Film Festival Circuit 2010

[tavernier]

How about this?

[Jeff]

How about this?

Looks like we have a winner, though I am officially not jealous.

[mfunk9786]

Oof, really? Can't it go back to being 127 Hours?

[tavernier]

sorry for ruining your screening!

[domino harvey]

You wouldn't rather see Will Ferrell on a lawn than hypercut, filtered shots of dude's arm getting cut off?

[Brian C]

I didn't realize Stephen Root was one of the biggest actors in Hollywood. Good for him, though!

[matrixschmatrix]

Well, he has put on some weight...

[Duncan Hopper]

London Film Festival.

Best Film: How I Ended This Summer (Alexei Popogrebsky)

Best Documentary: Armadillo (Janus Metz)

Best First Film: The Arbor (Clio Barnard)

Best British Newcomer: Clio Barnard, director of The Arbor

[puxzkkx]

Have added the Tokyo awards to the main post.

Shindo took the stage, in his wheelchair, to accept his SJP award. Quite amazing he's 98 and still active - although he said in his speech that this film would be his last.

[puxzkkx]

Mar del Plata awards have been added to the main post.

[kinjitsu]

Torino FIlm Festival Awards

[puxzkkx]

Cairo has announced their awards, which means that the FIPA awards season is over!

[Lemmy Caution]

Susan Sarandon, Matt Dillon, Willem Dafoe and Marisa Tomei are all bound for China this June ... as guests of the 14th Shanghai International Film Festival, organizers said on Thursday.
... with Oscar-winning director Barry Levinson as the head of the jury, already is looking more star-studded than previous editions.

Certainly more well-known American names them they've managed to lure previously for any one year.
One SIFF early on (mid-90's) had Sophia Loren attend, with Oliver Stone heading the jury.

[Lemmy Caution]

Shanghai Film Fest starts this weekend.
Barry Levinson heading the jury, and apparently they are excited that Rupert Murdoch and his wife Wendi Deng will attend the opening ceremony.
Here's a list of the competition films.
Nothing stands out. Of course the very basic plot summaries in middle school English don't exactly inspire. Any suggestions welcome.

So far I'm only considering The Adjustment Bureau, maybe the restored Metropolis, and uh, possibly a 2005 Krisztina Goda Just Sex and Nothing Else. I liked her Kameleon (2009) which I saw at the SIFF two years back. But Just Sex sounds decent but fairly formulaic.
Which leaves me with no idea what to see of any 2011 films or competition films ...

[MichaelB]

Here's my review of Just Sex, though your capsule assumption is pretty much bang on:

Just Sex and Nothing Else (Csak szex és más semi, d. Krisztina Goda, 2005)

From the meet-cute opening in which Dóra (Judit Schell) first encounters Tamás (Sándor Csányi) after she’s bustled almost naked out of her lover’s flat, to the final montage of outtakes, this is just as slick and polished a romantic comedy as any of its Hollywood or Richard Curtis-scripted counterparts: it’s no wonder that Goda was quickly snapped up to make the big-budget Children of Glory. It’s been called a Hungarian Bridget Jones’s Diary, which isn’t quite accurate, since the thirtysomething Dóra is more interested in babies than blokes – the title quotes the most enticing bit of the personal ad she ends up placing, which leads to the familiar parade of overly optimistic horrors. No prizes for guessing how it all turns out, but there’s plenty to enjoy along the way, from some genuinely smart dialogue (I’ve never heard avant-garde composer György Kurtág’s name invoked in a one-liner before) and appealing performances, including Zoltán Seress’ accident-prone musician Péter, Károly Gesztesi’s harassed director Paskó, and Antal Czapkó’s Borat-lookalike Turkish waiter Ali, possibly the film’s only genuine romantic. A huge domestic hit, it’s markedly better than the two Polish romantic comedies I’ve seen recently (The Extras and Midnight Talks).

[puxzkkx]

Hey, sorry I haven't been doing a 2011 thread for this here. I have all the material if anyone would like one.

Shanghai is a bit of a pointless festival, but I thought "The Quest", "Mr. Tree" and "Time Bends" looked kind of interesting.

[Lemmy Caution]

Oh, I agree that the Shanghai Festival is largely pointless and know I expressed surprise before that it is considered important. I just happen to live here. I assume the main purpose of the SIFF is for Chinese in the industry to make contacts and the media market buying and selling TV programming.

The Indian film The Quest has potential, but for a philosophic/religious discussion style film set in the 19th C seems rather long at 2 1/2 hours.
I might look into the Albanian film Maya, because how often do you get to see Albania on film. There's also a Turkish family drama about poor folks -- Hayde Bre (Turkey, 2010, 115’) directed by Orhan Oguz -- and I'm interested in Turkey these days.
And yes, the Chinese film Mr. Tree could be good, if it's not overly quirky or silly.

[Lemmy Caution]

Thanks for the Goda review, Michael B.
There is a sidebar of Hungarian films at the SIFF.
Wondering if you are familiar with any of them?

I've only heard of 3 of the 14 Hungarian films on offer.
Really enjoyed Control, set in the Budapest subway.
Have Simon the Magician on dvd and have heard of Hukkle.
Would you rec any of the others, or is Simon or Hukkle must-sees?
Thanks.

_____________________________________
For anyone interested, the SIFF also has 8 other programs featuring films from various countries: India (5 films); Thailand (9); Japan (12); Spain (6); Italy (11); Canada (10); France (6).
On the right side of this link halfway down, under Global Village.

[puxzkkx]

I think Jia had a hand in the making of Mr. Tree. It sounds better than the other two Chinese films in comp, at least.

[MichaelB]

Thanks for the Goda review, Michael B.
There is a sidebar of Hungarian films at the SIFF.
Wondering if you are familiar with any of them?

I've reviewed Fresh Air, Hukkle and Iska's Journey (handily, one after the other in the same piece), all of which I'd recommend.

The other two I've seen are Control and Just Sex and Nothing Else, though I've had Simon the Magician and After the Day Before on DVD for ages, and need an excuse to watch them.

[Lemmy Caution]

Well, Hukkle certainly sounds like a great date film ...

Thanks again, Michael.
Looks like I'll get to Iszka's Journey and/or Fresh Air.

The schedule for the competition films seems odd and unappealing.
Most of them play only two times, some lucky ones get a third screening.
They also seem to be largely relegated to early in the week and often during the daytime.
Mr. Tree for instance is only playing two times on one day, Monday at 1:30 and 6:30 PM. That's it for the whole festival which runs through to next Sunday.
And that's for a Chinese film!
Of the 4 competition films I had some interest in, I might be able to get to the Turkish film Hayde Bre (also shown only twice and done after Monday evening).
Unless I somehow arrange to see the Indian film The Quest at 3:45 on Friday.

You'd think the competition films would screen more and at better times.
Wouldn't it be a plus for the SIFF if people actually see the films being voted on?
Shrug.
At least it's a chance for me to see The Adjustment Bureau on a big screen and to catch a good recent Hungarian film or two.