DISPATCH FROM KOREA | Jeonju Fest: Eyeing Korean Film, and Some Major Talent

This year's Jeonju International Film Festival, the 9th, boasted ten world premieres of features and feature-length documentaries. There was a retrospective dedicated to Bela Tarr, and another to Alexander Kluge. There were works by James Benning and Nina Menkes and sidebars dedicated to Vietnamese and Central Asian cinema. But with the exception of a brief revisit to Kluge's 1965 debut, "Yesterday Girl" (which still seems remarkable, more than four decades on), it was the Korean films that I chose to focus upon. It only made sense, having come so far to South Korea...
[ read more in On The Scene ]   [ 0 comments ]   [ filed under Lead Story, World Cinema, Wrap Ups ]

FESTIVALS | French Vets Reign Supreme in a Roller Coaster Rendez Vous

A trio of dazzling films from seasoned directors marks this year's Rendez-vous With French Cinema (running from February 29 to March 9 at the Walter Reade Theater and IFC Center in New York). Claude Lelouch -- known here primarily for his 1966 "A Man and a Woman" -- is in wicked form with thriller and series opener, "Roman de Gare," which hits more curves and speed bumps than Sarkozy's love life. "Paris" by Cedric Klapisch offers an eagle's eye view of the city's lives, while a young man waits for a heart transplant. And Claude Miller's "A Secret," suffused with personal resonance, probes the buried past of French Jews trying to pass as Aryans during the Occupation. Sad to say, though, the remaining twelve films, many from newcomers, are somewhat disappointing. Yes, they offer a hand-tooled look of French film -- always a welcome respite from studio product -- but overall, the selection is a grab bag ranging from worthy but flawed, to mildly entertaining, to duds. This year's uneven lineup raises questions about the always popular Rendez-vous, increasingly presented as a wine-and-cheese event for armchair travelers. Are some films included just to pad the roster and give viewers their French fix?
[ read more in On The Scene ]   [ 0 comments ]   [ filed under Festival Dispatches, Lead Story, World Cinema ]

FESTIVALS | No !Fs Ands or Buts, Turkey Eats up the Indies

Although in my last report from the Antalya/ Eurasia Film Festival back in October 2007, I had mentioned that there were two major film festivals in Turkey, it was a comment that I had not wholly given due care. The cities of Istanbul and Ankara have for the past seven years given way to a movement and creation of the !F Istanbul Film Festival whose onus was to promote global independent films to Turkish audiences and to screen international works that would not have necessarily secured a domestic theatrical release. The main event in Istanbul took place between the 14th - 24th February and in Ankara a smaller selection of Istanbul's screenings will be held between 28th February - 2nd March.
[ read more in On The Scene ]   [ 0 comments ]   [ filed under World Cinema, Wrap Ups ]

FESTIVALS | Rendez-Vous Unveils 13th French Run Across the Pond

Fifteen films will screen as U.S. or New York debuts at the 13th Rendez-Vous with French Cinema series hosted by the Film Society of Lincoln Center and Unifrance February 29 through March 9. As previously announced, Oscar-winner Claude Lelouch's thriller "Roman de gare" will launch the popular event at the Walter Reade Theater. Fanny Ardant stars in the films as a best-selling author researching her next crime story. Other veteran French filmmakers making their return this year include Cedric Klapisch ("L'Auberge Espagnole") with "Paris," described as "an emotional tour of the city through the eyes of a man waiting for a heart transplant, starring Romain Duris and Juliette Binoche.
[ read more in On The Scene ]   [ 0 comments ]   [ filed under Lineups, World Cinema ]

ROTTERDAM '08 | "Lamb of God" Opening 2008 Rotterdam Fest; 14 More Films Also in Tiger Competition

Fifteen films will screen in competition at the 2008 International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) later this month and the festival will open on January 23rd with the world premiere of Lucia Cedron's "Lamb of God" (Cordero de dios) from Argentina. The film is described as, a family drama about the kidnapping of 77-year old man during Argentina's economic crisis in 2002, forcing his daughter to return from exile to Buenos Aires. Produced by Lita Stantic, who also produced "The Holy Girl" and "Paraguayan, Hammock" the film was supported by IFFR's Hubert Bals Fund.
[ read more in On The Scene ]   [ 0 comments ]   [ filed under Festival News, Lead Story, World Cinema ]

