QPORIT

CALIFORNICATION & THE HANK HAIKU CONTEST

noreply@blogger.com (QPORIT) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:05:30 PST

Californication, the aptly named Showtime program (new episodes on Sundays), is more edgy, more sexy and more together this year than it has been since the first season.

Last year ("coincidently" just before the season started), David Duchovny, who plays Hank Moody, was said to enter a program for sex addicts. This year, with true method acting zeal, he seems to be applying whatever experience he had directly to the story.

The program is funny, serious, sexy and well acted in Duchovny's inimitable style.

Inimitable (ie not imitatable) or not, there is a contest now to imitate -- or reinvent -- Duchovny's acting.

It turns out that many of Hank's best lines are actually Haiku.

(Haiku is a Japanese form of poetry... The English version is usually 3 phrases of 5 7 and 5 syllables. For a full description, see the article on Haiku in Wikipedia.)

For the Hank Haiku contest, go to the HankHaiku site, watch clips of Duchovny delivering Hank's Haiku lines, then make your own video version of the Haiku and upload it.

Your Haiku video may appear on the website, and more opportunities may follow. See the site for the rules and rewards.

The contest ends Nov 29.

HIFF SCREENWRITERS LAB 2010

noreply@blogger.com (QPORIT) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 20:51:48 PST

Here is an announcement from The Hamptons International Film Festival (HIFF) about their screenwriters lab.

The announcement does not explain any special rules (whether you can submit more than one screenplay, for example) and it does not give a cutoff date. I guess the sooner the better.

Scripts are submitted through withoutabox.com

The 10th Annual Hamptons International Film Festival Screenwriters' Lab will take place April 16-18, 2010 in East Hampton, New York. Submit your script via withoutabox.com.

SCREENWRITERS' LAB

The Hamptons Writers' Lab is an intimate gathering that takes place each Spring in East Hampton (April 16 - 18, 2010). The Lab develops emerging screenwriting talent by pairing established writers with up-and-coming screenwriters (chosen by the Hamptons in collaboration with key industry contacts). The mentors advise in a one-on-one laboratory setting while additional daily events bring the participants together with board members, sponsors, the local artistic community, and other friends of the festival. The lab allows accepted screenwriters the chance to improve their script and meet with industry professionals to help find ways to get their scripts made.

Some recent mentors:

Michael Cunningham (The Hours, Evening); James Vanderbilt (Zodiac); J. Robin Baitz (People I Know, The Substance of Fire); Whit Stillman (Metropolitan, The Last Days of Disco); Ira Sachs (40 Shades of Blue, This Married Life); Jeff Sharp (Producer, You Can Count on Me, Evening); Maria Maggenti (The Incredibly True Adventures of Two Girls in Love); Sabrina Dhawan (Monsoon Wedding, Cosmopolitan); Gregory Widen (Highlander, Backdraft); Mark Christopher (54); Maggie Greenwald (Songcatcher, Ballad of Little Jo); Belinda Haas (Angels and Insects, Blood Oranges); Lawrence Lasker (Sneakers, War Games); Michael Weller (Ragtime, Hair, Spoils of War); Chap Taylor (Changing Lanes, National Treasure); and Dylan Kidd (Roger Dodger, P.S.) are among the writers who have served as mentors at the Screenwriters' Lab.

We seek a broad selection of screenplays addressing a wide subject matter.

Additionally, in collaboration with The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation's initiative in furthering the public understanding of science, we encourage you to submit screenplays that explore science, technology, mathematics, invention, and engineering in fresh and innovative ways.

i560 USED INK TANK FULL

noreply@blogger.com (QPORIT) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 11:20:03 PST

Canon seems to have arranged that certain printers, including the i560, fail after a while with an error:

The used ink tank is full.

There seem to be various complex and messy procedures on the internet (though Canon's own web site is not too helpful... I'll try e-mail support) for addressing this problem; and the cost of giving it to some service center for repair is about comparable with the cost of the printer (now about $100).

So, basically, they are saying -- or designing into the product the requirement -- that the printer should be replaced every couple of years.

Of course, when a printer fails I also lose the money for any ink cartridges I've bought in advance.

Sorry, but I won't replace it with another Canon... Ill try something else.

Products should live longer.

NOV 3, 2009

noreply@blogger.com (QPORIT) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:02:38 PST

Here's my take on the results:

Corzine lost because even though he spent a lot of money, it was on terrible ads. Spending more than your opponent only helps if your ads are any good. His attack ads were pretty convincing -- I'm worried about Christie's ethics -- but Christie's ads were very effective: they raised doubt about Corzine's accomplishments and his future plans. The trouble with Corzine's ads was that he did not address the question of what he accomplished during his term, and what he would do for NJ in another term. (He sort of did, though with little energy, at the end, but it was too little, too late.) He was almost invisible from the news. He seemed somehow tired and ready to leave office. He didn't seem to care about what he had done and what he would do. There was no energy in his campaign.

Bloomberg's narrow win was a surprise, considering how much he spent, on really excellent ads. Voters seem to be tired of incumbents, and perhaps were offended by his run for a third term. If there is one thing term limits should do, it is to prevent an incumbent from changing the rules. (If the person in office can change the rules on running again, then there are no rules against running again; term limits that can be removed in favor of an incumbent are a joke, an insult to previous office holders, and not, obviously, term limits at all.) Bloomberg supported term limits in the past. Voters do not like hypocrisy -- in this case Bloomberg now supporting the end of term limits when it applies to him.

The victory of the Democrat in the 23rd (NY) -- the first time, by the way, a Democrat has held that seat since the 1890s! -- indicates the problems moderate Republicans have in their own party. The Conservative was able to bump the moderate off the race in the secondary. (He did not win the primary, so if he was able to bump the other candidate after the primary, we should call it a victory in the secondary.) Democrats, moderate Republicans, and others should remember that the Conservative strategy has been for many years that it is more important to strengthen the Conservative base for a future win, than to allow moderate Republicans to win an election and strengthen their base.

The old aphorisms are: All politics is local. And, "It's the economy, stupid."

Here are some newer aphorisms.

Some politics is local.
It's the economy, stupid.
Most politics is economic.
Incumbents need a strong economy.
Republicans spend and borrow; they spend mostly on behalf of the rich.
Democrats try to serve the entire population; they sometimes have to tax to pay for what Republicans borrowed.
Conservatives can be more interested in capturing the Republican party than whether a Democrat wins a particular election.
The presentation of high energy and the ability to inspire confidence is a great campaign strategy.
Moral issues make great sound bites, but gather few votes.
Moral issues generate votes even on off years; not that many votes, but "moral voters" vote consistently and dependably in most elections.
The possible exception, and most important moral issue, however, is anti-hypocrisy; voters will flee from incumbents viewed as hypocritical.
Defense issues are unimportant in local races, important in national races, but it's the economy, stupid.

THE HOUSE AND SENATE HEALTH CARE BILLS

noreply@blogger.com (QPORIT) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:10:46 PDT

After a matter is investigated in Congressional Committees, eventually

(a) A bill comes to the floor of the House and another comes to the floor of the Senate.

(b) These bills may be amended.

(c) If they are passed in each house of Congress, a Committee consisting of members of both houses creates a single bill using elements of the two separate bills from the two houses.

(d) This final, single, "compromise" bill must then be passed by each house.

(e) After the bill is passed, it must be signed by the President, and then becomes law.

The current bills from the House of Representatives and the Senate are now being amended before coming to a vote in each house. (We are just at step (a)).

Here is the text of the two HEALTH CARE bills. They are very long and complex pieces of legislation:

HOUSE BILL as of October 29, 2009 (1018 pages)
http://docs.house.gov/edlabor/AAHCA-BillText-071409.pdf

SENATE BILL as of July 15, 2009 (615 pages)
http://help.senate.gov/BAI09A84_xml.pdf

FAR, FAR AWAY & LONG, LONG AGO

noreply@blogger.com (QPORIT) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:55:57 PDT

At 3:55 a.m. EDT on April 23, a NASA satellite ("Swift") detected a gamma ray emission from an object believed to be about 13 billion light years from Earth. The event is believed to have taken place about 600 million years after the Big Bang when the universe was created.

Light takes 13 billion years to go 13 billion light years. If the object was 13 billion light years away from Earth when it exploded, it had to have travelled those 13 billion light years since the Big Bang (when "Earth" and the object, and everything else were all together in one tiny little space): that is, the object travelled 13 billion light years away from "Earth"in only 600 million years.

To get 13 billion light years away from "Earth" travelling at the speed of light would take 13 billion years, not 600 million years.

Either

a -- it was (way!) closer to "Earth" when it omitted the gamma ray pulse than 13 billion light years (ie distance estimate is wrong)

b -- it emitted the light (way!) longer than 600 million years after the Big Bang (ie time estimate is wrong)

c -- "Earth" & the object were not in proximity at the time of the Big Bang (ie Big Bang assumptions are wrong)

d -- The object separated from "Earth" (way!) faster than the speed of light.

e -- something else (for example, light does not travel at "the speed of light").

Note that our Earth did not exist 13 billion years ago; "Earth" (in quotes) designates a sort of virtual place that would later be occupied by our Earth. Since the idea of the Big Bang is that all matter in our universe occupied a very small space, exactly what space "Earth" occupied is not relevant -- unless of course that is where the solution lies...

Right now, the leading explanation for how something could get 13 billion light years away from "Earth" in 600 million years may be something like this... (a) the whole universe expanded / inflated at a rapid rate shortly after the Big Bang; and (b) this is allowed by General Relativity: space itself can expand, separating objects faster than the speed of light; it's not that the objects are moving, it's that the space between object is expanding.

So d (carefully using the word "separated") may be the leading explanation...

NASA ARTICLE:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/swift/bursts/cosmic_record.html

WIKIPEDIA ON THE EXPANSION OF SPACE
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metric_expansion_of_space

DELL FINANCIAL SERVICES

noreply@blogger.com (QPORIT) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 08:40:36 PST

The website for making online payments to Dell Financial Services was and has been so bad (performance, organization, redundancy, navigation, lack of facilities, possibly misleading information) that -- given that it comes from a computer company -- one wonders if it is deliberately intended to cause the user to make mistakes and generate extra fees, or if it is functional stupidity, or if there is some other reason for the site to be so bad.

It should be one click to the payment page from the DELL website; it should easily allow multiple types of payment; payments should be credited same day; amounts to be paid should be clear and accurate...

ENTERTAINING SCIENCE - NOV 2009

noreply@blogger.com (QPORIT) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 19:37:42 PDT

At 6:00 on the first Sunday of each month, Nobel Laureate (Chemistry) Roald Hoffman convenes an entertaining session of Science Entertainment at the Cornelia Street Cafe.

Here's the info for Nov 2009. Early reservations are recommended. (It usually sells out.) Some people on the wait list are likely to get in also (but mostly end up sitting in the back).

The food and drinks you can have (upstairs before or after, downstairs during the show) are quite good at the Cafe/Restaurant.

6:00PM Nov 1, 2009
ENTERTAINING SCIENCE
Roald Hoffmann

SHAPES AND ENERGIES: LOVE AND HATE AMONG THE ATOMS

"Molecules have shapes, and their geometries determine ultimately their every chemical, physical and biological property. Tiny electrons, scooting around the much bulkier atoms, and governed by the lovely logic of quantum mechanics, actually tell those big guys how to arrange themselves.

An expert on la liaison chimique, Odile Eisenstein of the University of Montpellier, France, takes us by the hand into the world of molecular shapes, from the simple tetrahedron of methane to the less intuitive world of molecules containing metal atoms.

Gerard Parkin, who is rumored to make a living studying such molecules, will do some non-electronic magic.

And making shapes, exploring different forms of holding energy together, sometimes in "nonintuitive" ways, will also be expressed in the music of Todd Capp and his quartet. "

Cover $10

SURROGATE

noreply@blogger.com (QPORIT) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 09:14:56 PDT

Tali Shalom Ezer
Director of Surrogate
Photo by Eric Roffman
What I like about Surrogate (an Israeli film -- shown at HIFF 2009 -- directed by Tali Shalom Ezer) is that it tells a very simple story very well.

Lana Ettinger & Amir Wolf
Surrogate

A man (Eli, played by Amir Wolf) takes a series of sessions with a sex surrogate (Hagar, played by Lana Ettinger), who helps him become more comfortable with himself, with other people, and with the fact that he was molested by his uncle as a young boy.

Within -- or bursting out -- from this simple story (almost like an archetypal fairy tale) are a myriad of other stories, some of which I will suggest in the form of questions. The simplicity of the story allows the richness of the world of the movie to be invoked.

=>Is the relationship between the man and the surrogate a love affair? Is it a false relationship -- much like the relationship of the uncle to the boy? Will it help the man? Or hurt him by having a loving partner disappear after a false affair, like the uncle's "love" was false? Is it false to Eli? Is it false -- or real -- to Hagar?

=>Is Hagar training Eli to make love to her the way she likes to be made love to? Perhaps the way the director wants men and women to relate physically? Or not? Is Hagar taking control of the physical lovemaking only because that is good therapy?

=>Has Eli's mother really been unaware her son was molested -- or is she in denial?

=>What is the relation between Eli and his own nephew? Is he afraid to get close to the boy? What is Eli's relationship with his sister? Is there a physicality to the relationships between all the family members that promotes? or spites? the possibility of "inappropriate" relationships? Or impedes appropriate relationships?

=>How many love stories are being told? And what is the relation between sex and love in the relationship? (Positive? Negative? Unrelated? Not applicable?)
Eli & Hagar?
Eli & his nephew?
Eli & his mother?
Eli & his sister?
Mother and the rest of the family?
The director & ??? (The story seems so personal as it is told that it feels like the director is personally invested in these relationships.)

