Film Festival Circuit 2007

[tavernier]

Joining Pena on the selection committee this year were Kent Jones, associate director of programming at the Film Society and editor-at-large of Film Comment magazine; Scott Foundas, film editor and critic, L.A. Weekly; J. Hoberman, film critic, The Village Voice, and visiting lecturer at Harvard University; and Lisa Schwarzbaum, film critic, Entertainment Weekly.

What a motley crew that is....

[domino harvey]

at least they were clever enough to end that list with the punchline.

[tavernier]

And she's been on the selection committee for a few years now; she must have nude pix of Pena with Oliveira or Tarr.

[videozor]

From The Hollywood Reporter:

Venice kicks off 'Hundred Films' program

By Eric J. Lyman

Aug 31, 2007

VENICE, Italy -- Italy's year-old plan to protect 100 of its greatest films and turn them into a kind of cinema-based cultural archive officially got under way Thursday with the launching of the selection process that will choose the films highlighted.

The start of the initiative was announced at the Lido headquarters of the Venice Days sidebar, which also opened Thursday.

Venice Days focuses on up-and-coming directors, but the "Hundred Films and One Country" project will be selecting films that already are part of the public consciousness. All of the pictures under consideration will hail from the so-called Golden Age of Italian Cinema, the 30-year period that began with the end of World War II.

Officials announcing the project stressed that the final list, selected by a specially appointed committee of 10 made up of critics, historians, writers and film archivists, should not be interpreted as a list of the 100 best films from the 1945-75 period but rather as a cinematographic examination of Italy during those decades.

"The greatest Italian films will be on the list, but the films will also illustrate the way people spoke at that time, changes in geography, slang, values, the family ... the way things once were" explained Ofelia Patti, the project's coordinator. "Classic films like (Roberto Rossellini's) 'Rome, Open City' will be on the list, but so will some popular but less intellectual films that were typical of their period."

Venice Days director Fabio Ferzetti explained it a different way. "We have to determine which are the essential films in the history of Italian cinema," he said.

Francesco Rutelli, Italy's minister of culture, and Venice Biennale president Davide Croff both stopped by the Venice Days headquarters to throw their support behind the initiative.

"This is important because the youngest generation is very familiar with cinema but not necessarily with the history of their cinema," Rutelli said.

The process began Thursday, and the list of the 100 films should be completed by the end of the year. Once the first 100 films are selected -- organizers say the list will be expanded after the initial films are selected -- they will be restored and refurbished if required and then made available for educational and cultural uses free of charge.

[Jeff]

And the winners are:
[quote]The Venezia 64 Jury at the 64th Venice Film Festival, chaired by Zhang Yimou and comprised of Catherine Breillat, Jane Campion, Emanuele Crialese, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Ferzan Ozpetek and Paul Verhoeven, having viewed all twenty-three films in competition, has decided as follows:

GOLDEN LION for Best Film:
SE, JIE (LUST, CAUTION) by Ang LEE (USA/China/China, Taiwan)

SILVER LION for Best Director to:
Brian DE PALMA for the film: REDACTED (USA)

SPECIAL JURY PRIZE to (ex aequo):
LA GRAINE ET LE MULET by Abdellatif KECHICHE (France)
I'M NOT THERE by Todd HAYNES (USA)

COPPA VOLPI for Best Actor:
Brad PITT in the film THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD by Andrew DOMINIK (USA)

COPPA VOLPI for Best Actress:
Cate BLANCHETT in the film: I'M NOT THERE by Todd HAYNES (USA)

MARCELLO MASTROIANNI AWARD for Best Young Actor or Actress:
Hafsia HERZI in the film LA GRAINE ET LE MULET by Abdellatif KECHICHE (France)

OSELLA for Best Cinematography to:
Rodrigo PRIETO director of photography for the SE, JIE (LUST, CAUTION) di Ang LEE (USA/China/China, Taiwan)

OSELLA for Best Screenplay to:
Paul LAVERTY for the film IT'S A FREE WORLD… by Ken LOACH (UK/Italy/Germany/Spain)

SPECIAL LION for Overall Work to: NIKITA MIKHALKOV
The Jury is delighted to acknowledge the consistent brilliance of Nikita Mikhalkov's body of work. His new film is once again a confirmation of his mastery in exploring and revealing to us, with great humanity and emotion, the complexity of existence.

