Ready, get set, go!  The wait is over and the 51st San Francisco International Film Festival is fixed to begin.  Over the past few weeks I’ve had the chance to preview a handful of festival titles on screener (plus one press screening), and herein offer some thoughts on what I’ve seen.

Out of the bunch, the two films with the biggest pre-festival profiles are undoubtedly Catherine Breillat’s festival opener The Last Mistress (Une vieille maîtresse) and Jia Zheng-ke’s Still Life (Sanxia haoren).  Reams have been written about both since their premieres at Cannes 2007 and Venice 2006 respectively.  So rather than add to the din, I’ll simply say that both are as excellent as anything else to be found in their directors’ esteemed filmographies.  Asia Argento’s feral, spellbinding performance as an obsessed 19th century Spanish courtesan has to be seen to be believed.  And Yu Lik-wai’s HD cinematography of the area to be flooded by China’s Three Gorges Dam is as crisp and sumptuous as digital filmmaking gets.

Continue Reading "SFIFF51—Michael Hawley At the Starting Gun!"...

Citing last year’s 50th anniversary festival as a “fantastic benchmark” and “a gateway to a brighter future,” SF Film Society Executive Director Graham Legatt and his programming team revealed this year’s equally impressive line-up at a press conference last week.  In a recent Evening Class write-up, I summarized all the special events that had been announced prior to the press conference, to which we can now add the following:

* Errol Morris will receive this year’s Persistence of Vision Award, with an on-stage interview and a screening of his latest work, Standard Operating Procedure.

* The Maurice Kanbar Award for screenwriting will go to Robert Towne, who will be interviewed on stage by Eddie Muller prior to a screening of Shampoo.

* This year’s State of Cinema Address will be given by Kevin Kelly, founding executive editor of Wired magazine and former editor/publisher of the Whole Earth Catalog.

* Rose McGowen and Jason Lee are to be the recipients of this year’s (2nd annual) Midnight Awards, presented to an actor and actress “entering the prime of their careers.”

That same pre-press conference write-up contained the Cinema by the Bay and Castro Theater roster of films.  We now know what the other 80-plus programs worth of narrative and documentary features will be, and it’s quite something—full of movies I’d been hoping the festival would bring our way.  I’ve had a week to digest the line-up and now offer this overview of what I personally find exciting about SFIFF51.

Continue Reading "SFIFF51—Michael Hawley Previews The Lineup"...

Variety has leaked the line-up for the 19th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival. With a nod to the upcoming Oscars, PSIFF’s “Awards Buzz” program will screen 55 of the 63 official submissions to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences for foreign-language film. This is my main incentive for attending PSIFF and I welcome any feedback from Twitch readers regarding the “Awards Buzz” selection.

In usual obsessive fashion, I’ve scoured the film review lists for Strictly Film School, Long Pauses, Film Journey, and (of course) my own Twitch teammates and have linked reviews when relevant. I’ve also linked all Wikipedia synopses, which usually include IMdb profiles; but, in those instances where they don’t, I’ve linked in IMdb as well, particularly for their external reviews and user comments. In those instances where The Greencine Daily has crafted a film-specific critical overview, I have linked those in as well.

Continue Reading "PSIFF08—Foreign Language Oscar Submissions"...

Michael Hawley, contributing writer to The Evening Class, offers the Twitch readership anticipatory remarks to the upcoming Palm Springs International Film Festival.

The 19th Palm Springs International Film Festival ("PSIFF") is set to begin in two weeks, and although the full 230-film line-up won’t be announced until December 23, bits and pieces of what we might expect to see from January 3 to 14 have recently been brought to light.

The three International Gala titles announced thus far are Fatih Akin’s The Edge of Heaven, Joseph Cedar’s Beaufort and Danielle Luchetti’s My Brother is an Only Child.  Akin’s film will also be the opening the Bay Area’s Berlin & Beyond festival on January 10, leading me to believe that the director himself will soon be California-bound to support the film at both festivals.  The Edge of Heaven, for which Akin won a Best Screenplay award at Cannes, is Germany’s official entry for this year’s Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.

Cedar’s Beaufort, you may recall, became Israel’s Oscar entry after their first choice—Eran Kolirin’s The Band’s Visit—was disqualified for having too much English dialogue.  Both films, however, will screen at Palm Springs this year as part of a spotlight series celebrating Israel’s 60th anniversary.

