October 2007 Archives
So I hope none of our Internet headline writers use that old cliche.
Anyway, this looks like a massively well-curated survey of the smartest dream imagery ever to hit the screen.
Here's the official schedule from the Los Angeles County Musueum of Art:
Dalí: Painting & Film | European Surrealism and the American Avant-Garde Cinema
November 2- 24
From the birth of cinema, viewers recognized that a beam of light penetrating a darkened room provoked a dreamlike state, and that the irrational could be best expressed on film. This became an actuality in1920s Europe when a small group of visual artists turned their gaze from the exterior world of painting and sculpture to the interior world of the human mind by producing startling and subversive films. This series presents these legendary films in the wider context of European experimental cinema and includes a selection of works by the post war American filmmakers who embraced the surrealist philosophy of a personal, psychological, non-narrative cinema.
Dalí & Buñuel: Un chien andalou, L’Âge d’or
November 2 | 7:30 pm
A landmark of avant-garde cinema and arguably the first truly surrealist film, Dalí and Buñuel‘s still striking Un chien andalou is a feverish maelstrom of dream imagery and time-bending drama. "Our film ruined in a single evening, ten years of pseudo-intellectual post-war advance-guardism...that foul thing which is figuratively called abstract art fell at our feet, wounded to death, never to rise again." - Salvador Dalí. L’Âge d’or, the pair's second and final collaboration, is even more outrageous: a masterwork of delirious subversion and inventive blasphemy that was met with riots in Paris and was banned for fifty years.
Un chien andalou | 1929/b&w/16 min. | Scr: Salvador Dalí, Luis Buñuel, dir: Buñuel
L’Âge d’or | 1930/b&w/60 min. | Scr: Salvador Dalí, Luis Buñuel; dir: Buñuel; w/ Gaston Modot, Lya Lys, Max Ernst
Buñuel: Wuthering Heights
November 2 | 9:00 pm
Buñuel began working on this adaptation of the Emily Brontë novel (a favorite of the surrealists) in Paris in the early 1930s, though it took two decades to go into production. Transported to the barren, petrified landscape of Taxco in Mexico, Brontë’s tale of doomed, all-consuming love is pushed to tortured excess and etched with dark, surreal images. “Triumphant…a blatant hacienda melodrama that camps out on poverty row before blasting into the stratosphere—a great movie that successfully travesties a great novel.” – J. Hoberman, Village Voice
1953/b&w/90 min. | Scr: Luis Buñuel, Julio Alejandro, Arduino Maiuri; dir: Buñuel; w/ Irasema Dilián, Jorge Mistral, Lilia Prado | Not available on DVD
The Birth of Poetic Cinema: Jean Cocteau and Man Ray
November 9 | 7:30 pm
In The Blood of a Poet, Cocteau follows a young artist as he plunges into the blackness of a mirror and drifts through a sublime realm of visions and dreams populated with sphinxes, angels and living statues (among them Lee Miller, Man Ray's lover and collaborator). In Man Ray’s last film, a strange group of visitors, faces obscured by shrouds, go about fanciful games and movements in and around the striking modernist villa (designed by Robert Mallet-Stevens) belonging to the Vicomte de Noailles, who also commissioned both Cocteau’s film and L’Âge d’or.
The Blood of a Poet | 1930/b&w/50 min. | Scr/dir: Jean Cocteau; w/ Lee Miller, Enrique Rivero,
Les Mystères du château de Dé | 1929/b&w/20 min. | Scr/dir: Man Ray
Trance Films: Maya Deren and Gregory J. Markopoulos
November 9 | 9:20 pm
European surrealism hit American screens with the development of the trance film. Described as works of "visionary experience" by scholar P. Adams Sitney, they feature "somnambulists, priests, initiates of rituals, and the possessed" as protagonists "wandering through a potent environment toward a climactic scene of self-realization." In Meshes of the Afternoon and At Land, Maya Deren infuses this model with psychodrama and mystery. Begun in Los Angeles while he was a student at USC and completed in his hometown of Toledo, Ohio, Gregory J. Markopoulos' Du sang, de la volupté et de la mort is inspired by an unfinished Pierre Louys novella and Platonic dialogues. "His shimmering, complex films, with their elusive themes of memory, desire, and creativity...were once compared to the works of Joyce, Proust, and Eisenstein." - Kristin M. Jones, Artforum.
Meshes of the Afternoon | 1943/b&w//18 min | Scr/dir: Maya Deren, Alexander Hammid
At Land | 1944/b&w/14 min. | Scr/dir: Maya Deren;
Du sang, de la volupté et de la mort | 1947-48/color/70 min./three parts: Psyche, Lysis, Charmides | Scr/dir: Gregory Markopoulos | Not available on DVD
The Magik Lantern: Harry Smith
November 10 | 7:30 pm
Live slide & gel performance!
The Harry Smith Archives will present a live performance of the newly restored version of Harry Smith's film Heaven and Earth Magic with specially designed slides, colored gels and maskings. A collage film of animated segments created from antique catalogues and elocution manuals, Smith showed the film with its special projection set-up only once, in the late 1950s at Carnegie Hall, New York City on a specially built projector. This show involved the use of colored gels and slide overlays to create a vividly colored presentation that had the strong feel of a magic lantern show with an animated shadow play at its center. It is characteristic of Smith to have created this antiquated form of color presentation, very much akin to the tinting and toning of silent films, rather than naturalistic color. With the slides and gels, Heaven and Earth Magic regains its aboriginal character as an alchemical séance. This reconstructed version gives a depth and vitality to the film that has not been experienced for thirty years.
NO. 12: Heaven and Earth Magic | 1957-62/b&w/66 min. | Scr/dir: Harry Smith | Newly preserved with support from the National Film Preservation Foundation. Preservation work by Cineric, Inc. | Not available on DVD
The Magik Lantern: Joseph Cornell and Larry Jordan
November 10 | 9:20 pm
Joseph Cornell's Rose Hobart, arguably the earliest found-footage film, transforms the 1931 B-picture East of Borneo - the story of a woman in pursuit of her missing husband through a tropical jungle - into a mystical collage blasted by Dalí upon its New York premiere. Dalí allegedly accused Cornell of stealing the film from Dalí's own subconscious. Before he died, Cornell handed over six unfinished films to Larry Jordan for completion. Among them was The Children's Trilogy (Cotillion, The Midnight Party and The Children's Party), described as "a hilarious and touching tribute to the ecstasy of childhood - and childlike - make believe," by Michael Joshua Rowin in Reverse Shot. In his own work, Jordan creates transportive fantasies by animating Victorian engravings. Duo Concertantes, Hamfat Asar and Our Lady of the Sphere date from "the climax of Jordan's career...an exquisite space and time where reverie and dream meet, delicately poised between nostalgia and terror," per P. Adams Sitney.
Rose Hobart | 1936/b&w/17 min. | Scr/dir: Joseph Cornell
The Children’s Trilogy Cotillion/The Midnight Party/Children’s Party (1940s/b&w and color/25 min. | Scr/dir: Joseph Cornell
Duo Concertantes | 1964/b&w/9 min. | Scr/dir. Larry Jordan | Not available on DVD
Hamfat Asar | 1965/b&w/15 min | Scr/dir: Larry Jordan | Not available on DVD
Our Lady of the Sphere | 1969/color/10 min. | Scr/dir: Larry Jordan. | Not available on DVD
Dalí, Disney and Destino
November 16 | 7:30 pm
A celebration of the magic realism of Disney's early animations (including a selection of Silly Symphonies and excerpts from Fantasia) will culminate in a presentation of Destino, a voyage through Dalí’s inimitable dreamscapes. The painter began work on Destino while under contract at the Disney Studios in 1946. Though never completed by Dalí, Destino was finally animated at Disney in 2003 from the hundreds of detailed drawings and notes he left. The film received an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Short.
Surreal Cartoon Program │1920s-1940s/c. 60 min.
Destino | 1946-2003/color/7 min. | Scr : Salvador Dalí, John Hench; dir: Dominique Monfery | Not available on DVD
Unrealized Dalí: Moontide
November 16 | 9:15 pm
Five years before Destino, Dalí was commissioned to provide a “nightmare montage” for Fritz Lang’s Moontide. As the detailed script and surviving drawings attest, Dalí envisioned a disquieting sequence featuring a giant sewing machine and “the face of war.” With the attack on Pearl Harbor and the US’s entry into WW II, the film slipped out of Lang’s hands after three weeks of shooting and with it went Dalí’s surreal contribution. Archie Mayo finished the picture which stars Jean Gabin in his Hollywood debut as a longshoreman haunted by a murder he may or may not have committed.
1942/b&w/95 min. | Scr: John O'Hara ; dir: Archie Mayo: w/ Jean Gabin, Ida Lupino | Not available on DVD
Los Angeles post-1945: Curtis Harrington and Kenneth Anger
November 17 | 7:30 pm
Contemporaries of Deren and Markopoulos and, like them, residents of Los Angeles, Harrington and Anger pursued comparable trance aesthetics. Harrington describes his Fragment of Seeking, as “a cinematic portrait of the adolescent Narcissus.” In the still shocking Fireworks, Anger says he “released all the explosive pyrotechnics of a dream.” Harrington’s own parents star in his film On the Edge which he describes simply as “a man desperately attempts to avoid the inevitability of his own Fate.” Harrington appears, alongside Anais Nin, in Anger’s lush pageant of ritual and opulence Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome; Amos Vogel describes the film as “startling…a luxuriant and baroque oddity in the tradition of decadent art.”
Fragment of Seeking | 1946/b&w/16 min. | Scr/dir: Curtis Harrington | Not available on DVD
Fireworks | 1947/b&w/15 min. | Scr/dir: Kenneth Anger
On The Edge | 1949/b&w/6 min. | Scr/dir: Curtis Harrington; music: Charles Ivens | Not available on DVD
Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome | 1954/color/38 min. | Scr/dir: Kenneth Anger
Paris in the ‘20s: Jean Epstein, René Clair and Germaine Dulac
November 17 | 9:10 pm
1920s Paris was a mélange of artists, ideas and styles other than surrealism; dada slapstick and expressionist doom also reigned. Tonight’s program brings together examples of the era’s breadth of experimental cinema. Buñuel worked with the versatile Jean Epstein on an atmospheric and Caligariesque adaptation of The Fall of the House of Usher. Intended to accompany an intermission during a new ballet by Francis Picabia, Clair’s Entr’acte features a cast of surrealists and fellow travelers - Picabia, Erik Satie, Marcel Duchamp, and Man Ray - in a disjointed series of comical escapades. Germaine Dulac foreshadowed the Dalí/Buñuel collaborations with her anarchic tale of a priest lusting af ter a beautiful woman. Her public feud with Antonin Artaud over her impressionistic approach to his script led to a surrealist protest.
The Fall of the House of Usher | 1928/b&w/55 min./w/ English narration | Scr: Jean Epstein, Luis Buñuel; dir: Epstein
Entr’acte | 1924/b&w/14 min. | Scr: Francis Picabia; dir: René Clair
The Seashell and the Clergyman | 1928/b&w/31 min. | Scr: Antonin Artaud; dir: Germaine Dulac
Surrealist Favorites from Hollywood: The Red Shoes
November 23 | 7:30 pm
Victoria Page, an ambitious and passionate young ballerina, has been groomed by a Diaghilev-like impresario to dance the lead in his newest ballet, but she finds herself torn between her art and her love for a young composer. Shot on location in the great theaters of London, Paris and Monte Carlo, this dazzling mix of romance and realism climaxes in a performance of The Red Shoes, a ravishing 15-minute adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s tragic fairytale set in a surreal landscape of Dalíesque designs.
1948/color/134 min. | Scr/dir: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger; w/ Anton Walbrook, Marius Goring, Moira Shearer, Robert Helpmann
Surrealist Favorites from Hollywood: Portrait of Jennie
November 24 | 7:30 pm
The post-war surrealists were unanimous in their admiration for this ‘small’ film about an unsuccessful painter obsessed with a captivating young woman whose past and present are cloaked in mystery. Conceived as a showcase for his protégé’s (later wife) talent and beauty, Portrait is one of producer David O. Selznick’s most visually elegant and dramatically restrained films. The film won an Academy Award for its special effects. “A mysterious, poetic and largely misunderstood work.” – Luis Buñuel.
