Keaton Simons will play at 9 p.m. that night and is a fantastic singer/songwriter
who is great on record and better live. His genre of music is blues
for the most part, and his voice and guitar-playing certainly match
that. His songs are sometimes acoustic, sometimes blues-pop and
sometimes just rockin — but they are always great.

He released his full-length debut CD called "Can You Hear Me" in June 2008 on CBS Records and he has been touring around the country in support of it ever since - playing in Los Angeles sparingly among those stops. The album is a brilliant mix of blues, pop with some rockin' thrown in, with some of the standout tunes that include the very radio-friendly 'Good Things Get Better;' the mellow 'Without Your Skin;' and the blues-rippin' 'Mama Song' and 'Burch Mog.' Another track on the record is perfect for today's weather - add some rain, some wine, some cold, maybe a fireplace along with your significant other and then play the song 'Currently.' Perfect combination.

You probably have already heard his songs and didn't realize it. One
of his tunes is featured in several trailers for the Starz Network
television series "Crash," and several of his tunes have been in the
television shows "Men in Trees" and "Numbers" and the movie "Sky High."

Since his last show in Los Angeles in the summer, he has made a video for 'Without Your Skin' which is here on his youtube channel. He is all over the place online with Facebook fan pages here and here; a myspace page and his own website . He is also on twitter and has created a weekly conversation called Twitterviews where on Mondays, he and another artist interview each other on twitter. That happens at 1pm PST each week.

On Friday, he goes on at 9pm, right after The Makepeace Brothers. Look for new album from Simons soon too, but check out his show first. You're guaranteed to love it.

Copeland's book is mainly about the explosive chemistry among the three members of the group, which disbanded after 1983's album Synchronicity and reformed for a very successful tour two years ago. Copeland (drums), Sting (bass and vocals) and Andy Summers (guitar) constantly conflicted about the style of music that band did - with it fluctuating among new wave, punk, reggae, experimental and then eventually pop.

In the early years, the band played punk and reggae-infused pop and had several hits, including "Roxanne" and "Don't Stand So Close to Me" Their last album was mainly pop with the mega hits 'Every Breath You Take," "King of Pain," "Synchronicity II" and "Wrapped Around Your Finger." and they won three Grammys - two for "Every Breath You Take."

Copeland has never hidden the fact that the three fought and neither has Sting. The band broke up after the Synchronicity tour in 1984 and each member pursued solo careers. Sting has released many solo albums since, has won 10 Grammys and has been nominated for three Oscars. Copeland composed many movie soundtracks as well as the theme for the television show The Equalizer in the 80's, then recorded several solo albums, many of which were of percussion-heavy instrumentals. Summers - the oldest and most experimental of the three - also recorded several solo records and made a record with Robert Fripp (of King Crimson).

In 2007, the group reformed for a new tour (after several attempts and/or reunion shows in the 90's and early 2000's) which was the highest grossing tour of those two years.

Other parts of Copeland's book include his family's participation in his musical career. including his brother Miles, who founded I.R.S. Records and was the manager of The Police and another brother Ian, who was the band's booking agent. Copeland's father Miles Sr. had little to do with the band, but worked for the C.I.A - which added another element of mystery to Copeland, as did his being raised in the Middle East for much of his early life.

Backspacer is good, not as fantastic as their first two records Ten and Vs. in the early 1990's, but good. It's the first Pearl Jam album to be at #1 in sales since No Code (1996) and, coupled with 2006's self-titled Pearl Jam, reestablishes their place in music.

Since their explosive entry into music with Ten (1991) and Vs. (1993), Pearl Jam has always been around, but after a fight with Ticketmaster; generating heat with their political stances; their refusal to make videos and the change in the musical landscape, the band veered off course until the mid-2000's. No Code sold well, but Pearl Jam the album brought them back into the consciousness. Backspacer continues the resuscitation.

The first single from Backspacer is 'The Fixer' which is certainly radio-friendly, but personally, 'Amongst the Waves,' with it's fantastic hook and chorus, seems to be the better single (it might be the second). Singer Eddie Vedder's love of surfing certainly permeates the latter song and that same activity inspired him to write the lyrics for a few of most powerful songs on Ten such as 'Alive' and 'Black.'

Other song highlights on Backspacer include "Gonna See My Friend," which is a rocker that sounds like Chris Cornell (formerly of Soundgarden) could easily sing it and "Just Breathe," which is reminiscent of the Into the Wild Soundtrack (on which Vedder composed and sang all of the songs) as well as the Vs. track 'Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town."

Guitarists Stone Gossard and Mike McCready continue to blend guitar sounds perfectly without overpowering the songs and Jeff Ament uses several different bass guitars and sounds that are always appropriate for the styles of each song.

Unlike several of their albums, Backspacer has 11 straight forward songs with none of them being unorthodox instrumentals or experiments like "Aye Davinita," "Bugs" and "Hey Foxymophandlemama, That's Me, " among others. (All three of those tracks appear on the same album - Vitalogy.

These guys have certainly mellowed and gotten more clean-cut, but they've also far outlasted their Seattle peers and made another good record.

The show stars Patricia Arquette as wife and mother Allison DuBois, who struggles with a hectic job, a family with three young children and her psychic ability to see clues from dead people while she sleeps. She helps solves the crimes against the victims by using her abilities to aid the authorities.

NBC dropped it from it's lineup last year, so the series went to CBS - without a hitch. it's a pretty cool show and it'll continue every Friday night at 9pm. Arquette is great as the conflicted lead character. So much so that she won an Emmy in 2005 for her performance.

So, when is it? Friday at 9pm on CBS.

Schuyler Fisk - October 1 (tomorrow)
George Stanford - October 2nd (Friday)
Lelia Broussard - October 6th (Tuesday)
Andy Clockwise - October 9th (Friday)
Keaton Simons - October 16th (Friday)
(Simons has a song featured in several trailers for the Starz Network television series Crash.)
Brian Wright - Every Friday all month, except for the 16th
Sweet Talk Radio - October 20th and 27 (both Tuesday nights)
The Mornings - October 23rd (Friday)

Also, in early November
Curt Smith (of Tears for Fears) - November 2nd (Monday)
Will Hoge - November 5th - (Thursday)

for more on the lineups at The Hotel Cafe, go here

Stanford is from Philadelphia and has been in Los Angeles playing for several years. When I saw him the first time several years ago, he was playing with The Denim Family Band, who split up when two of the guys left - Stanford being one. Stanford then went solo and recorded his debut CD "Big Drop," which was released in June of 2008. He's been playing and touring in support of the album ever since, playing the Hotel Cafe and Crane's Hollywood Tavern several times over the past several months.

Several of the times I've seen him play recently, he was on the same bill as Truth & Salvage Co - which consists of many members of the no defunct Denim Family Band. Like Stanford, Truth & Salvage also got signed and they are now touring with The Black Crowes. They'll be playing Los Angeles with the Crowes in November. More on that later.

If you can, see Stanford play or get his album Big Drop. It's really good - particularly the title song, "30,000 Feet," "Downriver," "My Own Worst Enemy" and one song that's not on the album but still great, "Meet Me in Los Angeles."

He is also playing at Crane's on Wednesday October 14th

Hotel Cafe is 1623 1/2 N. Cahuenga Blvd in Hollywood.
Crane's is at 1611 El Centro Blvd, in Hollywood/Los Angeles.

You can find the album on iTunes and Stanford's music page on Facebook and here.

Also tonight on CBS, How I Met Your Mother Episode 2 this season. I liked the premiere last week, but it wasn't a very strong start. I imagine it'll get better.

more later

He's not hurting for work though. He is the founder of Ra'mon Lawrence Designs and has three collections at the store Kohl's and he also designed actor James Francis Ginty's tuxedo and tie that he wore at the premiere of the film Surrogates last night in Hollywood.

Surrogates opens today.

After acting with Ford at age 21, Ginty now stars with Willis as well as Radha Mitchell, Boris Kodjoe and Ving Rhames in the sci-fi movie Surrogates, which opens today. The film is based on a graphic novel by Robert Vendetti and Brett Weldele and is directed by Jonathan Mostow, who has helmed Terminator 3: The Rise of the Machines and U-571, among others.

The film is about a society of people who never leave their homes and live vicariously through sexier and better versions of themselves - called surrogates. After an extremely rare murder of a host and subsequent surrogate, Willis's character has to go into the real world as himself to investigate the crime and he eventually confronts a large population of robots.

Willis plays two versions of the FBI agent 'Greer,' with the surrogate wearing a comb over of blonde hair and is clean-shaven, while the 'real' version is the haggard-looking, unshaven, aged agent. While most surrogates look generally like their hosts and are approximately the same age, Ginty's character of 'Canter' is unlike most of the others - with Ginty playing a younger version and James Cromwell portraying him older.

For the part of the younger Canter, director Mostow cast Ginty obviously on his acting talent, but also on his varied arts background.

Ginty studied and performed ballet for seven years at The American Ballet Company, The Royal Ballet and The National Ballet of Canada. For his acting training, he studied at The American Drama Academy, The Royal Academy, Interlochen in northern Michigan and Julliard. All of that experience helped Ginty prepare for working on Surrogates.

"Mostow will pull whatever he can out of you," said Ginty, hours before the world premiere of the film in Los Angeles. "Doing this movie was an extraordinary experience."

As a filmmaker, Mostow tries to incorporate as many physical and practical action sequences into his films as he can, as does Willis as an action star/actor. Both of them encouraged Ginty to do the same throughout his performance, including doing some stunt work.

"There was a ton of practical stuff (real stunts) in the movie and there was certainly CGI also," said Ginty. "Bruce was a real mentor to me. He had a mentor playfulness about him. The whole cast was family through and through."

For the premiere of Surrogates at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, Ginty teamed up with designer Ra'mon Lawrence Coleman of 'Ra'mon-Lawrence Designs,' who currently has three collections at Kohl's and appears on the Bravo series Project Runway.

Ra'mon - concidentally, a major sci-fi fan and an admitted 'Trekkie'- made Ginty a blue/black tuxedo with a combination sci-fi and an vintage-film look and both collaborated on the silver bow tie.

"I wanted a re-invented Old Hollywood in the tuxedo that was appropriate for him (Ginty), said Ra'mon. "The look has to represent the person as well as the designer."

Surrogates is produced by Max Handelman, David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman for Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It was written by Michael Ferris and John D. Brancato.

But for a really radical take on those old hardboiled crime/femme
fatale shenanigans, "Lorna's Silence" is the place to go. This much
of a thriller isn't what you'd expect from Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne,
whose stripped-down, socially attuned minimalism makes Zola's novels
seem as Baroque as Bram Stoker's.
Indeed, some critics have complained that the Belgian brother act that has brought us such masterpieces of working class despair as "L'Enfant" and "Rosetta"
have no business messing with anything that involves . . . this . . .
much . . . plot.
Bosh. "Lorna's Silence" may be a thriller, but it's as
soul-dissecting as any of the Dardennes' other inquiries
into the decency-devastating desire for a good life.
The title character (Arta Dobroshi) is an undocumented Albanian trying to marry her way into Belgian citizenship. She's at the center of a complicated scheme in which her junkie husband Claudy (the directors' favorite screw-up, Jeremie Renier) will be purposely overdosed by her underworld handlers, freeing her to wed and make a Russian mobster EU legal in return.
Even though Lorna's relationship to Claudy is barely that of a disgusted and needy sibling, she gradually develops sympathy for the loser and a dangerous conscience for herself.
As its title suggests, "Lorna's Silence" adds a touch of Bergman to
the Dardennes' usual fealty to their great idol, Robert Bresson. It's
the study of an illegal waif's spiritual awakening in a world
far from God, and as profound a religious film as "Thirst" is in its
weird, demented way.
As much as Park finds great personal depth in erotic horror, the
Dardennes see in their most unlikely of black widows an emerging
humanist. By submitting genre expectations to their established styles and obsessions, the directors have created two of the year's most distinctive and thoughtful movies.

The L.A. County Museum's Mason retrospective, starting Friday, is an exceptionally well-chosen sampling of the actor's best work. Check out their series catalogue below; for more information, got to lacma.org/film.

BIGGER THAN LIFE: James Mason on Film
July 17-August 1

James Mason was born in Yorkshire on May 15, 1909. Abandoning architecture for acting, Mason got his break in 1933 when Alexander Korda invited him to join the Old Vic. His prominence as a stage actor led to a string of low-budget British movies culminating in 1946 with his acclaimed performance as a wounded Irish revolutionary in Carol Reed's Odd Man Out. Arriving in Hollywood a year later, he rapidly became one of the cinema's most unlikely and distinctive leading men. Blessed with dark good looks and a mellifluous voice, Mason possessed an uncanny ability to suggest rampant emotion beneath a demeanor of absolute calm, and he projected an other-worldliness and melancholy that allowed him to play both romantic leads and charismatic villains. With age, Mason remained in demand as a prestigious supporting actor in a wide range of roles. Though known as a man who preferred his privacy to the public life of an international star, Mason was nonetheless an indefatigable worker: the last of his astonishing 151 films and television credits came in 1985, a year after he died of a heart attack at his home in Switzerland.

This centenary tribute comprised of ten films contains many of James Mason's most memorable performances: the mysterious, haunted sailor in the ravishing Pandora and the Flying Dutchman (screened in a new restored color print); the alcoholic, suicidal actor Norman Maine in A Star is Born (for which he received one of three Oscar nominations), the loving family man Ed Avery who is transformed into a psychotic bully by the new "miracle drug" cortisone in Bigger Than Life; the tragic, despotic visionary Captain Nemo in Disney's spectacular adaptation of Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea; and, in a tailor-made role turned down by most Hollywood actors, Humbert Humbert, the erudite pedophile and sardonic narrator of Nabokov's and Kubrick's Lolita.

Bigger Than Life

July 17 | 7:30 pm and 9:30 pm | New 35mm print

Mason produced and hired Nicholas Ray to direct this striking film based on a New Yorker article about the hallucinatory side-effects of the new miracle drug cortisone. As Ed Avery, upstanding teacher, husband and father turned suburban Jekyll and Hyde, Mason gives one of his best performances, and Ray, using dramatic Rebel Without a Cause-style compositions and lighting, portrays his bedeviled hero with both horror and pathos. Released to indifferent not to say hostile reviews, the film is now acclaimed for its gothic depiction of repression and conformity in mid-century America. "Under Ray's masterful direction, James Mason is given three or four of the most beautiful close-ups I have had the chance to see since the advent of CinemaScope... An exceptional story, an excellent portrait of marriage. A film of implacable logic and sanity, Bigger than Life uses both those very qualities as targets, and scores a bull's-eye in every frame."--François Truffaut.

1956/color/95 min./Scope | Scr: Cyril Hume, Richard Maibaum; dir: Nicholas Ray; w/ James Mason, Barbara Rush, Walter Matthau.

Disney Family Matinee

20,000 Leagues under the Sea

July 18 | 4 pm | All tickets $5

Jules Verne's sci-fi fantasy is a story that reverberates for boys of all ages. It is the mid-1800s and a monstrous creature has been sinking ships off San Francisco; an expedition is dispatched to solve the mystery, but the sailors aboard soon discover that the monster is "the Nautilus," a futuristic submarine with a lush Victorian interior, owned by the brooding Captain Nemo, a brilliant messianic scientist who despises humanity and has built his own world under the sea. With its lavish production design and exciting underwater scenes--culminating in a giant squid attack--Disney's classic adaptation still moves the heart and stirs the imagination even after so many years.

1954/color/127 min./Scope | Scr: Earl Felton; dir: Richard Fleischer; w/ Kirk Douglas, James Mason, Paul Lukas, Peter Lorre.

Pandora and the Flying Dutchman
July 18 | 7:30 pm | New restored 35mm print

This sumptuous color film (shot by Jack Cardiff, the acclaimed cinematographer of The Red Shoes) is a heady mix of romance, fantasy, and poetic fatalism set in quaint Esperanza on the Mediterranean coast of Spain. As the seventeenth-century mariner doomed to sail the seas in search of a woman who will die for him, Mason is a magnificently eerie and brooding presence. Pandora, a willful chanteuse driven by strange passions (Gardner, at the height of her beauty), is his destiny.

1949/color/123 min. | Scr/dir: Albert Lewin; w/ James Mason, Ava Gardner. | Restored by George Eastman House in cooperation with Douris UK Limited. Restoration funded by The Film Foundation and the Franco-American Cultural Fund, a partnership of the Directors Guild of America, Societe des Auteurs, Compositeurs et Editeurs de Musique, the Motion Picture Association of America, and the Writers Guild of America, West.

Age of Consent
July 18 | 9:45 pm | Restored 35mm print courtesy Sony Archive

Powell and Mason, who was himself an accomplished painter and caricaturist, joined forces on this story of an aging painter who retreats to an island off Australia to replenish his creative juices. His muse and lover appears in the form of a young, voluptuous, and frequently nude Helen Mirren in her first major film. "A lovely erotic and idyllic comedy."--Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader.

1969/color/98 min. | Scr: Peter Yeldham; dir: Michael Powell; w/ James Mason, Helen Mirren.

