Movie News from Spain

Spanish actress Maribel Verdú

Málaga Film Festival's Focus is Movies Made in Spain

Isabel Coixet’s 'Tomorrow never ends' (Ayer no termina nunca), starring Javier Cámara and Candela Peña, will open the 16th edition of the Málaga Film Festival, which began yesterday, Saturday 20, 2013, and runs until April 27. The movie, about a couple who reunite in 2017 Barcelona after five difficult years apart, is one of 12 competing for the Golden Cactus Barrel (Biznaga de Oro) awarded to the best film prize this year.

Others in the running at the festival, which focuses on Spanish film, include Daniel Calparsoro’s 'Combustión' (Combustion), which narrates the complications arising from a love triangle formed by Adriana Ugarte, Álex González and Alberto Ammann, the feature debut of TV director Miguel Alcantud, dealing with the reality shock of imported young African soccer talent.

José Coronado will receive this year’s Málaga Prize, and Alex de la Iglesia will be honored with the 2013 Retrospective Prize. Mario Casas and María Valverde star in Civil War drama, 'The Mule' (La mula), which arrives without a credited director after Michael Radford disassociated himself from the troubled project. Gracia Querejeta offers up '15 Years and a Day' (15 años y un día),  in which Maribel Verdú plays the mother of a troubled teenager. Querejeta is the daughter of producer Elías Querejeta.

Read full article in English: http://tinyurl.com/cm4cmof

 

Alta Films Wrapping Permanently?

It appears the Spanish distributor of movies directed by Woody Allen, Danny Boyle, Michael Haneke, Mike Leigh, Michael Moore, Roman Polanski, Steven Soderbergh and others, is calling it quits, according to an article in El País. A few weeks ago, I read an article in a Spanish newspaper that the movie theaters in Madrid, especially on the Gran Via, are being bought, mainly with foreign money, and turned into retail stores, some big box.

Enrique González Macho, the current president of the Spanish Cinema Academy, has admitted that many Spaniards have stopped going to the cinema, the DVD retail business is a disaster because of Internet downloads and TV stations, especially since the public network no longer supports Spanish cinema or art films.

It appears Spanish Cinema could survive Francisco Franco's censorship, but not the rout by Spaniards hurting from the slide of the economy, which has had a huge impact on the Spanish Box Office. Macho is now trying to decide where he will "cut the fat," what to close, and what is worth a continuing fight to keep open.

Read the full article in English: http://tinyurl.com/bqmpphh

Do Film Festivals Matter Where Oscars Are Concerned?

When it comes to film festivals, the question on the street this year is, "Do film festivals really matter where the Oscars are concerned?" My answer is that some do, some don't, and some count more than others.

However, keep in mind that these are no longer "film" festivals. Oh, yes, film festivals is a great alliteration that trips off the tongue, but the title "film festivals" denoting a showcase for new motion pictures must go. Why? Because film is the material and process once used to make motion pictures and, except for a few third world countries, film is no longer used to make motion pictures, moving pictures, movies, cinema, cine, etc. Digital is the new medium of choice, and 3D is rising in popularity as digital techniques for it improve.

For instance, I attended and taught in the Film School at the University of Southern California (History and Criticism), but that school no longer exists. Don't panic, it is now known as the USC School of Cinematic Arts, and my field is now known as Cinematic Critical Studies. The School of Cinematic Arts at USC, now has it's own building, the George Lucas Building, SCA 108, which also contains the The Ray Stark Family Theatre, all at 900 W. 34th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90007.

So, the times have changed, and are constantly changing. Therefore, are film festivals still relevant in the Race for the Oscars in spite of the gigantic procreation of them in every town and hamlet, and their rapidly deteriorating event name?

That depends on the festival. Here are the top five that should be followed by everyone from the occasional movie goer to those studying, teaching, or writing about Cinematic Critical Studies:

1. Berlin International Film Festival, a.k.a., Berlinale, is the first festival out of the gate in Europe, held in February. In 2011, it had one big winner in its lineup, the foreign language film Oscar winner, A Separation (Iran), directed by Asghar Farhadi, won the festival's Golden Bear. At the 84th Academy Awards on February 26, three huge Oscars were awarded to Berlinale films and guests.

 A Separation's Oscar win, plus actress Meryl Streep's, Honorary Golden Bear for Lifetime Achievement at the Berlinale 2012, and her Oscar win for best performance by an Actress in a Leading Role for The Iron Lady, directed by Phyllida Loyd, gave the Berlinale big bragging rights.

