Here's the press release:

THE LOS ANGELES JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL IS BACK

The Third Annual Festival Commemorates Israel's 60th Anniversary

LAJFF Honors Theodore Bikel and Joan Rivers

The third annual Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival (LAJFF) kicks off May 8th by commemorating the 60th anniversary of the founding of the state of Israel with the Los Angeles premiere of Lynn Roth's The Little Traitor. The Festival will honor Theodore Bikel with a special award on Opening Night and Joan Rivers with the Marlene Adler Marks Woman of Inspiration Award on a special evening during the festival.

"I can't think of a better way to celebrate our third annual festival than by honoring Israel's 60th anniversary with Lynn Roth's inspiring and poignant film and Theodore Birkel's work within the Jewish community," said Executive Director Hilary Helstein. "The week-long festivities continue with film screenings, cultural events, and of course, a very special evening celebrating the talented and accomplished Joan Rivers."

The Los Angeles premiere of The Little Traitor will open the festival on Thursday, May 8th at the Writers' Guild Theatre in Beverly Hills. Written and directed by Lynn Roth and produced by Eitan Evan, the film is set in Israel in 1947 just before it becomes an independent state and stars Alfred Molina, Ido Port, and Theodore Bikel. LAJFF will honor Theodore Bikel on Opening Night with a special award for his achievement in promoting Jewish culture in media. The Consul General of Israel, Jacob Dayan will also be present to bring greetings from the state of Israel on the occasion of its 60th birthday. A reception will follow the program and screening sponsored by the Tel Aviv-Los Angeles Partnership program.

Austrian-born Theodore Bikel is an Academy Award and Tony Award nominated actor in film, theater and television; a musician and legendary folk singer; radio host; president of Actors' Equity; political activist; Jewish spokesman; and author. He made his film debut in The African Queen (1951) and was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as the southern sheriff in The Defiant Ones (1958). Since then, he has appeared in over thirty motion pictures in addition to numerous plays and television shows classics such as My Fair Lady and the Russians Are Coming! the Russians Are Coming! to the more recent films Shattered and the remake of Crime and Punishment. Mr. Bikel is also an accomplished folk singer who has recorded 20 albums and sings in over 26 different languages.

LAJFF and the MorningStar Commission will honor Joan Rivers on Tuesday, May 13th with the Marlene Adler Marks Woman of Inspiration Award. The ceremony will be followed by the Los Angeles premiere of Making Trouble: Three Generations of Funny Jewish Women produced by the Jewish Women's Archive at the Skirball Cultural Center. Joan River's career has spanned the decades as a successful multi-hypenate as a comedian, actress, talk show host, businesswoman, author, celebrity and an active philanthropist bringing her brash humor, talents and tenacity to each role.

The Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival is a week of events celebrating the diversity of the Jewish experience through film. Most screenings are co-produced with local partners and enhanced by panel discussions with the filmmakers, cast and special guests. By featuring films that highlight Jewish culture, traditions and challenges, the Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival seeks to promote tolerance and encourages dialogue within the Greater Los Angeles community.

The Festival takes place May 8-15, 2008 with over thirty features, documentaries, short subjects and cultural events at various locations around Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley. Venues include the WGA Theatre, Laemmle's Town Center (Encino), Lammle's One Colorado (Pasadena), Laemmle's Music Hall (Beverly Hills), Arclight Cinemas Sherman Oaks, Westside JCC, Skirball Cultural Center, Knitting Factory Hollywood, Valley Beth Shalom, Sinai Temple, Wilshire Boulevard Temple, Temple Beth, Haverim, Hillel at UCLA, and the Emanuel Arts Center Theatre.

For a complete list of screening times, venues, activities and exhibits, go to http://www.lajfilmfest.org.

Festival highlights and the full line-up by category are included in the addendum below.

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FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS

Thursday, May 8: Opening Night Gala, the LA premiere of The Little Traitor

Based on Panther in the Basement by world renowned novelist, Amos Oz, the movie takes place in Palestine in 1947. Proffy, a spirited 11 year old militant wants the occupying imperialists off his land. A chance meeting with British officer Sergeant Dunlop builds into a friendship between these two foes. Q&A with director and cast. WGA Theater, Beverly Hills, 8:00 p.m. *This film is part of the Spotlight on Israel section in the Festival.

Sunday, May 11: Los Angeles Student Film Showcase

The first of its kind, this event will showcase Jewish student short films from day and high schools throughout Los Angeles, representing a diverse range of student work that represents the burgeoning talent of our future generation of filmmakers. ArcLight Cinemas Sherman Oaks, 3:00 p.m. * Q&A with student filmmakers. Sponsored by the Jewish Federation Valley Alliance & the Martin F. Witkin Fund

Sunday, May 11: A film for the whole family: LA premiere of Max Minsky and Me

Brilliant but nerdy Nelly is distracted from her Bat Mitzvah studies by her determination to meet her fantasy heart-throb at a basketball championship. She chooses an unwilling but attractive classmate, Max, to teach her the game through which she delightfully stumbles her into adolescence.

German with English subtitles. Appropriate for ages 12+. Laemmle's Town Center, Encino 5:00 p.m., Laemmle's Music Hall, Beverly Hills, 5:00 p.m.

Monday May 12: The LA premiere of The Memory Thief

Directed by Gil Kofman, starring Mark Webber. Lukas, an aimless youth has a chance encounter with a Holocaust survivor. His interest turns to compassion and he volunteers to collect oral histories. The more he learns about the Shoah the greater his obsession becomes, and slowly overtakes his life and identity.

Laemmle Music Hall Theaters, Beverly Hills, 7:30 p.m. *Q & A with director.

Monday, May 12: The LA premiere of Strangers

Official Selection at Sundance Film Festival, this foreign drama from Israel, portrays an Israeli man and a Palestinian woman who fall into a passionate affair at the World Cup finals in Germany.

Laemmle's Town Center, Encino 7:30 p.m., *Discussion to follow. This film is part of the Spotlight on Israel section in the Festival.

Tuesday, May 13: A Special Evening with Joan Rivers! Premiering Making Trouble

The MorningStar Commission will honor Joan Rivers with the Marlene Adler Marks Woman of Inspiration Award. Ceremony followed by the premiere of Making Trouble - the story of six of the greatest female comic performers of the last century who broke new ground and delighted audiences for over three generations including Joan Rivers. Skirball Center, Los Angeles, 7:30 p.m.

Wednesday 5/14: The LA premiere of Refusenik

Laura Bialis' retrospective chronicles the thirty-year international movement to free Soviet Jews. This film is a tapestry of first person accounts of heroism, sacrifice, and ultimately, liberation told by activists on both sides of the Iron Curtain. Laemmle's Music Hall, Beverly Hills; 7:30 p.m. *Q&A with Laura Bialis and Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky

Thursday 5/15: Closing Night, the LA premiere of Sixty Six

England in the summer of 1966 is about to be consumed by World Cup Fever, just as 12 year-old Bernie enthusiastically prepares for his Bar Mitzvah. When England makes it through the qualifying rounds, Bernie's longed-for Bar Mitzvah looks headed for disaster. Directed by Paul Weiland (Made of Honor). Be the first in Los Angeles to have a sneak peek at this delightful, soon-to-be-released comedy. ArcLight Cinemas, Sherman Oaks; 7:30 p.m.

FULL FESTIVAL LINE-UP BY CATEGORY

CONFLICTS AND ISSUES

Bad Faith

Comedy/France/84 minutes/2007

Directed by: Roschdy Zem

Starring: Roschdy Zem & Cecile De France

French with English Subtitles

Clara and Ismael, a Jew and an Arab, are a happy couple. When Clara becomes pregnant, everything's fine...until they realize they have to tell their parents. A contemporary update of "Guess Who's

Coming to Dinner", this film delivers relevance and poignancy to a romantic comedy for our troubled times.

Strangers

Drama/Israel/85 minutes/2008

Written and directed by: Guy Nattiv & Erez Tadmor

Hebrew with English Subtitles

Eyal, an Israeli kibbutznik, and Rana, a Palestinian living in Paris, visit Berlin for the World Cup and are forced to share an apartment. Over three intensive days their friendship turns to love as the World Cup and the second Israel-Lebanon war simultaneously play out before their eyes. When it's time to go home, they must decide where to go to from there. Discussion to follow. *Sponsored by the William Morris

Agency. This film is part of the Spotlight on Israel section in the Festival.

Lonely Man of Faith

Documentary/USA/99 minutes/2006

Directed by: Ethan Isenberg

He was a rebel as well as a respected rabbi and Talmudic scholar. Joseph B. Soloveitchik battled ignorance, extremism, corruption and loneliness to make a lasting impact on the American Jewish

community. Discussion with Ethan Isenberg & Elliot Dorff to follow.

TRADITION AND IDENTITY

Children of the Sun

Documentary/Israel/70 minutes/2007

Directed by: Ran Tal

Hebrew with English Subtitles

An intimate journey about the lives of the first children born on Israeli kibbutzes through rare amateur films created from 1930 - 1970. This collage of archival footage depicts aspects of the kibbutz movement from its utopian beginnings to ultimate disintegration. *This film is part of the Spotlight on Israel section in the festival

The First Basket

Documentary/USA/86 minutes/2007

Directed by: David Vyorst

The film examines the inner-city social factors that led urban Jewish youths to basketball. This history of Jewish basketball experiences, from ash cans placed on brownstone stoops to the bright lights of Madison Square Garden still resonates with us today. *In cooperation with WJCC Maccabi

Diary of Niclas Gheiler

Short/USA/35 minutes/2007

Directed by: George Aguilar

A cinematic diary which chronicles the journey of a German WWI veteran who served with Hitler in the war. Niclas Gheiler shares his experiences from the war and the events that affected his life and forced him to leave his homeland and family behind.

Followed by:

About Sugar Cane and Homecoming

Documentary/Brazil/54 minutes/2007

Directed by: Shaul Kesslassi

Spanish/Hebrew/Yiddish with English subtitles

The story of a growing number of people in rural Brazil on a quest for identity and faith. Born into Catholicism, they choose to follow Jewish rituals and maintain Jewish traditions and communal life, but are not recognized by the Jewish establishment around the world. *Sponsored by VBS Men's Group

Yiddish Soul

Documentary/Belgium/54 minutes/2006

Directed by: Turi Finocchiaro &

Nathalie Rossetti

French/German with English subtitles

Focusing on the revival of Yiddish music in present-day Europe, it follows a new generation of performers such as Karsten Troyke, Shura Lipovsky, and Klez Roym as they tour and perform in different cities across Europe, where they are joined by Chava Alberstein and Myriam Fuks. Followed by a live performance of Yiddish Folk Songs. *Sponsored by Yiddishkayt LA

Evening of Kosher Film & Art Presented by ATID

Join us for wine tasting, a dessert bar, live music by Josh Nelson, Jewish themed art and short films made by emerging artists and filmmakers in their 20s & 30s.

