SERIES - “Upcoming Film Festivals”

Traverse City, Michigan

The Traverse City Film Festival (TCFF) will turn five next month when it kicks off its annual celebration at the State Theatre, Tuesday, 28 July. It will run through Sunday, 2 August. Michael Moore reports he has watched over 300 movies in preparation for the programs.

The official program will be released 2 July, but here is a sneak preview. First, the legendary director Paul Mazursky and his family will be on hand for this year's TCFF Lifetime Achievement Award. Mazursky's filmography includes "Down and Out in Beverly Hills," "Moscow on the Hudson," "Harry and Tonto," "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice," "Enemies: A Love Story," "An Unmarried Woman" and dozens of others. Mazursky will appear at screenings of three of his films and will speak on a panel as well.

TCFF Kids Fest will present award-winning independent children's films from around the world at 9:30 am Wednesday through Saturday of festival week at the State Theatre. Tickets will be reduced in price to $6 for these films, made for kids, which most young people never get the chance to see.

This year, the Festival is launching the TCFF Film School to offer students of all ages a chance to learn about the art of making movies. Five master classes will be taught for three hours each day of the festival from Tuesday through Saturday. This mini film camp will create an opportunity to meet with a different visiting filmmaker each day who will teach the craft of cinema to those interested.

Low-cost licensed child care, which I have never seen at film festivals, will be available Wednesday through Sunday.Interested parents should visit for more information, to offer comments, or make reservations.

This is only one of the services TCFF is offering this year to help everyone enjoy the festival despite the economic downturn that has hit Michigan exceptionally hard. They are holding ticket prices at the same price as last year, screening free movies outdoors each night, and foregoing some of the lavishness at parties.

Tickets to regular movies are $9. Opening and closing night films are $25, with opening and closing night parties ticketed separately at $50. Friends of the Traverse City Film Festival get half off opening and closing night party tickets, according to their benefit level. Tickets are available in advance and during the festival.

All tickets go on sale at the Front Street Cybercafe box office to Friends of the Film Festival on Sunday,12 July, 12 noon on a walk-up basis only. At 6 p.m. that day, Friends may also begin purchasing tickets by phone and online. Public ticket sales begin Saturday, 18 July.

82nd Best Feature Oscar® Will Have Ten Noms

Academy Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Sid Ganis announced today at a press conference in Beverly Hills that the 82nd Academy Awards®, which will be presented on 7 March 2010, will have 10 feature films vying in the Best Feature Picture category. For over 65 years the number of nominees has remained at five. CASABLANCA
won Best Feature Picture over nine others in 1943.

Ganis explained, "Having 10 Best Picture nominees is going allow Academy voters to recognize and include some of the fantastic movies that often show up in the other Oscar categories, but have been squeezed out of the race for the top prize."

The 82nd Academy Awards nominations will be announced on Tuesday, 2 February. The Oscar® ceremony honoring films for 2009 will take place at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, and will be televised live by the ABC Television Network.

Carradine Funeral - rest in peace, Grasshopper

(8 December 1936 - 3 June 2009)

Actor / Director / Producer / Writer/ Editor / Composer/ Musician David Carradine was buried Saturday in private, and by invitation only. Much has been written, and sensationalized about his death, but here is something that has not been mentioned.

Carradine made a movie with a Spanish filmmaker friend of mine, Jose Luis Borau, ON THE LINE (aka, Downstream, and Rio abajo in Spain) in 1984. It is about a Border Patrol agent (Carradine) who is determined to catch his old nemesis, an American criminal who successfully smuggles illegal aliens across the border from Mexico. He gets involved with a woman in the red light district and that involvement changes the course of his life.

The movie has two unique distinctions: (1) It is the last movie appearance of the venerable American actor, Sam Jaffe, (2) It was the first and only English language film Spanish filmmaker Jose Luis Borau has made, and (3) Spanish actress Victoria Abril made her debut in an English language film. She played the woman of the red light district.

Borau writes, producers, acts and directs. He gained international fame for FURTIVOS (Poachers, 1975). Abril currently has two Spanish language films in post production.

Carradine, at the time of his death, had six movies in post production in which he had a role. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Television in 1997, and many award nominations, but had few wins. He was nominated for an Emmy in 1973 for Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (Drama Series - Continuing) for: "Kung Fu" (1972).

David Carradine was the eldest son of legendary character actor John Carradine. His acting family includes brothers Keith and Robert Carradine, and Michael Bowen, as well as his daughters Calista and Kansas Carradine, and neices Ever Carradine and Martha Plimpton.

Woody Allen’s Homage to London

Woody Allen in San Sebastian 2008.

Lucy Punch, recent.
The British actress, Lucy Punch, is reported to have wowed writer-director Woody Allen with a screen test for his yet untitled movie set to be filmed in London this summer. She will be replacing Nicole Kidman who accepted the role in March, but canceled weeks later because of a scheduling conflict.

Punch is a relatively unknown. She starred on the CBS series "The Class" and had roles in HOT FUZZ and ELLA ENCHANTED. She has a role in YOUNG AMERICANS, a comedy, scheduled to be released by Universal Pictures in January.

Punch will be joining a lead cast that includes, so far, Antonio Banderas, Freida Pinto, Naomi Watts, Josh Brolin and Anthony Hopkins. She will be the least experienced actor in the lead cast.

Looking at Lucy Punch’s picture, and having seen ELLA ENCHANTED, I find her resemblance to a young Mia Farrow striking. Considering Allen’s long history with younger women, including Diane Keaton, Allen’s former wife Mia Farrow, and his current wife Soon-Yi, who is the adopted daughter of Farrow and Andre Previn, I must exclaim: Watch out Soon-Yi

Meanwhile, there is a rumor that Freida Pinto, recently a member of the leasd cast of Oscar-winner SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, has been tapped to play the new Bond Girl. If so, she may have scheduling problems, too.

THE CANNES AFTERGLOW

The Cannes Film Festival (CFF) wrapped 23 May. Scroll down for my post of the top winners, 24 May. Since then, there have been further discussions about them.