1948/b&w and color/86 min. | Scr: Paul Osborn and Peter Berneis; dir: William Dieterle; w/ Jennifer Jones, Joseph Cotten, Lillian Gish
Surrealist Favorites from Hollywood: Pandora and the Flying Dutchman
November 24 | 9:10 pm
The legend of a seventeenth-century Dutchman condemned to sail the seas in search of a woman whose sacrifice will release him, is updated to Spain in the 1930s and set in a fishing village where the winding streets bathed in moonlight and a mysterious yacht moored in the port provide an ideal backdrop. For Albert Lewin, the Hollywood producer, writer and director who was both a friend of the Surrealists and a collector of their art, Pandora was an aesthetic triumph in which baroque sets, lavish costumes, paintings by Man Ray (he was also the stills photographer), heightened colors, arresting ‘modern’ shapes, and surrealist motifs coalesced into a fantasy world populated by flawed gods and goddesses.
1951/color/122 min. | Scr/dir: Albert Lewin; w/ James Mason, Ava Gardner
Dalí: Painting & Film | Spellbound! Hollywood Embraces Freud
December 1-14
With its Dalí dream sequence, Spellbound not only introduced surrealism to a mass audience, it launched Hollywood’s short-lived craze for psychological thrillers and psychoanalytic women’s pictures. Directed by expatriates from Nazi Europe for whom Freud’s theories had been an accepted part of European culture for over twenty years and who held a dark view of human psychology, a series of unique films were created in which a surreal weave of Freudian motifs - water, mirrors, fog, shadows – successfully evoke their characters’ psychological instability and paranoia. Featuring popular late-forties stars, all of whose characters exhibit ailments that include amnesia, kleptomania, and schizophrenia, the eight films in this series project a powerful atmosphere of post-war anxiety and perverse sexuality. Though the cycle was light on science and heavy on atmosphere and quickly fell out of vogue, these films remain fascinating examples of the Hollywood studio tradition of visual storytelling at its most baroque.
Spellbound
December 1 | 7:30 pm
A starchy female psychiatrist applies her knowledge of Freudian analysis to a troubled doctor who is suspected of murder. An elegant film in which Dalí’s dream is a high point, Spellbound blurs the line between illness and sexual fantasy.
1945/b&w/111 min. | Scr: Ben Hecht; dir: Alfred Hitchcock; w/ Ingrid Bergman, Gregory Peck,
The Dark Mirror
December 1 | 9:40 pm
In a menacing nocturnal New York, a psychiatrist, armed with ink blot tests, tries to determine which identical twin has murdered her lover, but all his up-to- date science is no match for a brilliant Olivia de Havilland playing both the good and bad sister.
1946/b&w/85 min. | Scr: Nunnally Johnson; dir: Robert Siodmak; w/ Olivia de Havilland, Lew Ayres, Thomas Mitchell
Leave Her to Heaven
December 7 | 7:30 pm
A beautiful woman hides her pathological jealousy from her leisure class friends until her hold over her husband is threatened by his love for his younger brother. Veteran ‘30s director John Stahl used ravishing Technicolor cinematography and sun-drenched country club settings, to point the melodrama in a new direction: neither noir nor women’s picture, it is a study in perverse psychology in which the heroine is the villain.
1945/color/110 min. | Scr: Jo Swerling; dir: John M. Stahl; w/ Gene Tierney, Cornel Wilde, Vincent Price
Whirlpool
December 7 | 9:40 pm
A kleptomaniac society wife with a neglectful psychiatrist husband is arrested for lifting a diamond broach from Bullocks Wilshire, but a mysterious ‘doctor’ with a specialty in hypnosis intervenes on her behalf. In this claustrophobic film, Otto Preminger is less interested in plot than the image of a helpless woman surrounded by a group of men each of whom has a different interpretation of her motives and flaws.
1949/b&w/97 min. | Scr: Ben Hecht, Andrew Solt; dir: Otto Preminger; w/ Gene Tierney, Richard Conte, José Ferrer
Sleep, My Love
December 8 | 7:30 pm
Wife Claudette Colbert wakes up on a train hurtling out of New York, with a gun in her bag and no idea how she got there…Is she crazy or is her husband trying to kill her? Douglas Sirk’s fifth American film is an interesting foray into Gaslight territory by a director whose later career would focus almost exclusively on women emotionally imprisoned by the values of ‘50s America.
1948/b&w/96 min. | Scr: Leo Rosten, St. Clair McKelway, Leo Rosten; dir: Douglas Sirk; w/ Claudette Colbert, Robert Cummings, Don Ameche
Experiment Perilous
December 8 | 9:40 pm
In a meticulously designed 1903 New York, a beautiful woman is terrorized by her insanely jealous husband until a small-town psychologist intervenes. “Mysterious and unsettling…a gorgeous gothic thriller in the vein of Gaslight with images of spidery beauty.” – Film Society of Lincoln Center.
1944/b&w/91 min. | Scr: Warren Duff; dir: Jacques Tourneur; w/ Hedy Lamarr, George Brent, Michael Redgrave
Secret Beyond the Door
December 14 | 7:30 pm
In the last of her four films made with Fritz Lang, Joan Bennett plays an heiress wooed and married in a whirlwind courtship in Mexico by handsome, mysterious Michael Redgrave – a dream turned nightmare when she discovers that he has installed in his house seven rooms where famous murders took place, one of which is locked. For this imaginative update of the Bluebeard story, Lang created a series of dreams that are among the most disturbing in cinema.
1948/b&w/99 min.| Scr: Silvia Richards; dir: Fritz Lang; w/ Joan Bennett, Michael Redgrave
The Locket
December 14 | 9:20 pm
On his wedding day, a groom is approached by a man claiming to be his fiancée’s former husband and who paints the beautiful bride-to-be as a scheming kleptomaniac, a habitual liar and perhaps worse. In this brilliantly structured and tightly directed film by John Brahm (fresh from the success of The Lodger), the truth is revealed in flashback within flashback within flashback – while the wedding draws closer and closer and closer.
1946/b&w/86 min. | Scr: Sheridan Gibney; dir: John Brahm; w/ Laraine Day, Brian Aherne, Robert Mitchum.
On Thursday, the venerable and star-crossed Silent Movie Theatre reopens in its latest incarnation as an eclectically programmed repertory/revival cinema.
Several timeslots will remain devoted to presound cinema each week, but otherwise it's anything goes (that's good, anyway), from rare horror films (it is Halloween week, after all) to classic musicals, wild Asian action to the television work of disquieting Austrian auteur Michael Haneke ("Cache"), Francois Truffaut's entire, sophisticated Antoine Doinel cycle to headbanging rock docs, "Home Alone" to landmarks in experimental cinema . . . and more, much more.
Programmer Hadrian Belove, co-owner of West L.A.'s essential Cinefile video store, brings a wide-ranging philosophy to his curatorial duties.
"I've often said that there are a lot of people in this town who know more about cinema in a specific way than me," Belove explains. "But I guess my area of pride is that I have a broader range of curiosity than the average cinephile. I have access to a really amazing network of great film buffs who come through the store and help me. In a lot of ways, what I'm really curating is other people.
"One of the things that's really different for us is that I want this not to be a theater that is geared toward hardcore film buffs," Belove adds. "It may not be immediately apparent, but I'm always thinking about the intelligent consumer who just, y'know, wants a little more. We'll be like the friendly film buff who will recommend titles for them. We're not a museum-like environment, appealing to the person who is already a Fellini fan and wantst to see every goddamn Fellini movie ever made. 'It's so rare and so choice.' Y'know, rarity doesn't cut it for me.
"But I do want to show something that has a slight sense of newness to it, because I do believe in the excitement of discovery."
Here's the original press announcement:

What's happening at the Silent Movie Theatre?
Hadrian Belove of Cinefile Video, Sammy Harkham of Family Books and
Dan Harkham of the Silent Movie Theatre have teamed up to launch The
Cinefamily, a new venue for revival programming-- from foreign to
independent, from classical to cutting edge, from silent film to live
music, and from exploitation to experimental. Our home is the world
famous Silent Movie Theatre 611 N. Fairfax. The theater will reopen on
October 25th with a bigger screen, more comfortable seating
(including plush, leather sofas), and state-of-the-art projection and
sound. The Cinefamily is committed to the presentation of silent
films with live musical accompaniment, while expanding our calendar
to embrace all forms of cinematic experience. There will be an
adventurous program of regularly-scheduled events devoted to specific
genres and audiences including:
Silent Movies w/ live musical accompaniment- Every Wednesday Night
Musicals, Concert Films & Special Music Events- Every Thursday Night.
Mini-Festivals- Every Friday and Saturday
Incredibly Strange Cinema - Every Saturday Late Night
Noir Matinees- Every Sunday afternoon
Asian Cinema Night- Every Sunday evening
Experimental Cinema- Monthly
Oodles of Special Events- Ongoing
Programming Information can be found at http://www.silentmovietheatre.com/movies/
and
http://www.silentmovietheatre.com/specialevents/
or call the box office (323) 655-2520
What is The Cinefamily?
The Cinefamily is an organization of movie lovers devoted to finding
and presenting interesting and unusual programs of exceptional,
distinctive, weird and wonderful films. The Cinefamily's goal is to
foster a spirit of community and a sense of discovery, while
reinvigorating the movie-going experience. Like campfires, sporting
events and church services, we believe that movies work best as
social experiences. They are more meaningful, funnier and scarier
when shared with others. Our home is the Silent Movie Theatre, one of
Hollywood’s most beloved and beautiful cultural landmarks. There,
The Cinefamily will provide a destination spot for Los Angelenos and
others to rediscover the pleasures of cinema.
What is a Cinefamily membership?
As always, our patrons will be able to purchase individual tickets
for all screenings. We are also rewarding film fans who wish to
explore the wide variety of programming on offer with a unique new
membership model. We'll be offering two tiers of membership. For $25
a month, members gain free admission to all screenings (special
events excluded, seating always first come, first served.) For $40 a
month, members gain free admission to all screenings (special events
excluded, seating always first come, first served) plus two guest
passes.
New York-based, 83-year-old director Sidney Lumet was voted the Los Angeles Film Critics Association's 2007 Career Achievement Award today. The actor-loving filmmaker's movies span half a century, from 1957's "12 Angry Men" to the family crime drama "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead," which opens locally November 2.
Among Lumet's many notable productions are "Long Day's Journey Into Night," "The Pawnbroker," "Fail-Safe," "Serpico," "Dog Day Afternoon," "Network," "The Verdict," "Running on Empty" and "Q & A."
LAFCA will vote on awards for the films of 2007 on December 9.
Documentary lovers rejoice!
Here's the official announcement:
IDA CELEBRATES 25 YEARS WITH PARE LORENTZ FILM FESTIVAL
Retro of Historic Lorentz Docs plus Ten Award Winners and Spike Lee Epic
Film Fest runs from Oct 18-21 at The Landmark in West L.A.
In celebration of both the 25th Anniversary of the International Documentary Association (IDA) and the 10th Anniversary of the IDA/Pare Lorentz Award, the IDA presents the Pare Lorentz Film Festival October 18-21 in Los Angeles at the Landmark Theatre. Los Angeles has never before had the chance to see all four of Pare Lorentz's legendary films together, and only one, Nuremberg, has been screened here at all in the last decade. The Pare Lorentz Film Festival demonstrates how one man's humanitarian and artistic values live on in filmmakers today. In addition to Lorentz's masterpieces, the festival offers a unique opportunity to see all ten recipients of the IDA's Pare Lorentz Award. The festival promises to be a beacon of hope and illumination.
Pare Lorentz's films are classics of the documentary canon, groundbreaking in their pairing of masterful technique with a passion for social justice. Each of Lorentz's major works of the late 1930s and early 40s has been hailed by critics and historians for their visionary filmmaking. As a fitting celebration and commemoration of the 15th anniversary of Lorentz's death, the Pare Lorentz Film Festival will feature rare theatrical screenings of four of Lorentz's best-known works: The Plow That Broke the Plains (1936), The River (1938), The Fight for Life (1941) and Nuremberg (1946). The Plow That Broke the Plains was deemed "culturally significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation by the National Film Registry. Lorentz's text for The River was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in Poetry, a rare distinction for a film, and earned Best Documentary honors at the 1938 Venice Film Festival over Leni Riefenstahl's Olympiad. Of The Fight for Life, Time magazine said the film "established Lorentz as the number one director of documentary film." Nuremberg was such a startling achievement that U.S. authorities pulled the plug on it, seized the unfinished print, and buried it in an unmarked canister in the National Archives. Only recently restored, the film evoked this response from President Bill Clinton: "It is very rare that one film possesses the very real ability to change the world. Nuremberg is just such a film."