The Reckless Moment
July 24 | 7:30 pm

A blend of character study and noir thriller, Ophüls' last American film centers on a respectable wife and mother (Bennett) whose middle-class life is shattered when she recklessly disposes of the body of her daughter's lowlife boyfriend, who has been accidentally killed in her garage. As she valiantly copes with an intrusive family and an inconvenient blackmailer (Mason at his most tortured and tender), Ophüls' circling camera further entraps his stoic heroine until she breaks down in a wrenching finale. Mason held Ophuls in high regard as he demonstrated by penning these affectionate lines: "A shot that does not call for tracks is agony for dear old Max. When separated from his dolly, he's wrapped in deepest melancholy."

1949/b&w/82 min. | Scr: Robert W. Soderberg, Henry Garson; dir: Max Ophuls; w/ Joan Bennett, James Mason.

Odd Man Out

July 24 | 9 pm
Mason achieved international leading-man status in this harrowing story of an Irish rebel who stumbles through the streets of Belfast until midnight, the object of a citywide manhunt. In the words of critic Pauline Kael: "The tormented, delirious Johnny, bleeding to death, seeks but does not find refuge on his way to the grave... those he encounters see him as a man beyond help; his final denunciation of a world without charity is one of the most memorable scenes on film. Carol Reed has always been at his best when dealing with outsiders--in Odd Man Out, he gives you an experience you can't shrug off."

1946/b&w/116 min. | Scr: F.L. Green, R.C. Sherriff; dir: Carol Reed; w/ James Mason, Robert Newton, Cyril Cusack.

A Star is Born

July 25 | 7:30 pm | Restored 35mm print

The part of Norman Maine, an alcoholic actor whose Hollywood star is falling as fast as his young wife's is rising, provided Mason with one of his signature roles, an Oscar nomination, and trivia fame thanks to the last line of the picture when Vickie Lester declares: "This is Mrs. Norman Maine." This sweeping musical comedy/drama, Cukor's first in color and CinemaScope, is ravishing to look at, fascinating to listen to, and heartbreaking to experience. At the film's core is Judy Garland who, despite problems that slowed down production--the shoot lasted ten months!--was at the height of her powers as an actress and singer. As for Mason, "I was having a wonderful time. Judy was a witty, lively, talented, touching, adorable woman. She had a quality which can only be compared to Charlie Chaplin's: always optimistic, always gay, always inventive."

1954/color/176 min./Scope | Scr: Moss Hart; dir: George Cukor; w/ Judy Garland, James Mason, Jack Carson.

5 Fingers

July 31 | 7:30 pm

Based loosely on a true story, this elegant espionage film set in Ankara in 1944 stars Mason as an Albanian-born valet working at the British embassy who teams up with an unscrupulous countess (Darrieux) to sell secret Allied documents to the Germans. An excellent screenplay made even better by the witty embellishments of Mankiewicz, "The tale becomes an irresistibly cynical comedy of manners in which the crafty gentleman's gentleman (a marvelous performance from Mason), scheming to promote himself as a member of the leisure classes, falls victim to his own pretensions. An irresistible treat."-- Time Out.

1952/b&w/108 min. | Scr: Michael Wilson; dir: Joseph Mankiewicz; w/ James Mason, Danielle Darrieux, Michael Rennie.

The Deadly Affair
July 31 | 9:30 pm

This sophisticated, adult spy thriller, based on a novel by John le Carré, stars Mason as a burnt-out security inspector in the Foreign Office who finds himself threatened by an espionage ring while investigating a colleague's suicide. On display are the genre's standard ingredients--intrigue, betrayal, and violent death--but Lumet's primary focus is on a fascinating group of characters brought vividly to life by a stellar international cast including Signoret, who gives gut-wrenching performance as a Holocaust survivor. Master cinematographer Freddie Young, of Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago fame, pre-exposed the film to give the images a psychological realism unique to the mid-sixties Cold War era. "Thematically it was a film about life's disappointments. I wanted to get that dreary, lifeless feeling London has in winter. I wanted to desaturate the colors."--Sidney Lumet.

1966/color/107 min. | Scr: Paul Dehn; dir: Sidney Lumet; w/ James Mason, Harriet Andersson, Simone Signoret, Maximilian Schell.

Lolita
August 1 | 7:30 pm

If ever an actor was born to play a fictional character it was James Mason as Humbert Humbert, the pedophile narrator of Nabokov's controversial best-selling novel. Hiding his dark and twisted desires behind the façade of a suave European academic, Humbert insinuates himself into the life of fourteen-year-old Lolita by marrying her sexually frustrated mother, a strident and suspicious presence conveniently silenced by a speeding car. Disguised as father and daughter, Humbert and his self-centered nymphet embark on a cross-country car trip closely shadowed by the chameleon-like Clare Quilty, Lolita's "true love." A visually striking adaptation of a novel that many felt could not be filmed, Kubrick's Lolita is a black comedy set in a vulgar America of shabby motels and fast-food stands, and a postmodern version of Pandora's Box in which the predator is destroyed by his own obsession. "A simple, lucid film, precisely written, which reveals America and American sex better than Melville."--Jean-Luc Godard.

1962/b&w/152 min. | Scr: Vladimir Nabokov, Kubrick; dir: Stanley Kubrick; w/ James Mason, Shelley Winters, Sue Lyon, Peter Sellers.

So, that was my festival. Now, without further ado, the official announcement:

FILM INDEPENDENT ANNOUNCES AWARD WINNERS

OF 2009 LOS ANGELES FILM FESTIVAL

Film Independent, the non-profit arts organization that produces the Spirit Awards and the Los Angeles Film Festival, announced its 2009 Los Angeles Film Festival award winners at a special event, presented by Target. The Los Angeles Film Festival ran from Thursday, June 18 to Sunday, June 28.

"One of our goals at Film Independent is to help filmmakers build an audience for their work, and the Los Angeles Film Festival does just that," said Film Independent Executive Director Dawn Hudson. "We hope recognition at the Festival will allow these filmmakers to continue to find broad audiences for their terrific films."

The two top juried awards of the Los Angeles Film Festival are the Target Filmmaker Award and Target Documentary Award, each carrying an unrestricted $50,000 cash prize for the winning film's director. The awards were established by the Festival and Target to encourage independent filmmakers to pursue their artistic ambitions.

The Target Filmmaker Award recognizes the finest narrative film in competition at the Festival and went to Sam Fleischner and Ben Chace for Wah Do Dem (What They Do). The Target Documentary Award recognizes the finest documentary film in competition at the Festival and went to Juan Carlos Rulfo and Carlos Hagerman for Those Who Remain (Los Que se Quedan).

New this year, the Festival and Target established the Target Dream in Color Award to recognize a short film in the Festival's Future Filmmaker Showcase for high school students that inspires audiences to dream without boundaries and share culture in a unique and positive way. The prize includes a Target Gift card for the winning director and a desktop editing system for the winner's school media arts program. The Target Dream in Color Award was presented by Elizabeth Pena and given to Sam Rubin for Lipstick.

The Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature went to The Stoning of Soraya M., directed by Cyrus Nowrasteh and the Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature went to Soul Power, directed by Jeffrey Levy-Hinte. Eva Norvind's Born Without (Nacido Sin) won the Audience Award for Best International Feature.

The award for Outstanding Performance in the Narrative Competition went to Shayne Topp for his performance in Suzi Yoonessi's Dear Lemon Lima,. Given to an actor or actors from an official selection in the Narrative Competition, this is the sixth year the award has been given at the Festival.

The award for Best Narrative Short Film went to Antonio Mendez Esparza's Time and Again. The award for Best Documentary Short Film went to Anna Gaskell's Replayground. Jérémy Clapin's Skhizein won the award for Best Animated Short Film.

The Audience Award for Best Short Film went to Instead of Abracadabra, directed by Patrick Eklund. Grapevine Fires, directed by Walter Robot won the Audience Award for Best Music Video for Death Cab for Cutie.

Awards were given out in the following categories:

Target Filmmaker Award (for Best Narrative Feature)

Winner: Wah Do Dem (What They Do) written and directed by Sam Fleischner & Ben Chace

Producers: Sam Fleischner, Katina Hubbard, Ben Chace, Martha Lapham, Henry Kasdon

Cast: Sean Bones, Norah Jones, Kevin Bewersdorf, Carl Bradshaw

Film Description: Max's dream Caribbean cruise becomes a solitary odyssey after his girlfriend dumps him days before their departure. Now, he'll have to go with the Jamaican flow in this disarming and incisive debut feature.

The Target Filmmaker Award carries an unrestricted cash prize of $50,000 funded by Target, offering the financial means to help filmmakers transfer their vision to the screen. The award recognizes the finest narrative film in competition, and is given to the director. A special jury selects the winner, and all narrative feature-length films screening in the Narrative Competition section were eligible.

In bestowing Sam Fleischner and Ben Chace with the Target Filmmaker Award, the Jury stated:

"A film that could feel anecdotal but through its musical shifts and tone, and its vision of the world as a newly optimistic place, Wah Do Dem (What They Do) creates a strong and profound emotional narrative."

****

Target Documentary Award (for Best Documentary Feature)

Winner: Those Who Remain (Los Que se Quedan) directed by Juan Carlos Rulfo and Carlos Hagerman

Producers: Juan Carlos Rulfo, Carlos Hagerman, Martha Sosa Elizondo, Nicolas Vale

Film Description: (Mexico) This intimate and discerning depiction of the impact of migration on families left behind by loved ones who travel north emerges as a nuanced portrait of "the other side" of the immigration story.

The Target Documentary Award carries an unrestricted cash prize of $50,000 funded by Target, offering the financial means to help filmmakers transfer their vision to the screen. The award recognizes the finest documentary film in competition, and is given to the director. A special jury selects the winner, and all documentary feature-length films screening in the Documentary Competition section were eligible.

In bestowing Juan Carlos Rulfo and Carlos Hagerman with the Target Documentary Award, the Jury stated:

"With its generosity of spirit and lyrical grace that illuminates a human landscape with fresh eyes, Those Who Remain reminds us that documentaries can be both journalism and poetry."

****

Target Dream in Color Award (for Best Short in the Future Filmmaker Showcase)

Winner: Lipstick directed by Sam Rubin

Producer: The Film Workshop of SF Art & Film

Cast: Sam Rubin

Film Description: A boy locks himself in a bathroom. His mother wants to know if he is OK.

The Target Dream in Color Award was given to Sam Rubin for Lipstick and recognizes a film that inspires audiences to dream without boundaries and share culture in a unique and positive way. This award is the first time a cash grant was given to a participant in the Los Angeles Film Festival's Future Filmmaker Showcase, a short film program targeted to young and talented emerging filmmakers in high school.

In bestowing Sam Rubin with the Target Dream in Color Award, the Jury stated:

"We congratulate all the filmmakers on their extraordinary work. While we were impressed with the scope and diversity of all the high school shorts, we select Lipstick, a simple and powerful film, which can inspire other future filmmakers to make movies with very little. Using just two props, one location, and two actors, the filmmaker creates a compelling story about a character dealing with personal yet universal issues of identity and communication. It is a visual film with a strong point of view. In Lipstick, we see both a present and future filmmaker."

****

Outstanding Performance in the Narrative Competition

Winner: Shayne Topp in Suzi Yoonessi's Dear Lemon Lima,

Film Description: "As sweet and colorful as a snow cone, this delightful happy-sad confection follows an awkward Alaskan teen as she discovers her Yup'ik heritage while rallying her fellow misfits to compete in her school's Snow-storm Survivor competition."

In bestowing Shayne Topp with Outstanding Performance recognition, the Jury stated:

"For his sophisticated and nuanced comic performance in a role that is often played in less subtle ways by more experienced actors, the award goes to Shayne Topp from Dear Lemon Lima,."

****

Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature

Winner: The Stoning of Soraya M. written by Betsy Giffen Nowrasteh and Cyrus Nowrasteh and directed by Cyrus Nowrasteh

Producers: Stephen McEveety, John Shepherd

Cast: Shohreh Aghdashloo, Mozhan Marnò, Jim Caviezel

Film Description: Based on Freidoune Sahebjam's international bestseller, this visceral drama, which tells the true story of a tragic incident of oppression, conspiracy and betrayal, gathers tension and outrage as it builds to its inevitable conclusion.

This award is given to the narrative feature audiences liked most as voted by a tabulated rating system. Select narrative feature-length films screening in the following sections were eligible for the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature: Narrative Competition, International Showcase, International Spotlight, Summer Showcase, Outdoor Screenings at the Ford Amphitheatre, Dark Wave, Guilty Pleasures, and Special Screenings.

****

Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature

Winner: Soul Power directed by Jeffrey Levy-Hinte

Producers: Leon Gast, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte, David Sonenberg

Featuring: James Brown, Bill Withers, B.B. King, The Spinners, Celia Cruz and the Fania All-Stars, Muhammad Ali, Don King, Stewart Levine

Film Description: This blazing concert film documents "Zaire '74," the sister event to the famed Ali/Foreman "Rumbling in the Jungle," featuring previously unseen performances by James Brown, B.B. King, Bill Withers, Celia Cruz and others.

This award is given to the documentary feature audiences liked most as voted on by a tabulated rating system. Select documentary feature-length films screening in the following sections were eligible for the Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature: Documentary Competition, International Showcase, International Spotlight, Summer Showcase, Outdoor Screenings at the Ford Amphitheatre, and Special Screenings.

****

Audience Award for Best International Feature

Winner: Born Without (Nacido Sin) written & directed by Eva Norvind

Producers: Eva Norvind, Nailea Norvind, Donald K. Ranvaud

Featuring: José Flores, Graciela Flores, Alejandro Jodorowsky

Film Description: (Mexico) A remarkably frank portrait of the lives and loves of José Flores - a street musician, actor, father of six, and Romeo who was born without arms and stands only three feet tall.

This award is given to the international feature audiences liked most as voted on by a tabulated rating system. Select international feature-length films, both narrative and documentary, in the Narrative Competition, Documentary Competition, International Showcase, International Spotlight, Summer Showcase, Outdoor Screenings at the Ford Amphitheatre, Dark Wave, and Special Screenings were eligible for the Audience Award for Best International Feature.

****

Best Narrative Short Film

Winner: Time and Again written & directed by Antonio Mendez Esparza

Producers: Florin Serban, Diana Wade

Cast: Pedro Santos, Erica Heras

Description: Pedro's dreams about his future are challenged by an unforeseen turn of events.

In bestowing Antonio Mendez Esparza with Best Narrative Short Film, the Jury stated:

"For its raw and atmospheric visual palette, bold use of real and rarely seen locations, and cast which brought a refreshing realism, the award goes to Time and Again, an ambitious portrait of an immigrant's struggle to find love in a new land."

****

Best Documentary Short Film

Winner: Replayground by Anna Gaskell

Producers: Anna Gaskell

Featuring: Brookti Berne, Harris Rosenberg, James Gray

Description: Roles are reversed in this hilarious reenactment of a children's quarrel.

In bestowing Anna Gaskell with Best Documentary Short Film, the Jury stated:

"The award goes to Replayground. The concept was so fresh and unexpected in its use of children's visions of their playground actions as content for a play that they would then be entrusted to cast and direct. A case of a brilliant premise carrying a film."

****

Best Animated Short Film

Winner: Skhizein by Jérémy Clapin

Producers: Wendy Griffiths, Stéphane Piera

Cast: Julien Boisseller, Theo Grimmelsen, Mado Debrus

Description: (France) After a 150-ton meteorite strikes, Henry's physical existence is forever altered.

In bestowing Jérémy Clapin with Best Animated Short Film, the Jury stated:

"The award goes to Skhizein, for its use of animation to tell a story no other medium could, that of a character who finds himself literally beside himself, creating an elegant interlocking of story animation and character."

****

Audience Award for Best Short Film

Winner: Instead of Abracadabra by Patrik Eklund

Producer: Mathias Fjellström

Cast: Simon J. Berger, Jacob Nordenson, Anki Larsson, Saga Gärde

Description: Tomas attempts to impress his family and the beautiful Monica with his dazzling feats of magic.

Awarded to the short film audiences liked most as voted on by a tabulated rating system. Short films screening in the Shorts Programs or before Narrative Competition, Documentary Competition, or International Showcase feature-length screenings were eligible for the Audience Award for Best Short Film.

****

Audience Award for Best Music Video

Winner: Grapevine Fires by Walter Robot

Music: Death Cab For Cutie

Description: When a wildfire rages through a small suburb, a boy must save his older brother, and in the process finds what is really important in life.

This award is given to the music video audiences liked most as voted on by a tabulated rating system.

In the spirit of Godzilla vs. Monster Zero and Gamera, The Asylum Home Entertainment has released Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus onto the world. And the world appreciates it.

Former teenage pop star-turned-Broadway star Deborah 'Debbie' Gibson stars in this monster movie as a scientist who originally wants to save the two giant creatures and Lorenzo Lamas as a (I think) military (or government?) guy who wants to kill them both. After the two enormous beings destroy a dozen or so military and non-military sea vessels and installations in between Japan and California, everyone wants to trap and kill the two.

Gibson plays 'Emma MacNeil' who 'borrows' an underwater sea vessel to investigate whale migrations in frigid waters, then she accidentally crashes it into a giant ice block and breaks it - unknowingly releasing the two massive sea creatures.