QUICK FIRST REVIEW OF HIFF 2009

noreply@blogger.com (QPORIT) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 17:22:42 PDT

Shana Feste
Writer/Director of the Opening Night film, The Greatest
Photo by Eric Roffman
There's 107 films, a bunch of panels, and lots of parties, with usually 5-10 things happening at the same time, so I apologize for only experiencing a fraction of the action at HIFF 2009 (aka The 17th Annual Hamptons International Film Festival).

Here are some brief notes on some things I saw and did, people I met, and places I ate. Several of these will be the subject of in depth articles and, earlier, I wrote previews of the festival and of the Breakthrough Performers event, as well as an article on publicizing yourself and your film.

(Since stories in the blog appear in order from later dates to earlier dates -- the more recent the article, the higher it is on the page -- articles written after this story will appear above it, and articles I've already written can be found below by scrolling down on this page.)

Articles I'm working on include interviews with Emmy Rossum and Ashley Springer from the cast, as well as the writer and director of Dare; a retrospective of the Breakthrough Performers event; more about the Sloan Foundation; more photos and videos; and more detailed reviews of several films. These will be published over the next few days. Keep watching this site!

Here's a brief cruise through some highlights (for me) of the 2009 HIFF:

BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMERS AND DARE
The Breakthrough Performer's event brings some of the world’s most exciting young acting talent to the Hamptons.

Alba Rohrwacher
Italian Shooting Star
And star of The Ladies Get Their Say
Photo by Eric Roffman

Three of the Breakthrough Performers were in Dare: (I'll have a detailed story -- with interviews -- closer to the release of Dare in November.)

Emmy Rossum
Rising Star & star of Dare
Photo by Eric Roffman
Emmy Rossum has grown from a great singer who -- though slightly stiff -- held her own as star in the film of Phantom of the Opera, to a beautiful, tall, smart and accomplished actress in Dare, in which her character essentially emerges from a cocoon, transforming from a geeky moth to a sexual, high-flying butterfly.

Zach Gilford (who, unfortunately did not show up in the Hamptons, because he was filming Friday Night Lights) navigates a tricky role as a sensitive and disturbed bad-boy hunk.

Rooney Mara
Rising Star and star of
Dare and Tanner Hall
Photo by Eric Roffman

Rooney Mara, in a small role in Dare, and in a similar character with a bigger role in Tanner Hall, exhibits a fascinating combination of wisdom, recklessness, joy, maturity and childishness. The writer and director of Dare have fashioned a sensitive and sophisticated triangular story, with Ashley Springer (no relation to the Springer PR family) a smart, young, funny actor, playing the third side (with Emmy and Zach) of the triangle. (This being a closed triangle, the film is of some interest to gay audiences, although its universal and original story about self-realization is of interest to all ages and all types of people.)

SLOAN FOUNDATION

Amy Redford and Alan Alda
At the Sloan Celebration
Photo by Eric Roffman

The Sloan Foundation has a program whose objective is to support the presentation of science and scientists in films and theater. At a retrospective celebration of ten years of Sloan participation at HIFF, Alan Alda gave an absolutely brilliant talk about the relation between art and science. Amy Redford, who will be directing a script the Sloan Foundation has been supporting, gave a brief, but cogent description of how a good film could be made from the story of Hedy Lamarr, who in addition to being a beautiful movie star, was the co-inventor (the beautiful co-inventor -- inventors can be beautiful) of frequency hopping ( U.S. Patent 2,292,387), a technology of great importance in technology today (such as cell phone transmission systems).

SOME FILMS
Lily, Lily (in English exhibition renamed My Words, My Lies, My Love) is a brilliantly written love story with David Bruhl and Hannah Herzsprung. David and Hannah both deliver superb performances, David as a shy waiter who suddenly becomes -- through fraud -- Germany's most celebrated author, and Hannah as a smart, warm/cold muse, loving, but edgy.

(Note: Hanna Herzsprung was a Rising and Shooting star at the Hamptons the last two years. Her Vier Minuten ends in a concert hall that looks just like the lecture hall where Lily, Lily begins.)

The Surrogate is a deceptively simple or deceptively complex love story, or not a love story. More about this in a dedicated review later. It was paired with Ten: Thirty One, directed by Gabe Fazio, which was the best short film I saw at the festival.

Suzanne DiDonna (l)
Star of Ten: Thirty One
With director Gabe Fazio's eye (r)
And Polish actress (and Gabe's wife) Joanna Moskwa's lips (c)
Photo by Eric Roffman
FILM DISTRIBUTION AND BABELGUM
With Dirty Oil, a documentary by Leslie Iwerks, about the hazard of harvesting Shale for oil, Babelgum (strange name, but interesting site), heralded its venue for high-end web video. Shale harvesting in the US has been suggested as a source of abundant domestic oil, and this documentary is particularly important because the issues it raises need to be considered to prevent thoughtless and irreversibly dangerous choices from being made.

Leslie Iwerks
Director of Dirty Oil
Photo by Eric Roffman
The three biggest troubles with YouTube and similar sites are that (1) they publish anything, (2) the highest traffic goes not to the best, real films, but the silliest, most easy to gape at filmlets. And (3), there's no good way to find really good films. Babelgum is an attempt to collect really fine films, some acquired, some, like Dirty Oil, self-produced. Watching the films is free; Babelgum is supported by advertising. And they are devising players for every possible outlet, including hand-held video players like the iPhone to make watching the films a ubiquitous possibility.

In a panel discussion of new modes of distribution for new filmmakers, VOD was described as an up and coming revenue source. Also emphasized by all the panelists, was the importance of social networking as a vital tool for marketing.

MAISHA
Mira Nair hosted a benefit for her foundation, Maisha, whose objective is to develop filmmaking skills among Africans.

Mira Nair
Photo by Eric Roffman

The film, 8, shown at the benefit screening consisted of 8 short films by eight directors on the eight Millennium Goals. Mira's film, along with Wim Wenders' and Sissako's (the lone African filmmaker), were the most interesting; Mira's, in particular, going beyond a simple exposition of the depth of the problem. Too many of the films were profoundly disturbing (which was, no doubt, intended) , but too simplistic descriptions of these serious problems: hunger, maternal health, devastation by current and future climate conditions, and 5 more.

EATING AND SLEEPING
During the festival I did need to eat and sleep (though rarely).

VUE, one of the sponsors at the festival, is a new "Swiss luxury herbal water." (More in another post.)

Spokeswoman for VUE
At the Chairman's Reception
Photo by Eric Roffman
The parties made it possible to meet filmmakers, and for sponsors to promote their products. Appetizers were mostly very good at most parties, though you had to be in the right place to snatch them before the tray was emptied. I liked the espresso bar a lot.

GURNEY'S INN
Photo by Eric Roffman
Gurney's Inn hosts the annual Opening Night Party. I stayed there last year and this. It's a beautiful hotel, and I liked it very much. This year I had a huge two level suite, which gave me lots of room to work, and a great view overlooking the water while working. The photo above is the view just outside my room.

At Della Femina I had a terrific meal at the bar, and a pleasant conversation with an ex-Wall Street executive and his wife. (We talked films & the festival... He said little about Wall Street and the Bear Stearns collapse... except that he wasn't responsible!)

I liked the appetizer snack at Turtle Crossing, a Tex-Mex hangout. The service was very friendly and there's a chocolate lollypop when you leave.

The Clam & Chowder House Restaurant in Montauk served a simple fish sandwich. The fish was a delicious, moist, perfectly broiled fluke.

My last meal in the Hamptons was desert and coffee at the bar at c/o Maidstone (I don't know why they have the c/o). It was a nice, tasty way to end the festival; the bar patrons, and the bar maid were all great to chat with.

MISSED FILMS, AND AWARDS
The saddest part of the festival is thinking about all the films I did not have time to see because of conflicts with other films, panels, and parties.

Gus Reininger
Director of Corso
Photo by Eric Roffman

Corso is one of the films I most regret missing. The writer/director/producer, Gus Reininger, is an old friend from Wall Street that I haven't seen in decades, and the film -- about the last of the beat poets -- sounds fascinating. (Gus was co-creator of the NBC TV drama, Crime Story, and writer or producer of many other films and TV episodes; this is the first film he has directed.)

The Award winning films are worth catching when you can!

Golden Starfish Award for Best Narrative Feature: The Misfortunates, directed by Felix van Groeningen

Special Jury Award for Outstanding Achievement by an Actor: Paprika Steen, Applause

Golden Starfish Award for Best Documentary: Long Distance Love, directed by Magnus Gertten and Elin Jonsson

Special Jury Award: Mugabe and the White African, Lucy Bailey & Andrew Thompson

Golden Starfish Award for Best Short: Dust Kid, directed by Jung Yumi

Best Film of Conflict & Resolution: Rabbit a la Berlin, directed by Bartek Konopka

Audience Award for Best Narrative Film: The Young Victoria, directed by Jean-Marc Vallee

Audience Award for Best Documentary: Waking Sleeping Beauty, directed by Don Hahn

Audience Award for Best Short: This is Her, directed by Katie Wolfe

Zicherman Foundation Award for Best Screenplay: Felix van Groeningen for The Misfortunates

Kodak Award for Best Cinematography: Ruben Impens for The Misfortunates

Kanbar Indie Award: Antonio Campos for My Adventures in Ladies’ Undergarments

Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Prize: Agora, directed by Alejandro Amenabar

Roc Skincare Gold Standard in Filmmaking Award for a feature female director: Cheryl Hines for Serious Moonlight

Wouter Barendrecht Award for Pioneering Vision: Big River Man, John Maringouin

NETWORKING AND FILM DEVELOPMENT

Andrea Wozny
Producer/Director of To Timbuktu
Photo by Eric Roffman
Finally, one of the most important reasons filmmakers come to the Hamptons is not to show a film, nor to see a film, but to develop a film. One new producer, for example, is Andrea Wozny who was in the Hamptons to move her project along: It's To Timbukto, about a singer from Mali, and, like Sissako's Bamako, also touches on issues of the world's economic treatment of this African country.

BROKEN EMBRACES

noreply@blogger.com (QPORIT) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 22:03:14 PDT

Penelope Cruz in Almodovar's Broken Embraces

Spain, 2009; 128m

Photo: The Film Society of Lincoln Center/Sony Pictures Classics

Several mysteries, a few love stories -- some twisted, a tragedy, beautiful cinematography, and pitch perfect acting by the delightfully spectacular Penelope Cruz and the whole cast make Pedro Almadovar's Broken Embraces (Los abrazos rotos) a perfect closing film for the NYFF.

Related, in some of its philosophical concerns (including the deep and wonderful power of compulsion in love and life), to the opening night film, Alain Resnais’s Wild Grass (Les herbes folles), Broken Embraces has a better ending (as the ending of festival should have), plus great heart and great soul.

BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMERS AT HIFF

noreply@blogger.com (QPORIT) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 21:23:03 PDT

One of my favorite features of the Hamptons International Film Festival (HIFF) is the series of events centering around the Breakout Performers (BP's). Each year several young and very promising American and foreign actors are honored as Rising Stars (US) and Shooting Stars (EU).

The public events include films with these young actors, panel discussions and parties. (There are also private events for the BP's including "mentoring" with established professionals.)

The last two years and this coming year the honored BP's have been really special. (I'm trying to track down who the earlier -- up thru 2006 -- BP's were.)

Here's a preview of this year's BP's... after we meet the BP's at the festival we'll add more to this story!

The Rising Stars this year are Emmy Rossum, Emma Stone, Rooney Mara, and Zach Gilford.

Emmy Rossum is 23 (9/12/86)and 5'8". She studied at Columbia University.She is a terrific singer, starting in the Metropolitan Opera Children's Chorus as a child, and starring in Phantom of the Opera. She also had roles in Mystic River and The Day After Tomorrow. Her first starring role was in Nola, a film directed by Alan Hruska (who we interviewed after liking his film, The Warrior Class, one of my favorite films at the Tribeca FF a few years ago). Here's a picture of Alan in his office with a picture of Emmy in Nola on the wall.

Emmy Rossum in a poster for NOLAon the wall of director Alan Hruska's office.Photo by Eric Roffman.

This year she'll be seen at HIFF in Dare (along with Zach Gilford and Rooney Mara).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmy_Rossum

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002536/

Emma Stone is 20 (11/6/88) 5' 6". Her first feature was Superbad. She was funny as the host ghostess in Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. She was also in The Rocker, The House Bunny, and Zombieland.

She'll be seen at HIFF in Paper Man with Jeff Bridges. She has Easy-A (from the director of Fired Up) now in post production.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_Stone
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1297015/

Zach Gilford is 27 (01/14/82). He went to Northwestern. He's a (real life) trip leader for teen adventures... but he's best known for his role as Matt Saracen in Friday Night Lights. (Last year, his teammate Tim Riggins (ie Taylor Kitsch) was a Shooting Star.) Zach is in post production now for The River Why.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zach_Gilford

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1472917/

Rooney Mara (about 24) is part of a famous football owning family, and the sister of Kate Mara who was a Shooting Star last year. She was educated partly at NYU and partly in a traveling program visiting South American countries, and is developing a non-profit organization related to international issues. Rooney is in two movies at HIFF, Dare and Tanner Hall. She has several pictures in post production or getting ready for release.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rooney_Mara

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1913734/

The Shooting Stars are Alba Rohrwacher (Due partite -- Now called, in English, The Ladies Get Their Say) from Italy, and Cyron Melville (Love and Rage), from Denmark.

More about the present and former Breakout Performers after the festival.

