Film Fest Connect

Santa Cruz Film Fest--Yay!

2012-05-10T18:30:00.002-07:00

It's been over a year since my last post. Having a third baby will do that to a person. I'm finally ready to jump back in the saddle (albeit for much shorter rides abroad, for a while), so let's get back to watching great films...

If you're looking for a great festival in the San Francisco Bay Area and lower north coast of California, the 11th annual Santa Cruz Film Festival is opening right now (follow their Twitter feed here). The film buzz tonight surrounds CALIFORNIA STATE OF MIND, a documentary about the late Governor Pat Brown (father of Gov. Jerry Brown). This is the man who built the California Aqueduct and arguably turned California into a fully modern state. To see the trailer, visit: http://patbrowndocumentary.com/trailer/index.html

Considering the contentious nature of the political arena today, this may be the kind of film to inspire a new way (or, perhaps, an older way) of thinking about successful governance of the state. It's certainly a must-see for history buffs. The filmmakers have created an accompanying educational curriculum for middle and high school students (teachers, take note), so it's one of those rare, kid-friendly festival films (whether or not tweens and teens find it interesting enough to actually enjoy, I haven't yet heard). It played well at the Newport Beach Film Festival and is likely to continue making the festival circuit.

Santa Cruz is a great venue for hanging out with friends and family--let me know what you think of the festival using the Film Fest Connect Facebook page or the FFC Twitter feed.

The Geography of Hope (and EcoSexuality?)

2011-02-25T11:17:00.000-08:00

If you can map it, it's geography. But can you pinpoint as elusive a feeling as hope? The filmmakers screening their works at The Geography of Hope Film Festival, opening today in Point Reyes, California think so. I'm not quite sure how Saturday's panelist, sex activist Annie Sprinkle, will meld her colorful rhetoric with the theme of "hope," but I must say I'm curious! In fact, I'm interested to see just about everything this inaugural festival has to offer.

Organized by Point Reyes Books as part of the Geography of Hope Conference, the theme for this year is "Reflections on Water." The festival opens with The River Why, based on the novel of the same name, and features Zach Gilford, Amber Heard, and Dallas Roberts, alongside Academy Award Nominee Kathleen Quinlan, Golden Globe Nominee William Devane and Academy Award Winner William Hurt. Watch the trailer and tell me if you can't almost smell the ferny, redwood undergrowth of a Pacific Northwest stream...

In addition to the films, there are 12 outdoor art installations, all within walking distance of the Dance Palace Community Center theater venue, and two very unique panels--the kinds of talks you won't see anywhere else, says festival co-director, John Mueller.

Saturday's panel, "To Change the World: Art, Ecosexuality and Environmental Evangelism" features Reverend Billy and Savatri D (if you've never heard of the hilarious Rev. Billy, he's a heck of a character), alongside activist artists Richard and Judith Selby Lang. Rounding out the group are the illustrious artists and "ecosexuals," Annie Sprinkle (yes, that Annie Sprinkle) and Beth Stephens. Definitely not something you'd see anywhere else! Just don't take the kids...

The (much milder) children's film event is on Sunday at 11 a.m., featuring environmental short films appropriate for all ages. If your child is working on an environmentally-related school project, this might be a great starting point for gathering ideas and information. If not, the event promises to be a calm place to chill out (or warm up) with little ones on a blustery weekend morning.

If the spiritual nature of water and its depiction in film is the kind of discussion that floats your boat, you may want to check out Sunday's panel. Featured speakers include John Beebe, leading Jungian analyst; Ernest Callenbach, founding editor of FILM QUARTERLY, who will screen related film clips; and harpist/singer/scholar Therese Schroeder-Sheker, who will perform live. The site describes the event as "an extraordinary, one-time opportunity to experience film, expert commentary, thoughtful insight and beautiful music as they relate to the overarching role of water in our spiritual lives."

Passes for the whole weekend are only $100. Opening night may be sold out (no wait list line--bummer), but all other films are still available for purchase (see the program for ticketing links). Day-of purchases have to made at the Dance Palace: 503 B St., Point Reyes Station, CA 94956

For event info, call: 415-669-7559

17 Days of #PIFF34: The 34th Portland International Film Fest

2011-02-10T00:14:00.000-08:00

Is it a film fest, or a film feast???

For seventeen days, the Portland International Film Festival will be harvesting what the city's Northwest Film Center deems the golden crop of world cinema features, shorts and documentaries for audiences ready eat up. Somewhere around 125 films will screen, this year, plenty to keep our eyes full. And with two new "social hubs" providing chill space--and food--it should be a feast all 'round.

Many of the movie menu selections are award-winning delectables. If I might make a few recommendations for your viewing pleasure, madames et monsieurs?

His&Hers (short)
Even if the Irish accent is difficult for you, I'm sure you'll be gettin' the jist of it. (And if you've any Irish blood in you at all, you'll want catch this charming, award-winning short.)

How To Die In Oregon
This film won the Grand Jury Prize for Documentary at Sundance at the end of January.

Also don't miss Incendies (pronounced "on-sohn-deez") and In A Better World (Haevenen), both Academy Award Nominees for this year.

Son of Babylon
I know I've featured this film before, but it bears repeating. Set amid the sweeping landscape of a world that has seen more histories than we can conceive in its thousands of years as the hearth of human civilizations, this beautiful, poignant and thought-provoking film offers a rare glimpse into the stark realities of the aftermath of wartime atrocities and the difficult journey toward healing. Ahmed, a young Kurdish boy (Yasser Talib) and his grandmother (Shazda Hussein) are traveling south through Iraq in an attempt to find the boy's missing father (the grandmother's son), who was conscripted into the Iraqi army during the Gulf War. Along the way, Ahmed realizes he is no longer a just passenger but a determined participant as the weight of responsibility shifts to his shoulders.