ORIZZONTI
The Orizzonti Jury at the 64th Venice Film Festival, comprised of Gregg Araki (President), Hala Alabdalla Yakoub, Giorgia Fiorio, Ulrich Gregor and Frederick Wiseman, has unanimously decided to award the following prizes:

ORIZZONTI PRIZE to:
SÜGISBALL (AUTUMN BALL) by Veiko ÕUNPUU (Estonia)

The Orizzonti Prize is supported by Fondation Groupama Gan pour le Cinéma with a cash prize of 20,000 Euro.

ORIZZONTI DOC PRIZE to:
WUYONG (USELESS) by Jia ZHANGKE (China)

SPECIAL MENTION to:
KAGADANAN SA BANWAAN NING MGA ENGKANTO (DEATH IN THE LAND OF ENCANTOS) by Lav DIAZ (Philippines)

Leone del Futuro
Premio Venezia Opera Prima “Luigi De Laurentiisâ€

[domino harvey]

Pitt over Affleck, Lee's film winning the big one, Blanchett sticking it to Barmy, whatta whirlwind

[tavernier]

Luckily, Blanchett's award isn't an Oscar, so Barmy can breathe easy....for now.

[Nothing]

Oh dear. I would have expected better out of Breillat and Verhoeven... Makes the Dardenne's double Cannes win seem almost lucid...

[Jeff]

Oh dear. I would have expected better out of Breillat and Verhoeven... Makes the Dardenne's double Cannes win seem almost lucid...

You've seen all of the Venice winners? Which ones are you disappointed in?

[Tommaso]

Damn, not even a cinematography award for Greenaway, though some reviews said that "Nightwatching" looks absolutely stunning.

[Nothing]

You've seen all of the Venice winners? Which ones are you disappointed in?

The cheesy director of ten bad films does not suddenly make a good one. And I'm frankly amazed that Innaritu managed to get the top acting awards for his Babel cast - Pitt, particularly, is a terrible actor. Hollywood rulz...

[nredding2]

These are my ratings for the films I saw.

Excellent
BRICK LANE
CHOP SHOP
ISKA'S JOURNEY
LA ZONA
LE VOYAGE DU BALLON ROUGE
MY WINNIPEG

Very Good
BOY A
CALIFORNIA DREAMIN' (ENDLESS)
IMPORT EXPORT
NE TOUCHEZ PAS LA HACHE
PARANOID PARK
PLOY
SECRET SUNSHINE
SHADOWS
THE EDGE OF HEAVEN
THE MOSQUITO PROBLEM AND OTHER STORIES

Good
AVANT QUE J'OUBLIE
CHAOS
CONTRE TOUTE ESPÉRANCE
DANS LA VIE
ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD
ERIK NIETZSCHE THE EARLY YEARS
FOREVER NEVER ANYWHERE
FOUR WOMEN
GEORGE A. ROMERO'S DIARY OF THE DEAD
HELP ME EROS
JAR CITY
M
SILENT RESIDENT
SLINGSHOT
THE BANISHMENT
THE LAST LEAR
THE MAN FROM LONDON
THE SUN ALSO RISES

Fair
ALGÉRIE, HISTOIRES À NE PAS DIRE
CHACUN SON CINÉMA
GLORY TO THE FILMMAKER!
ONE HUNDRED NAILS
SUKIYAKI WESTERN DJANGO
USELESS

[chaddoli]

After the first week of screenings I've seen six films. The new cut of Blade Runner was nice and looked incredible. I don't know how different it is, but I imagine if you like the film you'll like it a little more and if you don't it won't change your mind.

Married Life was a disappointment. It was well-acted but Ira Sachs is no Todd Haynes (and certainly no Douglas Sirk). He resorted to making fun of the characters, draping all their misery in a thick layer of irony for his, and his upper class white audience to enjoy.

The new (and last) Rohmer was strange, not entirely successful but enjoyable. Once you get past the rather irritating conceit, the film really has some beautiful moments. A fitting last film for the master - about amour fou transcending all barriers.