NOTES: OCT 10 --

1 - HIFF calls them Breakthrough Performers, not Breakout Performers.

2 - Zach Gilford didn't make it because of Friday Night Lights shooting conflicts. Emma Stone did not arrive in time for the Panel.

3 - Samuli Vauramo, from Finland, one of Europe's Shooting Stars, did arrive, flying in from Rome for a day or two before going right back to Rome to continue shooting a film with George Clooney.

HOW TO PROMOTE YOUR FILM AT HIFF (AND OTHER FILM FESTIVALS)

noreply@blogger.com (QPORIT) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 20:40:21 PDT

I'm covering The Hamptons International Film Festival (HIFF) for QPORIT, and I've also covered the Tribeca Film Festival, The New York Film Festival, The Stony Brook Film Festival, New Films / New Directors and others. Here's what I've learned from good examples, and bad examples, of how you -- the film producer, director, actor, or other involved filmer -- can help your film (and you, yourself, too) get noticed.

The following stuff is pretty basic, yet I see many films that have done none of these things, and few -- except big studio films -- that have done very many of these things. Most of these suggestions are neither very hard nor very expensive, and they can pay off big.

1 -- Hire a good publicist. They should be able to spend a lot of time for you, and come to HIFF with you. And they should know their way around. They should be able to help with all the following:

2 -- Have a good press kit, including bios, info describing the film, and lots of great pix. I prefer essays (by the Producer, Director, Actors etc --PDAetc) -- that can be quoted to copies of interviews, because someone else's interview is of little use to anyone writing an original story.

3 -- The press kit should be available online (see below for online suggestions), and in print form at the festival HQ and at the screenings.

4 -- Send a note to all the accredited press (and industry pros!) before the festival alerting them to your film -- including some info about the film, and possibly a picture-- offering screeners, and alerting them to possible interviews.

5 -- Take as many people to the festival as possible (including the publicist, director, producers, actors, etc...). Make sure you co-ordinate with the PR Group handling the festival! Go to all the parties with everyone from the film. Having identified the look of a press badge, split up and have everybody zero in to schmooze with anybody from the press... and anyone else, too. Make yourselves available for every possible photo and video opportunity.

5A -- Of course, be at all the screenings of the film with people from the film. Be available for photos, video and interviews before and after. Introduce the film before it screens, and hold a Q & A after. Hang around with people after the Q & A.

6 -- All the PDAetc should send a note to everyone they know inviting them to the screenings at the festival.

7 -- Follow up after the festival with anyone you met (or should have met).

HERE'S WHAT SHOULD BE ONLINE

YOU SHOULD CREATE OR PROVIDE INFORMATION FOR THE FOLLOW TYPES OF ONLINE PRESENCE:

Official film website
Facebook
Twitter
The websites of the Producer, Distributor, PR company, Cast & Crew members.
Wikipedia
IMDB & IMDBPro
Channel on YouTube & other video sites
Blog
An e-mail newsletter as your film moves toward release is also valuable.

These sites should contain (as appropriate for the type of site)

Tagline
Synopsis
Full credits for cast crew & producer/distributor/PR (IMDB & IMDBPro type complete)
Awards, any other special honors
Director's essay
Evolving gossip & trivia & "reports from the front" esp on Twitter, Blog, etc
Production stills & other pix people can use
Videos (previews & trivia) on YouTube etc that are embeddable.
Links from each site to all the others.
Links to articles about the film
Release info
Contact info: for consumers, for the industry, for press

To sum it up, everyone involved with the film should let as many people as possible know about the film, and then make it as easy as possible for journalists to write great stories (and for buyers to buy, & viewers to come see your film)!

NOTES OCT 10 -- Here are some additional thoughts I've had after several days here in the Hamptons.

1 -- At the Opening Night Party, photographers and journalists with cameras are hungry to take pictures, and editors are most likely to use some great picture from Opening Night. Moreover, not many of the big stars seem to show up at this party, and they don't stay long. SO... Come to the Opening Night Party looking fantastic, and step in front of the Picture Background. Make sure the photographers and cameras all find you. Be sure to carry around business cards and postcards for the film. The postcard should have a compelling picture on one side, and lots of info on the other side (Name --yes, people have forgotten to put the name on the postcard -- Tagline, Short Synopsis, Director and Star credits, SCREENING TIMES AT THE FESTIVAL!, PR contact, etc.)

2a -- Always carry around a business card and postcards (as described above).

2b -- Put postcards anywhere people will be.

3 -- If you schedule an interview, especially on weekends, make sure the press has a phone number to contact in case some problem arises at the last minute. (OK, I couldn't find the place an interview was to take place, and it took frantic work to chase down and hook up with the subjects.)

4 -- People make schedules in advance. Send advisories to the press early, and keep following up. If you wait till the festival starts, people will have already planned something else. If you don't remind them, they'll forget about you and impulsively change their plans.

5 -- When you meet a journalist be sure to give them a business card and postcard. Be sure to get one from them. Don't forget to send them a note after the festival. Find out when their article is published. Make sure they keep in touch as your film moves toward release, and as you move to other projects.

OTHELLO

noreply@blogger.com (QPORIT) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 21:00:29 PDT

John Ortiz as Othello, Jessica Chastain as Desdemona, and
Philip Seymour Hoffman as Iago in OTHELLO
Photo by Armin Bardel

The LAByrinth production of Othello, (here's the text) directed by Peter Sellars, with Philip Seymour Hoffman as Iago, John Ortiz as Othello and Jessica Chastain as Desdemona, is a feast for students and directors of Shakespeare, but quite skimpy on the delivery of emotion, especially in (what is usually) the cataclysmic conclusion.

There are many strange features in this production, some of which help illuminate the richness of the play, some of which confuse the audience and dissipate the power of the story and some of which actually do both.

Peter Sellars, of course, is best known for opera productions which have a reputation for quirky originality.

The first striking feature of the production is the slow pace at which the actors speak. This allows an audience unused to Shakespearean language to understand and process far more than is ever possible when the actors (as Hamlet suggested) speak their words trippingly on the tongue. Audience members (and actors) are allowed to savor and appreciate the poetry and the words.

For audiences used to the rhythms of modern films, and more interested in the experience than the details, however, this rich but 4 hour long presentation can seem plodding and tedious.

A second feature of the production is that Desdemona's father Brabantio is cut out of the play, characters are combined, and suddenly the characters pull out cell phones and start talking to each other across the room and on microphones. This gets the play off to a shaky start (not to mention the fact that the sound system seemed to be flaky for a while the night I saw the show). People new to the play, and those who know the play by heart are equally able to be confused about who is who and why they say what they say, at the beginning. (Not surprisingly, the appearance of the cell phones provoked some not very supportive laughter from the audience.)

The play is set (mostly) in a military base in Cyprus. This provides a universal, timeless environment in which to enact the tragedy.

However, Sellars does not seem to take this setting seriously. Hoffman, with a pot belly, and casual clothes, never in uniform, is vocally a great Iago, but physically impossible to imagine as a candidate for Othello's next in command. Other characters are in and out of uniform, and the set design does not evoke a military base, except fleetingly.

In most productions, Desdemona is a problem: The relation between Othello and Desdemona (O & D) is vapid and unconvincing. Here, Desdemona is a strong, though naive character. And there is a lot of physical communication between Othello and Desdemona. They kiss a lot, and lie next to each other a lot. This is a big improvement over most productions. Yet it still seems like puppy love. Because of the open set design, the other characters can freely observe Desdemona and Othello making out on a super-modern, stylized electronic bed. But what they see and what we see is not what Iago describes to Brabantio, Desdemona's father:

IAGO: Even now, now, very now, an old black ram
Is topping your white ewe.

This -- if taken to be an accurate representation of the O & D affair -- suggests that any glimpses we see of their physical relationship should be torrid passion, not innocent necking.

(If, in Sellars version, the intention is for Iago to be misleading Brabantio about the nature of Othello's affair, and the relation between Desdemona and Othello is intended to be depicted as almost High-Schoolish, then it takes away much of the urgency of the whole play. Note -- Since Brabantio is not in this production at all, I was a little confused at the time these lines were delivered, and it is hard to remember how these lines were used in this production.)

It was Sellars intention to create an Othello for the Obama generation. Sellars seems to consider most productions of Othello as demeaning to blacks in general and Othello in particular. It seems to have been Toni Morrison who changed his mind about the play (see the video interviews -- click on see all!)

In assessing the treatment of Othello in the play, realize that here is a black man, in white Europe, hailed as a great soldier, loved by a beautiful white woman for his character, having sex with her (and possibly other women), marrying her despite some objection by her father, and commissioned for an important military expedition. This is in a play written more than 400 years ago. How many modern plays, TV shows or movies treat a black character in an interratial sexual/romantic relationship and interratial career, with such importance?

Othello, the man, the general, is not a puppet for a simple anti-black propaganda play; he should be taken seriously by the director, the audience and the world. He is a great man and a terrible killer. And his interratial marriage is at the center of the play. The play is about the reaction of all the characters to Othello, his position, and his beautiful wife.

So I think it is a mistake, even in accentuating other aspects of the play, as Sellars does brilliantly, to minimize the importance of the basic thread. The relation -- the interracial relation -- between Othello and Desdemona should not be minimized. Indeed it should be maximized to the extent of exhibiting a physically provocative -- rather than timid -- passion. (In the "pre-Obama world" a black man would not be shown coupling with a beautiful white woman. The "post-Obama world" should portray these people as they are created in the play.)

Generally speaking, the casting of a Latino as Othello, and a black man as Cassio, and a big black woman as a combination of characters, does support Sellars stated ambition of making the play more about universal issues, and less about a stupid, credulous, murderous black man than is perhaps (he believes) usually the case. Liza Colón-Zayas as Emilia, Iago's wife, excellently carries Sellars' idea of how her character's silence is as important as Iago's deception in deluding Othello, and how her courage in revealing the deception unwinds the plot. (However, casting Philip and Liza as a couple is dubious; they are not convincing as a married couple.)

Indeed Sellars' essay and video interviews about the production are extremely interesting. He did accomplish what he set out to do. But, as so often happens, it is what he did not do and did not focus on and therefore did not do, that cause the weaknesses in the production.

It is at the end that the play has the greatest and strangest lapses:

1-- The classic line:

OTHELLO: Put out the light, and then put out the light

is not matched with any action that makes sense of the line. Othello is walking in meaningless circles around the bed.

2 -- The stylized electronic bed does not allow or evoke the emotions raised by the lines:

DESDEMONA: Prithee, tonight
Lay on my bed my wedding sheets: remember;

The wedding sheets, which should carry enormous emotional power, are missing from the bed, and can not deliver the message they should carry to Othello (and to the audience).

3 -- And finally, Ortiz simply does not produce the physical or vocal strength necessary to convey the powerful emotions that would illuminate this twisting of Othello from lover to killer and then convey the cosmic remorse that suddenly erupts when he realizes what horror he has committed; how he has been deceived, betrayed and destroyed.

So, all in all, I enjoyed this production and learned much from it, but did not exit from the theater emotionally devastated!

This is only the beginning of the "Othello Project," for Peter Sellars. According to the notes distributed at the theater, Sellars and Toni Morrison are discussing a prequel to Othello, called "Desdemona," starting from the stories that Othello told Desdemona so that she fell in love with him. And Sellars is planning to return to Othello as well as Toni Morrison's "Desdemona," in part with the idea of developing a film. This project should be exceptionally illuminating to all those who love Shakespeare.

In addition, on Sunday October 4, there will be a free panel discussion about Othello:

OTHELLO DISCUSSION EVENT
FREE OTHELLO DISCUSSION SUNDAY October 4:

"Is It Possible?": Othello in the Age of Obama

Luis Argueta, documentary filmmaker;
Mary Schmidt Campbell, Dean of Tisch School of the Arts;
Majora Carter, founder of Sustainable South Bronx; and
Carmen Peláez, playwright and actress.

Moderated by Dr. Avery T. Willis, who has collaborated with Peter Sellars as an assistant director and dramaturg since 2006.

OTHELLO Sunday Speakers Series

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 4 3:00-4:00PM

General Admission Lobby opens at 2:15PM

NYU Skirball Center
566 LaGuardia Place & Washington Square South

Here are some interesting links:

WEB VIDEO -- James Earl Jones -- Othello's Testimony: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJybA1emr_g&feature=related

Kenneth Branagh's version:

Paul Robeson as Othello & Uta Hagen as Desdemona:

OLIVER STONE'S SOUTH OF THE BORDER

noreply@blogger.com (QPORIT) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 13:09:08 PDT

Oliver Stone's South of the Border is a movie that should be widely seen. It is informative, even eye-opening; it's entertaining, interesting, and very well made.

Here is a gallery of pictures from the Premiere:

Evo Morales(L) Oliver Stone (C) and Hugo Chavez (R)
Arriving at the Premiere of South of the Border
Photo by Eric Roffman Evo Morales
President of Bolivia
At the Premiere of South of the Border
Photo by Eric Roffman Hugo Chavez
President of Venezuela
At the Premiere, talking with the Press
Photo by Eric Roffman Danny Glover
Co-Producer of Bamako
At the Premiere, with the Press
Photo by Eric Roffman Director Oliver Stone
With Hugo Chavez looking on
Photo by Eric Roffman

The film is not fair and balanced. Rather, it is designed to balance a great deal of unfair and unbalanced reporting on Hugo Chavez and other South American leaders.

Now I have to stop for a moment and mention who these leaders are. Too few people know. That is perhaps the best reason of all to see this film. Americans are woefully ignorant about the rest of the world. Whoops. I said "Americans." We are all of us Americans: North Americans, Central Americans, South Americans. We actually need a word for us residents of the US.

In a comedy piece, Theodore Bikel once described the findings of archeologists digging our remains. Finding the words, "We, the people" and many references to "US" among the ruins, these future archeologists called us the "Weans" (pronounced WEunz).

So, for the benefit of us Weans (at least the non-South-American-aware among us) we have...

Hugo Chavez, President of Venezuela
Evo Morales, President of Bolivia
Fernando Lugo, President of Paraguay
Rafael Correa, President of Ecuador
Lula Da Silva, President of Brazil
Cristina Kirchner, President of Argentina
Néstor Kirchner, former President of Argentina
Raul Castro, President of Cuba

(Note -- anyone who checks and reads these links will already be among the most highly South-American-knowledgeable Weans.)

These are all popular and populist leaders. As pointed out in the film, unlike an earlier set of rulers in South America, for the most part these leaders "look like the people they represent."

South of the Border is (the fact this title has been used for Disney and other films is -- perhaps intentionally -- ironic) a record of a journey Oliver Stone made through these countries in South America, chatting with the leaders. It's extremely well photographed by a team headed by the justly celebrated Albert Maysles.

In a way, this is a beautifully photographed home movie, of a journey to visit some really interesting people.

In counterpoint to the (favorably slanted) conversations with the leaders and a recounting of the history of these countries, Stone gives us a view of the way these leaders are demonized in the media. The media, however, are represented almost entirely by the entirely over-the-top Fox News. In context, these bits are hard to be taken seriously. It's a milder form of The Daily Show presenting Fox News bits.

So a totally serious, balanced study of these leaders, their policies, and their relations with the US is still needed. This film makes a compelling case for how important such a study would be.

Also touched on is the extremely important issue of the proper role of capitalism, socialism, globalization, imperialism, free trade, the IMF and democracy. I say "issue" rather than "issues" because it appears that all these things and more are intimately interconnected.

(Another film, Bamako, by Abderrahmane Sissako and co-produced by Danny Glover addresses very similar problems in Africa. Danny Glover was a guest at this screening, and chatted with the Press, in eloquent terms, about the importance of these issues to ordinary people in developing countries.)

Other problems these leaders are dealing with -- the legacy of previous governments and foreign economic interests -- are: corruption, political instability, poverty, unbalanced economies, health and the skewed distribution of wealth.

There is one incredible, shocking moment in the film when Néstor Kirchner, former President of Argentina claims to quote President Bush saying to him in a discussion of the economy to the effect that: the only way for a country to achieve economic prosperity is through war. (As described by Kirchner, Bush's statement goes way beyond the frequently made assertion that the US did not pull out of the depression until WW 2.) Stone asked him in the film to re-affirm this quote, and Kirchner did. But Stone apparently did not press this issue any further. Coming out of the men's room after the screening and Q&A, I managed to ask Oliver Stone if there was more to the story than is in the film, and he said: it is "on the record," but he had no more about this. (Note-- Journalists, critics, and even politicians should not underestimate the importance of rest rooms as a place to gather information.) If true and taken in context, this quote would seem to have very dark implications for the foundation of Bush's policies.

In the film, with the press, and in the Q & A, Chavez was extremely polite and friendly, expressed great warmth for America, and seems exceptionally intelligent. Here is a clip from the Q&A in which Chavez discusses democracy and progress in Venezuela.

While I was preparing this story, I listened to Chavez being interviewed by Larry King, where he was less sympathetic.

He called Israel a genocidal nation, and said Secretary of State Clinton had "completely lost her way" for suggesting that Venezuela could be starting an arms race in South America for buying arms from Russia.
Acknowledging a relationship with Iran and its current leaders, he said he wanted to be friends with everybody, and was not involved in a country's internal politics.
He compared the Holocaust in WW2 to the Holocaust of the destruction of native American populations by Europeans.

Chavez is trying to create a form of native, Venzuelan "socialism" in contrast to the kind of capitalism he has observed which -- in its resemblance on steroids to the ugliest union busting, assasinations, monopolies, and wicked business cycles of Wean capitalism -- has served native populations in South America very badly.

Evo Morales, who rose to power as a union leader, seems a much more gentle leader. In the Q & A, he gave an impassioned statement about the importance of protecting "Mother Earth:" Earth will survive without people. People can not survive without the Earth. The rights of the Earth must take precedence over the "rights" of people and companies and governments whose policies and actions could destroy the Earth for all of us.

Chavez seems genuinely interested in good relations with the United States. He is cultured, courageous, very charismatic, and passionate about baseball.

All the leaders interviewed in the film seem to be genuinely interested in the welfare of their people.

To cultivate a relationship with Chavez, it might be a good idea for...

1-- a sympathetic figure to take him on a visit to Israel to see the threat that people there face from incoming rockets and hostile neighbors;

2-- to give him a summer sabbatical at Harvard, Yale or Princeton to learn diplomatic rhetoric. (His statement at the podium of the UN that he could still sense the lingering smell of Sulphur after Bush's visit comes across in the film as more akin to a Daily Show bit than true ferocity, but it is profoundly undiplomatic rhetoric);
and most of all

3-- invite him to throw out the first pitch at the World Series, especially if it is in Yankee Stadium.

HAMPTONS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2009 PREVIEW

noreply@blogger.com (QPORIT) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 12:08:10 PDT

THE 17TH ANNUAL
HAMPTONS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
THURSDAY OCTOBER 8TH - MONDAY OCTOBER 12TH 2009

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Closing Night Film

The Hamptons International Film Festival (HIFF) is always one of the most interesting and enjoyable of the big New York area film festivals. 107 films are squeezed into 5 days, in addition to lots of interesting and enjoyable people! It is one of the best places to meet and talk with young emerging talent, as well as older, already emerged talent… informally, sitting next to them at a restaurant; informally, at parties; semi-formally, in impromptu interviews; and formally, at scheduled events.

This year there seems to be more than the usual number of engaging films, compelling events, and special visitors.

HIFF is more than just films! Here – in outline form – are the main features (pun not intended) of the festival…

LINKS:

Home Page: http://www.hamptonsfilmfest.org/
(Note, by the way, that it’s filmfest not filmfestival!)

Film & event info & ordering: http://www.tribecacinemas.com/filmguide-hamptons

FILMS
Documentaries, Narrative Features, Shorts
A Scandinavian Cinema Focus series
An Israeli Cinema Focus series
Films for families, films made on Long Island, films by women
Golden Starfish Award competitions, including audience awards
Q & A after (many) screenings

CONVERSATIONS
Alan Alda, Sharon Stone, Marty Bregman, Alec Baldwin, Steve Buscemi

SCIENCE:
Readings of science and technology related works in progress
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Feature Film Prize in Science and Technology
A tribute to the work of the Sloan Foundation promoting science and technology in cinema

BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMERS:
Rising Stars (US) --Emmy Rossum, Emma Stone, Zach Gilford, Rooney Mara
Shooting Stars (EU) -- Alba Rohrwacher, Cyron Melville

SPECIAL EVENT:
Benefit for Mira Nair’s Foundation, Maisha, for developing African Cinema

PANELS & SPECIAL FEATURES:
Sloan Panels
Green Production Technology for Films
Making Your First Short Film
New York Film Critics
Breakthrough Performers
Cinematography Master Class
Independent Filmmakers Today

PARTIES:
Opening Night
Reception for the filmmakers
Reception for the breakthrough performers
And more!

Among the celebrities expected to attend – in addition to all the breakthrough performers, all the CONVERSATIONalists, and Mira Nair -- are Ethan Hawke, Bob Balaban, Rachel Dratch, Neve Campbell, IM PEI, Pierce Brosnan, and more….

(Note: And more… applies to almost everything here.)

Mira Nair’s foundation and benefit is an especially interesting event. Mira Nair is a brilliant filmmaker. (I saw her first at the presentation of Salaam Bombay at the New York Film Festival long, long ago, and she was conspicuously exceptional.) 8 – which will be shown at the event -- is a collection of short segments by 8 exceptional directors: Abderrahmane Sissako, Mira Nair, Wim Wenders, Jane Campion, Gaspar Noe, Jan Kounen, Gus Van Sant and Gael Garcia Bernal.

Sissako directed Bamako, which was shown at the New York Film Festival a couple of years ago. It critiques the IMF and the World Bank for the way they handle financing for developing nations. (This is a theme which Oliver Stone is also talking about in his current “South Of The Border” interviews with South American leaders.) I videotaped a panel at the NYFF after the presentation of Bamako in which Sissako, Nobel Laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz, Harry Belafonte, and others discussed this issue – an excerpt from this video is on the Bamako DVD.

In this video clip from the panel, Sissako discusses the effects of IMF & World Bank policies on film culture, and his response, together with some thoughts on making Bamako.

Some of the people at the festival are returning from previous years or doubling up in more than one film or event this year. Amy Redford is doing both: she presented The Guitar last year, and this year is speaking on both the Filmmaking Today panel and a Sloan panel. Hannah Herzsprung, who was a Rising Star at HIFF in 2007 & a Shooting Star at HIFF in 2008 is appearing with Daniel Bruhl – who was here at HIFF a few years ago – in the German film My Words, My Lies, My Love (Lila, Lila is the original title). Bruhl is also in John Rabe. Rooney Mara is in Tanner Hall and Dare. Her sister, Kate Mara, was a Rising Star at HIFF last year.

MAJOR FILMS---

OPENING FILM: The Greatest, the directorial debut by Shana Feste, starring Susan Sarandon and Pierce Brosnan, who is the producer and star of the film and will be in attendance. It’s the story of a family that’s disintegrating as they deal with the death of their child and their surviving son’s drug use. The Greatest explores the ways in which love can persist and life can re-assert itself in the face of seemingly all-consuming tragedy.

CENTERPIECE FILM: Solitary Man (US Premiere) Director(s) Brian Koppelman, David Levien – with Michael Douglas, Susan Sarandon, Mary-Louise Parker, Danny DeVito, and Jenna Fischer. Michael Douglas's masterly ability to delve into complex characters shines in SOLITARY MAN, a tale of a New York businessman experiencing a mid-life slump so severe that it is more catastrophe than crisis.

CLOSING FILM: US Premiere of Heath Ledger’s last film, The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus. Directed by Terry Gilliam and starring the late Heath Ledger, as well as Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell who stepped in to assume Mr. Ledger’s role after he passed away during production. Doctor Parnassus is the proprietor of a traveling “Imaginarium” in which paying customers are invited to cross into a hallucinatory otherworld to uncover their true selves. Terry Gilliam gives free rein to his signature whimsicality in the Imaginarium’s rich, cartoonish, constantly shifting landscape, and the adventurous film brims with affectionate nods to its late star.

This year’s Festival features 107 films including - 15 World Premieres, 10 North American Premieres, 18 US Premieres, 14 East Coast Premieres and 10 New York Premieres.

THE COMPETITIONS AND AWARDS–

Golden Starfish Awards and competitions for:

-Best Narrative Feature (over $165,000 in goods and in-kind services),
-Best Documentary Feature ($5,000 in cash)
-Best Conflict and Resolution Film and
-Best Short Film ($5,000 in cash)

-The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Feature Film Prize in Science and Technology ($25,000 in cash);
-The Kodak Award for Cinematography ($6,000 of goods and in-kind services);
-The Zicherman Family Foundation Award for Screenwriting ($5,000 in cash);
-Best Undergraduate and Graduate Student Films (five $500 cash awards);
-RoC® Gold Standard Award for Female Feature Director ($5,000 cash award); and the newly created
-Conflict and Resolution Development Award ($5,000 in cash) given to a work in progress by the Brizzolara Family Foundation.

No film festival is possible without sponsors.

Before going to the detailed description of the films and events, Here are the people, companies and organizations that helped to make this festival possible. It may be untraditional to acknowledge the sponsors in a news article. But they are among the most important factors in keeping a good festival going.

Presenting Year Round Sponsors: American Airlines and Altour
Host Sponsor: The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
Patron Sponsors: RoC® Skincare, Fox 5 New York, Silvercup Studios, IndieWire, Lincoln-Mercury, Saunders, Bablegum, Ford
Founding Sponsors: WVVH, Hampton Jitney.
Contributing Sponsors: Kodak, Nespresso, Visa Signature, Worldwide Biggies
GSA Sponsors: Arenson Props, Feature Systems, Greenburg Traurig, LLP, Hamptons Locations, Indiepay, JFA Film Production Accounting, K/A/S Lighting, Kits & Expendables, Liman Video Rental, Mark Forman Productions, Mechanism, Digital, Motion Picture Enterprises, Inc., On Location Education, Panavision, Post Works, Qube Cinema, Refinery New York, Silvercup Studios Wits End Group Inc., Writers Bootcamp

Here’s some more information, from HIFF, about the festival:

Alec Baldwin
at a Sloan sponsored panel in 2007
Photo by Eric Roffman
Programs and Special Events

The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
Where Science and Technology Meet Film: The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation at the Hamptons International Film Festival
This year, the Hamptons International Film Festival celebrates the tenth anniversary of our partnership with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, whose dedication to the public understanding of science and technology through the arts has had a profound effect on the film community. HIFF was the first film festival to partner with the Sloan Foundation, and each year the $25,000 Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Feature Film Prize is awarded at the festival. The cash prize is presented to a feature-length film that explores science and technology themes in fresh, innovative ways, and depicts scientists and engineers in a realistic and compelling fashion. HIFF and The Sloane Foundation are proud to present Alejandro Amenabar’s historical drama Agora, starring Rachel Weisz, which chronicles the life of philosopher and scientist Hypatia of Alexandra, with this year's Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Feature Film Prize.

