41 TO COMPETE FOR FOREIGN-LANGUAGE OSCAR NOMINATIONS LOS ANGELES. Films from 41 countries have been submitted to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for consideration as Best Foreign Language Film for the 68th Annual Academy Awards, the Academy's president, Arthur Hiller, announced. The total is four down compared to last year's record number of 45 countries entering the competition. This year's entries are Rachid Bouchareb's Dust of Life (Algeria), Marcelo Piñeyro's Wild Horses (Argentina), Michael Glawogger's Die Ameisenstraße (Austria), Frank van Passel's Manneken Pis (Belgium), Juan Carlos Valdivia's Jonah and the Pink Whale (Bolivia), Fabio Barreto's O quatrilho (Brazil), Robert Lepage's Le confessional (Canada), Ye Ying's Red Cherry (China), Zrinko Ogresta's The Washed Out (Croatia), Milan Steindler's I Thank You for Each New Morning (Czech Republic), Angel Muñiz's Nueba yol por fin lleggo balbuena (Dominican Republic), Markku Pölönen's The Last Wedding (Finland), Josiane Balasko's Gazon maudit (France), Joseph Vilsmaier's Schlafes Bruder (Germany), Theo Angelopoulos' Ulysses' Gaze (Greece), Ann Hui's Summer Snow (Hong Kong), Péter Gothar's The Outpost (Hungary), Hilmar Oddsson's Tears of Stone (Iceland), P.C. Sreeram's Kuridippunal (India), Jafar Panahi's The White Balloon (Iran), Savi Gabizon's Lovesick on Nana Street (Israel), Guiseppe Tornatore's L'uomo delle stelle (Italy), Kei Kumai's Deep River (Japan), Chul Soo Park's 301-302 (Korea), Jorge Fons' El callejon de los Milagros (Mexico), Marleen Gorris' Antonia's Line, Liv Ullmann's Kristin Lavransdatter (Norway), Carlos Siguion-Reyna's Harvest Home (Philippines), Dorota Kedzierzawska's Crows (Poland), João César Monteiro's God's Comedy (Portugal), Vladimir Khotinenko's The Moslem (Russia), Martin Sulik's The Garden (Slovak Republic), Pedro Almodóvar's The Flower of My Secret (Spain), Bo Widerberg's All Things Fair (Sweden), Christine Pascal's Adultery (A User's Guide) (Switzerland), Wan Jen's Super Citizen Ko (Taiwan), Bhandit Rittakol's Once Upon a Time... (Thailand), Azdine Melliti Fazai's Le magique (Tunisia), Jose Novao's Sicario (Venezuela), Ceri Sherlock's Branwen (Wales) and Emir Kusturica's Underground (Federal Republic of Yugoslavia). The selection of entries for the Foreign Language Oscar category is made by a jury from each country all of whom were filmmakers. Only one film is accepted from each territory. The Foreign Language Film Award Committee, chaired by Fay Kanin with Nina Foch as vice-chairwoman has started screening all entries, before voting to nominate five for the award. Nominations will be announced at the Academy on Tuesday 13 February. The 68th Annual Accademy Awards Presentation will be televised live from the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on Monday 25 March. - The January 1996 issue of Moving Pictures will contain a special supplement on this year's Foreign Language Oscar Entries. In order to obtain a copy, send your name, full address, the number of issues required, and full credit card details to Karoliina Eder at Moving Pictures, 151-153 Wardour Street, GB-London W1V 3TB, UK. Tel: +44-(0)171-287 0070 Fax: +44-(0)171-287 9637. Issues cost £5 in Europe, and US$9 in the rest of the world (prices include p&p;).

BERLIN TO HONOUR ELIA KAZAN WITH GOLDEN BEAR BERLIN. US filmmaker Elia Kazan is to receive a Golden Bear for his life's work at the 1996 Berlin International Film Festival. Festival president Moritz de Hadeln has invited the director to come to Berlin in February. This 46th edition of the event takes place from 15-26 February 1996. Kazan was born to Greek parents in Constantinople, known today as Istanbul, in 1909, and moved to the US in 1913. He first achieved a name for himself working as a stage director. In 1947, with Lee Strasberg he created the Actor's Studio which produced such well-known actors as Marlon Brando, James Dean and Julie Harris - who also appeared in Kazan's later films. Today, Kazan lives in New York and is regarded as one of Hollywood's most outstanding directors. Between 1944 and 1976, he made 19 feature films, many of which were to become classics. In 1947, he received Oscars for Best Film and Best Director for Gentleman's Agreement, his film about anti-semitism starring Gregory Peck. In 1951, consolidated his reputation as a director capable of combining artistic inspiration with explosive political and social subjects with A Streetcar Named Desire, starring Marlon Brando and Vivien Leigh. Other successful films include Viva Zapata, On the Waterfront, and East of Eden. One of his last features, America, America, was based on autobiographical events and tells the story of an American immigrant.