The Pare Lorentz Award, created in 1997, is given annually to a film that best reflects the democratic sensibility, activist spirit and lyrical vision of Lorentz. The ten Lorentz Award-winning films to be shown are Mandela (1997), Nach Saison (Off-Season) (1998), Where the Sky Meets the Land (1999), SUGIHARA-Conspiracy of Kindness (2000), Island Out of Time (2001), In Memoriam: New York City, 9/11/01 (2002), Berga: Soldiers of Another War (2003), Oil on Ice (2004) and America's Last Landscape: the Tall Grass Prairie (2005) and An Inconvenient Truth (2006). All demonstrate one or more of Lorentz's central concerns—the appropriate use of the natural environment, justice for all and the illumination of pressing social problems—presented as a compelling story by skillful filmmaking.
The Pare Lorentz Film Festival's title, "From The River to the Levees", indicates a direct path from the concerns of Lorentz's The River to the Hurricane Katrina disaster. Lorentz's prescient film urged the United States to do its utmost to protect its citizens. Nearly seventy years later, Spike Lee documented the devastating consequences when the government failed that responsibility through its lack of response to Katrina victims. Lee's powerful, epic film about the tragedy When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts, will be shown in its entirety at the festival.
John Ford's magnificent interpretation of John Steinbeck's Pulitzer-Prize winning novel, The Grapes of Wrath will occupy the centerpiece slot of the festival. Steinbeck, a friend of Lorentz, was inspired to write The Grapes of Wrath after seeing "The Plow That Broke the Plains"; Ford incorporated shots from the film into The Grapes of Wrath.
Lorentz's spirit of cinematic activism closes the festival with the screening of the highly-anticipated Darfur Now, Ted Braun's account of the ongoing genocide in Sudan and the efforts of six individuals, including Academy Award-nominated actor Don Cheadle, to take action.
Pare Lorentz (1905-1992), began as a journalist and film critic, winning praise for his wit and daring observations. (A collection of his reviews, Lorentz on Film, is considered a classic). After he made Plow, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked him to direct an innovative government program, the United States Film Service, from 1938-40. Lorentz led the agency in its mandate to make "films of merit". Roosevelt said, "Pare Lorentz photographs America to show what it's like to our people."and granted the director $50,000 Lorentz to make The River, which would be over $700, 000 today. (Hard to imagine a government arts grant like that in 2007!) It turned out to be a wise investment; Lorentz's works are now widely considered to be both national treasures and inextricably important to the world's documentary heritage.
By making films with theatrical exhibition in mind, Lorentz embraced and explored the documentary form in pioneering ways. He attracted gifted collaborators, such as the noted composer Virgil Thomson who he enlisted to score both Plow and River. Thomson's imaginative scores, using folk songs, hymns and even tango, prefigured trends of juxtaposition and "sampling" heard in music today. Three of the festival screenings will feature fresh recordings of Thomson's scores, conducted by Angel Ordonez and performed with the Post-Classical Ensemble. Floyd King provides a new oratorical performance of the celebrated narrations.
The International Documentary Association was founded in 1982 as a nonprofit membership organization dedicated to supporting the efforts of nonfiction film and video makers throughout the United States and the world; promoting the documentary form; and expanding opportunities for the production, distribution and exhibition of documentary. The IDA is committed to continuing its efforts to increase public appreciation and demand for documentary films, videos and television programs across all ethnic, political and socioeconomic boundaries. The IDA and more information about the Pare Lorentz Film Festival can be found at http://www.documentary.org/
"The Pare Lorentz Film Festival—From The River to The Levees" will be held at the new Landmark Theatre, 10850 W. Pico Blvd in West Los Angeles. General admission is $11 and $9 for Students, Seniors (60+), and IDA members with valid ID). ( Mandela and The Grapes of Wrath will screen for free.) Question and Answer sessions will follow several screenings as indicated below. A free panel discussion and screening entitled The River Runs Through It: The Lost Legacy of Pare Lorentz , moderated by noted Lorentz and documentary film scholar Dr. Betsy A. McLane and featuring filmmakers Davis Guggenheim, Harrison Engle, Samuel D. Pollard and David O'Shields, will take place on Sunday Oct 21 from 12-2:15 pm. Tickets may be purchased at the Landmark box office or online at http://www.landmarktheatres.com/
French critics may have coined the term film noir to describe the shadowy, hard-boiled Hollywood crime dramas that flooded France after World War II. But Gallic filmmakers have always been just as good as ours, if not better, at psychologically acute underworld stories, as the American Cinematheque's French Noir series amply proves.
Here's the rundown from the French Consulate, no less:
Crooks In Clover: Noir, French Style
October 19 - 28
Like the American West Coast jazz scene of the 1950's, the French crime film was the very definition of "cool" - a quicksilver world of silent killers and speeding Citroens. There will be two spellbinding weeks of mystery and murder with the French masters, including very hard-to-see gems (including 11 films not on DVD) like Costa-Gavras' ultra-rare debut film, THE SLEEPING CAR MURDER, Claude Chabrol's THE CHAMPAGNE MURDERS, Melville's SECOND BREATH, Deray's THE SWIMMING POOL, Corneau's SERIE NOIRE and CHOICE OF ARMS, Yves Allegret's RIPTIDE and more!
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Screenings are at the Lloyd E. Theatre at the historic Egyptian
6712 Hollywood Boulevard (between Highland and Las Palmas) in Hollywood.
Tickets available through www.fandango.com
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Friday, October 19, at 7.30pm - Double Feature
THE SWIMMING POOL (La Piscine)
Directed by: Jacques Deray
Written by: Jacques Deray (adaptation and dialogue), Jean-Claude Carrière (adaptation and dialogue), Jean-Emmanuel Conil (original scenario)
Cast: Alain Delon, Romy Schneider, Maurice Ronet, Jane Birkin...
1969, 120 min., in French with English subtitles
With a trenchant script co-written by Buñuel colaborator, Jean-Claude Carriere. Writer Jean-Paul (Alain Delon) and journalist Marianne (Romy Schneider) are having an affair in St. Tropez when interrupted by a visit from Marianne's former lover, Harry (Maurice Ronet). Harry has also brought along his fatally attractive daughter, Penelope (Jane Birkin). Hormones rage and sparks fly, and one of the four ends up dead, accidentally drowned after a fight. Now the the three survivors must get their stories straight before the investigating police arrive. Top-notch psychological suspense. NOT ON DVD
Followed by
JOY HOUSE (Les felins)
Directed by: René Clément
Written by: René Clément, Pascal Jardin, Day Keene (novel "Joy House"), Charles Williams
Cast: Alain Delon, Jane Fonda, Lola Albright...
1964,98 min., original English language version
A crazy French/American hybrid, this intricately structured, perverse hide-and-seek thriller stars Alain Delon as a callous young card-shark on the run from some cigar-chomping New York gangsters. Lucky for him, he hides in the southern French countryside with a rich American widow (Lola Albright) and her love-sick niece, the stunning Jane Fonda. Director Clement and Delon re-teamed from PURPLE NOON for this offbeat tale of murder and repressed passion, with a totally unexpected and original twist ending. Based on a novel by unsung pulp great Day Keene with an extra helping of dialogue by hardboiled genius Charles Williams (DEAD CALM). Henri Decae supplied the black-and-white 'scope cinematography, and Lalo Schifrin did the music.
Saturday, October 20, at 7:30 PM - Double Feature
THE SLEEPING CAR MURDER (Compartiment Tueurs)
Directed by: Costa-Gavras
Written by: Costa-Gavras, Sébastien Japrisot (novel)
Cast: Catherine Allégret, Jacques Perrin, Simone Signoret, Michel Piccoli...
1965, 90 min., in French with English subtitles
Director Costa-Gavras (Z; MISSING) chose to make a suspense shocker as his first film. Finally, here it is after decades out-of-circulation, a genuine classic, a virtually lost and forgotten jewel in the crown of French crime films in urgent need of restoration and rediscovery. Six people share a sleeping compartment on a Paris-bound train. After they arrive, one of them is found strangled, and, before long, the killer starts knocking off the remaining passengers. Yves Montand is superb as a harried police inspector coming down with the flu, who doggedly follows up every lead. Red herrings abound and the twists and thrills are masterfully executed. Enormously influential on not just other French crime films that followed, but the Italian giallo thriller genre as well. With a dream cast that includes Michel Piccoli, Simone Signoret, Jacques Perrin, Catherine Allegret and Jean-Louis Trintignant. NOT ON DVD
Followed by
THE CHAMPAGNE MURDERS (Le Scandale)
Directed by: Claude Chabrol
Written by: William Benjamin Claude Brulé, Derek Prouse
Cast: Anthony Perkins, Maurice Ronet, Yvonne Furneaux...
1967, 98 min., dubbed-in-English version
"Psycho puppet or cold-blooded killer?" Director Claude Chabrol's tale of greed, hypocrisy and murder amidst France's upscale champagne-manufacturing aristocracy unfolds in gorgeous color cinematography lensed by Jean Rabier. Grasping champagne factory owner Yvonne Furneaux (REPULSION) tries to coax her husband Anthony Perkins to help her pry loose partner Maurice Ronet's (ELEVATOR TO THE GALLOWS) interest in the business. Then people start dying, and Ronet becomes the chief suspect. Is he going off his rocker? Or is someone trying to frame him? With Stephane Audran (DISCREET CHARM OF THE BOURGEOUSIE; COUP DE TORCHON) in a truly bizarre early role. Look out for that ceiling vantage point ending.
"A must see." - Danny Peary, Guide to the Film Fanatic. NOT ON DVD
Sunday, October 21, at 7:30 PM - Double Feature
BORSALINO
Directed by: Jacques Deray
Written by: Jacques Deray, Jean-Claude Carrière, Jean Cau, Eugène Saccomano (book "Bandits a Marseille"), Claude Sautet
Cast: Jean-Paul Belmondo, Alain Delon, André Bollet...
1970, 125 min., dubbed-in-English version
In 1930's Marseilles, fun-loving Jean-Paul Belmondo and ambitious Alain Delon meet and brawl over a girl, but soon become close comrades. Before long, they wrest control from the stuck-in-their-ways old gang bosses and begin organizing the wide-open city's crime rackets. Based on Eugene Saccomano's novel, The Bandits of Marseille, screenwriters Jean-Claude Carriere, Claude Sautet and director Deray all collaborated on the sharp script. The film was a huge hit in the U.S. as well as France upon its initial release and spurred an almost as popular sequel (without Belmondo), BORSALINO AND CO. With Mirielle Darc, Michel Bouquet, Corinne Marchand. NOT ON DVD
Followed by
ONCE A THIEF (Les Tueurs de San Francisco)
Directed by: Ralph Nelson,
Written by: Zekial Marko (novel "Scratch A Thief" and screenplay)
Cast: Alain Delon, Ann-Margret, Van Heflin...
