Oscar’s Pre-Party: Big Names, Foreign Films Hailed at Santa Barbara Fest

A scene from Philipe Faladreau’s “It’s Not Me, I Swear! Image courtesy of SBIFF.

If the panel cancellation was a blow, fest administrators didn’t let on, muscling their way through a number of illuminating tributes such as Kate Winslet, Penelope Cruz and Kristin Scott-Thomas. Beginning tonight, the big boys arrive with Clint Eastwood, and on Saturday Mickey Rourke, with another tribute planned for David Fincher (“The Curious Tale of Benjamin Button”) on Friday night, all at the historic Arlington Theater movie palace - perhaps reestablishing the festival’s positive relationship to Oscar.

Speaking of films, the offerings have been widely hailed by most attendees this year, though there’s a distinct scarcity of film from the good old U.S.A. Informal polling held in queues before movies lean heavily towards “The Baader Mannheim Complex,” the German film that seems like a revelation to American audiences brought up to believe that political terrorism began on 9/11/2001. On a somewhat lighter side, universal thumbs up went to Canada’s “It’s Not Me, I Swear!” directed by Philipe Faladreau a dark deconstruction of “Dennis the Menace” set in a colorfully rich 1960s version of Somewhere, Francophone Canada.

A scene from Karen Oganesayan’s “The Ghost.” Image courtesy of SBIFF.

If there was a vote for best region represented, no doubt it would be the former Soviet sphere with strong films coming from Russia, Bulgaria and Serbia. “The Ghost” (Domovoy), directed by Karen Oganesayan, is a Russian cerebral thriller about an egotistical writer (is there any other kind) and his muse, a serial contract killer. But even more delightfully deranged is “Zift” by Javor Gardev, a Bulgarian film noir as rich in sex and violence as it is in film school in jokes. The most exotic of all, however, is the rich, fable-icious sex romp entitled “Tears for Sale” from Serbia - the story of a post-war traditional village bereft of men that compels two beautiful villagers on an odyssey to collect some super-studs to replenish the lives of its inhabitants.

Asian films such as “Vacation” (Hajime Kadoi) and “Divine Weapon” (Yu-Jin Kim) have also been widely lauded, but then again, a number of serious documentaries are widely touted too - “Milking the Rhino” (David Simpson) a U.S.-made doc about African conservation and “Yes Madam, Sir,” an Australian film about an Indian police woman dominating chat.

The rest of the fest promises to be suspensefully riveting, with Eastwood - also shut out of big Academy consideration - keeping his commitment to talk to interviewer Leonard Maltin. We hope… And also hope that even in the troubled reflected light from Hollywood, SBIFF will maintain its promise to keep bringing the cinematic world to Santa Barbara.