You should know going into the theater that only a very few of the actors were professional. The boy and his grandmother were not among them, yet their performances are deeply emotional because they are drawing on real-life experiences of the horrors of their war-torn country (Shazda Hussein was herself jailed by Saddam's army and lost a baby while in prison, there). It soon becomes clear that the change from boy to young man that we see is deeper than what is on the screen.

According to award-winning Director Mohamed Al-Daradji, the movie was filmed entirely on location in Iraq, and in chronological order, as the pair travel from the Kurdish north toward the city of Babylon. IMDb reviewer Dick Steel writes, "This is as close as you can go on a road trip from Northern Iraq to Baghdad, onward to Nasiriyah then Babylon." A soldier in the audience at the film's Sundance screening appreciated the authenticity of the depiction, claiming This is how it really is there. Though it didn't win one of the coveted Sundance awards, the film has won several others since then, and with good reason.

Boy
A hilarious account of a Maori boy with an imagination just grand enough to make his idiot father's schemes look like the love Boy so desperately craves. Stars Taika Waititi of Flight of the Condors fame and an untrained, downright magical cast full of characters who will make you shake your head and laugh though the tears.

Venues can be found on both sides of the city, though most are centered around the neighborhood of the Portland Art Museum, which hosts the Advance Ticket Outlet and the Closing Night Party. Two social venues tie the events together, east and west: the PIFF Lounge at Nel Centro (grab a PIFFtini and some grub while you check the Festival's update board) and the PIFFbar at 20th and SE Hawthorne (Indian food and Belgian Lagers from 2/18-2/24). Check this Google map for venue locations.

Tickets are still available for most films, but they'll start to disappear soon--be sure to check the ticket and pass info page and the event calendar for prices and availability, as well as dates and times.

Sundance 2011: Awards Recap

2011-02-06T22:59:00.000-08:00

A pared-down version of the following article was first published as Sundance 2011: Film Festival Award Winners on Technorati.com. Additional notes have been added in brackets, below.

Although it's been a week since Park City, Utah went from fizzy to still, the Sundance buzz continues. Be sure to watch for the award winners (and the rest of this year's amazing selections) as these films roll out into theaters over the course of 2011 and beyond. Many of Sundance's best have become Oscar contenders and box office hits. This festival received over 10,000 submissions, this year--a testament to its ability to generate sales and success for a film's creators.

Saturday night's award winners at the Sundance Film Festival were humble, grateful, teary-eyed and funny as they accepted their snowflake-etched mini-monoliths. Sam Levinson, who received the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award for penning Another Happy Day, was barely able to keep himself together during his acceptance speech: "When I introduced my film, I cried. So I don't know what the fuck's going to happen, now."

Drake Doremus, Dir. of 'Like Crazy'

The highly-anticipated U.S. Dramatic Competition Grand Jury Prize went to Drake Doremus' sweet love story, Like Crazy. It was presented by four-time Oscar-nominated writer and director Jason Reitman. "I came to this festival in 1998, when I was still in college," Reitman said. "I came as my father's son and I left a filmmaker." Having been a part of the festival was a huge accomplishment, "and no one could ever take that from me." He pointed to the gathered crowd of filmmakers. "Now, no one can ever take that from you."

Festival patrons watched the live stream from laptops or followed the @Sundancefest and @Sundancefestnow Twitter feeds. Who won what was the hot topic of the evening, especially for those with tickets to the award-winner screenings, as the films they were about to see were not announced publicly until the ceremony.

Many of Sundance's 2010 films were nominated for Academy Awards this year, and audiences will do well to partake of this year's awards crop--a mission made easier by the fact that many of the winners have already scored distribution deals. By the end of the winter, it may be that all of them have.

Read the full list of winners, accompanied by notes on selected films, here:

Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic
Like Crazy
and Special Jury Prize: Dramatic
Felicity Jones for her role in Like Crazy
(Directed by Drake Doremus; written by Drake Doremus and Ben York Jones)
A young American guy and a young British girl meet in college and fall in love. Their love is tested when she is required to leave the country and they must face the challenges of a long-distance relationship. [A sweet love story more in tune with the sensibilities of a younger crowd--everyone I spoke to who was under 35, especially if single, loved it. Maybe I'm too old and jaded, but it lacked the gut punch I was expecting.]

Grand Jury Prize: Documentary
How to Die in Oregon
(Directed by Peter D. Richardson)
In 1994 Oregon became the first state to legalize physician-assisted suicide. How to Die in Oregon gently enters the lives of terminally ill Oregonians to illuminate the power of death with dignity. [I spoke to a minister who watched this film and claimed that it was respectful and emotionally weighty, but missed the ethical/moral consideration he felt the film should have explored.]

World Cinema Jury Prize: Documentary
Hell and Back Again
(Directed by Danfung Dennis)
Told through the eyes of one Marine from the start of his 2009 Afghanistan tour to his distressing return and rehabilitation in the U.S., we witness what modern "unconventional" warfare really means to the men who are fighting it. (U.S.A./United Kingdom) [One man, one camera, following one soldier's story--a story that was powerful enough to make the military keep its subject restricted to Base and unable to attend the world premiere. Provocative enough for you?]

World Cinema Jury Prize: Dramatic
Happy, Happy (Sykt Lykkelig)
(Directed by Anne Sewitsky; written by Ragnhild Tronvoll)
A perfect housewife, who just happens to be sex-starved, struggles to keep her emotions in check when an attractive family moves in next door. (Norway)

Audience Award: Documentary
Buck
(Directed by Cindy Meehl)
A story about the power of non-violence and master horse trainer Buck Brannaman, who uses principles of respect and trust to tame horses and inspire their human counterparts. [This film will make you rethink how you deal with your children, your family, and everyone you come in contact with. Required viewing for horse enthusiasts, animal lovers, and anyone who loved the movie The Horse Whisperer. This is the man the movie was based on, in part.]