The world-wide economic slowdown impacted Cannes this year. There were far fewer yachts, stars, press, and attendees. In the U.S., film critics are considered a luxury, and many newspapers have cut then from their staff. That is not true in Europe. For example, a newspaper in France, even though it may be experiencing a financial slowdown, will not ever think of cutting its film critic.

Biggest disappointment among the films in competition was Ang Lee's, TAKING WOODSTOCK. John Powers says the movie is “dinky”. Others made comments such as, “. . . highly anticipated, yet underwhelming.” Powers feels it is not very good cinematically, and probably should not have been in the Festival. He says it is fun to watch, and thinks Cannes accepted it because the Festival turned down BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN (2006). Judging by the Jury picks, this could have been the Festival for Lee’s LUST, CAUTION (2007).

The biggest surprise about a film that did not get an award at the Festival is Jane Campion's BRIGHT STAR. It received great reviews by critics viewing the film at the Festival. Apparently, it did not impress the Jury. Powers dubbed this years Cannes Festival, a Festival of Violence and Extremes.

The most deliberately provocative movie is Lars von Trier’s ANTICHRIST. Entertainment Weekly’s critic pulled no punches when he wrote, “Scenes of sexual mutilation in this gruesome story of a couple in [marital] hell elicited involuntary groans and then boos.” Most of the other critics left out “involuntary,” adding jeers, foot pounding, and many leaving the theater.

It has been widely reported that Trier suffered a bout of deep depression before embarking on this film. Despite the huge outcry against the film, Austrian Charlotte Gainsbourg won Best Actress for her role.

There was much buzz about Heath Ledger’s final performance in Terry Gilliam’s THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS, which screened out of competition. As usual, the critics didn’t get the film at all. They seldom get a Gilliam movie, but many die-hard fans do. When Ledger died about halfway through the filming, the role was recast to have Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell portray "physically transformed versions" of Tony.

No one else has speculated on this but I am going to. Could the Joker role followed by the mysterious stranger Tony in this “the Devil will have his due, if I don’t undo my mistakes” movie, coupled with Ledger’s recent divorce, and drug use, all have united to seal Ledger’s fate? It is the Doctor’s daughter, Valentina, who is in peril because of what her father has done, and Ledger had a young daughter. Just speculating.

Most critics were kind to Pedro Almodóvar’s latest with Penélope Cruz, BROKEN EMBRACES, praising her performance, but lukewarm to the movie. Poor Penélope had a bad cold, or flu, and missed most of the festivities.

Almodóvar and Lee are losing their mojo, according to the majority of the critics. Perhaps, both need to take a break to unwind and recharge.

On the other hand, critics and viewers generally praised Quentin Tarantino’s INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS, which is the name of a gang slaughtering Nazis. Powers calls it an amazing film because it takes us back to the 1960s WW II Nazi movies, with glimpses reminding one of the TV show, Hogan’s Heroes, but BASTERDS is 100 times more violent. Brad Pitt stars, but Australian Christopher Waltz as a "Jew hunter" in Nazi Germany, won Best Actor for the role, stealing Pitt’s thunder.


Michael Haneke ***** Christopher Waltz ***** Charlotte Gainsbourg

As to the winner, award-winning Austrian writer/director Michael Haneke's black and white drama, THE WHITE RIBBON (Das Weisse Band, Austria), basically little negative has been written about this stark film, which won both the FIPRESCI Prize and the Golden Palm. In an over-baring patriarchal society, strange and brutal things happen at a rural school in northern 1913 Germany just prior to WW I, which seem to be ritual punishments. How will this affect the school system, and will what happens at school and in the community sew the seeds for fascism?

Haneke's THE PIANO TEACHER (La pianiste, 2001) vaulted him onto the world cinema scene. That award-winner was followed by another critically acclaimed movie, HIDDEN (Caché, 2005), winning the FIPRESCI Prize, and a Best Director for Haneke.

At the Munich Film Festival on 3 July, Haneke will be honored by his peers with the CineMerit Award. Munich Festival kicks off on 26 June and runs until 4 July. I look for THE WHITE RIBBON to do extremely well in Munich, the beautiful city with a sinister past.

To help you wrap the afterglow of Cannes, here are some great links:
1. John Powers, "On the Ground at Cannes, " Part I - Fresh Air, PBS, Tuesday, 26 May.
2. John Powers, "On the Ground at Cannes, " Part II - Fresh Air, PBS, Wednesday, 27 May.
3. “Violence Reaps Rewards at Cannes Festival,” Manohla Dargis, The New York Times, 25 May.
4. ”The Ballyhooed, the Magical and All that Mutilation: Cannes ‘09 Winds Down,“ Eric Kohn, Indiwire, 24 May [The link is wrong, but works as 06].

I can hardly wait for next year.

Upcoming Tony Awards

Actor Neil Patrick Harris will emcee the 2009 Tony telecast Sunday, 7 June, live from Radio City Music Hall, NYC, to be broadcast live on CBS. This is the American Theatre Wing’s 63rd annual Tony Awards® ceremony.

A Special Tony Award® for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre will be presented to Jerry Herman, 77, who received Tony nominations for six of the seven Broadway shows he created (Milk and Honey, Hello, Dolly!, Mame, Mack & Mabel, The Grand Tour, and La Cage Aux Follies). He took home the trophy for both Dolly and La Cage. Herman says he will not be doing anymore musicals, but is trilled to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award, because in his case, it has truly been a lifetime endeavor.

The Regional Theatre Tony Award® goes to Signature Theatre, Arlington, Virginia.

Shows with most nominations: Billy Elliot, The Musical 15; Next to Normal 11; Hair 8; Shrek, The Musical 8; Mary Stuart 7; and The Norman Conquests 7.

List of nominees: http://www.tonyawards.com/en_US/nominees/index.html

Cannes Winners Announced

Austrian director/writer Michael Haneke's black and white drama, THE WHITE RIBBON (Das Weisse Band) received the top prize Sunday at the Cannes Film Festival (CFF), taking home the coveted Palme d'Or (Golden Palm) for Best Feature Film. In a pre-WW I German village a series of crimes terrorizes its ultra-conservative residents. The brutality portends the Nazi era in pre-WW II Germany. Anyone get a whiff of a possible Oscar®?