HISTORY AND LEGACY

OPENING NIGHT FILM--

The Little Traitor

Drama/USA/Israel/90 minutes/2008

Directed by: Lynn Roth

Starring: Alfred Molina, Ido Port & Theodore Bikel

English/Hebrew with English Subtitles

Based on Panther in the Basement by world-renowned novelist, Amos Oz, the movie takes place in Palestine in 1947, just a few months before Israel becomes a state. Proffy, a spirited 11 year old militant

wants the occupying imperialists off his land. What starts as a confrontation with British officer Sergeant Dunlop, builds into a friendship between these two foes that changes their lives forever. Q&A with director. *This film is part of the Spotlight on Israel section in the Festival.

The Memory Thief

Drama/USA/95 minutes/2007

Directed by: Gil Kofman

Starring: Mark Webber

Lukas is an aimless youth who works as a tollbooth clerk. After a chance encounter with a Holocaust survivor, his interest turns to compassion and he volunteers to collect oral histories. The more Lukas,

a non-Jew, learns about the Shoah the greater his obsession becomes, and slowly overtakes his life and identity. Q&A with director.

Eichmann

Drama/UK/Hungary/100 minutes/2008

Directed by: Robert Young

Starring: Thomas Kretschmann & Troy Garity

Based upon the final confession of Adolf Eichmann before his execution in Israel, this dramatic portrayal of the conflict between Eichmann and Captain Avner Less, the young Israeli officer investigating him becomes a battle of wills. What happens will change a nation forever. Followed by Q&A. *This film is part of the Spotlight on Israel section in the Festival.

Refusenik

Documentary/USA/110 minutes/2008

Directed by: Laura Bialis

The first retrospective to chronicle the thirty-year international movement to free Soviet Jews - the film is a tapestry of first person accounts of heroism, sacrifice, and ultimately, liberation told by activists on both sides of the Iron Curtain - many whom survived punishment in Soviet Gulag labor camps. Q&A with Laura Bialis and Zev Yaroslavsky.

Spielzeugland (Toyland)

Short/Germany/14 Minutes/2007

Directed by: Jochen Alexander Freydank

German with English Subtitles

To protect her son from the horrors of 1942 Germany, Marianne tells him that his Jewish best friend and his parents are packing for a journey to 'Toyland'. He begs to go along until one morning her son and the neighbors have disappeared.

Followed by:

Anne and the Reverend

Documentary/France/49 minutes/2008

French With English Subtitles

Makoto Otsuka is a reverend from Hiroshima, who met Anne Frank's father 30 years ago. Inspired by that meeting, he created a museum where he transmits the memory of the Holocaust to Japanese

children and to a country that is searching for its own memory. *In cooperation with Café Europa

The Tree of Life

Documentary/USA/77 minutes/2007

Directed by: Hava Volterra

A Los Angeles woman tries to come to terms with her father's death by traveling to his birthplace in Italy to trace her family tree. With the help of her feisty 82 year old aunt and some inventive animation,

the story chronicles her relentless travels as she grows to understand the fascinating story of her Italian Jewish ancestors. Q&A with director.

Pigeon

Short/Canada/10 minutes/2005

Directed by: Anthony Green

Starring: Michael Lerner & Wendy Crewson

Set during World War II and based on a true story, Pigeon recounts a rare and startling act of charity.

Playing With: Tulip Time

Forgotten Souls

Short/UK/24 minutes/2007

Directed by: Ricky Wood

This is the story of Janek Kowalksi a survivor of the Holocaust who re-settles in Scotland from Poland. Set in 1963, Janek lives in a remote area in an effort to forget the horrors of the past which still haunt him.

Playing With: Tulip Time

Tulip Time

Documentary/Netherlands/50 minutes/2007

Directed by: Marco De Stefanis & Tonino Boniotti

Italian with English Subtitles

Trio Lescano, the Italian name adopted by the Dutch Jewish sisters Leschan with their "Swing Italiano", was the first European 'girl band'. Their successful career started in 1938 with the song "Tulip Time", which made them a myth in Italy. But how did they manage to keep going in fascist Italy during World War II? Playing with: Pigeon and Forgotten Souls

Torte Bluma

Short/USA/18 Minutes/2005

Directed by: Benjamin Ross

Starring: Stellan Skarsgård

A sobering film inspired by a real life episode in the life of Franz Stangl, the German commandant at

Treblinka, and the Jewish prisoner who cooks his meals.

Followed by:

The House on August Street

Documentary/Israel/63 Minutes/2007

Directed by: Ayelet Bargur

Hebrew/German with English Subtitles

A film about memory, hope and an amazing rescue operation to save the children in a Berlin Jewish orphanage run by a single woman with the foresight and understanding of the realities in 1933 Germany that few others possessed.

COMING OF AGE

Cara de Queso (Cheesehead: My First Ghetto)

Comedy/Argentina/80 minutes/2006

Directed by: Ariel Winograd

Spanish with English subtitles

Some of Argentina's best talent in this hilarious summer romp through an idyllic Jewish country club. The clash between old traditions and new ideas makes for a hilarious film about a boy going through puberty, facing bullies, his first crush, and pressure from his Jewish parents. *In cooperation with the Consulate General of Argentina

CLOSING NIGHT FILM--

Sixty Six

Comedy/UK/94 minutes/2007

Directed by: Paul Weiland

Starring: Helena Bonham-Carter

England in the summer of 1966 is about to be consumed by World Cup Fever, just as 12 year-old Bernie

enthusiastically prepares for his Bar Mitzvah. However, family problems threaten to overwhelm the celebration, and when England makes it through the qualifying rounds, Bernie's longed-for Bar Mitzvah looks headed for disaster.

Max Minsky and Me

Comedy/Germany/94 minutes/2007

Directed by: Anna Justice

German with English Subtitles

Brilliant but nerdy Nelly is distracted from her Bat Mitzvah studies by her determination to meet her fantasy heart-throb, the Prince of Luxembourg at a basketball championship. She chooses an unwilling but attractive classmate, Max, to teach her the game, as she delightfully stumbles her way not only to a choice spot on the school team, but into adulthood. *Sponsored by the Goethe-Institut Los Angeles

INSPIRATION

Making Trouble

Documentary/USA/86 minutes/2007

Directed by: Rachel Talbot

This documentary tells the story of six of the greatest female comic performers of the last century who broke new ground and delighted audiences for over three generations. Hosted by four of today's funniest women, it's the true saga of what it means to be Jewish, female and funny. *Preceded by a Special Evening with Joan Rivers where The MorningStar Commission will present her the Marlene Adler Marks Woman of Inspiration Award

Between Heaven and Earth:Short films about Jerusalem

A collection of short films from Israel's top film schools which provide a unique insight into life in Jerusalem as seen through the lenses of the next generation of Israeli filmmakers. Q&A after the screening. *Presented in cooperation with The Jerusalem Foundation and sponsored by VBS Men's Group. This film is part of the Spotlight on Israel section in the Festival.

Autism: The Musical

Documentary/USA/100 minutes/2008

Directed by: Tricia Regan

Elaine Hall pledges optimistically to lead a group of autistic children in defying their limited expectations

in a collaborative production of a full-length musical. Following five Los Angeles children over the course of six months, the film captures the struggles and triumphs of their family lives, as the production gives these children a comfort zone in which they can explore their creative abilities. Elaine Hall attending. *Sponsored by Beit Issie Shapiro and HaMercaz

Los Angeles Student Film Showcase

Shorts/USA/80 minutes/2008

The first of its kind, this event will showcase Jewish student films from day/high schools throughout Los

Angeles. We will present a diverse and exciting range of student work that represents the burgeoning talent of our future generation of filmmakers. Q&A with student filmmakers. *Sponsored by The Jewish

Federation Valley Alliance

Shmuli's Dream

Short/USA/3 Minutes/2007

Directed by: Eli Rosenblatt

Shmuli dreams that his apartment is overrun by klezmer musicians as he goes about his morning routine.

Followed by:

Song of David

Short/USA/14 Minutes/2007

Directed by: Oded Turgeman

David, an alienated Yeshiva student, reaches out to the only non-Jew he knows, Winston, a security guard that shares his love of hip-hop. David indulges his artistic freedom with an honest self-expression which puts him at odds with his teachers, and he must make a choice between diverging worlds. *Followed by a performance by Moshav.

. . . playing a total of five - count 'em, five - different movies this weekend. Well, at least the food's cheap.

Here's the official opening announcement:

Pacific Theatres will debut its newest theater located within the highly-anticipated development, The Americana at Brand, on May 2, 2008. The theater, Pacific Theatres Glendale 18 at The Americana at Brand, will be an anchor within The Americana at Brand and will elevate the level of movie watching for Glendale and the surrounding areas. The new theater spans 67,000 square feet and is equipped with 18 screens with nearly 3,000 seats. Each spacious and comfortable auditorium houses curved wall-to-wall screens, state-of-the-art digital sound, and stadium seating with retractable arm rests and reclining seats.

GRAND OPENING

Pacific Theatres Glendale 18 will offer special opening week concession promotions featuring $1 popcorn and $2 hotdogs. The theater will also offer a special on-line ticketing option from Movietickets.com with no service charge for a limited time. Glendale's Pacific 18 has already secured premier programming for guests to enjoy in its opening month, including the following highly anticipated films:

§ YOUNG @ HEART

§ THE VISITOR

§ IRON MAN (Release Date: 5/2)

§ MADE OF HONOR (Release Date: 5/2)

§ SON OF RAMBOW (Release Date: 5/2)

§ SPEED RACER (Release Date: 5/9)

§ THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN (Release Date: 5/16)

§ INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL (Release Date: 5/22)

§ SEX AND THE CITY (Release Date: 5/30)

During opening weekend, the theater will distribute movie-themed prizes from the films MADE OF HONOR, SON OF RAMBOW, and IRON MAN. The giveaways will take place all weekend long, while supplies last and include the following:

MADE OF HONOR

§ T-shirts, engagement ring key chains and mini one-sheet posters

§ Items will be available (while supplies last) at the 7:30 pm screenings on 5/2, 5/3, and 5/4

SON OF RAMBOW

§ T-shirts that have "Make Believe Not War" printed on them and mini one-sheet posters

§ Items will be available (while supplies last) at the 4:20 pm screenings on 5/2, 5/3, and 5/4

IRON MAN

§ T-shirts and mini one-sheet posters

§ Items will be available (while supplies last) at the 7:30 pm screenings on 5/2, 5/3, and 5/4

About Pacific Theatres Glendale 18 at The Americana at Brand

Pacific Theatres Glendale 18 is located off of Colorado at Central at The Americana at Brand. With more than 2,500 spaces on seven levels available in the parking structure, guests can effortlessly locate a vacant place to park with the automated system that indicates how many available spaces are on each level. Guests may enter the parking garage from either Central Avenue or Brand Boulevard. Valet parking is also available through the Central Avenue entrance. As guests enter The Americana at Brand from the parking structure, the theater is the prominent centerpiece and visible from any vantage point. Ticket prices are as follows, general admission tickets are $11.75, senior and bargain guest tickets are $9.75, and child admission tickets are $8.75 for those aged 12 and under. The Americana at Brand is located at 322 Americana Way in Glendale, California.

This thing looks about as vast as Asia and the Pacific themselves. I can't begin to figure out how to navigate it. Below is as comprehensive a press release as I could get. Good luck.