The Alfred P. Sloan Screenplay Reading
Two science and technology-themed screenplays from the 2009 HIFF Screenwriters' lab are selected to be performed as staged readings at the festival. This year's featured screenplays are THE TRANSFORMATION, by Kirk Davis and Sam Sloves and CHARM SCHOOL FOR PRIMATES, by Karen Odyniec. THE TRANSFORMATION is based on the true story of Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis, the innovative Hungarian physician who makes a radical discovery of the cause and cure of Childbed Fever, a disease killing thousands of poor pregnant women in the hospitals of 19th Century Europe. In CHARM SCHOOL FOR PRIMATES, a lovelorn primatologist with acute social anxiety must present her ape research to a board of executives and defeat brilliant, socially adept scientists in order to win a coveted grant. The screenplay readings will take place on Sunday, October 11th at 4:00 PM at the First Presbyterian Church Hall in East Hampton.

The Sloan Science In Film Tribute: Celebrating Ten Years Of Innovative Films at The Hamptons International Film Festival
Friday, October 9th 6:00 PM, Guild Hall, East Hampton
To celebrate our ten-year partnership with Sloan and the tenth edition of this award, on Friday, October 9th the festival will hold the Sloan Science In Film Tribute, taking place at Guild Hall and hosted by Bob Balaban. This special evening will be a celebration of the feature films that have received Sloan recognition at the Hamptons International Film Festival over the past 10 years. Our onstage event will include a number of special guests, including Alan Alda, Amy Redford and past Sloan Prize Winners Marc Abraham (FLASH OF GENIUS), Su Rynard (KARDIA) and Maggie Greenwald (SONGCATCHER), among others. Tickets and more information will be available at the festival box office.

“8” - A Special Benefit Evening with Mira Nair
The Hamptons International Film Festival is proud to present a special benefit screening and US premiere of the film '8', an unprecedented collection of short films by 8 world-renowned directors (including Mira Nair, Wim Wenders, Jane Campion and Gus Van Sant) each taking on one of the 8 “Millennium Development Goals” for 2015, adopted by 191 countries. Director Mira Nair will be with us to present the film and share the work of MAISHA, her non-profit African Film Lab established to empower emerging artists in the region.

Please join us for this premiere screening with Mira Nair present for a post-screening Q&A moderated by Rajendra Roy, Chief Curator of Film at MoMA, at our regular Spotlight price. Or support the Maisha Foundation with a $75 package which includes the film screening and an exclusive cocktail reception from 4-6pm at a private residence in East Hampton with Mira Nair and special guests.

100% of the proceeds for this evening will be donated to Maisha Film Lab. Maisha (which means ‘life’ in Kiswahili) is a groundbreaking filmmakers’ training program founded by acclaimed director Mira Nair and based in Kampala, Uganda. Maisha’s mission is to nurture and support emerging film professionals from East Africa by offering intensives in screenwriting, directing, producing, cinematography, editing, sound, and acting. Our motto is: “if we don’t tell our own stories, no one else will.”

A Conversation With…
Each year, the Festival presents A Conversation With…
Past guests have included the late Robert Altman, Gena Rowlands, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg and more. This year the Hamptons International Film Festival is thrilled to announce four conversations. “A Conversation with…” Sharon Stone (Casino, Basic Instinct), Alan Alda (The Aviator, M*A*S*H), Steve Buscemi (Saint John of Las Vegas, The Messenger)and Martin Bregman (Carlito’s Way, Dog Day Afternoon) interviewed by Alec Baldwin

Anamaria Marinca and Hannah Herzsprung
Brilliant actresses
Shooting Stars 2008
Photo by Eric Roffman
Breakthrough Performers:
This year the Hamptons International Film Festival will again pair their Rising Stars Program with European Film Promotions renowned Shooting Stars initiative in the festival’s Breakthrough Performs Program to honor up and coming actors from both the US and Europe. Sharon Stone is this year’s mentor to the Breakthrough Performers and will spend time with the Rising Stars/Shooting Stars at a mentoring brunch (past mentors have included Gena Rowlands, Joan Allen, Ellen Burstyn, Robert Altman, Miranda Richardson and Alec Baldwin), Breakthrough Performers Party, Red Carpet event and a public symposium.

Rising Stars (US)
Emmy Rossum (Dare), Zach Gilford (Dare), Rooney Mara (Tanner Hall), Emma Stone (Paper Man)

Shooting Stars (Europe)
Alba Rohrwacher (Due partite), Cyron Melville (Love and Rage)

Golden Starfish Narrative Competition:

A Rational Solution (North American, Premiere) Director Jorgen Bergmark with Rolf Lassgard, Pernilla August, Stina Ekblad, Claes Ljungmark, Magnus Roosman - Against his better judgment, married Erland has fallen in love with his best friend's wife. His rational solution is for all four to move in together until the passion inevitably subsides. Insightfully observed and superbly acted, Jorgen Bergmark's film begins as simple and ordered, only to mature into a nuanced, heartbreakingly authentic portrait of love, fidelity, marriage and monogamy.

Applause (United States Premiere) Director Martin Pieter Zandvliet with Paprika Steen, Michael Falch, Sara Marie Maltha, Shanti Roney, Otto Leonardo Steen Rieks, Noel Koch-Sofeldt, Malou Reymann - Recently divorced Thea is struggling to give up drinking and regain custody of her two boys. But staying on the wagon isn't easy when every night she receives clamorous applause from audiences for stage performances that all-to-closely resemble the former self that she is trying to leave behind.

Jaffa (United States Premiere) Director Keren Yedaya with Dana Ivgy, Moni Moshonov, Ronit Elkabetz, Mahmoud Shalaby, Roy Assaf, Hussein Yassin Mahajneh, Lili Ivgy - Following up her international success with Cannes Camera D'Or winning film OR (MY TREASURE), director Keren Yedaya introduces another stunning and complex family drama with JAFFA. A star-crossed secret romance develops between a Jewish girl and an Arab man, but tragedy interrupts the young lovers' intentions to elope and escape their intolerant families.

The Misfortunates (United States Premiere) Director Felix van Groeningen with Kenneth Vanbaeden, Valentijn Dhaenens, Koen De Graeve, Wouter Hendrickx, Johan Heldenbergh - This Flemish seriocomedy ruminates over Gunther Strobbe's ribald, troubled adolescence amongst three bawdy uncles, an ever-boozing dad, one put-upon grandmother, and more dysfunction than you can shake a keg at. Adapted from an acclaimed novel by Dimitri Verhulst and directed with deftness, verve and pathos by Felix Van Groeningen.

Golden Starfish Documentary:

Big River Man (East Coast Premiere) Director John Maringouin with Martin Strel, Borut Strel, Matthew Mohlke -
John Maringouin intrepidly follows unlikely long distance swimming champion Martin Strel on his journey to complete the world's longest ever swim: the Amazon River. The adventure of a lifetime, the film follows the swimmer and his team on their wildly dangerous and life-altering journey.

Long Distance Love (US Premiere) Director(s): Magnus Gertten, Elin Jonsson with Alisher Sultanov, Dildora Sultanov
Alisher and Dildora are in love in Osh, Kyrgyzstan. To support his new family, Alisher is forced leave his new bride to try to make it big in Moscow. While the newlyweds’ earnest love has a sweetness stronger than their 3,500 mile divide, their relationship is now beset by challenges more dire than distance alone.

Mugabe and the White African Director(s): Lucy Bailey & Andrew Thompson with Michael Campbell, Ben Freeth
"Is it possible to be a white man and African?" This daring film follows the story of Mike Campbell who, in 2008, took the government of Zimbabwe and President Robert Mugabe to international court for violation of human rights in an effort to preserve his farm amid state-sanctioned "Land Reform" initiatives tantamount to the ethnic cleansing of whites.

Videocracy (US Premiere) Director Erik Gandini - A jolly, Mussolini-loving agent, an aspiring martial artist/singer, a paparazzo wrangler-cum-outlaw and the prime minister of Italy are just a few of the outlandish personalities in this documentary that explores the mad world of Italian television.

Waking Sleeping Beauty (East Coast Premiere) Director Don Hahn with Roy Disney, Jeffrey Katzenberg, John Musker, Glen Keane, Howard Ashman - By the mid-1980s, the once mighty Disney Animation Studios was in a slump. By the end of 1990s, however, Disney had produced a string of bona fide hits from WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT? to THE LION KING. Director Don Hahn's juicy behind-the-scenes tell-all of this transitional period is an encyclopedia of the tragic lows and elating highs of the Disney renaissance.

Golden Starfish Short Film Competition:

Committed (World Premiere) Director Isold Uggadottir with Dora Johannsdottir, Jorundur Ragnarsson, Darri Ingolfsson, Johanna Fridrika Saemundsdottir - Eva and Vidar have decided to take their relationship to the next level by moving in together. COMMITTED is a subtle portrait of young love on the cusp of maturity from the director of the Icelandic Academy Award-nominated short FAMILY REUNION.

Dust Kid (North American Premiere) Director Yumi Jung - While cleaning her apartment, Eujin comes across a tiny replica of herself. She tries to dispose of the little creature, only to find another in every corner. A minimalist pencil animation direct from this year's Cannes Film Festival Directors' Fortnight.

Missing (US Premiere) Director Jochem de Vries with Lotje Molin, Gitta Fleuren
A mother and daughter prepare for a big day in this poignant, keenly observed portrait of good intentions and family dynamics.

Slaves (New York Premiere) Director David Aronowitsch - Abuk and Machiek, Sudanese children abducted from their homes and forced into slavery, calmly relate the enormity of their experiences with a maturity and eloquence that belies their young ages in this multiple award-winning animated documentary.

Sparks (East Coast Premiere) Director Jospeh Gordon-Levitt with Carla Gugino, Eric Stoltz
Joseph Gordon-Levitt's directorial debut is based on a short story by novelist Elmore Leonard. With large sums of money on the line, a vixen-ish declining rock star is being investigated for arson.

Spotlight Films:

CON ARTIST Dir. Michael Sladek – with Mark Kostabi, Michel Gondry, Glenn O'Brien, Baird Jones, Pope Benedict XVI. Mid-level collectors and art fans around the world clamor to buy Mark Kostabi's canvases, but his involvement in those creations is controversial. Collaborating with painters and designers, he often lends no more than his signature to a work. Intimate footage of Kostabi at home and interviews with friends and celebrities investigate the unusual motivations of this art establishment outsider.

DARE (NY Premiere) Dir. Adam Salky – with Emmy Rossum, Zach Gilford, Ashley Springer, Anna Gasteyer, Rooney Mara, Sandra Bernhard, Alan Cumming. In this Sundance hit, uptight A-student Alexa (Emmy Rossum) and her best friend Ben (Ashley Springer) befriend popular jock Johnny (Zach Gilford), after which their relationships take on surprising new dimensions. Featuring terrific support from Ana Gasteyer, Sandra Bernhard, Alan Cumming and Rooney Mara, DARE is that rare "teen movie" with a provocative twist.

DESERT FLOWER (North American Premiere) Dir. Sherry Hormann with Liya Kebede, Sally Hawkins, Craig Parkinson, Meera Syal, Soraya Omar-Scego, Anthony Mackie, Juliet Stevenson. The unbelievable true story of Waris Dirie, a Somalian nomad who would become a top supermodel, and use her influence to affect the lives of countless women all over the world. Tracing Dirie’s path from traumatized child to triumphant adult, the film is an incredible tale of one woman's remarkable courage.

DIRTY OIL (Canada, US, England, World Premiere) Dir. Leslie Iwerks with Neve Campbell (narration), Lester Brown, Kevin Timoney, Andrew Nikiforuk. The oil sands in the Canadian Providence of Alberta are a source of a vast supply of petroleum, but the effects of extracting it are highly controversial. This probing documentary explores the environmental, health and moral ramifications of this booming business, offering hard statistics, sobering forecasts and frightening cautionary tales.

JOHN RABE (Germany, France, China, North American Premiere) Dir. Florian Gallenberger with Ulrich Tukur, Daniel Bruhl, Anne Consigny, Dagmar Manzel, Zhang Jingchu. John Rabe's spent years in Nanking building a career, remaining steadfastly loyal to his wife, his company, his country and the National Socialist party. When Japanese forces begin their brutal occupation of the city, Rabe's conscience is awakened and he joins with a cynical American doctor and a motley group of expatriates to save the citizens of Nanking.

LEARNING FROM THE LIGHT: THE VISION OF I.M. PEI (USA, World Premiere) Dirs. Bo Landin, Sterling Van Wagenen. One of the most distinguished architects of our time, I.M. Pei has spent his storied career creating designs for some of the world's most treasured structures. LEARNING FROM LIGHT chronicles Pei's adventures through a recent and historically monumental challenge: his commission to design the Museum of Islamic Art for Doha, Qatar.

THE LOSS OF A TEARDROP DIAMOND (USA, USA Premiere) Dir. Jodie Markell with Bryce Dallas Howard, Chris Evans, Ellen Burstyn, Mamie Gummer, Ann-Margret, Jessica Collins. Fisher Willow, an impulsive, wistful heiress, falls in love with righteous, "simple" Jimmy Dobyne after hiring him as an escort to Memphis debutante parties. The loss of a priceless earring, however, stirs unforeseen emotions in this handsomely photographed drama, produced from an unrealized Tennessee Williams screenplay.

PAPER MAN (USA, East Coast Premiere) Dirs. Michele Mulroney & Kieran Mulroney with Jeff Daniels, Ryan Reynolds, Emma Stone, Kieran Culkin, Hunter Parrish, Lisa Kudrow. Richard Dunn is a failed writer, husband and adult who adjourns to a cottage in the Hamptons to complete his latest novel. Unfortunately, he's followed everywhere by Captain Excellent, an imaginary friend he has been unable to shake since childhood. Richard finds comfort in an unlikely friendship with a neighborhood teen. A darkly comic "coming-of-middle-age" story set against the picturesque backdrop of Montauk in winter.