Continue Reading "PSIFF08—Anticipating Palm Springs"...

The Global Film Initiative announced today that seven filmmakers have been awarded completion funding for their film projects during the Initiative’s Fall granting-cycle.  “This Fall’s grant-recipients represent a diverse spectrum of global filmmaking,” says Santhosh Daniel, Director of Programs.  “We’re very impressed by the high quality of projects, and the cultural breadth they represent.”

The 7 projects were selected from a group of 44 applications, from 26 different countries, for their artistic excellence, accomplished storytelling, and cultural perspective on daily life around the world.  Funds received from grants are used to subsidize post-production costs, such as laboratory and sound mixing fees, and access to advanced editing systems.

Since its founding in 2002, the Initiative has awarded more than 50 grants to emerging and established filmmakers from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.

Continue Reading "GLOBAL FILM INITIATIVE—Seven Projects Awarded Funds"...

I’d be hard-pressed to outdo Robert Avila’s outstanding SF360 preview of Global Lens 2007.  As a member of the GFI board, I am grateful for his accomplished outreach.  This year’s dynamic, community-based screening schedule truly achieves GFI’s mission to—as Susan Weeks Coulter describes it—"link local communities through these films and create a cinematic experience that can be shared by everyone.”

Spanning eight neighborhoods and thirteen venues, Global Lens 2007 launched on November 1st and continues through November 16th.  The series opened at St. Dominic’s and St. John’s churches (Pacific Heights and Richmond District), and continues with screenings across the city, including the Bayview Opera House (Bayview), Roxie Film Center and El Rio (Mission), San Francisco Art Institute ("SFAI", North Beach), and San Francisco State University ("SFSU").

As part of new and ongoing partnerships with the Initiative, the San Francisco Film Society will also host daytime, educational screenings for high school students at the de Young Museum, and the Mexican Heritage Plaza (San Jose) will screen the entire series, as well as host educational film screenings, during the month of December.  “Collaboration, which is reflected in our partnerships, is an extension of our mission to support film communities locally and worldwide,” says Santhosh Daniel, Director of Programs at The Global Film Initiative.

The premiere of Global Lens 2007 marks the second time the Initiative has taken a collaborative approach to its series in the Bay Area.  Last year, Global Lens screened in five locations and this year’s expansion reflects the Initiative’s continuing mission to foster the growth of vibrant independent film communities through innovative presentations of Global Lens.

Following is the ongoing Bay Area schedule for Global Lens 2007.  As I’ve already specified, I’ll be introducing films at the Roxie Film Center (except for Another Man’s Garden, which will be introduced by Cornelius Moore of California Newsreel).

Continue Reading "2007 GLOBAL LENS—Line-up"...

Tartan Film has finally got around to releasing Pen-Ek Ratanaruang’s Invisible Waves in the UK on 19th November, The release is fairly barebones but it includes a making of.  The specs of the release are below:

Special Features:
Behind the Scenes Featurette
Original Theatrical Trailer
Film Notes

DTS Digital Surround 5.1
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo

English Subtitles

I seem to be on something of a Robert Koehler love fest recently, which I assure you is purely coincidental; but, when a critic of Koehler’s stature champions a small, unknown film like Lee Isaac Chung’s Munyurangabo, it serves to emphasize what I think is best about this medium of film writing.  Koehler’s Variety review penned from Cannes motivated me to catch Munyurangabo at its sole Toronto International P&I screening.  Koehler proclaims that Munyurangabo is the flat-out “discovery of this year’s Un Certain Regard batch” and “is—by several light years—the finest and truest film yet on the moral and emotional repercussions of the 15-year-old genocide that wracked Rwanda.” I couldn’t agree more.

Cameron Bailey’s TIFF program capsule likewise extols: “In the future, films like Munyurangabo might not seem so startling.  But for now, this counts as one of the most audacious achievements of the year.” “Nothing short of a marvel,” Bailey continues, Munyurangabo is “[c]rafted with dramatic precision and deep humanity” and “rises to a stunning plea for reconciliation.”