She then gets fired for stealing the sub and then buddies up to her former college professor 'Lamar Sanders' (played by Sean Lawlor) after they discover a Megalodon is loose in the Pacific. (They don't say actually how big it is, but I would guess 200 to 300 feet long - judging from its size compared to other things in the movie)

A Japanese scientist who also knows Sanders - named "Seiji Shimada" (played by Vic Chao) then shares with Emma and Lamar his discovery of a giant octupus off the coast of Japan that completely destroyed an oil rig and then the race is on to find both creatures.

Obviously, you have to watch this tongue-in-cheek to enjoy it - which is not hard to do. This is pure low-budget entertainment at its best. Sure there are some cheesy visual effects (oddly, some of the effects are great, then some are not so much). If you can ignore any logic and watch it for what it is, it's a fantastic 90 minutes. Really fun. The best scenes - of course - are when the shark and the octopus fight each other, but it is fantastic to see the badass shark bite a huge chunk out of the Golden Gate bridge (best sequence in the movie) and jump out of the water and knock an airliner of the sky (second best scene).

Funniest bits. Guy in the plane sees the shark flying up from the water to the airplane window and he says 'holy (stuff)!' and Lamas' acting - particularly after the shark bites through the bridge. Also, the way Lamas looks. Dressed in black mostly, sports jacket, PONYTAIL. Not sure if he's military or secret government - he was kind of doing things that could be considered both. It would have been cooler if he had his hair from Renegade, but I digress.

Again, this is a cheesy B-movie that happens to have recognizable people in it. Watch it with a grain of salt, then you'll love it. If you want realism, watch Shark Week on Discovery.

But, for what it is...its' great fun.

There is also a "Making of" section and a blooper reel, where apparently the shark bites through the wrong bridge and they had to do another take. Also, the octopus grabs Gibson right out of the blue.

You can buy it here or rent it at Blockbuster.

(Couldn't find the movie in order watch it...)

more to come..........

With the location of the main stage at the base of a natural amphitheatre with the Columbia river gorge behind it, the venue inspires all those who play to turn it up a notch to at least "11."

Everyone has the dramatic "helicopter shot" moment as they crest the hill to see the big stage for the first time. And Sasquatch knows how to play this up, evidenced by this promo video. Notice the grass terraces, which are quite cushy, and except for the bugs the first day make for a nice place to lay around and catch some great music.

The first band up of the 33 I saw at least some of is The Gaslight Anthem, which helps get into the groove slowly. They have a bit of a Springsteen vibe, which might come naturally since they are Jersey boys. Blind Pilot, another mellow band, mentions after some lengthy tuning, "that concludes the first half of our set." They sound a little bit like Calexico with some pedal steel, stand up bass, fiddle and banjo, and even borrow the horn section from Calexico. They are the first of several quite good bands from Portland, which seems to have a great scene at the moment.

Newbury Park native M.Ward also rose to musical prominence in Portland. He opens with a great version of Buddy Holly's Rave On and continues with some great guitar work in his set. Be sure and check out the video for "Chinese Translation."

DeVotchKa, who began life as a backing band at burlesque shows, cranks up their accordions on the main stage and get the crowd jumping for the first time. Next Animal Collective has two songs that hold my interest, the first being "Summertime Clothes" which is a great song for an outdoor music festival. But I grow restless as it is time to check out Sun Kil Moon on another stage. Moon is Mark Kozelek's new project after Red House Painters, and although quite good, he tends to be a bit monotonous with some Son Volt style vocal echo on just about every song. And man, is he serious.

Back on the main stage The Decemberists are doing their thing in black suits. They, along with many other bands in this festival setting, seem to want to prove they can rock hard right off the bat, saving their best material for later in the set. This band is doing some pretty creative music right now, and, Arcade Fire comparisons aside, are set to become a major force.

One of the festival's more, um, interesting moments comes when a couple on the edge of the bluff decide to get naked and get busy. They are hustled out by security, but not before entertaining the crowd for several minutes. The band never seemed to notice though. Talk about extreme exhibitionism.
An au natural couple gets busted

Hustling over to Mos Def at the Wookie stage proved a wise choice as he was doing his very accessible rap thing. And on the same stage right after was Bon Iver, whose set was tragically cut to six songs due to a curfew. All those in attendance were blown away though and will surely be catching him whenever and wherever. By waiting for his set I missed the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, which seemed to be a campground favorite, but I'm still skeptical and consider them overrated. Kings of Leon closed out the night and impressed those in attendance.

Tshirts from day one included "Your favorite band sucks" "Pedro lacks political experience" and "Science: It works Bit•hes."

The Walkmen are the first band I make it to on day two. They are a lot like Calexico, who follow them. It is a bit odd, being so close to Canada, to hear southwest border sounds. We're used to it here in California of course, but the sound seems a bit lost on the northwestern crowd.

St. Vincent, as pale as a human can be, draws a western facing midday slot on the Wookie stage and says "I hope you're wearing sunscreen and drinking cold beer," sort of a mantra for this day. She has on great sunglasses which make her pop out from a distance and closes with the excellent "The Strangers."

The Avett Brothers, described as bluegrass punks, are back on the main stage. Their late summer release on Columbia should be excellent, watch out for it.

Blake Edwards of The Submarines

Infectiious bounciness is provided by the Submarines, the husband and wife couple from Los Angeles who are both easy on the eyes and ears, make the kind of music that Hollywood likes to put into television shows like "Grey's Anatomy." Blake Edwards is the great granddaughter of F. Scott Fitzgerald, which is a little funny since she is doing innocuous pop. But hey, their good funky groove underlayering with guitar on top makes for a nice mix which is hard not to like.

TV on the Radio's Kyp Malone wishes he could go back in time and tell his teenage self that he would one day be playing on the same stage as Jane's Addiction. His band turns in a fine set, innovative and tight. M83 and their throwback 80's sound, entertains the crowd who for the most part weren't around to listen to that style in the day. Those of us who were bob our heads knowingly.

Of Montreal did their theatre performance, trying but failing to one up The Flaming Lips.

Nine Inch Nails and Jane's Addiction, currently on their NINJA tour, took the main stage by storm to close out the second day. What can be said about these veterans that hasn't been written a million times before. They rock. The end.
Perry Farrell of Jane's Addiction

Tshirts from day two: "I steal music off the internet" "Boobies make me smile"

Day three brings me a revelation. I mostly want bands to sound like their records, or a better, more inspired version of them. Maybe it is the giant outdoor setting, but many bands are almost unrecognizable when they play festivals. There seems to be a need for bands to play as loud and fast as possible, even when that is not their style. Oh well.
Grizzly Bear is a bit of case in point. They never quite take off in their set, but their records soar.
Santigold performs

So heading over to the smallest stage of the venue, the Yeti, I see some of Horse Feathers, who put on perhaps the quietest set of anyone this weekend. They play the xylophone and the saw. The crowd, respectively silent, loves it. These guys are absolutely someone to see in a small dark venue and would be mesmerizing.
Going 180 degrees from Feathers is Santigold. Oft compared to M.I.A, which is unfortunate, she turns out one great song after another, performing most of her recent recording which didn't have a miss on it. She is on the road with a band for the first time and seems to be enjoying the company onstage.

Bltizen Trapper is another band that feels the need to rock out but is so much better when they stay true to their signature sound. Of course they are treading the line between mellow put you to sleep and out right rocking on their record, so it is a bit of a balancing act. Sounding very Dylan-esque at times, it occurs to me that the poet himself wouldn't mind covering their song "Furr." That one and Black River Killer are stunning live. The latter, basically a serial murderer's ballad is just flat amazing. If you don't own Furr, you should.

Seattle's Fleet Foxes had the luck of having the best sound production all weekend, and their set from the main stage was just about perfect. Their lilting harmonies fill the Gorge and everyone within earshot is transfixed. LA's Silversun Pickups were a definite right angle to them, playing loud and fast.

Bopping back to the Wookie I was treated to one of if not the highlight of Sasquatch. A live set by Girl Talk, Pittsburg's mashup dj Greg Gillis. He had the 100 people on stage and a huge crowd in the palm of his hand as he made ordinary rave style spinners look absolutely amateur in comparision, mixing samples of dozens of popular, but unexpected songs into an incredible "can't stop moving" jam session. I was looking for the stage to collapse as the dancers jumped up and down in unison. Anyone that sees this guy live will be blown away.

Erykah Badu is wonderful, but a bit slow, especially after raving with Girl Talk. Ben Harper closes out the festival with some very solid work, touring with his new band the Relentless 7 on the heels of the just released Dark Times.

Tshirts today: "Wanna start a commune?" "Say hi to your mom"

Overall Sasquatch! is a great festival. Smaller than ACL, but this year's lineup left nothing to be desired musically. Everyone I spoke with felt this was the best group of acts so far in the eight-year history of the show. And despite the $9 beers that everyone likes to complain about, I can recommend a trip to Washington to catch this one. We'll see if they can match the quality and quantity next year. I got a hug from a Sasquatch who promised me a lifetime of peeing and pooping in the woods without social repercussion. That was the worth the trip alone.

Oh I almost forgot to mention you pretty much have to camp, as there are no local hotels to speak of withing 40 miles. Lots of locals from Seattle and other towns just go for a day, but if you are doing the festival, camping is your only only option. Premier camping or a private campground like Wild Horse are highly recommended. In the camp you will meet Seattlites, Montanans, Oregonians and of course Canadians who come down for this in droves.

Next year, Bonnaroo?

-David Sprague

Case in point:

non-winners Jennifer Hudson, Clay Aiken, Chris Daughtry and William Hung (in a way)
"winners": Taylor Hicks, Ruben Studdard, Fantasia

Sure, there are also winners Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson, but still.

American Idol should be this. Winner and winner only gets the contract. Everyone else gets nothing of the kind for like a year. Therefore, if you win...only you get the chicken dinner.

Watch the trailer here. Review coming later this week.

It's singer Debbie (now Deborah) Gibson and Lorenzo Lamas. It's a shark so large that it bites a Golden Gate-sized bridge in half (as well as a ship) against an octopus so big that one of its tentacles knocks a fighter plane out of the sky.

Brilliant.

An example.

** MEDIA ALERT**

OPEN CASTING CALL FOR YOUNG BOYS & GIRLS FOR UPCOMING
UNIVERSAL PICTURES FEATURE FILM

WHAT: Seeking 6-8 year-old boys and girls with a Caucasian look for feature film roles.

WHO: If chosen, they will play the roles of Henry and Ashley, the son and daughter of Greg and Pam Focker. Henry is a little oversensitive and kind. Ashley is a tomboy.
They must be available for work in California from July '09 through Oct '09.
No experience is necessary. Twins & multiples welcome!

WHERE: CHOICE OF 2 LOCATIONS:

Orange County:
Newport Beach Marriott Hotel & Spa
900 Newport Center Dr.
Newport Beach, CA 92660
**Free parking at Fashion Island or $4/hr parking at hotel

North Hollywood:
Debbie Reynolds Dance Studio
6514 Lankershim Blvd.
North Hollywood, CA 91606
**Free parking at studio or free street parking

DATE: Saturday May 30, 2009

TIME: Orange County location: 11 am - 4 pm
North Hollywood location: 12 pm - 5 pm

If you and your child are unable to attend this open call, please send a recent picture of your child
(and resume, if you have) to the following mailing address:

"Fockers" Casting
606 N. Larchmont Blvd., Suite 202
Los Angeles, CA 90004

or submit your child's photo and resume (if any) to castingfockers@gmail.com

AFI FEST 2009 presented by Audi will be held October 30 - November 7 in Hollywood, California, celebrating its 23rd year as Los Angeles' premier film festival. This year, in recognition of Audi's 100 years of automotive innovation, AFI and Audi will offer complimentary tickets to all screenings, including a limited number of seats at the evening screenings and Galas, including Opening and Closing Night.

The festival will be headquartered at the historic Mann's Chinese Theatre between October 30 and November 5th, and then move to the seaside for screenings in Santa Monica presented in association with the American Film Market (AFM). The Hollywood Roosevelt returns as the festival's host hotel.

"AFI FEST presented by Audi brings the best of global cinema to the world capital of the art form," said Bob Gazzale, AFI President & CEO. "Presenting the screenings compliments of AFI and Audi is our way of reaching out to film lovers in these challenging times and inviting them to see a movie on us."

The festival will be programmed by Rose Kuo, AFI FEST Artistic Director, in partnership with longtime film writer Robert Koehler and AFI FEST programmer Lane Kneedler. " It is a thrill to have Robert join the AFI FEST team," said Kuo. "His critical eye has long been respected in the film community, and he has been an unwavering voice on behalf of the array of international filmmakers whom AFI FEST has championed from its very beginning."

AFI FEST 2009 presented by Audi will feature domestic and international works from emerging filmmakers, global showcases of the latest offerings from established artists, and red-carpet gala premieres. In addition to complimentary seating on a "first come" basis, patron passes for guaranteed seats at evening galas and tributes will be available for purchase and will allow priority access to all regular screenings.

AFI FEST presented by Audi is the only film festival in the United States to hold the prestigious FIAPF accreditation (www.FIAPF.org), assuring a high standard of quality and reliability for the international film community. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognizes AFI FEST as a qualifying festival for the Short Films category of the annual Academy Awards.

The AFI FEST presented by Audi early film submission deadline is June 19, 2009. The final deadline for shorts (under 30 minutes) is July 17, 2009. The final deadline for features (over 30 minutes) is July 31, 2009. Acceptance decisions will be announced no later than October 1, 2009. Submissions can be made at www.AFI.com/AFIFEST or by calling 1.866.AFI.FEST for more information.

The American Film Market (AFM), to be held November 4 -11, 2009, is the market partner of AFI FEST. Since its formation in 2004, this alliance has grown into the largest gathering of film professionals in North America. The association between the two events connects art and commerce, broadening the opportunities for all participants. A total of 30 films selected for last year's AFI FEST were also represented at AFM 2008.

AFI FEST 2008 presented by Audi enjoyed record attendance, as audiences turned out in force to view films and special events. Programming highlights from AFI FEST 2008 presented by Audi included the World Premiere of DOUBT with Meryl Streep and Amy Adams in attendance; a Tribute to Danny Boyle, which included the U.S. premiere of SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE with the director and cast on the red carpet; the U.S. premiere of THE WRESTLER with Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei and Darren Aronofsky in attendance; red carpet appearances by Benicio Del Toro, Dustin Hoffman, Emma Thompson, Mark Ruffalo, Joaquin Phoenix, Michelle Williams, Steven Soderbergh, Ed Zwick and Arnaud Desplechin; and access to the AFI Digital Content Lab's 2-day DigiFest conference.

The informative press release is below:

95.5 KLOS AND LANDMARK THEATRES PRESENT

"THE ANVIL EXPERIENCE" IN LOS ANGELES ON WEDNESDAY, MAY 13TH

"Anvil! The Story Of Anvil" Screens at the Nuart, Performance by Anvil
to Follow

New York (May 11, 2009) - 95.5 KLOS and Landmark Theatres presents in
Los Angeles "The Anvil Experience," a special screening and concert of
the acclaimed documentary, "Anvil! The Story of Anvil," with a
performance by the band, Anvil. 95.5 KLOS is promoting the event on-air
and giving away 5 pairs of tickets to listeners. The event takes place
on Wednesday, May 13th and starts with the 10:30 p.m. showing of the
film at the Landmark's Nuart Theatre in West Los Angeles. To purchase
tickets for "The Anvil Experience," go to:
http://www.landmarktheatres.com/market/LosAngeles/NuartTheatre.htm.

Since debuting in theaters in April "Anvil! The Story of Anvil" has
already grossed $278,000 in only 25 theaters. Anvil band members Steve
"Lips" Kudlow and Robb Reiner were recently featured in Rolling Stone
and Newsweek, and they will make their appearance as guests on the couch
of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" airing May 14 on ABC at 12:05 a.m. ET/PT.

"Anvil! The Story of Anvil" is the directorial debut of screenwriter
Sacha Gervasi ("The Terminal") and was produced by Rebecca Yeldham ("The
Kite Runner" and "The Motorcycle Diaries"). The film follows Steve
"Lips" Kudlow and Robb Reiner and their band, Anvil, which released one
of the heaviest albums in metal history, 1982's Metal on Metal. The
album influenced an entire musical generation of rock bands, including
Metallica, Slayer, and Anthrax, who all went on to sell millions of
records. Anvil, on the other hand, took a different path-straight to
obscurity. The film is both entertaining and touching as it follows
their last-ditch quest for the fame and fortune that has been so elusive
to them. "Anvil! The Story of Anvil" is a timeless tale of survival and
the unadulterated passion it takes to follow your dream, year after
year.

Praised as "The best documentary I've seen in years," by documentarian
Michael Moore, "Anvil! The Story of Anvil" contains appearances by an
array of heavy metal icons, including Metallica's Lars Ulrich, former
member of Guns N' Roses' Slash, Anthrax's Scott Ian, and Slayer's Tom
Araya, among others.