24TH ANNUAL LOS ANGELES ASIAN PACIFIC FILM FESTIVAL PRESENTED BY HONDA
PRESENTS LINE UP
FOR MAY 1 - 8 WEEKLONG CINEMA BLOW OUT

VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS WILL PRESENT OVER 160 FILMS AND VIDEOS FROM
AROUND THE GLOBE IN THIS YEAR'S EXPANDED FEST INCLUDING WORLD
PREMIERES, PANELS AND A TRAVELING FESTIVAL PROGRAM ON A BUS - ALL
ABOARD!

Visual Communications (VC), the nation's premier Asian Pacific American
media arts center will host a program of extraordinary films at the
upcoming 24th Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival Presented by
Honda May 1 - May 8, 2008 at the Director's Guild of America (DGA),
Laemmle's Sunset 5 Theatres, ImaginAsian Center, The National Center
for the Preservation of Democracy, and the Aratani/Japan America
Theatre.

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. Tickets are on
sale now.

Formerly the VC FilmFest, this year VC officially changes the festival
name to the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival. Known globally as
Southern California's largest and most prestigious film festival of its
kind, the fest launches the celebration of Asian Pacific Heritage Month
through this year's slate of over 160 films and videos from both Asian
Pacific, American and Asian international directors.

In this year's outstanding crop of films, Asian American female
directors are featured prominently throughout the fest, kicking off
with Oscar® winning director Jessica Yu's comedy PING PONG PLAYA and
closing with the Australian director Tony Ayres' moving drama THE HOME
SONG STORIES starring Joan Chen in an award winning performance. This
year's global cinematic spotlight is a unique program of visionary
films from the Philippines.

HIGHLIGHTED PROGRAMS

• OPENING NIGHT - Thursday, May 1 - DGA
PING PONG PLAYA - A Film by Jessica Yu - The Los Angeles premiere of
PING PONG PLAYA marks filmmaker Yu's comedy narrative feature debut
starring Jimmy Tsai, Roger Fan, Elizabeth Sung, Smith Cho, Andrew Vo,
Khary Payton, Javin Reid, Scott Lowell and Peter Paige

• CENTERPIECE FILM - Sunday, May 4 - DGA
KISSING COUSINS - A Film by Amyn Kaderali - Filmmaker Kaderali brings
his debut feature film to this year's festival starring Samrat
Chakrabarti, Rebecca Hazlewood, Gerry Bednob, Zack Ward, Jaleel White
and David Alan Grier

• CLOSING NIGHT - Thursday, May 8 - Aratani/Japan America Theatre
THE HOME SONG STORIES - A Film by Tony Ayres - Australian based
director Ayres brings a personal story starring the amazing Joan Chen
in one of her most powerful performances as a glamorous Shanghai
nightclub singer and a mother of two who migrates to Australia and
tries to begin a life for her family.

SPECIAL PROGRAMS
• THE XIN LU BUS TOUR OF L.A. - teaming up with local filmmaker and
longtime festival fave Ming-Yuen S. Ma, the Festival will present his
four part series the way it was always intended to be shown: as a
mobile bus tour of LA with the director.
• LA ASIAN PACIFIC FILM FEST FILMMAKER SEMINARS - this year panels
are open to filmmakers and to the general public that will include:
◦ TOKE 2: THE HAROLD & KUMAR STORY - join the writers/directors of
HAROLD & KUMAR: ESCAPE FROM GUANTANAMO BAY - Jon Hurwitz and Hayden
Scholossberg - along with actor John Cho, as they discuss the films and
its franchise which has now achieved "classic" status amongst a new
generation.
◦ MEDIA MESSENGERS: ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICANS AND OUR POLITICAL VOICE -
meet the filmmakers, actors and media movers who have chosen to use
their craft and embraced the media tools and the internet to level the
political field and ensure that Asian Pacific American voices are being
heard.
◦ SUCCEEDING AT SCREENWRITING - Oscar® nominated film scribe Iris
Yamashita (LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA) will join renowned UCLA screenwriting
professors Kris Young and Weiko Lin in this screenwriters boot-camp
covering topics from pitching, choosing the right idea, character
sketches, treatments, structure, writing habits and other tools and
issues that help in developing a strong and successful script.
◦ VISUAL STORYTELLING - hailed cinematographer Matthew Libatique
(IRON MAN; REQUIEUM FOR A DREAM) is slated to be one of the guests on a
panel of visual geniuses featured in this panel of artists who have
mastered the lens to bring films to life visually.

NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT: THE PHILIPPINES
This year, the global cinematic spotlight will be on the Philippines
with six films from Filipino international artists and two from
Filipino American directors. These new filmmakers are fast becoming the
"new wave of modern cinema" and the festival has cultivated some of the
best from these new visionaries:
◦ SLINGSHOT - Brilliante Mendoza
◦ FOSTER CHILD - Brilliante Mendoza
◦ TRIBU (TRIBE) - Jim Libiran
◦ YEARS AGO WHEN I WAS A CHILD OUTSIDE - John Torres
◦ NEO-LOUNGE - Joanna Vasquez Arong
◦ PHILIPPINE SCIENCE - Aureaus Solito
◦ SANTA MESA - Ron Morales
◦ THE SENSEI - Diana Lee Inosanto

2008 FEST HIGHLIGHT: ASIAN AMERICAN FEMALE FILMMAKERS
This year, an unprecedented number of 10 Asian American female
directors have feature films in our program. These include:

· PING PONG PLAYA - Jessica Yu
· NEVER FOREVER - Gina Kim
· YOURS TRULY, MISS CHINATOWN - Daisy Lin Shapiro
· OH SAIGON - Doan Hoang
· JOYFUL LIFE - Anita Chang
· WINGS OF DEFEAT - Risa Morimoto
· AGAINST THE GRAIN - Ann Kaneko
· LONG STORY SHORT - Christine Choy
· THE SENSEI - Diana Lee Inosanto
· CHANTS OF LOTUS - Fatimah Tobing Rony

FEATURE FILMS FROM AROUND THE GLOBE

North America - USA and Canada:
• AGAINST THE GRAIN: AN ARTIST'S SURVIVAL GUIDE TO PERU (USA/Peru)
Dir: Ann Kaneko
• CONFESSIONS OF A SALESMAN (Canada) Dir: Ho Tam
• ETIENNE! (USA) Dir: Jeff Mizushima
• THE KILLING OF A CHINESE COOKIE (USA) Dir: Derek Shimoda
• KISSING COUSINS (USA) Dir: Amyn Kaderali
• LONG STORY SHORT (USA) Dir: Christine Choy
• NEVER FOREVER (USA/South Korea) Dir: Gina Kim
• OCEAN OF PEARLS (USA) Dir: Sarab Neelam
• OH, SAIGON (USA/UK/Vietnam) Dir: Doan Hoang
• OPTION 3 (USA) Dir: Richard Wong
• [OS] (USA) Dir: Ming-Yuen S. Ma
• PING PONG PLAYA (USA) Dir: Jessica Yu
• PRETTY TO THINK SO (USA) Dirs: Francis Hsueh, Steven Hahn
• SANTA MESA (USA/Philippines) Dir: Ron Morales
• SENSEI, THE (USA) Dir: Diana Lee Inosanto
• UP THE YANGTZE (Canada) Dir: Yung Chang
• WINGS OF DEFEAT (USA/Japan) Dir: Risa Morimoto
• YOURS TRULY, MISS CHINATOWN (USA) Dir: Daisy Lin Shapiro

International:
• BLACK HOUSE [Geom-eun jip] (South Korea) Dir: Shin Terra
• BLOOD BROTHERS (Hong Kong/Taiwan/PRC) Dir: Alexi Tan
• CHANTS OF LOTUS (Indonesia) Dirs: Nia diNata, Upi, Lasja F.
Susatyo, Fatimah Tobing Rony
• DRUMMER, THE (Hong Kong/Germany) Dir: Kenneth Bi
• FLOWER IN THE POCKET (Malaysia) Dir: Liew Seng Tat
• FOSTER CHILD (Philippines) Dir: Brilliante Mendoza
• FUCKIN' RUNAWAY (Japan) Dir: Motohashi Keita
• HAPPINESS (South Korea) Dir: Hur Jin-ok
• HOME SONG STORIES, THE (Australia) Dir: Tony Ayres
• JOYFUL LIFE (Taiwan) Dir: Anita Chang
• MADE IN KOREA: A ONE WAY TICKET SEOUL-AMSTERDAM (Netherlands) Dir:
In Soo Radstake
• NEO-LOUNGE (Peoples' Republic of China/Philippines) Dir: Joanna
Vasquez-Arong
• PHILIPPINE SCIENCE [Pisay] (Philippines) Dir: Auraeus Solito
• PLOY (Thailand) Dir: Pen-ek Ratanaruang
• QUICKIE EXPRESS (Indonesia) Dir: Dimas Djayadiningrat
• SLINGSHOT [Tirador] (Philippines) Dir: Brilliante Mendoza
• TRIBE [Tribu] (Philippines) Dir: Jim Libiran
• WIDE AWAKE [Riteon] (South Korea) Dir.: Lee Gyu-man
• YEARS WHEN I WAS A CHILD OUTSIDE (Philippines) Dir: John Torre

The American Film Institute's Directors Screenings series at the ArcLight in Hollywood has a real gem this Thursday: "Son of Rambow," Garth Jennings' bizarrely funny, exquisitely filmed and rather touching tale of a kid from an ascetic religious sect and the school bully trying to make their own action film in 1980s England. It opens commercially next week, but Jennings will be discussing it and answering questions following Thursday's 8 p.m. screening.

India has the largest film industry in the world, and a concentrated dose of all that's colorful, musical, dramatic and wacky about it hits the ArcLight Hollywood this week.

Here's the full press release and program list. Ticket purchase and other information is at the bottom.

6TH ANNUAL INDIAN FILM FESTIVAL OF LOS ANGELES
ANNOUNCES FULL SCHEDULE

FILMS ANNOUNCED INCLUDE FOUR WORLD PREMIERES,

THREE U.S. PREMIERES AND NINE L.A. PREMIERES

POPULAR BOLLYWOOD BY NIGHT SECTION
RETURNS FOR AN ENCORE

IFFLA RHYTHM VILLAGE PERFORMANCES ANNOUNCED

The 6th Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) announces the full schedule of films for the 2008 edition of the popular festival which runs April 22-27, including four feature films making their world premiere, five features making their U.S. premiere, and nine features making their L.A. debut.

Celebrating its 6th anniversary, IFFLA has firmly established itself as the first and largest film festival in North America dedicated entirely to presenting the cinema of India by showcasing films by Indian and international filmmakers that cross boundaries to tell compelling stories of a global perspective. The six-day festival is set to open on Tuesday, April 22 at ArcLight Hollywood Cinemas with the LA Premiere of Richie Mehta’s AMAL, and close with the world premiere of MUMBAI CUTTING…A CITY UNFOLDS, a unique narrative collaboration of ten prominent Indian directors, all of whom will be in attendance at the red carpet gala on Sunday, April 27.

Among the highlights of the 2008 lineup are Shivajee Chandrabhushan’s critically acclaimed stark drama, FROZEN, Chris Smith’s THE POOL (a Sundance Jury Award winner and IFC Spirit Award nominee), Amyn Kaderali’s romantic comedy KISSING COUSINS, Liz Mermin’s documentary SHOT IN BOMBAY, which recently played at South By Southwest, Brahmanand Singh’s documentary about legendary composer RD Burman, PANCHAM UNMIXED: AN UNENDING JOURNEY, Sarah Singh’s THE SKY BELOW, Preeya Nair’s BAFTA nominated film QUAMAR, and R. Rohini’s compelling documentary on child actors, SILENT HUES.