DISPATCH FROM HAVANA | Celebrating Latin Film and Contradictions

A healthy if strange disconnect colored the Havana Film Festival (December 4-14), officially the Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano--but then Cuban society is a textbook model of disjunction. Take opening night, a tripartite schizorama in the 4800-seat Teatro Karl Marx that could only succeed in this surreal capitol of contradictions (which go far beyond the overly circulated images of the shells of '50s American cars that hide engines from God-knows-where or the crumbling facades of powerful, no-longer-pristine Deco houses).
[ read more in On The Scene ]   [ 1 comments ]   [ filed under Festival Dispatches, Lead Story, World Cinema ]

DISPATCH FROM DUBAI | Re-branding Arab Film with Only an Eye to the West

The Dubai International Film Festival, like the city itself, does not want for extravagance. Every night, there's a major gala screening followed by a lavish after-party, one for each section of DIFF's programming. Tuesday night's gala celebrated the festival's Arabian Nights program, a selection of non-competition films from Arab filmmakers with a focus on the interaction between Arabs and the Western world, with a screening of Moroccan director Nabil Ayouch's exceedingly sweet-natured "Whatever Lola Wants." The movie, about an American dancer's friendship with an Egyptian belly-dancer, demonstrated the festival's progressive nature by showcasing a positive gay Arab character and a sexually active unmarried woman, but it did so as inoffensively as possible.
[ read more in On The Scene ]   [ 0 comments ]   [ filed under Festival Dispatches, Lead Story, World Cinema ]

ROTTERDAM '08 | Kiarostami, Fiennes, Puiu and Panahi Projects in Upcoming 25th Cinemart

Thirty-nine projects have been selected to participate in CineMart, the co-production market taking place January 27 - 31, which coincides with the 37th International Film Festival Rotterdam. This year's 25th CineMart, which focuses on low and medium budget films, includes projects by Abbas Kiarostami, Sophie Fiennes, Cristi Puiu, Jafar Panahi and Alex van Warmerdam. "The aim for the selection of the 25th anniversary of CineMart was a more focused and selective line up of projects," commented CineMart manager Marit van den Elshout in a statement. "In order to give each project the exclusivity it deserves, we have brought down the number of projects to below 40 projects. Considering the fact that a record number of applications was received this year, this meant an even more difficult selection process."
[ read more in On The Scene ]   [ 0 comments ]   [ filed under Lineups, World Cinema ]

DISPATCH FROM GREECE | Festival Vets, Master Classes and an Eclectic Line up for 48th Thessaloniki Fest

In a twist of fate, a film by a native of Thessaloniki garnered the most awards at Sunday night's closing ceremony of the 48th Thessaloniki International Film Festival. "PVC-1," directed by Spiros Stathoulopoulos, is a thriller made with one continuous 81-minute take, and earned the Silver Alexander, the audience award, and several other honors. The jury looked to China to award the festival's Golden Alexander top prize to "The Red Awn," a father-son drama directed by Shangjun Cai. Located in a northern port city on the Greek Aegean Sea, the festival continues to grow under the leadership of Despina Mouzaki, a whirlwind of energy with a charming, elegant demeanor. Variety recently named the 10-day event one of "50 Unmissable Fests" and The New York Times dubbed the city a counterculture center or "the Seattle of the Balkans."
[ read more in On The Scene ]   [ 0 comments ]   [ filed under World Cinema, Wrap Ups ]

DISPATCH FROM NEW YORK | Iberoamerica: That's the Way We Are

At the beginning of November Mexico, Brazil, and, to a lesser extent, Spain and Portugal celebrated the Day of the Dead, a festive holiday whose symbol is a human skull. These cultures do not deny the finality of it all as do we North Americans, who mummify our decaying faces and bodies while we are still alive rather than in preparation for an afterlife. So it is absolutely natural that death, whether treated as comedy, tragedy, or simply generically, is a major presence in the cinema of Spain and Portugal and their former colonies in Latin America. The narratives and documentaries might be character or politically-driven, but they rarely stray from the netherworld. (We're talking real death, not the mindless mowdown perpetuated by the Hollywoodites who would sell their kids for a map to the Fountain of Youth).
[ read more in On The Scene ]   [ 0 comments ]   [ filed under Festival Dispatches, Lead Story, World Cinema ]

