Romania's "New Wave" at Cannes, Reviews, Plus

SERIES: Major Film Festivals

First, Ken Loach's ROUTE IRISH, a last minute addition to films in competition at the 63rd Cannes International Film Festival (CIFF) brings the number to 19. Loach's THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY won the Palme d'Or in 2006.

The title ROUTE IRISH is from the infamous, dangerous road that links Baghdad’s international ‘Green Zone’ with the city’s airport, and it marks the 73-year-old director’s first attempt to grapple with the Iraq War of the past six years. But ROUTE IRISH doesn’t deal with high politics. Instead, it explores the murky world of British ex-soldiers who work for private contractors in Iraq.

Trailers of all films in the Special Selection Competition.

Reviews from Cannes IFF: ROUTE IRISH / Iñárritu's BIUTIFUL

Now, Romanian films at Cannes. Romania's Cristi Puiu returns to competition at Cannes with what he describes as a "mind-blowing" crime story, AURORA screened Friday night at the Festival. Puiu, winner in 2005 of the Cannes section showcasing new talent, "Un Certain Regard," for THE DEATH OF MR. LAZARESCU, is the leading figure of the tiny country's "New Wave" school, which seemingly came out of nowhere about that time.

It did not take long for the world film community to take notice. Since then, the Romanians have won a number of top world awards. Among them are Corneliu Porumboiu, Catalin Mitulescu, and Cristian Mungiu, who won the 2007 Cannes Palme d'Or for 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS, 2 DAYS.

Mungiu won best European Director and the film won best European Film at the 2007 European Film Awards. Romania submitted it for Oscar® consideration in the Best Foreign Language Film category for 2007 for the 80th Academy Awards.

To the amazement of many, myself included, the film was not nominated in the Best Foreign Language Film category. Some suggested that the Academy members did not nominate it because it dealt with a woman having an abortion. Others, because they felt the production values were below par. The Austrian film, THE COUNTERFIETERS, directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky won the Oscar, which it richly deserved among those nominated. However, Mungiu's film deserved a nomination.

Puiu's THE DEATH OF MR. LAZARESCU is the story of a man who dies, a victim of an uncaring health-care system. His latest, AURORO, is the story of a man who kills. Puiu has explained that the title AURORO, refers to the precise moment when day breaks and nature awakes.

In the movie, 42-year-old Viorel, an engineer, drives around Bucharest determined to put an end to the insecurity that has dominated his life since his divorce. He decides to make justice as he understands it, brutally intervening in other people's destinies. His actions throw him into a new life, a new day.

AURORA is the second installment of a planned "Six Stories from the Outskirts of Bucharest." In this installment, Puiu decided to play the lead character himself. Meanwhile, Cristian Mungiu has no directorial projects in the works at the moment.

Review of AURORO and then some.

Countries Submit for Foreign Language Film Oscar®

Tom Sherak, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences® announced today that 65 countries have submitted films for nomination consideration in the Foreign Language Film category (BFLF) for the 82nd Academy Awards®, honoring the BFLF for 2009. This is down from last year when a record 67 countries submitted.

Selected committees will now select a short list from which five films will be nominated by those in the full Academy membership who can certify they have seen all five films nominated. Last year's winner was DEPARTURES, Japan, directed by Yojiro Takita.

Here are the submissions by County, Title and Director:

Albania, ALIVE, Artan Minarolli;
Argentina, EL SECRETO DE SUS OJOS, Juan Jose Campanella;
Armenia, AUTUMN OF THE MAGICIAN, Rouben Kevorkov and Vaheh Kevorkov;
Australia, SAMSON & DELILAH, Warwick Thornton;
Austria, FOR A MOMENT FREEDOM, Arash T. Riahi;
Bangladesh, BEYOND THE CIRCLE, Golam Rabbany Biplob;
Belgium, THE MISFORTUNATES, Felix van Groeningen;
Bolivia, ZONA SUR, Juan Carlos Valdivia;
Bosnia and Herzegovina, NIGHTGUARDS, Namik Kabil;
Brazil, TIME OF FEAR, Sergio Rezende;
Bulgaria, THE WORLD IS BIG AND SALVATION LURKS AROUND THE CORNER, Stephan Komandarev;
Canada, I KILLED MY MOTHER, Xavier Dolan;
Chile, DAWSON, ISLA 10, Miguel Littin;
China, FOREVER ENTHRALLED, Chen Kaige;
Colombia, THE WIND JOURNEYS, Ciro Guerra;
Croatia, DONKEY, Antonio Nuic;
Cuba, FALLEN GODS, Ernesto Daranas;
Czech Republic, PROTEKTOR, Marek Najbrt;
Denmark, TERRIBLY HAPPY Henrik Ruben Genz;
Estonia, DECEMBER HEAT, Asko Kase;
Finland, LETTERS TO FATHER JACOB, Klaus Haro;
France, UN PROPHETE, Jacques Audiard; **
Georgia, THE OTHER BANK, George Ovashvili;
Germany, THE WHITE RIBBON, Michael Haneke; **
Greece, SLAVES IN THEIR BONDS, Tony Lykouressis;
Hong Kong, PRINCE AND TEARS, Yonfan;
Hungary, CHAMELEON, Krisztina Goda;
Iceland, REYKJAVIK-ROTTERDAM, Oskar Jonasson;
India, HARISHCHANDRACHI FACTORY, Paresh Mokashi;
Indonesia, JAMILA AND THE PRESIDENT, Ratna Sarumpaet;
Iran, ABOUT ELLY, Asghar Farhadi;
Israel, AJAMI, Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani;
Italy, BAARIA, Giuseppe Tornatore; **
Japan, NOBODY TO WATCH OVER ME, Ryoichi Kimizuka;
Kazakhstan, KELIN, Ermek Tursunov;
Korea, MOTHER, Joon-ho Bong;
Lithuania, VORTEX, Gytis Luksas;
Luxembourg, REFRACTAIRE, Nicolas Steil;
Macedonia, WINGLESS, Ivo Trajkov;
Mexico, BACKYARD, Carlos Carrera;
Morocco, CASANEGRA, Nour-Eddine Lakhmari;
The Netherlands, WINTER IN WARTIME, Martin Koolhoven;
Norway, MAX MANUS, Espen Sandberg and Joachim Roenning;
Peru, THE MILK OF SORROW, Claudia Llosa;
Philippines, GRANDPA IS DEAD, Soxie H. Topacio;
Poland, REVERSE, Borys Lankosz;
Portugal, DOOMED LOVE, Mario Barroso;
Puerto Rico, KABO AND PLATON, Edmundo H. Rodriguez;
Romania, POLICE, ADJECTIVE, Corneliu Porumboiu;
Russia, WARD NO. 6, Karen Shakhnazarov;
Serbia, ST. GEORGE SHOOTS THE DRAGON, Srdjan Dragojevic;
Slovakia, BROKEN PROMISE, Jiri Chlumsky;
Slovenia, THE LANDSCAPE NO. 2, Vinko Moderndorfer;
South Africa, WHITE WEDDING, Jann Turner;
Spain, THE DANCER AND THE THIEF, Fernando Trueba; **
Sri Lanka, THE ROAD FROM ELEPHANT PASS, Chandran Rutnam;
Sweden, INVOLUNTARY, Ruben Ostlund;
Switzerland, HOME, Ursula Meier;
Taiwan, NO PUEDO VIVIR SIN TI, Leon Dai; **
Thailand, BEST OF TIMES, Yongyoot Thongkongtoon;
Turkey, I SAW THE SUN, Mahsun Kirmizigul;
United Kingdom, AFGHAN STAR, Havana Marking; **
Uruguay, BAD DAY FOR FISHING, Alvaro Brechner;
Venezuela, LIBERADOR MORALES, EL JUSTICIERO, Efterpi Charalambidis;
Vietnam, DON'T BURN IT, Dang Nhat Minh.

** First films I shall comment on later, because I have questions that must be answered first. For instance, (1) Why is a foreign language film being submitted by the United Kingdom when it is a co-production with Afghanistan? (2) Why is that film a documentary, and not a feature film accepted for this category? (3) Why does the film submitted by Taiwan carry a title in Spanish? And (4) Will the Cannes winner, THE WHITE RIBBON, make short list for nomination, or be ignored by the selecting committees as was the acclaimed 2007 Romania movie, 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS, AND 2 DAYS, directed by Cristian Mungiu?

The link to this list is posted on the right sidebar of this blog and will remain there until this time next year when submissions are made for the 83rd Academy Awards, honoring the BFLF for 2010.

The 82nd Academy Awards nominations will be announced on Tuesday, 2 February 2010, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater. Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2009 will be presented on Sunday, 7 March 2010, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.

SERIES - “Upcoming Film Festivals”

Traverse City, Sarajevo & Telluride

Traverse City FF Tickets On Sale

This is it! Tickets for the 5th Traverse City Film Festival went on sale Sunday at noon in downtown Traverse City, Michigan, for Friends of the Festival, which will run Tuesday, 28 July through Sunday, 2 August.

Remaining tickets will go on sale to the general public this coming Saturday, 18 July, at 12 noon in the box office located at 300 E. Front Street, Traverse City. Sales online and by phone (231-946-3731) begin at 6 pm.

For more about the Festival, see my two previous blog posts in this series, Upcoming Film Festivals. There is still time to become a Friend of the Festival. The best way is through the Web site. While you are there, check the site for other passes, get information on the many special programs the Festival is offering this year, as well as the films showing.
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Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina

The Sarajevo Film Festival began during the Serbian invasion of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 1994-1995, Sarajevo’s residents decided to establish the Sarajevo Film Festival. In the beginning, it looked like a pipe dream, like fighting the windmills. No one thought that the dream of a group of movie enthusiasts would grow from amongst war into the most important annual event not only in B-H, but in the entire region.

Now, the Festival is one of the biggest cultural events in B-H, and the one with the most attendance. The Festival award is the Heart of Sarajevo. This year is the 15th edition, and it will run from 12 - 20 August. American Actor Kevin Spacey, who helped found the Festival is expected to attend again this year. So is UK director Mike Leigh, another Festival sponsor.

Opening the festival is TALES FROM THE GOLDEN AGE, written and directed by Cristian Mungiu, whose last movie was the acclaimed 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS & 2 DAYS (2007). GOLDEN AGE is described as an unconventional personal history of the late Communist period in Romania. Remember what they did to the disabled and orphan children? Web site.
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TELLURIDE

A quick note about Telluride, which will be in the spotlight in the next post of this series. Passes are now on sale. They are expensive and they go fast. If you want to take a chance, go here.
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Some festivals that will be spotlighted in the continuation of the Series:

August -

Montreal WFF: Le Festival des Films du Monde Montréal, Canada, 27 August - 7 September.

Venice: 2 - 12 September, Italy, the granddaddy of them all.

Telluride 4 - 7 September, Colorado, a wonderful time of year to be there.

Toronto: 10-19 September, Canada.

San Sebastián: 18 - 26 September.