TANNER HALL (USA, USA Premiere) Dirs. Francesca Gregorini, Tatiana von Furstenberg with Rooney Mara, Georgia King, Brie Larson, Amy Ferguson, Chris Kattan, Amy Sedaris, Tom Everett Scott. A vivid peek into the private world of an all-girls boarding school. The knot of adolescent complexity is unraveled through the coming-of-age stories of four teenage girls when their friendship is jeopardized by the arrival of a new girl.

STOLEN LIVES (USA, World Premiere) Dir. Anders Anderson with Josh Lucas, Jon Hamm, Rhona Mitra, James Van Der Beek, Jimmy Bennett. Cutting back and forth from present day to the 1950's, STOLEN LIVES weaves together the stories of two missing boys. Detective Tom Adkins is obsessed by the disappearance of his son eight years ago. When the remains of a child buried alive fifty years ago are discovered they seem to shed new light on the mystery of his own son's vanishing.

TENURE (USA, World Premiere) Dir. Mike Million with Luke Wilson, Gretchen Mol, David Koechner, Bob Gunton, Rosemarie DeWitt. In this comedic and romantic send-up of academia, Associate Professor Charlie Thurber begrudgingly prepares for one more attempt at a tenure position. Just as he starts to feel the long awaited promotion is within his grasp, an impressive new professor is brought on staff. Charlie's best friend convinces him the only solution is to sabotage his new competition, but Charlie soon finds his professional aspirations and personal emotions leading him down different paths.

UNCERTAINTY (USA, USA Premiere) Dirs. David Siegel, Scott McGehee with Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Lynn Collins, Assumpta Serna, Olivia Thirlby, Louis Arcella, Nelson Landrieu, Manoel Felciano. Scott McGehee and David Siegel's latest film explores the very different directions our lives can take with just one decision. Perched atop the Brooklyn Bridge, young lovers Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Lynn Collins flip a coin and send the film's narrative down two separate tracks that are alternately thrilling and moving: just like life itself.

World Cinema Features:

The Agony and the Ecstasy of Phil Spector (North American Premiere) Director Vikram Jayanti - Phil Spector is a pioneer of American music, a legendary producer to John Lennon and Tina Turner, and, as of April 13th 2009, a convicted murderer. Director Vikram Jayanti overlays unprecedented personal interviews with harrowing court footage and original music recordings to create a dizzying portrait of genius and insanity, and a profound insight into a notorious subject.

Corso: The Last Beat (North American Premiere) Director Gustave Reininger with Gregory Corso, Ethan Hawke, Allen Ginsberg, Patti Smith - Gregory Corso, the youngest of the influential Beat Poet movement, is given his own spotlight in Gustave Reinenger’s affectionate documentary. Reinenger's long friendship with Corso late in his life affords him an intimacy with his iconic subject and Corso’s larger-than-life character is captured like lightning in a bottle.

The Crimson Wing; Mystery of the Flamingos (East Coast, Premiere) Director(s): Matthew Aeberhard & Leander Ward
On Lake Natron in Northern Tanzania, an island of salt emerges from the water. Set against the lush and dramatic colors of the African landscape, elegant flamingos struggle against predators and the environment to ensure that the next generation makes it back to the salt shore. THE CRIMSON WING is gorgeous and moving nature documentary for the whole family.

Daniel and Abraham (World Premiere) Director Ryan Eslinger with Gary Lamadore, David Williams
To spread his father's ashes, Daniel's traveled to the mountains of upstate New York. There he meets Abraham, a mysterious man whose condescending helpfulness becomes increasingly sinister. This small feature recalls the work of Samuel Beckett and Jack London, contrasting the natural beauty of its winter setting with sudden violence.

Deliver Us From Evil (US Premiere) Director Ole Bornedal with Lasse Rimmer, Lene Nystrom, Jens Andersen, Pernille Valentin, Mogens Pedersen, Bojan Navojec, Sonja Richter - Ole Bornedal- THE SUBSTITUTE (HIFF í07), NIGHTWATCH- delivers again with this dynamic social thriller. When local lout Lars runs down a beloved neighborhood woman, he tries to shift the community’s wrath onto taciturn Bosnian refugee Alain, careening the viewer towards a shocking conclusion as the whole town becomes implicated in a rampant moral corruption.

Edie & Thea: A Very Long Engagement (East Coast Premiere) Director Greta Olafsdottir with Edie Windsor, Thea Spyer - Hamptons residents Edie Windsor and Thea Spyer share a fairy tale romance they fell in love at first sight in the West Village nearly fifty years ago and their passion for each other would endure for decades. Yet as a lesbian couple, they would have to wait their entire adult lives to be able to legalize their union.

Five Hours From Paris (United States Premiere) Director Leon Prudovsky with Dror Keren, Elena Yaralova, Vladimir Freedman - Mid-life quandaries are candidly addressed with both authenticity and humor in FIVE HOURS FROM PARIS, a refreshingly sincere and mature romance. When he unexpectedly falls for his son's music teacher, Yigal (Dror Keren), a painfully passive taxi driver on the eve of mid-life, feels compelled to take charge of his future more than ever before.

Forbidden Fruit (Kielletty hedelma) (North American Premiere) Director Dome Karukoski with Marjut Maristo, Amanda Pilke, Malla Malmivaara, Joel Mäkinen, Jarkko Niemi
When Raakel’s best friend Maria leaves their cloistered religious community to experience life in the city, she follows, ostensibly to protect Maria from the predations of “The Arch Fiend” and, hopefully, bring her back to the fold. As the two young women explore their new surroundings both of them change in unexpected ways in this quiet, affecting drama.

Here and There Director Darko Lunuglov with David Thornton, Mirjana Karanovic, Cyndi Lauper, Branislav Trifunovic, Antone Pagan, Fedja Stojanovic, Goran Radakovic - Robert is a middle-aged musician barely getting by in New York when he meets Branko, a young Serbian immigrant desperate to bring his girlfriend to America. On the promise of five grand Robert travels to Belgrade for a quick green card marriage. But a simple plan becomes complicated when Branko fails to pay and Robert falls for Branko's beautiful mother.

How To Live Forever (World Premiere) Director Mark S. Wexler Director Mark Wexler embarks on a worldwide trek to investigate just what it means to grow old and what it could mean to really live forever. Featuring interviews with everyone from a chain-smoking, beer-drinking centenarian marathoner to an elder porn star and health, fitness, and life-extension experts, Wexler‚Äôs engaging new documentary challenges our notions of youth and aging with comic poignancy.

In My Hands: A Story of Marfan Syndrome (World Premiere) Director(s): Brenda Siemer Scheider, Emma Morris
It is estimated that 1 in 5000 people in the United States have Marfan Syndrome, a genetic disorder of the body's connective tissue. IN MY HANDS follows the inspirational stories of a group of children and adults living with Marfan.

Little Soldier (East Coast Premiere) Director Annette K. Olesen with Trine Dyrholm, Finn Nielsen, Lorna Brown, Rasmus Botoft, Jens Jorn Spottag - Tough and masculine Lotte (Trine Dyrholm) has just returned from military service in Afghanistan to the town in Denmark where her father runs an underground brothel. Offered employment as driver for her father's mistress and top earner, Lily, the two women start out at odds, but soon the two women bond and their lives become unpredictably intertwined.

Love and Rage (US Premiere) Director Morten Giese with Cyron Melville, Sara Hjort, Dejan Cukic, Charlotte Fich
Daniel is a gifted young piano student, a loner until he meets Sofie, another young music student who opens his life to more than just music. But as his affection grows, so does an all-consuming jealousy which begins to rip him apart and expose the pent-up rage that has always been simmering beneath.

The Ladies Get Their Say (US Premiere) Director Enzo Monteleone with Margherita Buy, Isabella Ferrari, Marina Massironi, Alba Rohrwacher
Four women in the 1960s and their four daughters in the present day experience parallel joys and woes in their personal lives.

The Messenger Director Oren Moverman with Ben Foster, Woody Harrelson, Samantha Morton, Jena Malone, Eamonn Walker - THE MESSENGER is a superbly crafted new drama that feels like an instant classic. Ben Foster gives a stunning performance of a lifetime as Will Montgomery, an injured soldier who returns from Iraq to serve his last few months of active duty notifying families of the deaths of loved ones lost in combat.

The Men Who Stare At Goats (Special Screening) Director Grant Heslov with George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Jeff Bridges, Kevin Spacy, Stephen Lang, Nick Offerman, Tim Griffin
In a comedic look at real life events that are almost too bizarre to believe, a reporter discovers a top-secret wing of the U.S. military when he accompanies an enigmatic Special Forces operator on a mind-boggling mission.

Mammoth (North American Premiere) Director Lukas Moodyson with Gael Garcia Bernal, Michelle Williams, Marife Necesito, Sophie Nyweide, Run Srinikornchot, Tom McCarthy, Jan Nicdao - MAMMOTH revolves around successful New York couple Leo (Gael Garcia Bernal), the creator of a booming website, and Ellen (Michelle Williams), a dedicated emergency surgeon. Their daughter Jackie spends most of her time with her nanny and Ellen is starting to question her priorities. When Leo travels to Thailand on business, he unwittingly sets off a chain of events that will have dramatic consequences for everyone.

Max Manus (US Premiere) Director(s): Joachim Roenning & Espen Sandberg with Aksel Hennie, Kyrre Haugen Sydness, Mads Eldoen, Christian Rubeck, Nicolai Cleve Broch, Agnes Kittelsen, Ken Duken - Based on the true story of the famed resistance fighter, MAX MANUS follows the exploits of the title character as hejoins the Norwegian resistance movement and becomes one of the most important members of the so-called Oslo Gang, carrying out spectacular raids against German ships in Oslo harbor, including the sinking of the slave ship Donau.

Millenium: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (US Premiere) Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace, Sven-Bertil Taube, Peter Haber, Lena Endre - Stieg Larsonís The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, the first in the three-part Millenium trilogy, is one of the decade’s major literary success stories. The first book in the series is brought to the big screen by acclaimed filmmaker Niels Arden Oplev, whose WE SHALL OVERCOME won our Audience Award in 2006.

My Words, My Lies, My Love (North American Premiere) Director Alain Gsponer with Daniel Bruhl, Hannah Herzsprung, Henry Hubchen - The proverbial Death of the Author theory is taken literally in this fresh rags to riches romantic comedy starring Daniel Bruhl (GOODBY LENIN!, INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS). A timid waiter named David Kern (Bruhl) has become a sudden and unlikely literary star with the publication of a best-selling novel. The catch? He didn't actually write it.

Racing Dreams Director Marshall Curry with Brandon Warren, Josh Hobson, Annabeth Barnes
BRACING DREAMS follows the lives of Annabeth (11 years-old), Josh (12), and Brandon (13), as they race around a concrete track at speeds of up to 70 mph in the World Karting Association's National Championship, learning about the adult worlds of love, money, family troubles and corporate sponsorship along the way.

Schmatta: Rags to Riches to Rags (US Premiere) Director Marc Levin with Bruce Raynor, Charles Kernaghan, Joe Raico, Stan Herman, Irving Rousso - Produced by HBO Films, filmmaker Mark Levin chronicles the century-long story of the American garment industry, from its Lower East Side sweatshop beginnings to its booming post-WWII rise as an emblematic American/New York City institution and its devastating fall at the hands of a post-Reagan global economy.

Serious Moonlight
With Meg Ryan
Serious Moonlight Director Cheryl Hines with Meg Ryan, Timothy Hutton, Kristen Bell, Justin Long
After she arrives at her country home for a romantic weekend getaway, things don't go exactly as planned for high-powered Manhattan lawyer Louise (Meg Ryan). First, her husband of 13 years, Ian (Timothy Hutton), tells her that he's leaving her for a younger woman (Kristen Bell). Then, one thing leads to another, and pretty soon Ian finds himself held captive by an oddly cool Louise who explains that she won't release him until he professes his love for her and commits to working on their marriage. And that's when things REALLY start to go wrong. The unexpected arrival of an opportunistic young gardener (Justin Long) and Ian's impatient mistress only serve to complicate the crisis even further, while somehow forcing Louise and Ian to reckon with their past and realistically deal with their future.

Seven Minutes in Heaven Director Omri Givon with Reymonde Amsellem, Eldad Prives, Ndav Nates
An ethereal mystery story about tragedy and love, SEVEN MINUTES IN HEAVEN tackles the weighty notion of fate with rare artistry. Grieving and injured by a suicide bomber, young Galia tries to piece her life back together with the help of Boaz, a kind stranger who enters her life when she most needs him.

Shadow Billionaire Director Alexis Manya Spraic - After DHL founder Larry Hillblom failed to return from a flight in his vintage Seabee over the Pacific, bar girls throughout Southeast Asia came forward claiming to have had children by him. SHADOW BILLIONAIRE unravels the scandalous life of this reclusive tycoon as the battle over his estate takes on epic proportions, pitting impoverished, teenage prostitutes against Larry's former business associates and several of the largest law firms in the world.

Surrogate
Israeli Focus
Surrogate (North American Premiere) Director Tali Shalom Ezer with Amir Wolf, Lana Ettinger, Rosina Kambus, Liat Glick, Yonatan Swriski - Suffering from deep-seated sexual trauma, Eily chooses to undergo a highly unusual form of therapy to help him overcome wounds that prevent him from experiencing any kind of intimacy. A sensitive portrait of a damaged soul, SURROGATE delicately explores the profoundly personal course of psychological recovery.