TOP NIKA AWARDED TO DEVOTIONS by Eugene Zykov MOSCOW. After Oscar-winning filmmaker Nikita Mikhalkov graciously stepped down from competing with his Burnt by the Sun - to "offer a better chance to contenders" - Russia's annual Oscar-equivalent, the Nika, was awarded to Kira Muratova's Devotions. Yevgeni Mironov excelled as Best Actor in Limita, Denis Yevstegneyev's drama on Russian provincial yuppies, which also won Best Script and Best Music. Ingeborga Dapkunaite and veteran star Alice Freindlikh snatched respectively the Best Actress and the Best Supporting Role Awards for their performances in Valerii Todorovsky's psycho-thriller Moscow Nights which also received the Best Photography Award. Seville's Barber, a co-production between Moscow-based Christmas Films and C4S in the UK, received the Best Animation Prize, while Alexander Rodnyansky's Russian-German production Farewell to the USSR 2 was elected Best Documentary. Finally, Moscow Film Fest director Alexander Atanesyan and Grigorii Ryazhski received the Best Producers Award for the UK-Russian thriller Mute Witness.

WYLER RETROSPECTIVE AT BERLIN by Christian de Schutter BERLIN. Hollywood director William Wyler forms the subject of the Berlin International Film Festival's retrospective section. The 46th edition of the Berlinale takes place from 15-26 February. Wyler remains one of American cinema's most successful directors whose films often contain a distinct European touch. He is the director of such classics as ben Hur, Mrs Miniver, the Best Years of Our Lives, the Big Country and Roman Holiday, giving opportunities to such astars as Bette Davis, Audrey Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart, Henry Fonda, Laurence Olvier, Kirk Douglas, Gregory Peck and Charlton Heston. It was Wyler who developed directing technique for deepfocus photography. His films are both poetical and humorous, and his characters are often developed with a keen sense of psychological sophistication; they describe Amlerican stories but never deny a European heritage. Born in the French city of Mulhouse in 1902, Wyler died in Beverly Hills in 1981. The first German-language book on the life and work of William Wyler will appear in time for the retrospective. It will contain a foreword by Wyler's friend and fellow-director, the Oscar-winning Fred Zinneman. The retrospective is devised by Wolfgang Jacobsen of the German Cinematheque Foundation, with the help of a consultants board consisting of film historians Helga Belach, Norbert Grob and Martin Koerber.

KASANDER, DEN HAEMER CANDIDATES TO HEAD R'DAM FEST ROTTERDAM. Kees Kasander, producer of such Peter Greenaway films as Prospero's Books and The Pillow Book, reportedly is heading the shortlist of candidates for the post of director of the Rotterdam International Film Festival. Other serious contenders are Sandra den Haemer, who was recently promoted to the position of programme co-ordinator of the festival, and NRC Handelsblad culture editor Raymond Van den Boogaart. At the festival, nobody was prepared to confirm or comment speculations about current director Emile Fallaux's succession. With Kasander, who will be curator of the fest's upcoming "Exploding Cinema" interactive film sidebar, Rotterdam would definitely opt for its further profiling towards new media. Den Haemer's recent move from the administrative position of deputy director to a more artistic job as programme co-ordinator could be interpreted as a strategic step for the woman who is considered as one of the people that kept the festival together during the difficult transition period in between fest directors Marco Müller and Fallaux. Fallaux is expected to become an advisor for the new Rotterdam Film Fund which is to become operational on 1 January. The fund, which will work with an annual Hfl2 (US$1.4) million budget, is to be run by the festival, where it will be closely linked to the Hubert Bals for the support of Third World filmmakers. The new fund is set up as a two-track operation that, besides putting money into projects that do part of their expenditure in the region, also consists of a number of incentives for the relocation and start-up of audiovisual companies. In addition, the festival will work closely together with the Dutch government which is believed to be in favour of developing an incentives package for the development of a local audiovisual industry.

KING OF CAMBODIA WITHDRAWS FILMS FROM ROTTERDAM ROTTERDAM. In a personal letter to the organisation, King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia informed the festival organisers to withdraw his films, Revoir Angkor... et mourir and Peasants in Distress, from screening at festival that takes place from 24 January-4 February. A new political crisis, following a conspiracy to murder the country's vice prime minister, has lead to the head of state's inability to spend any further time on his "cinematographic affairs." Both films were selected as part of an informative sidebar on films from the Mekong countries. COUCH IN NEW YORK TO PREMIERE IN BRUSSELS by Christian de Schutter BRUSSELS. Chantal Akerman's A Couch in New York, starring Juliette Binoche and William Hurt, is to receive its world premiere screening at the 23rd edition of the Brussels International Film Festival (17-27 January). The film is a comedy about two characters separated by the Atlantic Ocean, and their strange attraction to each other. New in Brussels this year is the European Competition in which films will compete for the ecu102,000 Prix Europa aimed at supporting the winning film's theatrical release accross Europe. Further awards include these for Best Actor and Actress, Best Belgian Short and Best Belgian Feature. US actor/director Tim Robbins will fly to Brussels to receive the Crystal Iris for Most Outstanding Career. Finally, the Audience Award will support the award-winner's marketing and distribution in Belgium. For the first edition of the competition, festival director Christian Thomas and artistic director Guy Braucourt have managed to select three world- , and a series of international premieres.

NEW ANNUAL FILM FEST FOR MANILA by Jørn Rossing Jensen MANILA. The World Cinema Centennial Celebration - originally a one-shot event staged by the Mowelfund Film Institute and its executive director Nick Deocampo - will develop into an annual film festival in Manila (The Philippines), supported by NETPAC, the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema Foundation. Wrapping the jubilation, NETPAC President Aruna Vasudev announced the new festival which will unspool for the first time in November 1996. The programme will include a selection of domestic films to be judged by an international jury, and NETPAC will give a Lifetime Achievement Award to an Asian film personality. "With the current world focus on Asian Cinema, we find enough space on the festival map for a specialised showcase with entries not only from the most obvious production centres such as China, Taiwan and Hong Kong," said Deocampo, who is also heading the secretariat of NETPAC, which held its biennial conference during the nine-day affair. "Who does he think he is? Imelda Marcos?" was one of the local reactions, when Deocampo - a 36-year old film historian and director of documentaries - announced his plans for a celebration of the Cinema Centennial. But not only did he pull off a 200-screening schedule - his festival was the Manila event of the week, and its functions attracted, among others, vice president Joseph Estrada. Joining the guests were Cambodian Princess Norodom Arunrasmy, representing her King, Norodom Sihanouk, whose films were shown in the programme. After Manila a selection of the centennial line-up will tour four Philippine islands as part of a scheme supported by SM Supermalls. Deocampo expects the Mowelfund Film Institute will have a PHP 1 million (US$40.000) profit from the effort.

RUSSIA TO LAUNCH NEW ANIMATION FEST by Eugene Zykov NIZHNIJ NOVGOROD. The inaugural edition of the first International Animation Film Festival in Russia is scheduled to take place in the North-West Russian city of Nizhnij Novgorod from 20-30 September. The event will coincide with the local Centinary celebrations of the first film screening in Russia by the Lumière brothers. Golden Fish Awards will go to the most appealing image, the most human touch and the funniest film in competition.

INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL REVIEW AUSTRALIA. The film that distributors were saying is perhaps too tough for commercial audiences, Angel Baby, won all seven of its nominations in the 1995 Australian Film Institute Awards, surprising even its producers, Jonathan Shteinman and Tim White. Michael Rymer's debut, as writer-director of Angel Baby, has been well received by critics as it opened late October, embraced by arthouse audiences and with these awards - which include Best Film, Director and Screenplay - it may be on its way to commercial success as well. In capturing the Best Actress award in Angel Baby, Jacqueline Mackenzie scored a personal triumph on the night, having already won the Best Actress award for her television performance in a guest role in an episode of Halifax f.p., which was voted Best Mini Series. The ABC's satirical series, Frontline, a searing look at puffy current affairs shows and their sometimes puffier on-air personalities, was honoured by awards in the TV drama categories for Best Screenplay and Best TV Drama episode. George Miller, who made the Mad Max trilogy and latterly produced Babe, was honoured with the lifetime achievement Raymond Longford Award for continuing professional excellence. Once Were Warriors, distributed by Dendy, was voted Best Foreign Film. Andrew L Urban