DISPATCH FROM TURKEY | Mysteries, Whirling Dervishes and Ancient Treasures Unfold at Antalya Fests

In the mystical and ancient Mediterranean coastal city of Antalya, sometimes referred to as the Turkish Riviera, international buyers and sellers from all over the world recently attended the Eurasia International Film Market (October 22 - 25), running parallel with the Antalya Film Festival and the third Eurasia International Festival, respectively (October 19 - 28th). Although one may instantly presume that Turkey has only one international film festival to offer, in the form of Istanbul, it is in fact Antalya that garners the most prestige and respect, as the country's oldest and more lavishly funded (by TurkSak).
[ read more in On The Scene ]   [ 0 comments ]   [ filed under Festival Dispatches, Lead Story, World Cinema ]

DISPATCH FROM KOREA | Storms Brew for Korean Cinema, Though Pusan's Opening Night was Drenched with Fans

Rain crashed the party last Thursday at the opening night ceremony of the Pusan International Film Festival. With over 8,000 enthusiastic fans inside and out the open-air venue and a parade of Asian stars on the red carpet, the weather made itself felt for the first time in the festival's twelve-year history. For the pessimists in the crowd in search of a metaphor, the clouds overhead encapsulated the rough time Korean cinema has had this year. (Investment in film production is down from last year, and tickets sales for domestic films are at their lowest levels since 2001.) But for festival organizers, the rain was just a challenge to be meet with smiles, oversized umbrellas for the denizens of the red carpet and disposable plastic raincoats for everyone else.
[ read more in On The Scene ]   [ 0 comments ]   [ filed under Festival Dispatches, Lead Story, World Cinema ]

DISPATCH FROM ICELAND | Reykjavik Turns Out for Young Fast Growing Festival

Hungarian director Csaba Bollok took home the Reykjavik International Film Festival's "Discovery of the Year" award over the weekend, capping the eleven-day event in Iceland's capital. Though the festival is somewhat overshadowed Stateside by the New York Film Festival, which takes place concurrently, its northern counterpart has continued to attract an impressive list of guests, including this year Finnish director Aki Kaurismaki, who received the festival's Creative Excellency Award from the President of Iceland as well as other special guests, including American filmmakers Larry Fessenden and Oscar-nominated doc director James Longley.
[ read more in On The Scene ]   [ 0 comments ]   [ filed under Festival Dispatches, Lead Story, World Cinema ]

DISPATCH FROM MONTREAL | Back from the Brink, Montreal World Fest Kicks off

Opening weekend of the 31st annual Montreal World Film Festival (Festival des films du monde) saw prominent film talent feted for work in front of and behind the camera beginning, on Friday, with actor Jon Voight. Voight, on hand for lifelong achievement festivities in his honor, was also there with "September Dawn," making its Canadian premiere as one of two US films in international competition for the fest's grand prize (the other, "Spinning Into Butter," an indie starring Sarah Jessica Parker, is adapted from Rebecca Gilman's play about racism at a small New England college). "Dawn" describes another historic September 11 on US soil 150 years ago when Utah Mormons massacred a wagon train of men, women, and children.
[ read more in On The Scene ]   [ 0 comments ]   [ filed under Festival Dispatches, Lead Story, World Cinema ]

DISPATCH FROM SARAJEVO | Local Titles and International Hits Mix This Week at Sarajevo Fest

"Sarajevo is certainly evidence of the resilience of the human spirit," commented one filmmaker off the cuff over the weekend at one of many informal gatherings organized by the very hospitable Sarajevo Film Festival. Now entering its teens, SFF may not have yet reached the cache of some of its older and richer Western European brethren in Berlin, Edinburgh or San Sebastian, but for a city that only a little over a decade ago emerged from a three year siege that left thousands dead in its wake, SFF has amassed a world class event luring top-notch filmmakers and others for its relatively young 13th outing, including high-profile titles like Cannes Palme d'Or winner "4 Months, 3 Weeks and Two Days" by Romanian director Cristian Mungiu who came into town, as well as fellow Cannes honorees "Persepolis" by Vincent Paronnaud and Marjane Satrapi (a highly praised animated film that has managed to continually piss off the regime in Iran).
[ read more in On The Scene ]   [ 0 comments ]   [ filed under Festival Dispatches, Lead Story, World Cinema ]