Munyurangabo practices the same kind of grass root aesthetics that lends Cochochi its organic integrity.  Both films escape Western manipulations by putting the script and the camera’s perspective into the hands of its indigenous subjects.  Likewise, where Cochochi is strengthened by its usage of the Tarahumara language, Munyurangabo boasts the distinction of being the first film rendered in Kinyarwanda.  Ethonography effectively meets the art house in each of these commendable gestures to world cinema.  After watching Munyurangabo, I chased down director Lee Isaac Chung and scriptwriter Samuel Anderson who agreed to meet me in the lobby of Sutton Place, from where we found a café up the street where we could talk about their film.

Continue Reading "TIFF Report: MUNYURANGABO—Interview With Director Lee Isaac Chung and Scriptwriter Samuel Anderson"...

A little campy gem here dug up by our very own wooden lad ... apparently much loved Japanese auteur Kiyoshi Kurosawa, who has always been a lover of pulp film, cowrote a James Bond spoof titled 0093 somewhere along the line and now the book has been translated to the big screen.  The trailer has appeared online and this is goofy, intentionally lo-fi stuff that should be an absolute blast.  If only they could’ve gotten Koji Yakusho in the lead ...

** UPDATE **

Oh, look.  Auto translators aren’t reliable after all.  Having had someone who actually speaks the language take a look at the site in question (thanks Jason!) it turns out that Kurosawa’s involvement is rather overstated.  Turns out the reference on the website is to a book on horror film that Kurosawa co-wrote with this film’s director some time back.  The actual writer of this picture is Jun’ya Katô who previously penned Meatball MAchine and was involved with the Ten Nights of Dreams omnibus.

Susan Weeks Coulter—knowing how keenly curious I am in the entire filmmaking process; from the word on the page to the frenzy on the wall—invited me to join her and her Global Film Initiative ("GFI") staff for dinner at San Francisco’s Indian Oven to celebrate not only their snappy new MySpace site but the completion of GFI’s Spring granting cycle.  After weathering multiple grant proposals, six filmmakers have been awarded completion funding for their film projects.  GFI is a not-for-profit film distributor specializing in independent films from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.  The Initiative awards grants twice each year, to both emerging and established filmmakers.  Since The Initiative was founded in 2002, more than 50 grants have been awarded to filmmakers from the developing world.

These film projects have been selected based on their artistic excellence, accomplished storytelling, and cultural perspective on daily life around the world.  “GFI’s granting program is at the core of our mission,” says Santhosh Daniel, Director of Programs.  “By funding projects from the developing world, we support international filmmaking communities and our mission of cultural exchange through film.” Funds received from grants are used to subsidize post-production costs, such as laboratory and sound mixing fees, and access to advanced editing systems.

It is with great pride that Twitch (via The Evening Class) has been allowed to be the first to announce GFI’s Spring 2007 grant recipients:

Continue Reading "THE GLOBAL FILM INITIATIVE—Awards Granted to Six Promising Projects"...

Since first seeing Abderrahmane Sissako’s Bamako at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival, I’ve grown even more enamored with this important film. I appreciated the chance to catch it again at the 2007 San Francisco International Film Festival where I had the welcome opportunity to talk with the film’s producer and actor Danny Glover. That interview is up at the Greencine main site.

A reminder as well that Franck Garbarz’s insightful interview with Sissako can be found on The Evening Class.

Cross-published at The Evening Class.

I deeply believe that life and hope go beyond the notion of justice.

Recently, while waiting for a word-of-mouth screening of Vacancy to begin, I browsed through a handful of press notes for the upcoming SFIFF50. A young lady next to me took interest and asked, “What are those?”

“They’re press notes,” I answered.

“You’re a movie critic?” she followed.

“I write about movies,” I corrected, edging away from the assumption. I offered her some of the press notes to peruse while waiting for the film to begin. “These are fascinating,” she said, “they have so much information about the movie!”

“Sometimes,” I qualified.

Later, on my way home, filling the vacancy left after Vacancy (nature abhors a vacuum and all that), I felt fortunate that press notes are (again) sometimes a perk to compensate for no compensation writing about film. I say sometimes because often they’re just a complete waste of trees, replicating the closing credits that roll across the screen while you’re shuffling out of the theater. But other times they include critical overviews or provide insightful historical context. The press notes for Stuart Cooper’s Overlord come to mind; they were a fascinating read.