The main Jury responsible for selecting the winners was headed by French Actress Isabelle Huppert. She was named best actress at the 2001 Festival for her role in Haneke's THE PIANO TEACHER. A Special Prize for lifetime achievement was awarded to French Filmmaker Alain Resnais at the screening of his latest, WILD GRASS (Les Herbes Folles).

French director Jacques Audiard's prison drama, A PROPHET (Un Prophéte), received the second place Grand Prize. The Festival's Jury Prize, the third-place award, was shared by FISH TANK (British director Andrea Arnold's teen drama) and THIRST (South Korean Park Chan-wook's vampire romance).

It was a big night for Austrian film, with Christopher Waltz as a "Jew hunter" in Nazi Germany, named as best actor for Quentin Tarantino's World War II epic INGLOURIOUS BASTARDS, starring Brad Pitt. Uh oh - WW II, Germany, Nazis - anyone get another whiff of a possible Oscar®?

Also, fellow Austrian Charlotte Gainsbourg won the best-actress honor for her role in ANTICHRIST, directed by Lars Von Trier. The last film riled and repelled many Cannes viewers with its explicit images of physical abuse involving a grieving couple (Gainsbourg and Willem Dafoe).

Filipino filmmaker Brillante Mendoza received the award as Best Director for KINATAY. It concerns police inflicting bodily harm as retribution against uncooperative prostitutes.

Hong Kong screenwriter Feng Meiu garnered the Best Screenplay award for SPRNG FEVER (Hong Kong), directed by Lou Ye. It is a tale of forbidden romance involving homosexual relationships. First-time director Warwick Thornton was awarded a Camera d'Or (Golden Camera) in that category for his first feature, SAMSON AND DELIAH (Australia).

ARENA (Portugal), directed by João Salaviza, took home the Best Short Film Palme d'Or. THE SIX DOLLAR FIFTY MAN directed by Louis Sutherland received the Short Film Special Distinction award.

COCO CHANEL & IGOR STRAVINSKY, directed by Dutch-born Jan Kounen, closed the festival. It stars Anna Mouglalis and Mads Mikkelsen, and is based on Chris Greenhalgh's novel. The novel weaves fact and fiction as does the film set in the 1920s, which is a lush portrayal of a brief affair between Russian composer Igor Stravinsky and fashion pioneer Coco Chanel.

2009 Films In Competition (20):

* À L'ORIGINE (IN THE BEGINNING) directed by Xavier GIANNOLI
* ANTICHRIST directed by Lars VON TRIER
* BAK-JWI (THIRST) directed by PARK Chan-Wook
* BRIGHT STAR directed by Jane CAMPION
* CHUN FENG CHEN ZUI DE YE WAN (Spring Fever) directed by LOU Ye
* DAS WEISSE BAND (THE WHITE RIBBON) directed by Michael HANEKE
* ENTER THE VOID directed by Gaspar NOÉ
* FISH TANK directed by Andrea ARNOLD
* INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS directed by Quentin TARANTINO
* KINATAY directed by Brillante MENDOZA
* LES HERBES FOLLES (WILD GRASS) directed by Alain RESNAIS
* LOOKING FOR ERIC directed by Ken LOACH
* LOS ABRAZOS ROTOS (BROKEN EMBRACES) directed by Pedro ALMODÓVAR
* MAP OF THE SOUNDS OF TOKYO directed by Isabel COIXET
* TAKING WOODSTOCK directed by Ang LEE
* THE TIME THAT REMAINS directed by Elia SULEIMAN
* UN PROPHÈTE (A PROPHET) directed by Jacques AUDIARD
* VENGEANCE directed by Johnnie TO
* VINCERE directed by Marco BELLOCCHIO
* VISAGE (FACE) directed by TSAI Ming-Liang

To access links for individual films and directors, go here.

Cannes Cinefondation Awards

At the 62nd Cannes International Film Festival, the awards for the best films presented in the Cínefondation program of 17 student films were handed out yesterday in the Buñuel Theatre. All are under 44 minutes, ranging from three to forty-three minutes. The Jury chair was UK director John Boorman.

The Cínefondation Selection received 1,400 film submissions this year, representing Latin America, North America and Europe. Here are the winners - -

First Prize: BÁBA by Zuzana Kirchnerová-Špidlová, Czech Republic;

Second Prize: GOODBYE by Song Fang, Beijing Film Academy, China;

Third Prize (tie): DIPLOMA by Yaelle Kayam, The Sam Spiegel Film & TV School, Israel;
ND
NAMMAE UI JIP (DON’T STEP OUT OF THE HOUSE by Jo Sung-hee, Korean Academy of Film Arts, Korea.

The winning films each received a financial prize of 15,000 € for the first prize, 11,250 € for second place and 7,500 € for the third place films.

LIST OF FILMS IN THIS SECTION:

* #1 directed by Noamir CASTÉRA
* BÁBA directed by Zuzana KIRCHNEROVÁ - ŠPIDLOVÁ
* BY THE GRACE OF GOD directed by Ralitza PETROVA
* CHAPA directed by Thiago RICARTE
* DIPLOMA directed by Yaelle KAYAM
* EL BOXEADOR (THE BOXER) directed by Juan Ignacio POLLIO
* GOODBYE directed by SONG Fang
* GUTTER directed by Dan Ransom DAY
* IL NATURALISTA (THE NATURALIST) directed by Giulia BARBERA, Gianluca LO PRESTI, Federico PARODI, Michele TOZZI
* KASIA directed by Elisabet LLADÓ
* LE CONTRETEMPS (THE SETBACK) directed by Dominique BAUMARD
* MALZONKOWIE (SIGNIFICANT OTHERS) directed by Dara VAN DUSEN
* NAMMAE UI JIP (DON'T STEP OUT OF THE HOUSE) directed by JO Sung-hee
* SEGAL directed by Yuval SHANI
* SYLFIDDEN (THE SYLPPHID) directed by Dorte BENGTSON
* THE HORN directed by YIM Kyung-dong
* TRAVERSER directed by Hugo FRASSETTO

To access links for individual films and directors, go here.