Celebrities unconnected to the film have rallied around it, urging their
fans to see "Anvil" in theaters. Among them are: Ryan Gosling, Dustin
Hoffman, Benji and Joel Madden of Good Charlotte, Maroon 5, John Mayer,
Mandy Moore, Keanu Reeves, Morgan Spurlock and Rob Thomas.

"Anvil! The Story of Anvil" is distributed by VH1 in association with
Abramorama. This fall, VH1 will release the film on television and DVD
under its Emmy Award-winning "VH1 Rock Docs" franchise.

PROFILES IN HISTORY SPRING AUCTION OF HOLLYWOOD MEMORABILILA BRINGS IN OVER 4 MILLION DOLLARS

Harrison Ford's Blaster From Blade Runner, An Original 1931 Frankenstein Movie Poster, The Creature From The Black Lagoon Mask, Arnold Schwarzenegger's Mr. Freeze Costume Highlight Huge Sale

Forrest J Ackerman's estate Collection, An Archive of B/W and Color Negatives From the M-G-M, Fox, and Warner Bros. Vaults and a Screen Used Hunter-Killer From Terminator Also Big Hits With Collectors

Calabasas, CA-- The Harrison Ford "Rick Deckard" hero blaster from Blade Runner ($270,000), an original Frankenstein one-sheet movie poster ($216,000), an archive of B/W and color negatives from the M-G-M, Fox, and Warner Bros. vaults ($210,000) the original Creature from the Black Lagoon hero "Gill Man" mask from Revenge of the Creature ($84,000) and Arnold Schwarzenegger's "Mr. Freeze" costume from Batman & Robin ($72,000) were the top items in the recently completed Profiles in History Spring Auction of Hollywood memorabilia. A total of

$4.2 Million worth of props, costumes, movie posters, photos and more were picked up by collectors around the world.

Other highlights included a screen used hero aerial Hunter / Killer from The Terminator ($66,000), Derek Meers' Jason Voorhees" costume from Friday the 13th ($54,000), Two velociraptors feeding on a triceratops display from Jurassic Park ($51,000) and Ray Park "Darth Maul" fighting lightsaber from Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace ($48,000). Bidders also competed vigorously for items from the Forrest J Ackerman Estate Collection, as Forry's Metropolis "Maria" robot sold for $48,000, as did the Bela Lugosi "Dracula" ring. Lugosi's "Vampire" cape worn in The Raven, The Return of the Vampire, The Whispering Shadow and his final performance in Plan 9 from Outer Space sold for $39,000.

More highlights included:

Original screen-used Elven bed with five Elves and decorated illuminating Christmas tree from A Nightmare Before Christmas ($48,000)
Complete hero Maurice Evans "Dr. Zaius" costume from The Planet of the Apes and Beneath the Planet of the Apes ($48,000)
Screen-used "Teddy" puppet and lighting dummy from A.I.: Artificial Intelligence ($48,000)
Harrison Ford "Rick Deckard" "Voight Kampff" costume from Blade Runner ($48,000)
Charlton Heston "Colonel George Taylor" costume and display from Planet of the Apes ($48,000)
Matthew Broderick "Ferris Bueller" leather jacket from Ferris Bueller's Day Off ($42,000)
Jim Carrey signature "Riddler" rhinestone unitard and glitter-covered creepers from Batman Forever ($36,000)
Tom Hanks "Capt. John H. Miller" and Matt Damon "Pvt. James Francis Ryan" hero costumes from Saving Private Ryan ($36,000)
Screen-used Christmas Town building from The Nightmare Before Christmas ($30,000)

Visual Communications (VC), the
nation's premier Asian Pacific American media arts center, announced
its program of 181 outstanding films for the upcoming 25th
Anniversary Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival (LAAPFF)
beginning April 30 - May 7, 2009 at the Director's Guild of America
(DGA), Laemmle's Sunset 5 Theatres, Downtown Independent Theatre,
The National Center for the Preservation of Democracy, and the
Aratani/Japan America Theatre.

As Southern California's largest and most prestigious film festival
of its kind, the LAAPFF launches the celebration of Asian Pacific
Heritage Month through this year's slate of over 181 films and
videos from both Asian Pacific American and Asian international
directors from 26 countries. Celebrating 25 years, the Fest has
presented over 3000 films and videos by Asian American and Asian
international artists since 1983. This year, 35 feature films and
146 shorts and videos will be showcased throughout the 8-day fest.

Sundance hit film CHILDREN OF INVENTION from director Tze Chun will
open the festival on Thursday, April 30, 2009 at the DGA at 7PM with
director/screenwriter Chun, actors Michael Chen, Crystal Chiu and
Cindy Cheung scheduled to attend the Los Angeles premiere.

CHILDREN OF INVENTION, which premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film
Festival to sold out audiences and critics notices, is the story of
two young children: Raymond Cheng (Michael Chen) and Tina Cheng
(Crystal Chiu), living illegally in a model apartment outside Boston,
are left to fend for themselves when their hardworking mother, Elaine
(Cindy Cheung), disappears. This latest predicament seems all too
familiar to precocious Raymond who dreams of taking care of his
mother and sister with the fortunes garnered from his inventions.
Little Tina, however, remains oblivious to their troubles.
Meanwhile, lured by promises of easy cash, Elaine finds herself drawn
into another pyramid scheme, one that will jeopardize the welfare of
the two things that matter the most - her children.

"We are excited to present the Los Angeles premiere screening of
CHILDREN OF INVENTION as our Opening Night film," states Abraham
Ferrer, Exhibitions Director at VC and Film Festival Co-Director.
"We have been following director Chun's career since his short,
WINDBREAKER, was presented at the 2007 Festival. We are honored to
have him return and present his latest effort as his Los Angeles
premiere."

Toronto International Film Festival favorite TREELESS MOUNTAIN, from
Los Angeles raised filmmaker So Yong Kim, is slated as the LAAPFF
Centerpiece film on Saturday, May 2, 2009 at the DGA at 7PM with
director/screenwriter Kim in attendance.

TREELESS MOUNTAIN is So Yong Kim's second feature film and has been
an audience and critics favorite on the festival circuit for her
touching story about seven-year old Jin and her younger sister Bin
who are left with relatives, while their mother goes looking for
their father promising that she will be back when their little piggy
bank is full of coins. The sisters are forced to acclimate
themselves to new surroundings with new guardians as they wait with
heartfelt anticipation for their mother. Variety reviewer Robert
Koehler praised TREELESS MOUNTAIN and filmmaker Kim: "...drawing out
beautifully natural performances from her child actors, Kim once
again has a distinct way of letting her camera observe her characters
with kind thoughtfulness, allowing for a quiet mood to wash over the
scenes."

"So Yong Kim is one of our newer Asian American story tellers who
always delivers her best," says David Magdael, Festival Co-
Director. "We have been watching her since her first feature IN
BETWEEN DAYS premiered at Sundance in 2006. Having her with us as
our Centerpiece film is perfect as we celebrate 25 years. Looking
forward to the next 25 years, So Yong Kim will definitely be among
our most important filmmakers."

Closing out the 8-day fest will be the 2008 Academy Award® winning
Best Foreign Language Film DEPARTURES from director Yojiro Takita
presented on Thursday, May 7 at 7PM at the Aratani Japan America
Theatre in Little Tokyo in Downtown Los Angeles.

DEPARTURES, written by Kundo Koyama and directed by Yojiro Takita,
follows Daigo Kobayashi (Masahiro Motoki), a devoted cellist in an
orchestra that has just been dissolved and who is suddenly left
without a job. Daigo decides to move back to his old hometown with
his wife to look for work and start over. He answers a classified ad
entitled "Departures" thinking it is an advertisement for a travel
agency only to discover that the job is actually for a "Nokanshi" or
"encoffineer," a funeral professional who prepares deceased bodies
for burial and entry into the next life. While his wife and others
despise the job, Daigo takes a certain pride in his work and begins
to perfect the art of "Nokanshi" acting as a gentle gatekeeper
between life and death, between the departed and the family of the
departed.. A story of love, of discovery, of revelation and of the
transcending human spirit, DEPARTURES is a delightful journey into
the heartland of Japan and is an astonishingly beautiful look at a
sacred part of Japan's cultural heritage.

"Filmmaker Takita has a style that is uniquely mesmerizing and
DEPARTURES is one of those films that promises to take audiences on
an unforgettable journey," states Shinae Yoon, VC Executive
Director. "Presenting Japan's first Best Foreign Language Oscar®
winning film is a perfect conclusion to the Silver Anniversary
Festival Week Activities .

Celebrating the 25th Anniversary, the Festival will present the 1988
Oscar® nominated documentary WHO KILLED VINCENT CHIN? from directors
Christine Choy and Renee Tajima Pena in a special screening slot on
Saturday, May 2 at 4PM in DGA 2. Filmmaker Pena will be on hand for
Q&A following the special screening. The film kicks off a special
retrospective series of Asian American films that VC will be
presenting over the next 12 months.

Other Highlights of the 25TH ANNIVERSARY LAAPFF include:

Filmmaker Seminars (open to public and filmmakers)

THE THREE WATCHMEN - One of the most highly anticipated films of
the year - WATCHMEN - was the closet thing to an Asian Amerian film
without an Asian American cast. Join the film's writer Alex Tse
(SUCKA FREE CITY), cinematographer Larry Fong (300) and editor
William Hoy (I-ROBOT) as they discuss the creation of the blockbuster
from the initial concept and design to the making of and final edit.
THE NEW HOTNESS - APA SEXUALTY IN MEDIA - Aside from Russell
Wong's watermelon scene in JOY LUCK CLUB, Asian American men rarely
get a chance to flaunt their sensuality on screen. Join this candid
conversation with some of today's hot talent who are now doing more
than just being the take-out delivery boy. At press time Leonardo
Nam and James Kyson Lee have been confirmed with more to follow.
DIRECTIONS IN TV - Indie filmmakers are beginning to straddle both
the feature film world and the television director sphere with great
success. For our Asian American filmmakers, the options seem to be
opening up. Special guest directors will explore these possibilities
and share personal insights into the unique environment of TV
directing. Sponsored by the Director's Guild of America.
WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH ASIAN AMERICAN FILM? - In the spirit of the
25th anniversary, join the discussion as we acknowledge, celebrate
and criticize the past, present and future of Asian American film
with two generations of media makers: the legendary Spencer Nakasako
(A.K.A. DON BONUS) and up and coming new school filmmaker Tadashi
Nakamura (A SONG FOR OURSELVES).
HOW TO WRITE A SCREENPLAY - SUCKA FREE - So you want to be a
screenwriter? This is one of the Fest's most popular panels for new
and veteran filmmakers lead by Kris Young, Weiko Lin and special
guest Alex Tse. This panel is always an exciting 90 minutes where
these pros discuss the story writing process from idea to finished
script to the studio and beyond. Sponsored by Writer's Guild of
America, West.
ASIAN AMERICAN FEATURE FILMS
NARRATIVES

CHILDREN OF INVENTION - Tse Chun
DIM SUM FUNERAL - Anna Chi
ALL ABOUT DAD - Mark Tran
I AM THAT GIRL - B. Hayward Randall (written by Grace Rowe)
KARMA CALLING - Sarba Das
SHIRO'S HEAD - Don Mun; Kel Muna
TREELESS MOUNTAIN - So Yong Kim
WHITE ON RICE - David Boyle
DOCUMENTARIES

CLOSEST MEXICO TO JAPAN - Shinpei Takeda
MANILATOWN IS IN THE HEART - Curtis Choy
PATSY MINK: AHEAD OF THE MAJORITY - Kimberlee Bassford
THE REAL SHAOLIN - Alexander Lee
SOMEPLACE ELSE - Kai Duc Luong; Avisheh Mohsenin
TIGER SPIRIT - Min Sook Lee
VIETNAM OVERTURES - Stephane Gauger
WHATEVER IT TAKES - Christopher Wong
WHO KILLED VINCENT CHIN - Christine Choy; Renee Tajima Pena
INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILMS

100 - Chris Martinez (Philippines)
ALL AROUND US - Hashiguchi Ryosuke (Japan)
BURMA VJ - Anders Ostergaard (Denmark)
THE CONVERT - Yasmin Ahmad (Malaysia)
DAYTIME DRINKING - Noh Young-seok (South Korea)
DEPARTURES - Yojiro Takita (Japan)
THE EMPEROR'S NAKED ARMY MARCHES ON - Hara Kazuo (Japan)
FUJIAN BLUE - Robin Weng (People's Republic of China)
GRANDMOTHER'S FLOWER - Mun Jeong-hyun (South Korea)
JAY - Francis Xavier Passion - (Philippines)
KOLORETTE - Ruelo Lozendo (Philippines)
KANCHIVARAM - Priyadarshan (India)
LALA'S GUN - Ning Jingwu (People's Republic of China)
LEFT HANDED - Laurence Thrush (Japan)
LOVE EXPOSURE - Sion Sono (Japan)
THE RAINBOW TROOPS - Riri Riza (Indonesia)
WINDS OF SEPTEMBER - Tom Shu-Yu Lin (Taiwan)
YAMAGATA SCREAM - Naoto Takenaka (Japan)
NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT - JAPAN
Japanese Cinema is once again becoming one of global cinema's
important story makers. This year, the LAAPFF is proud to present the
following six features hailing from Japan including the first non-
honorary Oscar® win for a Japanese feature film - DEPARTURES,
winner of the 2008 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and
the brand new four hour epic LOVE EXPOSURE.

ALL AROUND US - Hashiguchi Ryosuke
DEPARTURES - Yojiro Takita
THE EMPEROR'S NAKED ARMY MARCHES ON - Hara Kazuo
LEFT HANDED - Laurence Thrush
LOVE EXPOSURE - Sion Sono
YAMAGATA SCREAM - Naoto Takenaka
For ticket and program information, a complete listing of sponsors
and partners, and to purchase tickets, log on to www.vconline.org or
contact Visual Communications at (213) 680-4462 x68.

And now, Madames and Monsieurs, the complete program:

Monday April 20th
OPENING NIGHT GALA
THEATER 1
7:30pm

SOMEONE I LOVED (Je l'aimais)
International Premiere
Presented before its release in France

Film rescheduled on Saturday April 25th

Romance/Drama
Directed by: Zabou Breitman
Written by: Zabou Breitman, Agnès de Sacy
Based on the novel by: Anna Gavalda
With: Daniel Auteuil (Pierre), Marie-Josée Croze (Mathilde), Florence Loiret-Caille (Chloé), Olivia Ross (Christine), Christiane Millet (Suzanne)

Based on the eponymous novel by Anna Gavalda (also the author of Hunting and Gathering, adapted by Claude Berri and shown at COL•COA in 2007), Someone I Loved is the story of Pierre (Daniel Auteuil, Queen Margot, Girl On the Bridge, Caché), a married man who once fell deeply in love with another woman, but chose to stay with his wife. When he finds out that his son has left his wife Chloé (Florence Loiret-Caille, Let It Rain, Seventh Heaven), Pierre chooses to share this secret with her and tells her about his lifelong love for Mathilde (Marie-Josée Croze,The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Munich, The Barbarian Invasions). Reflecting on his choice and its dramatic consequences, he attempts to help his daughter-in-law understand and overcome her pain.

ABOUT ZABOU BREITMAN

Zabou Breitman started acting at age four and has appeared in many films, plays and TV movies, including: La Boum 2, C'est La Vie, Cuisine et Dépendances, My Little Business. In 2001, she made her directorial debut with Beautiful Memories (COL•COA Classics 2009), co-written with her father, and was awarded a César for Best First Film. While writing and directing short films, she returned to acting in more dramatic roles in Michel Deville's Almost Peaceful (COL•COA 2003), and Bruno Podalydès' The Perfume of the Lady in Black (2005). Her critically-acclaimed second feature film, The Man of My Life (2006) was released in the U.S. by Strand Releasing. Someone I loved is her third film and first novel adaptation. She successfully continues her parallel careers, and also acts in The First Day of the Rest of Your life (COL•COA 2009).

Followed by a discussion with Co-Writer/Director Zabou Breitman

Tuesday April 21st

THEATRE 3
2:30pm - 8:00pm
AN EYE TO THE FUTURE (of French cinema)
Special presentation of trailers of upcoming French films
Free admission

THEATRE 2
3:15pm
BABY LOVE (Comme les autres)
Los Angeles Premiere
Comedy/Romance

Written & Directed by: Vincent Garenq
With: Lambert Wilson (Manu), Pascal Elbé (Philippe), Pilar Lopez de Ayala (Fina), Anne Brochet (Cathy), Andrée Damant (Suzanne), Florence Darel (Isa), Marc Duret (Marc)

A seemingly perfect same-sex couple, Emmanuel (Lambert Wilson, Babylon A.D., Dante 01, Private Fears in Public Places, Not on the Lips (COL•COA 2004), The Matrix Revolutions ) and Philippe (Pascal Elbé, Father and Sons (COL•COA 2004), Cortex (COL•COA 2008), A Simple Heart ) are in love and satisfied with their professional life. Unfortunately, they disagree on one crucial issue: parenting. Philippe categorically refuses to have children, while Emmanuel has a visceral, almost irrational desire to have a child. But Emmanuel's attempts to fool the Social Services, or find a friend to carry a baby for him, all fail. When he meets Fina, an illegal Argentinean immigrant who agrees to be a surrogate mother if he marries her to give her legal status, Philippe refuses to accept the idea and moves out.