As were the press notes for Abderrahmane Sissako’s Bamako; one of the gems of SFIFF50’s line-up this year. I watched Bamako again recently and enjoyed it even more than my first viewing. Included with the press notes were a note from Sissako and an interview conducted with French film critic and educator Franck Garbarz. I felt Garbarz’s interview, especially, deserved to be read by a larger public than the press and contacted local publicist Larsen Associates to seek permission to replicate the interview here on Twitch and on The Evening Class. Larsen Associates put me in touch with Ron Ramsland at New Yorker Films, Bamako‘s distributor. Ron tracked down the author of the interview and granted permission to use Garbarz’s piece, for which I am deeply grateful. Thank you, Ron.

But then I felt a tinge of conscience because somewhere in the back of my mind was this little voice saying, “You’re not supposed to replicate stuff from press notes. That’s a journalistic no-no.” So I’ve asked around and, sure enough, some film writers say no, that’s not acceptable. The publicist and the distributor were surprised by that reaction because they provide the material precisely to be used. So not being tethered to any kind of academic training when it comes to my film writing, trusting gut instincts, and eschewing peer approval, I offer for your perusal what I found of worth in the Bamako press notes. [After completing this entry, I discovered Garbarz’s interview with Sissako can also be found on the film’s official website.]

Bamako Offical Website.
SFIFF50 Bamako program capsule.

Continue Reading "2007 SFIFF50—Bamako Press Notes/Interview With Abderrahmane Sissako"...

Details about this years’ International Film Festival Rotterdam are slowly emerging, and interestingly there will be retrospectives on no less than three directors.

First, the IFFR has a programme section called “Filmmakers in Focus” and this year it’ll feature Johnny To (Heroic Trio will be shown!!) and the Malinese-French director Abderrahmane Sissako.

Second, the IFFR participates in a separate event called “Meet the Maestro” which features Gus van Sant. Some of his movies have re-appeared in Dutch cinema’s as part of this event but the culmination will be in Rotterdam, when several directors will screen short movies made in tribute to the maestro.

Appearances haven’t been confirmed yet but I would be very surprised if these gents don’t show up in person in Rotterdam.

The IFFR 2007 will run from the 24th of January till the 4th of February. More information can be found here,
http://www.filmfestivalrotterdam.com

and (if you can read Dutch) here:
http://www.movie2movie.nl/36237

Can’t wait till the 18th when the whole list of screenings and events will be published!

It’s with great pride and pleasure that The Evening Class and my Canadian compatriot Twitch—both of who are committed to global cinema and the development of film writing among young people—can announce and publish the First, Second and Third Prize Winners in the Global Film Initiative’s Bay Area Creative Writing Competition.

The Competition was open to high school students who attended screenings of Global Lens films in Oakland, San Francisco, San Jose and San Rafael during September.  Entries were judged for critical thinking, imagination and creative writing.

First and Second Place winners were selected by teachers and administrators at each participating high school.  First Place winners received a cash prize of $100, and their entries were submitted to the Bay Area-wide competition.  Second Place winners received a cash prize of $50.

A panel of distinguished educators and civic leaders judged the top finishers from all participating high schools for the Bay Area-wide Competition.  First, Second and Third Prizes carried Scholarship Awards in the amounts of $3,000, $2,000 and $1,000, courtesy of a grant by San Francisco-based Triton Holdings.

First Prize:  Notre Dame High School in San Jose—Thientam Nguyen.

Third Prize:  Mission High School in San Francisco—Debbie Huang.

The judges were impressed by the talent and imagination these students brought to a challenging assignment.  “We are pleased to reward their efforts and to encourage them in their studies,” noted Susan Weeks Coulter, Chair of The Global Film Initiative.  “They embraced the writing assignment with enthusiasm and skill.  We wish them all the best as they continue their education.”

Continue Reading "GLOBAL LENS—Winners of the Global Film Initiative’s Bay Area Creative Writing Competition"...

Speaking of…

From Time Europe Edition:
“Rachid Bouchareb is the director and co-writer of Indigènes, a film opening in France this week that tells the little-known story of soldiers from the French colonies who fought to liberate France from German occupation. Indigènes, has become more than a movie — it’s an active campaign that has already changed France’s policy regarding veteran’s pensions.” More here.