It was Streep’s 17th nomination and third Oscar. In addition, the Oscar for makeup went to her long-time make up artists, Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland for their work in The Iron Lady, which was presented in the Berlinale Special 2012.

In all, eight films that participated in the Berlinale 2011 and 2012 were nominated by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in eleven different categories. More on the Berlinale below.

2. The Cannes Film Festival's 2011 lineup had six wins, 19 nominations. It screened the big Oscar winner, The Artist, as well as: The Tree of life, Midnight in Paris, Drive and the Israeli documentary, Footnote.

3. New York Film Festival: Five wins, 13 nominations. A year after nabbing the world premiere of the phenomenal, The Social Network, it chose to premiere a motion picture that was not yet completed at the time of the festival, so it featured a work-in-progress special screening at the festival for the second biggest winner of 2011, Hugo directed by indomitable Martin Scorsese, as well as the movie that probably had the most photographs published last year, My Week With Marilyn.

People wouldn't have guessed it then, but Hugo would end up getting five Oscars from 11 nominations. My Week With Marilyn received two nominations.

I give the New York festival extra points because it had the guts to open with Roman Polanski's Carnage, plus the gala screenings featured David Cronenberg's A Dangerous Method, and Pedro Almodóvar's newest, The Skin I Live In. As for that last one, the Spanish Film Academy should have, but did not submit it for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. Talk about a snub. That was bigger than any of the so-called 2011 "Oscar snubs."

4. Telluride Film Festival: One win, 10 nominations. Telluride had The King's Speech and 127 Hours the year before, but only one debut at Telluride that had any real Oscar traction in 2011. That was Alexander Payne's The Descendants. It received five nominations but only a single win at the 2012 Oscars, for best adapted screenplay.

5. Toronto International Film Festival: One win, nine nominations. The Toronto Peoples Choice Award had been spot-on picking the best picture at the Oscars with The King's Speech, Precious and Slumdog Millionaire, but the crystal ball went dark in 2011 when they chose Nadine Labaki's Lebansese movie, Where Do We Go Now? It went on to win nothing. However, Moneyball, Beginners, Anonymous, and Paradise Lost 3 went on to be nominated, along with Brad Pitt and Christopher Plummer for their acting chops. Plummer won best supporting actor but Pitt won nothing.

Runner Up: SXSW Film Festival: One win, three nominations. This festival is not known for scoring Oscar nominations or winners but this year it got lucky with two winners, Bridesmaids and the documentary feature winner, Undefeated. So, a salute to one of my favorite U.S. festivals.

BERLIN: 62nd Berlinale 2012,  February 9 - 19.

PRIZES OF THE INTERNATIONAL JURY:

GOLDEN BEAR FOR THE BEST FILM - Caesar Must Die (Cesare deve morire) by Paolo & Vittorio Taviani;

Will this one be big in 2012?

Caesar Must Die

 JURY GRAND PRIX-SILVER BEAR - Just The Wind (Csak a szél) by Bence Fliegauf;

SILVER BEAR FOR BEST DIRECTOR - Christian Petzold for Barbara;

SILVER BEAR FOR BEST ACTRESS - Rachel Mwanza in War Witch (Rebelle) by Kim Nguyen;

SILVER BEAR FOR BEST ACTOR - Mikkel Boe Følsgaard in A Royal Afair (En Kongelig Affære) by Nikolaj Arcel;

SILVER BEAR FOR AN OUTSTANDING ARTISTIC CONTRIBUTION -

Lutz Reitemeier for the photography in White Deer Plain (Bai lu yuan)  by Wang Quan'an;

SILVER BEAR FOR THE BEST SCRIPT - Nikolaj Arcel, Rasmus Heisterberg for A Royal Affair (En Kongelig Affære) by Nikolaj Arcel;

ALFRED BAUER PRIZE, awarded in memory of the Festival founder, for a work of particular innovation - Tabu by Miguel Gomes;

SPECIAL AWARD-SILVER BEAR - Sister (L'enfant d'en haut) by Ursula Meier.

The members of the 2012 International Jury, Mike Leigh (President), Anton Corbijn, Asghar Farhadi, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Jake Gyllenhaal, François Ozon, Boualem Sansal and Barbara Sukowa.

 All Berlinale winners, 2012 Awards (PDF)

A Little Gossip - - Hopper, Polanski, Renner

Mia Wasikowksa and Henry Hopper in Restless

Gus Van Sant 

The latest Gus Van Sant movie, Restless was screened at the recent Toronto International Film Festival. A new movie by the Kentucky director Van Sant is always noteworthy. However, it seems the two young adult leads, Mia Wasikowksa and Henry Hopper, both 21, are stealing the thunder.

