Film Festival Circuit 2007

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chaddoli · #76 Post by **chaddoli** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 2:05 am

For us New Yorkers: Rendez-Vous with French Cinema

I will be going to Flandres surely, but I haven't heard of any of the other filmmakers. Any reccomendations?

portnoy · #77 Post by **portnoy** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 4:13 am

The Page Turner is an excellent little highbrow thriller featuring a dazzling performance by Deborah Francois. Definitely worth seeing.

marty · #78 Post by **marty** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 4:27 am

chaddoli wrote:I will be going to Flandres surely, but I haven't heard of any of the other filmmakers. Any reccomendations?

I have seen Flandres as it screened at the Melbourne Film Festival last year. I thought it was terrific but then again I was one of the few people who loved Bruno Dumont's previous film, Twentynine Palms.

Blame It on Fidel - interesting film from the daughter of Costa Gavras but very lightweight compared to her father's films.

One French film that I have a DVD of that is surprisingly not on there is Alain Resnais' Couers which has been highly acclaimed in France. I have yet to see it but I will be doing so this weekend.

acquarello · #79 Post by **acquarello** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 6:02 am

marty wrote:One French film that I have a DVD of that is surprisingly not on there is Alain Resnais' Couers which has been highly accalimed in France. I have yet to see it but I will be doing so this weekend.

Coeurs already screened in New York last year at the NYFF, that's why it's not screening at Rendez-vous. Similarly, they splintered Rachid Bouchareb's Indigènes (Days of Glory) on its own special screening, so it's not on the program.

In addition to The Page Turner, Christophe Honoré's Dans Paris and Sandrine Veysset's latest film, Countdown are definitely worth a look.

acquarello · #80 Post by **acquarello** » Fri Feb 16, 2007 1:08 pm

Saw Blame it on Fidel yesterday, and it's a pretty good offbeat comedy (in a kind of Swiss comedy way). It's along the lines of a kid learning to shed her bourgeois habits when her parents becoming increasingly radical in the aftermath of May 68.

Flanders is more along the vein of Dumont in La Vie de Jesus mode, rather than Twentynine Palms mode. It's a more comfortable place for him to operating in, I think, but nothing that we haven't seen from him before (and better done).

Michael · #81 Post by **Michael** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 1:42 pm

Florida Film Festival

Any must see?

DrewReiber · #82 Post by **DrewReiber** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 4:30 pm

I see the Animated Shorts program every year and I have yet to be be let down. I'm really looking forward to Everything Will Be Ok. Only one bit of warning though, as there will some overlap with the Animation Show Year 3 lineup for anyone planning on catching both.

Otherwise, I'm mulling over seeing Fido, The King of Kong, Mondo Intro, and Murder Party. Anyone have anything positive to say about Severance? I know little about it.

Antoine Doinel · #83 Post by **Antoine Doinel** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 4:59 pm

I've heard some positive things about Severance but nothing that makes it a must-see just yet. However, Air Guitar Nation is supposed to be a blast.

colinr0380 · #84 Post by **colinr0380** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 5:37 pm

Here is a DVD Times review of the recently released Region 2 DVD of Severance. I remember liking the director's previous film Creep, mostly for Franka Potente, but was left with a feeling that I should have just watched Death Line again. Severance does sound like it is going to be more comedic in the Dog Soldiers style.

Lino · #85 Post by **Lino** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 9:13 am

Antoine Doinel wrote:I've heard some positive things about Severance but nothing that makes it a must-see just yet.

Well, I caught it this week at the Fantasporto Film Festival (it won the Prize for Best Script and it truly deserved it) and I loved it so much that I already ordered the UK DVD.

Yes, you've seen it all before but there are some truly great things in it that makes it well above average for me (and I just have to show it to my friends around here for a laugh or two over some snacks and beer!).

Oh, and you have to see Paprika too! It's obligatory viewing!

filmghost · #86 Post by **filmghost** » Wed Mar 07, 2007 11:50 am

Air Guitar Nation is indeed one of the most amusing films I've seen this year. I also can't recommend enough Marilena de la P7. It's a beautiful, heartbreaking small film (it runs only 45 min). It's such a pity that its talented 26year old director died last year in a car accident shortly after finishing the film... Don't miss it...

Le Feu Follet · #87 Post by **Le Feu Follet** » Mon Apr 02, 2007 11:59 am

yoshimori wrote:OUT OF COMPETITION

Santiago AMIGORENA Quelques jours en Septembre France, Italy - 112'

I just saw Santiago Amigorena's Quelques jours en septembre at a small festival of French films in London.

This is a French-language spy film with an eye-catching cast list including Juliette Binoche, John Turturro and Nick Nolte.

The plot revolves around an American well-connected investment advisor (Nolte) who advises his clients to withdraw their investments in the run-up to 9/11 in anticipation of a stock market fall.

Politically this is interesting because it represents a small movement in public awareness from the present media consensus that 9/11 was a surprise, to acknowledgment that it was known about in advance by many who were senior in the US administration and security services and by security services throughout the World.

In addition, there is quite a lot of Tarantinoesque chat between some of the characters on the nature of Americans, Americaness, and allied topics, and some viewers may conclude that these elements constitute an significant part of what the film is about.

I thought the film was disappointing. Binoche plays smirking, glib-talking, gun-toting, cigar-smoking spy, and Turturo plays a French-speaking killer who quotes poetry. For me the Binoche character was routed in entertainment values and not in any reality I could recognize, and the Turturro character was a tired cliche. Nolte was just a big name wheeled on in the last ten minutes to be shot.

The other principal players were Sara Forestier, who was in Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, and Tom Riley, an English actor Who has previously played at the Royal Court theatre in London, playing a young American.

It is one of those films where the viewer has to work quite hard in the early scenes to understand what is going on and what it is about (this is not a criticiscm).

Amigorena made frequent use of wholly and grossly out-of focus shots, sometimes some element in the mise-en-scene would move into the focal plane towards the end of the shot. It made me realise that this is a device I couldn't remember seeing often, and in this film it became for me a bit of an irritating affectation without sufficient point.

#88 Post by **Jeff** » Fri Jul 06, 2007 12:37 am

The first films have been announced:

THE GIRL IN THE PARK David Auburn, USA, Special Presentations
Pulitzer Prize winner David Auburn (Proof) makes his feature directorial debut with a film about the fluidity of family and the unique and diverse ways in which we cope with loss. Fifteen years after the disappearance of her three-year-old daughter in New York City's Central Park, Julia (Sigourney Weaver) encounters a troubled young girl named Louise (Kate Bosworth) and quickly takes her under her wing. Also starring Alessandro Nivola, David Rasche, Elias Koteas, and Kerri Russell.