Cannes Festival is ready to roll

Actress, Isabelle Huppert

The 62nd Cannes Film Festival (CFF) will open this week, 13 May, and run through 24 May 2009. The films are selected as well as the juries, and the French know how to throw a party.


JURYIES
1. FEATURE FILM COMPETITION - French actress Isabelle Huppert, President, assisted by Asia Argento (Actress, Director, Screenwriter- Italy) Nuri Bilge Ceylan (Director, Screenwriter, Actor - Turkey) Lee Chang-Dong (Director, Writer, Screenwriter - South Korea), James Gray (Director, Screenwriter – United States), Hanif Kureishi (Writer, Screenwriter – United Kingdom), Shu Qi (Actress - Taiwan), Robin Wright Penn (Actress - United States), and Sharmila Tagore III ( Actress- India). Will be presented on stage during the closing ceremony on May 24th.

2. CAMERA d'OR - The Camera d’or, created in 1978, honors the best first film chosen in the Official Selection, the Critics’ Week or the Director’s Fortnight. This year, twenty first films will compete for this prize which will be presented on stage during the closing ceremony on May 24th.

French actor Roschdy Zem, President. Other members: Diane Baratier (cinematographer), Olivier Chiavassa (Federation of Film Technicians), Sandrine Ray (director), Charles Tesson (Critics’ Syndicate), and Edouard Waintrop (Fribourg Film Festival, Switzerland).

3. UN CERTAIN REGARD - The opening film of this prestigious Festival program is NOBODY KNOWS ABOUT THE PERSIAN CATS, Thursday, 14 May. The director is Iranian filmmaker Bahman Ghobadi.

Italian screenwriter and director Paolo Sorrentino, awarded the Jury Prize in 2008 for IL DIVO, will preside over: Julie Gayet (actress, France), Piers Handling (director of the Toronto Festival, Canada), Uma Da Cunha (journalist and festival programmer, India) and Marit Kapla (journalist, Göteborg Festival, Sweden).

SPECIAL EVENTS
1. Filmmaker Martin Scorsese is the honorary President of Cannes Classics 2009, a section established in 2004 to accompany the contemporary films of the Official Selection with a program of restored and rediscovered films, to be released theatrically or on DVD.

Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's masterpiece, THE RED SHOES (UK, 1948), tops the program. It will be presented in the Debussy Theater with Martin Scorsese and Thelma Schoonmaker-Powell in attendance.

The movie has been restored by the UCLA Film & Television Archive in association with The British Film Institute, The Film Foundation, ITV Global Entertainment Ltd., and Janus Films, with funding provided by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (Golden Globes), The Film Foundation, and the Louis B. Mayer Foundation.

2. The Cinema Masterclass of the Dardenne Brothers - Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne will give the Cinema Masterclass at the 62nd Festival, Tuesday, 19 May. They won their first Palme d'or for ROSETTA in 1999. Like Francis Coppola, Emir Kusturica, Billie August and Shohei Imamura before, they have won more than one Palme d'or. They won their second in 2005 for THE CHILD, and followed with another for Best Screenplay in 2008's LORNA'S SILENCE.

As Martin Scorcese, Quentin Tarantino, Nanni Moretti and Wong Kar-Wai have done at previous Festivals, they will talk with Michel Ciment about their unusual career, their work at filming and writing together, the meaning that they give to their creation. They will welcome festival-goers, film buffs and journalists at the Buñuel theatre.

See my previous post, "Here Comes Cannes," 26 April.

Tribeca Festival Wraps

Heineken Audience Award, CITY ISLAND
The Heineken Audience Award was presented yesterday (3 May 2009) at the Tribeca Film Festival, NYC (TFFNYC). As the winner, CITY ISLAND received a $25,000 cash award. Ten diverse films were competing. The top three are screening at the Festival site in NYC as this post is being written.

The winner, CITY ISLAND, is a feature-length comedy written and directed by Raymond De Felitta (The Thing About My Folks, 05). Primary cast: Andy Garcia, Julianna Margulies, Emily Mortimer, Alan Arkin, Steven Strait, and Ezra Miller.

The Rizzo family lives on a little-known island in the Bronx that is as quaint and sleepy as any New England town. But the Rizzos are not as picturesque as the island they inhabit, and like most dysfunctional families, they all stop at nothing to avoid the truth.

The Runner up is a documentary, RACING DREAMS, directed by Michael Curry, who won the 2005 Festival audience award for his documentary, STREET FIGHT. RACING DREAMS also won best documentary feature at this year's Festival. See post, 1 May, immediately below this one.

In third place we find MIDGETS Vs. MASCOTS, directed by Ron Carlson, which is described by festival commentators as a hilarious mocumentary. They go on to write, and I paraphrase, "It is one of the most-talked-about films at the Festival. . . The title alone [should] get you in the door, where little people (including, Gary Coleman and Jordan Prentice (IN BRUGES) battle Mascots, including 'Gator' and 'Taco' in events like milk-drinking, bull-riding, door-to-door-sales, and a whole ton more for a prize of one million dollars."

I must say, the title grabs me. However, I can wait for the DVD.

One more film deserves noting here, the one in fourth place. Japanese director Yojiro Takita's movie DEPARTURES (Okuribito), won the Oscar® as Best Foreign Language Film of 2008 at the Academy Awards® this year. It also won the Grand Prize at Montreal in 2008.

The Tokyo Orchestra disbands. A young cellist returns to his home in a rural town and to the family business. "The movie achieves a pleasingly droll blend of screwball-like humor with a moving story about reconciliation, acceptance, and finding one's place in the world, enhanced by a richly orchestrated score."

See a previous post, 28 February, for much more about DEPARTURES. Click the title of this post to see more about the 2009 top 10 audience picks, screening times, and previous winners.

Tribeca Film Festival Winners

The eighth annual Tribeca Film Festival, co-founded by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff, and presented by founding sponsor American Express, announced the winners of its competition categories in NYC last night, 30 April 2009. This year’s Festival included 85 features and 47 short films from 36 countries. The world competition winners were chosen from 12 narrative and 12 documentary features from 17 countries. All films at Festival.