1965, 107 min. original English language version
Director Ralph Nelson (REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYWEIGHT) helmed this neo-noir, French/American co-production. Corsican ex-con Alain Delon is living in San Francisco with his wife (Ann-Margret) and daughter, just trying to keep his nose clean. Someone holds up a liquor store driving his hot rod, and he's pulled inexorably back down into the gutter. Delon's master hood big brother (Jack Palance) is back in town with his gang, including sociopaths Tony Musante (BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE) and John Davis Chandler (MAD DOG COLL), and Palance will do anything to bring his younger sibling back into the murderous fold. Van Heflin (ACT OF VIOLENCE) is a tough police detective with an axe to grind, but he is ultimately willing to give Delon a fair shake. Unfortunately, there are bad memories between them, and Delon doesn't trust him. A very cool, fast-moving nocturnal prowl through the rain slick streets, jazz clubs, back alleys and warehouses of the Bay Area. NOT ON DVD
Wednesday, October 24, at 7:30 PM- Double Feature
THE OUTSIDE MAN (Uun Homme est Mort)
Directed by: Jacques Deray
Written by: Jacques Deray, Jean-Claude Carrière, Ian McLellan Hunter
Cast: Jean-Louis Trintignant, Ann-Margret, Roy Scheider
1972, 104 min., original uncut, uncensored English language version
LE SAMOURAI in The City of Angels! Director Jacques Deray's Melville-inspired thriller stars Jean-Louis Trintignant as a French hit man sent to Los Angeles to whack a mob kingpin (Ted de Corsia, of THE KILLING). Once the job is finished, though, he finds himself trapped in an early 1970's nightmare of strip clubs, Jesus freaks and "Star Trek" re-runs, chased by muscle-car driving assassin Roy Scheider and helped by friendly go-go girl, Ann-Margret. With Angie Dickinson as the mobster's (black) widow. Like THE MODEL SHOP and CISCO PIKE, this is an unforgettable, wild, landmark-strewn travelogue through the smog-choked avenues of a bygone Los Angeles and Hollywood. "LA was a dream for me - a Frenchman shooting in America!" - Jacques Deray. NOT ON DVD
Followed by
CLASSE TOUS RISQUES
Directed by: Claude Sautet
Written by: Claude Sautet (adaptation), José Giovanni (novel, adaptation, dialogue), Pascal Jardin
Cast: Lino Ventura, Sandra Milo, Jean-Paul Belmondo...
1959, 110 min., in French with English subtitles
This hardboiled classic was virtually unknown in the US for decades until first Telluride, then the American Cinematheque screened it in the mid-1990's. Rialto Films re-released it here in late 2005 to overwhelming acclaim of a major rediscovery. Lino Ventura delivers an awesome performance (maybe his best) as Davos, a gangster in the twilight of his career, on the run from the mob with his wife and family. Jean-Paul Belmondo (hot off his star turn in BREATHLESS) co-stars as a young hood who comes to Ventura's aid. Brilliantly scripted by Jose Giovanni (based on a story he had heard in prison.). In addition to its crisp action sequences, the film has an excellent sense of place, showing us Paris, Nice and the small villages and French countryside between -- one of the things that makes CLASSE TOUS RISQUES distinctive are the palpable emotional connections it makes with its characters. Though he is the hardest of hard cases, Davos cares deeply about his family, and the feelings of regret, sadness and desperation that cross his face are just one of the factors that make this film the classic it is." - Kenneth Turan, The Los Angeles Times NOT ON DVD
Thursday, October 25, at 7:30 PM - an ultra rare film
SECOND BREATH (Le Deuxième Souffle)
Directed by: Jean-pierre Melville
Written by: Jean-Pierre Melville, José Giovanni (also novel Un reglement de comptes)
Cast: Lino Ventura, Paul Meurisse, Raymond Pellegrin...
1966, 150 min., in French with English subtitles
A middle-aged hood (Lino Ventura) breaks out of jail and organizes a new gang, determined to prove he still has what it takes. Melville's brutal, crackling noir contrasts Ventura's "old world craftsmanship" against the younger generation of Nouvelle Vague crooks. A twisting-turning maze of existential pitfalls opens up before Ventura's character - some placed by the police, some by his cronies, some by his woman and some even by himself - will it be possible for him to circumvent them all? Based on the novel by Jose Giovanni. Director Alain Corneau just completed production on a remake with Daniel Auteil. With Paul Meurisse, Raymond Pellegrin. "Melville did for the crime film what Leone did for the western." - Quentin Tarantino; "Established Melville's reputation as a brilliant refurbisher of the immemorial imagery of the genre - gleaming night streets, gunmen prowling in deserted stairways." - Tom Milne. NOT ON DVD
Friday, October 26, 2007 at 7:30 PM - Double Feature
CHOICE OF ARMS (Le Choix des Armes)
Directed by: Alain Corneau
Written by: Alain Corneau, Michel Grisolia
Cast: Yves Montand, Gérard Depardieu, Catherine Deneuve...
1981, 114 min., in French with English subtitles
Yves Montand is a retired mobster living a quiet, bourgeois existence in the country with his beautiful spouse (Catherine Deneuve). But their lives are shattered when impulsive, younger gangster, Gerard Depardieu, escapes from prison with a comrade. The two fugitives are subsequently ambushed by a rival gang, Depardieu's friend is seriously wounded, and they go on a desperate hunt for refuge -- which leads them straight to Montand. An unstoppable chain reaction of tragic complications set in when a pair of cops (Michel Galabru, Gerard Lanvin) decide to pay a visit, sowing seeds of suspicion and betrayal. Director Alain Corneau again shows himself worthy of the mantle of a latter-day Melville. With the indisputably volcanic match-up of Montand, Deneuve and Depardieu. NOT ON DVD
Followed by
POLICE PYTHON 357
Directed by: Alain Corneau
Written by: Alain Corneau, Daniel Boulanger (also dialogue)
Cast: Yves Montand, François Périer, Simone Signoret...
1976, 125 min., in French with English subtitles
Director Alain Corneau's tough, violent policier's plot faintly echoes old school noir, THE BIG CLOCK. Yves Montand is middle-aged cop Marc Ferrot who falls for a young photographer (Stefania Sandrelli, of THE CONFORMIST) - without realizing that she's already the mistress of his unstable boss, Commissaire Ganay (Francois Perier). Co-starring Simone Signoret as Ganay's bitter, bedridden spouse. . NOT ON DVD
Saturday, October 27 at 7:30 PM - Double Feature
SERIE NOIRE
Directed by: Alain Corneau
Written by: Alain Corneau, Georges Perec (dialogue), Jim Thompson (novel "A Hell of a Woman")
Cast: Patrick Dewaere, Myriam Boyer, Marie Trintignant, Bernard Blier...
1979, 111 min., in French with English subtitles
Director Alain Corneau expertly adapts one of Jim Thompson's most twisted pulp masterworks, A Hell of a Woman. Patrick Dewaere stars as Frank Poupart, a human ferret scurrying around the bleak edges of Nowhere, trying to sell cheap trinkets door-to-door and collect on small mob debts. When he stumbles across a gorgeous teenager (Marie Trintignant) with a rich and repulsive aunt, Dewaere gets sucked into the blackest vacuum of all. "Definitely the best movie made from a Jim Thompson novel to date-- Patrick Dewaere as demented thief/murderer/ child molester is as close to a real Jim Thompson character as an actor could get." - Barry Gifford. NOT ON DVD
Followed by
CROOKS IN CLOVER (aka Les Tontons Flingueurs aka Monsieur Gangster)
Directed by: Georges Lautner
Written by: Georges Lautner (dialogue), Michel Audiard (dialogue), Albert Simonin (novel)
Cast: Lino Ventura, Bernard Blier, Francis Blanche...
1963, 105 min., in French with English subtitles
Director Georges Lautner (ICY BREASTS) helmed this deliciously funny, but dark gangster spoof with Lino Ventura (SECOND BREATH) as a former mobster lured back into the business by a dying friend's last request. Obligated to tie up some "loose ends" as well as look after the dead man's soon-to-be-married daughter, Ventura abruptly finds himself running afoul of gangster hardcase, Bernard Blier. But Ventura is not to be trifled with, and responds in equal measure. Soon, a string of killings erupt and bodies pile up as the two men go at it. One of the classics. NOT ON DVD
Sunday, October 28 at 7:30 PM - Double Feature
ONE DEADLY SUMMER (L'ETE MEURTRIER)
Directed by: Jean Becker
Written by: Jean Becker, Sébastien Japrisot (also novel)
Cast: Isabelle Adjani, Alain Souchon, Suzanne Flon...
1983, 130 min., in French with English subtitles
Beautiful, but emotionally unstable Isabelle Adjani is Eliane, the daughter of a single German mother who was raped by returning soliders post-WWII. Adjani goes on an investigative quest to find the men and, specifically, the man responsible for impregnating her mother (Maria Machado) - the man who must logically be her father. And when she finds him, she is determined to kill him. It's just too bad that the village's volunteer fireman Pin-Pon (played by pop star Alain Souchon) falls in love with her. His own obsessive affection and protective feelings towards her will suck him down into a nightmarish maelstrom of conflicted emotions and sickening violence that will change both their lives forever. Director Becker (son of master filmmaker Jacques Becker, who brought us French crime masterpieces CASQUE D'OR, GRISBI and LE TROU) dissolves present day events and flashbacks into each other with stream-of-consciousness effect, creating a poignant tapestry of heartache, beauty and tragic irony. Winner of four French Cesar Awards, including Adjani for Best Actress. NOT ON DVD
Followed by
RIPTIDE (UNE SI JOLIE PETITE PLAGE)- An Ultra Rare screening
Directed by: Yves Allégret
Written by: Jacques Sigurd
Cast: Madeleine Robinson, Gérard Philipe, Jean Servais ...
1948, 97 min., in French with English subtitles
Former orphan, Gerard Philipe, returns to the lonely, beachside inn where he grew up, before his idealism was crushed and he sank into the depths of degradation, self-loathing and murder. Amidst an oppresive atmosphere of perpetual rainfall, Philipe goes through his last days and is dismayed to see a teenage boy who reminds him of himself. He hopes to set the orphan right, but the hardened boy is already well on his way on the road to perdition. A spirtual heir to earlier French crime gems like LE JOUR SE LEVE and QUAI DES BRUMES, RIPTIDE is a forgotten classic in urgent need of rediscovery. With Jean Servais. NOT ON DVD
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
French Crime
presented by
The American Cinematheque at the
November 1-4
Screenings are at the Aero Theatre
1328 Montana Avenue (at 14th Street) in Santa Monica.
Tickets available through www.fandango.com
Thursday November 1 7:30 PM - Double Feature
A lover of all things American, Jean- Pierre Melville (1917 1973) was one of films true iconoclasts: a Frenchman who rejected most of French cinema, a romantic who believed only in betrayal and a pioneer in the French crime film genre.
SECOND BREATH (Le Deuxième Souffle)
Directed by: Jean-Pierre Melville
Written by: Jean-Pierre Melville, José Giovanni (also novel Un reglement de comptes)
Cast: Lino Ventura, Paul Meurisse, Raymond Pellegrin...
1966, 150 min., in French with English subtitles
A middle-aged hood (Lino Ventura) breaks out of jail and organizes a new gang, determined to prove he still has what it takes. A twisting-turning maze of existential pitfalls opens up before Venturas character -- will it be possible for him to circumvent them all? Based on the novel by Jose Giovanni. In French, with English subtitles. Melville did for the crime film what Leone did for the western. Quentin Tarantino.
NOT ON DVD
Followed by:
BOB LE FLAMBEUR - Restored 35mm Print!
Directed by: Jean-Pierre Melville
Written by: Auguste Le Breton, Jean-Pierre Melville
Cast: Isabelle Corey, Daniel Cauchy, Roger Duchesne...
1955, 97 min.
Jean-Pierre Melvilles romantic meditation on Montmartre, faithless women, old pros, casinos waiting to be knocked over. Roger Duchesne stars as smooth-as-velvet crook Bob, planning to retire after one last, big score if he can keep his hands off vixen Isabelle Corey and the gambling tables.
Friday, November 2 7:30 PM - Double Feature
BORSALINO
Directed by: Jacques Deray
Written by: Jacques Deray, Jean-Claude Carrière, Jean Cau, Eugène Saccomano (book "Bandits a Marseille"), Claude Sautet
Cast: Jean-Paul Belmondo, Alain Delon, André Bollet...
1970, 125 min., dubbed-in-English version
In 1930s Marseilles, fun-loving Jean-Paul Belmondo and ambitious Alain Delon become comrades, wresting control from the old gang bosses and re-organizing the citys crime rackets. The film was a huge hit in the U.S. With Mirielle Darc. Dubbed-in-English version. NOT ON DVD
Followed by:
THE SWIMMING POOL (La Piscine)- Rare!
Directed by: Jacques Deray
Written by: Jacques Deray (adaptation and dialogue), Jean-Claude Carrière (adaptation and dialogue), Jean-Emmanuel Conil (original scenario)
Cast: Alain Delon, Romy Schneider, Maurice Ronet, Jane Birkin...
