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News and notes to soothe your film fest craving
Ray Pride
Some film festivals are film and some are festival; the Thessaloniki International Film Festival, 49 this year, manages to be both. For instance, here's but one day from my notebook, November 22: 1130am Willem Dafoe masterclass; 1300 Richard Jobson's "digital is the new punk"; 1500 Theo Angelopoulos press conference; 1600 Just Talking panel, Azazel Jacobs, Gerardo Naranjo, the Zellner brothers, Mimi Brody, me; 1800 Michael Ondaatje reading; 1930 Gustavo Santaololla tribute; 2000 Claire Denis' 35 Rhums; 2300 Greek Film party. [continue]
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FESTIVAL COVERAGE
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Always an indication of the imminent onset of awards season, AFI Fest typically gets ahead of the curve with world and local premieres of would-be contenders. For some films, it’s a prestigious Hollywood launching pad to build momentum toward the Golden Globes, guild honors and the Oscars, while for others it’s a brief moment in the spotlight before getting eclipsed by higher-profile titles. This year’s fest (Oct. 30 - Nov. 9) hit a significant snag even before kicking off, when Paramount pulled opener The Soloist, which will now premiere in theaters in March, 2009, from opening [continue]
The Louis Vuitton Hawaii International Film Festival (Oct. 9-19) prides itself on being a bridge between “East and West,” but this year’s edition found its greatest strength in films even closer to home (or as close to home as Hawaii can get, considering it’s the most geographically isolated populated landmass in the world). Festival programmer Anderson Le and director Chuck Boller brought in the usual dizzying array of films and filmmakers from around the Pacific Rim, with Chinese melodramas, Japanese comedies, and Korean thrillers among the many choices on offer this year, but [continue]
Following on the heels of the Pusan International Film Festival, the Tokyo International Film Festival (Oct. 18-26), ever wanting to position itself as the "go to" festival for new Asian cinema, seems to get sloppy seconds. Even the newcomer, the Bangkok International Film Festival, programmed an edgier Asian section, scooping the new Naomi Kawase film, Nanayo, a few weeks before TIFF. Long the rollout fest for Japanese fall theatrical releases, the Tokyo International Film Festival still carries its weight for Japanese distributors. This year’s opener was John Woo’s Red Cliff and [continue]
The defining moment of the Los Angeles Film Festival (June 19-29), presented by Film Independent, didn’t occur at a gala screening or a high-profile filmmaker panel, but transpired instead at the fest’s annual Finance Conference as Mark Gill, former president of Miramax and currently CEO of The Film Department, delivered the keynote address. As widely reported in the entertainment press, Gill’s speech presented a comprehensive overview of the state of independent film, detailing his premise that “Yes, the Sky Really Is Falling.” He cited a variety of reasons for the poor [continue]
The CineVegas Film Festival (June 12-21) celebrated its tenth year in a manner befitting its Sin City setting: a colossal, ten-day jubilee of film and fun. High and low culture rubbed a lot more than just shoulders — among the many special events were not only a screening by contemporary art darling Takashi Murakami on a waterfall at the Wynn Resort but also a fete at Sapphire’s, the self-billed “World’s Largest Adult Entertainment Complex.” And that was just on Monday and Tuesday. Keeping up with the screenings and numerous parties, all while nobly trying to ignore the siren [continue]
Just past Madison Square Garden, if you can weave through its mass of disoriented tourists, beneath the neon moniker of the New Yorker hotel, you’ll find a disproportionate number of same sex couples, groups of men with distinct fashion sense, packs of women and yet nary a high heel – all them congregating outside the Loews 34th Street movie theater. And if you’re keen enough to glance inside to the lobby, you’ll see why: NewFest, New York City’s Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Film Festival (June 5-15) is in residence for just over a week in this, its 20th year. As a gay [continue]
Jodie Foster “came out” during a recent Hollywood Awards ceremony, Gus Van Sant’s feature on the assassination of San Francisco’s gay mayor Harvey Milk is now in production, and gay and lesbian liaisons amongst the older [Ellen Degeneres and Portia de Rossi] and younger star sets [Lindsay Lohan and Samantha Ronson?] are now looked upon with almost avuncular support. Yet, way before alternative lifestyles tipped their way into the mainstream, there was the Torino International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival (April 17-25). A key showcase, Torino supported the early “taboo” [continue]
The 2008 Tribeca Film Festival (April 23 – May 4) could best be described as the year it edged closer to finding its niche in the overcrowded festival schedule. Cutting 40 films off of its slate, lowering ticket prices and (this is the biggie) centralizing the festival in Union Square — the first time TFF has had a home base since its first two years when it was in Lower Manhattan — the seventh edition still had its moments of gaudiness. But, for the most part, cineastes actually had something to smile about. With not much buying happening at Sundance earlier in the year, many were [continue]
To enter Gen Art, your name must be on a clipboard manned by a shining, feverish lady in black. If it is you feel lucky, chosen, special, because then you are permitted to taste what life should be like EVERY DAY: lo, there is free beer, free wine, free cookies and free popcorn. You eat, you drink, you look around. Are you in a singles bar? No – over there is a character actor whom you admire... there is another.... it's a film festival! Now another feverish black-clad lady is ushering you inside, and you obey her, because she must be obeyed. Gen Art’s Film Festival (April 2-8) is [continue]
The Miami International Film Festival’s (Feb. 28 - March 9) lack of public screenings before 4 p.m. makes sense only after you’ve plopped bare feet onto the beach and felt the sun on your face--unusual sensations for movie people, several of whom were seen sporting freshly burned skin in the fest’s first half. On Day 4, Henry Fonda flaunted his own deep, dark tan in Once Upon a Time in the West (1969), magnificently restored from the Techniscope negative by veteran Paramount archivist Barry Allen and screened to a small but ecstatic audience at the Gusman, Miami’s gorgeous, [continue]
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