Two awards were given to honor New York films, which were chosen from eight narrative and seven documentary features. Awards were also given for the best narrative, best documentary and student visionary films in the Shorts competition. The winner of The Heineken Audience Award, determined by audience ballot votes throughout the Festival, will be announced tomorrow 2 May, at the Festival Wrap party. This is a capsule of the 2009 winners in the World Narrative Feature and Documentary Feature Competitions.


2009 World Narrative Feature Film Competition (Jurors Bradley Cooper, Richard Fischoff, Todd Haynes, Meg Ryan and Uma Thurman):

The Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature – ABOUT ELLY (Darbareye Elly), written and directed by Asghar Farhadi (Iran, Persian with English subtitles). Deceit and tragedy abound when friends take a Caspian Sea seaside mini-break in this mysterious and lush who-done-it. Farhadi received the Golden Bear in Berlin this year as best director of a feature film.

Best New Narrative Filmmaker – Rune Denstad Langlofor NORTH (Nord) (Norway, Norwegian with English subtitles). A former ski champion recovering from a mental breakdown learns he has a five-year-old son. He hops on his snowmobile with a batch of moonshine, and heads for his ex-girlfriend's home in Norway's Far North. His oddball encounters along the way make this fresh and original debut comedy both tender and amusing.

Best Actor in a Narrative Feature Film – Ciarán Hinds in THE ECLIPSE, written and directed by Conor McPherson (Ireland).

Best Actress in a Narrative Feature Film – Zoe Kazan in THE EXPLODING GIRL, written and directed by Bradley Rust Gray (USA).


2009 World Documentary Feature Film Competition (Jurors Liz Garbus, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Whoopi Goldberg, Morgan Spurlock and Brian Williams):

Best Documentary Feature – RACING DREAMS, directed by Marshall Curry (USA). Three adolescent go-kart racers (to auto racing as little league is to baseball) vie for the national go-kart championship. They, and their parents, will soon find out if they have the talent, dedication, and sponsorship dollars to one day become NASCAR superstars.

Best New Documentary Filmmaker – Ian Olds for FIXER: The Taking of Ajmal Naqshbandi (USA). In 2007, the Taliban kidnapped 24-year-old Naqshbandi, an Italian journalist, one of Afghanistan's best "fixers"—someone hired by foreign journalists to facilitate, translate, and gain access for their stories.

Special Jury Mention: DEFAMATION (Hashmatsa), directed by Yoav Shamir (Denmark, Austria, USA, Israel).

HBO acquired FIXER at the Festival, First Fun the anti-Semitic documentary DEFAMATION, and ESPN the baseball documentary THE LOST SON OF HAVANA. Slim sales for Tribeca at this post, but there may be subsequent acquisitions as a result of the Festival.

For all winners and more information about the films such as juror comments, cash awards, etc., click title of this post.

Here Comes Cannes

The world-renown Cannes Film Festival will open in Cannes, France, 13 May, and run through 24 May 2009, 16 days away at the time of this post. This year is the 62nd edition. Gilles Jacob is president.

Significant Festival history will be made beginning on opening day with the computer-generated animated movie UP (Disney-Pixar, directed by Peter Docter), opening the Festival with its international premiere. This is the first time an animated movie has opened the Cannes Festival, and UP is not just any animated movie, it is in digital 3-D. The top prize is the Golden Palm (Palm d'Or). It could make more Festival history if UP won it, but UP is screening out of competition. The movie is scheduled to release in the U.S. 29 May.

French actress Isabelle Huppert is the jury president at this year's Festival. Only three other women have helmed the panel in the six decades of the Festival. The other women so honored: Liv Ullmann, Jeanne Moreau and Françoise Sagan.

The director lineup in the main competition of 20 strong films will include directors Quentin Tarantino (INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS), Ang Lee (TALKING WOODSTOCK), Pedro Almodovar (BROKEN EMBRACES), Jane Campion (BRIGHT STAR) [won as director of THE PIANO, the first woman to win the Golden Palm for directing], Ken Loach (LOOKING FOR ERIC), and Lars von Trier (ANTICHRIST).

Asian films are strong this year. Chinese movies joining Ang Lee's, are Hong Kong director Johnny To's VENGENCE, Park Chan-wook's (THIRST), and Ye Lou's and SPRING FEVER.

One of the Festivals' special screenings will be for HIROSHIMA MON AMOUR by French director Alain Resnais, one of the outstanding French New Wave directors. This year, the Festival commemorates the 50-year anniversary of the film's first screening at Cannes, and Resnais (86) brings his latest film, WILD GRASSES, to Cannes. Two of his fellow countrymen will join him to represent France, Jacques Audiard (A PROPHET) and Xavier Giannoli (IN THE BEGINNING).

Another showcase will be the last film performance of Heath Ledger in the Terry Gilliam fantasy THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS. Ledger died mid-shoot last year and his part was completed by Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell. Ledger was awarded a posthumous Oscar® this year for his supporting-actor performance as The Joker in THE DARK KNIGHT.

One of the biggest galas associated with the festival, is actually a benefit gala held outside the main Festival, but in conjunction with it - - the annual European fundraiser sponsored by the American Foundation for AIDS Research (AmFAR). American actress Sharon Stone will host it again on 21 May. Former U.S. President Bill Clinton and the likes of Harvey Weinstein, Carine Roitfeld, Michelle Yeoh and Donatella Versace will be among 800 personalities attending.

This year for the first time, the benefit gala will be held at a Riviera palace, the Eden Roc, at Cap d'Antibes. Singer Annie Lennox will give a special performance. Last year's event raised $10 million.

The closing night film is Dutch-born, now French director, Jan Kounen's COCO CHANEL & IGOR STRAVINSKY, screening out of competition. I shall be following the Festival from now until it closes 24 May.

Memphis IFF Opens Tomorrow

The 10th annual Memphis, TN, Film Festival, sponsored by the Memphis Film Forum, and currently being prefaced by "On Location," opens tomorrow Thursday, 23 April. All screenings will take place at the Malco Ridgeway Four, 5853 Ridgway Center Parkway.

Tickets to individual screenings are on sale at www.malco.com. Tickets to Opening Night are $10 each, all other tickets are $8.50 each, with the exception of Cinema For Seniors ($5) and Kids First Films (free).