Director Amyn Kaderali said that the inclusion of KISSING COUSINS into the Los Angeles based film festival was especially significant. "KISSING COUSINS is an LA movie through and through, from the locations to the crew to our hilarious and talented cast. As a result, we could not be more excited to debut KISSING COUSINS at IFFLA, a great festival that will showcase our film for the Indian American community as well as all of our LA supporters and friends," said Kaderali.

Highly anticipated this year will be the appearance of Tribute Honoree Madhuri Dixit, one of Indian cinema’s most significant and popular personalities, often described as the epitome of grace. IFFLA will highlight Madhuri’s talent and diversity by screening THE DEATH SENTENCE (MRITYUDAND) and MY HEART IS CRAZY (DIL TO PAGAL HAI). Madhuri will be in attendance on Friday, April 25 and will participate in a “Conversation with…” discussion reflecting on her career.

A successful addition to the programming lineup last year, IFFLA’s Bollywood By Night section returns with screenings of Raj Kapoor’s love story BOBBY, Sriram Raghavan’s noir thriller JOHNNY GADDAAR and Sudhir Mishra’s salute to one of Bollywood’s golden eras, LOST MOON (KHOYA KHOYA CHAND).

Another highlight will be the IFFLA Rhythm Village, presented by Rukus Avenue, which will feature free public outdoor entertainment at the ArcLight Hollywood Cinemas courtyard April 23 – 26. Among the scheduled performances are a Bollywood inspired DJ set from world-music chart toppers, the Bombay Dub Orchestra and an invigorating tabla performance by Gurpreet Chana. (Chana is featured in IFFLA’s Opening Night film AMAL.) Gingger Shankar will return to the festival with a live performance on the double electric violin and Raagapela will perform an acapella set of Bollywood standards and pop songs. In addition, Rukus Avenue’s Sandeep and CJ will perform Indian fusion music produced by Sammy Chand. Finally, Composer Mark Killan (RENDITION, TSOTSI and 2008 IFFLA selection BEFORE THE RAINS) will perform a live selection from the BEFORE THE RAINS film score.

IFFLA Festival Director Christina Marouda said the programming, industry events and special performances this year demonstrate an effort to offer a comprehensive cultural experience for the festival goer. “The Indian film industry is growing at a rapid pace and the culture itself is so diverse and vibrant that we find it vitally important to make all of it a part of our ever-growing film festival.”

Four feature-length films will be making their world premiere at IFFLA 2008. Those films include the narrative feature MUMBAI CUTTING…A CITY UNFOLDS, and documentaries PANCHAM UNMIXED: AN UNENDING JOURNEY, and SUPER 30. The film short MORNING RITUAL will also make its world premiere.

Three feature-length films will be making their U.S. premiere. That group includes the documentary THE GLOW OF WHITE WOMEN, and the narrative films, A HOME IN THE SKY and THE SEA WITHIN. The film shorts MIDNIGHT LOST AND FOUND and SILENT HUES will also make their U.S. debut.

Nine feature films will be making their Los Angeles debut. They include the narrative films AMAL, BEFORE THE RAINS, FOUR WOMEN, FROZEN, KISSING COUSINS, LOINS OF PUNJAB PRESENTS, THE POOL, and the documentaries SHOT IN BOMBAY, and THE SKY BELOW.

The IFFLA full festival lineup will showcase 21 features (16 narrative and 5 documentary) and 12 shorts for a total of 33 films representing 8 countries.

The 2008 IFFLA films (in alphabetical order) are:
AMAL – DIR: Richie Mehta (Canada)
Cast: Rupinder Nagra, Koel Purie, Naseeruddin Shah, Roshan Seth, Seema Biswas
An unassuming autorickshaw driver makes an indelible impact on a wealthy eccentric.
Hindi (English subtitles)

BEAST – DIR/PROD: Geeta Malik (USA)
**short
There’s more to the mousy Indian girl in the next cubicle than meets the eye.
English

BEFORE THE RAINS – DIR: Santosh Sivan (USA/India)
Cast: Linus Roache, Rahul Bose, Nandita Das, Jennifer Ehle
A taboo love affair has dire consequences for four characters during the final days of the British Raj.
English

BOBBY (1975) – DIR: Raj Kapoor (India)
Cast: Rishi Kapoor, Dimple Kapadia, Pran, Prem Nath, Sonia Sahni
After their respective parents oppose their union, a rich boy and a poor girl passionately in love run away together leading to an action-packed climax in this rousing, trend-setting musical that re-wrote box office history in India.
Hindi (English subtitles)

THE DEATH SENTENCE (Mrityudand) (1997) – DIR: Prakash Jha (India)
Cast: Madhuri Dixit, Shabana Azmi, Om Puri, Ayub Khan, Mohan Agashe
Three women in a suppressive, rural society, sentenced to death for attempting to stand up for their rights, are left with no option other than to break through the shackles of tradition, finding themselves pitted against an imposing, united, but threatened enemy in the form of their men-folk.
Hindi (English subtitles)

FOUR WOMEN (Naalu Pennungal) – DIR: Adoor Gopalakrishnan (India)
Cast: Nandita Das, Padna Priya, Geethu Mohan Das, Manju Pillai
Four stories about women in Kerala straining against the roles society has placed upon them.
Malayalam (English subtitles)

FROZEN – DIR: Shivajee Chandrabhushan (India)
Cast: Danny Denzongpa, Gauri, Angchuk, Raj Zutshi, Yashpal Sharma, Shakeel Khan, Shilpa Shukla
Lasya and her family's calm village life in the remote Himalayas is unsettled by mounting debts and the arrival of an army unit setting up camp just yards from their doorstep.
Ladhaki (English subtitles)

THE GLOW OF WHITE WOMEN – DIR: Yunus Vally (South Africa)
Sex and politics mix in this funny and personal account of growing up Muslim in Apartheid South Africa.
English

A HOME IN THE SKY – DIR: Bipin Nadkarni (India)
An 11-year-old boy has trouble coping with the changes that follow his parents divorce.
Marathi (English subtitles)

JOHNNY GADDAAR – DIR: Sriram Raghavan (India)
Cast: Neil Nitin Mukesh, Dharmendra, Rimi Sen, Vinay Pathak
An over-ambitious stock speculator double-crosses his partners on a job as the body count piles up in an effort to conceal the traitor's identity in this noir thriller.
Hindi (English subtitles)

KISSING COUSINS – DIR: Amyn Kaderali (USA)
Cast: Samrat Chakrabarti, Rebecca Hazlewood
A bachelor enlists the help of his attractive cousin to fool his friends into believing he's capable of a relationship.
English

LOINS OF PUNJAB PRESENTS – DIR: Manish Acharya (USA)
Cast: Shabana Azmi, Ajay Naidu, Ayesha Dharker, Darshan Jariwala
A motley cast of characters descend on a New Jersey hotel to compete in an Indian singing competition.
English

LOST MOON (Khoya Khoya Chand) – DIR: Sudhir Mishra (India)
Cast: Shiney Ahuja, Soha Ali Khan, Rajat Kapoor, Vinay Pathak
A rising actress and a filmmaker confront their past while sharing a passionate relationship in the tumultuous world of the 1950s Hindi film industry.
Hindi (English subtitles)

THE LOST RAINBOW (Haravilele Indradhanush) – DIR: Dhiraj Meshram (India)
**short
Sameer returns to his village after twenty years and recalls a petty squabble with his brother that has plagued him with guilt ever since.
Marathi (English subtitles)

LOVE STORY – DIR: Amit Gupta (UK)
**short
A young girl asks her father, “Why do you love Mummy?” As he considers this innocent question, memories of how he came to meet his wife show what one man would do for the woman he loves.
English

MIDNIGHT LOST & FOUND – DIR: Atul Sabharwal (India)
**short
Caged behind iron bars at his lonely late-night convenience stand, Arvind develops a relationship with a Mumbai prostitute who stops by each night to buy condoms.
Hindi (English subtitles)

THE MORNING RITUAL – DIR: Ritesh Batra (India)
**short
A young boy goes on a comic journey to relieve himself that takes him across the city and towards an unexpected destination.
Hindi (English subtitles)

MUMBAI CUTTING…A CITY UNFOLDS (India)
DIRS: Sudhir Mishra, Anurag Kashyap, Rahul Dholakia, Ruchi Narain, Revathy, Kundan Shah, Shashank Ghosh, Jahnu Barua, Manish Jha, Rituparno Ghosh
Cast: Soha Ali Khan, Jimmy Shergil, Neetu Chandra, Ranvir Shorey, Raima Sen
An anthology of short narrative films by ten of India's finest directors about Mumbai, one of the most vibrantly complex cities in the world.
Hindi (English subtitles)

MY HEART IS CRAZY (Dil To Pagal Hai) (1997) DIR: Yash Chopra (India)
Producers: Yash Chopra, Aditya Chopra, Uday Chopra, Pamela Chopra
Cast: Shahrukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit, Karisma Kapoor, Akshay Kumar
When his star injures herself, a director replaces her with a classical dancer, re-writing his play to mirror his heart-breaking love story after falling in love with his new lead.

PANCHAM UNMIXED: AN UNENDING JOURNEY – DIR: Brahmanand Singh (India)
A portrait of R.D. Burman, perhaps the most famous film composer in an industry where the music often outshines and outlives the films themselves.
Hindi, English and Bengali (English subtitles)

THE POOL – DIR: Chris Smith (USA)
Cast: Nana Patekar, Venkatesh Chavan, Jhangir Bhadshah, Ayesha Mohan
A young hotel attendant obsessed with a swimming pool of an empty house finds his life turned upside down when he attempts to meet the mysterious owners.