1969, 120 min., in French with English subtitles
St. Tropez lovers Alain Delon and Romy Schneider are visited by Schneiders former flame Maurice Ronet, and fatally attractive daughter, Jane Birkin. Sparks fly, hormones rage and one of them ends up dead. Now the three survivors must get their stories straight before the police arrive. In French with English subtitles. NOT ON DVD
Sunday, November 4 7:30 PM
CROOKS IN CLOVER (aka Les Tontons Flingueurs aka Monsieur Gangster)
Directed by: Georges Lautner
Written by: Georges Lautner (dialogue), Michel Audiard (dialogue), Albert Simonin (novel)
Cast: Lino Ventura, Bernard Blier, Francis Blanche...
1963, 105 min., in French with English subtitles
Georges Lautner directed this dark gangster spoof with Lino Ventura as a former mobster lured back by a dying friends last request. Obligated to look after loose ends as well as the dead mans daughter, Ventura runs afoul of hardcase, Bernard Blier. Bodies pile up as the two men go at it. In French, with English subtitles. NOT ON DVD
This isn't a film festival, but it's sponsored by the folks who bring us the L.A. Film Fest every summer.
Here's the press release:
FILM INDEPENDENT ANNOUNCES THIRD-ANNUAL FILMMAKER FORUM: "EMPOWER THE FILMMAKER"
October event features groundbreaking filmmakers and industry experts
The third-annual Filmmaker Forum will be held October 19- 21 at the Directors Guild of America, giving attendees
access to some of the most innovative names in indie filmmaking.
"Our Filmmaker Forum is not your conventional 'How to Make it in the Business' seminar," said Dawn Hudson, Executive Director of Film Independent. "It's an honest, off-the-record discussion about a filmmaker's options. Our highly respected panel won't sugarcoat the potential pitfalls of filmmaking, and will empower the participants
tomake the best choices possible.'"
Panelists for the 2007 Forum includeindustry experts Josh Braun (Submarine), Peter Broderick (Paradigm
Consulting), Eugene Hernandez (Indiewire.com), Richard Klubeck (United Talent Agency), Linda Lichter (Lichter, Grossman, Nichols, Adler, and Goodman), Mark Pogachevsy (mPRm Public Relations), Rena Ronson (William
Morris Independent), and John Sloss (Cinetic Media), as well as filmmakers Stephanie Allain (producer, Hustle and Flow), Gina Kwon (producer, Me and You and Everyone We Know), Rosanne Korenberg (producer, Half Nelson),
and Rebecca Yeldham (producer, The Kite Runner).
Additional panelists will be announced on our website (FilmIndependent.org) throughout the month. The 2007 Forum is sponsored by Eastman Kodak Company, SAGIndie, Sony Pictures Classics, Axium International, and the Directors Guild of America.
This year's Forum kicks off at 7:00 pm on Friday, October 19, with a sneak preview of Marc Forster's The Kite Runner at the Directors Guild of America. Based on one of the most acclaimed novels in recent memory, The
Kite Runner is a profoundly emotional tale of friendship, family, devastating mistakes and redeeming love. In a divided country on the verge of war, two childhood friends, Amir and Hassan, are about to be torn
apart forever.
The screening will be followed by a Q&A with the film's producers Bill Horberg, Bennett Walsh, Rebecca Yeldham, Walter Parkes, Laurie MacDonald, and others to be announced. The Q&A will be followed by a reception in the DGA atrium.
From 9:00 am to 6:00 pm on Saturday, October 20 and Sunday, October 21, an intensive line-up of panel discussions will take place at the Directors Guild of America. Topics include: The Filmmaker: Mapping and
Sustaining a Career in Film; Money: Where It Is and How to Get It; The Nuts and Bolts of Production; The Deals: Demystifying Contracts; Getting Your Foot in the Door and Your Film Off the Ground; The Marketplace: Distribution
Today; Your Sales Team: Filmmakers Off-the-Record; The Sales: Deconstructing a Contract; The Professionals' Advice: Positioning Your Film For SuccessSimultaneous to the panel discussions, the Forum offers valuable
daily networking opportunities for attendees to meet peers and industry leaders.
Representatives from the various guilds, film commissions, film festivals, film markets, sales agents, and distributors will be available in the lobby each afternoon for informal discussions with Forum participants. Additionally, there will be opportunities on both days for Forum attendees to sit down for intimate, off-the-record talks over lunch with prominent indie film leaders, as well as afternoon breaks to mingle with guest speakers and conference participants.
The Forum concludes on Sunday evening at 6:00 pm with the announcement of Film Independent's Sloan Producers Grant Award and a cocktail reception at the DGA.
Conference passes are $350 for Film Independent members, and $399 for non-members. Both passes include a Film Independent Insider's Guide DVD box set. Anyone who purchases a pass is given access to an online
forum that will be active before and after the event, providing an additional opportunity for networking with peers and experts.
For more information about this years Filmmaker Forum, please visit [http://www.filmindependent.org ]FilmIndependent.org.
In case you're in the neighborhood.
Here's what they're saying:
THE MIDDLE EAST INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
The Middle East International Film Festival, Abu Dhabi (MEIFF) unveils its international star-studded guest line-up at the Opening Night Gala, featuring Joe Wright's critically acclaimed international film, ATONEMENT, and a spectacular after-party on October 14, 2007. Celebrated choreographer Otis Sallid will be producing the Opening and Closing Night presentations.
From Bollywood:
An impressive all-star Bollywood line-up ensures that MEIFF asserts itself as a major force in the international film festival calendar. Irfan Khan (METRO, THE NAMESAKE), Shiney Ahuja (WOH LAMHE, GANGTER, BHOOL BHOLAIYA) and Konkona Sen Sharma (YUN HOTA TO KYA HOTA, MIXED DOUBLES, AMU) will be attending the Festival, joined by Bipasha Basu, who will be the EMCEE at the Closing Night Awards Gala.
Known for colorful dramas staged on lavish sets and in the grand musical tradition, MEIFF proudly presents a Bollywood Showcase in Celebration of the 60th Anniversary of India's Independence from the British Empire. One of the world's most prolific motion picture industries, over 1000 feature films are produced annually in several of India's major languages. MEIFF proudly exhibits a selection of Bollywood's spectacular productions.
Rituparno Gosh and Shubbo Shekar Bhttacharjee will be present for their much-anticipated film, THE LAST LEAR (2007), featuring Amitabh Bachchan, Priety Zinta and Arjun Rampal. Also screening will be the all-time classic, MUGHAL-E-AZAM (1960), reminiscent of the glory days of Indian cinema. One of the most lavish productions of its time, it took Karimuddin Asif, director of several movies including LOVE AND GOD (1986) and PHOOL (1945), nine years to complete. We pay tribute to the late legendary showman of Indian cinema, Raj Kapoor, with the showing of the classic AWAARA (1951) and a documentary,KEHTA HAI JOKER (2007) that pays homage to the maestro of cinema. It examines Raj Kapoor through his films and the eyes of his family, children and other filmmakers. Kapoor had a distinctive cinematic style that is apparent in his beloved films. In his earlier films, he succeeded in layering the complexities of romance with sociopolitical undertones. Gracing the events of that night will be his son, the superstar Rajiv Kapoor, together with the director of the documentary, Bobby Bedi, one of Indias leading movie moguls.
Two very special retrospectives feature uniquely in the MEIFF line-up in celebration Carlos Saura and Ousmane Sembène.
Carlos Saura 75
A prolific film director, he has made over thirty films and brought his interest for flamenco into some of his works, including the flamenco trilogy, BODAS DE SANGRE (1981), CARMEN(1983), EL AMOR BRUJO(1985) and SEVILLANAS (1991). Among his best-known films are LA CAZA (1966), PEPPERMINT FRAPPÉ (1967), EL JARDÍN DE LAS DELICIAS (1970), LA PRIMA ANGÉLICA(1973), EL DORADO(1987) and AY, CARMELA!(1990).
In honor of Saura and in celebration of his 75th birthday, MEIFF will feature one of the Spanish master's notable films, FLAMENCO. As a hall fills with performers, a narrator says that flamenco came from Andalusia'a mix of Greek psalms, Mozarabic dirges, Castillian ballads, Jewish laments, Gregorian chants, African rhythms, and Iranian and Romany melodies. The film presents thirteen rhythms of flamenco, each with song, guitar and dance: the up-tempo bularías, a brooding farruca, an anguished martinete and a satiric fandango de huelva. There are tangos, a taranta, alegrías, siguiriyas, soleás, a guajira of patrician women, a petenera about a sentence to death, villancicos and a final rumba. Families present numbers, both festive and fierce. The camera and the other performers are the only audience.
In Memoriam: Ousmane Sembène
The father of African cinema, Ousmane Sembène is the first film director from Africa to gain international recognition, having inspired a whole generation of young film directors. During World War II, he served in the Free French Army, and after being discharged, he moved to Marseilles and took a job in the docks. It was this work that inspired his first novel, LE DOCKER NOIR, published in 1959. By the early 1960s, Sembène had moved back to Senegal and published several acclaimed books. However, he was frustrated that his message was not getting through to most of his countrymen, as illiteracy was widespread. Thus, he pursued his childhood enthusiasm for cinema and filmmaking. BLACK GIRL, his debut feature film, is commonly referred to as the first African film. Combining realistic narrative techniques with elements of traditional African storytelling, Sembène's wit and sense of humanity shines through his work. In total, he directed seventeen films: features, shorts, fiction and documentary. His last film was MOOLAADÈ(2004).
In memory of one of the great directors of the African continent, MEIFF presents IMPOTENCE(1974), a film about Senegal's independence from France. In the film, Sembène explores issues of postcolonial politics, gender relations, multiculturalism, economics and governmental corruption in this brilliantly funny ironic satire.
At the forefront of the red carpet for the opening night Gala will be Jake McLaughlin, star of IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH, Academy Award-winning Paul Haggis, the writer, director and producer of IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH and film business magnate Harvey Weinstein who will be presenting the keynote speech at the Film Financing Circle. Joining them will be top comedian Dave Chapelle and actress Francine Fisher.
MEIFF is a cultural event dedicated to bringing a diverse slate of international films and programs to the community and introducing filmmakers from around the world to the resources of the region. Presented by the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage, MEIFF is committed to nurturing relationships and providing opportunities to those looking to invest in the future of film. Abu Dhabi is a city unprecedented in its ability to develop and grow in response to the global marketplace. In this regard, the Festival will launch the inaugural Film Financing Circle (FFC), which will become a significant annual conference on the subject of international co-productions. MEIFF debuts October 14-19, 2007 and the FFC launches October 15-17, 2007.
For more information, please visit www.meiff.com for details
It all starts November 1st at the ArcLight in Hollywood. Here it is, if you can take it:
AFI FEST 2007 PRESENTED BY AUDI ANNOUNCES COMPLETE FESTIVAL LINEUP
PROGRAMMING INCLUDES LIVE TRIBUTES TOCATHERINE DENEUVE AND LAURA LINNEY
TICKETS ON SALE FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12
AFI FEST 2007 presented by Audi: AFI Los Angeles International Film Festival announces that iconic French actress Catherine Deneuve as well as respected American thespian Laura Linney, will each receive Tributes at this year’s Festival. Both tribute events will precede screenings of their work in films previously announced to screen at AFI FEST: Sony Pictures Classics’ PERSEPOLIS, which features Deneuve’s voice work and Fox Searchlight’s THE SAVAGES, which stars Linney.
Also announced is the complete schedule for AFI FEST. In it’s 21st year, the Festival’s diverse programming from around the world includes a selection of films that reflect recent worldwide political upheaval, a surge in films coming from Latin filmmakers and the Middle East, a renewed focus on experimental works, international filmmaking icons, independent and iconographic directors, as well as a salute to exemplary artists who passed during the past calendar year. In addition, more than 30 of the features in official selection at AFI FEST will be represented by distributors at the American Film Market, unfolding concurrently with AFI FEST from October 31 – November 7.
Commenting on this year’s lineup, Associate Director of Programming Shaz Bennett said, “The International line up of both master filmmakers and new talent reflects not only the diversity of Los Angeles, but an opportunity to see ourselves reflected in the films from around the world. This year throughout all the programming, the films and filmmakers were pushing the boundaries of cinema, experimenting with style, form and content. And it's always interesting to see what the collective consciousness of filmmakers around the world are doing especially where they overlap, this year there were recurring themes throughout the programs, most notably with political issues but also women's roles, immigration, family and a general longing for deeper connection. Each film echoing others and yet all of them with their own style and point of view.”