Opening Night Movie, 7:30 p.m., PROM NIGHT IN MISSISSIPPI, a documentary directed by Paul Saltzman.

Opening Night Party, 10 p.m. [Their Web site time is wrong], at Ground Zero Blues Club just off Beale Street in downtown Memphis, 158 Lt George W Lee Street. Walk the red carpet, get your photo made by the paparazzi, enjoy great music! Festival Awards presentation will take place at approximately 10 p.m. followed by the finalists in the Songwriting Contest and more Memphis music. Admission is free with a festival pass. At the door, $10.00.

Friday afternoon, 24, Senior Citizen's Day (over 55), 12:15 p.m. All films are $5.00.

Saturday morning, 25, Kids First Film Festival, 10:00:00 a.m. All films are free, family friendly, and seating is limited - first come first seated. READ MORE.

To link to the Festival's Web site, click title of this post.

Tribeca Film Festival Opens Wednesday

The Tribeca Film Festival in New York City opens this Wednesday (22 April). All available individual tickets are now on sale. See the previous post for more info.


You can access the Festival's Web site by clicking the graphic above or title of this post. Also, Tribeca is on Facebook this year. Visit either site and enter the sweepstakes to win a Transatlantic trip to England on the Cunard Queen Mary2, but hurry as sweepstakes close 31 May.

NYC Tribeca Film Festival Opens 22 April

Geoffrey "Geoff" Gilmore, formerly with Sundance, is the new Chief Creative Officer of Tribeca Enterprises. He will have been onboard less than two months when the 8th edition of the Tribeca Film Festival (TFFNYC) opens next week, 22 April. Of course, he has had a total of about 20 years of experience helming or assisting with film festivals, so he is probably fully acclimated to his new digs by now.

The Festival's opening film will be the world premiere of Woody Allen's WHATEVER WORKS, a Sony Pictures Classics release. The comedy, written and directed by Allen was filmed in NYC, and stars in alphabetical order: Ed Begley Jr. (PINEAPPLE EXPRESS), Patricia Clarkson (VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA), Larry David (“Curb Your Enthusiasm”), Evan Rachel Wood (THE WRESTLER), etc. The limited release date is 19 June. Next up for Allen? London.

MY LIFE IN RUINS (USA/Spain), starring Nia Vardalos of MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING (2002) fame, will close the festival 3 May. The director is Donald Petrie (HOW TO LOSE A GUY IN 10 DAYS). The "ruins" in the title is a double entendre. You'll get it when you read the synopsis. The release date is 9 June.

You can access the Festival's Web site by clicking the title of this post. Also, Tribeca is on Facebook this year. Visit either site and enter the sweepstakes to win a Transatlantic trip to England on the Cunard Queen Mary2, but hurry as sweepstakes close 31 May.

SLUMDOG Director Heads Shanghai Film Festival Jury

Shanghai Grand Theatre
Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle has been appointed to head the jury at this year's 12th Shanghai Film Festival (13 - 21 June 2009). The announcement of Boyle's selection coincided with the debut of this year's best-picture Oscar® winner SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE on Mainland China.

Danny Boyle
In an interview with the official Xinhua News Agency, Boyle suggested that watching festival selections made abroad would allow him to approach them as a festival judge with an open mind. He also indicated that he would like to film a feature in China. "When you have a city that is full of people and stories like Mumbai, Beijing or Shanghai, it's just so much excitement and potential for a filmmaker," he said.

Last year, the sudden death on 18 March of Oscar-winning British writer /director Anthony Minghella, age 54 and tapped to head the festival jury, made it necessary to seek a new jury president. Wong Kar Wai, a well-known Chinese director (born in Shanghai and raised in Hong Kong) was appointed to replace Minghella whose best-known films included COLD MOUNTAIN, THE ENGLISH PATIENT, and THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY.

AS TEARS GO BY was Wong's debut feature in 1998, and he was invited for critic's week at Cannes that year. In 2006, he served as President of the Cannes' Jury. His first feature in English, MY BLUEBERRY NIGHTS, debuted at Cannes in 2007 and has won numerous awards.

Submission of film entries for this summer's festival is now open. More than 600 feature films and 200 short films have already been submitted to date.

To see more about last year's Shanghai Festival, click here. To access the Festival's official 2009 Web site, click the title of this post.

AMPAS® moves 82nd Oscar® Gala to early March!

Hugh Jackman, second from right, host of 81st awards.


Sid Ganis, president of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, announced yesterday that the 82nd Annual Academy Awards® (Oscars®) presentation gala will be held Sunday, 7 March 2010. Hooray!

As those of you who follow this blog know, I have posted that one of the contributing factors to the steep decline in ratings for the Oscar telecast over the past three years has been the early date. I maintained that March gives more time for the Academy to publicize the event.

Well, this past February, the rating for the 81st Oscar broadcast (2009) on the Walt Disney company's ABC network, was 12.1 in the key demographic group of adults 18-49, and the broadcast attracted 36.3 million viewers overall, up 4.3 million from last year. There was a gain of 13% in that demographic group from last year, which was the lowest since 1992. Last year, a combination of factors, including the writers strike, impacted the ratings.

No doubt the writers strike wounded a number of shows in 2008, and was one cause of the lowest Academy Award gala in at least a decade. The telecast drew about 33% of people watching television, a steep decline from 2007's 42%. For more 81st Oscar ratings analysis, click title of this post.

The ceremony will again take place at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, and will be televised live by the ABC Television Network.

Key dates currently scheduled are:

Tuesday, December 1, 2009: Official Screen Credits forms due.
Monday, December 28, 2009: Nominations ballots mailed.
Saturday, January 23, 2010: Nominations polls close 5 p.m., PT.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010: Nominations announced 5:30 a.m., PT, Samuel Goldwyn Theater.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010: Final ballots mailed.
Monday, February 15, 2010: Nominees Luncheon.
Saturday, February 20, 2010: Scientific and Technical Achievement Awards presentation.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010: Final polls close 5 p.m., PT.
Sunday, March 7, 2010: 82nd Annual Academy Awards Presentation.

Will the telecast ratings go up again this year? If so, how much? Sorry. I'm not going out on a limb to answer either question, except to say, "We shall see."

