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The 6th annual Sydney Underground Film Festival, which was held back on Sept. 6-9, gave out a slew of awards to short films and features alike.

A two-member jury panel of Jane Mills and Alex Munt gave out awards to a half-dozen short films, recognizing many for their brutality and/or visual innovation. Two films by Emma Varker, Gashbag and White Russian, were notable for being a “very personal take on violence” and for “going the distance” respectively. Meanwhile, Rajee Samarasinghe’s 01.39411.999 “refuses to aestheticise violence” and Dylan Kohler’s Chilly is “creatively original.” All winners with full jury notes are below.

Also, there were three Director’s Choice awards given to feature films. Frankie Frain’s Sexually Frank won for being an “excellent indie film,” while Gil Kofman’s documentary Unmade in China — a work still in progress — was noted for being “a fascinating, train-wreck of a story” and another documentary,...

AFI Fest 2012 presented by Audi, a program of the American Film Institute, today announced the remaining sections and films that will screen in the festival.s World Cinema, Breakthrough, Midnight and Shorts programs. AFI Fest, which annually presents the best of world cinema in the movie capital of the world, will take place November 1 through 8 at the historic Grauman.s Chinese Theatre, the Chinese 6 Theatres, the Egyptian Theatre and the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.

World Cinema showcases the most anticipated and prize-winning international films of the year, Breakthrough highlights work discovered only through the submission process and Midnight.s selections are always haunting. Both World Cinema and Breakthrough feature a number of films making their North American or U.S. Premieres, including The Angels. Share, Greatest Hits, Laurence Anyways, Nairobi Half Life, Pieta, White Elephant and Zaytoun.

Two of the shorts in competition are from AFI Conservatory.s recent class of...

Today, AFI 2012 announced its complete lineup, after previously debuting its New Auteurs, Young Americans, Galas and Special Screenings we finally get a look at the Midnight, Breakthrough, Shorts, and deliriously good World Cinema Selections.

The Shorts section, with almost too many to count, features new work from Nacho Vigalando, Nicolas Provost, and even Shia Labeouf (Cannes selected), among many others. The four Midnight titles all played in Tiff 2012’s Midnight Madness selection, and here we see John Dies at the End making a stop here after originally premiering at Sundance. They’ve nabbed three North American premieres in their Breakthrough section, including Kid from Fien Troch, Nairobi Half Life from David Tosh Gitonga, and Oh Boy from Jan Ole Gerster. But AFI has managed to really impress with it’s World Cinema selections. Just as they nabbed Cannes premiere Holy Motors for their Special Screenings, they’ve nabbed several high...

Fantastic Fest recently announced their selection of more than 40 short films slated to slither and crawl into all the various orifices of this annual extravaganza of genre film. The biopsy of the best genre short films from around the globe will showcase works from several countries, including Spain, South Korea, Bangladesh, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands and more.

38-39°C (2011)

Regional Premiere

Director: Jason Hong, South Korea, 8 minutes

A father and son confront the emotional divide that separates them in the intimate setting of a Korean bathhouse.

88:88 (2012)

Regional Premiere

Director: Joey Ciccoline, USA, 14 minutes

Val has lost control of her life. Those around her deny the reality of the extraordinary experiences she feels powerless against. Realizing she must stand alone, she has only one remaining option – to find a way to fight back.

Advantageous (2012)

Regional Premiere

Director: Jennifer Phang, USA 23 minutes

Gwen is the spokesperson for a radical technology...

The official lineup of short films playing this year's Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas, has been announced, and let's just say that there are lots of reasons why you should be packing your bags and heading to the Longhorn State!

From the Press Release:

Fantastic Fest is excited to announce the short film lineup for the eighth edition of Fantastic Fest, happening September 20th-27th in Austin, Texas. Fantastic Fest loves its short films - they provide a fertile ground for new and exciting filmmaking talent to show off their genre goods in an unrestrained format. Here is the lineup for Fantastic Fest 2012:

38-39°C (2011)

Regional Premiere

Director: Jason Hong, South Korea, 8 minutes

A father and son confront the emotional divide that separates them in the intimate setting of a Korean bathhouse.

88:88 (2012)

Regional Premiere

Director: Joey Ciccoline, USA, 14 minutes

Val has lost control of her life. Those around...

The 6th annual Sydney Underground Film Festival is taking over all three screens of the Factory Theatre for a blow-out four-day event on Sept. 6-9.

Making it’s World Premiere at the fest on the 8th is the highly anticipated President Wolfman, the latest “green movie” by director Mike Davis that he’s cobbled together from public domain footage and feature films and set to an outrageous new soundtrack. The film looks like it promises to be a rollicking good time.

Other highlights of the fest include Guy Maddin‘s latest trippy film noir, Keyhole, about a mobster revisiting his homestead’s old memories; Bob Ray‘s documentary about Austin, Texas’ homegrown Total Badass; Bobcat Goldthwait’s media takedown God Bless America; Michal Kosakowski’s underground murder fantasy documentary hit Zero Killed; Richard Griffin’s funky The Disco Exorcist; and more.

Some of the extra special events of the fest...