Audience Award: Dramatic
Circumstance
(Directed and written by Maryam Keshavarz)
A wealthy Iranian family struggles to contain a teenager's growing sexual rebellion and her brother's dangerous obsession.

World Cinema Audience Award: Documentary
Senna
(Directed by Asif Kapadia; written by Manish Pandey)
Legendary racing driver and Brazilian hero Ayrton Senna takes us on the ultimate journey of what it means to become the greatest when faced with the constant possibility of death. (United Kingdom) [Played extremely well for every young man I spoke to who had seen it.]

World Cinema Audience Award: Dramatic
Kinyarwanda
(Directed and written by Alrick Brown)
Kinyarwanda tells the story of Rwandans who crossed the lines of hatred during the 1994 genocide, turning mosques into places of refuge for Muslims and Christians, Hutus and Tutsis. (U.S.A./Rwanda) [Extremely powerful series of interwoven stories, taken from the lives of real genocide survivors. The reconciliation depicted here continues to go on all over Rwanda, even today (and beyond--see The Redemption of General Butt Naked, below). We could use more of the Rwandan forgiveness philosophy in the world.]

The Best of NEXT!: Audience Award
to.get.her
(Directed and written by Erica Dunton)
Five girls come together for one fateful night where anything goes. They all had secrets, but their friendship was the only thing they knew to be true.

Directing Award: Documentary
Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles
(Directed by Jon Foy)
An urban mystery unfurls as one man pieces together the surreal meaning of hundreds of cryptic tiled messages that have been appearing in city streets across the U.S. and South America.

Directing Award: Dramatic
Martha Marcy May Marlene
(Directed and written by Sean Durkin)
Haunted by painful memories and increasing paranoia, a damaged woman struggles to re-assimilate with her family after fleeing an abusive cult. [Follow-up to Durkin's 2010 Cannes award-winning short Mary Last Seen. If you can say the name of this film five times fast, you win a prize. This feature may just rocket Elizabeth "Lizzie" Olsen (younger sister of Mary-Kate and Ashley) into the stratosphere.]

World Cinema Directing Award: Documentary
Project Nim
(Directed by James Marsh)
This film explores the story of Nim, the chimpanzee who was taught to communicate with language as he was raised and nurtured like a human child. (United Kingdom) [A huge audience favorite at Sundance.]

World Cinema Directing Award: Dramatic
Tyrannosaur
(Directed and written by Paddy Considine)
For a man plagued by self-destructive violence and rage, a chance of redemption appears in the form of Hannah, a Christian charity shop worker with a devastating secret of her own. (United Kingdom)

Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award
Another Happy Day
(Directed and written by Sam Levinson)
A pair of reckless siblings are dragged into a chaotic family wedding by their overwrought mother.

World Cinema Screenwriting Award
Restoration
(Directed by Yossi Madmony; written by Erez Kav-El)
An antique furniture restorer, who, aided by a young and mysterious apprentice, struggles to keep his workshop alive, while his relationship with his own estranged son, who is trying to close down the shop, begins to disintegrate. (Israel)

Documentary Editing Award
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front
(Edited by Matthew Hamachek and Marshall Curry; directed by Marshall Curry)
The Earth Liberation Front is a radical environmental group that the FBI calls America's "number one domestic terrorist threat." Daniel McGowan, an ELF member, faces life in prison for two multi-million dollar arsons against Oregon timber companies. [In its exploration of the ELF, this film asks a lot of important questions about the definition of terrorism, how far is too far to push corporations in the fight against ecological destruction, and the price each of us is willing to put on our principles, in the long run.]

World Cinema Documentary Editing Award
The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975
(Edited by Göran Hugo Olsson and Hanna Lejonqvist; directed by Göran Hugo Olsson)
From 1967 to 1975, Swedish journalists chronicled the Black Power movement in America. Combining that 16mm footage, undiscovered until now, with contemporary audio interviews, this film illuminates the people and culture that fueled change and brings the movement to life anew. (Sweden/U.S.A.)

Excellence in Cinematography Award: Documentary
The Redemption of General Butt Naked
(Cinematographers: Eric Strauss, Ryan Hill and Peter Hutchens; directed by Eric Strauss and Daniele Anastasion)
A brutal warlord who murdered thousands during Liberia's horrific 14-year civil war renounces his violent past and reinvents himself as an Evangelist, facing those he once terrorized. [See my notes on Kinyarwanda, above. Although I wasn't able to see this film myself, the subject matter is directly tied to that of the reconciliation "courts" found in nearly every neighborhood in Rwanda, today. Can we forgive and let live, when it comes to criminals like these?]

Excellence in Cinematography Award: Dramatic
Pariah
(Cinematographer: Bradford Young; directed and written by Dee Rees)
When forced to choose between losing her best friend or destroying her family, a Brooklyn teenager juggles conflicting identities and endures heartbreak in a desperate search for sexual expression. [Played extremely well amongst audiences. Will likely tug hardest at the heartstrings of the LGBT community.]

World Cinema Cinematography Award: Documentary
Hell and Back Again
(Cinematographer: Danfung Dennis; directed by Danfung Dennis)
Told through the eyes of one Marine from the start of his 2009 Afghanistan tour to his distressing return and rehabilitation in the U.S., we witness what modern "unconventional" warfare really means to the men who are fighting it. (U.S.A./United Kingdom) [See notes for World Cinema Jury Prize: Documentary, above.]

