If the first thing someone tells you about a film is that it's "silent," they've hardly told you anything at all. It could be a melodramatic Chinese comedy, a mind-blowing sci-fi masterpiece, a Swedish documentary on witchcraft, a French comedy no one's heard of, an experimental Russian documentary or a small B film shot in Florida with an all-black cast. The people who took up residence in the Castro Theatre for last weekend's San Francisco Silent Film Festival weren't there for a specific genre or star or musician, but in search of unforgettable cinema experiences.

It's not merely the selection of films that makes SFSFF such a special experience, but the care that goes into each screening. The festival was founded with the intent to dispel misconceptions that silent films are jerky, old, scratched-up movies with corny music. The organizers focus on bringing quality 35-mm prints and first-rate silent musicians to one of the world's greatest movie palaces.

Indie film and music distribution company Factory 25 said Monday it has picked up director Ry Russo-Young’s film “You Won’t Miss Me.”
 
Starring Stella Schnabel, “You Won’t Miss Me” screened at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and SXSW and was the recipient of the 2009 Gotham Independent Film Award for "Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You," which recognizes independent films most deserving of theatrical distribution.

Schnabel is the daughter of director Julian Schnabel.
 

Outfest, the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, wrapped up its 28th season with an outdoor screening of the comedy “Spork.” Showing 147 films throughout 11 days, with events and awards, and celebrities and cocktail parties, the longest-running film fest in L.A. kicked off with an artistic howl with the screening of the Allen Ginsberg biopic “Howl.” The popularly received film intermingles animated sequences with the dramatization of the obscenity trial surrounding the publication of the iconic poem.

“Julie & Julia,” “Best in Show” and “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” star Jane Lynch was awarded the 14th Annual Outfest Achievement Award by director Paris Barclay and her “Glee” co-star Christopher Colfer the same day she received Emmy nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series (“Glee”) and Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series (“Two and a Half Men”). Lynch was so gracious in her speech that she spent half of it praising her presenters.

“Harry Potter’s” Daniel Radcliffe will star in “The Woman in Black,” Hammer Films and Alliance Films adaptation of Susan Hill’s best-selling novel. The announcement was made Monday by Simon Oakes of Exclusive Media Group and Nigel Sinclair of Hammer Films.

Exclusive and Alliance Films will co-finance the film. Alliance Films will also distribute the film in the United Kingdom (Momentum), Spain (Aurum) and Canada (Alliance Films). Exclusive Films International, headed by chairman Guy East and president of international sales and distribution Alex Walton, is handling worldwide sales.

Production is scheduled to start in the fall.

SnagFilms on Monday announced an expansion in its distribution of nonfiction films. This includes the creation of VOD offerings with Comcast and with Verizon FiOS TV, the converged communications platform. Additionally, SnagFilms' wholly-owned indieWIRE unveiled a new blog to be written by director Peter Bogdanovich.
 
Founded by AOL Vice-Chair Emeritus Ted Leonsis, SnagFilms has become the web's largest and most broadly-distributed home for non-fiction films, with more than 1,500 documentaries streamed free to consumers on 90,000 websites and web pages.

Get your camera ready. You’ve been tapped to make a film with Ridley Scott and Kevin Macdonald. What’s it about? You. Your life. A day in your life. Specifically, a day in your life on July 24.

Cynics label self-portraits like these and their literary equivalents — bloggers who write about the minutiae of their daily lives — as narcissists and oversharers. But those who post and those who consume posts occupy opposite sides of the same coin. There’s a voyeuristic aspect, sure, but there’s also a compulsive desire to be heard and to hear, to be seen and to see. By posting a video ourselves, and watching videos of others, we’re satisfying a curiosity about what’s different but also connecting with what’s the same.

A week from Saturday, you and the other 6.7 billion inhabitants on planet Earth are invited to satisfy that curiosity by filming a glimpse into your daily life and uploading it to YouTube.

First-time filmmakers will be in the spotlight at the 63rd Locarno Film Festival, which runs from Aug. 4-14. Many of these newcomers’ films are part of the 50 world premieres slated for this year’s program, among them the latest feature from acclaimed French director Christophe Honoré (“Man at Bath”).

Also on tap are the international premiere of American director Aaron Katz’s mystery “Cold Weather” and the European premiere of “Cyrus,” the romantic comedy from directors Jay and Mark Duplass starring John C. Reilly, Marisa Tomei and Jonah Hill.

Michael McGowan’s “Score: A Hockey Musical” has been picked as the opening night film at this year's Toronto International Film Festival. The film will have its world premiere at a gala presentation on Sept. 9.

Pop icon Olivia Newton-John has star billing in the story of a teenage hockey phenom who lives the quintessential Canadian dream of being discovered on the ice and going from obscurity to fame overnight. Also in the film are singer/songwriter Marc Jordan, newcomers Noah Reid and Allie MacDonald, and an array of Canadian music, broadcast and hockey stars in cameos.

The Toronto International Film Festival runs Sept. 9-19.

Spanish director Augusti Vila’s family drama “The Mosquito Net” took the grand prize at the 45th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

“The Mosquito Net” stars Geraldine Chaplin in a silent role as an Alzheimer's sufferer.
 
As the winner of the Crystal Globe at Saturday night’s closing ceremonies, “The Mosquito Net’s” director and producer received a $30,000 cash prize.

Harvey Pekar has died. The underground comic book writer best known for his autobiographical "American Splendor" series was 70.

A movie version of “American Splendor” starring Paul Giamatti as Pekar was made in 2003 and won several awards at film festivals around the world, including the FIPRESCI Prize in 2003 in the Un Certain Regard competition at Cannes. Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, the film’s screenwriters, were nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay.