78th Venice International Film Festival Lineup

Another festival that pretends there is no pandemic and even claims will have less COVID19 rules and regulations than Cannes. Let's hope that all this joyful climate will not end in something we cinema fans will absolutedly hate as much as when a young director or actor dies. Sigh.

Alberto Barbera said: "We aren't so confident anymore, even though we are bolstered by great faith in science and humankind's ability to react to even the worst adversities. Hence, our decision to hold the next Film Festival of the Biennale di Venezia in the presence of the public and with even greater conviction than during the preceding annus horribilis, formulating the 78th edition that comes just one year before we celebrate the 90th anniversary of the Festival's birth, when it was launched in August 1932." Perhaps most hopeful than what happened in the past is what's going to happen next year when the festival will reach an incredible milestone.

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#Cannes2019 Wish List 1 - French Female Filmmakers

This year I'll start my Wish List with films by female directors as in the buzz list there is an unusual number of them plus most films I'm truly interested in watching (with few exceptions) are made by them.

Still no official news about selections announcements but there is some speculation:  Press Conference Official Selection on April 18,  Semaine on April 22 and Quizaine on April 23.  The only official announcement came yesterday with ACID selection on April 23, date is already in calendar.  The closing date for submitting films was last Monday, March 11th so now the decision process has begun in full.

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68th Festival de Cannes Poster

The 68th Festival de Cannes (13-24 May 2015) has chosen to pay tribute to Ingrid Bergman with this year’s poster, following on from Marcello Mastroianni in 2014.

Hollywood star Ingrid Bergman was a modern icon, an emancipated woman, an intrepid actress, and a figurehead for the new realism. She changed roles and adoptive countries as the mood took her, but never lost sight of her quintessential grace and simplicity.

This year’s poster captures the actress, who worked with Alfred Hitchcock, Roberto Rossellini and Ingmar Bergman, and starred opposite Cary Grant, Humphrey Bogart and Gregory Peck, in all her beauty, her face lit up by a calm serenity that seems to herald a promising future.

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37th Göteborg Film Festival Award Winners

Last Saturday night the festival had their awards ceremony and here are all the award winners.

Dragon Awards

Best Nordic Film
I dina hænde (In Your Arms), Samanou Acheche Sahlstrøm, Denmark and Germany
Jury’s motivation: The award goes to a film, that with honest sensitivity, brings up the questions: When is life worth living? When is life not worth living? Told in a pure language, with poetic moments, and with an acting that is vibrating of human authenticity. A film that ends with death – but also with life, love and hope.

This year’s jury consisted of the actor Maryam Moghaddam and the directors Pernille Fischer Christensen, Pirjo Honkasalo, Anja Breien and Benedikt Erlingsson.

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36th Göteborg International Film Festival Awards Winners

Last night at the Stora Teatern the fest had the Dragon Awards ceremony and here are all the award winners.

Dragon Awards

Best Nordic Film
Før snøen faller (Before Snowfall), Hisham Zaman, Norway, Germany and Iraq
Jury’s motivation: “The Dragon Award for Best Nordic Film goes to a film with an original and honest vision that goes beyond clichés. By using an exceptional cast and a precise and vivid style of cinematography the director succeeds in telling a story that reveals the impact of tradition and culture and the fact that they can be conquered by naive, true love. The winner is Before Snowfall.”

The Ingmar Bergman International Debut Award
Carne de Perro (Dog Flesh), Fernando Guzzoni, Chile, Germany and France
Jury’s motivation: ”A man cannot cope with the deeds of his past and experiences an intense daily suffering. An exceptional performance constitutes the chore in a multilayered tale of redemption, executed with complete artistic control.”

Best Nordic Documentary
Laulu koti-ikävästä (Finnish Blood, Swedish Heart), Mika Ronkainen, Finland and Sweden
Jury’s motivation: “The Dragon Award for Best Nordic Documentary goes to Finnish Blood, Swedish Heart, a touching story of inner and outer exile, which brings out a rarely discussed trauma of the Swedish welfare state of the prosperous 60s and 70s. With great sensibility and refinement, the director describes a personal relationship between father and son and their emotional trip down memory lane in the search of a sense of belonging. Their conversations and meetings with other Swedish Finns along the way gradually unfolds the theme of rootlessness and estrangement, while intertwined live recordings of Finnish immigrant songs from the 70s poetically comment on the theme and widens the picture to encompass an entire culture.”

Lorens Award
Malik Bendjelloul for Searching for Sugar Man, Sweden and UK
Jury’s motivation: “Behind this exceptionally well-produced film lies labor that persevered, often against the odds. Despite considerable solitary labor, it has become an international success story. The film has prevailed at something unusual for documentary film: namely reaching out to a greater audience and using the full potential of cinematography. No journey was too long and no effort too great for the launch and contact with the public. The jury was completely unanimous that the 2013 Lorens Award would be awarded to Malik Bendjelloul for the film Searching for Sugar Man."

FIPRESCI Prize
Nordvest (Northwest), Michael Noer, Denmark
“For its solid acting performances and its balanced and realistic portrayal of a young man's descent into a criminal world.”

Audience Awards
Best Feature Film: Wadja, Haiffa al-Mansour, Saudi Arabia and Germany
Best Nordic Film: Kapringen (A Hijacking), Tobias Lindholm, Denmark

The Church of Sweden Film Award: Godheten, Stefan Jarl, Sweden (documentary)

Short Films
Dragon Award New Talent: La Ravaudeuse, Simon Filliot, France, 10'
Jury’s motivation: “So said—but so beautiful. Poverty, greed, fraternal affection, eroticism and painful death. It all begins with a dramatic birth in a home in the crack between dream and reality—where loneliness hangs over everything. With their accomplished craft, the director invokes both tension and strong characters. With La Ravaudeuse, Simon Filliot has created something entirely new, a completely living world of sackcloth, twine and tangled wool. A moving and well-made pastoral drama that leaves no one untouched.”

Startsladden Award: Gabriel och lasermannen (The Day my Dad was Shot), Babak Najafi, Sweden, 13'

Best Swedish Novella Film: Vatten, Niclas Larson, Sweden, 30'
Special Mention: 10 Guds Siffror (Remnants of a Life), Ivica Zubak, Sweden, 30'

Audience Award: Vatten, Niclas Larson, Sweden, 30'

Last, the best photo from this year's festival:  Baby Dragon.

36th Göteborg International Film Festival Line-up

Since January 25th and until February 4th one of the most famous Swedish film festivals has been running and as soon, on Saturday February 2 will be the awards ceremony, I'm sharing with you all some of the great films that are in the two main competitions.


Dragon Award for Best Nordic Film

8-Pallo (8-Ball), Aku Louhimies, Finland
Djúpið (The Deep), Baltasar Kormákur, Iceland
Faro, Fredrik Edfeldt, Sweden
Før snøen faller (Before Snowfall), Hisham Zaman, Norway
Kapringen (A Hijacking), Tobias Lindholm, Denmark
Nordvest (Northwest), Michael Noer, Denmark
Som du ser meg (I Belong), Dag Johan Haugerud, Norway
Uskyld (All that matters is past), Sara Johnsen, Norway

The Ingmar Bergman International Debut Award

36, Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit, Thailand
Carne de Perro (Dog Flesh), Fernando Guzzoni, Chile, Germany and France
Crawl, Hervé Lasgouttes, France
Gözetleme Kulesi (Watchtower), Pelin Esmer, Turkey
It Felt Like Love, Eliza Hittman, USA
Lemale et ha'halal (Fill the Void), Rama Burshtein, Israel
Wadjda, Haifaa al-Mansour, Saudi Arabia and Germany
Zwei Leben (Two Lives), Georg Maas, Germany and Norway

To watch trailers for the above and more movies go here. This year the fest is larger than ever as the program includes almost 500 films from 84 countries and to check films in the many sections please go here.

Thinking Notes of Today

I'm going public by admitting that I'm no fan of Martin Scorsese but do recognize him as one of the American contemporary master-filmmakers.  But as everything in life  -absolutes hardly exist- there are exceptions and the following letter absolutely is the exception that makes me "admire" Scorsese for being willing to make public what so many think about those countries where films with subtitles are not easily accepted.

The letter dated November 25, 1993 was published as a comment to an article in the New York Times on November 19, 1993. The letter date is important as was one week after Federico Fellini's dead.

Here is a copy and paste of the letter; if you wish to read it at the source I used please go here.

To the Editor:

“Excuse Me; I Must Have Missed Part of the Movie” (The Week in Review, 7 November) cites Federico Fellini as an example of a filmmaker whose style gets in the way of his storytelling and whose films, as a result, are not easily accessible to audiences. Broadening that argument, it includes other artists: Ingmar Bergman, James Joyce, Thomas Pynchon, Bernardo Bertolucci, John Cage, Alain Resnais and Andy Warhol.

It’s not the opinion I find distressing, but the underlying attitude toward artistic expression that is different, difficult or demanding. Was it necessary to publish this article only a few days after Fellini’s death? I feel it’s a dangerous attitude, limiting, intolerant. If this is the attitude toward Fellini, one of the old masters, and the most accessible at that, imagine what chance new foreign films and filmmakers have in this country.

It reminds me of a beer commercial that ran a while back. The commercial opened with a black and white parody of a foreign film—obviously a combination of Fellini and Bergman. Two young men are watching it, puzzled, in a video store, while a female companion seems more interested. A title comes up: “Why do foreign films have to be so foreign?” The solution is to ignore the foreign film and rent an action-adventure tape, filled with explosions, much to the chagrin of the woman.

It seems the commercial equates “negative” associations between women and foreign films: weakness, complexity, tedium. I like action-adventure films too. I also like movies that tell a story, but is the American way the only way of telling stories?

The issue here is not “film theory,” but cultural diversity and openness. Diversity guarantees our cultural survival. When the world is fragmenting into groups of intolerance, ignorance and hatred, film is a powerful tool to knowledge and understanding. To our shame, your article was cited at length by the European press.

The attitude that I’ve been describing celebrates ignorance. It also unfortunately confirms the worst fears of European filmmakers. Is this closedmindedness something we want to pass along to future generations?

If you accept the answer in the commercial, why not take it to its natural progression:
Why don’t they make movies like ours?
Why don’t they tell stories as we do?
Why don’t they dress as we do?
Why don’t they eat as we do?
Why don’t they talk as we do?
Why don’t they think as we do?
Why don’t they worship as we do?
Why don’t they look like us?
Ultimately, who will decide who “we” are?

—Martin Scorsese
[New York, 19 Nov 1993]

Also suggest to read the recent NYTimes article from April 29, 2011 "Eating Your Cultural Vegetables" that you will find here.

More than 15 years after the letter was written is impressive how the largest movie market in the world -when you count only money- has not opened to world movies. Won't elaborate but have to comment that one of the consequences I dislike the most is the doing of "remakes" that never are as good as the original ones. Sigh.

By the way the conversation about "Cultural Vegetables" has been going on since April 2011 and I'm just joining today.

34th Göteborg International Film Festival Award Winners

Today fest closes and a few hours ago had the awards ceremony that gave the top award to a movie that definitively is Must Be Seen for me, but winning a top award at a renowned festival gives me hope that film has to be more than just another lesbian interest movie, which is outstandingly excellent news! I’m talking about Lisa Aschan’s Apflickorna (She Monkeys) that’s also competing for the Teddy Award at 2011 Berlinale.

These are the honored feature films.

Best Nordic Film: Apflickorna (She Monkeys), Lisa Aschan, Sweden
Jury statement: This was a film we loved unconditionally. It stayed with us all the time, and finally we felt that we must give this award to support a new, very special talent.

Nordic Vision Award: Kongen av Bastøy (King’s Devil’s Island), Marius Holst, Norway
Jury statement: For the clarity with which the anguish of the characters is transmitted and the coldness of the nature. The classical style is not easy to handle but it supports the intensity of the story.

Nordic Film Audience Award: Jag Saknar Dig (I Miss You), Anders Grönros, Sweden

FIPRESCI Award: Apflickorna (She Monkeys), Lisa Aschan, Sweden
Jury statement: She Monkeys is a story about love and jealousy, implicating a lonely father, his two daughters, a beautiful cousin and an enigmatic equestrian dancer. Thanks to a clever direction, each actor – even the youngest – deals with the most tricky situations with a surprising accuracy for a first feature. Beautifully crafted, She Monkeys found a rhythm as spellbinding as the sound of horses' hooves that punctuates the film. Lisa Aschan plays quietly with the codes of thriller, western and a very delicate eroticism. She preserved elements of mystery which gives us only one desire: to see her make a new movie.

Ingmar Bergman International Debut Award: Derek Cianfrance for Blue Valentine, USA
Jury statement: The 2011 Ingmar Bergman International Debut Award goes to Blue Valentine for an impressively precise yet sensitive analysis of human relationships from an impartially nuanced perspective.

To check short film and documentary winners go here and here to read more detailed info.

61st Berlin International Film Festival Line Up - Final

Post is ready for Final.

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Yes I'm still updating this post... it takes me lots of time as always take a brief look at what film is about. But this year fest site is fantastic as just have to place cursor on top of picture to get a brief idea of what film is all about. Thanks Berlinale for improving the browsing on your site.

The post is growing and still have one last section to cover but for the first time in this blog I'm listing almost everything, which I usually spend hours and hours browsing the fest site and only publish the main films in each section.

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Was waiting for film information and trailers to be up at the fest site but today is a good day to start this post from press releases and later on, when info is up at official site, will post at MOC trailers and movie info. As you know this is the first festival of the year that gets my total attention and follow every day. This post will be updated constantly until becomes final and this year decided to do only ONE post with all sections, so will be a very long post. Only films competing for the Teddy Award will have a different post.

Let’s start with films in the Competition that includes 22 films, 16 of which will be competing for the awards. In addition there will be two special screenings: In solidarity with the convicted Iranian director Jafar Panahi, his film Offside will be presented on February 11, the anniversary of the Iranian Revolution. Also, the European premiere of Werner Herzog’s 3D documentary Cave of Forgotten Dreams will be shown as a special screening in the Berlinale Palast. In all, three 3D films are to be presented in the Official Programme.

Competition

A Torinói Ló (The Turin Horse), Béla Tar, Hungary, France, Germany, Switzerland, and USA
Bizim Büyük Çaresizliğimiz (Our Grand Despair), Seyfi Teoman, Turkey, Germany and Netherlands
Coriolanus, Ralph Fiennes, UK
El Premio (The Prize), Paula Markovitch, Mexico, France, Poland, and Germany (debut film)
Jodaeiye Nader az Simin (Nader And Simin, A Separation), Asghar Farhadi, Iran
Les contes de la nuit (Tales Of The Night), Michel Ocelot, France (animated film in 3D)
Margin Call, JC Chandor, USA (debut film)
Odem (Lipstikka), Jonathan Sagall, Israel and UK
Saranghanda, Saranghaji Anneunda (Come Rain Come Shine), Lee Yoon-ki, South Korea
Schlafkrankheit (Sleeping Sickness), Ulrich Köhler, Germany, France and Netherlands
The Forgiveness Of Blood, Joshua Marston, USA, Albania, Denmark and Italy
The Future, Miranda July, Germany and USA
Un Mundo Misterioso (A Mysterious World), Rodrigo Moreno, Argentina, Germany and Uruguay
V Subbotu (Innocent Saturday), Alexander Mindadze, Russia, Germany and Ukraine
Wer wenn nicht wir (If Not Us, Who), Andres Veiel, Germany
Yelling To The Sky, Victoria Mahoney, USA

Out of Competition

Almanya - Willkommen in Deutschland (Almanya), Yasemin Samderel, Germany (debut film)
Les femmes du 6ème étage (Service Entrance), Philippe Le Guay, France
Mein bester Feind (My Best Enemy), Wolfgang Murnberge, Austria and Luxemburg
Pina, Wim Wenders, Germany and France (dance film in 3D)
True Grit, Joel and Ethan Coen, USA
Unknown, Jaume Collet-Serra, Germany, Great Britain and France

Competition Special Screening

Cave of Forgotten Dreams, Werner Herzog, USA and France, 2010
Offside, Jafar Panahi, Iran, 2005

To check press release go here. To check Competition program plus information about each film go here.

International Jury

President: Isabella Rossellini, actress, producer and director
Jafar Panahi (place open to signalize its support for his struggle for freedom), director, author and producer, Iran
Jan Chapman, producer, Australia
Nina Hoss, actress, Germany
Aamir Khan, actor, director, producer, India
Guy Maddin, filmmaker, Canada
Sandy Powell, costumes designer, UK

Without an in-depth analysis my first impression is that this year Berlinale feels and looks very female oriented, which is extremely good and an excellent example for other festivals to emulate as well as all cinema activities in the world. Great!!!

Panorama
Section will open on February 10 with Céline Sciamma's second film Tomboy and this year will present 16 feature films in its main program, 14 feature films in Panorama Special, and 20 in Panorama Dokumente (documentaries).

Main Program
Bu-dang geo-rae (The Unjust), Ryoo Seung-wan, South Korea
Byakuyakou (Into the White Night), Yoshihiro Fukagawa, Japan
Chang-Pi-Hae (Ashamed), Kim Soo-hyun, South Korea
Dance Town, Jeon Kyu-hwan, South Korea
Dernier étage gauche gauche (Top Floor Left Wing), Angelo Cianci, France and Luxemburg
Gandu (Asshole), Kaushik Mukherjee (Q), India
Here, Braden King, USA
Lo Roim Alaich (Invisible), Michal Aviad, Israel and Germany (world premiere)
Majki (Mothers), Milcho Manchevski, Macedonia, France and Bulgaria
Qualunquemente (Whatsoeverly), Giulio Manfredonia, Italy
Romeos, Sabine Bernardi, Germany (world premiere)
OFF BEAT by Jan Gassmann, Switzerland
También la lluvia (Even the Rain), Icíar Bollaín, Spain, France and Mexico
The Mortician, Gareth Maxwell Roberts, UK and USA (world premiere, 3D)
Tomboy, Céline Sciamma, France (world premiere)
Vampire, Iwai Shunji, USA and Canada

Panorama Special
7 Khoon Maaf (7 Sins Forgiven), Vishal Bhardwaj, India (world premiere)
Amador, Fernando León De Aranoa, Spain (with Magaly Solier)
Die Vaterlosen (Fatherless), Marie Kreutzer, Austria
Fjellet (The Mountain), Ole Giæver, Norway (lesbian interest)
Life In A Day, Kevin MacDonald, UK
Man At Sea, Constantine Giannaris, Greece (world premiere)
Medianeras, Gustavo Taretto, Argentina, Germany and Spain (world premiere)
Mishen (Target), Alexander Zeldovich, Russia
Rundskop (Bullhead), Michaël R. Roskam, Belgium and Netherlands
Sala samobójców (Suicide Room), Jan Komasa, Poland
The Devil’s Double, Lee Tamahori, Belgium (in English with Ludivine Sagnier)
The Guard, John Michael McDonagh, Ireland, and UK
Tropa de Elite 2 (Elite Squad 2: The Enemy Within), José Padilha, Brazil
Über uns das All (Above Us Only Sky), Jan Schomburg, Germany

Panorama Dokumente
Barzakh, Mantas Kvedaravicius, Finland and Lithuania
Bombay Beach, Alma Har’el, USA
BRASCH - Das Wünschen und das Fürchten, Christoph Rüter, Germany (world premiere)
Die Jungs vom Bahnhof Zoo (Rent Boys), Rosa von Praunheim, Germany (world premiere)
homo@lv, Kaspars Goba, Latvia
House Of Shame / Chantal All Night Long, Johanna Jackie Baier, Germany (world premiere)
How Are You, Jannik Splidsboel, Denmark (world premiere)
Im Himmel, Unter der Erde. Der Jüdische Friedhof Weißensee (In Heaven Undreground – The Weissensee Jewish Cementery), Britta Wauer, Germany (world premiere)
Khodorkovsky, Cyril Tuschi, Germany (world premiere)
Leicht muss man sein, Fliegen muss man können (Lightflight), Annette Frick, Germany (world premiere)
Mama Africa, Mika Kaurismäki, Germany, South Africa and Finland (world premiere)
Mondo Lux – die Bilderwelten des Werner Schroeter (Mondo Lux – The Visual Worlds of Werner Shcroeter), Elfi Mikesch, Germany (world premiere, Isabelle Huppert)
The Advocate For Fagdom, Angélique Bosio, France (world premiere, gay interest)
The Bengali Detective, Philip Cox, UK,USA and Austria
The Big Eden, Peter Dörfler, Germany (world premiere)
The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975, Göran Hugo Olsson, Sweden and USA
The Queen Has No Crown, Tomer Heymann, Israel (world premiere)
!Women Art Revolution - A Secret History, Lynn Hershman Leeson, USA
We Were Here, David Weissman, USA
Zai Yi Qi (Together), Zhao Liang, China

Supporting Films
Porno Melodrama, Romas Zabarauskas, Lithuania, France and Finland (world premiere)
Spring, Hong Khaou, UK
Warum Madame Warum, Johny Heys, Germany

Panorama Special Screening
Dayereh (The Circle), Jafar Panahi, Iran, 2000

To check information about each film in the Panorama section go here.

Forum

This is the most craziest and daring section of the festival and there are some films that I’m not sure that if I want to watch but definitively are interesting in concept like, for example, the one that has many people smoking one cigarette in real time and is shown one person taking all his necessary time to smoke one cigarette until is put out, then comes next person. Obviously there are some interesting more traditional films in this section that always explore the boundaries between art and cinema as well as the grey area between genres.

Amnistia (Amnesty), Bujar Alimani, Albania, Greece, and France, 2011
Art History, Joe Swanberg, USA, 2011
Auf der Suche (Looking for Simon), Jan Krüger, Germany, 2011
Ausente (Absent), Marco Berger, Argentina, 2011
Brownian Movement, Nanouk Leopold, Netherland, Germany, and Belgium, 2010
Chenggyecheon Medley: A Dream of Iron, Kelvin Kyung Kun Park, South Korea, 2010
Day is Done, Thomas Imbach, Switzerland, 2011
Der Engel van Doel (An Angel in Doel), Tom Fassaert, Netherlands and Belgium, 2011
Dom (The House), Zuzana Liová, Slovak Republic and Czech Republic, 2011
Etwas Besseres als den Tod (Beats Being Dead), Christian Petzold, Germany, 2011
Komm mir nitch nach (Don’t Follow Me Around), Dominik Graf, Germany, 2011
Eine Minute Dunkel (One Minute of Darkness), Christoph Hochhäusler, Germany 2011
Eine Serie von Gedanken (A Series of Thoughts), Germany, 2011
El Mocito (The Young Buttler), Marcela Said and Jean de Certeau, Chile, 2011
E-Love, Anne Villacèque, France, 2011
En terrains connus (Familiar Ground), Stéphane Lafleur, 2011
FIT, Hirosue Hiromasa, Japan, 2010
Folge mir (Follow Me), Johannes Hammel, Austria, 2010
Halaw (Ways of the Sea), Sheron Dayoc, Philippines, 2010
Heaven’s Story, Zeze Takahisa, Japan, 2010
Himmel und Erde (Heaven and Earth), Michael Plitz, Austria, from 1979 to 1982
Hi-So, Aditya Assarat, Thailand, 2010
Jagadangchak: shidaejeongshin kwa hyeonshilchamyeo (Self Referential Traverse: Zeitgeist and Engagement), Kim Sun, South Korea, 2011
Karen Llora en un Bus (Karen Cries on the Bus), Gabriel Rojas Vera, Colombia, 2011
Kazoku X (Household X), Yoshida Koki, Japan, 2010
Les Mains Libres (Free Hands), Brigitte Sy, France, 2010
Made in Poland, Przemyslaw Wojcieszek, Poland, 2010
Man chu (Late Autumn), Kim Tae-Yong, South Korea, Hong Kong, China and USA, 2010
Nesvatbov (Matching Mayor), Erika Hníková, Czech Republic and Slovak Republic, 2010
Ocio (Idleness), Juan Villegas and Alejandro Lingenti, Argentina, 2010
Osmdesát dopisů (Eighty Letters), Václav Kadrnka, Czech Republic, 2011
Os Residentes (The Residents), Tiago, Mata Machado, Brazil, 2010
Patang (The Kite), Prashant Bhargava, India and USA, 2011
Poo kor karn rai (The Terrorists), Thunska Panisittivorakul, Thailand and Germany, 2011
Sekai Good Morning!!! (Good Morning to the World!!!), Hirohara Satoru, Japan, 2010
Silver Bullets, Joe Swanberg, USA, 2011
Sleepless Nights Stories, Jonas Mekas, USA, 2011
State of Violence, Khalo Matabane, South Africa and France, 2010
Submarine, Richard Ayoade, UK, 2010
Swans, Hugo Viera da Silva, Germany and Portugal, 2011
Territoire Perdu (Lost Land), Pierre-Yves Vandeweerd, France and Belgium, 2011
The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye, Marie Losier, USA and France, 2011
The Stool Pigeon, Dante Lam, Hong Kong and China, 2010
Traumfabrik Kabul (Kabul Dream Factory), Sebastian Heidinger, Germany and Afghanistan, 2011
Twenty Cigarettes, James Benning, USA, 2011
Unter Kontrolle (Under Control), Volker Sattel, Germany, 2011
Utopians, Zbigniew Bzymek, USA, 2011
Viva Riva!, Djo Tunda Wa Munga, Congo, France and Belgium, 2010

Forum Special Screening
Talaye Sorkh (Crimson Gold), Jafar Panahi, Iran, 2003

Shibuya Minoru Forum Tribute
Want to record these films in blog as will try to watch them in one of my Japanese cycles.

Akujo no kisetsu (The Days of Evil Women), Shibuya Minoru, Japan, 1958
Daikon to ninjin (The Radish and the Carrot), Shibuya Minoru, Japan, 1964
Gendajin (Modern People), Shibuya Minoru, Japan, 1952
Honjitsu kyushin (Doctor’s Day Off), Shibuya Minoru, Japan, 1952
Kojin kojitsu (A Good Man, A Good Day), Shibuya Minoru, Japan, 1961
Mozu (The Shrikes), Shibuya Minoru, Japan, 1961
Seigiha (Righteousness), Shibuya Minoru, Japan, 1957
Yopparai tengoku (Drunkard’s Paradise), Shibuya Minoru, Japan, 1962

To read information about each film in the Forum section go here and to check films in the Forum Expanded section of Forum go here.

As Perspektive Deutsches Kino sections are not completed yet will wait to do posting; Generation sections are complete and these are the films.

Generation

This is the festival section with films suited for children and youths but as we know films are not made for that target audience, but theme/message is one that young audiences should watch.

Generation Kplus - feature length films
A Pas de Loup (On The Sly), Olivier Ringer, Belgium and France, 2011
Bad o Meh (Wind & Fog), Mohammad Ali Talebi, Iran 2011
Den kæmpestore bjørn (The Great Bear), Esben Toft Jacobsen, Denmark, 2011 (Animation)
De Sterkste Man van Nederland (The strongest man in Holland), Mark de Cloe, Netherlands, 2010
HaDikduk HaPnimi (Intimate Grammar), Nir Bergman, Israel, 2010
Jørgen + Anne = Sant (Totally True Love), Anne Sewitsky, Norway and Germany, 2010
Jutro będzie lepiej (Tomorrow will be better), Dorota Kędzierzawska, Poland and Japan, 2010
Keeper`n til Liverpool (The Liverpool Goalie), Arild Andresen, Norway, 2010
Knerten gifter seg (Twigson ties the knot), Martin Lund, Norway, 2010
Las Malas Intenciones (The Bad Intentions), Rosario García-Montero, Peru, Germany and Argentina, 2011
Mabul (The Flood), Guy Nattiv, Israel, Canada, Germany and France, 2010
Sampaguita, National Flower, Francis Xavier E. Pasion, Philippines, 2010 (documentary)
Une vie de chat (A Cat In Paris), Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli, France, Belgium, Netherlands and Switzerland 2010 (animation)

Kplus Special Screening
Badkonak-e Sefid (The White Balloon), Jafar Panahi, Iran, 1995

Generation 14plus – feature length films

Opening Film: Griff The Invisible, Leon Ford, Australia, 2010

Apflickorna (She Monkeys), Lisa Aschan, Sweden, 2011
The Dynamiter, Matthew Gordon, USA, 2010
El Chico que Miente (The Kid Who Lies), Marité Ugás, Venezuela and Peru, 2011
Frit fald (Rebounce), Heidi Maria Faisst, Denmark, 2011
Jess + Moss, Clay Jeter, USA, 2011
Mit dem Bauch durch die Wand (Against All Odds), Anka Schmid, Switzerland 2011 (documentary)
On the Ice, Andrew Okpeaha MacLean, USA, 2011
Red Dog, Kriv Stenders, Australia, 2010
Shanzha shu zhi lian (Under The Hawthorn Tree), Zhang Yimou, China, 2010
Skyskraber (Skyscraper), Rune Schjøtt, Denmark, 2010
Stadt Land Fluss (Harvest), Benjamin Cantu, Germany, 2011
West Is West, Andy De Emmony, UK, 2010

To read complete press release that includes out of competition feature films and short films in each category go here. To check information about each film go here.

Perspektive Deutsches Kino

The section aims to stimulate interest in new thematic and stylistic trends amongst the next generation of German filmmakers. This section takes audiences on a journey of discovery. Alongside established names, it presents the unexpected and takes risks to provide some insight into the future of German cinema. The following list includes feature films, short films and documentaries.

Der Preis (The Prize), Elke Hauck, Germany, 2011
Die Ausbidung (The Education), Dirk Lütter, Germany, 2011
Dígame - Sag mir (Dígame – Tell Me), Josephine Frydetzki, Germany, 2010
Eisblumen (Ice Flowers), Susan Gordanshekan, Germany, 2011
Kampf der Königinnen (Battle of the Queens), Nicolas Steiner, Germany and Switzerland, 2011
Lollipop Monster, Ziska Reimann, Germany, 2011
Rotkohl und Blaukraut (Turkish Kraut), Anna Hepp, Germany, 2011
Kamakia – Die Helden der Insel (Kamakia – The Heroes of the Island), Jasin Challah, Germany, 2010
Utopia Ltd, Sandra Trostel, Germany, 2011
Vaterlandsverräter, Annekatrin Hendel, Germany, 2011
weisst du eigentlich dass ganz viele blumen blühen im park (you know the park is filled with flowers), Lothar Herzog, Germany, 2010

Guest of Perspektive Deutches Kino
Der Albaner (The Albanian), Johannes Naber, Germany and Albania, 2010
Ein Sommer voller Türen (Charity Salesmen), Stefan Ludwig, Germany, 2010
Stuggart 21 – Denk mal! (Stuggart 21 – think to remember!), Lisa Sperling and Florian Kläger, Germany, 2011

To check info about films in Perspektive Deutsches Kino go here.

Other Sections

Most interesting is Ingmar Bergman Retrospective press release is here. More information available here. The list of Bergman films in the Retrospective is overwhelming with almost all his films if not all; also in the list that's here there are other films that will be screened in other retrospectives.

Homage will screen films starring Armin Mueller-Stahl from excellent directors like Costa-Gravas, Sluizer, Cronenber and several others. Check movies here.

Berlinale Special this year includes recent films as well as a Tribute to Lia Van Leer, In Memoriam Mario Monicelli, and In Memoriam Bernd Eichinger. To check all films in this section go here.

German Cinema - LOLA@Berlinale will screen many films that you can check here.

Berlinale Shorts 2011 press release and list is here. To check list of all short films in this section go here.

Berlinale Talent Campus about Filming War, press release is here.To check events and all films in this section go here.  Most interesting is an event called "As Queer As It Gets" with John Greyson, Wieland Speck, Thunska Pansittivorakul and Christine Vachon.  Talent Campus with info for filmmakers separate site is here.

Berlinale Co-Production Market 2011, press release with details and list of 38 selected film projects from 25 countries is here.

Culinary Cinema 2011, preliminary information is here. To check films in this VERY interesting-concept section go here.

European Film Market site is here.

I’m so tempted to start ‘playing’ with this festival but I know is too early so will wait until full programs are posted at site, but now we all have the first idea about what will be happening at the fest this year. Obviously films competing for the Teddy will be identified when full program is published.

I’m still hook on current awards season and many awards news will come in the next 5 weeks, but I know I will stop all award news when the fest starts on February 10th.

Cheers!!!

34th Göteborg International Film Festival Line-up

The leading film festival in Scandinavia will run from January 28 to February 7 and here are some of the 442 films the fest will screen.

Dragon Award for Best Nordic Film

Opening Film: Kongen av Bastøy (King’s Devil’s Island), Marius Holst, Norway

Apflickorna (She Monkeys), Lisa Aschan, Sweden
Brim, Árni Ólafur Asgeirsson, Iceland
Jag Saknar Dig (I Miss You), Anders Grönros, Sweden
Odjuret (Savage), Martin Jern and Emil Larsson, Sweden
Princessa (Princess), Arto Harlonen, Finland
Sandheden om mænd (Truth About Men), Nikolaj Arcel, Denmark
Sykt Lykkelig (Happy Happy), Anne Sewitsky, Norway

To view films list at fest site go here or browse festival program magazine here.

Closing Film (out of completion): Isolerad (Corridor), Johan Lundborg and John Storm, Sweden

The Ingmar Bergman International Debut Award
Given to the director of first or second films

Ryan Redford for Oliver Sherman, Canada
Olivier Masset-Deppase for Illégal (Illegal), Belgium
Alix Delaporte for Angèle et Tony, France
Athina Rachel Tsangari for Attenberg, Greece
Clio Barnard for The Arbor, UK
Maria Sødahl for Limbo, Norway
Federico Vieroj for La vida útil (A Useful Life), Uruguay and Spain
Derek Cianfrance for Blue Valentine, USA

To check list at fest site go here and to check other sections go here.

Romanian Focus section will screen six recent new wave Romanian feature films plus four classics (1968 to 1982), shorts, seminars and a Mihail Livada retrospective. More info here.

Festival will show ten “Red Westerns” that were often shot in places like Yugoslavia, Mongolia and southern Soviet Union; quite often the roles were reversed compared to their American models: good Indians and bad cowboys. The concept of Soviet cowboys and East German Indians has a strange ring to it, but the fact is that the former Eastern Bloc produced lots of western films from the 1920s until the early 1980s. Read more here.

Also very interesting is The Dragon Award for New Talent that’s defined as: “The World’s Largest Online Short Film Competition” that screens short films for you to watch and VOTE. There are many shorts that you can find here voting is open until January 17th and winner will be announced on February 4th.

Film closing ceremony is Saturday, February 5.

Daisy Diamond

A very hard, I mean HARD, to watch disturbing film on so many levels that absolutely don't recommend it to the weak of heart and/or those that don't like to watch all kinds of graphic scenes (including -but not only- sex scenes). Still, absolutely one film not to miss if you enjoyed Noomi Rapace in the three Millennium movies with the most incredible performance as Lisbeth Salander.

This film is all about Noomi Rapace performance as Anna and she's almost in every scene, if not all. There are many scenes where she's looking at the camera in very-close close-ups, so close that you can see her face skin pores. Her performance is absolutely impressive, so real that makes the movie so believable and completely makes more disturbing the already disturbing story.

Is a film that I know will confuse many, but to me everything that happens in Anna's auditions is what happened to her for real which only adds irony to her not getting the roles she's audition for. The layered story is about a young woman that wants to be an actress so leaves Sweden for Copenhagen only to get pregnant and have a child that will complicate her desire to be an actress enormously. While story unravels, you will start to go crazy with the child crying and don't doubt that very soon you'll know what will happen as probably you thought about it first. After the unthinkable happens everything is a downfall as she loses total control of her actions and her life in general.

This film has so many references to one of my favorite films, Ingmar Bergman's Persona, that I tend to think that Simon Staho, director and co writer, with this movie did his own homage to Bergman's classic. This is another reason why you should watch this film if you haven't watch it by now. Can't help but to mention that while this is a Danish production with a Danish director, the film looks and feels like excellent Swedish cinema.

For this magnificent role and performance Noomi Rapace won the Best Actress Award at the 2008 Bodil Awards and the 2008 Robert Awards, plus the film got 7 nominations in both awards.

Do I recommend the film? Yes I do, but be prepared for VERY HARD to watch visuals and story. Absolutely not a film to enjoy, but to keep the ratings here goes the closing line.

Enjoy!!!

Watch trailer @Movie On Companion

Day 9 Cannes News

Sorry about yesterday but today is a better day for Cannes and for me.

Today @ Cannes

Official Competition: Today Doug Liman’s Fair Game, please read below in Serious Nots what I think about this film. Also Daniele Luchetti’s La Nostra Vita (Our Life) and the last film to enter the competition Route Irish by Ken Loach that is a must be seen film for me even when early British critics’ reviews are not on the positive side.

Out of Competition: Yesterday the last film in this program was screened. I imagine that many of you have not much idea who Carlos is, but I do and hopefully I will be able to watch the 5 hours 33 minutes TV miniseries and not the 2 ½ movie version. Yes, I’m curious about this portrait of the so-called Jackal that has broken a no-no in Cannes when screening in such prominent way a TV program.

Un Certain Regard: Today a film that has stimulated my total curiosity, Rebecca H. (Return to the Dogs) by Lodge Kerrigan and I really hope that does not disappoint me when I’m able to watch it. Also Simon Werner A Disparu… (Lights Out) by Fabrice Gobert that French critics say "starts like an American film" but 'fast' becomes more" (lol!).

Cinefondation: Today Programme 2 and 3 with six short films. Tomorrow we will learn the award winners.

Cannes Classics: Yesterday they had the only Lecon de Cinema of the fest (?!?!) with Marco Bellocchio, plus had one movie that would like to watch the restored version, John Huston’s 1951 classic, The African Queen.

Today a film that I wonder if I wish to revisit as really shocked me when I first saw it and prefers to keep that souvenir than erase it today, restored version of Psycho by Alfred Hitchcock. Also, Roberto Rossellini’s 1941 short film, Il Ruscello di Ripasottile and 1973 Titash Ekti Nadir Naam (A River Called Titash) by Ritwik Ghatak. But the one I have to watch is Men Filmen Ar Min Alskarinna (But Film Is My Mistress) the documentary by Stig Bjorkman about Ingmar Bergman.

With these films the program closes today, but I hope that excellent DVD labels like Criterion will be able to hopefully soon release some of these restored versions, so we cinema lovers can enjoy those films again.

Cinema de la Plage: Today Roy Rowland’s 1963 The Girl Hunters.

Quinzaine: Yesterday they had one film that seems visually very interesting, Todos Vos Sodes Capitan’s by Oliver Laxe, plus one of the few with a female director, Alicia Duffy’s All Good Children and last the Rolling Stones documentary, Stones in Exile by Stephen Kijak.

Today one gay interest film that calls my attention beyond the genre, Picco by Philip Koch. Also Boxing Gym by Frederick Wiseman, plus the first (of two) screening of short films.

Wish to remind you that this section is non-competitive, still some awards are handled every year, like Label Europa Cinemas, Art Cinema Award and Prix SACD for feature films and Prix SFR for short films.

Semaine de la Critique: Today is the last day of this parallel section and will screen films that are an invitation to Mexican Festival de Morelia, Revolución by many great Mexican directors, especially Carlos Reygadas!!! (for sure will watch it in MUBI as I’m simply dying to watch Reygadas work); also the short film Señora Pajaro by Veronique Decroux and Julio Barcenas.

At 8:00pm Cannes local time the Award Ceremony will start with the screening of the two ‘unexpected’ short films Bastard by Kirsten Dunst and The Clerk’s Tale by James Franco. About 20 mins later the award ceremony will start and will follow it live at the section facebook site, so expect news as they happen. Additional collateral awards will be announced tomorrow evening.

Serious Notes

I’m watching the Fair Game press conference and if you are like me that wasn’t that much interested in an American film about a recent known story, I suggest you watch it as my impression changed dramatically. Yes, now I’m very interested in watching this film that –according to what they say- does not tell a ‘political’ story but a –sort of universal- story about first an incredible working woman and second about her colorful husband. My expectations have risen but I still remember that the director did a terrible film, Mr. & Mrs. Smith… which by the way was the last question!!! (lol!). His answer is acceptable and probably spoke truth.

Talking about the film and miniseries Carlos, some of you have to be interested in learning that in USA, IFC will release the 2 ½ film version and even before its theatrical release, Sundance channel will air the complete miniseries. Also Telluride and New York Film Festival have the film in this year’s program. By the way, American critics write very positive reviews (including the ones I read)… my question: should I worry? Nah, I’ll watch it anyway… even if really is similar to those action movies they mention, like The Bourne Identity (but they say “with more substance”). (lol!)

IFC also got the rights for North America of Xavier Dolan’s Les Amours Imaginaries; the film will be released on theaters and VOD.

As always Un Certain Regard Official Selection will be screened at Paris from May 26th to June 1st and if you’re interested check the schedule here.

The last (has to be) film to join the selection yesterday, Making Fuck Off is a documentary by Fred Poulet who followed the filming of Mammuth by Benoit Delepine and Gustave Kervern and starring Gerard Depardieu, Isabelle Adjani, Yolande Moreau and Anna Mouglalis. The documentary seems very interesting, as well as the film that was at the last Berlinale!

In the eve of the fest coming to an end this weekend I have to say that my spontaneous reaction to this year’s films is that they are not like last year at all. We know that’s hard to really ‘know’ if you’re going to like or not a film before watching, but at least you can feel curious about the latest job of a particular director, about a performance, a story and/or visual imagery. I really hope I’m absolutely wrong and many films from all the programs do ‘surprise’ me when I’m able to watch them, as we all know that the Cannes Selection ‘seal’ is not given freely to any film and let’s hope that this year is not the exception.

I strongly suggest to my photographer friend to check information about JR’s very interesting and complete project. The film Women are Heroes documents his work, but the scope of the project is wider than one film. Check all about the exhibition of this photographer that specializes in “illegal pasting”. Very interesting as a photography exhibition. The film has to be hard-to-watch with women telling their stories, but I’ll will watch.

The Not so Serious Notes

Vanessa Paradis will be at the red carpet during the weekend (probably the closing ceremony) I really hope Johnny Depp is with her (lol!).

The Irreverent News

If you’re into watching -for fun- the Worst Dresses at the fest, take a look at Canal+ slideshow here some are truly horrible! (like the one with an ‘eye’, lol!).

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Recently a film that I didn't paid much attention was screened, Derek Cianfrance's Blue Valentine. Today I found many positive reviews by French critics and press writers. My surprise is that Michelle Williams not only plays the lead but also is a producer. Yes, now I'm interested in this film and to feel better here is today's photo with very nice-looking Michelle walking the Cannes streets.



I imagine that many of you know that if you click the picture you will see it larger (size is small so page loads faster), but in case some of you don't, I'm telling you.

Revisiting Tarkovsky

Since I started this blog, my greatest pleasure still is the opportunity to watch almost everything by Andrei Tarkovsky and today I learned that some of you that live near New York City will have the opportunity to watch in the big screen a complete retrospective of the master Russian filmmaker. Lucky you all!!

The Film Society of Lincoln Center will screen from July 7 to the 14 the seven (7) feature films by Tarkovsky and besides being sorry for not being able to go to NYC, I’m sorry that they didn’t included his amazing short films.

Anyway you will be able to watch Andrei Rublev, Ivan’s Childhood, The Mirror, Nostalgia, The Sacrifice, Solaris and Stalker. Also the retrospective includes the documentary Meeting Andrei Tarkovsky by Dmitry Trakovsky that’s one of the several Tarkovsky interesting homage documents available and if you feel like watching the trailer go Movie On Companion.

If you feel like checking more information about this great retrospective and learn about showtimes and purchasing tickets go here. Because is a remarkable quote, I’m reproducing here the opening of the retrospective presentation at the Film Society official site.

"Tarkovsky for me is the greatest, the one who invented a new language, true to the nature of film, as it captures life as a reflection, life as a dream." -Ingmar Bergman

If you’re able to attend this retrospective, I know you will be transported to a highly imaginative visual and narrative world not often seen in any-country cinema. Tarkovsky’s mastery is really impressive!

Please do not miss this great opportunity.

Cheers!!!

33rd International Hong Kong Film Festival Award Winners

The fest will run from March 22 to April 13 and here are the films in the Asian Digital Competition.

Glamorous Youth, Philip Yung, 2009
Youth, and life in general, is anything but glamorous for a group of students and their families in Yung’s melancholic social drama. Romantic woes and confused sexuality for both young and old, internal and external parental conflict and feelings of isolation afflict individuals from all strata of Hong Kong society, underscoring their commonalities as much as it does their differences. In a city of conspicuous wealth and its new status as part of a larger nation, the families feel only anxiety and powerlessness about the bliss they should be seeking.

Perfect Life, Emily Tang, 2009 (co produced by Jia Zhan-ke! – absolutely must be seen)
Like her co-producer Jia Zhangke’s recent films, Emily Tang’s sensitively observed Perfect Life experiments with the documentary and fiction form, cross-cutting them to reveal parallels and contrasts within China’s new social and economic reality. The first segment revolves around a working-class girl (superbly played by Yao Qianyu) who dreams of leaving her broken home, and a charismatic conman who leads her south. The second part switches to a documentary format, focusing on a Mainland woman in Hong Kong who is struggling to become independent. Their tales are fundamentally linked by their mutual desire for a better life. Winner of the Golden Digital Award.

PERFECT LIFE (WAMMEI SHENHUO) - Trailer



Er Dong, Yang Jin, 2008
The titular Er Dong is a brawny teenager who lives with his ultra-Christian mother. Prone to fights and troubles, his exasperated parent soon banishes him to a Christian boarding school, where he seemingly begins to reform. However, a bout of truancy leads to his expulsion, but not before he elopes with a girl named Chang E. After she becomes pregnant, he takes the responsibility of breadwinner. But a recurring nightmare about selling his own child unravels a shocking revelation. Er Dong is a realistic and refreshing coming-of-age film whereby the protagonist actually never really grows up but falls into a recurring pattern of vice.

Naked of Defenses, Ichii Masahide, Japan, 2008
Winner at Japan’s PIA Film Festival and the New Currents in Pusan, this moving, a naturalistic yet deceptively simple tale of two women strikes a realistic chord in its gradual build-up of a friendship. Ritsuko works in a local plastic factory that has recently hired a pregnant newcomer, Chinatsu. At first, the two women sense an affinity. But Ritsuko, who is trying to come to terms with her miscarriage and her loveless marriage, alternates between envy and hatred for her new friend. Director Ichii effortlessly lets the tale come to its own natural conclusion, giving the women space to bond over their shared maternal instincts.

Call if You Need Me, James Lee, Malasia, 2009
James Lee’s newest indie film is a classic brotherhood gangster yarn fronted by a lead turn by local music wunderkind Pete Teo. Ah Soon and Or Kia are two cousins who grew up together in a small village. As an adult, aggressive Ah Soon now lives in the city and works as a debt collector. He invites Or Kia, the simpler and more righteous of the two, to join his expanding business. It would be Ping, Ah Soon’s new girlfriend, who would act as the bridge between the two men, as the age-old themes of loyalty and honor are explored. This understated work marks a direct contrast to his commercial horror film, Histeria. Winner of the Silver Digital Award.

Imburnal, Sherad Anthony Sanchez, Phillipines, 2008
A controversial digital exploration of coming of age in the slums of Davao City in the Phillipines. Two boys, Rabat and Allen, live in sewers and cemeteries, surviving through petty crime. Sanchez captures an intimate, anti-narrative world of experience, sex, and conversation framed by wandering through the landscape of the glittering city. But poverty and alienation in Davao are also framed by violence – disappearances and death squads who seek to clean the city of its juvenile delinquents. A raw, complex, compelling work exploring the slums without the Hollywood/Bollywood gloss of Slumdog Millionaire’s happy ending.

Flooding in the Time of Drought, Sherman Ong, Singapore, 2009
What if Singapore has no running tap water? Despite being surrounded by the sea, the island nation must purchase such a basic natural resource from overseas. But water can also be a double-edged sword – too little or too much of it can cause death. To reflect this, Sherman Ong’s work is split in two parts, namely “Drought” and “Flood”, showing the dichotomy that exists between our relationship with the vital element. Originally made as an installation for the Singapore Biennale, this fusion of documentary and fiction narrative depicts the lives of foreign migrants while the topic of death and impending catastrophe surrounds them.

Daytime Drinking, Noh Young-seok, South Korea, 2008
In Korea, it is a customary thing to accept when one is offered a drink. Noh Young-seok’s hilarious debut will hit close to home for those who understand this, especially in regards to the epic hangover the following day. Nursing a broken heart, Hyeok-jin gathers with friends and then becomes utterly inebriated. In a drunken haze, they all promise to take a trip the next day to the neighboring province. Unfortunately, he is the only person that actually goes. Then trough a series of mishaps that ends up with him in only his underwear, Hyeok-jin’s constant desire to go back home is constantly thwarted by more courteous offers of soju.

There are many sections in this fest and I suggest to check the Global Vision, Pan-Chinese Cinema (especially Chinese Renaissance), and the Tributes. To check all the films, docs and shorts please go here.

Since I particularly enjoyed Sandrine Pinna performance in Miao Miao, I’m really looking forward to see her again in
Yang Yang, Cheng Yu-Chieh, 2009
A moving film about youth, love, and trust haunted by metaphysical issues and personal choices – themes that emerging bicultural filmmaker Cheng has explored in his earlier films. Here, the Eurasian protagonist, Yang-Yang, is torn by loyalty to friend and teammaters and attraction to her best-friend boyfriend, until an apocalyptic vision causes her to act – and lose everything. These events, in turn, resonate later when Taiwan faces ominous conditions and Yang-Yang begins her search for a man who may be her father, with a photographer who may call her back to life even when the end threatens her world.

But also, some interesting discoveries in the lesbian interest genre:

Je Te Mangerais (You Will Be Mine), Sophie Laloy, France 2008 – with Isid Le Besco.
The film transcends being simply a Gallic spin on Single White Female. Marie moves to Lyon to study music, and to save money she moves in with an older friend of the family, Emma. What starts as a friendship of convenience disintegrates to one of mutual obsession, control and dependence, until both women lose themselves completely. Marie’s conflicting desires –for success, to seem sophisticated, for Emma and Sami, another student in her institute – ground Laloy’s study of the fragility of identity and unhealthy needs that sometimes drive us.

At Stake, Ucu Agustin, Lucky Kuswandi, Iwan Setiawan & M. Ichsan, and Ani Ema Susanti, Indonesia, 2008
Nia Dinata returns as producer for this collection of hot-topic but relevant and vital issues. This time, the filmmakers explore subject matters facing contemporary Indonesian women as wide-ranging as reproductive health, prostitution, motherhood, and homosexuality. These stories are not often addressed in a country where the perception of virginity is valued above well-being and where the female body is viewed as a dirty little secret. Through a series of compelling vignettes, the five directors sensitively examine how the law and general society have put women in a precarious position.

They will also screen Ghosted, Monika Treut, Germany and Taiwan, 2009.

All film descriptions/synopsis come from the fest site and if you live in Hong Kong I suggest you do not miss in the Asian Film Awards Screenings of 20 Nominated Films that the fest will screen in the extension activities, especially Jodhaa Akbar with Aishwayra Rai. Also check the extension activity: Ingmar Bergman: The Man Who Asked Hard Questions Exhibition.

Great fest with great movies! To check all the award winners please go here.

32nd Göteborg International Film Festival Lineup

From January 23 to February 2 the fest will take place in Sweden and here are the eight films competing for The Nordic Film Award.

Drottningen och jag (The Queen and I), Nahid Persson Sarvestani, Sweden
The Swedish Iranian documentary filmmaker meets her former opponent - Farah Diba, the wife of the shah of Iran.

Sveitabrúokaup (Country Wedding), Valdis Oskarsdottir, Iceland
A drama about a wedding on the Icelandic countryside. Directed by the acclaimed editor of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

Velsignelsen (The Blessing), Heidi Maria Faisst, Denmark
A story with personal visual language about a woman who tries to adjust to her new role as a mother.

Guidance, Johan Jonason, Sweden
A hopeful and humoristic and weird story about a man who tries an alternative therapy method to get rid of his back problems.

De gales hus (House of Fools), Eva Isaksen, Norway
An urgent and funny film about a newborn lust for life at a psychiatric ward. Based on the novel by the Norwegian author Karin Fossum.

Kielletty hedelmä (Forbidden Fruit), Dome Karukoski, Finland
A drama about friendship and revolt where 18 year old Mary runs off to the big city and Rachel goes after to make her come back.

I skuggan av värmen (In Your Veins), Beata Gårdeler, Sweden and Norway
A serious and sexually intense film about the relationship between a drug addicted security guard and a naive policeman, based on the novel by Lotta Thell.

Muukalainen (The Visitor), Jukka-Pekka Valkeapää, Finland
Strong and quiet, Tarkovsky inspired story about a mother and a son on an isolated farm. (Absolutely a must be seen for me)

To read the press release that includes another eleven Swedish world premieres go here.

The Ingmar Bergman International Debut Award is the film award to discover new talent with eight international debutants competing for the award described as for “a director making his or her debut with a film dealing with existential issues in a broad sense and displaying a dynamic or experimental awareness of the cinematic means of expression.” Have to say that just because of the award name this must be one award that many filmmakers have to wish to win. The nominees are:

Los Bastardos (The Bastards), Amat Escalante, México, France and USA, 2008
Das Fremde in mir (The Stranger in Me), Emily Atef, Germany, 2008
Desierto Adentro (The Desert Within), Rodrigo Plá, Mexico
Il y a longtemps que je t’aime (I’ve Loved You So Long), Philippe Clauderl, France, 2008
Al-Mor wa al Rumman (Pomegranates and Myrrh), Najwa Najjar, Palestine
Parque vía, Enrique Rivero, Mexico, 2008
Snijeg (Snow) Aida Begic, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Synedoche, New York, Charlie Kaufaman, USA

This is a very interesting movie selection that definitively jurors will have a hard time deciding the winner. Have seen only one but ALL are in my must be seen movie list.

The festival catalog is just great but unfortunately is available only in Swedish a language that I have very limited knowledge… still is quite complete and has great pictures of films. If you want to take a look go here.

The fest has a LGBT section that you can check the films here, again the lesbian interest films are not many as they will screen only To Faro and Affinity. If you want to read the press release with a very suggestive name: Gus Van Sant’s Milk heads massive gay section go here.

One of the most interesting sections is Turkey – Country in Focus that will screen 13 movies and one that I have to see is Milk (Süt) that is the next Semih Kaplanoglu film after Yumurta. You can check all the movies here.

There are many films in the fest and to browse the films you can go here and check each section of the fest to find the films. All films have an IMDb link if you need to use it to read more information.

56th San Sebastian International Film Festival News

Today this fest started in the Basque city and well, I’ll be checking what’s going on everyday and if there is something worth mention I’ll posted. Think that today I’ll post some of the Juries.

Official Selection Jury Members
Jonathan Demme (President), Producer and Director USA
Michael Ballhaus, Cinematographer, Germany
Martina Gusman Urruti, Producer and Actress, Argentina (She’s the producer and star of Pablo Trapero’s Leonera)
Nasato Harada, Director, Writer and Actor, Japan
Nadine Labaki, Director and Actress, Lebanon
Clare Peploe, Director, Tanzania born works in Italy
Leonor Watling, Actress, Spain

New Directors Award
Joan Chen (President), Actress and Director, China and USA
Koldo Almandoz, Producer, Spain
Calmin Borel, Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival Delegate, France
Sandra Den Hamer, Director of the Filmmuseum in Amsterdam
Keja Ho Kramer, Video Artist, USA and France
Hitashi Okajima, Chief Curator, National Film Center, National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
Antonio Santamarina, Manager of the Spanish Film Library Doré Cinema, critic and cinema historian, Spain

I’m impressed and have to comment that this is truly an interesting, interdisciplinary and diverse jury.

Horizontes Award Jury
Mirtha Ibarra (President), Actress, Cuba and Spain
Jorge Goldenberg, Director, Argentina
Luis Miñarro, Producer, Spain

On other news the winner of The FIAF Award was announced and here it is the official announcement with some additional info about this award.

The International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF) presents the eighth FIAF Award to the worldwide renown Brazilian film director Nelson Pereira dos Santos. The Award will be presented to Mr Nelson Pereira dos Santos by FIAF Vice-President Hisashi Okajima on 25September 2008 in San Sebastian.

The FIAF Awards have been presented to the following personalities: Martin Scorsese (at the New York Film Festival in 2001), Manoel de Oliveira (at the San Sebastian Film Festival in 2002), Ingmar Bergman (at the 59th FIAF Congress in Stockholm in 2003), Geraldine Chaplin (at the 61 Mostra del Cinema di Venezia in 2004), Mike Leigh (at the London Film Festival in 2005), Hou Hsiao-hsien (at the Golden Horse Film Festival in Taipei, in 2006) and Peter Bogdanovich (at the International Film Festival in Toronto in 2007). With the presentation of the 2008 FIAF Award to Nelson Pereira dos Santos, the Executive Committee has underlined its willingness to reward a great representative of the Latin American Cinema, and of the Brazilian Cinema Novo.

30th Moscow International Film Festival

The festival will run from June 19 to 28 and the festival President is none other than Nikita Mikhalkov. Here are the films in the Main Competition.

Absurdistan, Veit Helmer, Germany and Azerbaijan, 2008
Amanecer de un Sueño (Awaking from a Dream), Freddy Mas Franqueza, Spain and Poland, 2008
Be Hamin Sadegi (As Simple As That), Reza Mir Karimi, Iran, 2008
Der Mond Und Andere Liebhaber (The Moon and Other Lovers), Bernd Boehlich, Germany, 2008
Duidande Zhangzheng (The War of the Shore), Li Xin, China, 2007
For My Father, Dror Zahavi, Israel, 2007
Giorni e Nuvole (Days and Clouds),. Silvio Soldini, Italy and Switzerland, 2007
Majdnem Szüz (Virtual Virgin), Péter Bacsó, Hungary, 2008
Mao Ce Dun (Mao Tse-tung), Besnik Bisha, Albania, 2007 (puzzling!)
Odnazhdy V Provintsii (Once Upon a Time in the Provinces), Katya Shagalova, Russia, 2008
Raiskiye Ptitsy (Birds of Paradaise), Roman Balayan, Ukraine, 2008
Sad (The Cherry Orchard), Serguey Ovcharov, Russia, 2008 (yes, screen version of Chekhov’s play)
Un Coeur Simple (The Simple Heart), Marion Laine, France, 2008 (based on Falubert… seems VERY interesting!)
Veđramót (A Quiet Storm), Guðny Halldórsdóttir, Iceland, 2007
The Visitor, Tom McCarthy, USA, 2007
Zift, Javor Gardev, Bulgaria, 2008 (a mixture of neo-noir and sots-art… have to see this!)

Opening Ceremony: Hancock, Peter Berg, USA, 2008
Closing Ceremony: Maradona By Kusturica, Emir Kusturica, Spain and France, 2006

In the Perspectives Program there are some interesting movies like the following.
Cumbia Callera (Cumbia Connection), Rene U. Villareal, Mexico, 2007
One Shot, Linda Wendel, Denmark, 2008 (yes is a one shot movie)
Nevando Voy (Under the Snow), Maitena Muruzabal and Candela Figueira, Spain and Argentina, 2007
Rerberg and Tarkovsky. Reverse side of Stalker, Igor Maiboroda, Russia, 2008 (a must be seen for me!)
Unrelated, Joanna Hogg, UK, 2007

In the Moscow Euphoria Program there is one movie that totally got my attention Las Meninas, Ihor Podolchak, Ukraine, 2008 look at the description: Las Meninas is not a film about a story; it is a film about senses. It resembles the scattered pieces of a puzzle and it is the task of the audience to put the pieces together. The almost magical visual part bears reminiscences of 17th century still lifes. The music and the sound added to it absorb the viewers and give them the feeling of being a part of this visual experience.

They are honoring great directors that passed away last year and recently and showing La Notte by Michelangelo Antonioni, Cries and Wispers by Ingmar Bergman, and Three Days of the Condor by Sydney Pollack. Also there are homages to Liv Ullman showing some of her movies where she acted and those that she directed; to Isabelle Hupert, to John Cassavettes, and to Takeshi Kitano. Then there are so many good old Soviet Union and newer Russian movies that just gave me the chills and wished I could revisit some and be able to watch many more that haven’t seen.

Also screening Sex: The Revolution, Harry Perry and Richard Lowe, USA, 2007 a documentary that I recently saw and I do highly recommend.

To check all the programs and information about all the films go here.

4th Seville Film Festival

Last November 2nd this festival started and will screen 150 movies from 33 countries. There are many new movies in this festival, too many to list them but I’ll list the ones participating in the competition sections.



Official Selection

A Londoni Férfi (The Man From London), Béla Tarr, Hungary, France and Germany
A Outra Margem (The Other Side), Luis Filipe Rocha, Portugal (Gay Interest)
Adama Meshuga (Sweet Mud), Dror Shaul, Israel, Germany, France, Japan
Aleksandra (Alexandra), Alexander Sokuv, Russia and France
Auf der Anderen Seite (The Edge of Heaven), Fatih Akin, Germany and Turkey (“dying” to see this one!)
Déjate Caer, Jesús Ponce, Spain
Du Levande (You, the Living), Roy Andersson, Sweden, Norway, Germany, France and Denmark
Gegenüber (Counterparts), Jan Bonny, Germany
Irina Palm, Sam Garbarski, Belgium, Germany, Luxemburg, UK and France
Iszka Utazása (Iska), Csaba Bollók, Hungary (interesting story!)
It’s a Free World, Ken Loach, UK, Italy, Germany, Spain
Izgnanie (The Banishment), Andrey Zvyagintsev, Russia (have to see this one!)
La Fille Coupée en Deux (The Girl Cut in Two), Claude Chabrol, France (Chabrol have to see it)
La Masseria delle Allodole (The Lark Farm), Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, Italy, Bulgaria, Spain and France (starring Paz Vega!)
Mio Fratello é Figlio Unico (My Brother is an Only Child), Daniele Luchetti, Italy
Ne Touchez Pas La Hache, Jacques Rivette, France and Italy
Obsluhovai Jsem Anglického Krále (I Served the King of England), Jirí Menzel, Czech Republic and Slovenia
Ulzhan, Volker Schlöndorff, Germany, France and Kazakhstan

Europa_Europa

4 luni, 3 saptamini si 2 zile / 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007): Cristian Mungiu - Romania
Am Ende kommen Touristen / And Along Come Tourists (2007): Robert Thalheim - Germany
Andalucía (2007): Alain Gomis – Spain and France
Anna M. (2007): Michel Spinosa – France
Bikur Ha-Tizmoret / The Band's Visit (2007): Eran Kolirin - Israel, France
Boldog új elet / Happy New Life (2007): Árpád Bogdán - Hungary
Börn / Children (2006): Ragnar Bragason - Iceland
Bufor / Beaufort (2007): Joseph Cedar – Israel
Dagen zonder lief / With Friends Like These… (2007): Felix van Groeningen - Belgium
Den Nya Människan / The New Man (2007): Klaus Härö - Sweden
Der Blinde Fleck / Blind Spot (2007): Tom Zenker - Germany
Eduart (2007): Angeliki Antoniou - Greece, Germany
El silencio de las piedras (2006): Jesús Manuel Rubio - Spain
Farväl Falkenberg / Falkenberg Farewell (2006): Jesper Ganslandt - Sweden, Denmark
Ha-Buah / The Bubble (2006): Eytan Fox - Israel
Hotel Very Welcome (2007): Sonja Heiss - Germany
In memoria di me / In Memory of Myself (2007): Saverio Costanzo - Italy
J'ai toujours rêvé d'être un gangster / I Always Wanted to Be a Gangster (2007): Samuel Benchetrit - France
Kunsten at graede i kor / The Art of Crying (2007): Peter Schønau Fog - Denmark
La cena per farli conoscere / A Dinner for Them to Meet (2007): Pupi Avati - Italy
Lady Chatterley et l’homme de bois (2006): Pascale Ferran - Francia, Belgium
Le rose del deserto / Roses from the Desert (2006): Mario Monicelli - Italy
Meduzot / Jellyfish (2007): Etgar Keret & Shira Geffen - Israel, France
Miehen työ / Man's Job (2007): Aleksi Salmenperä - Finland
Mýrin / Jar City (2006): Baltasar Kormákur - Iceland
När mörkret faller / When Darkness Falls (2006): Anders Nilsson - Sweden, Germany
Obarnata Elha / Christmas Tree Upside Down (2006): Ivan Čerkelov, Vasil Živkov - Bulgaria
Ober / Walter (2006): Alex van Warmerdam - Netherlands
Plac Zbawiciela / Savior's Square (2006): Krzysztof Krauze, Joanna Kos - Poland
Reprise (2007): Joachim Traer - Norway
Strength & Honour (2006): Mark Mahon – Ireland
Tehilim (2006): Raphaël Nadjari - France, Israel
Yella (2007): Christian Petzold – Germany

Eurimages

Coeurs (Private Fears in Public Places), Alain Resnais, 2006, France and Italy
Dotcom Luis Galvão Teles, Portugal, Spain, Ireland, UK and Brazil
Klopka (The Trap), Srdan Golubovic, Serbia, Montenegro, Germany and Hungary
Madonnen (Madonnas), Maria Speth, Germany, Belgium and Czech Republic
Nadzieja (Hope), Stanislaw Mucha, Poland and Germany
Opium - Egy elmebeteg nö naplója (Opium - Diary of a Madwoman), János Szász, Hungary and Germany
Takva (Takva - A Man's Fear of God), Özer Kiziltan, 2006, Germany
Yumurta (Egg), Semih Kaplanoglu, Turkey and Greece

There will be an homage to Michelangelo Antonioni and Ingmar Bergman and will screen L’Avventura, Al di lá delle Nuvole and Saraband.

To check the fest site go here.