ABOUT VINCENT GARENQ

A former student at the film school La FEMIS, Vincent Garenq worked as location assistant in the 1990s on various films, including In The Eyes of the World (1991), Celestial Clockwork (1995) or The Proprietor (1996). He made two short films, Une Vie à Deux (1992) and Vita Sexualis (1994) then wrote and directed a series of documentaries for television (Les Petits Animaux Sauvages, Locomotion, Destination: World). From 2001 to 2004, he also directed various episodes of the popular French TV series Sous le Soleil. His documentary Let's Dance: Nougzar in Georgia won 2nd place for the Adult's Jury Award at the Chicago International Children's Film Festival. Baby Love is his first feature film.

THEATRE 2
5:30pm
HAPPY HOUR TALKS
Meet the Delegation: French Filmmakers Talk About American Cinema
Free admission with same-day ticket
Followed by a complimentary wine and cheese reception

THEATRE 1
7:30pm
SECRETS OF STATE (Secret Défense)
North American Premiere
Espionage/Thriller

Directed by Philippe Haïm
Written by: Philippe Haïm, Julien Sibony
With: Gérard Lanvin (Alex), Vahina Giocante (Diane/Lisa), Nicolas Duvauchelle (Pierre), Simon Abkarian (Al Barad), Rachida Brakni (Leïla/Chadia), Mehdi Nebbou (Ahmed), Aurélien Wiik (Jérémy)

Starring Gérard Lanvin (The Taste of Others, Choice of Arms) as Alex, director of the DGSE (the French equivalent of the CIA), Secrets of State is an espionage thriller about the war on terror. The film follows the parallel stories of Diane (Vahina Giocante) and Pierre (Nicolas Duvauchelle), two troubled young people who get involved on each side of the conflict: Diane as a former student turned Arab translator for the DGSE and Pierre as a small time drug dealer who converts to Islamic extremism in prison. Playing Gérard Lanvin's arch-nemesis is Simon Abkarian (Casino Royale, The Truth about Charlie) as the elusive terrorist mastermind Al-Barad.

ABOUT PHILIPPE HAÏM

After a first career as a successful conductor and composer for stage productions and for films such as Bertrand Tavernier's The Bait, Philippe Haïm started writing and directing films in 1994. His first short Descente was shown in more than 30 French and international film festivals and was followed by a first feature film, Barracuda, starring Jean Rochefort and Guillaume Canet (Tell No One, COL•COA 2007). He then wrote the screenplay to the thriller/comedy Like a Fish Out of Water, starring Monica Bellucci and Tchéky Karyo, and directed a second film, The Daltons, a Western comedy adapted from the French comic book Lucky Luke.

Followed by a discussion with Co-Writer/Director Philippe Haïm

THEATRE 2
7:15pm
LA BELLE PERSONNE
Drama/Romance
Los Angeles Premiere

Directed by: Christophe Honoré
Written by: Christophe Honoré, Gilles Taurand
With: Léa Seydoux (Junie), Louis Garrel (Nemours), Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet (Otto), Estéban Carjaval (Mathias), Simon Truxillo (Henri), Agathe Bonitzer (Marie)

An adaptation of La Princesse de Clèves, La Belle Personne is set in a contemporary French high-school. After the death of her mother, Junie arrives at her cousin Mathias' school in the middle of the year. A beautiful girl, she quickly attracts the attention of Mathias' male friends, who compete to win her heart. Although she starts a relationship with shy and reserved Otto (Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet, Strayed, Love Songs, In the Arms of My Enemy), soon a mutual passion develops between Junie and Italian teacher Nemours (Louis Garrel, The Dreamers, Inside Paris, Love Songs), an incorrigible seducer already involved in an affair with a fellow teacher and a student. While Junie resists what she sees as an illusion of love and remains faithful to Otto, Nemours becomes increasingly confused and falls in love with her.

ABOUT CHRISTOPHE HONORÉ

Christophe Honoré first made his mark writing novels and children's books dealing with sensitive topics such as AIDS or homosexual parenting, as in Close to Leo (1995), which he later adapted for television (released on DVD in the U.S. by Picture This! Entertainment). After writing for Les Cahiers du Cinéma under the pen name Roland Cassard, an homage to Jacques Demy, he made his first feature film, Seventeen Times Cécile Cassard (2002), presented at the Cannes Film Festival's Un Certain Regard. In 2004, he boldly adapted Georges Bataille's highly controversial novel My Mother, with Isabelle Huppert and his signature actor Louis Garrel in the title roles. Strongly influenced by New-Wave directors Godard and Truffaut, his following three features Inside Paris, Love Songs and La Belle Personne have confirmed Christophe Honoré as a rising figure in contemporary French cinema.

THEATRE 2
10:00pm
After 10 series
ME TWO (La personne aux deux personnes)
North American Premiere
Comedy

Written & Directed by: Bruno Lavaine, Nicolas Charlet
With: Daniel Auteuil (Jean-Christian), Alain Chabat (Gilles Gabriel), Marina Foïs (Muriel Perrache), François Damiens (the doctor), Denis Maréchal (the nurse), Joey Starr (himself), Fred Tousch (the teacher)

Daniel Auteuil (Queen Margot, Girl On the Bridge, Caché) has Alain Chabat (I Do, The Science of Sleep, the Taste of Others) stuck in his head for better or worse in multiple personality comedy Me Two. When corny pop singer Gilles Gabriel (Auteuil) dies in a car accident that involves the austere accountant Jean-Christian Ranu (Chabat), his spirit invades Ranu and they become two entities forced to share one body. Frustrated by this new existence that shows little prospect for excitement, Gilles is determined to make his long-awaited comeback through Jean-Christian, even though the latter seems light years away from being a pop star. Disconcerted at first to hear Gilles' voice talk through him, Jean-Christian gradually lets Gilles Gabriel take control of his personality.

ABOUT NICOLAS & BRUNO

Nicolas Charlet and Bruno Lavaine, A.K.A Nicolas & Bruno, started their career making music videos, commercials and jingles for television. Known for their skits Amour, gloire et débats d'idées (1997-1998) and most of all their cult classic series Message à caractère informatif (1998-2000) on French television channel Canal +, they also adapted the British TV series The Office (Le Bureau on Canal +), with François Berléand (Comedy of Power, Transporter 2) in the title role. In 2007, they co-wrote the successful 99 Francs (COL•COA 2008) with Jan Kounen, an adaptation of Frédéric Beigbeder's novel. For their first feature film as writer-directors, Nicolas & Bruno have teamed up with two of France's best comedians, Daniel Auteuil and Alain Chabat, whose Chez Wam also produced the film.

Wednesday April 22nd

THEATRE 2
1:30pm
COL•COA CLASSICS
BEAUTIFUL MEMORIES (Se souvenir des belles choses)
Drama/Romance
Directed by: Zabou Breitman

Written by: Zabou Breitman, Jean-Claude Deret
With: Isabelle Carré (Claire Poussin), Bernard Campan (Philippe), Zabou Breitman (Marie Bjorg), Julien Courbey (Stéphane), Maher Kamoun (Zizou), Bernard Le Coq (Christian Licht)

Love is confounded by illness in Beautiful Memories, a tragic love story between Claire (Isabelle Carré), a young woman suffering from memory loss and Philippe (Bernard Campan), a wine expert unable to deal with the recent death of his wife and child in a car accident. They meet in the mental institution where they have been placed and fall madly in love. While Philippe's condition improves with their relationship, Claire's memory loss and onset of Alzheimer's worsens. Although they move in together after their release from the hospital, her illness becomes a critical issue in their relationship. Screened at COL•COA in 2003, Beautiful Memories is the film chosen by the COL•COA audience to be rerun in 2009.

ABOUT ZABOU BREITMAN

Zabou Breitman started acting at age four and has appeared in many films, plays and TV movies, including: La Boum 2, C'est La Vie, Cuisine et Dépendances, My Little Business. In 2001, she made her directorial debut with Beautiful Memories (co-written with her father), and was awarded a César for Best First Film. While writing and directing short films, she returned to acting in more dramatic roles in Michel Deville's Almost Peaceful (COL•COA 2003), and Bruno Podalydès' The Perfume of the Lady in Black (2005). Her critically-acclaimed second feature film, The Man of My Life (2006) was released in the U.S. by Strand Releasing. Someone I Loved (COL•COA 2009) is her third film and first novel adaptation. She successfully continues her parallel careers, and also acts in The First Day of the Rest of Your life (COL•COA 2009).

THEATRE 3
2:00pm - 8:00pm
AN EYE TO THE FUTURE (of French cinema)
Special presentation of trailers of upcoming French films
Free admission

THEATRE 2
4:00pm
HAPPY HOUR TALKS
Foreign Film distribution
Free admission with same-day ticket
Followed by a complimentary wine and cheese reception

THEATRE 2
5:30pm
THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN (La Fille du RER)
West-Coast Premiere
Drama

Directed by: André Téchiné
Written by: André Téchiné, Odile Barski, Jean-Marie Besset
Based on the original work by: Jean-Marie Besset
With: Emilie Dequenne (Jeanne), Catherine Deneuve (Louise), Michel Blanc (Samuel Bleistein), Nicolas Duvauchelle (Franck), Mathieu Demy (Alex), Ronit Elkabetz (Judith)

Set in the low income suburbs of Paris where a series of spontaneous youth riots erupted in 2005, The Girl on the Train stars Catherine Deneuve and Emilie Dequenne (Rosetta, Brotherhood of the Wolf) as Louise and Jeanne, a mother and daughter caught in a lie that spins out of control. Desperate after being rejected by her lover Franck (Nicolas Duvauchelle, Secrets of State (COL•COA 2009) Jeanne mutilates herself and claims to have been assaulted in the train by a group of Black and Arab youths who mistook her for Jewish. Soon, the news is everywhere in the national media and Jeanne is forced to admit that she lied. Based on a true story predating the riots, The Girl on the Train portrays the explosive climate and the racial tensions that gave birth to the uprising.

ABOUT ANDRÉ TÉCHINÉ
Film critic turned filmmaker André Téchiné made his directorial debut with Pauline Is Leaving, presented at the Venice Film Festival in 1969. After Barocco (1976) and The Bronte Sisters (1979), two films with Isabelle Adjani, he co-wrote and directed Hôtel des Amériques (1981). A turning point in his career, it was the first of many films starring icon Catherine Deneuve in Téchiné's career. He quickly became a figure of contemporary French art house cinema after the provocative Rendez-vous (1985), co-written with Olivier Assayas and winner of the Best Director Prize at the 1985 Cannes Film Festival. Establishing his intensely personal style with the widely acclaimed My Favorite Season (1992) and Wild Reeds (1994), André Téchiné has explored sensuality, complex emotions and social issues in films such as Strayed (2003) The Witnesses (2007) or his latest opus The Girl on the Train.

THEATRE 1
6:00pm
HELLO GOODBYE
West Coast Premiere
Comedy

Directed by: Graham Guit
Written by: Graham Guit, Michael Lellouche
Based on a novel by: Moshe Gaash
With: Fanny Ardant (Gisèle), Gérard Depardieu (Alain), Jean Benguigui (Simon), Manu Payet (Shapiro), Lior Ashkenazi (Yossi), Claudine Baschet (grand-mother), Julien Baumgartner (Nicolas), Francoise Christophe (Alain's mother), Muriel Combeau (Mme Saint-Alban), Jean-François Elberg (Mr Sapin), Sasson Gabai (police chief)

The comfortable bourgeois existence of Alain (Gérard Depardieu) and Gisèle (Fanny Ardant) is challenged when their only son announces that he is getting married. Unsettled by this change, they decide to take a break and go on vacation in Israel, to put things in perspective and "explore Alain's Jewish roots." They have such a wonderful time that Gisèle suddenly wants to move there in search of a new life. Alain is reluctant about the idea but Gisèle convinces him and against the advice of their friends and family, they move to Israel. Once they arrive in the country, nothing goes as planned: their apartment is still in construction, Alain can't find a job and Gisèle falls for a handsome rabbi. Forced to question their identity, they reinvent themselves and give their life a new direction.

ABOUT GRAHAM GUIT

Graham Guit made two short films Caleb (1984) and Le Roman de Léo (1993) before writing and directing his first feature, Shooting Stars (1997), starring Melvil Poupaud (Time To Leave, Speed Racer) and Romane Bohringer (Savage Nights, The Chambermaid on the Titanic). After a second film with Poupaud, The Kidnappers (1998), Graham Guit directed Gérard Depardieu and Élodie Bouchez in Pact of Silence, a film based on the novel Sacred and Profane by Marcelle Bernstein. With Gérard Depardieu and Fanny Ardant, Graham Guit reunites the legendary duo of The Woman Next Door and Colonel Chabert, for his fourth feature Hello Goodbye, co-written with Michel Lellouche.

THEATRE 2
7:45pm
WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MYSELF (Aide-toi et le Ciel t'aidera)
West-Coast Premiere
Comedy

Written & Directed by: François Dupeyron
With : Félicité Wouassi (Sonia), Claude Rich (Robert), Ralph Amoussou (Victor), Mamadou Dioume (Georges), Jacqueline Dufranne (Lise), Mata Gabin (Marijo), Raymond Gil (Mr Docase), Jean-Jacques Ido (Fer), Karim Kermaoui (Sylvain), Renée Lecalm (Mme Docase), Charles-Etienne N'Diaye (Léo)

Starring the French-African actor Félicité Wouassi (Café Au Lait, Hate, Happenstance) as the energetic Sonia, a mother of four struggling to make ends meet in the Parisian suburbs, With a Little Help from Myself deals with the serious topics of poverty and family conflict, but with humorous, Almodóvar-esque panache. Although she seems on the verge of a nervous breakdown as everything falls apart around her on the day of her daughter's wedding, the irrepressible Sonia is convinced that things will work out. She finds solace in her friendship with clever and crafty Robert (Claude Rich, Private Fears in Public Places, The Accompanist, Is Paris Burning?), one of her elderly patients, who offers to help her solve her problems with rather unorthodox methods.

ABOUT FRANCOIS DUPEYRON

A former IDHEC graduate, François Dupeyron was quickly noticed with a series of short films, particularly La Nuit du Hibou and Lamento, respectively, 1985 César for Best Short Documentary Film and 1988 César for Best Short Fiction Film. After the critically-acclaimed anti-war film Officer's Ward , screened in competition at the 2001 Cannes Film festival, his adaptation of a novel by Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt, Monsieur Ibrahim, led by the stellar Omar Sharif (2004 César for Best Actor), was nominated for a Golden Globe in the category Best Foreign Film. Dupeyron has worked extensively with actor Gérard Depardieu, from his first feature A Strange Place to Meet (1988), to the fantasy thriller The Machine (1991) and the drama The Bridge (1999), co-directed by Depardieu. Dupeyron has also directed Love Reinvented, a TV series dealing with AIDS, and he co-wrote The Favorite Son with Nicole Garcia and Jacques Fieschi.

THEATRE 1
8:30pm
THE FIRST DAY OF THE REST OF YOUR LIFE (Le Premier jour du reste de ta vie)
U.S. Premiere
Drama/Comedy

Written & Directed by: Rémi Bezançon
With: Jacques Gamblin (Robert), Zabou Breitman (Marie-Jeanne), Déborah François (Fleur), Marc-André Grondin (Raphaël), Pio Marmaï (Albert), Cécile Cassel (Prune), Sarah Cohen-Hadria (Clara), Aymeric Cormerais (Sacha), François-Xavier Demaison (Doctor Marcaurel), Roger Dumas (Pierre), Philippe Lefèbvre (Philippe), Gilles Lellouche (White Rasta), Camille de Pazzis (Moïra), Jean-Jacques Vanier (Mathias Moreau), Stanley Weber (Éric)

The First Day of the Rest of Your Life portrays the life of a middle-class French family one character at a time, focusing on five pivotal moments that changed their lives and that of the family as a whole, starting with the day their son Albert (newcomer Pio Marmaï) moves out to live on his own. As events unfold individually for Marie-Jeanne (Zabou Breitman, Someone I Loved, Beautiful Memories [COL•COA Classics 2009]), Robert (Jacques Gamblin, Safe Conduct (COL•COA 2002), Hell Train) and their three children, the film shows the consequences on the other members of the family and the way they relate to each other. Respectively playing daughter Fleur and son Raphaël, Déborah François and Marc-André Grondin were awarded a 2009 César for Most Promising Actress/Actor.

ABOUT REMI BEZANÇON

A graduate of the École du Louvre and the film school ESRA, Rémi Bezançon wrote and directed various short films including Vikings (2001) and Paraboles (2003), before co-writing his first feature film Women For Sale (2004) with Jean-Claude Jean. He made his debut feature as Writer-Director in 2005 with the critically acclaimed Love Is in the Air (COL•COA 2005), starring Vincent Elbaz and Marion Cotillard (A Very Long Engagement, La Vie en Rose, COL•COA 2007). A critical and commercial success, The First Day of the Rest of Your Life is his second feature. He is also working with Vanessa Portal on the adaptation of Eliette Abécassis' novel, A Happy Event.