BITOLA. The picturesque Macedonian town of Bitola provided the setting for the 16th Film Camera Festival Manaki Brothers, named after the Macedonian pair, Yanaki and Milton who were the godfathers of film in the Balkans. The jury, presided over by Dick Pope, Ron Holloway and top Macedonian director Stole Popov, awarded the first prize, the Golden Camera 300 to Sweden's Stefan Kullaenger for his camerawork on Sommaren (Between Two Summers). The Silver Camera 300 went to Hong Kong's Xiao Feng for Evening Liaison, while the Bronze Camera 300 went to Fabian Eder for the Austrian picture Ich gelobe (I Swear). -The permeating of cultures,- said festival director Gorjan Tozija, -that is achieved by business interests coming together from various sides, was sucessfully confirmed by the example of Before the Rain, a work of art which spoke probably most loudly about the efforts of a small country to show the others its real face and soul. That is why we wish this festival to be an opportunity for productive encounters of film producers that would result with new film projects.- On hand throughout the whole festival was British Screen chief Simon Perry who presented the first of the professional cinema workshops discussing the European experience in the organisation and realisation of the film project. Other workshops were run by Arri Germany's Heinz Feldhaus, DOP Christiano Pogany and DOP Michael Spiller. Participating companies included Ianiro, Lightworks, Softitler, Panther, and Kodak.

FORT LAUDERDALE. This year's Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival entered into its first decade with a strong showcase of independent Americas cinema and a first ever champagne-filled "Festival in the skies" aboard a Carnival Air flight from New York to Ft. Lauderdale, premiering The Girl in the Watermelon by Sergio Castilla for the air-born media and delegates. The Festival opened with the controversial debut film Live Nude Girls by Juliana Lavin and featured more than 60 films from different countries. John Schlesinger's Cold Comfort Farm picked up best film and director award. The a ward for Best First Feature was given to Sacred Hearts by Patrick O'Connor; while Best Foreign Film to debuting Chinese director Xiao Yen-Wang's The Monkey Kid; best actor award to Sean Astin in The Low Life by George Hickenlooper and best actress award to Piper Laurie in The Grass Harp. Special Lifetime Achievement Awards were presented to British actor Michael Caine and former Paramount chief and producer Robert Evans. Janet Fine

ISRAEL. Sabi Gabison's Lovesick on Nana Stre˙SMB€  dnded pirate cable operator who falls for a pretty blonde and ends up in a mental hospital when he refuses to take "no" for an answer, walked away with eight of the 15 awards distributed by the Israeli Film Academy. A runaway favourite whose victory no one doubted, Lovesick... was singled out as Best Picture - an honour which automatically makes it Israel's candidate for the the Foreign-language Oscars - and also grabbed the awards for Best Director and Best Script (both Gabison), Best Actor (Moshe Ibgi) and Best Actress (Hanna Azoulay-Haspari). Closest competitor was Under the Domim Tree (three awards, including Best Cinematography for David Gurfinkel), followed by Leilasede (Best Supporting Actress Esti Zackheim), and Actors (Best Supporting Actor Shmuel Segal). Edna Fainaru

LONDON. The 39th London Film Festival ended on a record-breaking high. At the closing night gala, which saw British Film Institute Fellowships bestowed upon Sir John Mills and Martin Scorsese, prior to an international premiere of the latter's Casino, festival director Sheila Whitaker announced that admissions had topped 100,000 (up 12% on last year) while box office receipts rose by 21%. Among the guests were 234 filmmakers, 535 industry delegates, and 525 press, confirming the increasing importance of the festival in the international calendar. “The LFF is now truly a major European launch pad,” said a festival spokesman. The pre-Mifed screenings organised by the LFF created much interest in British titles such as The Near Room, Brothers in Trouble, Heidi Fleiss - Hollywood Madam, and The Innocent Sleep. As a result of the screenings organised from the Buyers and Sellers Liaison Initiative, deals are pending on other festival hits such as Maborosi, Parallel Sons, Denise Calls Up, and Pasolini: An Italian Crime. The Audience award for Best British Feature was won by Nigel Finch's Stonewall Moving Pictures collaborated with the LFF, Compuserve, Zenith Data Systems and Multimedia Partners, on a unique series of live online interviews with festival guests including Steven Soderbergh, Jean-Paul Rappeneau, Nick Broomfield and Nick Park. Nick Thomas