QUAMAR - WORKING TO LIVE – DIR: Preeya Nair (UK/India)
**short/doc
Ten-year-old Quamar wants to go to school, but her family's poverty forces her into dangerous and monotonous work making bangles
Urdu (English subtitles)

THE RETURN (Vaapsi) - DIR: Srinivas Sunderrajan (India)
**short
Srinivas Sunderrajan, a 2007 IFFLA Grand Jury prize winner for his short, TEA BREAK, delivers this stunning, introspective look at a struggling actor's pursuit of fame and fortune on Mumbai.
Hindi (English subtitles)

REWIND – DIR: Atul Taishete (India)
**short
Told entirely in reverse, a group of thieves play Russian Roulette to determine who gets to keep all of their heist money.
English

SARI (W)RAP – DIR: Alex Smith (USA)
**short
Comedienne Rasika Mathur celebrates the famous fabric from India with some infamous musical genre spoofs.
English

THE SEA WITHIN (Ore Kadal) – DIR: Shyamaprasad (India)
Cast: Mammootty, Meera Jasmine, Narien, Remya Krishna
A renowned economist casually enters into an extra-marital affair with a housewife but soon finds the relationship becoming increasingly complex.
Malayalam (English subtitles)

SHOT IN BOMBAY – DIR: Liz Mermin (UK)
A behind the scenes look at the making of a Bollywood action/thriller based on actual events…all of which take a back seat to the real life drama unfolding in the courtroom and in the media for the film’s leading man.
English

SILENT HUES – DIR/PROD: R. Rohini (India)
**short/doc
Children from various social and economic backgrounds attempt to break through as child artistes in the Indian film industry, some out of choice, and some coerced to become bread-winners for their families.
English and Tamil (English Subtitles)

THE SKY BELOW – DIR: Sarah Singh (Pakistan/India)
First person accounts from the time of Partition serve as a reminder of the interwoven history and culture if India and Pakistan as well as shedding fresh light on the far-reaching impact that the resulting conflict ushered in.
English

STARS ON EARTH (Taare Zameen Par) – DIR: Aamir Khan (India)
Cast: Aamir Khan, Darsheel Safary, Vipin Sharma, Tisca Chopra
Due to his parents' ignorance and inability to understand his frustration, a talented, dyslexic young boy is shattered after being sent off to boarding school where he encounters a special friend who helps him rebuild his broken home.
Hindi (English subtitles)

SUPER 30 – DIR: Christopher Mitchell (UK)
As students around India prepare for the Indian Institute of Technology entrance exam, a selected group of thirty talented and impoverish students live and study in hopes of a better future.
Hindi (English subtitles)

THREE OF US – DIR: Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni (India)
**short
A couple worries about the future of their forty-year old son who is disabled and confined to his metal cot.

UNDER THE AHMEDABAD SKY (Sotto Il Cielo Di Ahmedabad)
DIRS/PRODS: Francesca Lignola, Stefano Rebechi (Italy)
**short/doc
A look at the beautiful annual kite festival in Ahmedabad and the economics and rituals behind it.
English and Gujarati (English subtitles)

Tickets are on sale at ArcLight Hollywood Cinema’s box office located a 6360 W. Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood, and online at www.arclightcinemas.com For more information on IFFLA please go to www.indianfilmfestival.org.

Can't tell you anything about the quality of entries in this weekend film festival, but the whole show has a nice, egalitarian vibe to it. And any fest that starts off with a movie called "Dirty Country" has got to be some kind of fun, right?
So head to their website and check the stuff out. Or come to their kickoff party Thursday night where, unlike at snootier film fests, anyone can get in and rub elbows with filmmakers and such - for a nominal fee.

LOS ANGELES UNITED FILM FESTIVAL
A UNITED SHOWCASE OF ART AND CREATIVITY
APRIL 18th-20th, 2008
Fine Arts Theatre – 8556 Wilshire Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA 90211

The Los Angeles United Film Festival (LAUFF), bringing art and creativity together to create a united film community, will be held at the prestigious Fine Arts Theater in Beverly Hills on April 18th – 20th with a kick off party on April 17th at the Gibson Musical Instruments Showroom. The festival's focus is to bring together talented filmmakers from diverse backgrounds, thus creating a "United" showcase of creative energy and talent. This is a film festival for everyone, a place where art and community converge.
A Tulsa native filmmaker, Jason Connell and his production company Connell Creations founded
Los Angeles United Film Festival and recently completed their first feature length film "Strictly Background." This heartfelt and compelling award-winning documentary is based on the trials of 10 movie extras trying to make it big in Hollywood. Although he now lives in LA, Connell continues to run Tulsa United Film Festival (TUFF) – now entering its 6th year – and launched New York United Film Festival (NYUFF) in '07. The rich tradition of screening humorous, touching and sometimes provocative films is reaching even more people than ever. This is one film festival you won't want to miss!
LAUFF is proud to present an amazing list of Award-Winning Documentaries & LA Premieres. "Dirty Country" and "The Union: The Business Behind Getting High" with personalities such as comedian Joe Rogan will kick off the festival, followed by the weekend line-up: "From the 50 Yard Line", "Darius Goes West" with appearances by William H. Macy and Felicity Huffman, "Wiener Takes All", "Strictly Background", "Red Hot Chili Peppers: Untitled Documentary", "Fish Call Flea", "The Jesus Guy", "Finding Kraftland" with appearances by world famous composers Danny Elfman & Alan Menken, "Row Hard, No Excuses", concluding the festival with "Piece of Mind."
*Seating is limited, so get your tickets today!
**All screenings are $10.There will be a Q&A with the filmmakers & cast after each of these films.
All films will be preceded by a block of amazing short films (20 min) to be announced online soon.
For more information please visit the official festival website www.launitedfest.com.

LAUFF Kick-Off Party:
April 17th, 2008 (Thur), 7pm-Midnight
Beverly Hills Gibson Musical Instruments Showroom
9350 Civic Center Drive, Suite 130, Beverly Hills, CA 90210
Tickets are $5 and will cover open bar and lite fare.

LAUFF WEEKEND FILM LINEUP

Friday, April 18th, 2008

"Dirty Country" (70 min) - 7:00pm
America's raunchiest country music singer, Larry Pierce, attempts to thrust his dirty songs out of obscurity and into the spotlight with the help of a young band with dirty songs of its own.
www.dirtycountrymovie.com

"The Union: The Business Behind Getting High" (104 min) - 9:10pm
BC's illegal marijuana trade industry has evolved into a business giant, dubbed by those involved as 'The Union.' Commanding upwards of $7 billion Canadian annually. With up to 85% of 'BC Bud' being exported to the United States, the trade has become an international issue.
www.theunionmovie.com

* The film contains many personalities including hilarious insight from comedian Joe Rogan.
Saturday, April 19th, 2008

"From The 50 Yard Line" (94 min) - 11:15am
The emotional story of two high school marching bands, one an Ohio championship show band, the other a Los Angeles band reborn after 18 years of silence due to cutbacks.
www.fromthe50yardline.com
"Darius Goes West" (94 min) - 1:50pm
Darius Weems, a 15-year-old with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, and a group of young college students traveled across the country in a wheelchair-accessible RV to test accessibility in the United States. Their ultimate goal was to reach Los Angeles and convince MTV's hit show, "Pimp My Ride," to customize Darius's wheelchair.
www.dariusgoeswest.com
* The film also has appearances from famous actors William H. Macy & Felicity Huffman.

"Wiener Takes All" (87 min) - 4:25pm
A behind the scenes glimpse at the surprisingly political world of competitive wiener dogs. This film unleashes the truth as it tracks America's sexiest and fastest weenies on the professional dachshund circuit.www.wienertakesall.com

"Strictly Background" (84 min) - 6:50pm
A Tulsa native filmmaker, Jason Connell and his production company Connell Creations founded Los Angeles United Film Festival and recently completed their first feature length film "Strictly Background." A heartfelt film that explores the charm and determination behind some of Hollywood's hardest working actors, professional "extras". Following ten background actors, the film examines life on and off set as they attempt to make a living as a face in a crowd.
www.strictlybackground.com

"Red Hot Chili Peppers: Untitled Documentary" (72 min) - 9:15pm
Unlike the current trend of brooding portraits of rock bands on the fringe of creative or mental bankruptcy, this is a joyous celebration of the production of three music videos created for the Chili Peppers recent CD Stadium Arcadium.
www.surreel.wordpress.com

* The film also has an appearance from famous comedian Chris Rock.

Sunday, April 20th, 2008

"Fish Kill Flea" (50 min) - 11:30am
Once thriving, a dead mall in upstate New York is now home to a ragtag flea market,
living proof that the American Dream is in perpetual decay.
www.fishkillflea.com

"The Jesus Guy" (66 min) - 1:30pm
The film covers the mystical journey of America's "Barefoot Evangelist."
www.thejesusguy.com

"Finding Kraftland" (66 min) - 3:35pm
After the death of his brother, a Hollywood film music agent drags his son through an obsessive quest to recapture his own childhood transforming their home into "Kraftland," a shrine to Disneyland and American Consumer Culture.
www.findingkraftland.com

* The film also has appearances from world famous composers Danny Elfman & Alan Menken.

"Row Hard, No Excuses" (88 min) - 5:40pm
This film chronicles the voyage of the only American entry in a rowing race across the Atlantic Ocean. It is both an exciting sports-adventure story and an intimate portrait of the two-man crew that explores masculinity, midlife and ambition.
www.lanternfilms.com

"Piece Of Mind" (60 min) - 8:10pm
Follow the lives of 4 graffiti artists in Los Angeles as they evolve from street tags to graffiti
bombing to canvas art to gallery showings.
www.myspace.com/pieceofmindthemovie

Unlike some bloggers I could name, I see no point in writing anything about Britney Spears.
But when I interviewed Neil Patrick Harris for "Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay" - and he plays drug fiend "Neil Patrick Harris" in the April 25 sequel even more hilariously than he did in the first "H&K" movie - I figured what the hell, ask him how Brit was when she guest-starred on a recent, highly hyped episode of his sitcom "How I Met Your Mother."
"I have no idea how she is now," Harris said. "The week she spent with us was very unique. But she was very quiet throughout the whole week. It's a concerted effort, it seems, on her part to reinvent herself, so she was on very good behavior. Everyone on her team was very protective of her and her behavior. So . . . I wish I had horror stories to share, but . . . She certainly boosted our ratings, and if we can get more people to tune into our show, that's good for us."
So there it is. My contribution to the vital subject. Hope you enjoyed it. There won't be more.

Can't say I was ever a big fan of Charlton Heston's acting or his politics. Just not in movie critics' DNA (yes, it's true: most of us are heathens, and Democrats).
But I've gotta tell ya, I loved the guy. I interviewed him three or four times in my career, usually on the phone when a colleague of his bit the dust. He always had raunchy, utterly unsentimental stories about the individual that never made it into print, but they amused the hell out of me.
And the last time I spoke to Heston face-to-face was a truly incomparable pleasure. It was for the restored re-release of Orson Welles' film noir classic "Touch of Evil," in which he incongruously played a Mexican detective. His language and anecdotes were salty as always, but the real joy was hearing the star of all those overproduced biblical blockbusters speak about his contribution to one of Hollywood's great works of guerilla art.
``One of the things I'm most proud of in my career was persuading a studio to provide the maker of `Citizen Kane' with the last film he made in America,'' Heston told me. ``I was hunting in Michigan during Christmastime, and I took a couple of scripts along to read. One of them was called `Badge of Evil' [the title of the pulp detective novel on which the film was loosely based]. When someone from the studio called to ask what I thought, I told him I was interested and asked who was directing.
``They said, `We don't have a director yet. But we have Orson Welles to play the heavy.' I said, `He's a pretty good director, y'know.' Then there was an `Um - yeah - ``Citizen Kane.'' Interesting idea. We'll get back to you.'
``I know, when I hung up, they didn't say `Gee, that Chuck Heston is so smart.' They probably went, `Oh Christ, stupid actors. Well, we don't want him to get sore ["The Ten Commandments" had just made Heston Hollywood's biggest star]. How bad can it be?' ''
I'd always known Heston wasn't just the fire-breathing reactionary the media painted. He was born in my hometown, Evanston, Illinois - could that have something to do with the fact that we both cuss at least once every two paragraphs? - and went to college at Northwestern there.
My mother would often tell the story of how, before I was born and he was in movies, Heston came to a party she and my dad threw. He wasn't really a friend of theirs, probably came with another guest; anyway, the famously shy young Charlton spent the entire evening in the kitchen talking to the help. Mom was always charmed that that's where this handsome, charismatic actor felt most comfortable.
I think the last time most of us saw Heston was in Michael Moore's "Bowling for Columbine," where the docu-provocateur somehow wangled an invite into Heston's home and proceeded to make a fool of the National Rifle Association president, then in the initial stages of the dementia that would consume him. I generally agree with Moore's views, less often his methods, and I thought both men came off pretty badly in the sequence. When I wrote about the film, I included a statement from one of Heston's representatives to the effect that the actor hadn't seen the movie. I get along fine with Michael Moore, but when one of his reps called me hoping that I had some connection through which they could harass the ailing star under the guise of inviting him to a screening, I could only tell them to go to hell.
I've always felt good about that. Of course, I haven't spoken to Heston or anyone around him since then. But some remarkably fond reminders have manifested of late.
When "I Am Legend" came out last December, I recalled just how weird and perverse and good Heston's earlier version of the same story, "The Omega Man," was. I saw a re-release of "El Cid" in January; like most of Heston's epics, not a great movie, but a surprisingly comforting one, due mainly to the actor's one towering gift, his naturally heroic presence.
Somehow, I missed "The Ten Commandments" on TV this year, one of the few times that terrible but utterly mesmerizing movie hasn't forced me to watch until Moses' final fade. But "Planet of the Apes" - which had the best movie ending any adolescent boy had ever seen! - popped into my mind a few days ago. Why, I have no idea. Maybe God wanted to tell this heathen something. Maybe not. Whatever; it reminded me again that, whatever else there was to say about him, Charlton Heston brought pleasure.

