Annette Funicello Dead at 70
The 1950s-era Mouseketeer started out as a child star and went on to further fame after teaming up with Frankie Avalon in a string of 1960s fun-in-the-sun movies such as Beach Blanket Bingo and Bikini Beach. She died at a Bakersfield, CA hospital due to complications from multiple sclerosis. Funicello revealed she was suffering from M.S. in 1992. “We are so sorry to lose Mother. She is no longer suffering anymore and is now dancing in heaven. We love and will miss her terribly,” her children Gina, Jacky and Jason said in a statement Monday. A.P. reports.
American Promise Wins Full Frame Grand Jury Award
Joe Brewster and Michele Stephenson's American Promise won the Reva and David Logan Grand Jury Award at the 2013 Full Frame Documentary Film Festival. The personal film follows the directors’ son and his best friend from their first day of kindergarten through high school graduation, and how their lives diverge. In other prizes, Best Short went to By Her Side by Niels van Koevorden. Amy Browne, Jeremy Kaplan, Tony Hale and Brian Wilson's A Will for the Woods took the Full Frame Audience Award in the feature category, while Brian McGoinn's The Record Breaker got the Audience nod for shorts. Zachary Heinzerling's Cutie and the Boxer won the festival's Charles E. Guggenheim Emerging Artist Award and Roger Ross Williams' God Loves Uganda won the “Full Frame Inspiration Award.” Full Frame took place April 4 – 7 in North Carolina. For more winners, visit their website.
Films that Defined the Thatcher Era
The Guardian newspaper gave its pick of a half-dozen films that defined the era when Margaret Thatcher served as Prime Minister of the U.K. Thatcher, who died Monday, served as the country's P.M. from 1979 – 1990. Their picks include Stephen Frears' My Beautiful Laundrette (1985), James Ivory's A Room With A View (1985), Alan Clarke's Rita, Sue and Bob Too! (1987), Hugh Hudson's Chariots of Fire (1981), John Mackenzie's The Long Good Friday (1980) and Mike Leigh's High Hopes (1988).
Hamptons International Film Festival to Host 12th Screenwriters' Lab
Screenwriters meet for one-on-one mentoring sessions with established screenwriters, directors and producers.The event, co-sponsored with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, will take place April 12 – 14. Participants this year include Caveh Zahedi and Arnold Barkus (The Gift), Sara Colangelo (Little Accidents), David Schwab (Francis Turnbull), Joan Stein Schimke and Averie Storck (The Buried Life). Lab mentors include Oscar-nominated screenwriter Oren Moverman, George Washington producer Lisa Muskat, Boys Don't Cry co-writer Andrew Bienen and The General co-writer Bill Collage.
Spanish Director Bigas Luna Dead at 67
Luna is credited with “discovering” Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem. The Barcelona-born filmmaker won the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival for JamĂłn, JamĂłn in 1992. It starred Cruz and Bardem in their first international hit. Gothic thriller, Bilbao (1978) about a psychopath who kidnaps a prostitute, played in Cannes and became his first international hit. Other films include Golden Balls (1993), The Chambermaid of the Titanic (1997), VolavĂ©runt (1999) and My Name is Juani (2006). He passed away at his home in Tarragona following a long illness, Screen Daily reports.