Followed by a discussion with Writer-Director Rémi Bezançon

THEATRE 2
10:00pm
After 10 Series
GOD'S OFFICES (Les Bureaux de Dieu)
West Coast Premiere
Drama/Comedy

Directed by: Claire Simon
Written by: Claire Simon, Natalia Rodriguez, Nadège Trebal
With: Nathalie Baye (Anne), Michel Boujenah (Dr. Lambert), Isabelle Carré (Marta), Béatrice Dalle (Milena), Nicole Garcia (Denise), Anne Alvaro (Dr. Marianne), Rachida Brakni (Yasmine), Lolita Chammah (Emmanuelle), Marie Laforêt (Martine), Emmanuel Mouret (Pierre)

Moved by what she experienced in a family planning center, Claire Simon crafted God's Offices using extensive material from a series of interviews and sessions that she did at the center over the course of seven years. Through various encounters among the women who come for help and their counselors, the film points to the essential role played by these centers and the complexity of the issues at stake. Combining non-professional actresses with an all-star cast including Nathalie Baye (Day For Night, The Green Room) Béatrice Dalle (Betty Blue, I Can't Sleep) and Nicole Garcia (Peril, Mon Oncle d'Amérique), God's Offices pays homage to the courage, dedication and empathy of these women.

ABOUT CLAIRE SIMON

After a first career as a film editor, Claire Simon trained at the Ateliers Varan and quickly found a strong affinity for "direct cinema," crafting a body of work that blurs the divide between fiction and non-fiction. Following her award-winning documentary Coûte que coûte (1996), she wrote and directed her first feature, A Foreign Body (1997), presented at Cannes during Cinémas en France, which won the SACD Grand Prize for Best Screenplay at the Journées Franco-Américaines d'Avignon. After a series of critically-acclaimed documentaries, including Recreation (1998), That's Just Like You (2000) and Mimi (2003), she returned to narrative features with On Fire (COL•COA 2007), also presented during the Cannes Directors' Fortnight. God's Offices is her third feature film.

Thursday April 23rd

THEATRE 2
2:00pm
COL•COA CLASSICS
THE SLEEPING CAR MURDERS (Compartiment Tueurs)
Thriller/Film Noir

Written and Directed by: Costa-Gavras
Based on a novel by: Sébastien Japrisot
With: Simone Signoret (Eliane Darrès), Yves Montand (Inspector Grazzi), Catherine Allégret (Bambi), Charles Denner (Bob), Pierre Mondy (Police Superintendant), Jacques Perrin (Daniel), Michel Piccoli (René Cabourg), Jean-Louis Trintignant (Eric)

Strongly reminiscent of American film noir and adapted from a detective novel written by Sébastien Japrisot (also the author of A Very Long Engagement ), The Sleeping Car Murders is Costa-Gavras' first film. In charge of investigating the murder of a young girl in a night-train from Marseilles to Paris, Inspector Grazzi (Yves Montand) gathers the five passengers who shared the same compartment. As he interviews them, they are murdered one by one. Costa-Gavras assembled an impressive cast for this successful first film, with some of the greatest actors of the time: Yves Montand (Wages of Fear, Z, Jean de Florette), Simone Signoret (Diabolique, Army of Shadows, Is Paris Burning? ) Michel Piccoli (Contempt, Belle de Jour) and Jean-Louis Trintignant (And God Created Woman, The Conformist, A Man and a Woman).

ABOUT COSTA-GAVRAS

After studying at the IDHEC film school, Costa-Gavras worked with Henri Verneuil, René Clément, Jacques Demy and Jean Becker as an assistant before writing and directing The Sleeping Car Murders in 1965. He quickly established a personal style with his trilogy Z (1969), The Confession (1971) and State of Siege (1973), winning two Oscars® (Best Film Editing and Best Foreign Language Film), as well as a Best Actor and Jury Prize at Cannes for Z. Confirming this success with Missing (Palme d'Or at Cannes and Oscar® for Best Screenplay), Music Box (1989), Amen (2002) or The Ax (COL•COA 2005), Costa-Gavras has become a household name in politically engaged cinema. Through genres as varied as thrillers, war films or dark comedies, he has produced an impressive body of work exploring History, politics and social issues. Costa-Gavras is currently President of the Cinémathèque Française and Honorary President of the Franco-American Cultural Fund.

THEATRE 3
2:00pm - 8:00pm
AN EYE TO THE FUTURE (of French cinema)
Special presentation of trailers of upcoming French films
Free admission

THEATRE 2
4:00pm
HAPPY HOUR TALKS
One-hour discussion with Costa-Gavras
Free admission with same-day ticket
Followed by a complimentary wine and cheese reception

THEATRE 2
5:30pm
COLCOA.doc
MODERN LIFE (La Vie moderne)
Los Angeles Premiere
Documentary
Directed by: Raymond Depardon

Award-winning photographer and documentary filmmaker Raymond Depardon goes back to his roots in Modern Life, the last film completing his trilogy on the rural area where he was born. A series of portraits of French farmers living in remote highlands filmed over a ten-year period, Modern Life documents their struggles, economic difficulties and concern with the future inheritance of their land, but also their hopes for the future. Although their way of life may appear as traditional or antiquated, as these farmers talk about their life and values, they seem remarkably in-tune with current environmental issues.

ABOUT RAYMOND DEPARDON

Photographer, journalist and filmmaker Raymond Depardon started his career as assistant to photographer Gilles Foucherand and war reporter for the agency Gamma, which he co-founded in 1966. While covering the 1969 events in Prague, he directed his first short film Jan Palach, about the Czech student who self-immolated to protest the Soviet occupation. Depardon has won many awards, including two César awards for Best Short Film Documentary with Reporters (1981) and New York, N.Y. (1986) and a Best Feature Documentary César in 1995 for Délits flagrants. He has also written and directed critically acclaimed narrative features, including Untouched by the West (2002) and Captive of the Desert, starring Sandrine Bonnaire, nominated for a Palme d'Or at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival. Presented in official selection at Cannes in 2004 and screened at COL•COA in 2005, his documentary The 10th District Court is an unprecedented look at the everyday proceedings in a French court.

THEATRE 1
6:00pm
FINAL ARRANGEMENTS (Bouquet Final)
U.S. Premiere
Comedy

Directed by: Michel Delgado
Written by: Michel Delgado, Christophe Riandee
With: Didier Bourdon (Gervais Bron), Marc-André Grondin (Gabriel), Bérénice Béjo (Claire), Marthe Keller (Nickye), Gérard Depardieu (Hugo), Chantal Neuwirth (Evelyne), Marilu Marini (Carmen), Valérie Bonneton (Marie Thanato), Michel Galabru (M. Froissard), Anne Girouard (Natacha)

Unable to succeed as a musician, struggling composer Gabriel (Marc-André Grondin, The First Day of the Rest of Your Life (COL•COA 2009), Che: Part Two) embarks on a corporate job search. After failing too many interviews, he accepts to work with an old friend as an executive in the funeral business, but hides the nature of his job to his artist parents and his new girlfriend Claire. Sent to train with Gervais Bron (Didier Bourdon, The Blood of Others, The Machine) a bitter funeral home director who had hoped to be promoted to his position, Gabriel gradually adapts to his new job until he finds out that Claire is the granddaughter of a client he has shamelessly robbed of all his savings.

ABOUT MICHEL DELGADO

A former journalist, Michel Delgado started writing in the early 1990s. After working on various comedies, including The Tenors (1993), Revenge of a Blonde (1994) and Two Dads and One Mom (1996), he co-wrote episodes for the popular television mini-series The Red Summer (2002). His latest projects include the adaptation of the comic book Corsican File (2004) and The Red Inn (COL•COA 2008) a remake of the Jean Aurenche & Claude Autant-Lara horror classic. He frequently collaborates with Christian Clavier and Gérard Jugnot, two well-known comedians whose comedy saga Les Bronzés was a huge boxoffice success in France. Michel Delgado has also acted in some of his films, including The Corsican File and The Tenors. Final Arrangements is his directorial debut.

THEATRE 2
7:45pm
LOUISE-MICHEL
West-Coast Premiere
Comedy

Written & Directed by: Benoît Delépine, Gustave Kervern
With: Yolande Moreau (Louise), Bouli Lanners (Michel), Benoît Poelvoorde (The mad scientist), Albert Dupontel (The madman), Philippe Katerine (The singer), Mathieu Kassovitz (the new farm landlord), Pierre Broodthaers (Pierrette), Terence Debarle (Terence), Robert Dehoux (The priest), Hervé Desinge (Poutrain), Yannick Jaulin (the banker), Jacqueline Knuysen (Jackie)

After the sudden shutdown of their company, the factory workers, led by Louise (played by the iconic Yolande Moreau, 2009 César for Best Actress in Séraphine), are determined to get their revenge on the CEO responsible for the relocation. They hire Michel (Belgian actor Bouli Lanners, A Very Long Engagement, When the Sea Rises, I Always Wanted to Be a Gangster), an incompetent hit man who proves unable to do the job. Louise decides to take matters in her own hands and teams up with Michel to hunt down the "boss." Along the way, the eccentric duo encounter a mad scientist (Benoît Poelvoorde, Man Bites Dog, The Return of James Battle (COL•COA 2005), Podium), a singer (famous French pop artist Philippe Katerine) and a farmer played by Writer-Director-Actor Mathieu Kassovitz (Babylon A.D., Munich, Amélie, La Haine), who also co-produced the film.

ABOUT BENOÎT DELÉPINE AND GUSTAVE KERVERN

Well-known TV personalities on French TV channel Canal +, Benoît Delépine and Gustave Kervern have been writing comedy and satire for television since the 1990s on popular shows Les Guignols de l'Info, Le Plein de Super and Groland. In 2004 and 2006, they wrote and directed their exuberantly dark and surrealist first two features Aaltra (COL•COA 2005) and Avida. For their third feature, named after 19th century French revolutionary Louise Michel, Benoît Delépine and Gustave Kervern wanted to make "a film somewhere between the Dardenne and the Coen Brothers"..."a social western where the best of people can become villains, and where the villains are criminals on a never-seen before scale".

THEATRE 1
8:30pm
EDEN IS WEST (Eden à l'ouest)
West-Coast Premiere
Drama

Directed by: Costa-Gavras
Written by: Costa-Gavras, Jean-Claude Grumberg
With: Riccardo Scamarcio (Elias), Juliane Koelhler (Christina), Ulrich Tukur (Nick Nickelby), Éric Caravaca (Jack), Anny Duperey (the lady with a jacket), Bruno Lochet (Yann)

Starring Italian actor Riccardo Scamarcio (Now or Never, Go Go Tales), Eden is West follows the trials and tribulations of Elias, a young man immigrating to Europe from an undisclosed location in the Mediterranean. Consciously avoiding treating the topic in a factual manner, Eden is West is less a film about immigration than a universal parable about a man trying to find a home in an unfamiliar and hostile land. As he eventually makes his way to Paris, helped by some and rejected by others, Elias is confronted with violence, humiliation, cruelty but also kindness, empathy and compassion. His journey brings to mind images from Homer's The Odyssey, Voltaire's Candide or The Stranger by Camus.

ABOUT COSTA-GAVRAS

Costa-Gavras worked with Henri Verneuil, René Clément, Jacques Demy and Jean Becker as an assistant before writing and directing The Sleeping Car Murders (COL•COA 2009) in 1965. He quickly established a personal style with his trilogy Z (1969), The Confession (1971) and State of Siege (1973), winning two Oscars® (Best Film Editing and Best Foreign Language Film), as well as a Best Actor and Jury Prize at Cannes for Z. Confirming this success with Missing (Palme d'Or at Cannes and Oscar® for Best Screenplay), Music Box (1989), Amen (2002) or The Ax (COL•COA 2005), Costa-Gavras has become a household name in politically engaged cinema. Through genres as varied as thrillers, war films or dark comedies, he has produced an impressive body of work exploring History, politics and social issues. Costa-Gavras is currently President of the Cinémathèque Française and Honorary President of the Franco-American Cultural Fund.

Followed by a discussion with Co-Writer/Director Costa-Gavras

THEATRE 2
10:00pm
After 10 series
THE GIRL FROM MONACO (La Fille de Monaco)
West-Coast Premiere
Comedy/Drama

Directed by: Anne Fontaine
Written by: Anne Fontaine, Benoît Graffin
With: Fabrice Luchini (Bertrand Beauvois), Roschdy Zem (Christophe Abadi), Louise Bourgoin (Audrey Varella), Stéphane Audran (Edith Lassalle), Gilles Cohen, Jeanne Balibar, Pierre Bourgeon

Bertrand Beauvois (Fabrice Luchini, The Discreet, Full Moon in Paris, The Aviator's Wife, Colonel Chabert) is a brilliant lawyer hired to defend criminal Edith Lassalle (Stéphane Audran, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, Babette's Feast, The Butcher) at a high-profile trial in Monaco. Given the sensitive nature of the case, the overzealous bodyguard Christophe (Roschdy Zem, Bad Faith (COL•COA 2007), Days of Glory) is assigned to protect him. However, the danger seems to come less from organized crime than from local weather girl Audrey Varella (newcomer Louise Bourgoin, a real life personality on French TV channel Canal +). A stunning beauty, Audrey seduces and enthralls the otherwise austere lawyer, who falls head over heels for her.

ABOUT ANNE FONTAINE

A former actress and dancer, Anne Fontaine started her career as assistant director on a stage adaptation of Céline's Journey to the End of the Night and won the Jean Vigo Prize with her first feature Love Affairs Usually End Badly (1992). After the provocative Dry Cleaning (COL•COA 1998), Best Screenplay Award at the Venice Film Festival in 1997, she confirmed her talent for creating complex and sexually ambiguous characters with Nathalie (COL•COA 2004). Acclaimed for her psychological dramas How I Killed My Father (Best Actor César in 2002 for Michel Bouquet) and In His Hands (COL•COA 2006), Anne Fontaine has also collaborated with her brother Jean-Chrétien Sibertin-Blanc for her Augustin trilogy. Starring Audrey Tautou, her new Film Coco Before Chanel is based on Edmonde Charles-Roux's biography about the fashion designer.

Friday April 24th

THEATRE 2
1:30pm
COL•COA CLASSICS
TCHAO PANTIN
Drama/Film Noir

Directed by: Claude Berri
Written by: Claude Berri, Alain Page
Based on the novel by: Alain Page
With: Coluche (Lambert), Richard Anconina (Bensoussan), Philippe Léotard (Inspector Bauer), Agnès Soral (Lola), Ahmed Ben Ismaël (Mahmoud), Albert Dray (Sylvio), Mickaël Pichet (Mickey), Mahmoud Zemmouri (Rachid)

Starring famous stand-up comedian Coluche in an unlikely dramatic role, Tchao Pantin has become a classic example of post-noir 1980s French cinema. Coluche is Lambert, a middle-aged alcoholic who works nights in a Parisian gas station. He has no friends or family and lives alone. One night, he meets small time criminal and drug dealer Bensoussan (Richard Anconina), who becomes his only friend. When Bensoussan is killed in front of him, Lambert goes into a rampage to avenge his friend, assisted by young delinquent Lola, an acquaintance of Bensoussan. This murdering rage brings his tragic past to the surface and forces him to deal with his old demons.

ABOUT CLAUDE BERRI (1934 - 2009)

Claude Berri was a writer, director, producer, actor, and one of the most prominent figures of French cinema. He adapted various French novels, turning them into widely popular films: Germinal (1993), Jean de Florette (1986) and Manon of the Spring (1986). His work as a writer/director is very eclectic and ranges from film noir to more personal films about love and relationships like One Stays, the Other Leaves (2005). Claude Berri was one of France's most successful producers. In addition to his own films, he produced Tess (1979), Valmont (1989), The Bear (1998) and adaptations of the comic book Astérix. In 2007, his film Hunting and Gathering, based on a novel by Anna Gavalda, won the Audience award at COL•COA. In 2008, both the COL•COA Audience award (Welcome to the Sticks) and COL•COA Critic award (The Secret of the Grain) were films produced by Claude Berri. Highly respected in the film industry, Claude Berri managed to produce both mainstream films and art house cinema.

