My interview with San Francisco Film Society associate programmer Sean Uyehara regarding the 3rd edition of the International Animation Festival is up at SF360.  Unbeknownst to me, my editor at SF360 lopped off the tail end of the interview, which I offer here for posterity’s sake (though I don’t know why I should; to quote Woody Allen: “What has posterity ever done for me?"):

SF360: With the San Francisco Film Society’s recent partnership with the Film Arts Foundation, will you be teaching any of their film courses?

Uyehara: Yes, I’m teaching an introductory class on basic concepts in film criticism: why critics take certain positions, what it is that they’re falling back on, what their assumptions are.  What acumen do writers bring to this kind of writing, what are their goals, and how do they evaluate a movie?  What is their criteria?

SF360: Are these classes being held at the Ninth Street Film Center?

Uyehara: Some of the classes are being held there and some are being held in the Presidio.

SF360: Well, Sean, to wrap up, thanks for the insightful preview.  I’m genuinely looking forward to this year’s edition of the International Animation Festival and, once again, congratulations on your expanded, multi-faceted efforts.

Cross-published on The Evening Class.

In its third edition spread over four days from November 13-16, 2008 at Landmark’s Embarcadero Center Cinema, with special live events at the Apple Store and the Ninth Street Independent Film Center, the San Francisco Film Society presents the San Francisco International Animation Festival (SFIAF), which celebrates “one of the most fertile, creative and productive forms of artistic, experimental, commercial and industrial media.” In the ol’ days we called them “toons”; but, some highfalutin words are required nowadays to express the strength and breadth of this year’s eclectic program, curated by SFFS programmer Sean Uyehara.

Continue Reading "2008 SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL ANIMATION FESTIVAL LINEUP"...

New York, Seattle, Toronto and even Minneapolis have all started their own Arab Film Festivals in recent years.  But the fact remains that the first, the biggest and—dare I say—the best North American festival of films from the Arab-speaking world and its Diaspora remains right here in the Bay Area.  Now in its 12th year, the 2008 Arab Film Festival ("AFF") begins this Thursday, October 16 and continues at various venues in San Francisco, Berkeley and San Jose through October 28.  More than 70 features and shorts from 15 countries will be screened, including works from such rarely heard from countries as Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and Yemen.

This year’s opening night festivities will once again take place at San Francisco’s Castro Theater.  The evening begins with the presentation of the 2nd annual Noor Awards (Noor being the Arab word for light), with cash prizes being given to directors of the fest’s Best Feature, Documentary, Documentary Short and Fiction Short.  As part of the Noor Awards Ceremony, a posthumous lifetime achievement award will be presented to acclaimed Egyptian auteur Youssef Chahine, arguably the best known Arab director in the history of cinema.  Chahine passed away this summer at the age of 82.

Following the Noor Awards, which will be hosted by Egyptian-born, American TV sit-com director http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0445380/"target="new">Asaad Kelada, AFF presents its opening night feature, Daoud Aoulad-Syad’s Waiting For Pasolini.  This movie from Morocco won the Best Arabic Film prize at the 2007 Cairo Film Festival, and is set entirely in the picturesque desert town of Ouarzazate.  When an Italian film company arrives to shoot a biblical epic, the entire town goes crazy.  Everyone wants to get into the act because their economic well-being depends on it.  I recently watched the film on screener, and found it to be an entertaining social comedy about cross-cultural misunderstanding and exploitation.  Ouarzazate has been used as a location for numerous film productions, and Waiting For Pasolini really shows the place off.  This will look glorious on the Castro’s big screen.

Continue Reading "2008 AFF—Michael Hawley’s Preview"...

The 31st Mill Valley Film Festival ("MVFF") is set to begin this Thursday, and since posting my first program overview, we’ve seen two new films added to the line-up.  The first is Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire—arguably the film with the biggest buzz from this year’s Telluride and Toronto festivals—and the other is Rian Johnson’s follow-up to Brick, the Mark Ruffalo, Adrien Brody and Rachel Weisz-starring The Brothers Bloom.

