The “Father or African Cinema” passed away at age 84 at his home in Dakar, Senegal on Sunday. He came to prominence in the mid-sixties with his first feature, Black Girl, and made nine other features and numerous short films. His most recent film, Moolaadé screened at the Oak Street Cinema in 2005. Ousmane Sembène, his vision of the world, and his unique and dynamic perspective, will be sorely missed in…

indieWIRE’s ReverseShot blog posted a glowing review this morning. I can’t wait to get a look at this one.

We have just added a free preview screening of the new Edith Piaf biopic La Vie En Rose! A swirling, impressionistic portrait of an artist who regretted nothing, writer-director Olivier Dahan’s La Vie En Rose stars 2005 Cesar Award–winner Marion Cotillard (A Very Long Engagement, A Good Year) in a blazing performance as the legendary French icon Edith Piaf. Perhaps finding her nearest American…

Heath Ledger won me, and million of others, over through his role in Brokeback Mountain. Also, I am a big fan of Christopher Nolan‘s Batman Begins and a recovering comic book geek. With Nolan back at the helm and Ledger playing the Joker, the sequel to Batman Begins looks more than promising. Twitch has some news on the film and the first image of Ledger in the film. It looks like they are borrowing…

Depressed? Finding it hard to get to work? So is Lars Von Trier. Reuters reports. I hope he makes Antichrist. I’ve been looking forward to it. A good day for DVD shopping – hitting shelves today: Army of Shadows, The Fountain, Pan’s Labyrinth, and Canyon Passage. See the New York Times for reviews and more information. I’m such a sucker for Wong Kar Wai that even a gander at a poster for a new film is…

I was absolutely thrilled to see the artist Vladimir, who presented Vladmaster shows here at the Walker in March 2006 (the photo above was taken during the Women With Vision opening reception), was covered in this Sunday’s New York Times Magazine. Hopefully, you’ve been fortunate to catch one of the magical live performances. If you haven’t, you can keep up with her upcoming performances or even buy…

Francis Ford Coppola’s first foray into directing in 10 years, Youth Without Youth, is scheduled to have it’s premiere at the Rome Film Festival this October. Tsai Ming-liang has accepted the cuts proposed cuts to his film I Don’t Want to Sleep Alone (Playing at the Walker in June) from Malaysian censors, and hopes to use this as a means to create a dialogue about censorship. Twitchfilm reports. Our…

I was having a conversation today in which I was recounting a transcendent experience watching Nathaniel Dorsky’s incredible Song and Solitude at the Wisconsin Film Festival. Ever since, I’ve been thinking about the state of avant-garde (experimental, etc., call it what you will) film. That led me to think about one my first real exposure to filmmakers that would become two of my favorites — Nathaniel…

Cannes to open with the first English language film from Wong Kar-Wai. Many other titles also announced. indieWIRE reports. Best website ever? Artist and filmmaker Miranda July (her film Me and You and Everyone We Know was part of Women With Vision 2005) has created an incredible website for her new book.