THEATRE 3
2:00pm - 8:00pm
AN EYE TO THE FUTURE (of French cinema)
Special presentation of trailers of upcoming French films
Free admission

THEATRE 2
3:45 pm
HAPPY HOUR TALKS
Young audiences and foreign film
Free admission with same-day ticket
Followed by a complimentary wine and cheese reception

THEATRE 2
5:15 pm and 7:20pm
Film Noir Series
MESRINE: A FILM IN TWO PARTS
Thriller/Drama
Los Angeles Premiere

Directed by: Jean-François Richet
Written by: Abdel Raouf Dafri
With: Vincent Cassel (Jacques Mesrine), Cécile De France (Jeanne Schneider), Gérard Depardieu (Guido), Ludivine Sagnier (Sylvia), Mathieu Amalric (François), Gérard Lanvin (Charlie), Elena Anaya (Sofia), Myriam Boyer (Mesrine's mother), Anne Consigny (The Lawyer), Michel Duchaussoy (Mesrine's Father), Roy Dupuis (Jean-Paul Mercier), Olivier Gourmet (Commissaire Broussard), Gilles Lellouche (Paul), Florence Thomassin (Sarah)

Few people have marked the collective French consciousness like Jacques Mesrine, a charismatic and megalomaniac gangster who reached rock star status in the 1970s in France and Canada through a series of robberies, bloody abductions, extravagant escapes and a knack for manipulating the media. Based on Death Instinct, the autobiography he wrote in prison, Mesrine: A Film in Two Parts portrays Mesrine from his formative years during the war in Algeria to his spectacular death, being gunned down in his car by police sharpshooters. Led by French star actor Vincent Cassel (Eastern Promises, Ocean's Twelve and Thirtheen) as Mesrine, the film boasts an impressive cast, including Gérard Depardieu as his mentor Guido, Cécile de France (A Secret (COL•COA 2008), Avenue Montaigne (COL•COA 2006), Ludivine Sagnier (Swimming Pool, A Girl Cut in Two) and Mathieu Amalric (Munich, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly).

ABOUT JEAN-FRANÇOIS RICHET

Born in the Parisian suburbs, Jean-François Richet grew up in the projects and worked in a factory before making films. This working class experience and a passion for the works of Russian masters Eisenstein and Dziga Vertov led him to write and direct two acclaimed first features, the politically militant Inner City (1995) and Ma 6-T va crack-er (1997), an almost prophetic look at a potential explosion of violence in the Parisian suburbs. After his third feature All About Love (2001), a love story set in the suburbs, he was hired to remake Assault on Precinct 13 in the U.S (2005), a fast-paced action thriller starring Ethan Hawke, Gabriel Byrne and Laurence Fishburne. With the critical and commercial success of Mesrine: A Film in Two Parts, he confirms his talent for tackling social and political themes in action films.

Followed by a discussion with Director Jean-François Richet

THEATRE 1
5:45 pm
OSS 117, LOST IN RIO (OSS 117, Rio ne répond plus)
International Premiere
Presented one week after its release in France
Comedy/Adventure

Directed by: Michel Hazanavicius
Written by: Michel Hazanavicius, Jean-François Halin
Based on the original work by: Jean Bruce
With: Jean Dujardin (Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath/OSS 117), Louise Monot (Dolorès), Alex Lutz (Heinrich), Rüdiger Vogler (Von Zimmel), Pierre Bellemare (Lesignac), Laurent Capelluto (Kutner), Moon Dailly (The countess), Serge Hazanavicius (Staman), Philippe Hérisson (Mayeux), Reem Kherici (Carlotta), Ken Samuels (Trumendous), Walter Shnorkell (Fayolle)

More than a decade after his mission to Cairo (OSS117: Cairo Nest of Spies, COL•COA 2008), chauvinist and "so French" spy Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath, a.k.a OSS 117 is sent to Rio in search of a microfilm that could compromise the French state. Just as he was unaware of the colonial reality and ignorant of Muslim culture in Cairo, OSS117 is completely oblivious to the cultural and political changes happening in the world of the1960s. Assigned to capture Von Zimmel, a former Nazi, he is forced to team up with Dolorès (Louise Monot), an attractive Mossad lieutenant, and Von Zimmel's son Heinrich (Alex Lutz), a young hippie rebelling against his father.

ABOUT MICHEL HAZANAVICIUS

Michel Hazanavicius started his career on French television channel Canal + in 1988, writing skits for popular Saturday Night Live style TV show "Les Nuls" and TV parodies such as Le Grand Détournement or Derrick contre Superman. After writing and directing various short films, he co-wrote his first feature film in 1996, Delphine 1, Yvan 0, and made his debut as writer/director with Mes Amis in 1999, starring Yvan Attal (Rush Hour 3, Munich, The Interpreter). From 1999 to 2005, he directed more than 40 commercial films and co-wrote the television documentary Rwanda: History of a Genocide (2004). After the worldwide success of his second feature film, OSS 117: Cairo Nest of Spies, he returns with a new adventure adapted from Jean Bruce's character.

Followed by a discussion with Co-Writer/Director Michel Hazanavicius

THEATRE 1
8:30 pm
SO CLOSE (Tellement proches)
World Premiere
Comedy

Written & Directed by: Eric Tolédano and Olivier Nakache
With: Vincent Elbaz (Alain), Isabelle Carré (Nathalie), Audrey Dana (Catherine), François-Xavier Demaison (Jean-Pierre), Joséphine de Meaux (Roxane), Omar Sy (Bruno)

Alain (Vincent Elbaz, Would I Lie to You, Maybe, Le Péril Jeune) met Nathalie (Isabelle Carré, Private Fears in Public Places, The Horseman on the Roof, Beaumarchais The Scoundrel) while working at a Club Med. When he married her, he didn't realize he was also marrying her sister Catherine (Audrey Dana, Roman de Gare (COL•COA 2008), Welcome (COL•COA 2009)) and her brother-in-law Jean-Pierre (François-Xavier Demaison, Coluche, L'histoire d'un mec). Alain has less and less patience for their overbearing presence in his life. Tackling the subject of family ties and conflict in their signature light-hearted humor, writer-director duo Éric Tolédano and Olivier Nakache return to COL•COA with the World Premiere of their new comedy So Close, three years after winning the COL•COA Audience Award forThose Happy Days (2006).

Followed by a discussion with Writer-Directors Eric Tolédano and Olivier Nakache

THEATRE 2
10:30 pm
Film Noir Series
SPY(IES) (Espion(s))
Espionage/Thriller

Written & Directed by: Nicolas Saada
With: Guillaume Canet (Vincent), Géraldine Pailhas (Claire), Stephen Rea (Palmer), Hippolyte Girardot (Simon), Hiam Abbass (Wafa), Bruno Blairet (Gérard) Jamie Harding (Fouad), Archie Panjabi (Anna), Vincent Regan (Peter Burton), Alexander Siddig (Malik)

Art house thriller Spy(ies) stars French heart-throb Guillaume Canet (Tell No One (COL•COA 2007), Hunting and Gathering (COL•COA 2007), The Beach) as Vincent, a baggage handler at a Paris airport recruited by the French counterintelligence. Vincent and his colleague Gérard often commit petty theft on the job, an unfortunate habit that proves fatal for Gérard, who dies in the explosion of a perfume bottle found in a Syrian diplomatic suitcase. Accused of being an accessory to the crime, Vincent is forced to cooperate and go on a mission to London in exchange for amnesty. Upon arrival, his local MI5 contact Palmer (Stephen Rea, V For Vendetta, The Confessor) instructs him to seduce the wife of a pharmaceutical executive suspected to be linked with the terrorists. Vincent follows orders but quickly becomes emotionally involved and confused about his feelings for her.

ABOUT NICOLAS SAADA

A renowned film critic for Les Cahiers du Cinéma, Nicolas Saada is well-known for his radio show dedicated to film soundtracks on Radio Nova, "Nova fait son cinema." He started writing for film and television in 2000 with Le Détour and The Sandmen, two films directed by Pierre Salvadori. In 2004, he wrote and directed his first short film Les Parallèles, starring Géraldine Pailhas and Mathieu Amalric (Munich, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly). He worked with Arnaud Desplechin on the adaptation of a play by Edward Bond, In the Company of Men and collaborated with Jean-Pierre Salomé on the screenplay for Arsène Lupin (COL•COA 2005). From 1992 to 1998, he was also in charge of fiction programs for French TV channel Arte, in collaboration with Pierre Chevalier. His first film as Writer-Director, Spy(ies) was released in early 2009 to rave reviews and box office success.

Saturday April 25th

THEATRE 2
11:00 am
LOUISE-MICHEL
West-Coast Premiere
Comedy

Written & Directed by: Benoît Delépine, Gustave Kervern
With: Yolande Moreau (Louise), Bouli Lanners (Michel), Benoît Poelvoorde (The mad scientist), Albert Dupontel (The madman), Philippe Katerine (The singer), Mathieu Kassovitz (the new farm landlord), Pierre Broodthaers (Pierrette), Terence Debarle (Terence), Robert Dehoux (The priest), Hervé Desinge (Poutrain), Yannick Jaulin (the banker), Jacqueline Knuysen (Jackie)

After the sudden shutdown of their company, the factory workers, led by Louise (played by the iconic Yolande Moreau, 2009 César for Best Actress in Séraphine), are determined to get their revenge on the CEO responsible for the relocation. They hire Michel (Belgian actor Bouli Lanners, A Very Long Engagement, When the Sea Rises, I Always Wanted to Be a Gangster), an incompetent hit man who proves unable to do the job. Louise decides to take matters in her own hands and teams up with Michel to hunt down the "boss." Along the way, the eccentric duo encounter a mad scientist (Benoît Poelvoorde, Man Bites Dog, The Return of James Battle (COL•COA 2005), Podium), a singer (famous French pop artist Philippe Katerine) and a farmer played by Writer-Director-Actor Mathieu Kassovitz (Babylon A.D., Munich, Amélie, La Haine), who also co-produced the film.

ABOUT BENOÎT DELÉPINE AND GUSTAVE KERVERN

Well-known TV personalities on French TV channel Canal +, Benoît Delépine and Gustave Kervern have been writing comedy and satire for television since the 1990s on popular shows Les Guignols de l'Info, Le Plein de Super and Groland. In 2004 and 2006, they wrote and directed their exuberantly dark and surrealist first two features Aaltra (COL•COA 2005) and Avida. For their third feature, named after 19th century French revolutionary Louise Michel, Benoît Delépine and Gustave Kervern wanted to make "a film somewhere between the Dardenne and the Coen Brothers"..."a social western where the best of people can become villains, and where the villains are criminals on a never-seen before scale".

THEATRE 2
1:00 pm
CHILDHOODS (Enfances)
Drama/Comedy

Directed by: Yann Le Gal, Isild Le Besco, Joana Hadjithomas, Khalil Joreige, Ismaël Ferroukhi, Corinne Garfin, Safy Nebbou
Written by: Yann Le Gal
With: Julie Gayet (Fritz Lang's mother), Clotilde Hesme (Gabrielle), Isild Le Besco (Orson Welles's aunt), Elsa Zylberstein (Ingmar Bergman's mother), Grégoire Azouvy (Alfred Hitchcock), Brandon Darai (Orson Welles), Maxime Juravliov (Jacques Tati), Virgil Leclaire (Fritz Lang), Eliott Margue (Jean Renoir), Max Renaudin (Ingmar Bergman)

Written by Yann Le Gal and directed by several young filmmakers, Childhoods is a series of vignettes recreating moments in the childhood of iconic filmmakers Fritz Lang, Jacques Tati, Orson Welles, Jean Renoir, Ingmar Bergman and Alfred Hitchcock. Based on the idea that a single moment can profoundly influence one's artistic direction, each segment takes a real-life incident or anecdote in the filmmaker's early life and imagines how it relates to his future body of work. It is also a young generation paying homage to the filmmakers that influenced them, and more than an object of curiosity reserved to cinephiles, Childhoods is a film about the lasting impact of our worst childhood fears.

Yann Le Gal has written several films and docudramas for television, including Corps Perdus (2008) and Joséphine (2006). He wrote all the segments in Childhoods and directed one of them, A Secret Beyond the Door. He gathered an eclectic group of directors for the project, from newcomers Corinne Garfin and actress turned filmmaker Isild Le Besco (The Untouchable, Girls Can't Swim, Backstage) to established Writer-Directors Joana Hadjithomas & Khalil Joreige (I Want To See, Around the Pink House, Cendres), Safy Nebbou (The Giraffe's Neck, Mark of an Angel) and Ismaël Ferroukhi (Too Much Happiness, Zero Guilt, Le Grand Voyage).

THEATRE 1
2:15 pm
SOMEONE I LOVED (Je l'aimais)
Presented before its release in France
Romance/Drama

Directed by: Zabou Breitman
Written by: Zabou Breitman, Agnès de Sacy
Based on the novel by: Anna Gavalda
With: Daniel Auteuil (Pierre), Marie-Josée Croze (Mathilde), Florence Loiret-Caille (Chloé), Olivia Ross (Christine), Christiane Millet (Suzanne)

Based on the eponymous novel by Anna Gavalda (also the author of Hunting and Gathering, adapted by Claude Berri and shown at COL•COA in 2007), Someone I Loved is the story of Pierre (Daniel Auteuil, Queen Margot, Girl On the Bridge, Caché), a married man who once fell deeply in love with another woman, but chose to stay with his wife. When he finds out that his son has left his wife Chloé (Florence Loiret-Caille, Let It Rain, Seventh Heaven), Pierre chooses to share this secret with her and tells her about his lifelong love for Mathilde (Marie-Josée Croze,The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Munich, The Barbarian Invasions). Reflecting on his choice and its dramatic consequences, he attempts to help his daughter-in-law understand and overcome her pain.

ABOUT ZABOU BREITMAN

Zabou Breitman started acting at age four and has appeared in many films, plays and TV movies, including: La Boum 2, C'est La Vie, Cuisine et Dépendances, My Little Business. In 2001, she made her directorial debut with Beautiful Memories (COL•COA Classics 2009), co-written with her father, and was awarded a César for Best First Film. While writing and directing short films, she returned to acting in more dramatic roles in Michel Deville's Almost Peaceful (COL•COA 2003), and Bruno Podalydès' The Perfume of the Lady in Black (2005). Her critically-acclaimed second feature film, The Man of My Life (2006) was released in the U.S. by Strand Releasing. Someone I loved is her third film and first novel adaptation. She successfully continues her parallel careers, and also acts in The First Day of the Rest of Your life (COL•COA 2009).

THEATRE 2
3:00 pm
A DAY AT THE MUSEUM (Musée haut, musée bas)
West Coast Premiere
Comedy

Written and Directed by: Jean-Michel Ribes
With: Michel Blanc (Mosk), Victoria Abril (Clara), Pierre Arditi (Henri Province), Josiane Balasko (The mother wearing Chanel), Isabelle Carré (Carole Province), André Dussollier (The Minister), Gérard Jugnot (Roland Province), Valérie Lemercier (Valérie), Fabrice Luchini (The Guardian), Yolande Moreau (Madame Stenthels), François Morel (Hervé Parking), Daniel Prévost (Maurice Bagnole), Muriel Robin (La dame Kandinsky)

Based on Jean-Michel Ribes' widely successful play, translated in many languages and played abroad after its two-year run in Paris, A Day at the Museum is a satire of the art world and its pretentious attitudes toward novelty or "high culture" that also boldly pokes fun at neophyte art fans. Boasting a dizzying cast of well-known actors, including Victoria Abril, Pierre Arditi, Josiane Balasko, Michel Blanc, André Dussollier, Fabrice Luchini or Muriel Robin, A Day at the Museum also features cameos from Writer-Director Tonie Marshall, Producer Dominique Besnehard, Writer-Director Jean-Michel Ribes and former Canal plus CEO Pierre Lescure. From a Minister of Culture admiring a photo exhibit of private parts to a group of provincial visitors obsessed with the Impressionists, A Day at the Museum is a joyfully mad succession of clever repartee and absurdist humor reminiscent of Monty Python.

ABOUT JEAN-MICHEL RIBES

At the age of twenty, Jean-Michel Ribes created his theater troupe La Compagnie du Pallium (1966) and quickly made his mark in French theater circles. He started writing and directing films in the 1970s with Out of Whack (1979) and became known to a larger audience in 1988, when he wrote the successful comedy series Palace for French TV channel Canal plus, starring Philippe Khorsand. He also co-wrote and directed the comedies The King's Cake (1986) and Every Man For Yourself (1993) and adapted Sacha Guitry's play Faisons Un Rêve for television (1996). After a ten-year hiatus, he returned to cinema in 2006 with the award-winning Private Fears in Public Places, directed by Alain Resnais, which he adapted from a play by Alan Ayckbourn. Director of the Parisian Theâtre du Rond-Point since 2001, he remains an essential figure of French theater while pursuing his film career.

THEATRE 3
1:00pm - 8:00pm
AN EYE TO THE FUTURE (of French cinema)
Special presentation of trailers of upcoming French films
Free admission

THEATRE 1
5:00 pm
A FRENCH GIGOLO (Cliente)
Los Angeles Premiere
Comedy/Drama

Written & Directed by: Josiane Balasko
Based on a novel by: Josiane Balasko
With: Nathalie Baye (Judith), Eric Caravaca (Patrick/Marco), Josiane Balasko (Irène), Isabelle Carré (Fanny), George Aguilar (Jim), Marilou Berry (Karine), Catherine Hiegel (Maggy), Félicité Wouassi (Rosalie)

In A French Gigolo, Nathalie Baye (Day For Night, The Green Room, Venus Beauty Institute) is Judith, a successful divorcee in her 50s who hires male escorts on the Internet. Cynical and confident, she wants sexual pleasure without emotional attachment. She meets Marco (Eric Caravaca), a shy young married man who makes an unlikely gigolo. Madly in love with his wife Fanny (Isabelle Carré), a hairdresser who knows nothing about his secret profession, Marco finds himself prostituting to make ends meet and feels uneasy in this role. Things get complicated when the relationship between Judith and Marco becomes serious and Fanny finds out.   