What follows are (mostly) quick takes of nine MVFF films I’ve had the chance to preview in recent weeks.  The first three were screened for press, and the remainder were seen on DVD screeners.  Wendy and Lucy and Lemon Tree are due for U.S. release and therefore restricted to 75-word hold-reviews.

Continue Reading "2008 MVFF31—Michael Hawley’s Quick Takes"...

The Global Film Initiative announced today ten award-winning narrative, feature films from Argentina, Brazil, China, Ecuador, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Macedonia, Morocco and Mozambique that will headline the Global Lens 2009 film series.

“This year’s lineup of films, from Central Asia to Latin America, is artistically strong and well balanced—it’s one of our best yet,” says Susan Weeks Coulter, Board Chair of The Global Film Initiative.

Global Lens 2009 features three North American premieres, The Photograph, Sleepwalking Land and Songs From the Southern Seas, and one U.S. premiere, I Am From Titov Veles. Also included are critical favorites Getting Home (Ecumenical Jury Prize, Berlin International Film Festival), Mutum (Directors’ Fortnight) and Possible Lives (Pavilion les Cinémas du Sud, Cannes Film Festival).

I Am From Titov Veles and Possible Lives were produced with support from The Global Film Initiative’s granting program. I Am From Titov Veles is also Macedonia’s official submission to the Best Foreign Language Film category of the 2008 Academy Awards.

Global Lens, now in its sixth year, will premiere at the Museum of Modern Art in New York on January 14, 2009 before embarking on a yearlong tour of over forty cities across the United States. For screening-dates and locations, please visit: the Global Lens calendar.

Continue Reading "The Global Film Initiative Announces Global Lens 2009 Film Lineup"...

Race.  Religion.  Politics.  According to Mill Valley Film Festival‘s Director of Programming Zöe Elton, those are subjects to avoid when choosing “something breezy” to open and close a film festival.  At a recent press conference to announce this year’s line-up, however, she was obviously making ironic note of that supposition.  As it turns out, this year’s fest is bookended by films steeped in those three volatile topics.

Opening the festival’s 31st edition on October 2nd will be Religulous and The Secret Life of Bees.  The Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center will host the latest from Borat director Larry Charles, a documentary in which Bill Maher ridicules the world’s three major monotheistic religions.  Over in Mill Valley, the Sequoia Theater will screen the west coast premiere of Gina Prince-Bythewood’s tale of race relations in 1964 South Carolina, starring Dakota Fanning, Queen Latifah, Jennifer Hudson, Alicia Keys and Sophie Okonedo.  Larry Charles and Dakota Fanning are expected to attend their respective films on opening night.

The Sequoia’s October 12th closing night film will be the U.S. premiere of Israeli director Eran Riklis’ Lemon Tree.  The film is his follow up to 2004’s acclaimed The Syrian Bride, and stars Hiam Abbass (The Visitor) as a Palestinian widow struggling to save her family’s ancestral lemon grove.  Meanwhile at the Rafael Film Center, actress Alfre Woodard gets a closing night tribute in her honor.  A clips reel and on-stage interview will be followed by a screening of her latest film, American Violet, in which she portrays a mother determined to prove the veracity of “innocent until proven guilty” (even for African Americans living in Texas).

Continue Reading "2008 MVFF31—Michael Hawley’s Line-up Preview"...

Unlike Todd, I just can’t crank out two or three reviews a day during a festival. Not out-of-town on a laptop. Not countering humidity and cat allergies. Not while I’m prepping for interviews and schmoozing with old and new friends. Not in the journalistic maelstrom known as the Sutton Place press lounge. Not when I’m tempted at every hour by yet another film. As it stands, I caught 33 films out of the TIFF08 lineup and interviewed 10 directors; my most productive film festival yet! But at Twitch, it’s time to wrap up our Toronto coverage, even though I’m just kicking into gear. I’m far from finished writing about the films I’ve seen; but, to satisfy Todd’s request, here are my top ten favorite films and my five least favorite, both in descending order.

Continue Reading "TIFF 2008 Wrap-Up: Michael’s Top Ten and Bottom Five"...