FESTIVALS | Local Filmmaker's "It's Hard to Be Nice" Opening 13th Sarajevo Film Festival; Fest Spotlights Int'l Fare

Local filmmaker Srdan Vuletic's "It's Hard to be Nice" is opening the 13th Sarajevo Film Festival this Friday, August 17, kicking off the event which continues in the capital of the former Yugoslav republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina through August 25. The Eastern European-heavy festival are also slated to host filmmakers Michael Moore and Terry George in addition to gala screenings for Cannes '07 Palme d'Or winner "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days" by Romanian Cristian Mungiu as well as Austrian director Ulrich Seidl's "Import Export."
[ read more in On The Scene ]   [ 0 comments ]   [ filed under Lead Story, Lineups, World Cinema ]

DISPATCH FROM SWITZERLAND | Still Grounded and Focused, Locarno Fest Thrives at 60

Something must have been in the air during the summer of 1946, because in the span of about ten days, two of Europe's most important film festivals were born, and a third was re-launched. On august 23rd, some 60 years ago, the Locarno International Film Festival opened with a screening of Giacomo Gentilomo's "O Sole Mio" on the lawn of the Grand Hotel. In the coming days, the Venice Film Festival was reborn, followed by the debut of the Cannes Film Festival (technically founded in 1939 on the eve of WWII.)
[ read more in On The Scene ]   [ 0 comments ]   [ filed under Festival Dispatches, Lead Story, World Cinema ]

+ DISPATCH FROM THE CZECH REPUBLIC | Five Films (+1) to Watch From The '07 Karlovy Vary Festival

The 42nd Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF) wrapped up on Saturday night in the Czech Republic and how this festival has remained a virtual secret to the American film community boggles the mind. Here is a major international film festival, complete with world and international premieres that is screaming for acquisition execs, filmmakers and programmers and yet the number of guests from the U.S. numbered under 50, including Czech-based reps of U.S. publications and non-American stringers for American press outlets. Pretty poor, really. Contrary to popular opinion, I am not always hyperbolic and on this one, I maintain that American buyers and sellers who don't attend the KVIFF are basically looney toons. Of the 14 films in competition, 12 had their international premiere in KV with one a world premiere. Of course, premiere status has no bearing on quality, but this festival had several films in competition and non-competition slots that are worthy of distributors attention.
[ read more in On The Scene ]   [ 0 comments ]   [ filed under Festival Dispatches, Lead Story, World Cinema ]

DISPATCH FROM ISTANBUL | The Istanbul International Film Festival Bridges East and West

Although more lower key but of higher brow in terms of sophistication, the annual 26th Istanbul International Film Festival ended on Friday night awarding the coveted Golden Tulip Award in the International competition to the Norwegian film "Reprise" directed by Joachim Trier. The jury was presided over by filmmaker Michael Radford (UK) and was composed of Zeki Demirkubuz (Turkey), Dagur Kari (Iceland), Udo Kier (Germany), Tilbe Saran (Turkey), Lone Scherfig (Denmark) and Katriel Schory (Israel). The Special Jury Prize was also awarded to Tom Dicillo who was personally at hand to collect the award for his film "Delirious."
[ read more in On The Scene ]   [ 0 comments ]   [ filed under World Cinema, Wrap Ups ]

DISPATCH FROM BERMUDA: Mingling Cultural Icons and the Low Key, Bermuda Fest Marks First Decade

Pretense is to film festivals what bad dialogue is to a George Lucas film, you can't seem to have one without the other, which makes the success of the Bermuda International Film Festival so refreshing. Celebrating it's tenth year, the BIFF has been named a qualifying festival for the short film Academy Award, proving that the little island festival that could, has come quite a long way in a short amount of time. Headed by festival director Aideen Ratteray Pryse, (with an assist from the cerulean ocean, pink beaches, and warm sun) the BIFF has grown from screening 22 films in its first year, to now featuring 85 films from 32 different countries. This year's spirited line-up showcased festival winners from the past year alongside independent features, favorites of BIFF's past, and shorts without sacrificing any of the festival's unique charm or trademark intimacy.
[ read more in On The Scene ]   [ 0 comments ]   [ filed under Lead Story, World Cinema, Wrap Ups ]