Artistic Director Rose Kuo adds, “This has been an exciting year of transition for AFI FEST. We were given tremendous support to take risks so that we could make bold selections such as showcasing experimental work in our main sections, foregrounding hot-button political issues, and not limiting ourselves to choosing films based on fulfilling preordained categories or achieving premiere “quotas”. We focused on selecting the best films and the most important films regardless of whether the films had premiered elsewhere so that we could present on overview of the best work of the year.”
The Tribute to Laura Linney will take place at ArcLight Hollywood on Friday, November 9, 2007. This tribute to and discussion of the Oscar nominated actor’s accomplished career will precede the screening of Tamara Jenkins’ THE SAVAGES, an acclaimed drama focusing on a sister and brother (played by Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman) who must face the realities of familial responsibility as they begin to care for their ailing father.
Linney's film career began in the early 1990s with roles in LORENZO'S OIL (1992) and DAVE (1993). Following notable roles in PRIMAL FEAR (1996), ABSOLUTE POWER (1997) and THE TRUMAN SHOW (1998), Linney truly came into her own with her Academy Award nominated performance in YOU CAN COUNT ON ME (2000). Linney’s work has continued to shine in MYSTIC RIVER (2003), her second Academy Award nominated performance in KINSEY (2004), and THE SQUID AND THE WHALE (2005).
The Tribute to Catherine Deneuve will take place at ArcLight Hollywood on Saturday, November 10, 2007. PERSEPOLIS, which was recently announced as France’s official entry for the Academy Awards, will screen immediately following the tribute. The animated French/Iranian production, directed by Mariane Satrapi and Vincent Parranoud, is a poignant story of a precocious and outspoken young Iranian girl who comes of age during the Islamic Revolution.
Universally hailed as one of the Grand Dames of French cinema, Deneuve’s career in film has spanned forty years since her debut in 1957. After her breakthrough in Jacques Demy’s musical THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG, this elegant and radiant beauty graced the screen in many unforgettable performances, including Roman Polanski’s REPULSION (1965), Luis Bunuel’s BELLE DE JOUR (1967), Francois Truffaut’s MISSISSIPPI MERMAID (1969) and THE LAST METRO (1980), an Academy AwardÒ nominated turn in INDOCHINE (1992), Regis Wargnier’s EAST WEST (1999), and Lars Von Trier’s DANCER IN THE DARK (2000).
“From both sides of the Atlantic, Catherine Denueve and Laura Linney have each made extraordinary contributions to international cinema. Each embody, through the complexity and nuance of their extraordinary individual talents, the raw promise of a fine performance,” noted Festival Director Christian Gaines. “It’s a thrill to honor at AFI FEST the astonishing accomplishments of these remarkable women.”
Seven films will be making their world premieres at AFI FEST 2007. Those films include:; 1000 JOURNALS; CYRANO FERNANDEZ; IT’S BETTER IF GABRIELA DOESN’T DIE; MANUELA Y MANUEL; POP SKULL; PUBLIC ENEMY - WELCOME TO THE TERRORDOME; and SPINE TINGLER! THE WILLIAM CASTLE STORY.
Seventeen films will make their North American premieres. That group includes:; AFGHAN MUSCLES; THE ART OF NEGATIVE THINKING; AUTUMN BALL; ECHO; ELVIS PELVIS; FUNUKE SHOW SOME LOVE YOU LOSERS; LIONS FOR LAMBS; LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA; LUCKY MILES; LYNCH; THE MUGGER; NEVER APOLOGIZE: A PERSONAL VISIT WITH LINDSAY ANDERSON; NOISE; NOSALTRES; PRINCE OF THE HIMALAYAS; SEARCHERS 2.0; and THE YEAR OF THE NAIL.
Eighteen films will make their U.S. premieres Those films are:; THE AERIAL; ATENCO, CRIME OF STATE; BODY OF WAR; CHOP SHOP; CONTINENTAL, A FILM WITHOUT GUNS; THE DUCHESS OF LANGEAIS; HAPPY DESERT; THE LAST MISTRESS; MAD DETECTIVE; MUNYURANGABO; NIGHT TRAIN; OPERATION FILMMAKER; THE QUEST FOR THE MISSING PIECE; SILENT LIGHT; SOLOS; THE TRACEY FRAGMENTS; USED PARTS; and WITH YOUR PERMISSION.
Continuing its unique and successful association with the American Film Market, the following films will both participate in the market as well as screen at the festival; 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS AND 2 DAYS, ALEXANDRA, THE ART OF NEGATIVE THINKING, THE BAND’S VISIT, BIG RIG, BLIND MOUNTAIN, CARAMEL, DEFICIT, DOGHEAD, ECHO, EXPIRED, FARO – GODDESS OF THE WATERS, FLIGHT OF THE RED BALLOON, HONEYDRIPPER, IRINA PALM, JELLYFISH, LAST MISTRESS, LUCKY MILES, MAD DETECTIVE, MARGOT AT THE WEDDING, NIGHT TRAIN, NOISE, PERSEPOLIS, SECRET SUNSHINE, SILENT LIGHT, SMILEY FACE, STEEP, and WITH YOUR PERMISSION.
This year’s AFI FEST will include films with AFI Conservatory alumni filmmakers such as; AMERICAN FORK (DP Doug Chamberlin), CONTINENTAL, A FILM WITHOUT GUNS (DP Sara Mishara), DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY (DP Janusz Kaminski), EXPIRED (WRT/DIR Cecilia Miniucchi, CO-PROD Melitta Fitzer, DP Zoran Popovic), HOLLYWOOD CHINESE (WRT/DIR/PROD/ED Arthur Dong, DP Hiroki Miyano), IN SEARCH OF A MIDNIGHT KISS (PROD Seth Caplan, ED Frank Reynolds), MY BIODEGRADABLE HEART (PROD Tamar Simon), PSYCHO HILLBILLY CABIN MASSACRE! (DIR Robert Cosnahan, PROD/SCR Doug Howell, SCR Wendy Wegner, DP Rob Toth), SEARCHERS 2.0 (DP Steven Fierberg), and WITH YOUR PERMISSION (EXEC PROD Kim Magnusson).
AFI FEST 2007’s overall lineup will showcase a total of 97 features (69 narrative, 28 documentary) and 51 shorts (43 narrative, 8 documentary) and 8 video art works for a total of 148 films from 37 different countries.
The breakdown by section is Galas (3), Special Presentations (11), International Feature Competition (11), International Documentary Competition (12), Documentary Showcase (9), World Cinema (18), African Showcase (4), American Showcase (9), Latin Showcase (8), Dark Horizons (5), Milestones (5), International Shorts Competition (44), and Video Art on the Roof (7).
The FEST is headquartered at ArcLight Hollywood, where most of the international festival’s activities will take place. Additional special screenings and events will take place at the Linwood Dunn Theatre in Hollywood.
AFI FEST will run November 1-11, 2007. Passes are now on sale, and individual film and event tickets go on sale on October 12. To order passes, tickets and for more information visit www.AFI.com/AFIFEST, or call 1.866.AFI.FEST.
AFI FEST 2007 presented by Audi’s complete lineup follows:
GALAS
Opening Night Gala – LIONS FOR LAMBS (North American Premiere) Cast: Tom Cruise, Meryl Streep, Robert Redford, Peter Berg, Michael Pena, Derek Luke. DIR Robert Redford PROD Daniel Lupi, Robert Redford, Andrew Hauptman, Tracy Falco, Matthew Michael Carnahan. USA
Centerpiece Gala – JUNO Cast: Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman, Allison Janney, J.K. Simmons, Rainn Wilson. DIR Jason Reitman PROD Lianne Halfan, John Malkovich, Russell Smith, Mason Novick, Matthew Michael Carnahan. USA
Closing Night Gala – LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA (North American Premiere) Cast: Javier Bardem, Benjamin Bratt, Liev Schreiber, Laura Harring, Catalina Sandino Moreno. DIR Mike Newell PROD Scott Steindorff. USA
SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS
A showcase for high profile films boasting acclaimed actors and directors. Special Presentations feature highly anticipated films from around the world.
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (LE SCAPHANDRE ET LE PAPILLON) Cast: Max Von Sydow, Mathieu Amalric, Emmanuelle Seigner, Anne Consigny, Emma De Caunes. DIR: Julian Schnabel PROD: Kathleen Kennedy, Jon Klik. EXEC PROD: Pierre Grunstein, Jim Lemley. USA
Hollywood Chinese (Documentary) Featuring: Turhan Bey, Joan Chen, Tsai Chin DIR: Arthur Dong PROD: Arthur Dong. USA
Honeydripper Cast: Danny Glover, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Yaya DaCosta, Charles S. Dutton, Vondie Curtis-Hall, Gary Clark Jr.. DIR: John Sayles PROD: Maggie Renzi. USA
Light Work Mood Disorder & He Walked Away DIR: Jennifer Reeves PROD: Jennifer Reeves USA
Margot at the Wedding Cast: Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, John Turturro, Jack Black, Ciaran Hinds, Zane Pais. DIR: Noah Baumbach PROD: Scott Rudin. USA
Mr. Warmth (Documentary) Featuring: Don Rickles, Robert DeNiro, Clint Eastwood, Martin Scorsese, Robin Williams, Sidney Poitier, Chris Rock. DIR: John Landis PROD: Larry Rickles, Mike Richardson, John Landis, Robert E Engelman. USA
Persepolis Voices: Catherine Deneuve, Chiara Mastroianni, Danielle Darrieux DIR: Marjane Satrapi, Vincent Paranound. PROD: Marck-Antoine Robert, Xavier Rigault, Kathleen Kennedy. France
Princess of Nebraska Cast: Ling Li, Pamelyn Chee, Brian Danforth, Patrice Binaisa. DIR: Wayne Wang PROD: Yukie Kito, Donald Young. EXEC PROD: Yasushi Kotani, Taizo Son, Stephen Gong. USA
The Savages Cast: Laura Linney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Philip Bosco. DIR: Tamara Jenkins PROD: Ted Hope, Anne Carey, Erica Westheimer. EXEC PROD: Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor, Jim Burke, Anthony Bregman, Fred Westheimer. USA
Southland Tales Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Seann William Scott, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Mandy Moore, Cheri Oteri, Kevin Smith, Miranda Richardson, Will Sasso, Jon Lovitz. DIR: Richard Kelly PROD: Bo Hyde, Sean McKittrick, Kendall Morgan, Matthew Rhodes. EXEC PROD: Oliver Hengst, Katarina Hyde, Bill Johnson, Ernst August Schneider, Jim Seibel, Judd Payne. USA
A Thousand Years of Good Prayers Cast: Henry O, Faye Yu, Vida Ghahremani, Pasha Lychnikoff. DIR: Wayne Wang PROD: Yukie Kito, Patrick Lindenmaier, Rich Cowan. EXEC PROD: Yasushi Katami, Taizo Su, Jooick Lee. USA
INTERNATIONAL FEATURE COMPETITION
This category includes first and second time filmmakers making their World, North American or U.S. premiere.
The Art of Negative Thinking (KUNSTEN A TENKE NEGATIVT) Cast: Fridtjov Såheim, Kjersti Holmen, Henrik Mestad DIR: Bard Breien PROD: Dag Alveberg. Norway
Autumn Ball Cast: Rain Tolk, Taavi Eeimaa, Sulevi Peitola DIR: Vieko Ounpuu PROD: Katrin Kissa. Estonia
Chop Shop Cast: Alejandro Polanco, Isamar Gonzales, Rob Sowulski DIR: Ramin Bahrani PROD: Lisa Muskat, Marc Turtletaub, Jeb Brody. USA
Continental, A Film Without Guns (CONTINENTAL, UN FILM SANS FUSIL) Cast: Réal Bossé, Marie-Ginette Guay, Fanny Mallette DIR: Stéphane Lafleur PROD: Kim McCraw, Luc Dery. Canada
Elvis Pelvis Cast: Geoffrey Burton, Tony Cealy, Laura Crowe DIR: Kevin Aduaka PROD: Kevin Aduaka, Nadja Romain. France/UK
Funuke Show Some Love, You Losers (FUNUKEDOMO, KANASHIMI NO AI WO MISERO) Cast: Erikio Sato, Aimi Satsukawa, Hiromi Nagasaku DIR: Daihachi Yoshida PROD: Shuji Kakimoto. Japan
The Mugger (El Asaltante) Cast: Guillermo Arengo, Germån de Silva, Arturo Goetz DIR: Pablo Fendrik EXEC PROD: Juan Pablo Gugliotta. Argentina
Munyurangabo Cast: Jeff Rutagengwa, Eric Ndorunkundiye, Jean Marie Vianney Nkurikiyinka DIR: Lee Isaac Chung PROD: Lee Isaac Chung EXEC PROD Han Gil Chung, Robert Liang, Alex Hsiong Chu.Rwanda/USA
Solos Cast: Loo Zihan, Goh Guat Kian, Lim Yu-Beng DIR: Loo Zihan, Kan Lume PROD: Gerald Herman, Florence Ang EXEC PROD Ricardo Uncilla. Singapore
Used Parts (Partes Usadas) Cast: Eduardo Granados, Alan Chavez, Carlos Ceja DIR: Aaron Fernandez PROD: Aaron Fernandez, Martezu Mohammadi. Mexico/France
With Your Permission (TIL DODEN OS SKILLER) Cast: Lars Brygmann, Sidse Babett, Knudsen, Rasmus Bjerg DIR: Paprika Steen PROD: Leila Vestgaard, Thomas Heinesen EXEC PROD Kim Magnusson, Tivi Magnussori. Denmark
INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION
Best and brightest of challenging, thrilling documentary filmmaking from around the world, as chosen by the AFI FEST Programming Staff.