World Cinema Cinematography Award: Dramatic
All Your Dead Ones
(Cinematographer: Diego F. Jimenez; directed by Carlos Moreno; written by Alonso Torres and Carlos Moreno)
One morning, a peasant wakes to find a pile of bodies in the middle of his crops. When he goes to the authorities, he quickly realizes that the dead ones are a problem nobody wants to deal with. (Colombia)

Two World Cinema Special Jury Prizes: Dramatic, for Breakout Performances
Olivia Colman and Peter Mullan for their roles in Tyrannosaur
(Directed and written by Paddy Considine)
For a man plagued by self-destructive violence and rage, a chance of redemption appears in the form of Hannah, a Christian charity shop worker with a devastating secret of her own. (United Kingdom)

World Cinema Special Jury Prize: Documentary
Position Among the Stars (Stand van de Sterren)
(Directed by Leonard Retel Helmrich)
An expose of the effects of globalization on Indonesia's rapidly changing society as it ripples into the life of a poor Christian woman living in the slums of Jakarta with her Muslim sons and teenage granddaughter. (The Netherlands) [The third in a 3-part series (following The Eye of the Day and Shape of the Moon), but I understand from those who caught the film that it stands alone well.]

Special Jury Prize: Documentary
BEING ELMO: A Puppeteer's Journey
(Directed by Constance Marks)
The inspirational story of Kevin Clash and how he brought a childhood icon to life, BEING ELMO crosses cultures and generations. [The only Sundance film at which I have ever seen children. Didn't hold the attention of the youngest audience members (under 5s), but was absolutely a cheer-worthy portrait of a boy who followed his passion, despite the teasing of his peers, and lived his dream into adulthood. Kevin Clash brought Elmo for a meet-and-greet with the kids after the film and was exactly the kind of humble, funny, huge-hearted person every parent imagines Elmo's creator should be. An especially emotional film for those adults who remember Jim Henson and his muppeteers with fondness.]

Special Jury Prize: Dramatic
Another Earth
(Directed by Mike Cahill; written by Mike Cahill and Brit Marling)
On the eve of the discovery of a duplicate Earth, a horrible tragedy irrevocably alters the lives of two strangers, who begin an unlikely love affair. [A Sci-Fi twist that sparked a Sundance panel on science in film, this year.]

Announced earlier in the week:

Jury Prize in Short Filmmaking
Brick Novax pt 1 and 2 (Director and screenwriter: Matt Piedmont)

The International Jury Prize in Short Filmmaking
Deeper Than Yesterday (Australia) (Director and screenwriter: Ariel Kleiman)
[The very young director claimed at the Q&A that his most difficult struggle was getting a too-small submarine full of burly Russian actors to listen to him; whatever he did, it worked marvelously. The audience was shocked to learn that this was a student film(!) and all agreed: Kleiman deserved an "A".]

Sundance Institute/Mahindra Global Filmmaking Award
Bogdan Mustata, Wolf (Romania)
Ernesto Contreras, I Dream in Another Language (Mexico)
Seng Tat Liew, In What City Does It Live? (Malaysia)
Talya Lavie, Zero Motivation (Israel)

Sundance Institute and NHK Award--Honoring and supporting emerging filmmakers
Cherien Dabis, May in the Summer

Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize--For an outstanding feature film focusing on science or technology as a theme, or depicting a scientist, engineer, or mathematician as a major character ($20,000 cash award)
Another Earth, written and directed by Mike Cahill

Highlights from the Awards Ceremony can be seen on the Festival website, www.sundance.org/festival.http://technorati.com/entertainment/film/article/sundance-2011-film-festival-award-winners/

Sundance Kick Off A Success

2011-01-20T22:20:00.000-08:00

The first night of the Sundance Film Festival appears, by all accounts, to be a success, the scattered tweets about freezing temperatures notwithstanding. Be sure to follow Twitter for updates from the crowd (watch for #Sundance and #Sundance2011) and the countless blog/news pieces--reports are coming in fast! Here is the official Sundance Twitter list, with @'s for all of the films playing from now until the 30th: http://bit.ly/e9QdBK Follow your favorites and send some love.

Also be sure to follow @sundancefest, @sundancefestnow, and @filmfestconnect!

The short, Skateistan: To Live and Skate Kabul, which played last November at the Adventure Film Fest in Boulder, Colorado, helped to open Sundance today. It details, in the kids' own words, the lives of several teens in the ravaged Afghan city and the hope-encrusted joy they exhibit while riding:

"Idiot" Impresses Roger Ebert

2011-01-19T23:39:00.000-08:00

In honor of the beauty of film (and the creativity of one New Yorker in the face of blizzard conditions), today's focus piece is the short, Idiot With A Tripod, by Jamie Stuart. Featured in Filmmaker Magazine and raved about by Roger Ebert in his 'Journal' at the Chicago Sun-Times, this piece shows incredible technical skill and artistic excellence.

"This film deserves to win the Academy Award for best live-action short subject," says Ebert.

Be sure to read Stuart's responses to Ebert's questions and see the piece from ITV in London at the end of Ebert's mini-review.

Sundance 2011: Two Must-have Festival Apps!

2011-01-12T21:56:00.000-08:00

Sundance Film Fest app

Few events can cram as much entertainment into 10 days as the Sundance Film Festival. Given the logistics of trying to find one's way through it all during Park City's peak snow season, it's a relief to know there are myriad ways to survive and have a great time. For those that prefer the pocket-sized, interactive version, two helpful applications are now available for your SMART devices.

For the second year running, the Sundance Film Festival has developed its own app, with transportation info, survival tips, calendar planners for film and off-screen events, and ticket availability (updates will likely start when individual tickets go on sale on the 17th). Although it costs $4.99, this app is constantly being updated (seems like almost daily) with new content, including past festival shorts, filmmaker interviews, blog posts and photos. The shuttle schedule alone is worth its weight in gold...I'm sure the poor bus drivers who have to answer, "Does this bus go to [venue X]?" five bzillion times a day would agree.