Wasikowska starred in Alice in Wonderland, The Kid's Are All Right, That Evening Son, and as Jane Eyre in the remake of the same name. All were filmed last year and early this year. She was nominated for a number of awards.

Henry Hopper -- son of late actor Dennis Hopper and his last wife, actress Katherine LaNasa -- makes his screen debut in Restless, if one discounts the low-budget ($100,000) independent movie, Kiss and Tell, 1996, in which he had a very small part under the name of Henry Lee Hopper.

In Restless, Van Sant applies his directorial acumen to the surprising acting chops of both Hopper and the impressive wispy Wasikowska, to shape a story of two young teens fascinated with death. They find themselves drawn to each other because of that fascination, and Van Sant creates ". . . a profoundly moving account of two lost souls whose union becomes a marvelous affirmation of life. Reminiscent, inevitably, of Hal Ashby’s classic Harold and Maude . . . ." That quote courtesy of the Toronto IFF. See bottom of this post for Restless links.

Roman Planski

Director Roman Polanski's latest, Carnage will open the New York International Film Festival (NYC, September 30th - October 16th). Polanski, a Swiss citizen, will not attend, but he will attend the Zurich FF (September 22nd - October 2nd).

At Zurich, Polanski will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award he was scheduled to receive in 2009, but didn't because he was arrested for having sex with a minor at actor Jack Nikolson's house in the late 1970s and skipped bail shortly afterward. He has been unable to return to the U.S. since 1978. That's why he will not be attending the New York IFF.

He was under house arrest in Switzerland after his 2009 arrest in Zurich. Only recently has he been able to travel freely in that country. Carnage, which stars Jodi Foster, Kate Winslet, Christoph Watlz and John C. Reilly, will be released in December.

For more about the Zurich Film Festival, click title of this post.

Jeremy Renner

Mike Fleming writes on Nikke Finke's Deadline Hollywood that Jeremy Renner, who received Oscar nominations for his roles in The Hurt Locker (2008) and The Town (2010), will star in and co-produce King of Heists, an adaptation of the J. North Conway nonfiction book about a great bank robbery of nearly $3 million in cash and securities from the Manhattan Savings Institution in 1878, and that was a hefty amount of cash in the late 1800's. You will be hearing more about this one. Renner's MySpace Page.

Restless:

Official Site 

Facebook

Berlin Film Festival Winners 2010

SERIES: Major Film Festivals

60th Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) awards their Bears at annual gala.

The second major international film festival of 2010, the 60th Anniversary edition of the Berlin International Film Festival (BIFF) closed last night with the presentation of their Gold and Silver Bears, and other awards. The Berlinale, as it is known in Europe, begins the annual official 2010 award season for Europe, as did last month's Sundance (SFF) in the U.S.

Berlin, held in what was known as West Germany, was originally known for screening films that otherwise would not have been shown anywhere outside of the former West and East Germany, the USSR, Yugoslavia, etc. They hold to their basic tradition today in the united Germany, primarily showing German film, but also showing films from Russia and other Eastern Europe countries.

Honorary Golden Bears for lifetime achievement in cinema went to actress Hanna Schygulla and the screenwriter and director Wolfgang Kohlhaase. Schygulla’s name is inseparably connected with the late West German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s films. Wolfgang Kohlhaase adopted a course that was new for DEFA (the publicly-owned film studio in the German Democratic Republic, the former East Germany). Motion pictures in which Schygulla or Kohlhaase had a part were shown in separate programs during the festival. For German cinema, finally a meeting of West and East.

I have had the privilege of seeing many of the films from DEFA and UFA made before unification. For anyone interested in German films made at DEFA, the DEFA Film Library is now at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. It is the only archive and study center outside Europe devoted to the study of a broad spectrum of films by East German filmmakers or related to East Germany from 1946 to the present. Here's the UMASS link.