Tears of April (East Coast Premiere) Director Aku Louhimies with Samuli Vauramo, Pihla Viitala, Eero Aho, Eemeli Louhimies, Riina Maidre - At the end of Finland's civil war in 1918, the government-supported Whites are rounding up the Social Democratic Reds. Private Aaro Harjula cannot tolerate the cruel abuses he has witnessed and insists on taking Miina Malin, a young Red platoon leader, to await trial. Along the way Aaro and Miina develop a connection that will force Aaro to make an agonizing choice.

Van Diemen's Land (US Premiere) Director Jonathan auf der Heide with Oscar Redding, Arthur Angel, Paul Ashcroft, Torquil Neilson, Mark Winter, Thomas Wright, Greg Stone - When Alexander Pearce and a group of fellow convicts stage a escape from their penal colony and take flight across the forbidding landscape, they are unprepared for the lengths they'll have to go to in order to survive. This harrowing re-telling of an infamous true story is a chilling depiction of the growth of evil.

War Against the Weak (New York Premiere) Director Justin Strawhand with John Hockenberry, Ashley Lazarus
WAR AGAINST THE WEAK is the terrifying history of eugenics, arguably the most dangerous pseudoscience of all time, conceived by American scientists and put into practice in the US for the greater part of the twentieth Century. The goal of eugenics was to create a master race of humans, and eliminate those considered "unfit."

Wild Art: Olly & Suzi (US Premiere) Director Rupert Murray - Olly, a man with a lust for the outdoors, teams up with Suzi, once a rising star in the art world, in the pursuit of an extreme and authentic artistic creation. They create under the most extreme conditions, channeling the clarity of that moment onto the paper in front of them. Director Rupert Murray offers a view into the lives, adventures and creative processes of two remarkable artists.

Films of Conflict and Resolution in Competition:

City of Life and Death (US Premiere) Director Lu Chuan with Liu Ye, Hideo Nakaizumi, Fan Wei, Gao Yuanyuan, Qin Lan - Acclaimed director Lu Chuanís much-anticipated Nanjing drama resists the swelling music and overwrought melodrama of so many depictions of war, shifting the focus from a top-down, authoritative history lesson to an unprecedented personal epic. This visually arresting realist masterpiece offers a genuine, affecting portrait of humanity in war that moves the fraught Nanjing narrative one step nearer to closure.

The Good Soldier (World Premiere) Director(s) Lexy Lovell, Michael Uys with Will Williams, Jimmy Massey, Perry Parks, Edward Wood, Michael McPhearson - Directors Lexy Lovell and Michael Uys bring together veterans from each of the American wars of the last century who marched eagerly to defend their country in 1944, 1966, 1991, or 2003 only to return conflicted by the atrocities they saw and participated in, and questioning what true service to your nation really means.

How to Fold a Flag (US Premiere) Director Petra Epperlein - "We were asked to believe that the war was over. We laughed - for we were the war." So begins Michael Tucker and Petra Epperlein's (GUNNER PALACE) haunting tapestry of young Iraq veterans coming home. When the American flag is folded at a memorial service, each fold is sent to represent a virtue. Tucker and Epperlein unpack this symbolism, Tucker and Epperlein unpack this symbolism as they, along with the soldiers they follow, reconcile the idealized and abstract discourse of war with its heartbreakingly reality.

My Neighbor My Killer (US) Director Anne Aghion - Seven years after the Tutsi genocide, the Rwandan government put in place the Gacaca óopen-air hearings with citizen-judges meant to try their neighbors and rebuild the nation. As part of this experiment in reconciliation, confessed genocide killers are sent home from prison, while survivors are asked to resume living side-by-side. Filming for close to a decade, Anne Aghion has charted the emotional journey to coexistence.

Rabbit a la Berlin Director Bartek Konopka - Winner of a top prize at this year's prestigious Hot Docs documentary film festival, RABBIT A LA BERLIN is the charming true story of a community of wild rabbits that found safe haven within the confines of the Berlin Wall.

Forbidden Fruit
Scandinavian Focus
Spotlight on Scandanavian Cinema

Scandinavian films have always thrived at our festival, most recently in 2008 when the superlative Norwegian feature TROUBLED WATER swept both our jury and Audience Awards for Best Narrative Feature. To celebrate all the popular and critical success Scandinavian films have achieved, the festival has carefully curated a selection of work from all 5 Nordic countries (Norway, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, and Sweden) across all sections of our program. This unique sidebar will open with the US Premiere of the Norwegian WWII resistance epic MAX MANUS, and close with the highly anticipated feature film adaptation of Stieg Larsson's bestselling GIRL WITH A DRAGON TATTOO. We are also proud to partner with Swedish-owned Hamptons landmark c/o The Maidstone to host a reception in honor of these noteworthy filmmakers. Please join us as we honor all the Scandinavian film industry’s achievements, and toast their future success both here in the Hamptons and beyond.

Denmark:
Deliver Us From Evil, Ole Bornedal
Love and Rage, Morten Giese
Little Soldier, Annette K. Oleson
Applause, Martin Pieter Zandvliet

Finland:
Tears of April, Aku Louhimies
Forbidden Fruit, Dome Karukoski

Iceland:
Committed, Isold Uggadottir

Norway:
Max Manus, Joachim Roenning and Espen Sandberg

Sweden:
Instead of Abracadabra, Patrik Eklund
Long Distance Love, Magnus Gerrten and Elin Jonsson
Mammoth, Lukas Moodyson
Millennium: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
A Rational Solution, Jorgen Bergmark
Slaves, David Aronowitsch and Hana Heilborn
Videocracy, Erik Gandini

Films For Families
HIFF invites Children and families to celebrate Festival season together with a host of youth-created media offerings and an exciting selection of family-friendly films!

One of this year’s sure highlights is THE CRIMSON WING: MYSTERY OF THE FLAMINGOS, a stunning documentary which comes to the festival from the talented and innovative group at Disney Nature. In the tradition of EARTH and MARCH OF THE PENGUINS, THE CRIMSON WING tells the incredible story of the birth, life and death of the crimson-winged flamingos of Tanzania.

Adults and kids alike will be amazed and inspired by the feats of the preteen racecar prodigies of RACING DREAMS, a documentary about the kids who take part in the fiercely competitive World Karting Association National Pavement Series. Both an exciting tale of striving for glory and a powerful story about growing up, RACING DREAMS is a wonderful choice for the whole family.

A special treat for youth and adults alike is the Youth Shorts Program, an entertaining and enlightening collection of films by, about and for young adults. This diverse selection of short films from all over the world is appropriate for ages 10 and up.

David Schwartz, the Chief Curator at the Museum of the Moving Image, will moderate an in-depth discussion with this year’s guest. This intimate event is sure to provide both filmmakers and film aficionados with a rare view into the creative process. The event will feature clip presentations, trade secrets, and tips on lighting for film.

Kodak Cinematography Master Class
Saturday, October 10th 12:00 PM
East Hampton UA 6 Theater

View From Long Island:
At the Hamptons International Film Festival we are committed to showcasing films rooted in our community, and this year brings an exceptionally strong lineup of work by and about Long Island. Come out and support work by local filmmakers including Brenda Siemer Scheider’s affectionate portrait of Marfan Syndrome IN MY HANDS and ode to the work and life of Roy Scheider SMILES, Bruce Weber’s new short film LIBERTY CITY IS LIKE PARIS TO ME, former Ross School artist-in-residence Darko Lungulov’s feature HERE AND THERE, and local student filmmakers Eric Striffler and Megan Vinciguerra’s award-winning short films in our Youth Shorts Program.

For those interested in seeing the Hamptons’scenery light up the big screen, be sure to catch indie dark comedy PAPER MAN, set against a picturesque winter Montauk backdrop, and Alec Hirschfeld’s short doc OUT HERE IN THE FIELDS exploring issues of farming and land ownership in East Hampton.

The Hamptons International Film Festival is grateful for the funding and support for this program from the Suffolk County Office of Economic Development and Cultural Affairs

To The Point: Women Telling Stories through Media:
This is a joint venture of the Hamptons International Film Festival and New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT). In its sixth year, this series of shorts honors women’s voices and visions through film — narratives, documentaries, animated and experimental and video. No more than 20 minutes long, these works explore the unique, personal stories of women — past, present, and future.

Abbie Cancelled, Dir. Jessica Burstein;

Birth, Dir. Signe Baumane;

Everything Is Ordinary, Dir. Noelle Brower;
Omelette, Dir. Nadejda Koseva;

Sister Wife, Dir. Jill Orschel;

Speed Grieving, Dirs. Jessica Daniels, Alysia Reiner
This Is Her, Dir. Katie Wolfe

Comedy Shorts
All My Dreams On VHS (East Coast Premiere) Dir. Timothy X Atack;

Captain Coulier (SPACE EXPLORER) Dir. Lyndon Casey;
Instead of Abracadabra (New York Premiere) Dir. Patrik Eklund;

The Last Supper (East Coast Premiere) Dir. Angus Sampson;

Runaway Producer(s): Michael Scott, Derek Mazur

Youth Shorts
The Fizzy Incident, Dir. Eric Striffler;

The Happy Duckling (New York Premiere) Dir. Gili Dolev;

The History of Aviation (East Coast Premiere) Dir. Balint Kenyeres;

Live Music (East Coast Premiere) Dir. Yair Landau;

Naming Pluto (New York Premiere) Dir. Ginita Jimenez;

Netherland Dwarf, Dir. David Michod;

No Way Out, Dir. Megan Vinciguerra;

Photograph Of Jesus, Dir. Laurie Hill

Shorts Program: Best Served Cold
Concerto, Dir. Filippo Conz;

Eli's Boy (North American Premiere) Dir. Cameron Fertitta;

Make Up (World Premiere) Dir. Scott Tuft

Shorts Program: Local to Global
Crossing Midnight, Dir. Kim A. Snyder;

The Last Dragon Kingdom (North American), Dirs. Aine Carey, David Emery;

Lost Paradise (New York Premiere), Dir. Mihal Brezis;

No Special Incidents (North American Premiere) Dir. Lennart Ruff;
Out Here in the Fields: The Field on Beach Lane (World) Dir. Alec Hirschfeld; Something Left To Sea (World Premiere), Dir. Harry Schleiff.

Shorts Before Features
Beloved (USA) Director Will Frears;

The Berlin Wall (Germany) Director Paul Cotter;

Liberty City is Like Paris to Me (USA) Director Bruce Weber;

Looking At Animals (USA) Director Marc Turtletaub;

Smiles - A story of Roy Scheider (English) Director Brenda Siemer Scheider;

Ten: Thirtyone (English) Director Lev Gorn, Gabe Fazio;
Wagah Director Supriyo Sen

Undergraduate and Graduate Student Film/Video Awards:

Akash (United States), Dir. Ash Bhalla;
Akash lives with his mother, father, grandmother and five sisters in rural India. He is approximately 13 years old, and the people of his village believe that he has the ability to invoke the goddess Durga. This documentary follows Akash's transition from boy into deity, a process that has never before been witnessed by an outsider or been committed to film.

Blackwater (East Coast), Dir. Konstantinos Frangopoulos
Brief Synopsis: A male nightmare. Living under the shadow of your loved one isn't a safe thing.

Christopher Dispossessed, Dir. Matthew Watts
He ís too late to stop the wedding, but not too late to stop the marriage.

Sinkhole (East Coast), Dir. Eric Scherbarth
A salesman approaches a mysterious landowner with an offer to buy the manís smoldering abandoned coal mines but finds that there is more at stake than the land.

Tran si tions (World), Dir. Mark Lee
A young man tapes a mentally ill woman on a subway train and believes that she may be his long-missing mother.

Cinematography Master Class
Each year, The Hamptons International Film Festival and Kodak partner present a Master Class with a leading cinematographer during the festival. Past guests have included Michael Ballhaus (GOODFELLAS, THE DEPARTED), Frederick Elmes (THE ICE STORM, WILD AT HEART, THE NAMESAKE) and Ellen Kuras (ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND, SUMMER OF SAM)

Visions of An Old New Land: Israeli Films on Tel Aviv’s 100th
2009 marks the 100th Anniversary of the city of Tel Aviv, the artistic and cultural capital of Israel. Not only is Tel Aviv the center of Israel’s film production, it is a richly diverse and ever changing city that reflects the modern face of Israel and the plurality of backgrounds of the Israeli people. The films chosen for The Hamptons International Film Festival Tel Aviv Anniversary program reflect the faces and cultures of contemporary Israel, featuring Tel Avivian directors and varying portraits of this extraordinarily unique city.

Seven Minutes In Heaven, Omri Givon
Surrogate, Tali Shalom Ezer
Jaffa, Keren Yedaya
Five Hours From Paris, Leon Prudovsky
Lost Paradise, Mihal Brezis & Oded Binnun

Festival Panels

Green Production for the Frugal Producer - Many movie and TV producers are making progress in their efforts to reduce the carbon emissions and environmental impacts of their productions, while increasing efficiency and cutting costs. Across all aspects of production – energy, transportation, lighting, craft services, set construction, waste and recycling -- some amazing innovations have come out of recent on-set experiments, which will intrigue producers and moviegoers alike.

Breakthrough Performers Panel - Join the international group of Rising and Shooting Stars in an informal and intimate discussion about the craft of acting, how the process compares in different countries, and what their experiences were with each of their films in the 2009 Festival.

New York Film Critics Circle Panel Discussion - This year, HIFF is thrilled to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the New York Film Critics Circle and its longtime commitment to championing excellence in filmmaking. Join four prominent members of the circle for a timely and intimate discussion as they share the story of the NYFCC, and shed light on the current state of film criticism since the advent of the internet age.