Gowalla has also teamed up with the Sundance Film Festival to create a special Sundance event section, allowing visitors to check into festival venues using iPhone, iPad, Android, Blackberry, or Palm devices. Here are just a few of the event's "passport" stamps:

Users can log a photo, leave a note for a friend at a location to work out a meet-up, and create a personalized list of activities each day with the "Your Day at Sundance Film Festival" digest. You can even redeem your stamps and other app tokens for special prizes when you check in at select spots around Park City. (Film Fest Connect signed up today, so watch for us around town!)

Finally, don't forget to add Sundance to your Twitter feed using @sundancefestnow, @sundancefest, and the #Sundance hash tag. The Salt Lake Tribune also has detailed festival coverage--follow them daily on their @sundancelive feed.

This ought to be enough to keep you busy until the 20th. No? Well, stay tuned in, here, then!

Photos are the property of their respective owners--no copyright infringement intended.

Sundance 2011: From Director's Lab to Feature Film

2011-01-07T17:22:00.000-08:00

The Sundance Institute is currently showcasing short films from festivals past and present on YouTube's Screening Room channel. But the shorts I found most interesting were those in the Director's Lab series, highlighting the projects of budding filmmakers in June of 2009. It's a very select few who get this opportunity: of the 3,000+ scripts that were submitted, that year, only 8 were chosen. If you've ever wondered what life is like at the Sundance Director's Lab, here's an inside look, from the first group introductions to the final script burning ceremony.

Filmmaker Andrew Okpeaha MacLean began his journey at the 2009 Director's Lab and is presenting his full-length feature, On the Ice at this year's festival:

Learn more about the film at ontheicemovie.com and browse through some fantastic production photos on MacLean's "On the Ice: Behind The Scenes..." blog. If you'd like to see the film at Sundance, here's more.

Sunny Escape: Palm Springs International Film Festival Starts Jan. 5th

2011-01-02T00:18:00.000-08:00

Need a vacation from your vacation? If you're tired of rain and snow, or are looking for a post-holiday escape, the Palm Springs International Film Festival starts this Wednesday and should really hit its stride on Friday night. Billing itself as "the premier presenter of world cinema on the North American continent," PSIFF features films from Argentina to Ethiopia, from Vietnam to Uzbekistan. A number of the films being shown this year are award winners (the South Korean film, Shi, or "Poetry", won Best Screenplay honors for Lee Changdong at the Cannes Film Festival, this year). Son of Babylon, which plays this week, was one of my favorites from the 2010 Sundance Film Festival lineup (a Marine in the theater that night felt the film presented an accurate portrait of Iraq as he saw it, while stationed there; it certainly is a moving portrayal of the life of a Kurdish boy searching for his missing father in that war-torn country):

Many PSIFF films have already screened at other high-profile festivals around the world. PSIFF claims to show "a majority of the official international submissions to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for Best Foreign Language Film." In other words, this is a great place to watch for Oscar contenders.

In addition to films, this year's "Talking Pictures" series focuses on actors considered to be Academy Awards frontrunners: after a screening of their films, Colin Firth, Javier Bardem, and Michael Douglas will each appear on stage for a live, in-depth interview.

There are also a number of filmmaker tributes scheduled for Saturday's Black Tie Awards Gala at the Palm Springs Convention Center. The following stars can be expected to appear on the red carpet, that night:

Jennifer Lawrence (Rising Star Award)
Carey Mulligan (Breakthrough Performance Award)
Javier Bardem (International Star Award)
Diane Warren (Frederick Loewe Music Award)
David O. Russell (Director of the Year Award)
Colin Firth (Desert Palm Achievement Actor Award)
Danny Boyle (Sonny Bono Visionary Award)
Natalie Portman (Desert Palm Achievement Actress Award)
Robert Duvall (Career Achievement Award)
Ben Affleck (Chairman's Award)
The Social Network (Ensemble Performance Award)

If nothing else, it should be a celebrity-watcher's dream weekend. Do try to see a film or two, though, will you?

Whistler Film Festival Opens Tonight!

2010-12-01T01:39:00.000-08:00

At the time of this posting, it appears that there are still tickets available to most films playing at the upcoming Whistler Film Festival. Although it's not on the original Film Fest Connect film fest destination list, Whistler is an excellent skiing destination, so you can hit twice as many great venues in the same tourist space.

You can see all of the film information at the festival's Films+Events Film Guide page. Here are a few trailers to get you started:

Two Frogs In The West
The closing night gala film, set in Whistler itself, is an emotional whirlwind, if the trailer is any indication:

The Bang Bang Club
A poor-quality trailer, but potentially an important, if disturbing, movie. An inside view of conflict-zone photographers based on the book of the same name, it chronicles the lives of several white South African photographers and the personal impacts of their quest for the perfect shot in the midst of South Africa's often violent transition from apartheid to democracy. (Joe Utichi wrote a piece on the film for Rotten Tomatoes when it played at Cannes, last May.)

Blue Valentine
Selling well across both the domestic and international festival circuit, Ryan Gosling's and Michelle Williams' portrayal of their idyllic love and dissolving marriage first gained traction at the Sundance Film Festival, where it sold out theaters, last January. Check out the movie's web site for the trailer: http://www.bluevalentinemovie.com/
The official site is spare, but the Facebook page is filled with recent news.

Matthew Thrift of Cinephile offered this review:
"This stunning portrait of a disintegrating relationship features career best performances from its two leads, which alongside Derek Cianfrance’s bravura direction serve to make Blue Valentine the strongest contender for the best film I’ve seen at the London Film Festival so far. Recalling Ingmar Bergman’s Scenes From A Marriage (1973) in its juxtaposition of couple Dean (Ryan Gosling) and Cindy‘s (Michelle Williams) courtship and marital breakdown, it’s an emotionally devastating picture full of wit, passion and heartbreak."
Read more...

