Stephen Colbert to Host Events for Daniel Craig, ‘The Whale’ at Montclair Film Festival – Film News in Brief

Stephen Colbert will host the Montclair Film Festival’s Tribute to Daniel Craig and opening night screening of “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” in addition to hosting the post-screening Q&A with Brendan Fraser for “The Whale” on Oct. 23.

The Daniel Craig tribute takes place Oct. 28, while “Glass Onion” is the opening night film of the festival on Oct. 21.

More from Variety

• 'Selena Gomez: My Mind and Me' World Premiere to Open AFI Fest

• 'The Fabelmans' American Premiere to Close Out AFI Fest- Film News in Brief

• Guillermo Del Toro's 'Pinocchio,' Emily Blunt Series 'The English' Will Have Their World Premieres at the BFI London Film Festival

Eddie Redmayne will be honored with the performance of the year award for “The Good Nurse,” while Elegance Bratton will receive the Breakthrough Director & Writer Award for “The Inspection,” both on Oct. 22.

Other events will include Nonfiction Centerpiece screening “Patrick and the Whale” on Oct. 23 and closing night film “She Said” on Oct. 30.

Critics Choice Women’s Committee Launches Seal of Female Empowerment

The Critics Choice Association Women’s Committee has launched the Seal of Female Empowerment in Entertainment (SOFEE), a new initiative that recognizes female-driven film and TV programming.

The first recipients of the SOFEE include the Sony Pictures feature “The Woman King,” Prime Video’s “A League of Their Own” and the Apple TV+ docuseries “Gutsy,” all of whom earned a perfect score in a numerical formula that includes the following elements: a prominent female character arc, female leaders behind the scenes, equal screen time to male characters, and measures of the Bechdel test.

“The last five years have seen a dramatic shift where women are being given significantly more opportunity to create large-scale entertainment,” says Tara McNamara, chair of the CCA Women’s Committee. “The result is that half of the population is seeing truer representation on the screen. As the most influential critics organization, we believe it’s the role of the CCA to recognize studios and filmmakers making positive female-forward entertainment with an easy-to-spot seal graphic — perfect for a movie poster or TV ad. Our hope is that those who care about how women are depicted on screen and utilized behind the scenes will look for the SOFEE graphic to help inform their media consumption decisions.”

Costume Designers Guild Sets Awards Timeline

The awards timeline and location have been announced for the 25th CDGA (Costume Designers Guild Awards.)

The annual ceremony will take place on Monday, Feb. 27, 2023, at the Fairmont Century Plaza. Nominations will be revealed on Jan. 12, 2023.

The night celebrates over 1,200 costume designers, assistant costume designers and illustrators working in motion pictures, television, commercials, music videos, and new media programs throughout the world.

Submissions open and accessible on the CDG website on Sept. 26 and entries close Nov. 4.

Nomination Ballot voting opens online at 6:00 a.m. PT on Dec. 19 with voting closing Jan. 6.

Nominations are announced on Jan. 12 with final ballots due on Feb. 17. Winners will be announced on Feb. 27.

‘Spirited,’ AppleTV+ Original Gets November Release Date

“Spirited,” the AppleTV+ original film is set for a Nov. 18 release. The film will premiere in theaters on Nov. 11 before heading to streaming.

Starring Will Ferrell, Ryan Reynolds and Octavia Spencer, the holiday musical is directed by Sean Anders. Anders co-wrote the script with John Morris.

Filmmakers from Ukraine, Syria, and Tanzania to receive FilmAid Award

The Ukranian group DocuDays, known for its human rights documentaries, will be honored by international film organization FilmAid at its annual benefit on Oct. 12 in New York City. DocuDays is currently building the War Archive, a database of testimonies and evidence of crimes from the war against Russia.

Syrian American actor and filmmaker Jay Abdo (pictured) and young Tanzanian filmmaker Martha Ngwada will also be honored at the event.

Abdo stars in “Neighbors,” a film coming to theaters in December. Ngwada, a former stand-up comedian, is mentoring new filmmakers through FilmAid and making short films about sexual and gender-based violence and other issues affecting young Tanzanians.

“We haven’t done anything like the War Archive before, but we just felt that it was really important. These materials could be used during war crime investigations and for future documentary films,” says DocuDays’ Julia Kartashova, who will come from Kyiv to New York to accept the FilmAid award.