Give Amos Kollek’s Restless this much: it may be the most aptly titled film at the Toronto International Film Festival, inspiring more than one viewer to furtively check their watch.  Restless aims to be the sort of big, important film that thrives on the festival circuit, the sort of film with limited theatrical prospects that nevertheless deserves support because it addresses important issues.  And Kollek has a history of producing exactly that sort of film, winning awards around the globe for his earlier work, but this time out it just feels as though he is trying far too hard and the film ends up crippled by a clumsy script and far too many mediocre performances.

Continue Reading "TIFF Review: RESTLESS"...

Birdsong (El Cant dels Ocells)—Albert Serra, Spain.  Stunningly shot using only natural light, El Cant dels Ocells is a contemplative reinterpretation of the Biblical journey of the Three Wise Men in search of the newborn Messiah.  With a cast of non-professionals performing an improvised script, Albert Serra’s second feature builds on his ongoing interest to cinematically express real time through the exquisite exploration of earth and sky.  At The Greencine Daily, Dave Hudson gathers the critical response from Cannes08, where El Cant dels Ocells screened in the Directors’ Fortnight.  Robert Koehler reviews El Cant dels Ocells for Cinema Scope and—though not available online—in the same issue Mark Peranson (who portrays Joseph in the film) diaries on his participation with the project.  At l’Humanité, Jean Roy declares “this contemplative, sensitive film takes us on a quest for the essence of cinema.” Duane Byrge drivels alliterative disdain at The Hollywood Reporter, describing the film as “tiresome twaddle” and “pretentious piffle.” North American Premiere.

Continue Reading "TIFF08—VISIONS"...

While I find it amusing that Canadian pop artist Feist is featured prominently in a film celebrating the boroughs and atmosphere of New York City, the trailer for New York, I Love You (making its debut at the Toronto International Film Festival in a few weeks) is embedded after the Jump.

Like Paris je t’aime before it, the director and actors involved this thing is incredible.  The full actor/director list is here.  Twitch regulars should be interested that Park Chan-Wook, Faith Akin, Jiang Wen, Shunji Iwai, Yvan Attal, and Andrei Zvyanginstev are directing segments; and a variety of actors are involved, including Shu Qi, Maggie Q, John Hurt, Carla Gugino, Eli Wallach and James Caan

Continue Reading "Trailer for New York, I Love You"...

At last year’s Toronto International Film Festival, my favorite tennis match was between the Discovery and Masters programs, which I wrote up for Greencine. I’m tempted to replicate the sport this year.

As indieWIRE noted when they recently interviewed Cameron Bailey, the Discovery program has doubled this year—26 titles up from 13—and there’s a noticeable increase in American fare—7 films up from 2—but, notwithstanding, it’s still an eclectic mix of regions, with 18 countries being represented overall. When asked the reasoning for the increase in slots, and what Bailey’s general thoughts were regarding what emerging filmmakers are up to, he responded: “Well this one is by design. Discovery was one of the sections I wanted to work on this year and I’m really proud of how it’s turned out. I wanted Discovery to be the place that people go to discover new talent at our festival where we show what we consider to be some of the most exciting new voices in cinema from all over the world. To do that I took off some of the restrictions we had on the program in the past in terms of the premiere status and distribution status. We had quite a number of limitations on what was eligible for our Discovery section in the past. That’s changed and as a result I think this is really just a great showcase for new talent in the movies.”

It’s certainly where I intend to catch some of the festival darlings from Cannes08: Better Things, Hunger, Snow, Tony Manero and Tulpan. And, of course, I couldn’t be prouder of SF homeboy Barry Jenkins’ Medicine for Melancholy for being included in the line-up. If removing some of the program’s previous restrictions accounted for that, I’m all for it because it puts Barry in the running with the other 25 feature-length Discovery titles to be eligible for the Diesel Discovery Award chosen by the Festival press corps, which consists of over 1000 accredited media from around the world. I can honestly say, however, that I doubt I’ll catch much of the U.S. fare, presuming these indies will travel Bayside in due course. I’m more prone to take a chance with Zift from Bulgaria, or The Paranoids from Argentina, or the Israeli/Australian animation. Or maybe I’ll just let myself be creeped out by Tale 52 from Greece? Ultimately, it comes down to the calendar.