Hævnen (In A Better World)
Denmark’s official entry for Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award®.

Here's a brief description from the Whistler Film Fest:
"The latest drama from Academy Award nominated director Susanne Bier (After The Wedding, Brothers) centres on Anton, a doctor who commutes between his home in an idyllic town in Denmark and his work at an African refugee camp. Within these two very different worlds, he and his family are faced with conflicts that lead to difficult choices between revenge and forgiveness."

Packing for the Sundance Film Festival: The Agony of Advance Planning

2010-11-27T08:14:00.000-08:00

Article first published as "Packing for the Sundance Film Festival: The Agony of Advance Planning" on Blogcritics.org.

I’m just a wee bit excited about my third trip to the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, next January.

So I started packing in October.

This is always a bad idea; it gives me too much time (and too many holiday sales) to throw in extra gear, making the final consolidation that much more painful. When I came across Jason Cochran’s WalletPop.com article, Savings Experiment: Packing light and cheap, I thought I’d give it a try. I mean, it’s already Thanksgiving, for goodness sake--I need to get cracking. January 20th is right around the corner!

I pulled out my suitcase and laid everything out, using Cochran's helpful suggestions:

- Bring fleeces instead of bulky sweaters.
Check.

- Choose one pair of multi-use shoes.
Not so easy when dealing with snow on hilly sidewalks and short sprints to the free shuttle buses, as well as nice-casual theater and dining situations. I compromised. One stylish, waterproof, all-terrain walking shoe and one pair of snow boots. Done.

- Wear layers.
I think I’m good on that score...I have a unique, fully-layered outfit (from long underwear to fleece coat) for each day of the week. Hey, it's only overkill if you don't actually use it all. It's darn cold in Park City, Utah.

- Wear darker clothes to hide the travel grime.
Ostensibly this is so I can wear the same clothes repeatedly throughout my trip. Not if I’m crammed into close quarters in a theater or wait line all week, I can’t. I did do a good job of choosing clothes I could mix and match: black, brown, grey, white, with a little red and blue thrown in to keep me from washing into the background. You know, in case I end up taking photos with Jake Gyllenhaal...I don’t want him to outshine me.

- “If you’re really feeling clever,” Cochran writes, “pack clothes you want to get rid of.” Dump them or give them to charity before your return trip.
Brilliant! How about...no, not that. Or maybe...no, not that either. The truth is, the only time I was able to do this was when I was 26 years old and working at a youth hostel where stored luggage that was unclaimed was divvied up amongst the staff. Whatever scraggly, used gear I snagged that winter, I donated back to charity before I jetted home. But you don't go scraggly to Sundance. Casual, yes. Scraggly? Not so much. Unless you're a filmmaker, in which case scraggly is Indie Survivalist-cool.

My dream is to one day have enough saved up for a trip like this that I can take nothing but a toothbrush and an overnight bag, buy everything local along the way, then ship it all home before I step on the plane. But for now, it’s champagne tastes and a tap water budget. I did get smart, last year, and bought a few trinkets from the Sundance online store before I left. After squishing my beloved 2009 poster in the airport shuttle, I wised-up and had 2010’s shipped directly.

I’m a religious Southwest Airlines flyer, so I’ve never had to worry about avoiding extra baggage fees, which was Cochran’s initial theme. But there’s nothing worse than lugging a monster bag through an airport, wrestling it to your final destination, then having to repack it for the trip home. Although I know I’ll never get it down to carry-on proportions, I’m taking Jason Cochran’s suggestions to heart and repacking...all throughout December.

You can never start too early.

As It Happens: Filmmaking in Real Time

2010-11-19T10:21:00.000-08:00

If you're unable to make it to the Adventure Film Fest in Boulder, then catch As It Happens, an intense, direct-experience mountaineering short by award-winning filmmaker Renan Ozturk and photographer Cory Richards, in its entirety online.

Shot and shared in real time, Ozturk and Richards posted their dispatches from their climb in the Nepalese Himalayas, to the delight of thousands of online viewers following their exploits as they happened. Ozturk and Richards' attention to lighting, focus, arresting camera angles and use of time lapse creates a high-quality movie experience, unexpected for the conditions under which much of the film is shot. The cinematography is laudable in its own right. To have carried the extra equipment necessary to edit and share their experiences, while navigating dangerous terrain at tens of thousands of feet--especially during the final legs of their two-man ascent--seems nuts. And brave. And hyper-real. If you've ever wondered...or ever been there...this is a film you'll want to chew on.

(Don't miss the rest of Ozturk's blog, filled with "dispatches" from other mountain adventures, large and small. The links to Ozturk and Richards, posted above, will take you to each man's own site.)

As It Happens screens at 8 p.m. tonight at Neptune Mountaineering, along with four additional short films. See the Adventure Film Festival page for schedule and ticket info.
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Get Off Your Seat: Adventure Film Festival in Boulder, CO

2010-11-18T00:01:00.000-08:00

If you would rather frolic in the rapids of a torrential river than play World of Warcraft until 3 a.m., this film fest might inspire you sit still long enough to formulate your next daring plan. The Adventure Film Festival opens today at the Boulder Theater in Boulder, Colorado. This evening's program runs from 7-9 p.m. (Click here for a PDF of the full festival schedule.) Sponsored by Patagonia and a number of other forward-thinking, community-minded partners, Adventure Film also hosts screenings in Chamonix, France and Santiago, Chile, as well as a touring program that visits Seattle, San Francisco, New York, and Boston throughout the year.