AFI Fest: del Toro’s ‘Pinocchio’, ‘The Son’ and ‘She Said’ Among Red Carpet Gala Films

The American Film Institute (AFI) announced “Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio, “Bardo, False Chronicle Of A Handful Of Truths,” “The Son,” “She Said,” “Living” and “Is That Black Enough for You” will be among the six films receiving red carpet premiere screenings.

“Now is the time to open our hearts and minds to stories on the big screen,” said Bob Gazzale, AFI President and CEO. “AFI is honored to gather audiences and artists in the heart of Hollywood to experience the work of these master storytellers.”

This year’s AFI FEST 2022 will take place exclusively in person in Los Angeles from Nov. 2-6 with all the above films to screen at the TCL Chinese Theater.

As previously announced, the World Premiere of Apple Original Film’s “Selena Gomez: My Mind and Me” will open the festival, and the U.S. premiere of Universal Pictures’ and Amblin Entertainment’s “The Fabelmans” will close the festival out.

Tickets and passes will be available to AFI members starting October 3 and to the general public starting Oct. 4 on FEST.AFI.com.

Cinema Audio Society to Honor CAS Award Nominee Peter J. Devlin

Cinema Audio Society will honor CAS Award nominee Peter J. Devlin CAS with its 2023 Career Achievement Award.

The tribute will be presented at the 59th CAS Awards on Saturday, March 4, 2023, at the InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown.

“The Cinema Audio Society is a professional society dedicated to craft and community,” said CAS President Karol Urban. “Peter J. Devlin CAS is not only an extremely accomplished and sought-after production mixer of superlative skill and accolades, but he is also an active citizen of this community. Peter’s continuous commitment and generosity of time to the betterment of our industry and the strengthening of our community make this honor even more special. He is an exemplary member of our sound mixing family.”

Devlin said, “I am truly grateful to be included among the stellar group of past recipients of the Career Achievement Award. It’s especially meaningful to me to be recognized by an organization that does such important work on behalf of the sound mixing community. My sincere thanks to the CAS Board for this honor.”

Devlin, recently elected as a Governor of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, has worked on more than 70 films and been nominated for five Oscars including “Black Panther” and “Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon.

Earlier this year, he wrapped his work on” Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” and is thrilled to have just worked with Chris Pine, who is making his directorial debut with the upcoming film Poolman. A past CAS Board member, it was his first CAS nomination for Oliver Stone’s “Any Given Sunday” that introduced him to the organization in 2000. Since then, he has received multiple nominations.

Born and raised in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Devlin knew that he wanted to work in film after seeing Jaws as a teenager. Though his school principal told him his dreams were “pie in the sky,” he applied for a trainee audio assistant position at the BBC in Belfast in 1981. Initially thinking he might move into the camera department, he quickly realized his true interest was in production sound. To prepare for the interview, he spent his days in the local library reading as much about microphone principles, recording techniques and filmmaking as he could find. He got the job, which proved the perfect training ground, with the BBC’s wide range of productions, from news, to sports, to concerts and to radio drama. “I had great mentors, and I learned about all of the different disciplines of sound there.”

Devlin continues to adapt to the ever-changing technologies that enhance storytelling through production sound mixing. While he wishes that he had today’s tech for some of the films he worked on in the past, he says, “The most important element will always be the work of the sound department as a team, boom operators and sound utilities. Their expertise allows me to concentrate on recording performance and create tracks that can elevate a scene when they are handed off to our colleagues in post production.”

He joins an illustrious group of past CAS Career Achievement Honorees including: Anna Behlmer, Willie Burton, Tom Fleischman and Randy Thom.

Sundance Film Festival Reveals Ticketing Details, On-Sale Dates and Venues

Sundance Institute announced the launch of this year’s various ticketing details, on-sale dates, venues, and the Festival online platform.

Passes and packages will go on sale to the public starting on Oct. 17. Online ticketing packages will be on sale starting Dec. 13. Individual tickets for the public go on sale beginning Jan. 12, 2023. Special pre-sale access for passes and packages is available on Oct. 13 to Sundance Institute members at the Storyteller and Supporter levels, as well as the Utah Locals Ticket Package. For even earlier access, Sundance Circle donors will be able to purchase Festival passes and packages beginning October 4. All members can purchase individual tickets early beginning on Jan. 11, 2023.

The newWorld Cinema Package, available both in-person and online. Fans receive 10 tickets to international documentary and fiction feature films in the program. Sundance is also introducing the SLC Youth Pass, which will provide attendees ages 18 to 25 a discounted rate of $200 to experience the Festival. Returning is Locals Package – a special offer to all Utah residents, this package includes 10 tickets to in-person screenings for the entire Festival with early access to ticket selection before single-film ticket sales go public.

American Black Film Festival to Return to Miami Beach in June 2023, Opens Call for Submissions

The American Black Film Festival announced their 27th annual showcase will be held in Miami Beach June 14-18th, 2023 followed by a virtual segment streaming on ABFF Play June 19-25. Three categories have opened for submissions: narrative features, documentary features and web series, with submission dates for the festival’s short film category to be announced soon.

Filmmakers compete for Jury Awards in the narrative features category — including Best Narrative Feature, Best Director, Best Screenplay and the coveted John Singleton Award for Best First Feature — and for Best Documentary, Best Web Series and the HBO Short Film Award. Submissions, deadline and eligibility details can be viewed at the festival’s website.

BAM in NYC to Debut Director’s Cut and 4K Restoration of Wayne Wang’s 1990 ‘Life is Cheap … But Toilet Paper is Expensive’

A 4K restoration of Hong Kong director Wayne Wang’s 1990 noir film “Life is Cheap … But Toilet Paper is Expensive” will open at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on Sept. 30. Spencer Nakasako stars as a courier who arrives in Hong Kong to deliver a mysterious briefcase to a mercurial mob boss whilst becoming entangled with his femme fatale mistress (Cora Miao). The restoration is revised from the original cut of the film, and Wang considers the new cut to be the definitive version. “Life is Cheap … But Toiler Paper is Expensive” was restored by Lightbox Film Center at University of the Arts in collaboration
with the University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive and funded by Ron and Suzanne Naples. Ross Lipman supervised the restoration and remastering in consultation with Wayne Wang.

Academy Reveals 2022 Student Academy Award Winners, All Winning Films Eligible for 2022 Oscars

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has voted 14 students as winners of the 49th Student Academy Awards competition. This year, the competition received a total of 1,796 entries from 614 colleges and universities globally. The 2022 winners join the ranks of past Student Academy Award winners as Patricia Cardoso, Pete Docter, Spike Lee, Patricia Riggen and Robert Zemeckis.

For the first time since 2019, students will participate in an in-person award ceremony on Thursday, October 20, at 7:30 p.m., at the David Geffen Theater in Los Angeles. The medal placements – gold, silver and bronze – in the four award categories will be announced at the ceremony.

The winners are listed below, arranged alphabetically by category:

Alternative/Experimental
Olivia Peace, “Against Reality,” University of Southern California

Animation
Jan Gadermann and Sebastian Gadow, “Laika & Nemo,” Konrad Wolf Film University of Babelsberg, Germany
Lachlan Pendragon, “An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It,” Griffith Film School, Australia
Yanis Belaid, Eliott Benard and Nicolas Mayeur, “The Seine’s Tears,” Pôle 3D Digital & Creative School, France

Documentary
Shuhao Tse, “Found,” New York University
Jared Peraglia, “Here to Stay,” New York University
Gabriella Canal and Michael Fearon, “Seasons,” Columbia University

Narrative
Nils Keller, “Almost Home,” University of Television and Film Munich, Germany
Welf Reinhart, “Rooms,” University of Television and Film Munich, Germany
Freddy Macdonald, “Shedding Angels,” American Film Institute

First-time honors go to Pôle 3D Digital & Creative School.

All Student Academy Award-winning films are eligible to compete for 2022 Oscars in the Animated Short Film, Live Action Short Film or Documentary Short Film category. Past winners have gone on to receive 65 Oscar nominations and have won or shared 14 awards.

Best of Variety

• 13 Supporting Actors Who Successfully Campaigned for Lead Categories at the Oscars

• Your Pet Can Be Anyone They Want This Halloween, From Maverick to Winifred Sanderson

• From Maverick and Rooster to Vecna and Eleven: The Best Couples Costumes to Wear This Halloween

Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.