I haven't seen this very personal documentary, but it's generated respectful to decent reviews, and this screening sounds like it's for a good cause. Caveat emptor and all that, but the press release information is as follows:

On Thursday, March 27th at 7:30pm, there will be a benefit screening of the feature documentary, "Dying to Live" to raise money for the American Heart Association. Tickets are only $15 and they are going fast. "Dying to Live" has recieved a number of rave reviews and is generating a lot of buzz in the Care Giving and Medical communities. A number of organizations are already bringing their members, volunteers and staff members out to see the film and even more groups are requesting DVDs from all over the country. You can do your part to help the American Heart Association by coming to watch this meaningful and important film. All tickets will be pre-sold and are available for secure online purchase by credit card at : www.dyingtolivethemovie.com/ticketsaha.html
More information about the film is available at www.dyingtolivethemovie.com

I can't remember when four challenging, downbeat independent films opened on the same weekend in L.A., and hopefully it won't happen again. Not because there's anything wrong with depressing subjects, as long as the movies about them are honest and enlightening or at least aesthetically accomplished, as three out of this weekend's four were. But y'know, people are deathly afraid of art and honesty at the movies, especially if the filmmakers aren't going to compromise and drizzle their work with false feelgood drivel.
So, "Paranoid Park," "Snow Angels," "Funny Games" and "Sleepwalking" all kind of ate each other's lunch, boxoffice-wise (I'm not going to use the milkshake catch-phrase from Oscar season's feel-bad movie sensation, "There Will Be Blood"; now that the contest is over, that silly line is already passe).
I guess the only good news is that, on a per screen average basis, what audiences that there still are for these things gravitated to quality. The only truly successful work of cinematic art, Gus Van Sant's introspective skateboarder murder mystery "Paranoid Park," averaged $3,686 on 22 screens, while "Snow Angels," David Gordon Green's wonderfully acted inquiry into smalltown love and other calamities (featuring Kate Beckinsale's best performance ever) did an even better - though not exactly great - $8,666 per on just three screens.
The comparitively wider-released "Funny Games" - which is as formally challenging as it is utterly despicable, but can at the very least be described as unapologetically provocative - only grossed $520,000 on 289 screens (that's a mere $1,799 each). "Sleepwalking," Charlize Theron's latest attempt to convince us that life just sucks no matter how pretty you are made about $1,666 in the 30 theaters it appeared in, proving that Kate Beckinsale is much better at this game . . . or at least at picking better observed and written examples of this genre.
So at least the good stuff rose to the top in this overcrowded field. But couldn't the indie distributors, who are complaining right and left about dwindling audiences for their products, try not to saturate whole weekends with hard-to-sell movies? That way, the better films can get more attention, won't have to compete for Debbie Downer's entertainment dollar in the same pay period, and maybe, just maybe, this important if difficult to love sector's individual titles will have better odds at making a profit.

This fun, Calabasas-based film festival's 10th anniversary edition starts at the end of the month.
Here are the press release's details:

THE METHOD FEST CELEBRATES 10TH YEAR
WITH STRONGEST LINEUP IN ITS HISTORY

• World premieres highlight indie fest slated for March 27 - April 3 in Calabasas

• Family Strangers selected as Opening Night Film

A mix of several world premieres and a few choice films which debuted recently at major film festivals will highlight the 10th anniversary edition of The Method Fest Film Festival, presented by the City of Calabasas, slated for

March 27-April 3 in Calabasas. Named after the famous school of acting, The Method Fest is the only United States festival to focus on acting. “This is the strongest lineup in our festival’s history,” said Don Franken, Executive Director of The Method Fest.

Director Zackary Adler’s Familiar Strangers, an offbeat, funny and heartfelt story of a family going through the natural process of negotiating the changing relationships between parents and children, is the festival’s Opening Night Film. Starring Shawn Hatosy, DJ Qualls, Cameron Richardson, Ann Dowd, Nikki Reed and Tom Bower, Family Strangers screens Thursdy night, March 27, at 7 pm, at the Motion Picture and Television’s Fund Louis B. Mayer Theatre.

Indie gems to be showcased include The Visitor, actor and filmmaker Tom McCarthy’s follow-up to his award winning directorial debut The Station Agent. Richard Jenkins (Six Feet Under) stars as a disillusioned Connecticut economics professor whose life is transformed by a chance encounter in New York City.

Academy Award winner Helen Hunt makes her feature directing debut with Then She Found Me, a touching story of schoolteacher April Epner (Hunt) and her very unlikely path towards personal fulfillment, adapted from Elinor Lipman’s novel of the same name. The film also stars Colin Firth, Academy Award nominee Bette Midler, Matthew Broderick, Lynne Cohen, and Ben Shenkman.

Another thespian turned helmer, Mary Stuart Masterson, debuts with The Cake Eaters, a quirky, small-town, ensemble drama that explores the lives of two interconnected families coming to terms with love in the face of loss. The film features a strong cast anchored by Bruce Dern, and Melissa Leo and featuring Kristen Stewart, Aaron Stanford, Elizabeth Ashley, Jayce Bartok, Talia Balsam, and Jesse L. Martin

Unfinished Sky, an acclaimed Australian film directed by Peter Duncan and based on the Golden Globe-nominated Dutch film The Polish Bride, peels away layers of hurt and mistrust to reveal the beauty of freedom, hope and choice.

Other marquee selections on this year’s Method Fest feature lineup include: The Stone Angel with Ellen Burstyn, Christine Horne, Cole Hauser, Ellen Page, and Sheila McCarthy; Chronic Town, directed by Tom Hines and starring JR Bourne, Emily Wagner, Jeffrey Scott Jensen, Alice Drummond, Dan Butler and Paul Dooley, and Diminished Capacity with Matthew Broderick, Virginia Madsen, Alan Alda and Dylan Baker. Also, Blue Hour by Eric Nazarian and starring Paul Dillon, Karen Jones, Karen Kodazian, Austin Marques, and Alyssa Milano, Derrick O'Connor, and Emily Rios.

World premieres include the country-Western themed film, Crazy, based on the life of legendary guitar player Hank Garland, directed by Rick Bieber and starring Waylon Payne, Ali Larter, and Lane Garrison; the South African film, Lullaby, directed by renowned director, Darrell Roodt ("Yesterday,"" Sarafina,""Cry the Beloved Country"); Chain Link, directed by Dylan Reynolds and starring Mark Irvingsen and Jim Storm; Falling, directed and starring Richard Dutcher and Virginia Reece; Harrison Montgomery, directed by Daniel Davila and starring Martin Landau, Octavio Gomez Berrios; and "True Love," directed by Henry Barrial, a Sundance alum with his first film, Some Body.

As always, The Method Fest will screen several top international films, including the U.S. premiere of This Beautiful City by Ed Glass-Donnelly; the Brazilian film, Corpo, (Body), Eduart out of Greece, and Portage, from Canada.

The Method Fest's Centerpiece films will be The Visitor, Saturday night, March 29, and Then She Found Me, Sunday night, March 30, both screening at the Louie B. Mayer Theatre, Motion Picture & Television Fund. Diminished Capacity will be the Closing Night film, also scheduled at the Louie B. Mayer Theatre on Wednesday, April 2. The Opening Night film will be announced soon.

There will be a total of 25 features and 48 short films, also from across the U.S. and the globe, screened at this year’s The Method Fest. For the screening schedule and other festival information visit www.methodfest.com or call (310) 535-9230. Tickets are available at www.brownpapertickets.com, 800-838-3006. Ticket prices range from $10 for most individual screenings (excluding opening, centerpiece films, and closing night films), with a festival pass for all screenings, parties, receptions, and tributes only $195. A limited amount of special industry passes are available at only $125 each.

Films come from across the U.S. and around the globe to be screened at this year's edition of The Method Fest. The festival has been a launching pad for quality independent films - over 100 films that have played in the Method Fest’s first 9 years have gone on to get distribution. Last year, The Method Fest opening night film, "Waitress," was one of the most successful Indie films of the year! There will be Q&A with the directors, producers, writers, and stars of the films after most feature films as well as following each short film program.

Mario Bava made some of the most stylish fright films ever - and some of the most perverse! The Cinematheque retrospective, starting tonight, sounds like it's pretty comprehensive and an awful lot of fun.

Here's the press release:

THE AMERICAN CINEMATHEQUE AT THE EGYPTIAN THEATRE PRESENTS “MARIO BAVA: POEMS OF LOVE AND DEATH”

A RETROSPECTIVE OF THE FILMS OF THE

ITALIAN HORROR MAESTRO

In Person Guests to Include Actress Elke Sommer and Bava Enthusiast Directors Joe Dante, Ernest Dickerson and Eli Roth

March 13 - 23, 2008

HOLLYWOOD - The American Cinematheque at the Egyptian Theatre presents ‘MARIO BAVA: POEMS OF LOVE AND DEATH,’ a Retrospective of the Films of Horror Maestro Mario Bava, March 12 - 23, 2008. A child’s frozen hand appears at the window…An unconscious woman is violated next to a rotting skeleton...A sadist returns from the grave to torture his doomed lover...To enter the world of Italian horror and suspense master Mario Bava is to step silently through a mausoleum filled with beautiful corpses. Bava is often praised as one of the cinema’s great stylists - and his talent for exquisite cinematography and production design allowed him to commit some of the most atrocious acts of violence ever filmed. But beyond his stylistic gifts, Bava (who died in 1980) achieved a chilling poetry all his own, a lyricism that links him to Cocteau, Buñuel and the other great poets of the surreal and bizarre. Classic Bava such as BLACK SABBATH (from which Ozzy’s band took its name) and BLACK SUNDAY starring Barbara Steele, both screening in Uncut European Versions, will be shown, as well as the rare “Not on DVD” CALTIKI THE IMMORTAL MONSTER, Bava’s legendary lost film KIDNAPPED (aka RABID DOGS) and much more. Bava fans and directors in their own right, directors Joe Dante (THE HOWLING; HBO’s "Masters of Horror"), Eli Roth (CABIN FEVER; HOSTEL) and Ernest Dickerson (NEVER DIE ALONE; BONES) will be on hand to introduce some of the double features in-person and actress Elke Sommer will appear in-person for the double feature of LISA AND THE DEVIL and BARON BLOOD. A Bava DVD giveaway will take place at some of the screenings.

American Cinematheque, 6712 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, CA 90028

(tel) 323.466-FILM (fax) 323.461.9737 On the web: http://www.egyptiantheatre.com

This series is in the Lloyd E. Rigler Theatre at the historic Egyptian (6712 Hollywood Boulevard

between Highland and Las Palmas) in Hollywood. Tickets are available on www.fandango.com. Guests subject to availability.

Born in San Remo in 1914, Bava "grew up in the midst of film, among picture frames, miniature models, and heaps of hyposulphite;" his father Eugenio was cinematographer on the silent classic QUO VADIS and a master of special effects. By the early 1940s, the younger Bava was photographing films for Pabst and Rossellini. Bava was nearly 50-years-old before he directed his first full feature, BLACK SUNDAY, a worldwide success that quickly established him as the premiere horror director of the 1960s. Since the Cinematheque’s first Bava retrospective in 1993 and follow-up in 2002, the director and his films have undergone a remarkable rediscovery by a new generation of film lovers. There are even plans underway to remake several of his classic pictures. Also Video Watchdog’s Tim Lucas finally published his ultra-detailed magnum opus on Bava, All the Colors of the Dark. The renewed interest led to the creation of newly available 35 mm prints of many of Bava’s films - our great thanks to producer Alfredo Leone and associate Timothy C. Bratt for making a number of these relatively newer prints available for this series, including KILL, BABY, KILL, A BAY OF BLOOD, FIVE DOLLS FOR AN AUGUST MOON, the Euro versions of BLACK SUNDAY and BLACK SABBATH and Bava’s legendary lost film KIDNAPPED (aka RABID DOGS)! We’ll also be featuring such seldom-screened favorites as BLOOD AND BLACK LACE, THE WHIP AND THE BODY and HATCHET FOR THE HONEYMOON.

The Thursday, March 13th program is a 7:30 PM Double Feature. First up is a screening of the Uncut European Version of BLACK SUNDAY (LA MASCHERA DEL DEMONIO) (1960, International Media Films, 87 min.). Mario Bava’s first full film as a director opens with a signature image: a beautiful witch spewing curses as she’s clamped into a spiked mask. Barbara Steele is fabulous in a double role as the deathless witch and her own virginal descendant. It’s a performance that brought her worldwide attention and a unique position as the most beautiful and seductive of horror film idols. Eerie, hallucinatory - essential Bava. With John Richardson, Ivo Garrani. "…still the number one film of the Italian Horror renaissance, startlingly original and genuinely creepy. It introduced the icon Barbara Steele to the screen and is probably her best film as well. The blend of vampire and witchcraft lore is atmospheric (all of those real crypts and broken stairs) and violent." - Glenn Erickson, DVD Savant (English dubbed print.)

Next on the same bill is a screening of the Uncut European Version! BLACK SABBATH (TRE VOLTI DELLA PAURA) (1963, International Media Films, 92 min.) directed by Mario Bava. Reportedly Bava’s favorite of his films: three minimalist tales of terror, topped by "The Wurdelak" with Boris Karloff as a ravenous Russian vampire! This is the original European version complete with a different music score, alternate introduction by Karloff, and the restored sexual implications that had been changed when the film was released here by American International. With Mark Damon, Michele Mercier, Susy Andersen, Jacqueline Pierreux. "Yes, this is the film that Ozzy Osbourne and his rock star friends took the name for their band from…the stories…stand up as compelling tales of terror in their own right, adeptly weaving the atmosphere of nightmares…a beautifully sustained exercise in scares…" - Graeme Clark, The Spinning Image (UK) (In Italian with English subtitles.) Introduction to screening by director Joe Dante (THE HOWLING; HBO’s "Masters of Horror")
Friday, March 14, 2008 - Egyptian Theatre

The Friday, March 14th program is a 7:30 PM Double Feature. First up is a screening of FIVE DOLLS FOR AN AUGUST MOON (5 BAMBOLE PER LA LUNA D’AGOSTO) (1970, International Media Films, 88 min.), directed by Mario Bava. A clique of the idle rich gathered for a swinging weekend at an island beach house are murdered one by one in this ultra-groovy, Pop Art giallo. Soaked with a glamorously sleazy ambience and an absurd lounge music score by the great Piero Umiliani, FIVE DOLLS emerges as one of the pinnacles of 1970’s Euro-trash cinema! Supremely entertaining, with more of Bava’s unique imagery that seems poised on that intangible borderline between sensual dream and inescapable nightmare. With William Berger, Edwige Fenech, Ira von Furstenberg. (English dubbed print.)

Next on the Same Bill is BLOOD AND BLACK LACE (SEI DONNE PER L’ASSASSINO), 1964, 88 min. Dir. Mario Bava. This fiendishly simple story of models at a fashion salon being stalked by a gruesomely imaginative killer is often credited as the film that started the Italian giallo (sexy suspense thriller) craze that mushroomed in the 1960s and 1970s. Bava’s cast of characters is a fascinating catalogue of beautiful but flawed women and the men in their lives - self-seeking neurotics, alcoholics, addicts, lechers and psychotics. The director’s color palette is awesome to behold. With Eva Bartok, Cameron Mitchell. "…shares with FIVE DOLLS FOR AN AUGUST MOON and BAY OF BLOOD a crystallization of the director's worldview, where the tension between opulent surfaces and moral dislocation hint at a closer affinity with Antonioni than is usually perceived…not for nothing is his exquisite feel for design, décor, color, and movement tied to the endless cataloging of human sin, with beauty and ugliness, like desire and dread, forever leaking into one another." - Fernando F. Croce, SlantMagazine.com (English dubbed print.)

Saturday, March 15, 2008 - Egyptian Theatre

The Saturday, March 15th program is a 7:30 PM Double Feature. First up is a screening of LISA AND THE DEVIL (1972, International Media Films, 95 min.) directed by Mario Bava. First released in the USA in an alternate edit with some different footage as THE HOUSE OF EXORCISM (to phenomenal success), this original, "director’s cut" version is one of Bava’s masterworks. Tourist Elke Sommer is lured by devil Telly Savalas into a household of white lilies and rotting corpses. Caught in a time warp of decadent, aristocratic decay and horrifying, half-remembered memories of a fatal amour fou, Sommer tries desperately to find her way out of the nightmare. But there may be no escape. Elegiac and dreamlike, with Bava’s own poetic brand of morbid, melancholic lyricism. "Beautifully filmed and exquisitely scored by Carlo Savina…as much a dreamy art film as it is a European horror opus. Many of the images rank among Bava's best…with a strange and haunting finale that offers several levels of interpretation." - Mondo-Digital.com; "…a hauntingly beautiful poem about decay and death…" -- Phil Hardy, Overlook Film Encyclopedia of Horror (English dubbed print.)

Next on the same bill is BARON BLOOD (GLI ORRORI DEL CASTELLO DI NORIMBERGA) (1972, International Media Films, 100 min.) directed by Mario Bava. Lovely Elke Sommer is menaced by Joseph Cotten, a 400-year-old sadistic nobleman bent on restoring his youth in Bava’s gruesome, grand guignol Gothic. With Massimo Girotti, Rada Rassimov. "…an almost Technicolor richness that encompasses a wide range of styles, from an enameled hardness that recalls the work of Douglas Sirk to a luminous, painterly vividness based on Bava’s fondness for color gels and his endlessly-churning fog machine… ultimately a heady exercise in style, with several brilliantly mounted sequences; a convincing, insistent air of horror; and some unforgettable imagery." - Gary Morris, Images Movie Journal (English dubbed print.) Introduction to screening by director Joe Dante (THE HOWLING; HBO’s "Masters of Horror") and discussion in between films with actress Elke Sommer.

Sunday, March 16, 2008 - Egyptian Theatre

The Sunday, March 16th program is a 7:30 PM Double Feature. First up is a screening of KIDNAPPED (L’UOMO E IL BAMBINO, aka RABID DOGS), 2002 (shot 1974), International Media Films, 92 min.) directed by Mario Bava. A major rediscovery in Bava’s career, the unfinished L’UOMO E IL BAMBINO sat in a Rome film vault for over 20 years, until it was finally assembled for DVD release several years ago - and now for theatrical release as KIDNAPPED by producer Alfredo Leone, featuring several new additional scenes directed by Bava’s son Lamberto, and additional music by Stelvio Cipriani! An experiment in pure, psychological terror, KIDNAPPED follows a trio of ruthless bank robbers as they hurtle around Rome’s super-highways in a stolen car with an old man and a seriously ill child. But stay alert - things are not what they seem to be in this brutally clever action thriller. (In Italian with English subtitles.)

Next on the same bill is SHOCK (aka BEYOND THE DOOR II) (1979, 92 min.) Mario Bava’s last feature film (co-directed with son Lamberto, uncredited) revisits themes first explored in KILL, BABY, KILL and THE WHIP AND THE BODY, as Daria Nicolodi (DEEP RED) and her child are haunted by the ghost of her first husband, a drug addict. Actor Ivan Rassimov (MAN FROM DEEP RIVER), who usually played a villain in 1970s Italian pictures, does a rare good-guy turn here as Nicolodi’s concerned doctor. With John Steiner (TENEBRE) as Nicolodi’s current, almost-never-at-home airline pilot husband. Contains some of maestro Bava’s scariest, most impressive effects. (English dubbed print.)

Thursday, March 20, 2008 - Egyptian Theatre

The Thursday, March 20th program is a 7:30 PM Double Feature. First up is a screening of DANGER: DIABOLIK (1967, Paramount, 100 min.) directed by Mario Bava. "Diabolik - out for all he can take, seduce or get away with…!" Is there a groovier 1960s flick than this?! From sexy, cat-suited super-thief John Phillip Law to his gorgeous partner in crime, Marisa Mell, to Ennio Morricone’s psychedelic paradise of a score (including "Deep Deep Down," one of the greatest spy-themes ever), this is the epitome of mid-20th Century Pop Art culture. This astonishing adaptation of the notorious, super-popular Italian comic strip looked so fantastic on completion, producer Dino DeLaurentiis was flabbergasted that Bava had completed the production for less than a third of the million dollar budget. "This is a wonderful comic-book of a film…the film’s celebration of anarchic anti-authoritarianism makes it possibly one of the most entertainingly subversive films ever foisted on the public…" - Richard Scheib, The Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Review (English dubbed print)

Next on the same bill is PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES (TERRORE NELLO SPAZIO), 1966, MGM Repertory, 86 min. Dir. Mario Bava. A doomed crew of astronauts (in eye-popping black leather space-suits) is stranded on a malevolent, mist-shrouded planet inhabited by a dying race of invisible body snatchers. Large portions of ALIEN were cribbed from this gorgeous, atmospheric thriller. For the planet’s exterior, Bava reportedly had an almost bare set with only a few giant prop rocks to work with - yet through his unique ability to work cinematic magic, drawing on his arsenal of matte paintings and cutouts, his use of forced perspective, models and his extraordinary lighting, the film’s special effects create a genuine bad-dream landscape. This is the restored uncut version with the original Italian score! With Barry Sullivan, Norma Bengell. (English dubbed print.)