SHANGHAI. The China Film Import and Export Corporation announced at the Shanghai International Film Festival that it has plans to disband and allow foreign producers to sell direct to local distributors. China watchers have expected this development for some time. No date was announced for the Corporation's closure. China's Second Shanghai International Film Festival saw the Corporation take on board four further films under the revenue sharing scheme which allows foreign (non-Chinese) companies a share of the box-office profits. A Walk In The Clouds, Apollo 13, Goldeneye, and Hong Kong company Golden Harvest's next Jackie Chan actioner will all be distributed in China via the scheme which allows up to ten films per year to be distributed on a revenue sharing basis. The Corporation also announced that it has plans to disband and allow foreign producers to sell direct to local distributors. The accompanying US-China Film conference was generally considered a successful introduction for neophyte US businessmen interested in the China market. However, local observers lamented US producer's eagerness to distribute their own product while ignoring investment in China's struggling film studios. This year's second International Shanghai Film Festival edition saw Swiss director Wolfgang Panzer take the Best Film Award for his monk's tale, Broken Silence. The award was generally expected to go to a Chinese film, Ye Daying's loose, American-influenced actioner, Red Cherries. Red Cherries did, however, take the Most Creative Film Award, voted by Chinese and foreign journalists. Filmmaker and jury president Sun Daoling said that the jurors found Broken Silence "original, multinational and multi-cultural. Globally, the movie industry has reached an all-time low and filmmakers do not know what to do. This film just broke the silence." Other prize winners included Erik Clausen (Best Director for Carl, My Childhood Symphony), Jean-Pierre Marielle (Best Actor for Les milles), and Guyu Keyu (Best Actress for Red Cherries). Richard James Havis

STOCKHOLM. The Brothers Quay's Institute Benjamenta, a depiction of a dilapidated, moribund boarding school for the training of servants, bagged two main prizes at the 6th Stockholm International Film Festival, which was a triumph for British Cinema (although the brothers were actually born in the US). Starring Mark Rylance, Alice Krige and Daniel Smith, the Koninck Studios production touted by Film Four International received the Bronze Horse as Best Feature and won for Best Cinematography (Nic Knowland). Chris Newby's Madagascar Skin, a homo-erotic love story set in coastal England, brought the director an award for Best Original Script, while the Best Director's Prize went to Michael Winterbottom, for Butterfly Kiss. John Hannah was named Best Actor for his performance in Madagascar Skin, and Catherine Keener took another nod as Best Actress in Tom DiCilli's Living in Oblivion, which was also the FIPRESCI Jury's choice as No 1 film. The Best Nordic Film award went to Aivars Freimanis' Ligzta (The Nest), and Magnus Carlsson was given one kilometre of Kodak footage and a week's rent of camera (development included) as Best Swedish Newcomer. An audience award established with the Metro weekly went to Marc Caro's and Jean-Pierre Jeunet's La cité des enfants perdus (The City of Lost Children). Top box office attraction was Wayne Wang's Blue in the Face. With a record number of 44,000 admissions, 287 screenings, 400 accredited journalists and 50 special guests for the 10-day event, festival director Git Scheynius concluded that after six years Stockholm has now found a place on the international festival map. Jørn Rossing Jensen

THESALONIKI. In the best edition of the Thessaloniki Film Festival to date, the international jury headed by Brazilian director Nelson Pereira dos Santos picked He Jianjun's The Postman for the top award, added a special jury prize for Robert Jan Westdijk's Zusje (Little Sister), and granted Best Director distinction to Makoto Shinozaki for Okaeri. Further awards were handed to scripters Nikos Ligouris and Claus Wibrandt (Herz aus Stein), and Gerard Stembridge (Guiltrip), actor Sami Bouajiba (Bye Bye), actress Anouk Grinberg (Sale Gosse) and Lithuanian helmer Sarunas Bartas for the artistic achievements of The Corridor. The arguments which did erupt in Thessaloniki were mostly on the domestic scene. For the first time since the fest went international four years ago, no Greek film had an award in the main competition, with local unions complaining that indigenous product was being ignored in favour of fancier imports. They claimed the films selected for the national race were not the right ones, and the Greek jury spokesman said that much during the final ceremony, before announcing the top money prizes for Dimitri Indares, whose debut film, Like a Prairie Cock in Wyoming, was picked both as Best Film and Best First Feature, and Christos Siopahas (The Wings of the Fly), was singled out as Best Director. Edna Fainaru Next edition of the International Film Events NewsLetter, with a Focus on Latin American Film Events, as well as Previews on both the Brussels and Rotterdam Film Festivals, will be available from 16 January 1996 @ this site.