ABOUT JOSIANE BALASKO

Writer-director Josiane Balasko is also one of the most prominent actresses in France. She became famous, along with her theater troupe Le Splendid, for a series of comedies that have become cult classics in France: The Bronzés saga and Le Père Noël est une ordure. Her dramatic role in Too Beautiful For You is also among her most celebrated performances. She started writing and directing in the mid-1980s with All Mixed Up and Lady Cops. In 1995, she won a César award for Best Screenplay with her comedy French Twist, also nominated for a Golden Globe and released in the U.S. in 1996 to rave reviews. Her seventh feature film, A French Gigolo is based on a novel she wrote and adapted to the big screen.

Followed by a discussion with Writer/Director/Actress Josiane Balasko

THEATRE 2
5:30 pm
GROWN-UPS (Les Grandes personnes)
Los Angeles Premiere
Comedy/Romance

Directed by: Anna Novion
Written by: Anna Novion, Béatrice Colombier, Mathieu Robin
With: Jean-Pierre Darroussin (Albert), Anaïs Demoustier (Jeanne), Lia Boysen (Annika), Jakob Eklund (Per), Björn Gustafsson (Johan), Judith Henry (Christine), Anastasios Soulis (Magnus)

Single father Albert (Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Conversations With My Gardener, A Very Long Engagement, The Taste of Others) likes to take his daughter Jeanne (Anaïs Demoustier, La Belle Personne (COL•COA 2009), Time of the Wolf ) on vacation trips across Europe every year. Although she tags along, those journeys are less designed for her than to fulfill Albert's own interests, including an adolescent passion for treasure hunting metal detectors. For her 17th birthday, he takes her to Sweden to look for the lost treasure of a famous Viking. Upon arrival, they realize that the house they have rented is already occupied by Annika and Christine. This sudden change of plans destabilizes Albert's well organized vacation, to the sheer delight of his daughter, who opens up to a new world through the presence of these two emancipated women.

ABOUT ANNA NOVION

Writer-Director Anna Novion studied producing at the University of Saint-Denis and wrote a thesis on Ingmar Bergman at the University of Jussieu in Paris. Before Grown-Ups, Anna Novion wrote and directed three short films: Frédérique est française (2000), Chanson entre deux (2001) and On prend pas la mer quand on la connaît pas (2004). Part French part Swedish, she chose to set her first feature film in Sweden, while vacationing in her family house on an island in the Gothenburg archipelago.

THEATRE 2
8:00 pm
SÉRAPHINE
Los Angeles Premiere
Drama/Biopic

Directed by: Martin Provost
Written by Martin Provost and Marc Abdelnour
With: Yolande Moreau (Séraphine de Senlis), Ulrich Tukur (Wilhelm Uhde), Anne Bennent (Anne-Marie Uhde), Adélaïde Leroux (Minouche), Geneviève Mnich (Mme Duphot), Nico Rogner (Helmut Kolle)

Based on the life of Séraphine de Senlis, an unknown turn of the century naïve painter, Séraphine tells the story of a poor and mentally ill housekeeper inhabited by an incredible talent. Séraphine, played by Yolande Moreau (Amélie, The Last Mistress), works for German art collector Wilhelm Uhde (Ulrich Tukur), who accidentally discovers one of her paintings in a local art salon. Fascinated by her talent, Uhde wants to show her work but WWI forces him to flee the country. In 1927, Udhe finds his protégée destitute but still painting. As the Great Depression forces him to delay his plans for her a second time, this new disappointment precipitates Séraphine's descent into madness. The film shows the complexity and limitations of their relationship but also the pain and violence of her visceral need to paint.

ABOUT MARTIN PROVOST

Writer-director Martin Provost started his career as an actor, onscreen in films by Tonie Marshall or Claude Zidi and onstage for six years at the Comédie Française. He wrote and directed his first feature Tortilla and Cinema in 1996, a Franco-Spanish co-production with Castilian star Carmen Maura. Following his critically acclaimed Song from within, Provost's third feature Séraphine brought him worldwide recognition as well as national accolades, including seven César awards, including Best Picture of the year and Best Original screenplay. He is also the author of two short films J'ai peur du noir (1990) and Cocon (1992), various plays and a novel, Aime-moi vite (1993).

THEATRE 1
8:30 pm
QUEEN TO PLAY (Joueuse)
Presented the day of the World Premiere at the Tribeca International Festival
Drama

Written & Directed by Caroline Bottaro
With: Sandrine Bonnaire (Hélène), Kevin Kline (Kröger), Jennifer Beals (The American Woman), Valérie Lagrange (Maria), Francis Renaud (Ange), Laurence Colussi (Pina), Didier Ferrari (Jacky), Alexandra Gentil (Lisa), Dominic Gould (The American Man), Daniel Martin (Chess Club President), Alice Pol (Natalia), Élisabeth Vitali (Marie-Jeanne)

Starring Franco-American duo Sandrine Bonnaire (Her Name Is Sabine (COL•COA 2008),Vagabond, Under The Sun of Satan, The Ceremony) and Kevin Kline (The Pink Panther, French Kiss, Cry Freedom, Sophie's Choice), Queen To Play portrays the emancipation of a woman through chess playing. Sandrine Bonnaire plays Hélène, a hotel chambermaid whose life is transformed when she sees a couple play chess at the hotel. Obsessed by the game and the desire to master it, she meets Kröger (Kevin Kline), an American expat who teaches her how to play and becomes her mentor. American actress Jennifer Beals (Flashdance, The Grudge 2, The Anniversary Party) also stars in the film.

Followed by a discussion with Producer Dominique Besnehard

Sunday April 26th

THEATRE 2
11:00am
Rerun To be announced
Free Admission

THEATRE 1
1:00 pm
Closing Film in competition
WELCOME
North American Premiere
Drama

Directed by: Philippe Lioret
Written by: Philippe Lioret, Emmanuel Courcol, Olivier Adam
With: Vincent Lindon (Simon), Firat Ayverdi (Bilal), Audrey Dana (Marion), Selim Akgül (Zoran), Derya Ayverdi (Mina), Jean-Pol Brissart (The Judge), Firat Celik (Koban), Behi Djanati Atai (Mina's mother), Thierry Godard (Bruno), Murat Subasi (Mirko), Olivier Rabourdin (the police lieutenant)

An ode to the abandoned immigrants trapped on the shores of Calais and the good Samaritans who take risks to help them, the ironically titled Welcome stars popular French actor Vincent Lindon (Betty Blue, The School of Flesh, Seventh Heaven) as Simon and talented newcomer Firat Ayverdi as Bilal, in his first role. Simon gives shelter and swimming lessons to illegal Kurd immigrant Bilal, who wants to cross the channel and join his fiancée in England. Although Simon and Bilal develop a sincere father-son relationship, Simon takes the risk of being arrested for helping an illegal immigrant in the desperate hope of impressing his estranged wife Marion (Audrey Dana, Roman de Gare (COL•COA 2008)), with whom he is still deeply in love. Released in March 2009 in France after premiering at the Berlinale, Welcome has already fueled many debates with its politically controversial stance.

ABOUT PHILIPPE LIORET

A former sound engineer, Philippe Lioret turned to filmmaking in 1993 with a first feature Lost in Transit, for which he won a Silver Seashell award for Best Director and OCIC Award at the San Sebastian International Film Festival. He followed with the comedy Tenue Correcte Exigée (1997) and two critically-acclaimed feature films starring Sandrine Bonnaire: Mademoiselle (2001) and The Light (COL•COA 2005). In 2007, his adaptation of a novel by Olivier Adam, Don't Worry, I'm Fine, became a critical and commercial success in France, winning many awards including an Étoile d'Or for Best Screenplay and revealing the talent of young actress Mélanie Laurent (César, Lumière award and Étoile d'Or for Most Promising Actress).

THEATRE 2
1:30 pm
A SHORT AFTERNOON (Part 1)
Official competition of Short films
Free Admission

3:30 - 4:45 pm
GRAND LOBBY OF THE DGA
13TH ANNIVERSARY CAKE AND COFFEE
DRAWING OF THE WIN A TRIP TO PARIS CONTEST

THEATRE 2
4:15 pm
A SHORT AFTERNOON (Part 2)
Official competition of Short films
Free Admission

THEATRE 1
4:45 pm
Rerun To be announced
Free Admission

Give the big Hollywood studios credit for at least releasing the off-its-meds and possibly satanic Observe and Report on the same weekend they flooded theaters with the pasteurized, processed cheese-wiz of Hannah Montana.
The angry Anti-Blart comedy would have been the perfect antidote to Miley Cyrus' mind-numbing plattitude parade (and that other mall cop movie's juvenile appeal) had O & R been actually funny and put together coherently. As it stands, the movie provides Seth Rogen with a nice acting stretch, but isn't strong enough to counteract the wave of unreal (and unimaginative) idiocy that the likes of Blart, Montana and those fume-huffing Fast & Furious leadfoots are riding to oxygen-starved boxoffice heights.
Cinema that's actually observant and reportorial came to L.A. by two very different routes from the Middle East this weekend.
The Song of Sparrows is the latest work from Iran's Majid Majdi. Like many films from that demonized country, it's an astonishing combination of humanism and naturalistic artistry.
Reza Naji, whose weathered rock of a face would typecast him as a criminal mastermind in the West, plays a hardworking father of three with a short temper and a resilient drive to do anything to provide for his family. When an ostrich escapes from the farm where he's employed, Naji's Karim gets fired and accidentally discovers that he can make pretty good money using his motorcycle as a taxi for Tehran businessmen. Each evening he returns to his rural home with useful junk from the big city strapped on the back of his bike, and soon Karim's yard is filled with treasures tradition dictates he share with his grateful neighbors.
Yes, Song of Sparrows is something of a comedy, especially when Karim's rambunctious kids get his goat. But he's fundamentally a decent and loving man, and when his newfound prosperity leads to all manner of subtle moral choices, the movie becomes an ethical drama of a high order.
Majidi and his cinematographer Tooraj Mansoouri are geniuses at composition, and whether Karim is chasing a ridiculous bird around dry grass hills or negotiating bustling streets and bursting warehouses on his bike, the images shimmer with painterly control that never looks obtrusive. The visual metaphor of turning rubbish into something attractive and useful is masterfully deployed throughout. Grammy-nominated composer Hossein Alizadeh's sitar-based score, one of the most memorable you'll likely hear all year, completes a near-perfect picture that tells the simplest of stories in a constantly surprising and believable manner.
Storytelling is something that Norma Khouri, the subject of the fascinating and shrewdly put together Australian documentary Forbidden Lie$, is also very good at. She wrote a book about a childhood friend of hers in Amman, Jordan who was the victim of an honor killing. It sold well to lots of First World readers who were moved and appalled by this horrific Arab tradition, and it made the charismatic Khouri a media celebrity Down Under, where she settled after her success made returning to her home country risky.
Because, y'know, the FBI usually gets its man. As it turns out, Khouri spent most of her pre-literary life in Chicago, where there's still pretty good evidence that she was quite an adept con-artist. According to many of its politely outraged citizens - including women who have dedicated their lives and professions to combating the relatively rare practice of murdering a wayward sister or daughter - her non-fiction book got just about every detail about Jordan and its culture wrong.
Oh, and the friend who'd become a posthumous martyr for women's rights and a symbol of everything Westerners automatically believe is so very, very bad about the Islamic world? Even when Khouri takes Forbidden's increasingly skeptical director Anna Broinowski on a fact-proving trip to Amman, the possibility that the dead girl ever actually existed remains improbable at best.
But not impossible. Facile - and highly entertaining at it - liar though she is, Khouri often manages to turn up a kernel of evidence to throw our doubts into doubt. Broinowski plays along, formally anyway, by restaging scenes that probably never happened and calling attention to filmmaking artifice. The result is perhaps the cleverest work of cinematic subterfuge (non-fiction division) this side of Orson Welles' F for Fake.
A consummate fabulist like Khouri deserves no less a tribute.

The show was about a white NBA player - Howard - who had to retire due to injuries and was asked to coach a (fictional) high school in Los Angeles called Carver. The team was terrible and all of the students were problem kids - from the almost expelled pyromaniacs, to the criminals to the anti-establishment. But Howard's character of Ken Reeves, pulled these kids together and got them going in the right direction. Most of them.

The series was monumental in several ways. One is the it depicted high school life in Los Angeles with a raw intensity not seen up to this point. The real-life issues kids then (and still now) faced, including one of the players on the team being an innocent bystander at a robbery and getting shot.
Another reason why it was monumental is because of how it propelled MTM Enterprises to new heights. It started the production company on a path of greatness with the producers, directors and writers (as well as some of the actors) moving on to many other great shows. Other series the company producerd included St. Elsewhere and Hill Street Blues and those shows' producers spawned other shows Homincide: Life on the Street, Miami Vice, The Sopranos, LA Law, NYPD Blue Not the mention the comedy series they were also doing The Mary Tyler Moore Show, WKRP in Cincinnati, The Bob Newhart Show (and later, Newhart), with those produces moving on after that to do The Simpsons, Taxi and Cheers, among others. One of the main producers of the series was Bruce Paltrow, Gwyneth's dad.

The third big contribution from The White Shadow was that three of the actors who played high school basketball players became accomplished television writers and directors after the series was over. Timothy Van Patten went on the direct Sex and the City, The Sopranos, The Wire, Ed, Homicide: Life on the Street, and a Deadwood episode and was nominated for six Emmys for writing and directing. Kevin Hooks also became a director, working on St. Elsewhere, Doogie Howser, Homicide: Life on the Street, ER, Lost, 24 and a score of other television series. Thomas Carter is yet another director spawned from The White Shadow, with directing credits that include Hill Street Blues, Equal Justice and Damages and a large list of other credits like the films Coach Carter and the now Untitled Jackie Robinson Movie, due out in 2010 that Robert Redford is attached to.

The White Shadow was not just a basketball show, but it was a series about kids growing up and learning how to be responsible adults - with basketball at the foreground.

The series is available to watch on Hulu.com as well as on DVD. It originally aired from 1978-1981 and is fun to watch - albeit a little dated - but it would be a good companion piece to view while watching the last part of the NBA season.

This season's batch of episodes have been particularly strong with consistently funny performances by castmembers Bill Hader, Fred Armisen, Andy Samberg, Kristen Wiig who are excelling and Seth Meyers is great anchoring Weekend Update. Armisen, Samberg, Wiig and Meyers are exceptional this season so far and Hader - who has come out of nowhere - is just as great. Will Forte as the parody of MacGyver called 'McGruber' is also very funny. Hader and Wiig are in the new movie Adventureland and Samberg is in I Love You, Man, by the way.

Some of the recent guests have been hilarious too with The Rock, Tracy Morgan, John Malkovich, Seth Rogan (last week), Alec Baldwin - again - Neil Patrick Harris, Rosario Dawson and Hugh Laurie being brilliant.
To view any clips from those particular guests go here and find some video.

Some of the highlights are:
Bill Hader as Vinny Vedecci - the Italian talk show host who interviews American actors Seth Rogan and John Malkovich (separately) in half Italian and half English. Check out the appearance of Bobby Moynihan as Vinny's man-child-son in both sketches.

Tracey Morgan's revisiting of his Brian Fellow character in 'Brian Fellow's Safari Planet' is hysterical.

'La Policia Mexicana' with Hader and guest Rosario Dawson is hysterical. As is the 'Gitmo Fire Sale Ad' with Jason Sudekis as a fast-talking agent trying to sell off parts and pieces from Guantanamo Bay.
La Policia Mexicana is here and Gitmo Fire Sale is here.

The entire show with Neil Patrick Harris as the host was fantastic and the parody of the movie Frost/Nixon called 'Frost/Other People' was exceptional.

The Wiig character of 'Virgania Horsen' who does these weird and awkward commercials for her own businesses, with one being her delivering your mail wherever you want it to go - by horse - but you have to mail it to her first. Then she'll deliver it by hand for you. Go here for that one.

Some of the raunchier elements of the show come in the form of the digital shorts segments - which are usually co-written, directed and co-starring Samberg and SNL writers Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone - who are collectively known as 'The Lonely Island.' The comedy group were already formed and doing things when Samberg was hired as a performer for SNL and he brought in Schaffer and Taccone to write (they're the ones responsible for the McGruber segments, among others). The three of them have made a CD of music called 'Incredibad' and have shot videos for the songs - which are the digital shorts on SNL. The incredibly raunchy songs have found a cult following on youtube and iTunes. The songs 'D*ick in a Box,' 'J**Z in My Pants,' 'I'm the Boss,' 'We Like Sportz' and 'Space Olympics' have all been featured as videos on the show as has their first segment, which is the gangsta rap song/video by Natalie Portman, which appeared in the show first in 2006. That was them too - not many people know that. 'I'm the Boss' just aired for the first time last week. Oh, also 'Ras Trent' as also appeared in the show, where Samberg plays a dorky, blond college kid with dreadlocks who has converted to Rastafarianism.

Try to catch the videos on NBC.com. Some of the featured ones are fantastically funny. Oh, and check out Fred Armisen as Boy George during Weekend Update. Classic.

Guaranteed funny SNL that should happen very soon. JASON SEGEL. Someone make that happen please.