1000 JournalS DIR: Andrea Kreuzhage PROD: Andrea Kreuzhage USA/Germany
Afghan Muscles DIR: Andreas Mol Dalsgaard PROD: Jesper Morthorst, Michael Haslund-Christensen. Denmark
Atenco, A Crime of State (ATENCO, UN CRIMEN DE ESTADO) DIR: Klamve Colectivo Mexico
Chris & Don. a love story Cast: DIR: Guido Santi, Tina Macara PROD: Julia Scott, Tina Mascara, Guido Santi, James White. USA
Heckler Featuring: Jamie Kennedy, Louie Anderson, Bill Maher, Jewel Kilcher, Patton Oswalt, Eli Roth, David Cross, George Lucas, Mke Ditka, Rob Zombie. DIR: Michael Addis PROD: Michael Addis, Jamie Kennedy. USA
Operation Filmmaker Featuring: Liev Schreiber, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson DIR: Nina Davenport PROD: Nina Davenport, David Schisgall. USA
Orange Revolution DIR: Steve York PROD: Steve York EXEC PROD Peter Ackerman. USA
Please Vote For Me DIR: Weijun Chen PROD: Don Edkins. China
Public Enemy: Welcome To The Terrordome Featuring: Chuck D, Flavor Flav, Professor Griff, The Beastie Boys, Tom Morello, Henry Rollins DIR: Robert Patton-Spruill PROD: Walter Leaphart Jr, Lathan Hodge. USA
The Quest For The Missing Piece (BEHIKVOT AHATIHA AHASERA) DIR: Oded Lotan PROD: Claudia Levin. Israel
Sigur Ros – Heima DIR: Dean de Blois PROD: Dean O’Connor, John Best. Iceland
The Unforeseen DIR: Laura Dunn PROD: Laura Dunn, Douglas Sewell, Jef Sewell, William Warren. USA
DOCUMENTARY SHOWCASE
This documentary section includes highly anticipated films from established masters and new faces.
BIG RIG DIR: Doug Pray PROD: Brad Blondheim USA
BODY OF WAR DIR: Ellen Spiro, Phil Donahue EXEC PROD: Phil Donahue CO-PROD: Karen Bernstein USA
CONFESSIONS OF A SUPERHERO DIR: Matthew Ogens PROD: Matthew Ogens, Jamie Patricof, Charles Gruet USA
LYNCH Featuring: David Lynch DIR: blackANDwhite EXEC PROD: Rips Penderis, Ole Johan Roska, Matt Semi PROD: Soren Larsen, Brynn McQuade, Jon Nguyen, Jason S. USA
THE MAN IN THE SHADOWS: VAL LEWTON DIR/SCR: Kent Jones PROD: Martin Scorsese, Margaret Bodde EXEC PROD: TNT Tom Brown USA
NEVER APOLOGIZE: A PERSONAL VISIT WITH LINDSAY ANDERSON Featuring: Malcolm McDowell DIR: Mike Kaplan PROD: Mike Kaplan, Malcolm McDowell, Peter Crane USA
PIERRE RISSIENT: MAN OF CINEMA Featuring: Clint Eastwood, Quentin Tarantino, Werner Herzog, Abbas Kiarostami, Bertrand Tavernier, ou Hsiao-Hsien, Claude Chabrol DIR/PROD: Todd McCarthy USA
SPINE TINGLER! THE WILLIAM CASTLE STORY Featuring: John Waters, John Landis, Joe Dante DIR: Jeffrey Schwartz PROD: Jeffrey Schwartz. USA
STEEP DIR/SCR: Mark Obenhaus EXEC PROD: J. Stuart Horsfall, Mark Obenhaus, Tom Yellin PROD: Jordan Kronick, Gabrielle Tenenbaum USA
WORLD CINEMA
This section presents new works by the world’s most established and renowned filmmakers. While it often features work from prominent European filmmakers, it also includes important new films from less-recognized filmmaking communities.
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (4 LUNI 3 SAPTAMINI SI 2 ZILE) DIR: Cristian Mungiu PROD: Oleg Mutu, Mihaela Poenaru EXEC PROD: Florentina Onea. Romania
ALEXANDRA DIR: Nicholas Kaiser PROD: ANDREJ SIGLE Russia
The Band’s Visit (BIKUR KATIZMORET) DIR: Eran Kolirin PROD: Eilon Ratzkovsky, Ehud Bleiberg, Yossi Uzrad, Koby Gal-Raday, Guy Jacoel. Israel
Blind Mountain (MANG SHAN) DIR: Li Yang PROD: Li Yang EXEC PROD: Alexandra Sun, Li Shan, Li Hua China
Caramel Cast: Nadine Labaki, Yasmine Al Masri, Joanna Moukarzel, Gisele Aouad, Adel Karam, Sihame Haddad, Aziza Semaan, Fatme Safa, Dimtri Stancofski, Fadia Stella, Ismail Antar DIR: Nadine Labaki PROD: Anne-Dominique Toussant. Lebanon/France
The CounterfeiterS (DIE FALSCHERS) Cast: Karl Markovics, Auust Diehl, Devid Striesow, Martin Brambach, August Zirner DIR: Stefan Ruzowitzky PROD: Josef Aichholzer, Nina Bohlmann, Babette Schroder. Austria/Germany
Doghead (CABEZA DE PERRO) DIR: Santi Amodeo PROD: Santi Amodeo. Spain
The Duchess of Langeais DIR: Jacques Rivette PROD: Martine Marignac, Maurice Tinchant. France
The Flight of the Red Balloon (LE VOYAGE DU BALLOON ROUGE) Cast: Juliette Binoche , Simon Iteanu, Song Fang, Hippolyte Girardot, Louise Margolin. DIR: Hou Hsiao-Hsien PROD: François Margolin, Kristina Larsen. Taiwan/France
Irina Palm Cast: Marianne Faithfull, Jenny Agutter, Miki Manojlovic, Kevin Bishop, Sioghan Hewlett, Dorka Gryllus. DIR: Sam Garbarski PROD: Sebastien Dellove. USA
Jellyfish (Meduzot) Cast: Sarah Adler, Nikol Leidman, Gera Sandler, Noa Knoller, Ma-nenita De Latorre, ilanit Ben Yaakov, Zharira Charifai DIR: Etgar Keret, Shira Geffen PROD: Amir Harel, Avelet Kuit, Yael Fogiel, Laetitia Gonzalez. Israel
The Last Mistress (UNE VIEILLE MAITRESSE) Cast: Asia Argento, Fu’ad Ait Aattou, Roxane Mesquida, Claude Sarraute, Yolande Moreau DIR: Catherine Breillat PROD: Jean-François Lepetit. France
Lucky Miles Cast: Kenneth Moraleda, Rodney Afif, Srisacd Sacdpraseuth, Glenn Shea, Sean Mununggurr, Sawung Jabo, Arif Hidayat, Don Hany DIR: Michael James Rowland PROD: Jo Dyer, Lesley Dyer, Geoff Burton EXEC PROD: Michael Bouchier. Australia
Mad Detective Cast: Lau Ching-wan, Andy On, Lee Kwon Lun, Lam Ka Tung DIR: Johnnie To PROD: Ka-Fai Wai Hong Kong/China
Night Train Cast: Liu Dan, Qi Dao, Xu Wei, Wu Yuxi, Wang Zhenijia, Mena Haivan DIR: Yinan Diao PROD: Vivian Qu, Steve Chow CO PROD Natacha Devillers, Julien Fayre, Luca Matrundola, Pascal Vaguelsy EXEC PROD: Shu Yao, Yinghua Lu, Sean Chen. China
Prince of the Himalayas Cast: Purba Royal, Zomskvid, Dobrgyal, Sonamdolgar, Trashi, Lobzangchopel DIR: Sherwood Hu EXEC PROD: Xu Pengle, Dong Suming, Deng Hong, Caizhi PROD Sherwood Hu, Yin Jianhua. China
Secret Sunshine (Milyang) Cast: Jeon Do-yeon, Song Kang-ho, Seon Jeong-yeob DIR: Chang Dong Lee PROD: Yong-kyou Cho EXEC PROD: Kim In-su, Lee Chang-dong. South Korea
The Tracey Fragments Cast: Ellen Page, Ari Cohen DIR: Bruce McDonald PROD: Sarah Timmins EXEC PROD Paul Barkin. Canada
AFRICAN SHOWCASE
The best new feature films from contemporary African filmmakers. This often-overlooked part of the cinematic world is home to a vibrant, diverse and thriving film community. Films in this section are known for their unique storytelling styles.
Clouds Over Conakry (IL VA PLEUVOIR SUR CONAKRY) Cast: Alex Ogou, Moussa Keita, Tella Kpomahou DIR: Cheick Fantamady Camara PROD: Annabel Thomas Majama Camera. Guinea, France
Faro – Goddess of the Waters (FARO – LA REINE DES EAUX) Cast: Sotigui Kouvate, Fili Traore, Michel Mpambara DIR: Salif Traore PROD: Philippe Quinsac, Daniel Morin, Barbel Mucch, Salif Traore, Ismael Oueadrog Mali, France, Canada, Germany, Burkina Faso
Nosaltres (Documentary) DIR: Moussa Toure. Senegal
Welcome to Nollywood (Documentary) DIR: Jamie Meltzer PROD: Cayce Lindner, Henry S. Rosenthal. USA, Nigeria
AMERICAN SHOWCASE
This section is a window into the current state of American independent cinema. Often featuring world premieres of films with distinct perspectives and original voices, these movies have yet to receive the attention they deserve.
American Fork Cast: Hubbel Palmer, Mary Lynn Rajskub, William Baldwin, Kathleen Quinlan DIR: Chris Bowman PROD: Derek Beumer, Maya Browne, Jeremy Coon, Shannon Gardner EXEC PROD: Derek Ferguson USA
Expired Cast: Samantha Morton, Jason Patric, Teri Garr, Illeana Douglas DIR: Cecilia Miniucchi PROD: Jeffrey Coulter, Fred Roos EXEC PROD: Alex Shing, Antoni Stutz, Lawrence Wang USA
In Search of a Midnight Kiss Cast: Scoot McNairy, Sara Simmonds, Brian McGuire, Katy Luong, Twink Caplan, Nic Harcourt DIR: Alex Holdridge PROD: Seth Caplan, Scoot McNairy EXEC PROD: Anne Walker-McBay USA
The Living Wake Cast: Mike O’Connell, Jesse Eisenberg, Jim Gaffigan DIR: Sol Tryon PROD: Ami Ankin, Chadwick Clough, Peter Kline, Mike O’Connell, Sol Tryon EXEC PROD: Robert Bethge USA
Look Cast: Jamie McShane, Spencer Redford, Hayes McArthur, Nichelle Hines, Ben Weber, Paul Schackman DIR: Adam Rifkin PROD: Barry Schuler, Brad Wyman EXEC PROD: Richard Bishop, Donald Kushner USA
Noise Cast: Tim Robbins, Bridget Moynahan, William Hurt DIR: Henry Bean PROD: Henry Bean, Susan Hoffman, Meike Kornrumpf EXEC PROD: Paul de Souza, Daniel Diamond USA
On the Road with Judas Cast: Aaron Ruell, Kevin Corrigan, Eddie Kaye Thomas DIR: J.. Lask PROD: Ronan P. Nagle, Amy Slotnick USA
Searchers 2.0 Cast: Del Zamora, Ed Pansullo, Jaclyn Jonet, Sy Richardson DIR: Alex Cox PROD: Jon Davison, Darren Hicks, Simon Tams. USA
Smiley Face Cast: Anna Faris, Adam Brody, John Krasinski, Danny Masterson, John Cho, Jane Lynch, Marion Ross, Danny Trejo DIR: Gregg Araki PROD: Gregg Araki, Steve Golin, Alix Madigin, Kevin Turen, Henry Winterstern EXEC PROD: Thomas Becker, H. Jason Beck, Stuart Burkin, Jors Westerkamp. USA
LATIN SHOWCASE
One of the most popular and powerful sections of the Festival, Latin Showcase has produced stories from Central and South America that have galvanized AFI FEST audiences with their bold and arresting visions and unique, daring points of view.