Friday, March 21, 2008 - Egyptian Theatre

The Friday, March 21st program is a 7:30 PM Double Feature. First up is a screening of A BAY OF BLOOD (TWITCH OF THE DEATH NERVE, aka REAZIONE A CATENA) (1971, International Media Films, 84 min.) directed by Mario Bava. We tracked down the sole surviving print of this in Luxembourg for our Cinematheque’s Greatest Hits Series in 1998 - but now we have a much newer print that was struck in 2002. This is the great-granddaddy of slasher movies, a movie that profoundly influenced late 1970s and 1980s horror, from all the Italian gialli that came afterwards to the FRIDAY THE 13TH franchise. Thirteen oversexed Italians, most of them concerned with securing the land rights to the remote, rural bay of the title, slaughter each other in amazingly inventive ways. With Claudine Auger (THUNDERBALL), Luigi Pistilli (THE GREAT SILENCE), Laura Betti (LA DOLCE VITA; HATCHET FOR THE HONEYMOON)."Unreels like a macabre, ironic joke…an Elizabethan tragedy as Tex Avery might have written." - Tim Lucas. (English dubbed print.)

Next on the same bill is FOUR TIMES THAT NIGHT (QUANTE VOLTE … QUELLA NOTTE), 1972, International Media Films, 83 min. Director Mario Bava’s tongue-in-cheek, teasingly erotic take on Akira Kurosawa’s RASHOMON chronicles various versions of what really happened on libertine Brett Halsey’s date with lovely firebrand Daniela Giordano. A little-known comic gem from horror expert Bava. "…a loose and breezy sex farce…Bava rises to the task quite well and brings his trademark visual skills into play for some dazzling little flourishes throughout the film…A colorful pop art feast for the eyes…" - Mondo-Digital.com (English subtitled print.) Introduction by director Eli Roth (CABIN FEVER; HOSTEL 1 & 2).

Saturday, March 22, 2008 - Egyptian Theatre

The Saturday, March 22nd program is a 7:30 PM Double Feature. First up is a screening of THE WHIP AND THE BODY (LA FRUSTA E IL CORPO) (1963, 92 min.) directed by Mario Bava. Demonic aristocrat Christopher Lee returns from the dead to whip his brother’s wife, Daliah Lavi (LORD JIM; the original CASINO ROYALE), into a sexual ecstasy in this chilling essay on the ties that bind. Amour fou is taken to its ultimate conclusion in a deliriously romantic study in perverse psychology, our choice as the most sumptuous, atmosphere-drenched Gothic chiller from the last forty years! Widely censored at the time of its release, this may be the only surviving print in the U.S. Carlo Rustichelli provided the melancholic score, rife with haunting love themes for the damned. "Lee once said that this inspired sado-masochistic fantasy is the best of his Italian films…Bava creates an uncannily sensuous atmosphere, especially when he trains his camera on Lavi, obsessively detailing her face as desire, pleasure and pain mingle in a hallucinatory erotic delirium." - Phil Hardy, Overlook Film Encyclopedia of Horror (English dubbed print.)

Next on the same bill is KILL, BABY, KILL (OPERAZIONE PAURA), 1966, International Media Films, 83 min. Dir. Mario Bava. Forget the ridiculous title - this exquisite Gothic brings together several of Bava’s major themes: a murdered child who returns from the grave to exact vengeance, and a village blighted by its own ignorant evil. One of the most atmospheric, effective ghost stories ever filmed. Another one of Bava’s efforts that was plagued with money problems, you would never know it from his use of the evocative, antiquated locations and the astonishingly superior camerawork. At times, it assumes the hypnotic complexities of an M. C. Escher drawing. Suffused from beginning to end with yet another superb Carlo Rustichelli score. With Erika Blanc, Giacomo Rossi-Stuart. "The last great piece of suggestive horror filmmaking." -- Tim Lucas, The Darkside. (English dubbed print.) Introduction by director Ernest Dickerson (BONES; NEVER DIE ALONE; "The Wire

Sunday, March 23, 2008 - Egyptian Theatre

The Sunday, March 23rd program is a 6:00 PM Closing Night Triple Feature. First up is a screening of THE GIRL WHO KNEW TOO MUCH (aka THE EVIL EYE / LA RAGAZZA CHE SAPEVA TROPPO) (1963, International Media Films, 86 min.). Director Mario Bava pioneered the giallo genre with this Hitchcockian suspenser about a young American chased across Rome by "the Alphabet Murderer." Tourist Leticia Roman visits her aunt, only to have the old woman die of a heart attack on her first night there - just as the electricity goes out! In quick succession, Roman runs out into the stormy night, gets knocked down by a purse snatcher and witnesses a brutal murder. But when she awakens in the hospital, no one believes her. She is befriended by a smitten young doctor (John Saxon), who begrudgingly helps her try to find the key to the mystery. Look for Italian American actor Dante DiPaolo as the tormented reporter who may know the killer’s identity (DiPaolo later became George Clooney’s uncle by marriage to George’s aunt Rosemary). Originally released in the U.S. in a much altered version as THE EVIL EYE, this is the original Director’s Cut. (In Italian with English subtitles.)

Next on the same bill is HATCHET FOR THE HONEYMOON (IL ROSSO SEGNO DELLA FOLLIA), 1970, 88 min. Dir. Mario Bava. Wealthy psychopath and wedding dress designer Stephen Forsyth is perfectly aware that he is crazy, and he skillfully covers his tracks as he stalks and murders potential brides before their nuptials. He’s also tormented by a childhood secret that he can’t quite remember, an overwhelming force that sucks him ever deeper into the maw of madness. His own bitter wife (Laura Betti) finally pushes him over the edge to where he can no longer distinguish between fantasy and reality. The deliciously macabre script was co-written by Spanish genre specialist Santiago Moncada (A BELL FROM HELL) and an uncredited Bava. "…one of Mario Bava's…most playful thrillers, a demented black comedy that pokes fun at the murderous psychos which were littering the European cinema screens during the late '60s…a beautifully filmed drawing room murder tale which unexpectedly leaps midstream into a bizarre and wholly original ghost story." - Mondo-Digital.com (English dubbed print)

Next on the same bill is CALTIKI THE IMMORTAL MONSTER (CALTIKI - IL MOSTRO IMMORTALE), 1959, 76 min. "Slimy Glob of Doom Engulfs the World!" Signed by director Robert Hampton (a pseudonym for Riccardo Freda), who did just as he had done on the earlier I VAMPIRI - left after only a few days of filming, leaving the lion’s share of directorial chores to his good, yet unambitious friend, cinematographer Mario Bava. Although Freda had horror film chops of his own (i.e., THE HORRIBLE DR. HICHCOCK), he wanted to see Bava making his own pictures. There had been several very popular "giant globular amoeba" movies already such as THE BLOB, THE QUATERMASS XPERIMENT and X THE UNKNOWN, and here Bava tackles the subject with unnerving aplomb. Bava’s opening evocation of the Mayan ruins on limited resources, conjuring the scary subterranean netherworld home of the ancient Caltiki, is a sight to behold. There are a number of grisly shocks for the time period. "…visually it's more of a bridge between film noir in the (cinematographer) John Alton mode, and the limitless imagination and ingenuity Bava would soon be applying to his own, ‘official’ movies…extremely effective, sometimes horrifying visuals, particularly Bava's gruesome makeup effects, which were without precedent in their nauseating graphicness by 1959 standards (beating Nobuo Nakagawa's gore-fest JIGOKU by a year)." - Stuart Galbraith IV, DVD Talk (English dubbed print, screened from a digital video source) NOT ON DVD Introduction to the screening by actor Dante DiPaolo (THE GIRL WHO KNEW TOO MUCH).

Forget the tracking predicitions that informed my lasy entry. New Line Cinema's last official, non-subdivision of Warner Bros. release, "Semi-Pro," bombed. Wonderful as I think it is that a lousy Will Ferrell sports comedy got what it deserved, If your company can't exploit such a slam-dunk commercial concept, you may as well give it up.

Hearing that parent company Time Warner has finally kicked New Line Cinema boss Bob Shaye out of the company he founded some 40 years ago as an exploitation and foreign import outfit, I thought I'd refresh my memory with imdb's (incomplete) list of the mini-distributor turned min-major's titles.
Here's a sampling of significant releases I culled, from 1970 up:
Sympathy for the Devil (Jean-Luc Godard does his take on The Rolling Stones), La Rupture (Claude Chabrol), Auch Zwerge haben klein angefangen (one of Werner Herzog's first movies), Jimi Plays Berkeley, Pink Flamingos, The Cars That Ate Paris (early Peter Weir), Marquise of O (Eric Rohmer), Get Out Your Handkerchiefs, Despair (Fassbinder), Wise Blood (John Huston), The Evil Dead (Sam Raimi), A Nightmare on Elm Street, Sid & Nancy, Hairspray (1988), Rambling Rose, The Player, Night on Earth (Jarmusch), Glengarry Glen Ross, Menace II Society, The Mask (Jim Carrey's first interesting movie; Cameron Diaz's debut), Dumb & Dumber, Se7en, Austin Powers, Boogie Nights, Wag the Dog, Dark City, Pleasantville, American History X, Magnolia, Bamboozled (Spike Lee), Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Storytelling, Lord of the Rings, About Schmidt, Elf, Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle, Vera Drake, The Upside of Anger, A History of Violence, Wedding Crashers, Little Children, Hairspray (2007) and, um, Snakes on a Plane.
Plus lots of awful Nightmare sequels, the Rush Hour films, Adam Sandler abominations, Over Her Dead Body . . . the list of New Line atrocities is far more extensive, and includes the last film it will distribute, this weekend's Semi-Pro, which ironically is projected to be New Line's biggest commercial hit since at least last summer, maybe even since Wedding Crashers.
But the films mentioned before and others were great and, I'll say it, lasting contributions to our cinematic heritage.
Now a reduced New Line is going to be turned into a more directly controlled unit of Warner Bros. Which means it probably won't have the shouting matches with golden goose director Peter Jackson, the resources wasted on doomed LOTR surrogates like The Golden Compass, and the insistence on directing and distributing something like The Last Mimzy that marred Shaye's final year at his company. With luck, whoever takes over on Warners' behalf will do what the guys who've been running Miramax since Disney whacked its founding Weinstein brothers have done (they just won all those No Country for Old Men awards, if you didn't know).
But as he leaves, let's all give a big hand to Bob Shaye for exposing American audiences to Claude Chabrol, Werner Herzog, Peter Weir and the like, and making, reviving or securing the careers of John Waters, Sam Raimi, Robert Altman, David Fincher, Paul Thomas Anderson and, indeed, Peter Jackson. Never met the man and I don't know what was wrong with him, but when he was right, he was very, very right.

"No Country for Old Men" wins.
It's official: Evil stalks the land.
Can we all go back to work now?

My question is, whic