Continue Reading "TIFF08—DISCOVERY"...

With the full line-up for the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival officially announced, I can finally begin to effectively obsess. And with 312 films from 64 countries screening at TIFF08, including 249 feature-length films, 76 per cent of which are world, international or North American premieres, and 61 of which are feature directorial debuts … well, needless to say, there’s a lot to obsess about.

Never let it be said, however, that I am not methodical in my obsessions. I begin with a preliminary review of the Contemporary World Cinema sidebar, with special thanks to Bay Area filmbud Carole Rutherford whose raids on IMdb and Wikipedia got me motivated. I also shout out to my Evening Class cohort Michael Hawley, the Twitch and Row Three teams, Dave Hudson at The Greencine Daily, Darren Hughes at 1st Thursday, the crew around Girish Shambu’s water cooler, and Anthony Kaufman at indieWIRE for their welcome recommendations. This will be a slightly amoebic entry that gains mass as recommendations pour in. That being said, recommendations welcome!

Off the cuff—being an avid supporter of Spanish cinema—I’m intrigued by José Luis Cuerda’s Blind Sunflowers (Los Girasoles ciegos), primarily because it features one of my favorite Spanish actresses and spooky Simón from The Orphanage (Maribel Verdú, Roger Príncep). Also, I found Juan Carlos Tabío’s Strawberry and Chocolate both sexy and hilarious so I’m primed for more sensuous laughs with Horn of Plenty. And after the visually stunning Bonbon El Perro, I’ll look through any cinematic window with Carlos Sorin.

Having seen both Ramin Bahrani’s Man Push Cart and Chop Shop, I’m keen to his compassionate observations of marginalized lives and anticipate that Goodbye Solo will not disappoint. With a cast that includes Juliette Binoche, Jérémie Rénier and the incomparable Edith Scob, I’m curious what kind of B-movie vibe might be present in Olivier Assayas’s most recent L’Heure d’été (Summer Hours). Impressed with last year’s Jar City, and appreciative of his production credits on The Amazing Truth of Queen Raquela, I’m inclined to check out Baltasar Kormakur’s Brúðguminn (White Night Wedding). As a board member on The Global Film Initiative, I’m steeped in Indonesian auteur Garin Nugroho (Of Love & Eggs, Opera Jawa) and am anxious to follow through with Under the Tree to monitor his strengthening creativity. Upon Anthony Kauffman’s recommendations, I’ve become interested in Two-Legged Horse and Treeless Mountain; the latter especially because Girish Shambu introduced me to So Yong Kim’s In Between Days, which I very much enjoyed.

I could roost fully in the World Cinema selection and will have to make some difficult decisions to sample TIFF08’s multiple sidebars.

Continue Reading "TIFF08—CONTEMPORARY WORLD CINEMA"...

The 28th San Francisco Jewish Film Festival ("SFJFF") takes place throughout the Bay Area from July 24 to August 11, and in terms of the number of films and screenings on offer, it’s their largest one yet.  Although I’m sure the program contains some fine narrative features, the eclectic selection of documentaries is what really grabbed my attention this year.  Here are a dozen that I’ve had the chance to preview.

Stalags: Holocaust and Pornography in Israel—Of all the documentaries in the festival, this one carries the highest profile, having garnered loads of media attention when it screened at the New York Jewish Film Festival this spring.  Stalags were immensely popular Israeli pornographic novels from the early sixties, in which Allied POWs recounted tales of sexual torture by buxom Nazi SS babes.  They arrived at a time when the world was first learning about concentration camp horrors (via the trial of Adolf Eichmann), and were penned in Hebrew using English sentence structures (to deceive Israeli readers into thinking the books were written abroad).  In this loaded and densely packed film, Director Ari Libsker interviews Stalag writers and collectors, and goes about the messy business of deciphering the books’ psychological and sociological implications.  Interestingly, the entire film was shot in black and white, save for the colorfully lurid book covers, which boast such titles as The Monster of Horror Stalag and I Was Colonel Schultz’s Private Bitch.  Stalags was produced by Barak Heymann and is showing on a double bill with his brother Tomar’s It Kinda Scares Me.  For a closer look at the film’s reception in New York, The Greencine Daily compiles reviews and write-ups here and here.  Highly recommended.

