DAILY NEWS: San Francisco Lineup; Lions Gate Deal; and Oscar Speech Wins TV

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DAILY NEWS: DAILY NEWS: San Francisco Lineup; Lions Gate Deal; and Oscar Speech Wins TV

by Eugene Hernandez/indieWIRE with a report from Carl Russo

>> 44th San Francisco Film Fest to Premiere Wang's Notorious "Center"; Clint and Stockard Feted; "Claim" Closes

(indieWIRE/03.28.01) -- Ever a showcase for kinky and difficult films, the 44th San Francisco International Film Festival opens April 19 with the world premiere of "The Center of the World," which declined an NC-17 rating. Wayne Wang's sexplicit DV feature will unleash a 15-day program of transgressive fare to include Virginie Despentes'; banned-in-France "Baise-Moi" ("Fuck Me") and John Cameron Mitchell's saucy Sundance fave, "Hedwig and the Angry Inch." Things will simmer down with the May 3 closer "The Claim," MGM's Sierra Gold Rush drama by Michael Winterbottom ("Wonderland").

Local legend Clint Eastwood will ride back into town on April 26 to claim this year's Akira Kurosawa Award for Lifetime Achievement in Film Directing, prompting a few critical mumbles about a shift away from the highbrow (read: obscure) recipients of recent years. No one is complaining that Stockard Channing will succeed Winona Ryder as the latest winner of the Peter J. Owens Award for "brilliance, independence and integrity" in acting. A screening of Channing's new vehicle "The Business of Strangers," directed by Patrick Stettner, will follow the April 24 ceremony.

Celebrated underground filmmaker Kenneth Anger will also make a comeback to accept the Golden Gate Persistence of Vision Award just a few months after being honored at the SF Film Arts Festival. The added bonus this time: screenings of Anger's complete "Magick Lantern Cycle" and one of his obsessions, Robert Siodmak's 1944 schlock-exotica featurette, "Cobra Woman."

The number of world-premiere features are up to six this year, including Joseph M. Castelo's taxicab road trip "American Saint;" the romantic comedy "Sidewalks of New York" by Edward Burns ("The Brothers McMullen"); and a trilogy from Iranian filmmaker Shirin Neshat. The 19 North American premieres are a diverse bunch and many are contenders for the $10,000 Skyy Prize, such as Rodrigo Moscoso's "73 Model" (Argentina), Issa Serge Coelo's "Daresalem" (France/Burkina Faso), Malgorzata Szumowska's "Happy Man" (Poland), and Khaled Youssef's "The Storm" (Egypt).

Two hot tickets will come with live music at the Castro Theatre: organist Dennis James behind the Mighty Wurlitzer accompanying the restored print of Fritz Lang's 1926 classic "Metropolis" (with an extra reel missing from this Year's Berlin screening) on April 20; and "Yo La Tengo and Jean Painleve: The Sounds of Science," which will bring together the moody indie rock darlings and eight of Painlev'�s abstract films of sea life on April 24. [Carl Russo]

[Tickets for the 44th San Francisco International Film Festival go on sale April 1. Call (510) 601-8932, or visit: http://www.sffs.org.]

>> Davis' "All Over The Guy" Goes to Lions Gate

(indieWIRE/03.28.01) -- Lions Gate has announced its acquisition of North American rights to Julie Davis' "All Over the Guy." The film features Dan Bucatinsky, writer of the original script based on his play. It also stars Richard Ruccolos ("Two Guys and a Girl"), Sasha Alexander ("Twin Falls Idaho") and Adam Goldberg ("Saving Private Ryan"). The company is planning on releasing the movie in August. The film, a romantic comedy, also includes Lisa Kudrow, Christina Ricci, and Andrea Martin.

"'All Over the Guy' is a universal story about the hunt for true love with a smart and funny script, a great cast, and a director who is becoming one of the hottest new talents around," commented Lions Gate Releasing Co-President Tom Ortenberg.

Julie Davis is known for "I Love You Don't Touch Me," as well as "Amy's Orgasm," which recently had its world premiere at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. Upcoming Lions Gate releases include "Amores Perros" later this week, Merchant Ivory's "The Golden Bowl" next month and Ken Loach's "Bread and Roses" in May. [Eugene Hernandez]

>> Short Subject Filmmaker's Short Oscar Speech Nets TV for Children

(indieWIRE/03.28.01) -- As a way of encouraging Oscar nominees to keep their speeches short, show producer Gil Cates offered to give the Oscar winner with the shortest speech a free high-definition television. The winner of the TV is Michael Dudok de Wit, the winner of the 2000 Oscar for Best Animated Short Film. His speech was 18 seconds long.

According to an AMPAS announcement yesterday, the filmmaker told Cates, "I did not write the shortest speech to win the television set. I have many television sets -- I wrote it to say what I had to say and no more." De Wit also indicated that he will donate his free TV to a children's charity.

Clearly, the longest speech of the night was that of Best Actress Oscar winner Julia Roberts. The actress' lenghty thank you was nearly four minutes long -- well beyond the imposed 45 second restriction. The producers of the show did not cut the Hollywood superstar off with music as was done for other winners. Best Actor Russell Crowe's lengthy speech was also not cut. [Eugene Hernandez]