HONEYDRIPPER John Sayles, USA, Special Presentations
When the down-on-his-luck owner of an Alabama juke joint (Danny Glover) recruits a guitar playing drifter (newcomer Gary Clark Jr.) to help save his club, the place and its patrons are turned upside down and inside out by an 'electric' new form of music. A legend of American independent cinema, writer/director John Sayles (PASSION FISH, CASA DE LOS BABYS) explores a time when juke joints were the place one could find release after a hard week in the cotton fields, all the while documenting that pulsating moment when the blues became rock 'n roll.

LARS AND THE REAL GIRL Craig Gillespie, USA, Special Presentations
The socially inept Lars Lindstrom (Ryan Gosling) lives a nondescript life in a small, equally nondescript Midwestern town, working a generic job in an office cubicle and living a bland existence in a garage apartment. But all that's about to change when Lars meets the girl of his dreams: a stunning Danish-Brazilian missionary from the tropics named Bianca - who also happens to be a made-toorder, life-size doll. From writer Nancy Oliver ("Six Feet Under") and emerging filmmaker Craig Gillespie, the film also stars Emily Mortimer, Paul Schneider, Kelli Garner and Patricia Clarkson.

ROMULUS, MY FATHER Richard Roxburgh, Australia, Special Presentations
Based on Raimond Gaita's critically acclaimed memoir, this directorial debut from Aussie actor Richard Roxburgh tells the story of Romulus (Eric Bana), his beautiful wife Christina (Franka Potente), and their struggle in the face of great adversity to bring up their son Raimond. Tragic yet simultaneously uplifting, it is a story of impossible love that ultimately celebrates the unbreakable bond between father and son. Developed with Roxburgh over seven years, the film has been adapted to the screen by poet and playwright, Nick Drake.

THEN SHE FOUND ME Helen Hunt, USA, Special Presentations
Helen Hunt's feature directorial debut, based on the eponymous first novel by writer Elinor Lipman, tells the funny and moving story of one woman's very unlikely path towards personal fulfillment. Nearing 40, April (Hunt) is a schoolteacher in New York. Adopted at birth, April Epner (Hunt) wants to have a baby of her own - a desire made that much stronger by the fact that she never knew her biological mother. A snag in her plans presents itself when her sweet but immature husband Ben (Matthew Broderick) announces one night that their marriage was a mistake, leaving April devastated and bewildered. With her life in disarray, one more surprising bolt is thrown April's way in the form of Bernice (Bette Midler), an eccentric local talk show host, who declares herself to be April's birth mother. Despite the influence of her newfound mother and a relationship with Frank (Colin Firth), the father of one of her students, April's once simple life begins to spiral out of control.

Grimfarrow · #89 Post by **Grimfarrow** » Fri Jul 06, 2007 5:51 am

A whole bunch of films were already announced before this...

[quote]SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, USA
Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) finds a pickup truck surrounded by a sentry of dead men. A load of heroin and two million dollars in cash are still in the back. When Moss takes the money, he sets off a chain reaction of catastrophic violence that not even the law - in the person of aging, disillusioned Sheriff Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) - can contain.

MASTERS

ALEXANDRA Alexander Sokurov, Russia/France
Filmmaker Sokurov (RUSSIAN ARK) tells the story of a woman who travels to visit her grandson, a Russian officer stationed in the Republic of Chechnya.

LE VOYAGE DU BALLON ROUGE Hou Hsiao-hsien, France/Taiwan
Hou Hsiao-hsien (THREE TIMES) pays homage to Albert Lamorisse's THE RED BALLOON in a film about Suzanne (Juliette Binoche), her son Simon and a mysterious red balloon.

THE MAN FROM LONDON Béla Tarr, France/Hungary/Germany
The simple life of lonely Maloin is blown apart when he witnesses a murder.

NE TOUCHEZ PAS LA HACHE Jacques Rivette, France/Italy
Based on a short story by Balzac, NE TOUCHEZ PAS LA HACHE reunites influential auteur Rivette (OUT ONE, VA SAVOIR) and actor Jeanne Balibar for a film about seduction and revenge amidst the extravagant balls of 1820s Restoration Paris.

ONE HUNDRED NAILS Ermanno Olmi, Italy
Announced as the last feature of his career, Ermanno Olmi (Palme d'Or winner for 1978's THE TREE OF THE WOODEN CLOGS) presents a film about a young and eminent professor who finds himself at the centre of a difficult investigation.

ULZHAN Volker Schlöndorff, Germany/Kazakhstan/France
A man's relentless quest to both find an ancient treasure and heal his wounded soul.

REAL TO REEL

THE MOSQUITO PROBLEM AND OTHER STORIES Andrey Paounov, Bulgaria/USA/Germany
A documentary about a village turned concentration camp, turned city, turned nuclear power plant.

VISIONS

IMPORT EXPORT Ulrich Seidl, Austria
A Ukrainian nurse abandons her family for a better life in Austria. An unemployed security guard leaves Vienna for Ukraine.

PLOY Pen-ek Ratanaruang, Thailand
Ratanaruang (INVISIBLE WAVES) returns to the Festival this year with an erotic psychological drama which sees three strangers locked inside a hotel room.

SILENT LIGHT Carlos Reygadas, Mexico/France/Netherlands
Winner of the Cannes Jury Prize for 2007, the film tells of Johan, a married North Mexican Mennonite who falls in love with another woman.

A STRAY GIRLFRIEND Ana Katz, Argentina/Spain
Filmmaker Katz takes on writing, directing and acting with A STRAY GIRLFRIEND. After an argument with her boyfriend on the bus, Ines storms off at the wrong stop, only to find herself lost and alone on the open road - far from the holiday resort where she was meant to spend a romantic getaway.

THE TRACEY FRAGMENTS Bruce McDonald, Canada
McDonald (ROADKILL, HIGHWAY 61) delivers the story of Tracey, a 15-year-old who seeks refuge from schoolyard torment and an unstable home life by way of her elaborate imagination.

YOU, THE LIVING Roy Andersson, Sweden/France/Germany/Denmark/Norway
Andersson puts forth a film he describes as "simply a tragic comedy or a comic tragedy about us (human beings)."

VANGUARD

LES CHANSONS D'AMOUR Christophe Honoré, France
Julie and Ismael attempt to reignite the spark between them by inviting a third person, Alice, into their bed - and singing about it - in this romantic drama musical. But when tragedy strikes, everyone and everything is left at loose ends.

CONTROL Anton Corbijn, UK/Australia
Dutch photographer Corbijn moves into filmmaking with the story of the life and death of Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis.

NAISSANCE DES PIEUVRES Céline Sciamma, France
Teenage girls awaken their sexuality amidst the world of synchronized swimming.

THE ORPHANAGE Juan Antonio Bayona, Spain
From producer Guillermo del Toro (PAN'S LABYRINTH) comes a film about a woman's return to the abandoned orphanage where she grew up and her conviction that something long-hidden and terrible is lurking inside.

CONTEMPORARY WORLD CINEMA

AND ALONG COME TOURISTS Robert Thalheim, Germany
A young German - completing his civil service abroad in Auschwitz - must care for a former concentration camp inmate with a fetish for suitcase repair.

THE BANISHMENT AndreI Zviaguintsev, Russia
The eerie tale of one family's relocation from an industrial city to the remote birthplace of husband and father Alex (Konstantin Lavronenko - Best Actor, Cannes 2007).

CARAMEL Nadine Labaki, Lebanon/France
Contemporary dilemmas face a group of women in a Beirut beauty salon.

THE EDGE OF HEAVEN Fatih Akin, Germany/Turkey
Focused on the interweaving lives of six people in Hamburg and Istanbul, the film - winner of the Award for Best Screenplay at Cannes 2007 - is the second in what filmmaker Akin (Head-On) calls his "Love, Death and the Devil" trilogy.

FARO - LA REINE DES EAUX Salif Traoré, Mali/France/Canada/Germany/Burkina Faso
Zanga arrives after many years to the village he was once driven out of. At the moment of his arrival, something happens that the villagers interpret as the river spirit Faro's angry reaction to his return.

HAPPY NEW LIFE Ã

#90 Post by **Jeff** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 12:47 am

Several more high profile titles announced today:

Two Galas and six Special Presentations were announced by the Toronto International Film Festival, adding to the festival's previously announced titles. Galas include writer director Tony Gilroy's "Michael Clayton" (U.S.), described as a legal drama about an in-house "fixer" at one of the largest corporate law firms in New York. Michael Clayton (George Clooney) takes care of Kenner, Bach & Ledeen's dirtiest work at the behest of the firm's co-founder Marty Bach (Sydney Pollack). Though burned out and hardly content with his job, Michael Clayton faces a divorce, a failed business venture and mounting debt, all of which have left him inextricably tied to the firm. "Rendition," by Academy Award-winning "Tsotsi" director Gavin Hood, will also screen as a Gala. Reese Witherspoon plays Isabella El-Ibrahimi, the American wife of Egyptian-born chemical engineer Anwar El-Ibrahimi (Omar Metwally) who disappears on a flight from South Africa to Washington. Isabella desperately tries to track her husband down, while a CIA analyst (Jake Gyllenhaal) at a secret detention facility outside the U.S. is forced to question his assignment as he becomes party to the man's unorthodox interrogation. Special Presentations added for the festival, taking place September 6 - 15, include Santosh Sivan's drama "Before the Rains" (U.S., India); Neil Jordan's thriller "The Brave One" starring Jodie Foster (U.S., Australia); Peter Greenaway's Rembrandt story "Nightwatching" (U.K., Poland, Canada, The Netherlands); Alan Ball's story of sexual awakening, "Nothing is Private" starring Aaron Eckhart, Maria Bello and Academy Award nominee Toni Collette (U.S.); Terry George's drama "Reservation Road" (U.S.); and Cannes '07 best director Julian Schnabel's "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly."

dadaistnun · #91 Post by **dadaistnun** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 4:22 pm

From Variety:

64TH ANNUAL VENICE FILM FESTIVAL COMPETITION

Opening film: "Atonement," Joe Wright, (U.K-U.S.)

"The Darjeeling Limited," Wes Anderson (U.S.)
"Sleuth," Kenneth Branagh (U.K.-U.S.)
"Le Chaos," Youssef Chahine (Egypt)
"Redacted," Brian De Palma (U.S.)
"The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford," Andrew Dominik (U.S.)
"Nessuna qualita agli eroi," Paolo Franchi (Italy)
"Michael Clayton," Tony Gilroy (U.S.)
"Nightwatching," Peter Greenaway (Canada-France-Germany-Poland-Netherlands-U.K.)
"En la cuidad de Sylvia," Pilae Lopez De Ayala, Xavier Lafitte (Spain)
"In the Valley of Elah," Paul Haggis (U.S.)
"I'm Not There," Todd Haynes (U.S)
"The Sun Also Rises," Jiang Wen (China-Hong Kong)
"Help Me Eros," Lee Kang Sheng (Taiwan)
"La Graine et le mullet," Abdellatif Kechiche (France)
"Lust, Caution," Ang Lee (U.S.-Taiwan)
"It's a Free Worldâ€¦," Ken Loach (U.K.-Italy-Germany-Spain)
"L'ora di punta," Vincenzo Marra (Italy)
"Sukiyaki Western Django," Takashi Miike (Japan)
"12," Nikita Mikhalkov (Russia)
"Il dolce e l'amaro," Andrea Porporati (Italy)
"Les Amours d'Astree et de Celadon," Eric Rohmer (France-Italy-Spain)

OUT OF COMPETITION â€” VENICE MASTERS
"Cassandra's Dream," Woody Allen (U.K.-U.S)
"Cleopatra," Julio Bressane (Brazil)
"La Fille coupee en deux," Claude Chabrol (France)
"Beyond the Years," Im Kwopn Taek (South Korea)
"Glory to the Filmmaker," Takeshi Kitano (Japan)
"Cristovao Colombo-O enigma," (Portugal-France)

VENETIAN NIGHTS â€” OPENING AND CLOSING FILMS
"For a Fistful of Dollars," Sergio Leone (Italy-Spain-Germany) (as part of Spaghetti Westerns retro)
"Blood Brothers," Alexi Tan (Taiwan-China-Hong Kong)
"REC," Paco Blaza and Jaume Balaguero (Spain)

VENETIAN NIGHTS
"Far North," Asif Kapadia (U.K.-France)
"The Hunting Party," Richard Shepard (U.S.-Croatia-Bosnia)
"The Nanny Diaries," Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini (U.S.)
"Nocturna," Adria Garcia, Victor Maldonado (Spain, France)

HORIZONS
"Sad Vacation," Shinji Aoyama (Japan)
"Mal nascida," Joao Canijo (Portugal)
"Searchers 2.0," Alex Cox (U.K.)
"Medee Miracle," Tonino De Bernardi (Italy)
"Cochochi," Laura Amelia Guzman, Israel Cardenas (Mexico-U.K.-Canada)
"With the Girl of Black Soil," Jeon Soo-il (South Korea-France)
"L'Histoire de Richard O," Damien Odoul (France)
"Autumn Ball," Veiko Ounpuu (Estonia)
"The Silence Before Bach," Pere Portabella (Spain)
"Exodus," Penny Woolcock (U.K.)
"The Obscure," Lu Yue (China)

#92 Post by **Jeff** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 7:44 pm

More titles from CBC:

The Assassination of Jesse James starring Brad Pitt and the ensemble Bob Dylan movie I'm Not There are among new films added to the Toronto International Film Festival's lineup this September.

Organizers announced eight films that will be added to the 17 already featured under the festival's Special Presentation banner.

Writer and director Paul Haggis, pictured here at last year's Toronto International Film Festival, will premiere his film In The Valley of Elah, starring Susan Sarandon, at this year's festival.Writer and director Paul Haggis, pictured here at last year's Toronto International Film Festival, will premiere his film In The Valley of Elah, starring Susan Sarandon, at this year's festival.

Jesse James, filmed mostly in Alberta and Winnipeg, delves into the private life and exploits of one of America's most notorious outlaws. The movie, directed by Andrew Dominik, also stars Sam Shepard, Mary-Louise Parker, Sam Rockwell and Zooey Deschanel.

I'm Not There, helmed by Todd Haynes (Far From Heaven ), weaves several stories about musician Dylan starring various actors in the main role â€” including Cate Blanchett, Christian Bale, Richard Gere and Heath Ledger â€” in what is described as "various embodiments of different 'Dylanesque' characters."

Other actors appearing in the movie include Canadian Bruce Greenwood, Julianne Moore and Charlotte Gainsbourg.

Also on the slate is Canadian director Paul Haggis's In the Valley of Elah, about a young soldier's mysterious disappearance after returning from Iraq. The plot follows his father (Tommy Lee Jones) and mother (Susan Sarandon) as they search for their son with the help of a police detective portrayed by Charlize Theron. Haggis's Crash took two Oscars in 2006, for best picture and best original screenplay.

Other notable new films include Sean Penn's Into The Wild, based on the true story that became a bestselling novel by Jon Krakrauer. The movie chronicles the tale of Christopher McCandless (played by Emile Hirsch), who abandoned his savings and possessions to live in the Alaskan wilderness.

Atonement, based on the award-winning novel by Ian McEwan, will reunite director Joe Wright of Pride and Prejudice with actor Keira Knightley for another British romance but one that spans decades.

And in a romance of a different kind, Margot at the Wedding details a family's unravelling after a woman (Jennifer Jason Leigh) decides to get married. Nicole Kidman plays the woman's sister, while comedian Jack Black plays the fiancee. Writer/director Noah Bambach's other films include The Squid and the Whale (2005) and Kicking and Screaming (1995).

Other films rounding out the list include The Savages, directed by Tamara Jenkins, starring Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman as estranged siblings, and the Battle in Seattle by Stuart Townsend, based on the five-day protest in 1999 in Seattle against the World Trade Organization.

The Toronto International Film Festival goes Sept. 6-15.

Magic Hate Ball · #93 Post by **Magic Hate Ball** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 7:51 pm

THE MOSQUITO PROBLEM AND OTHER STORIES Andrey Paounov, Bulgaria/USA/Germany
A documentary about a village turned concentration camp, turned city, turned nuclear power plant.

Now this sounds interesting.

dadaistnun · #94 Post by **dadaistnun** » Fri Aug 03, 2007 5:21 pm

Variety wrote:TORONTO -- Docs from Werner Herzog, Kevin Macdonald and Phil Donahue -- and others with subjects including composer Philip Glass, screenwriter Dalton Trumbo and surf legend Dr. Dorian "Doc" Paskowitz -- are among the 20 titles added Tuesday to the Real to Reel slate at the 32nd Toronto Film Festival.

Among the world premieres are "Encounters at the End of the World," in which Herzog ("Grizzly Man") leaves the bears behind to take viewers to Antarctica. Macdonald, whose "The Last King of Scotland" unspooled in Toronto last year, looks at the postwar activities of former Gestapo commander Klaus Barbie (aka "the Butcher of Lyon") in "My Enemy's Enemy"; and former talkshow host Donahue teams with Ellen Spiro to take a hard look at the toll of the Iraq War in "Body of War."

Also on the Real to Reel slate: Scott Hicks ("Shine") turns the camera on Glass, documenting a year in the life of the composer as he interacts with the likes of Chuck Close, Ravi Shankar and Woody Allen in "Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts," while Peter Askin's "Trumbo" tells the story of the blacklisted screenwriter through spoken-word performances of his extraordinary letters by Donald Sutherland, Michael Douglas, Joan Allen and Liam Neeson.

Political docs on offer in Toronto include Ted Braun's "Darfur Now"; "The Dictator Hunter," from Klaartje Quirijns; Siatta Scott Johnson and Daniel Junge's "Iron Ladies of Liberia"; and Nina Davenport's "Operation Filmmaker."

Also featured: "A Jihad for Love," "Obscene," "Very Young Girls" and "Surfwise."

Fest programmers have added a number of titles to the Vanguard program, including Gus Van Sant's Cannes offering "Paranoid Park" and Mexican thesp Gael Garcia Bernal's directorial debut "Deficit," in which he also stars.

The long-awaited conclusion of Dario Argento's the Three Mothers trilogy, "The Mother of Tears," has been added to the Midnight Madness slate, as has "Sukiyaki Western Django," cult cinema bad boy Takashi Miike's first English-language film.

Fest runs Sept. 6-15.

Cassandra's Dream and Across the Universe will have gala screenings.

Michael Kerpan · #95 Post by **Michael Kerpan** » Fri Aug 03, 2007 6:03 pm

Let me put in a plug for the retrospective honoring Quebecois master director (and cinematographer) Michel Brault.

I've seen everything except Chronique d'une ete -- and can recommend everything I've seen. Comments on specific films available on request....

If you can't get to the retrospective, most of the films being shown in it are available in a ridiculously inexpensive box set.

tavernier · #96 Post by **tavernier** » Fri Aug 03, 2007 6:17 pm

dadaistnun wrote:Cassandra's Dream and Across the Universe will have gala screenings.

I love the description of the Taymor film in that linked article:

"set against the backdrop of the political upheaval of the 1960s and its music."

They don't want to plug this as a Beatles film? It is filled with their songs, correct?

chaddoli · #97 Post by **chaddoli** » Wed Aug 15, 2007 6:23 pm

This lineup is staggering.

NYFF '07 | Breillat, Chabrol, DePalma, Ferrera, Haynes, Hou, Landis, Lumet, Reygadas, Rohmer, Schnabel, Sokurov, Tarr, Van Sant... On New York Fest Roster

by Brian Brooks (August 15, 2007)

Twenty-eight films will be showcased at the 45th New York Film Festival, taking place September 28 - October 14. The Film Society of Lincoln Center, which organizes the annual event, announced Wednesday that Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud's animated coming-of-age Cannes '07 jury prize-winner "Persepolis" will close the festival, joining previously announced opener "The Darjeeling Limited" by Wes Anderson and Centerpiece film "No Country for Old Men" by the Coen Brothers. Among the other films hailing from Cannes are Gus Van Sant's 60th anniversary prize-winner "Paranoid Park," Julian Schnabel's French-language "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly," Palme d'Or winner "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days" by Romanian director Cristian Mungiu as well as "Secret Sunshine" by Lee Chang-dong, which received the best actress prize in Cannes for Jeon Do-yeon.

In addition to NYFF's 45th milestone, this is also the tenth year that Richard Pena, the Film Society's programming director, has chaired the selection committee. Also making its return for the 11th year at the festival is "Views from the Avant-Garde," a showcase of experimental film and video (October 6 - 7) as well as a special tribute to the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region with "Chinese Modern: A Tribute to Cathay Studios (October 10 - 16). Additionally, as previously announced, NYFF organizers will salute New Line Cinema's 40th anniversary with a black-tie gala benefitting the Film Society's campaign to build a new film center.

Five films will screen in NYFF's retrospectives including the "definitive cut" of "Blade Runner" by Ridley Scott, marking the film's 25th anniversary. Also on tap is Josef von Sternberg's 1927 film "Underworld," winner of the best writing award at the first Academy Awards; John Ford's first major film "The Iron Horse" (1924); Sven Gade and Heinz Schall's 1920 production "Hamlet"; and an evening NYFF is calling "The Technicolor Show," introduced by Martin Scorsese and featuring John Stahl's "Leave Her to Heaven" (1945).

Due to ongoing renovations at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall, this year's New York Film Festival screenings will be held at the Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center, in the Time Warner Center. Opening Night will be held at Avery Fisher Hall, as well as Rose Hall.

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.

45th New York Film Festival Lineup
(detailed program Information provided by Film Society of Lincoln Center)

OPENING NIGHT:
"The Darjeeling Limited," directed by Wes Anderson, US (Fox Searchlight)
Screening with: "Hotel Chevalier," directed by Wes Anderson, US, 2007; 12m
Wes Anderson's latest is as exquisitely poignant and emotionally nuanced as movies get. One year after the accidental death of their father, three estranged brothers (Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman and Anderson-newcomer Adrien Brody) board the Darjeeling Limited train and travel across India on a self-proclaimed spiritual journey. They make all the appropriate stops along the way but their jealous (often hilarious) bickering and one-upmanship displace any possibility of enlightenment. And then, something happens. Anderson is, as always, surprising, prodigiously inventive, and utterly masterful in his daring modulation of tones and emotions. He has achieved something quite magical and astonishing here: a grand pageant, a vibrant portrait of a place and a people, a quietly intricate look at sibling love and rivalry. Above all, a Wes Anderson film--and a great one at that.

CLOSING NIGHT:
"Persepolis," directed by Marjane Satrapi & Vincent Paronnaud, France (Sony Pictures Classics)
Marjane Satrapi's lively and impassioned film version of her popular autobiographical graphic novels, animated by Vincent Paronnaud, about growing up in revolutionary-era Tehran.

CENTERPIECE:
"No Country for Old Men," directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, US (Miramax)
The Coen Brothers' magisterial adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's laconic, haunting story of a Texas drug deal gone bad, with brilliant performances from Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem and Tommy Lee Jones.

"4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days," directed by Christian Mungiu, Romania (IFC First Take)
Winner of the Palme d'Or at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, Christian Mungiu's film is a harrowingly methodical and carefully detailed portrait of two girls in search of a secret abortion in Communist-era Romania.

"Actresses," directed by Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi, France
A hilarious yet moving look at the life of a middle-aged actress desperate to marry and have children, directed by and starring the enchanting Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi.

"Alexandra," directed by Alexander Sokurov, Russia (Rezo Films)
No living filmmaker has been more obsessed with the state of the Russian soul than Alexander Sokurov. In Alexandra, this great filmmaker ponders the cost of war. Mother Russia herself--a blunt, grimly humorous, and totally confident babushka indelibly played by octogenarian opera diva Galina Vishnevskaya--pays a solo visit to her grandson's unit in Chechnya. She rides among the young recruits in a troop transport and later, a tank; however incongruous, her tour of inspection through this dusty, sun-bleached landscape has a terrible familiarity. Alexandra is too visceral in its filmmaking to feel like allegory. Seldom has a filmmaker so directly addressed his fellow citizens.

"The Axe in the Attic," directed by Ed Pincus & Lucia Small, US
Veteran documentary filmmaker Ed Pincus and his collaborator Lucia Small look at the hardships and sorrows of the Gulf Coast Diaspora two years after Hurricane Katrina.

"Before the Devil Knows You're Dead," directed by Sidney Lumet, US (ThinkFilm)
In this masterful crime drama from Sidney Lumet, a "perfect crime" plotted by two brothers (Philip-Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke) unravels before their eyes.

"Calle Santa Fe," directed by Carmen Castillo, France
Carmen Castillo's melancholy epic looks back at her life as a revolutionary in Chile, before and after her exile in France.

"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly," directed by Julian Schnabel, France/U.S. (Miramax)
Julian Schnabel creates a bold and beautiful adaptation of Jean-Dominique Bauby's autobiographical story of his paralyzing stroke and his fierce desire to communicate through the one unaffected part of his body: his left eye.

"The Flight of the Red Balloon," directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien, France (IFC First Take)
Hou Hsiao-hsien's ineffably serene film is less of a remake of Albert Lamorisse's children's classic than a complex homage refracted through the complications of life in contemporary Paris. Juliette Binoche is Suzanne, the proprietor of a marionette theater and the single mother of a lonely boy named Simon (Simon Iteanu) who spends his days with his Chinese au pair Song (Song Fang). Simon and Song watch as the adults around them come apart at the seams, with joy and anguish, love and hatred...while the red balloon drifts across the Parisian landscape. Hou's film is heartbreakingly beautiful, and it is graced with a truly magnificent performance from Binoche.

"A Girl Cut In Two," directed by Claude Chabrol, France
Claude Chabrol has directed nearly 60 features and this mordant social satire filled with unforgettably nasty characters--and inspired, he's said, by the sensational Gilded Age shooting of architect Stanford White--shows him at the top of his game. A jaded novelist (Francois Berleand) competes with the bizarrely unstable heir to a Lyons pharmaceutical fortune (Benoit Magimel) for the affections of a luscious TV weathergirl (Ludivine Sagnier). Chabrol skewers the pretensions of literati and haute bourgeois alike and, although the inevitable crime of passion is committed late in the movie, it's evident that what we have really been watching the murder of a soul.

"Go Go Tales," directed by Abel Ferrara, Italy/US
The future of downtown strip joint Ray Ruby's Paradise Lounge may ride on tonight's New York lottery drawing, but there's no question that Abel Ferrara hits the jackpot with this hilarious, outrageous and unexpectedly poignant comic fantasy about a disheveled club owner (Willem Dafoe) striving to keep his doors open in the face of potential bankruptcy and, worse, gentrification. As personal in its way as Cassavetes' "The Killing of a Chinese Bookie," "Go Go Tales" crackles with vaudevillian showmanship, impromptu musical numbers and live-wire performances from Dafoe, Bob Hoskins, Sylvia Miles and Asia Argento (who comes duly heralded as "the scariest, sexiest girl in the world"). Consider it Ferrara's wistful valentine to a pre-gentrification Big Apple, and to his own unlikely longevity as a maverick of the American independent film movement.

"I Just Didn't Do It," directed by Masayuki Suo, Japan
A terrifying, real-life crime drama and indictment of the Japanese criminal justice system from
"Shall We Dance" director Masayuki Suo, "I Just Didn't Do It" follows a young man falsely accused of groping a school girl on a crowded train--guilty until proven innocent.

Anamaria Marinca and Otilia and Laura Vasiliu in Cristian Mungiu's "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days." Image courtesy of IFC First Take.

"I'm Not There," directed by Todd Haynes, US (The Weinstein Company)
Todd Haynes' "Dylan movie" is a singularity: a cinematic phantasmagoria built around the poetic re-invention of the self, which collapses time and leaves the linear universe of progress and cold logic in the shadows. Haynes swirls through Dylan's life and legends and allows a series of avatars (including Richard Gere, young Marcus Carl Franklin and, most miraculously of all, Cate Blanchett) to bloom within a variety of settings and styles--black and white London out of Fellini and Don't Look Back, a TV documentary, the "old weird America" via Peckinpah. Like Dylan's music, with which it is suffused, I'm Not There is pure quicksilver, slipping into cracks and crevices of intuition and wonder.

"In the City of Sylvia," directed by Jose Luis Guerin, Spain/France
During a few languid summer days, a young foreigner spends his afternoons sketching in an outdoor cafe. Years before he had visited the same city and met a woman named Sylvia. Now he looks for her, but mainly, he sketches the many attractive young women he sees all around. Then one afternoon he thinks that he actually does see Sylvia, and he sets off to confront his memory. Jose Luis Guerin's lovely, exceedingly graceful work captures the feeling of being in love with love, a youthful sense of a world filled with an almost limitless sensuality.

"The Last Mistress," directed by Catherine Breillat, France (IFC First Take)
France's foremost provocatrice, Catherine Breillat, continues to surprise even as she pursues her career-long interest in the ramifications of female desire. Breillat's sumptuous adaptation of Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly's Une vieille maitresse may be set in the reign of the "citizen king" Louis Philippe, but this dangerous liaison is recognizably modern. Disrupting cinematic as well as social conventions, Asia Argento gives another extraordinary performance in the title role as, as the film puts it, "a capricious flamenca who can outstare the sun"--not to mention outmaneuver her erotic rival Roxane Mesquida (the older sister in Breillat's "Fat Girl," NYFF 2001). A star as well as an actress, Argento holds the screen with the force of her carnality, which may be precisely Breillat's point.

"The Man From London," directed by Bela Tarr, Hungary/France/Germany
Maloin, a switchman at a seaside railway depot, witnesses two men fight over a suitcase. One falls into the water and apparently drowns while the other escapes. Retrieving the suitcase, Maloin discovers that it's stuffed with banknotes. After staring at his newfound fortune in awe, he hides the suitcase in his closet. Then a certain Inspector Morrison arrives, hot on the trail of two robbers. Based on a little-known work by Georges Simenon, this new film by Bela Tarr ("Satantango," NYFF 1994) plunges the viewer into nameless, timeless world perpetually encased in darkness--physical, moral and spiritual. In Fred Keleman's luscious cinematography, each image looks like the cover of a long-forgotten pulp noir.

"Margot at the Wedding," directed by Noah Baumbach, US (Paramount Vantage)
Noah Baumbach's follow-up to "The Squid and the Whale" is a very funny and very true look at sibling rivalry during a quickly deteriorating family weekend in Connecticut, with Nicole Kidman and Jennifer Jason Leigh as contentious sisters.

"Married Life," directed by Ira Sachs, USA
Ira Sachs' wonderfully clear-eyed comedy relocates British crime novelist John Bingham's Five Roundabouts to Heaven to the Pacific Northwest in the late 1940s. Harry (Chris Cooper) is dissatisfied with his marriage to Pat (Patricia Clarkson) and has found love with Kay (Rachel McAdams), who immediately attracts the attention of Harry's womanizing friend Richard (Pierce Brosnan). Meanwhile, Harry, in order to spare Pat the humiliation of being left, is inspired to take drastic measures. Married Life is a beautifully rendered piece of period Americana and a perfectly acted four-hand roundelay. It is also a wisely comic and at times harrowing look at the pitfalls and pathologies of marriage

"Mr. Warmth, The Don Rickles Project," directed by John Landis, US
John Landis' star-filled, fittingly uproarious documentary is a terrific portrait of a bygone era and, most of all, man named Rickles, a giant who continues to stride among us mortal lowlifes at the age of 81, his deadly timing in full working order. Rickles...the mere mention of his name strikes mirth-filled terror in the hearts of actors and fellow comics, not to mention overweight men with bad toupees. When the festival committee saw this movie, they could hear us laughing all the way in Jersey. We know you'll like it too...you hockey puck.

"The Orphanage," directed by Juan Antonio Bayona, Spain (Picturehouse)
Laura, her husband Carlos and their young son Simon move into an imposing country house surrounded by woods and just a short walk to the sea. They plan to turn it into a home for sick and disabled children--that is, until Simon starts collecting a gang of invisible friends. Produced by Guillermo Del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth), this smart, continuously surprising movie starts off as a supernatural thriller, then veers off into some much darker, more unsettling territory, navigated by Belen Rueda's extraordinary performance as Laura. An impressive debut feature by Juan Antonio Bayona, scripted by Sergio G. Sanchez and featuring a wonderful turn by the great Geraldine Chaplin as a special kind of medium.

"Paranoid Park," directed by Gus Van Sant, US (IFC First Take)
At once a piquant, dreamlike portrait of teen alienation and a boldly experimental work of film narrative, Paranoid Park finds Gus Van Sant working at the height of his powers and very far afield from Hollywood. Made in and around the director's native Portland, the film follows a withdrawn high-school skateboarder (Gabe Nevins) as he struggles to make sense of his involvement in an accidental murder, recalling past events across tides of unsteady memory and expressing his feelings in a diary that is, in effect, the movie we are watching. The skating scenes, filmed by Van Sant and cinematographers Christopher Doyle and Rain Kathy Li in a lyrical mixture of Super 8 and 35mm, depict their subjects flying through the air with the greatest of ease, momentarily free from the earthly troubles of adolescence.

"Redacted," directed by Brian DePalma, US (Magnolia)
Americans of a certain age may be experiencing a sense of deja vu, but Brian DePalma hasn't waited until the end of the war in Iraq to make his movie on the subject. Redacted is ripped from the headlines--or, more precisely, from the cable news. It is a fictionalized account of a murderous 2006 atrocity committed against a teenaged girl and her family by American troops in Mahmoudiya. In its formal invention, it harkens back to the director's countercultural roots. Certain to inspire controversy, DePalma's disturbing portrayal of a dazed, confused, vengeful platoon, complete with resident videomaker, is a powerful movie of technical brio and ice-cold fury.

"The Romance of Astrea and Celadon," directed by Eric Rohmer, France (Rezo Films)
Eighty-seven-year-old Eric Rohmer's glorious new (and allegedly final) film is based on Honore d'Urfe's legendary 17th century novel, a pastoral romance set among the shepherds of the Forez plain in 5th century Gaul. Astrea and Celadon are young lovers, pure of heart, torn asunder by fate. They are reunited gradually by chance and time, which are coaxed forward by the magic of river nymphs and the workings of a Druid priest. Rohmer's film is a rapturous idyll, set in the land of myth, and it ends with one of the most beautiful celebrations of carnal love the cinema has ever seen.

"Secret Sunshine," directed by Lee Chang-dong, Korea
Lee Chang-dong's most ambitious and fully realized film to date, Secret Sunshine is that rare movie that possesses the richness and complexity of a great novel, revealing new layers to us the deeper we move into it. It begins like an Asiatic "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore," as a recent widow (Jeon Do-yeon) and her young son adjust to life a small country town after relocating from Seoul. Then, abruptly and without warning, the film becomes something of a thriller, and after that a devastating, Bressonian study in human suffering. Lee navigates these switchblade reversals of comedy and despair, darkness and light, with a master's grace, as does Jeon in the revelatory performance for which she was duly awarded the Best Actress prize at this year's Cannes Film Festival.

"Silent Light," directed by Carlos Reygadas, Mexico
Never predictable but always audacious, the young Mexican director Carlos Reygadas has made the world's first talking picture in the medieval German dialect called Plautdietsch. Silent Light is set in Northern Mexico's ascetic, self-contained Mennonite community and cast almost entirely with Mennonite non-actors. Building in emotional intensity, this elemental tale of love and betrayal is at once an ethnographic documentary and a quasi-remake of Carl-Theodore Dreyer's "Ordet." Reygadas too makes spirituality seem material, not least in the extraordinary, wide-screen landscape shots that bracket the action. With this, his third feature, he has secured a place in the forefront of contemporary film artists.

"Useless," directed by Jia Zhang-ke, Hong Kong
Jia Zhang-ke's new documentary is one of the rare films that continually re-defines itself as it unfolds, from modern clothing factories to designer shops to a Parisian fashion installation of the work of vanguard designer Ma Ke to Northern Chinese mining country and a series of portraits of local tailors, keenly aware of their own expendable role in a world of mass-produced goods. Useless does not illustrate a thesis. Call it a conversation between Jia and the modern world, which examines what we wear and winds up addressing who we are, with the greatest eloquence.

RETROSPECTIVE SCREENINGS:
"Blade Runner: The Definitive Cut," directed by Ridley Scott, US, 1982/2007 (Warner Brothers)
Philip K. Dick's tale of rogue androids on the loose, hunted down by ex-cop Rick Deckard, offered a vision of a time in which the line between the human and the non-human has become perilously thin. Ridley Scott's masterpiece starring Harrison Ford now seems not only to have anticipated our future but also, with some of the most extraordinary sets ever, to have designed it. So much of the world today appears, well...just so Blade Runner. To commemorate its 25th anniversary, Scott has gone back to the film, correcting a few details and coming up with a version of the film that he feels is closest to what he had always intended to make. One of the greatest American films of the '80s has gotten, remarkably, even better.

"The Iron Horse," directed by John Ford, US, 1924 (20th Century Fox)
With the release of The Iron Horse, John Ford--known until then for his action-packed two-reel westerns--came to be regarded as one of Hollywood's most important directors. An epic tale about the building of the transcontinental railroad, this mammoth production was three years in the making, requiring over 5000 extras and the building of two entire towns. Yet beyond the film's impressive technical achievements lay its brilliant weaving of an edgy revenge tale into the fabric of American history. A veritable treasure chest of themes and motifs that would evolve in Ford's later work, this milestone of American cinema has now been lovingly restored by 20th Century Fox to its full glory.

"Hamlet," directed by Sven Gade & Heinz Schall, Germany, 1920-21
Print Courtesy of the German Film Institute (Deutsche Filminstitut)
Piano accompaniment by Donald Sosin
Danish screen diva Asta Nielsen was at the height of her popularity when she embarked on her greatest challenge--to play Hamlet. Other women had already played the beleaguered Danish prince, but Nielsen and screenwriter Erwin Gepard came up with their own twist: the Prince had actually been born a Princess, but for reasons of royal succession a change in gender was made, a secret known only to Hamlet's parents and his faithful nursemaid. From there the story follows along the general scheme of Shakespeare's play. While off at university, his father is assassinated and his mother and her lover steal the throne. Hamlet returns home with Horatio, who he secretly loves. When his stepfather and the chamberlain try to set up Hamlet with the chamberlain's daughter, Ophelia, Hamlet pretends he's mad. All the well-known sequences of Hamlet's life take on a different resonance, yet to Nielsen and the filmmakers' credit, the story maintains its visceral dramatic power. Long available only in black and white, the film has now been restored to its original polychrome tinted version by the German Film Institute, which we are presenting.

"Leave Her to Heaven," directed by John M. Stahl, US, 1945
The Film Foundation presents a stunning restoration of this Technicolor noir classic, a favorite of Pedro Almodovar in which Gene Tierney tries to scheme and connive her way into the complete possession of her beloved husband Cornel Wilde.

"Underworld," directed by Josef von Sternberg, US, 1927
Accompaniment by the Alloy Orchestra
Josef Von Sternberg's silent masterpiece more or less began the American gangster genre. It screens with a new score from the inimitable Alloy Orchestra.

SPECIAL EVENTS:
"Fados," directed by Carlos Saura, Spain/Portugal, 2007
Beginning with his much-loved Flamenco Trilogy and moving on through Tango and Iberia, Carlos Saura has been at the forefront of finding creative ways to blend cinema with music and dance. For his newest film, he headed west to neighboring Portugal for this beautiful celebration of the Portuguese fado. Sometimes thought of as the Portuguese blues, as so many of the songs deal with loneliness and heartache, the fado, like flamenco, remains one of Europe's hardiest folk cultures; in recent years, fado has fused with everything from African rhythms to rock and hip-hop. Saura presents a broad panorama of fado styles, from the strictly traditional to some rather unexpected variations, and leading us through this musical journey are performers such as Carlos do Carmo, Catarina Moura, Argentina Santos, and Maria da Nazare, along with guest appearances by Brazilian singers Chico Buarque and Caetano Veloso. Homages are included to such past greats as Lucilia do Carmo, Alfredo Marceneiro and of course Amalia Rodrigues. A terrific opportunity to discover a vibrant strand of contemporary world music, as well a chance to simply enjoy some wonderful singing and dancing.

"The Other Side of the Mirror: Bob Dylan Live at the Newport Folk Festival, 1963-1965," directed by Murray Lerner, US, 2007
Throughout the '60s, the Newport Folk Festival was one of the era's most reliable barometers of the changes beginning to rock American society. At the center of those changes was a rail-thin singer hailing from Hibbing, Minn., by way of Greenwich Village: Bob Dylan. Filmmaker Murray Lerner was there too, and he powerfully captured both the spirit of Newport as well as the extraordinary music produced there in his woefully neglected film Festival. Now Lerner has gone back to his footage from his years filming at Newport and created a revealing portrait of the young Dylan during the crucial period of 1963-65. We see the bright, chipper young Dylan--already a great crowd favorite in 1963--grow progressively darker and more withdrawn as he and his band take their first steps towards rock and roll in 1965. The film features Dylan singing stirring versions of many of his most famous songs--"Blowin' in the Wind," "A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall," "Maggie's Farm," "Only a Pawn in Their Game"--as well as some of his legendary duets with Joan Baez. A great document of an extraordinary performer, and a fascinating complement to Todd Haynes' wonderful I'm Not There.

"Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Runnin' Down a Dream," directed by Peter Bogdanovich, US, 2007
Rarely, if ever, has the history and development of a major rock band been explored with the care and the depth with which Peter Bogdanovich approaches Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Starting out from Gainesville Florida, the band (as Mudcrutch) headed to Los Angeles in the mid-'70s and soon attracted the attention of producer Denny Cordell. Their first singles failed to cause much of a stir in the U.S., but in the U.K., they were hailed as the best American band in years. After a hugely successful European tour, they headed home, this time finding a much warmer response from critics and the public alike. Liberally peppered with rare concert footage--from Florida bars to "The Top of the Pops" to major stadium appearances--the film also chronicles Petty's epic battles with the record industry and collaborations with Bob Dylan, Stevie Nicks, Roger McGuinn and the Traveling Wilburys. Dispensing with the cynicism that usually accompanies longevity in rock music, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers have managed to remain fresh, feisty and popular for over thirty years. Peter Bogdanovich helps us understand why.

Fierias · #98 Post by **Fierias** » Wed Aug 15, 2007 6:49 pm

I'll be there! I was really hoping that There Will Be Blood would be showing there, but it's pretty much a perfect line-up otherwise.

portnoy · #99 Post by **portnoy** » Wed Aug 15, 2007 8:03 pm

That Indiewire article doesn't even mention this, from the Lincoln Center Film site:

The 2007 edition of the New York Film Festival will honor in its sidebar director and screenwriter Joaquim Pedro de Andrade, a renowned member of Brazil's Cinema Novo movement of the 1950s and â€˜60s. Favoring a hard-edged expressionism meant to capture the realities of his nation's poverty, de Andrade established himself in 1965 with The Priest and the Girl, nominated for the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival. He solidified his place in Brazilian as well as world cinema with Macunaima (1969), for which he won Best Film at the Mar del Plata Film Festival. Three times de Andrade has won Brazilian cinema's highest honor, the Candango Trophy. The sidebar will screen during the festival at the Walter Reade Theater.

acquarello · #100 Post by **acquarello** » Wed Aug 15, 2007 8:56 pm

The press release actually mentions the sidebar, IW just seemed to have culled out the paragraph from the article, but left the one following it about the other two sidebars. Here's the excerpt from the email:

As previously announced, this year's festival sidebar will honor director and screenwriter Joaquim Pedro de Andrade, a renowned member of Brazil's Cinema Novo movement of the 1950s and â€˜60s, who solidified his place as a master filmmaker with his 1969 classic, Macunaima. The series, titled Tropical Analysis: The Films of Joaquim Pedro de Andrade, will run Sept. 29-Oct. 9 at the Walter Reade Theater.

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