But, you came here to see the winners. Roman Polanski won the Silver Bear for Best Director for his latest film, THE GHOST WRITER. He did not attend. The major movie winners are, HONEY; IF I WANT TO WHISTLE, I WHISTLE; HOW I ENDED THIS SUMMER; and APART TOGETHER. Here are the major winners by award, name of film, and director (where appropriate):

GOLDEN BEAR FOR THE BEST FILM - HONEY (Bal, Turkey) directed by Semih Kaplanoglu;

JURY GRAND PRIX SILVER BEAR - IF I WANT TO WHISTLE, I WHISTLE (Eu cand vreau sa fluier, fluier, Romania) by Florin Serban;

SILVER BEAR FOR BEST DIRECTOR - Roman Polanski for THE GHOST WRITER (France, Germany, UK), based on the novel The Ghost by Robert Harris, who adapted the screenplay;

SILVER BEAR FOR BEST ACTRESS Shinobu Terajima in CATEPILLAR (Kyatapirâ, Japan) by Koji Wakamatsu;

SILVER BEAR FOR BEST ACTOR - Sergei Puskepalis for HOW I ENDED THIS SUMMER (Kak ya provel etim letom, Russia) by Alexei Popogrebsky;

SILVER BEAR FOR AN OUTSTANDING ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENT IN THE CATEGORY CAMERA - Pavel Kostomarov for the camera in HOW I ENDED THIS SUMMER by Alexei Popogrebsky;

SILVER BEAR FOR THE BEST SCRIPT - Wang Quan'an and Na Jin for APART TOGETHER (Tuan Yuan, China) by Wang Quan'an;

ALFRED BAUER PRIZE, awarded in memory of the Festival founder, for a work of particular innovation - IF I WANT TO WHISTLE, I WHISTLE by Florin Serban.

For all awards, download the .pdf file here. Click the title of this post to link to the Official Festival Site. To find out more about individual films at a glance, visit the IMDb.

Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired

Roman Polanski

Tate & Polanski then. Polanski now.

UPDATE 27 January - Here is a new article from Reuters, through Yahoo News, about this controversial documentary. It just won the Documentary Editing Award at the Sundance International Film Festival. Even with all the hype, it received only this one award.

Original Post, 20 January - Marina Zenovich's documentary, ROMAN POLANSKI: WANTED AND DESIRED, about the Oscar-winning director, made its debut at the Sundance International Film Festival this weekend. Also, it was announced the film has a worldwide distribution deal from the Weinstein Co., from which the documentary division of HBO obtained the North American rights.

It was 30 years ago this past August that I met Roman Polanski at the Berlin Film Festival, which was then held in summer. Polanski arrived with a beautiful young woman on each arm. He was on the lam in Europe following a warrant for his arrest for statutory rape, having been charged with having sex with a 13-year-old girl, and fleeing the USA. The incident happened in Actor Jack Nicholson's home.

Many in 1977 Berlin hastened to cut Polanski slack because his behavior had been erratic following the loss of his beautiful actress-wife Sharon Tate, 25, and their unborn child. Both were murdered by Charles Manson and Manson's drug-crazed cohorts during an invasion of the Polanski home in 1969. Others maintained that there was no excuse for statutory rape. The next day, pictures of Polanski at the festival were published in the national press, and he high-tailed it back to France where he still maintains his citizenship.

Polanski married French actress Emmanuelle Seigner in 1989, who is over thirty years his junior, and they have two children. He directed her in FRANTIC, 1988.

Polanski, now 74, continues to work in Europe, mostly France, and has never returned to the U.S. In 2003, he won the Academy Award for THE PIANIST, but he did not attempt to return. Nicholson is still a "Hollywood darling."

Director Marina Zenovich has never interviewed Polanski. However, she did speak with Polanski's lawyer, the victim, her attorney, law enforcement officials, film industry colleagues and reporters who covered the case, among others. They all revealed troubling behavior by the judge, now deceased, who was so driven by media coverage that he kept a scrapbook of clippings. Polanski presumably fled because he feared unfair treatment amid the media frenzy.

The documentary is a patchwork quilt of comments and archived clips, similar to Ken Burn's documentary style, all designed to lead the viewer to draw conclusions. The subtext of the bizarre occurrences remains, "To what extent Polanski's state of mind, after the senseless killings of his wife and unborn child, might have contributed to his supposed lack of judgment that led to his subsequent fugitive status?"

There are still the questions as to whether the movie ROSEMARY'S BABY (1968), directed by Polanski and released shortly before the murders, may have influenced the demented Manson to choose Polanski's home that night in 1969. Some suggested that Manson's warped mind may have perceived Sharon Tate as carrying the spawn of the Devil, because Polanski directed a movie about a woman carrying the child of the Devil. Therefore, the Polanski's child might have equated to a spawn of the Devil in Manson's mind. Yes, I know. It is demented thinking, but it was postulated at the time.

Will this documentary answer all your questions about Polanski and his sex with a minor? Doubtful. It may raise more questions.