Continue Reading "SFJFF 2008—Michael Hawley’s Documentary Dozen"...

It’s with great pleasure that I announce that my editor at movieScope, Eric Lilleør, has finally acquiesced to my suggestion that movieScope offer feature content online.  This is especially good news in light of the fact that movieScope—which has been in existence for a little over a year—has yet to score a North American market and is unavailable for purchase Stateside, other than through online ordering.  By offering online content, I feel we become competitive with existing cinema sources like Film Comment and Cinema Scope.  That Eric has agreed to profile some of my own writing makes these interviews now available to the Twitch readership.

For starters, here is my conversation with Eran Kolirin whose debut feature The Band’s Visit has charmed audiences worldwide.  Originally published in movieScope Vol. 2, Issue 1.

Cross-published on The Evening Class.

Dead Channels continues its 2008 two-month summer film series White Hot & Warped Wednesdays, venued at the Hypnodrome Theatre, 575 10th Street, San Francisco, by declaring Wednesday, July 2, 2008 as International Zombie Night by hosting the Bay Area premiere of Omar Ali Khan’s Zibahkhana (Hell’s Ground), the gory, global film festival favorite from Pakistan.  Brace yourself for a night of action packed mayhem, villainy, and chucky Fulci-esque exotica in this unique hybrid.  Twitch—of course—has been all over this for years.  Todd reported on it in early August 2006 and then followed through in April 2007 when the film began to get good buzz on the festival circuit.  Michael Wells dispatched to Twitch from the 2007 New York Asian Film Festival, offering his reaction to Hell’s Ground and a report on the Q&A with director Khan.  Kurt Halfyard caught Hell’s Ground at last year’s Fantasia Film Festival and wrote that “something that should feel old-hat is born again surprisingly fresh.” Omar Ali Khan gives Hell’s Ground a “rich and welcome exoticism to world audiences while giving teens from Karachi a film to call their own.” Most recently, Todd gave a thumbs up to the extras on the recently-released DVD.

But wait, there’s more!  On July 16, 2008, Tommy Wiseau’s The Room is coming to San Francisco fresh from its four-year engagement in Los Angeles.  The management and staff of Dead Channels guarantee that this screening will be one of the strangest viewing experiences you will ever have!  Amazingly, Twitch hasn’t had its eye on this one but its cult cachet—as graphed out by Wikipedia—certainly makes it sound worthwhile viewing.  Reportedly, “it’s so bad it’s actually painfully funny to watch.”

“But we believe that it’s not actually ‘bad’,” Bruce Fletcher qualifies, “at least in a negative way.  Rather, The Room is an unforgettable work of hypnotic brilliance.  It’s what might happen if the late Stanley Kubrick had set out to make the last-word on ‘BadFilm’.  Wiseau’s amazing movie is so inherently wrong on so many levels that viewing it unleashes an undeniable subliminal power—and might actually be an astounding work of cinematic art.  We’re not kidding, you’ll be pondering, laughing about (and quoting) The Room for weeks.”

Mahalo Daily interviews Wiseau.  Nihar Patel does the honors for NPR.  Elina Shatkin for LAist.  With his usual comic flair, Matt Singer does a good job of situating The Room‘s L.A. context at Termite Art.  ”The Room is a beautiful lesson in how to make the worst movie imaginable,” writes Nick Knittel for Speakeasy.  “Take terrible actors, give them a cringe-worthy script, and throw in an idea of filmmaking that must have been lifted from a Wishbone episode, and you get something that approaches the instant-schlock classic of this movie.” Jonathan Kiefer dubs Wiseau “the Orson Welles of crap”, explaining, “Sometimes the cream rises to the top.  Other times, crap floats.” Okaaaaaay.  I guess this is one I’m just going to have to see for myself.  Thanks, Bruce???

Cross-published on The Evening Class.