis_lehane_has_seen_his_characters_really_develop/) why Hollywood keeps adapting his novels.

Opportunities

The Rhode Island Film and Television Office, RI Arts Learning Network, and University of Rhode Island present “5 Hot Tips” Filmmaking Lab. Following last year’s successful “GiveMe5” high school film festival, the lab will offer students filmmaking tips and prepare them to submit films to this year’s GiveMe5 contest. The lab will take place March 6th from 1:00 to 5:30 pm at the University of Rhode Island Providence campus. The event is free to student filmmakers between the ages of 14 and 19 sponsored by a film teacher or community media program director. Pre-registration is required and the event is first come, first served. Contact sherry@arts.ri.gov for application details.

The New Hampshire High School Short Film Festival is currently accepting submissions for 2010. Students must either be enrolled at a New Hampshire public or private high school, or be home-schooled students between the ages of 14 and 18. Films must be under 10 minutes long. The submissions deadline is March 31. Visit http://www.nh.gov/film/hsfest/index.htm for official rules and application forms.

Snubbed by film critics? New Hampshire’s Roundtable Pictures is looking for movies to review and encourages filmmakers to submit their overlooked shorts and features made after January 1, 2008 to be reviewed on the Roundtable website. Send DVDs to Roundtable Pictures, 2 Washington Center, Suite J-1, Dover, NH 03820 and visit http://roundtablepictures.blogspot.com/ for more information.