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HOLLYWOOD, Nov. 14, 2000 -- With the closing night award ceremonies Sunday, the 15th Annual Fort Lauderdale Int'l Film Festival ended with an impressive slate of features, documentaries and short films.
The festival, from Oct. 16-Nov. 12, saw attendance total 54,000 during the 28-day run. The sold-out Opening Night event Nov. 3 started with a conversation with indie filmmaker John Waters, followed by the U.S. premiere of "Il Cielo Cade (The Sky Is Falling)," directed by Antonio and Andrea Frazzi and starring Isabella Rossellini.
The film is about life in a small Tuscany town during the start of the Nazi occupation and won the festival's best foreign language film award.
Two other notable international films screened during the festival were well received. "Coronation," directed by Silvio Caiozzi, was chosen to represent Chile as its Foreign Language Oscar entry an
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CANNES, France, May 10, 2000 -- This French Riviera resort is buzzing with the sounds of jack hammers, drills and cell phones. You know what that means? The 53rd Cannes Film Festival starts today. Other sure signs of French madness: Yachts parallel parking in the harbour as the beach cabanas and hotel suites set up for business; and, hordes of fans, armed with cameras and smiles, circling the Palais as the famous red carpet is prepared.
Besides the soirees, the haute couture, the topless beaches and the star gazing, there's more to the fest than the coveted and sometimes controversial grand prize, the Palme d'Or. There are actually, yes, films shown here.
The historic drama "Vatel," starring Gerard Depardieu and Uma Thurman (who was spotted in the lobby, sans husband, in all of her tall gloriousness), is the event's opening screening.
The festival is one part "sh