Academy's Nicholl Screenwriting Competition Opens

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS®) is now accepting entries for the 2009 Don and Gee Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting competition. As many as five $30,000 fellowships will be awarded through the program later this year.

Application forms may be downloaded from the Academy’s Web site and mailed with the other required materials, or they may be completed and submitted online. Rules and details are available at www.oscars.org/nicholl, or click title of this post.

The Nicholl Fellowships competition is open to any individual who has not earned more than $5,000 from the sale or option of a screenplay or teleplay, or received a fellowship or prize of more than $5,000 that includes a “first look” clause, an option, or any other quid pro quo involving the writer’s work. To enter, writers must submit a completed application form, one copy of their original screenplay in English, and an entry fee of $30. Entries must be postmarked, or submitted online, no later than the first of May 2009, or 30 April to be safe.

Fellowships are awarded with the understanding that the recipients will each complete a feature-length screenplay during the fellowship year. The Academy acquires no rights to the works of Nicholl fellows and does not involve itself commercially in any way with their completed scripts.

Last year’s competition drew more than 5,000 entries. Since the program’s inception in 1985, 108 fellowships have been awarded.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is the world’s preeminent movie-related organization, with a membership of more than 6,000 of the most accomplished men and women working in cinema. In addition to the annual Academy Awards – in which the members vote to select the nominees and winners – the Academy presents a diverse year-round slate of public programs, exhibitions and events.

In addition, the Academy provides financial support to a wide range of other movie-related organizations and endeavors; acts as a neutral advocate in the advancement of motion picture technology; and, through its Margaret Herrick Library and Academy Film Archive, collects, preserves, restores and provides access to movies and items related to their history. Through these and other activities the Academy serves students, historians, the entertainment industry and people everywhere who love movies.

NPR Free SXSW Music Downloads

The National Public Radio music division is now offering free music downloads from the "NPR Music SXSW Sampler" DVD. SXSW stands for South By Southwest and refers to the annual music and film festivals in Austin, TX, which are currently in progress. There are more activities connected to the two festivals, and the various events are usually held in March. Winners at the SXSW Film Festival, were announced earlier this week. Each festival is considered top class in its medium.

Normally, I would have posted about them on my Film Festivals Page, but due to a broken shoulder and the Great Ice Storm of 2009, my plans were derailed. I have not started a 2009 Film Festivals Page. I hope to begin tracking the festivals next month as the biggest of them all, Cannes, will be in May.

Meanwhile, you can still get some ideas about these and other festivals on my last year's page. Go directly to last year's SXSW festivals. Please note that the page opens with Cannes, because it has not been reordered. So, to read from the first festival of the year (Palm Springs) and subsequent ones, you must start here and read upward.

To download the NPR music sampler information, click title of this post.

This year's SXSW Music Festival Web site.

This year's SXSW Film Festival Web site.

Memphis Film Festival Next Month

The 10th anniversary edition of the Memphis International Film Festival, Memphis,TN, will take place April 23-26 at Malco's Ridgeway Four. The festrival, also known as "On Location Memphis," will take over the theater showing films on all four screens. The festival is sponsored by the Memphis Film Forum.

There will be a special announcement in the coming weeks regarding the Opening Night film scheduled for Thursday, 23 April, with red carpet treatment. See the list of movies selected so far, and find the info posted about individual films. Read a capsule of last year's festival on Mimi's Film Festivals Page. For link to the Official Web site, click title of this post.

Check back on this blog for more updates on the schedule, more film additions (documentary, animated, shorts and features), workshops, special screenings for children and Senior Citizens, and the Young Film Critics Contest!

Miami Film Festival Opens Tomorrow

The 26th annual Miami International Film Festival opens tomorrow, Friday, 6 March, and runs through the 15th. During that time, 137 films from 43 countries will screen.


The overall program will basically be the same as in previous years with the usual array of panels, documentaries and feature films. However there is a new spice this year, a new festival director Tiziana Finzi, who wants to bring an "Art Basel" flavor to South Florida's biggest film festival.



Tiziana Finzi
Friday's opening-night film is VALENTINO: THE LAST EMPEROR, a documentary about the famed fashion icon that includes a look at his often turbulent personal and professional relationship with partner Giancarlo Giammetti. (Guzman Center, 7:00 p.m.). Opening Night Celebration, Freedom Tower at Miami Dade College, 600 Biscayne Blvd., Downtown Miami, follows.

Among the other docs on the slate are 9 TO 5: DAYS IN PORN, which follows 10 adult-film stars over the course of a year; and CACHAO: UNO MÁS, in which Andy Garcia hosts a 2005 performance of one of Cuba's most legendary musicians, Israel "Cachao" López.

This year's Career Achievement Tribute will go to director Abel Ferrara, whose films — such as KING OF NEW YORK and BAD LIEUTENANT are tough and as honest as movies can be. The tribute will be followed by a screening of Ferrara's latest film, CHELSEA ON THE ROCKS, a documentary about the artists and personalities who've resided in New York City's famed Chelsea Hotel.

Among the feature films on the schedule are THREE MONKEYS, about the complicated cover-up of a hit-and-run accident; MACHAN, a comedy about a ragtag group from Sri Lanka who form a phony handball team in order to get invited to Europe; and DAD'S GIRLFRIEND, Italy, that follows a widowed father as he travels to Miami to meet the mother of his son's child.

The REEL Education Seminar Series includes workshops and panel discussions on breaking into the film industry, while Florida's homegrown talent will be on display in the Florida Focus screenings. There is a shorts competition, and the Preservation Screening Room is featuring films from renowned director John Cassavetes.

The festival's awards-night closing film is EL NIDO VACÍO (Empty Nest). The Argentine comedy follows a middle-aged couple as they adapt to life after their youngest son moves out of the house. Screening followed by Wrap Party, Everglades on the Bay, 244 Biscayne Blvd., Downtown Miami.

Screening Locations:

Gusman Center for the Performing Arts, 174 E. Flagler St., Miami

Miami Beach Cinematheque, 512 Española Way

Regal Cinemas South Beach 18, 1100 Lincoln Road

Colony Theatre, 1040 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach

Tower Theatre, 1508 SW Eighth St., Miami

Bill Cosford Cinema, in the Memorial Building on the University of Miami campus in Coral Gables.