The week's program begins on Thursday with the short, Skateistan, which examines how skateboarding is pushing the boundaries of change for two teens (one of them a young woman) in Afghanistan. On Skateistan's heels follows Ben Knight's thoughtful Eastern Rises, as a group of fly fisherman explore the pristine environments of the Kamchatka Peninsula of Pacific Russia in their search for "the most wild and beautiful trout in the world." Knight's deadpan narration is spot on. The trailer on the film fest site had me laughing out loud at his description of a fly hook that looks "like the half-eaten rodent your cat wheezed up on the kitchen floor." (It does.) This second trailer strikes a more awe-struck tone:

After intermission are two killer-looking ski flicks: the short, Desert River, and Australis: An Antarctic Ski Odyssey. In Australis, a group of experienced, daring (I'd venture "crazy") skiers take on the slopes of Antarctica--with no guidebook, no lift, and not much between the end of the slope and the near-freezing polar waters, below. I suppose, given the rate at which the planet's poles are melting, these folks might have discovered the next great ski resort destination--all they need is a hot tub and a bit more beach.

With Love, Dad: The Kids Grow Up

2010-11-13T19:25:00.000-08:00

Doug Block's The Kids Grow Up isn't playing in the western states yet, but when I read this profile of the film, I had to share:
"Filmmaker Documents a Year of Saying Goodbye to His College-Bound Daughter"
by Ilyssa Panitz of Parent Dish

S.F. International Animation Festival, Nov. 11

2010-11-10T17:36:00.000-08:00

The San Francisco International Animation Festival opens its 5th year tomorrow with some beautiful pieces, including the inspired, 60-minute visual feast, Here Come the Waves: The Hazards of Love Visualized, featuring the alternately toe-tappingly tranquil and torridly soul-stirring music of The Decemberists:

There are several shorts selections and a few features, including Mai Mai Miracle from Sunao Katabuchi, who honed his craft at the elbow of the great Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away, Ponyo). A review of Mai Mai Miracle from its recent screening at the Edinburgh Film Festival offered it high praise (review includes trailer).

Tickets to Landmark's Embarcadero Center Cinemas are $12.50 for most shows (senior discount available). Click here for more ticketing information.

Made In Dagenham at AFI Film Fest, Hollywood

2010-11-07T22:20:00.000-08:00

Made In Dagenham is winning over reviewers with its feisty humor and inspirational story. Already garnering Oscar thought bubbles above the heads of media watchers, this film looks like one not to be missed. Here's the synopsis from the AFI Film Festival website:

"In the 1960s, the Ford factory in Dagenham, England was one of the largest assembly plants in Europe. Alongside 55,000 men, 187 women worked as machinists stitching car seats. Despite their highly specialized work, the women were classified as unskilled workers and paid only a fraction of what the men earned. In 1968, the feisty women decided to take a stand for their rights and they went on strike. When the factory eventually ran out of finished seat upholstery, the entire operation closed, leading to a national crisis. Based on true events, director Nigel Cole (CALENDAR GIRLS) celebrates the courage and joyous spirit of these women who fought to achieve social change. With warm, exuberant performances from a terrific ensemble cast including Sally Hawkins, Bob Hoskins, Miranda Richardson and Rosamund Pike, the film chronicles a crucial moment in a decade of upheaval, when the fight for equality was lead by ordinary women. —Dilcia Barrera"

It opens to a wider release in the U.S. on November 19th. Follow the buzz and check it out for free on Monday night, 8 p.m., at the Mann Chinese 6:

The best trailer is the one found on Made In Dagenham's own website, which is loaded with detailed information about the film.

2011 Sundance Film Festival Tips

2010-11-06T23:35:00.000-07:00

Since the Sundance Film Festival will mark Film Fest Connect's official launch (this lovely site is, for now, in the soft launch, content-building stage), it's time to start sharing with you great articles on getting to Sundance. This suite101.com mini-gem by media-watcher Teresa Wentz is our first stop on the Road to Park City, Utah: 2011 Sundance Film Festival Tips

See you in the theater!

A Killer Run-down of 3rd i's San Francisco South Asian Film Festival

2010-11-05T16:04:00.000-07:00

FFC couldn't possibly report on 3rd i's San Francisco South Asian Film Festival as thoroughly as Michael Guillen of The Evening Class. He rolls through the whole line-up with a practiced eye.

Here's the kickin' festival trailer to get you hyped for the weekend:

Deal of the Week: $40 Passes to Oregon's Northwest Film & Video Festival

2010-11-05T11:10:00.000-07:00

The best film festival deals are often found off the heavily-trampled path. This week's Northwest Film & Video Festival in Portland, Oregon, is offering festival passes, which allow holders into everything (screenings, parties, and all but 2 events) for $40! This is a deal worth swiping up. Here's a fascinating trailer to the short, The Thomas Beale Cipher, from Director Andrew S. Allen, to whet your appetite:

The Thomas Beale Cipher: Official Trailer from Polymix on Vimeo.

Note: This film is also playing at the Starz Denver Film Festival, this weekend.

Not Just Films: Join the 3-D Debate at the Ojai Film Fest

2010-11-05T10:42:00.000-07:00

Film festivals host more than just eye candy. They're places for industry experts to share their knowledge and discuss important topics. This weekend's Ojai Film Fest hosts a number of panels in the lovely Ojai Valley, just a stone's throw from L.A., nestled between the metro sprawl and Santa Barbara's cool, vineyard-covered mountains. Here's one that sounds timely, especially if you're contemplating splurging on a 3-D television during the holidays:

Randall Dark, premiere HD expert and international authority on technological advances in modern filmmaking, discusses Film Technology - 3D, the Good, The Bad and The Ugly! at Ojai's Art Center Gallery this Saturday, Nov. 6, at 2 p.m.

As quickly as 3-D technology was embraced by the film industry, it's lately been vilified by critics for its overuse in films that never should have been so in-your-face (or pocket-gouging) to begin with. With the advent of new 3-D televisions, what's the outlook for this artistic media innovation?