Secret Sunshine was a revelation, the best film of the festival (until I'm Not There premieres). A wonderful mix of pathos and humor along with staggering performances. The film has an utterly perfect ending.

The Man from London is unfortunately a minor film for Bela Tarr. All his stylistic flourishes are present, often to jaw-dropping affect, but the profundity of his previous masterpieces is missing. The script just wasn't there this time.

Silent Light is far less divisive than Battle in Heaven but I'm not sure if it's better. It's certainly not better than Ordet, and really they are very different films. The ending is what draws the comparison, but it comes about in very different ways. The film has some beautiful moments, but it felt like a spiritual film made by an atheist (which I think it was, but I could be wrong).

Todd Haynes' most recent masterpiece ruminates on identity, cinema, and among many other things the idea of Bob Dylan. I've spoken a little about the film elsewhere, but there really isn't much more I can say. The best film to be released since The New World.

Alexandra seemed pretty minor to me, really of little consequence. Maybe I just don't get Sokurov.

No Country for Old Men is a revelation. The Coens really knocked this one out of the park. A nearly perfect film. The brothers trap their characters within the bounds of the genre without a hint of irony. The film is also staggeringly performed.

The Hou is, not surprisingly, elegant and enchanting. A subtle, insightful study of a few lives seen through the eyes of one boy. Another tour-de-force by the fish-out-of-water Hou. Oh...and add this one to Binoche's long list of masterful, effortlessly real performances.

Go Go Tales was okay, not entirely successful but oddly compelling. My first Ferrara, the film is clearly the work of an auteur, and highly confessional, but the film just didn't fully gel for me.

[Cold Bishop]

My first Ferrara, the film is clearly the work of an auteur, and highly confessional, but the film just didn't fully gel for me.

I recommend Bad Lieutenant

And I'm Not There better be great... Haynes skipped out on introducing Safe this weekend because of the festival.

[miless]

And I'm Not There better be great... Haynes skipped out on introducing Safe this weekend because of the festival.

But his video introduction was quite humorous.

[Cold Bishop]

And I'm Not There better be great... Haynes skipped out on introducing Safe this weekend because of the festival.

But his video introduction was quite humorous.

"Hey Lester... what did you put the Doritos?"

[lady wakasa]

Go Go Tales was okay, not entirely successful but oddly compelling. My first Ferrara, the film is clearly the work of an auteur, and highly confessional, but the film just didn't fully gel for me.

But the Q&A was on steroids...

Actually, I thought the Q&A probably proved that the working relationship the ensemble had was what was showing on the screen.

[ranaing83]

I was planning on catching both Go Go Tales, and Flight of the Red Balloon, but unfortunately had to miss them due to work commitments. Anyone know if either of these films is planned for a US release later this year or early next? I'm so angry I had to miss them, especially the Hou.

[chaddoli]

IFC First Take is releasing Flight probably early next year. Go Go Tales is currently without distribution.

[tavernier]

IFC also just picked up "A Girl Cut in Two" and "Actresses."

[Ted Todorov]

Hey, does anyone know what/who the song/artist from the NYFF trailer is -- the "Im a lover..." ditty? Can't get it out of my head.

[chaddoli]

Here's a few more in-depth reviews I wrote up for the company I work for (Palm Pictures) on the films that are without distribution:

[quote]The 45th New York Film Festival
by Chadd Harbold

The Romance of Astree and Celadon
Dir: Eric Rohmer
Country: France
Worldwide Sales: Rezo Films
Awards: Official Selections at the Venice, Toronto and New York Film Festivals

* * ½

The French New Wave master's newest, and allegedly final film is a strange affair, yet oddly pure and thoroughly lacking cynicism. The film is based on a 17th century Gallic novel about a pair of star-crossed lovers in a small 5th century community. Celadon and Astree's amour fou is disrupted by misunderstandings and stubbornness, and many viewers may find Celadon's choices irritating and unbelievable, but they are all born out of the character's (and the film's) strongly beating heart.

The adventure Rohmer takes the audience on is reminiscent of Shakespeare, but what works on stage can be stifled by the utter realism of film. However, once attuned to Rohmer's elegant wavelength, the film's rewards are plentiful. Judging from the Festival's upper class white audience's smattering of applause and boos, though, not many are willing to suspend their disbelief of Rohmer's (absurdly) sincere characters.