The Aerial (LA ANTENA) Cast: Rafael Ferro, Florencia Raggi, Alejandro Urdapilleta DIR: Esteban Sapir ASST PROD: Juan Aguirre, Frederico Rotstein. Argentina
Cyrano Fernandez Cast: Edgar Ramirez DIR: Alberto Arvelo Venezuela, Spain
Deficit Cast: Gael Garcia Bernal, Luz Cipriota, Tenouch Huerta Mejia, Camila Sodi DIR: Gael Garcia Bernal PROD: Pablo Cruz, Gael Garcia Bernal, Diego Luna, Luciana Kaplan. Mexico
Happy Desert (DESERTO FELIZ) Cast: Nash Laila, Peter Ketnath, Hermila Guedes DIR: Paulo Caldas PROD: Germano Coelho EXEC PROD: Fernando Zagallo. Brazil, Germany
It’s Better if Gabriela Doesn’t Die (MEJOR ES QUE GABRIELA NO SE MUERA) Cast: Mauricio Isaac, Dagoberto Gama, Gabriela Roel DIR: Sergio Umansky EXEC PROD: Maite Arguellas, Carlos Morales. Mexico
Manuela Y Manuel Cast: Humbert Busta, Elena Iguina, Luz Maria Rondon DIR: Raul Marchand PROD: Frances Luusell Diaz. Puerto Rico
SILENT LIGHT (STELLET LICHT) Cast: Cornelio Well Fehr, Miriam Toews, Maria Pankratz DIR: Carlos Reygadas PROD: Jaime Romandia, Carlos Reygados. Mexico, France
THE YEAR OF THE NAIL (ANO UNA) Cast: Diego Catana, Eireann Harper, Salvador Elizondo Michele Alban DIR: Jonas Cuaron PROD: Alfonso Cuaron, Jonas Cuaron, Eireann Harper, Frida Torresblanco. Mexico
DARK HORIZONS
From horror and thrills to experimental works, this section seeks to raise the pulse and open the eyes of the audience. The films in Dark Horizons attempt to push the boundaries of technology, culture and cinema itself; they revel in the explosive power of film to plumb society’s anxieties or to explore the ecstatic heights of a truly transcendent artistic experience.
Echo (Ekko) Cast: Kim Bodnia, Villads Milthers Fritsche, Stine Fischer Christensen DIR: Andres Morgenthaler PROD: Sarita Christensen CO PROD: Louise Vesth, Marie Gade. Denmark
Pop Skull Cast: Lane Hughes, Brandon Carrol, Hanna Hughes, Maggie Henry, L.C. Holt DIR: Adam Wingard PROD: Adam Wingard, E.L. Katz, Lane Hughes. USA
Sakuran Cast: Anna Tsuchiya, Kippei Shina, Hiroki Narimiya, Yoshino Kimura DIR: Mika Ninagawa PROD: Masao Teshima, Mitsuru Uda, Yoshinori Fujita. Japan
Strange Culture (Documentary) Cast: Tilda Swinton Peter Coyote. DIR: Lynn Hershman Leeson PROD: Lynn Hershman Leeson, Lise Swenson, Steven Beer. USA
Viva Cast: Anna Biller, Jared Sanford, Bridget Brno, Chad England DIR: Anna Biller PROD: Anna Biller. USA
MILESTONES
In the past year, the worldwide cinematic community had lost some of its best loved members. The filmmakers represented in this section were all pioneers who advanced the art of cinema while producing truly remarkable work.
Faat Kine (2000) (Ousmane Sembene Milestone)
The Passenger (1975) (Michaelangelo Antonioni Milestone)
Shame (SKAMMEN) (1968) (Ingmar Bergman Milestone)
Terrorizer (KONGBU FENZI) (1986) (Ed Yang Milestone)
Torn from the Flag (A LYUKAS ZASZLO) (2007) (Laszlo Kovacs Milestone) (Documentary) DIR: Klaudia Kovacs, Endre Hules
INTERNATIONAL SHORTS COMPETITION
Comprised of short documentary, experimental, animated and narrative films, these screenings are often some of the most dynamic and unexpectedly challenging films presented.
Shorts Program One:
Dear Bill Gates DIR: Sarah J. Christman USA
God Provides (Documentary) DIR: Brian M. Cassidy USA, Canada
Kids + Money (Documentary) DIR: Lauren Greenfield USA
Naked (NAAKT) DIR: Albert Jan van Rees Holland
One Day Across the Valley DIR: Andrea Giacomini USA
Ousmane DIR: Gaye Dyana Senegal, France
Rock Pockets DIR: Trevor Anderson Canada
Surgery (CIRUGOA) DIR: Alberto Gonzalez Spain
Shorts Program Two:
Aftermath on Meadowlark Lane DIR: David and Nathan Zellner USA
Emergency Needs DIR: Kevin Everson USA
Life and Times of Robert Kennedy Starring Gary Cooper DIR: Aaron Valdez USA
Saliva DIR: Esmir Filho Brazil
South Central Farm: Oasis in a Concrete Desert (Documentary) Featuring: Daryl Hannah, Martin Sheen, Jamie Cromwell. DIR: Sheila Laffey USA
The Tragic Story of Nling DIR: Jeffrey St. Jules Canada
Untitled #2 DIR: Valerie Brewer USA
White Man in a Black Box (HOMME BLANC DANS UNE BOITE NOIRE) DIR: Jerome Jourlait Namibia-France
Shorts Program Three:
Baby DIR: Hester Scheurwater Netherlands
Bitch DIR: Lilah Vandenburgh USA
H.R. Giger’s Sanctuary (Documentary) Featuring: H.R. Giger. DIR: Nick Brandestini, Steve Ellington Switzerland
The Hunter Cast: Larry Fessenden. DIR: Benjamin Gray USA
Machine (MAQUINA) DIR: Gabe Ibanez Spain
The Mark DIR: Thomas Barndt USA
Moment de Gloire DIR: Hendrik Moonen Belgium
Spider DIR: Nash Edgerton Australia
Shorts Program Four:
Alice Sees the Light DIR: Ariana Gerstein USA
Black and White Trypps Number Three DIR: Ben Russell USA
Feathers to the Sky DIR: Leonardo Ricagni Uruguay
Glass, Concrete and Stone (Documentary) DIR: Douglas Nicholas USA
Metalosis Maligna DIR: Floris Kaayk
Oldeastside DIR: Khavn Philippines
Psycho Hillbilly Cabin Massacre! DIR: Robert Cosnahan USA
Watching it Rain (VER LLOVER) DIR: Elisa Miller Mexico
Shorts Program Animation:
Destiny Manifesto DIR: Martha Colburn USA
Everything will be Ok DIR: Don Hertzfeldt USA
For the Love of God Voices: Ian McKellen, Steve Coogan. DIR: Joe Tucker UK
I Met the Walrus DIR: Josh Raskin Canada
Key Lime Pie DIR: Trevor Jimenez Canada
M’Appelle DIR: Javier Mrad Argentina
My Biodegradable Heart DIR: Dana Adam Shapiro USA
One Devil and his Dog DIR: Tony Clarke
Shuteye Hotel DIR: Bill Plympton USA
t.o.m. DIR: Tom Brown, Daniel Gray UK
Tower Bawher DIR: Theodore Ushev Canada
Yours Truly DIR: Osbert Parker UK
Video Art On The Roof:
After the Funeral DIR: Gorav Kalyan USA
Bliss DIR: Robert Todd USA
Downhill Skiing in Summer (LAUBERHORNRENNEN IM SOMMER) DIR: Daniel Zimmerman Switzerland
From Here to Breath DIR: Nazanian Arandi USA
GAZE DIR: Nazanian Arandi USA
Message for the Neighbours (SINUM NAABRITELE) DIR: Priit Tender Estonia
Metamorphosis DIR: Clare Langan
Latest in the never-seeming-to-end flood of international film festival press releases:
7TH HUNGARIAN FILM FESTIVAL OF LOS ANGELES
Laemmle Theatres, Bunyik Entertainment, Hungarian Filmunio and the Hungarian Consulate of Los Angeles are pleased to present a week of new Hungarian films, October 11th through the 18th at the Music Hall in Beverly Hills. Acclaimed directors, producers and composers from Hungary will host world and U.S. premieres of their latest films. The seventh annual festival will feature nine features, three documentaries and an animated short. Six films were directed by women and three features are their directors’ first. The genres run the gamut, from comedies, dramas, musicals and documentaries. Among the highlights:
56 DROPS OF BLOOD (56 CSEPP VÉR), a new musical about the 1956 Hungarian revolution, will have its North American premiere opening night, Thursday, October 11th.
TAXIDERMIA, Hungary’s entry for the 2008 Oscars and the festival’s closing night film, is an explicit, sui generis horror/satire that recalls the most disturbing work of Monty Python, David Cronenberg and several recent existentialist movies from Central Europe. It’s director György Pálfi’s follow-up to Hukkle and an L.A. premiere.
The world premiere of acclaimed writer/director Robert Koltai’s film TRAIN KEEPS A ROLLIN’ (MEGY A GÖZÖS), will take place on Saturday, October 13th. It’s a pastoral comedy in which a train carrying a valuable relic derails and causes a bitter squabble between the station master, his predecessor, the village’s corrupt police and a stowaway Roma family.
RELATIVES (ROKONOK), the latest from Oscar-winner Istvan Szabo (Mephisto), is a comedy in which Hungary’s newly appointed attorney general finds on the day of his appointment a whole new set of distant relatives, all of whom want some sort of political favor. As with all Szabo’s movies, cinematography by Lajos Koltai.
FRESH AIR (FRISS LEVEGÖ), director Ágnes Kocsis’s first film and a big hit on the festival circuit, is a droll serio-comedy about a Budapest mother and her daughter.
MEN IN THE NUDE (FÉRFIAKT), a gay-themed film in which a married, middle-aged man falls in love with a teenage boy. The film has enjoyed invitations from several major international festivals, including Berlln, Moscow, Montreal, Chicago as well as gay fests such as NewFest (New York City) and Outfest (L.A.).
The lesbian documentary VILLAGE ROMANCE.
All screenings are in Hungarian with English subtitles. Tickets are available for advance purchase at (818) 848-5902. Ticket prices are $10 for adults, $8 for seniors (age 62 and over) and students.
For film and press information go to www.hungarianfilmfestivalla.com
Ciao bella and all that. I'm happy to say that my friend Silvia Bizio, who programs this Italian film festival, has the best taste in movies of anyone in the Hollywood Foreign Press Association that I know.
And no, that is not a backhanded compliment. This should be a great fest.
Annuncimiento officiale (which I'm sure I spelled wrong):
AMERICAN CINEMATHEQUE and CINECITTÀ HOLDING
PRESENT
THE 4th ANNUAL CINEMA ITALIAN STYLE FESTIVAL LOS ANGELES
FESTIVAL TO HIGHLIGHT THE BEST OF CONTEMPORARY ITALIAN FILMS
OCTOBER 10-21, 2007
American Cinematheque and Cinecittà Holding with the support of the Italian Ministry of Culture, Film Department and the Italian Film Commission-Los Angeles have once again come together to present the 4th Annual Cinema Italian Style Festival to be held Octob