American Indian Film Institute Film Festival, San Francisco Opens Tonight

2010-11-05T09:28:00.000-07:00

The American Indian Film Festival celebrates it's 35th year when it opens tonight at the Landmark Embarcadero Center Cinema, in San Francisco. While there appear to be several good films, I'm most intrigued by the animation program that opens on Saturday, a collection of 12 shorts anchored by the 75-minute CGI feature The Legend of Secret Pass. The main feature is in post-production, but the trailer is compelling. A number of seasoned actors provided the voice talent (Frankie Muniz; the iconic Graham Greene; David Cross, who voiced Crane in Kung Fu Panda; as well as David Chiklis, Debi Derryberry, and Ron Perlman, among others):

It should be noted that not all of the films are small-child friendly in theme, though older teens might be able to handle some of the material. (To be fair, I haven't seen any of these, myself.) The potentially most disturbing shorts appear after the main feature: Waseteg, a story of a mother trying to protect her children from domestic abuse; and Lumaajuuq, about a boy seeking revenge against his mother, who deliberately blinded him and fed him dog meat. While each of these may have a redemptive moral appropriate for teens (in Lumaajuuq, the boy discovers that revenge is not the wisest path), the lesson might possibly be lost on little ones. That said, perhaps you'll want to take them to get more popcorn during each of these, and come back to catch the other, evidently charming short films.

AFI Film Fest, Hollywood: Free Tickets!

2010-11-04T22:38:00.000-07:00

For the second year running, the AFI Film Fest in Hollywood is offering free tickets to ALL of it's screenings. There's some good stuff here!

Here are some tips and tricks for scoring tickets--a great article from LA WEEKLY Blogs guides you through the lines on your way to a seat: How To See Movies For Free: A Guide to AFI Fest Ticketing By Karina Longworth

Have fun, L.A.!

P.S. If you get the chance, please see BOY. It's a touching and head-shakingly hilarious film by Taika Waititi, of Flight of the Conchords fame. The film is playing Sat., Nov 6th at 6:15pm, at the Mann Chinese Theater 6.

Ojai Film Fest: Feature of the Weekend

2010-11-04T19:25:00.000-07:00

There Once Was An Island, an award-winning documentary, details the effect of rising seas on the Polynesian people of Takuu atoll in the South Western Pacific. If you've ever wondered weather climate change would have any measurable effect in your lifetime, here's your answer. (Screening at both the Ojai Film Festival and the Starz Denver Film Festival this Saturday and Sunday.)

Trailer for There Once was an Island: Te Henua e Nnoho from On The Level Productions on Vimeo.

2010 Starz Denver Film Festival

2010-11-04T16:01:00.000-07:00

If you're in Denver tonight, you still have a chance to wait list Casino Jack, a wild ride through the world of wicked lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Anything starring the iconic Kevin Spacey is sure to be worth the time spent in line, and the screenplay was written after hours of interviews with Abramoff himself. Here's the trailer:

If rehashing political power plays isn't your thing but you still crave excitement, try 127 Hours...if you dare. The latest film by Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire), based on a true story, comes HIGHLY recommended. (Entertainment Weekly just arrived in the mail. According to The Bullseye: "James Franco's riveting performance in 127 Hours: like Tom Hanks in Cast Away, except in a canyon. And without Wilson." --EW #1128, p.80)

Leg Stretch: Film Fest Connect Is Warming Up

2010-11-04T00:06:00.000-07:00

The goal of Film Fest Connect is to bring audiences to film festivals--and festivals to audiences--in any way they're able to connect. Films have the power to educate, enlighten, and embolden communities. They can bring about change, positive and negative, personal and social, local and global, in ways no other form of media is able to do. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that roughly fifty percent of the human brain is hardwired to process visual information. This is THE medium for reaching people.

What's The Point?
A good movie can change lives. Some have changed the world.

But paradigm-shifting films are rarely industry blockbusters from the moment they leave the studio. Some never will be. Film festivals, then, provide audiences with a unique opportunity to see films that might otherwise be seen by very few--or not at all. Audiences (audies, in Twitterspeak) can use the power of social media and direct conversation to share, or even create, a popular culture "moment in time".

If you love the thrill of a festival atmosphere...

If you believe in the transformative power of film...

If you can't wait to lord it over your friends that you asked Steven Soderbergh, during a panel Q&A, what he thinks about streaming films online; or that you sat 20 feet away from Liam Neeson in a theater and got his autograph; or that you think you've just discovered the next Kathryn Bigelow...

This is the site for you.

For filmmakers, film festivals offer opportunities to gauge audience reaction, score a distribution deal, gain enough notoriety to fund future projects, and connect in a very personal way with the people who love (and, sometimes, hate) their work. Film is an impersonal medium in so many ways. Festivals offer the chance to communicate, confront, and connect with all the immediacy and humanity good films--and filmmakers--deserve.

Follow, Follow, Follow, Follow...!
Become part of that humanity and follow Film Fest Connect as we highlight the Best Fests in the West in 2011. Anything west of the Rockies is fair game (AK, HI, WA, OR CA, ID, NV, AZ, UT, and possibly WY, MT, and CO).

Follow Film Fest Connect on Twitter. Help build your film festival social network through our Film Fest Connect Facebook page. Share what you know about the festivals in your area. Give us your best tips and tricks, tell us your horror stories, share some pictures. FFC can't possibly be everywhere at once--we need all the boots on the ground that we can get!

Promoters are welcome to send more information on film events for inclusion in future posts (for now, please use the comments section). Respect our readers (be kind, don't spam) and we'll be happy to honor your event with coverage. If you have already sent us your links through Twitter, we'll be keeping up with you.

Plans are afoot to kick off the official launch of FFC at the Sundance Film Festival, beginning on January 24th. (The festival itself begins on the 20th.) Once FFC is launched, we'll stop stretching our legs and take off running. Join us.