Secret Sunshine
Dir: Lee Chang-dong
Country: South Korea
Production Company: CJ Entertainment
Awards: Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival, Official Selection at the New York and London Film Festivals.

* * * *

Lee Chang-dong's follow up to his masterful Oasis (Lifesize Entertainment, 2004) feels like an Asian Woman Under the Influence. Comparing Jeon Do-yeon (the obvious choice for Best Actress at this year's Cannes) to the force of nature known as Gena Rowlands is not hyperbole, Lee asks as much of his actress as Cassavetes did back in 1974.

The film revolves around a widow and her young son who move into her late husband's home town to find peace, only to be struck by unspeakable tragedy. That the film retains as much humor as it does devastating pathos is a tribute to Lee's immense filmmaking talent. Much of the tension is broken – and deepened – by the presence of the Korean De Niro, Song Kang-ho (Joint Security Area, The Host) who gives a performance of near-impossible quality.

It is astonishing that Lee has created a film of such tragedy that remains sincerely life-affirming. The way he chooses to end the film is proof that he is truly a Great filmmaker, not simply a good one. Secret Sunshine must be seen to be believed, yet it is not full of gravitas or auteurist posturing. It is subtlety, simply beautiful. It is a film that will connect strongly with arthouse audiences and critics alike.

The Man from London
Dir: Béla Tarr
Country: Hungary/France
Worldwide Sales: Fortissimo Films
Awards: Official Selections at the Cannes, Venice and New York Film Festivals

* * *

A minor work from the consistently staggering Hungarian auteur Béla Tarr, The Man from London is nonetheless typically mesmerizing. Abandoning the metaphysical allegory of his previous works Werckmeister Harmonies (Strand Releasing, 2002) and the epic, seven-hour Sátántangó, The Man from London carries some audience-friendly elements along with its slow-roving black and white cinematography, namely: a noir infused plot and international star Tilda Swinton in a supporting role.

Though Swinton wonderfully fits into Tarr's eccentric world, she is (like some of his other international actors in previous films) poorly dubbed into Hungarian, which might throw some audience members. However, the film plays out mostly sans dialogue, with Tarr using his masterfully controlled camera to tell the story of a money exchange gone wrong and the everyman caught in the middle.

Silent Light
Dir: Carlos Reygadas
Country: Mexico / France / Netherlands / Germany
Production Company: Bac Films
Awards:

* * *

Ostensibly an atheist's remake of Carl Dreyer's spiritual masterpiece Ordet, Silent Light is less divisive than the director's previous films Battle in Heaven (Tartan USA, 2006) and Japón (Vitagraph Films, 2003), but also somewhat less compelling. Reygadas, Mexico's veritable effant terrible, is in somewhat uncharted territory here. As usual, the spiritual crises of the characters are infused into every austere, gorgeously rendered frame, but missing are the frank depictions of un-simulated sex and the unexpected, grizzly violence of his previous work.

In Battle in Heaven, Reygadas is provoking the very body and soul of Mexican culture. Silent Light feels placeless, unspecific, perhaps springing from the Mennonite German characters inhabiting the Mexican landscape. Although the film's ending feels somewhat like spiritual posturing, it is nonetheless arresting, the act that brings about the miracle more powerful than the miracle itself.

Critical praise (and there has been quite a bit) seems to be focusing on Reygadas' “maturation,â€

[kinjitsu]

Palm Springs International Film Festival 2008

Recommendations?

[Cold Bishop]

Well... you must catch Sternberg's Crime and Punishment, Dahl's Leave Her to Heaven, Borzage's Seventh Heaven, and Pintille's Reenactment

Haven't yet seen anything from the list, but if I were going in blindly, these would be on top of my list...

4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
The Band's Visit
Breath
California Dreamin' (Endless)
Chaotica Ana
The Duchess of Langeais
Encounters at the End of the World
I Just Didn't Do It
In the City of Sylvia
Off-Side
Secret Sunshine
Taxidermia

and Dasepo Naughty Girls sounds like a riot.

[toiletduck!]

La France isn't a must-see, but I'd definitely give it a recommendation.

-Toilet Dcuk