Tickets: $12 general admission, $10 for Miami Film Society members, $11 for seniors, $7 for students. Special event rates vary. Special Ticket Packages available for a limited time (call).

For more information, go to miamifilmfestival.com or call 305-405-6433.

Japanese Film Wins Oscars

Starring: Masahiro Motoki, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Ryoko Hirosue, Kazuko Yoshiyuki, Kimiko Yo. Director: Yojiro Takita. Writer: Kundo Koyama.

The Japanese movie OKURIBITO (Departures), which won the Grand Prize of the Americas at last September's Montreal World Film Festival, reaffirmed its merit by winning the Oscar® for Best Foreign Language Film (BFLF) of 2008 at the 81st Academy Awards®, 22 February 2009.

OKURIBITO, directed by Yojiro Takita, 53, is the first Japanese film to receive an Oscar in the category. SAMURAI I: MUSASHI MIYAMOTO was given a special award in 1955, a year before the BFLF category was officially established in 1956. Takita and lead actor Masahiro Motoki accepted the award at Hollywood's Kodak Theatre at Hollywood and Vine®.

With a humorous touch, OKURIBITO portrays how a mortician observes people's lives and deaths. For the film, which was in the pipeline for more than 10 years, Motoki, who plays the mortician, studied relevant techniques under a real mortician. During his training he wiped the faces of bodies and dressed them.

The four other finalists in the BFLF category were: THE BAADER MEINHOF COMPLEX, Germany; THE CLASS, France; REVANCHE (Revenge), Austria; and WALTZ WITH BASHIR, Israel.

Actually, two Japanese films picked up Oscars® at the 81st annual Academy Awards. TSUMIKI NO IE (The House of Small Cubes) was named Best Animated Short Film. The French title is, La Maison en Petits Cubes. The animation was painstakingly drawn by hand, taking about seven months to complete the 12-minute film.

The animated short, directed by Kunio Kato, 31, was Japan's first Oscar in that category - the nation's only other animation success was in 2003 with Hayao Miyazaki's SPIRITED AWAY in the Best Animated Feature category.

The 2008 Montreal World Film Festival's International Jury was headed by Oscar-winning American director MARK RYDELL, along with French actress EVELYNE BOUIX, JOHANNE DUGAS, representing the general public (Canada), Chinese director XIE FEI, Czech director VOJTECH JASNY, and Montreal writer and director DANY LAFERRIÈRE.

The next Montreal World Film Festival will take place 2 August to 7 September 2009, and the next Oscars will be in March 2010.

Clint Eastwood Awarded Lifetime Palme d'Or

Today, actor/director/producer Clint Eastwood, received a lifetime Palme d'Or (Golden Palm) from the organizers of the Cannes International Film Festival. The ceremony took place during a news conference and cocktail party at the chic Parisian restaurant, Le Fouquet's. Each year, the prestigious Palme d'Or is awarded to the top film at Cannes.

The Cannes International Film Festival has awarded only one other lifetime Palme d'Or, which was given to the great Swedish director Ingmar Bergman during the event's 50th edition in 1997.

Eastwood, 78, was in Paris to promote his latest movie, GRAN TORINO. He stars in the movie and directed it. It is doing great at the box office, but neither Clint nor his movie was nominated for the Academy Awards® (Oscars®). Unusual, considering his nominations and wins over the last three decades -- won four.

The presentation was moved ahead of the 62nd Cannes Film Festival because Eastwood will be filming in South Africa at the time of this year's Festival on the Riviera, 13 - 24 May. The organizers were being frugal by taking advantage of Eastwood's stop in Paris, and Eastwood received the added publicity for GRAND TORINO, which opened in French theaters the same day as his award. Quid Pro Quo!

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE Tops 81st Oscars® with Eight

Patel and Pinto in SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

The movie that I tagged as the possible "little movie that could," in September, did. The cast and crew will be taking eight golden statuettes back to the U.K., or India. It won best picture, and the best director went to Danny Boyle. There were honors for best cinematography, sound mixing, film editing, and adapted screenplay. Musically, A.R. Rahman received the best original score and best song ("Jai Ho") Oscars.

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON took home three expected ones: art direction, makeup and visual effects. THE DARK KNIGHT and MILK each garnered two.

Heath Ledger was posthumously awarded best supporting actor as the Joker in DARK KNIGHT, and the movie received one technical award for sound editing.

MILK's Sean Penn was named best actor for his role as Harvey Milk, and Dustin Lance Black's original screenplay received an Oscar.

Winning actresses Winslet and Cruz

Kate Winslet and Penelope Cruz each finally won acting Oscars. Winslet was named best actress in a leading role as a former Nazi with many secrets in THE READER, and Penelope Cruz was named best supporting actress as the ex-wife in VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA. DOUBT and FROST/NIXON were shutout.



Oscars also went to:
Best Animated Feature - WALL-E
Best Costumes - THE DUCHESS - Michael O'Connor
Best Documentary Feature - MAN ON WIRE
Best Documentary Short - SMILE PINKI
Best Live Action Short - SPIELZEUGLAND (Toyland)
Best Foreign Language Film - DEPARTURES, (Okuribito, Japan), dir. Yojiro Takita.

For the list of nominees and winners see the link on the right sidebar, "81st Oscar Nominations & Winners." The link will remain until the next awards.

I have watched the Academy Awards for more years than I will admit to, and the 81st presentation last night is the best one I have ever seen. For a decade the annual event's viewer percentage has been gradually declining. Therefore, this was a year of change for the Oscar Gala, too.

Before a couple of unfortunate personal incidents, I had planned to post about the changes for the Gala. Almost everyone in the administrative and talent heads at the Academy are no longer there. Last night it was announced that President Sid Ganis had served his last year and would be leaving.

So, good show Academy! Host Hugh Jackman was able to showcase his varied talents and do so with class. The Humanitarian Award was accepted by Jerry Lewis with a short and sincere acceptance speech. The set was spectacular. The proscenium box was gone, inviting the audience in, especially by moving the orchestra out of the pit onto the expanded stage.