Making your First Short - Using the Short Film as a Route to Features - The students in this years Student Awards shorts program will take part in this informative roundtable discussion about short filmmaking. The panel will take place immediately following the Student Awards short program, and admittance is free with your ticket to the Student Awards program.

Two From the Sloan Screenwriters Lab: Charm School For Primates and The Transformation - HIFF, in partnership with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, presents staged readings of two featured screenplays from their annual screenwriters lab. Charm School For Primates, by Karen Odyniec and The Transformation, by Kirk Davis and Sam Sloves. Jay Anania (DAY ON FIRE, HER NAME IS CARLA) will direct a selection from each screenplay, which will be performed by a cast of guest actors from New York City.

Ticket Information:
Passes and tickets can be ordered on-line through the festival website, www.hamptonsfilmfest.org or through the new East Hampton Box Office location at Design Within Reach - 30 Park Place, East Hampton. Tickets by phone 1-888-329-6877. Founders Pass $1200; Industry Pass $250, Special Events Package $275, Filmmakers Discovery Package $125, Opening Night Package $100, Sloan Science in Film Tribute $40, Closing Day Package $50, Regular Screenings $15, Spotlight Films $27, Early Bird Spotlight (before 5pm) $20, “A Conversation With…” $30, Panel Discussions $10, Opening Night Film $35, Opening Night Reception $75, Sunday Night Filmmakers Party $75, Closing Film $30.

Keri Russell
At the end of HIFF 2007
With a Golden Starfish Award For August Rush
Photo by Eric Roffman

Festival Venues:
c/o The Maidstone – Festival Headquarters – East Hampton – 207 Main Street
Guild Hall – 158 Main Street, East Hampton
United Artists Cinemas - 30 Main Street, East Hampton
Bay Street Theatre - Corner of Bay & Main (on the Long Wharf, opposite the Windmill), Sag Harbor
Gurneys Inn - 290 Old Montauk Highway, Montauk
Festival Headquarters& Press Office – c/o The Maidstone – 207 Main Street, East Hampton
First Presbyterian Church Session House, 120 East Main Street, East Hampton
Montauk Movie - 3 Edgemere Road, Montauk
Southampton Regal Cinema - 43 Hill Street, Southampton

For further information on the 2009 Hamptons International Film Festival please visit http://www.hamptonsfilmfest.org/
.

RUSH LINE AT NYFF 2009

noreply@blogger.com (QPORIT) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 09:44:29 PDT

I t was just announced by the Film Society Of Lincoln Center that there will be at least 50 seats available on a "Rush Line" for each screening of films at the New York Film Festival. Details are still murky, but there should be a queue to buy tickets at the Alice Tully Hall box office before each of the films. For the most in-demand films, coming very early is probably wise.

FEDERER V POTRO LIVE TV & ONLINE

noreply@blogger.com (QPORIT) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 13:29:08 PDT

The US Tennis Open Men's Final, between Roger Federer and Juan Martin Del Potro, is being broadcast live on CBS TV from 4:00 PM (although it is not on the scheduled program) and streaming live over the web -- use the link on http://www.usopen.org/en_US/interactive/video/live.html

The streaming video there is exceptionally good.

FEDERER'S BEST SHOT

noreply@blogger.com (QPORIT) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 08:15:18 PDT

Here's a moment from sports history:

Federer v. Djokovich. US OPEN. September 13, 2009. It's close to the end of the match. 2 sets to none. 6-5 30-0 in the third set:

CONGRATZ!!!

noreply@blogger.com (QPORIT) — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 12:42:04 PDT

Jeter 2722 and counting!

Every once in a while there's a sports event that IS history.

2722

NYFF 2009

noreply@blogger.com (QPORIT) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 09:45:00 PDT

THE NEW YORK FILM FESTIVAL 2009
SEPTEMBER 25 - OCTOBER 11

The New York Film Festival (NYFF) is always one of the highlights of the year in film. It usually previews a few of the most important films that will be competing for awards at the end of the year (unimportant films also compete for awards, but they'll not be found at NYFF) , and many films that are among the very best of the year from all over the world, and hardly seen at all except at NYFF.

(For example, last year's slate screened Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or winner The Class and the Academy Award-nominated films The Wrestler, Changeling, and Waltz with Bashir.)

Filmmakers and actors often visit the festival and participate in discussions on stage after the film, (and even, sometimes, casually, outside).

Arnaud Desplechin
Outside Walter Reade Theater last year
Photo by Eric Roffman
Here, above, is Arnaud Desplechin, a quintessential French Director, who made last year's A Christmas Tale (Un conte de Noel) (with Catherine Denueve and Mathieu Amalric) outside the Walter Reade Theater last year.

In the many connections among the films from year to year, Amalric was in the 2007 film The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Le scaphandre et le papillon), and will appear again at the festival, this year in Wild Grass (Les herbes folles) by Alain Renais.

Pedro Almodovar will be back at the festival on closing night. Again, with a film featuring Penelope Cruz. Above: Here's a report from 2006 with Penelope Cruz talking about Almodovar.

(Note -- disclaimer!): I don't know which filmmakers or actors will actually be present this year... when I say they'll be back I only mean that they have a film in the festival).

Juliet Berto
at NYFF 1974
Photo by Eric Roffman

And Jacques Rivette (now 81... Alain Renais, by the way, is 87) will be back with 36 Views of Saint-Loup Peak (36 vues du Pic Saint-Loup). Above is a picture of Juliet Berto in the Green Room at Alice Tully Hall, when she came to the festival for Rivette's Celine et Julie vont en bateau more than 30 years ago. (Berto was a co-writer of that film, and was also in Godard's masterpiece La Chinoise, which was shown recently in the 1968 retrospective by the Film Society. )

Unfortunately, getting tickets to the films is not so easy. Each film is only shown at most twice. And the festival tends to be oversubscribed. Unlike the policy at the The Public Theater, which tries to give away many of their seats free to the public, democratically (but in return for waiting on line really, really early in the morning), access to Film Society tickets are prioritized by the length of time you've been a member of the Film Society, and only after initial orders are taken do other tickets go on sale to the public.

While Alice Tully Hall was undergoing renovations, films were shown at Rose Hall. It's time to take the most oversubscribed films and show them more than twice, perhaps adding screenings at Rose or even Avery Fisher Hall (where opening and closing night films are shown). It's nice that the Film Festival is like a party for those who go every year, but it should also allow more people to participate. I would think that a full house at any of these theaters would more than pay for itself and whatever trouble it would require to schedule extra screenings. Some of the films, of course, go on to commercial screeneings after the festival. Still, I think it's more fun to see them at the festival.

If you do not have a ticket, by the way, there are frequently people who do have extra tickets that they will sell (at face price) or even give away free at the door. There usually are quite a few, so it's worth trying if there's a film you want to see. (And if you do have a ticket you're not using, by all means go to the theater and let someone else use it!)

Note: 9/16 -- It has just been announced that there will be a "Rush Line" this year with at least 50 tickets available for each screening at the Alice Tully Hall box office!

Note 10/1 -- The Festival is providing extra screenings for the most popular sold-out films!

Excellent!

Here is a summary (by the NYFF) of the festival's main event offerings. (In addition to the main event there are several sidebar events, including selections of films from China and from India.) (Note: Check the description of the last film, the Wizard of Oz retrospective, for my favorite line from these previews!)

NEW YORK FILM FESTIVAL 2009

Opening Night: Alain Resnais' Wild Grass
Centerpiece: Lee Daniels' Precious
Closing Night: Pedro Almodóvar's Broken Embraces

The 47th edition of the New York Film Festival will open with the U.S. premiere of Alain Resnais's Wild Grass (Les herbes folles) and close with Pedro Almodóvar's Broken Embraces (Los abrazos rotos). This year's Centerpiece will be Lee Daniels' Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire.

In addition this year's festival will include two Masterworks series from China and India, Views From the Avant Garde, and special events.

The Festival returns this year to its renowned home, Alice Tully Hall, beautifully restored and renovated with superb, state-of-the-art sound and projection.

The 17-day NYFF highlights 29 films from 17 countries by celebrated filmmakers as well as fresh new independent directors.

This Year's Selections:

A Film Society veteran, legendary French auteur Alain Resnais returns with Wild Grass, his 10th film selected for the New York Film Festival. His film Muriel appeared in the first New York Film Festival in 1963. And recently, Private Fears in Public Places showed at the 44th edition of the Festival in 2006.

On the fiftieth anniversary of the French New Wave and fifty years after his groundbreaking debut with Hiroshima Mon Amour, Resnais delivers a career-crowning masterpiece with Wild Grass, a delightful roundelay based on Christian Gailly's novel The Incident, about the fate-altering ripples triggered by a seemingly ordinary purse snatching. The purse belongs to Marguerite (Resnais' regular, Sabine Azema), a dentist who moonlights as an aviatrix. Its contents are retrieved by Georges (André Dussollier), a married man who soon finds himself infatuated with the purse's owner, even though he hasn't actually met her yet. Add in a couple of keystone cops (hilariously played by Mathieu Amalric and Michel Vuillermoz), some dizzying aerial acrobatics, and the glorious widescreen camerawork of cinematographer Eric Gautier and Wild Grass becomes a uniquely playful meditation on coincidence and desire that suggests Resnais, at age 87, is truly in his prime.

Winner of both the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at this year's Sundance Film Festival, Lee Daniels' Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, marks the first time the American director has been at the Festival. In his astonishing adaptation of Sapphire's 1996 novel, Daniels unsparingly recounts the horrific life of Clareece "Precious" Jones, an obese, barely literate 16-year-old living in late '80s Harlem who's sexually abused by both her father and mother. But Precious is not just a tale of endless abjection-it's also an exhilarating celebration of a young woman's determination to free herself from the pathologies surrounding her, guided by a teacher who senses her innate talents. Without a trace of easy, unearned sentimentality, Precious might be the most spirit-affirming movie of the year. Bringing this raw, uncompromising material to the screen, Daniels has assembled a remarkable cast: Paula Patton as Precious's devoted teacher, Mariah Carey as a tough yet compassionate welfare officer, fearless newcomer Gabourey Sidibe as Precious, and-most memorably-Mo'Nique as her monstrous mother, which won the actress a Special Jury Prize at Sundance.

Also no stranger to New York audiences, and a true NYFF favorite, Pedro Almodóvar's newest, Broken Embraces (Los abrazos rotos), marks his eighth film in the New York Film Festival. (Seven of these have either been Opening Night, Centerpiece or Closing Night selections.) Broken Embraces tells the story of a blind screenwriter, living and working under a pseudonym, who learns of the death of a powerful industrialist, triggering a flood of memories that encompass a tale of naked ambition, forbidden love and devastating loss. Moving from Madrid sound stages to the volcanic landscapes of the Canary Islands, Almodóvar takes us on a candy-colored emotional roller coaster that barrels from comedy to romance to melodrama to the darker haunts of film noir-with even a salute to the "Making Of..." film along the way. Penelope Cruz has never been better, nor more ravishing, and she's ably aided by Lluis Homar (Bad Education), Blanca Portillo (Volver), and a wonderful newcomer to the Almodóvar stable, Rubén Ochandiano. The luscious cinematography is by Rodrigo Prieto (Amores Perros, Brokeback Mountain).

Rounding out the 2009 slate, The Film Society welcomes a group of well-established alumni back to the New York Film Festival with new features, including Marco Bellocchio (Vincere), Catherine Breillat (Bluebeard), Claire Denis (White Material), Manoel de Oliveira, (Eccentricities of a Blonde), Michael Haneke (The White Ribbon), Jacques Rivette (36 Views of Saint-Loup Peak), Todd Solondz (Life During Wartime), Lars von Trier (Antichrist) and Andrzej Wajda (Sweet Rush).

New directors to the Festival include Maren Ade (Everyone Else), Ilisa Barbash and Lucien Castaing-Taylor (Sweetgrass), Zhao Dayong (Ghost Town), Samuel Maoz (Lebanon), Raya Martin (Independencia), João Pedro Rodrigues (To Die Like A Man) and Sabu (Kanikosen).

New York Film Festival 2009
September 25 - October 11
Main Slate

OPENING NIGHT
Mathieu Amalric in
Wild Grass
Alain Resnais, France, 2009; 113m
Photo Credit: The Film Society of Lincoln Center/Sony Pictures Classics

Wild Grass / Les herbes folles
Alain Resnais, France, 2009; 113m
The venerable Alan Resnais creates an exquisite human comedy of manners, mystery and romance with some of France's - and our - favorite actors: Sabine Azéma, André Dussollier, Emmanuelle Devos and Mathieu Almaric. A Sony Pictures Classics release.

CENTERPIECE

Gabourey Sidibe in
Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
Lee Daniels, USA, 2009; 109m
Photo Credit: The Film Society of Lincoln Center/Lionsgate
Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire
Lee Daniels, USA, 2009; 109m
Precious is sixteen and living a miserable life. But she uses all the emotional energy she possesses to turn her life around. Director Lee Daniel's audacious tale features unforgettable performances by Mo'Nique, Mariah Carey and newcomer Gabourey Sidibe. A Lionsgate release.

CLOSING NIGHT

Penelope Cruz in
Broken Embraces
Pedro Almodóvar, Spain, 2009; 128m
Photo Credit: The Film Society of Lincoln Center/Sony Pictures Classics
Broken Embraces / Los abrazos rotos
Pedro Almodóvar, Spain, 2009; 128m
Almodóvar's newest masterwork is a candy-colored emotional roller that barrels from comedy to romance to melodrama to the darker haunts of film noir and stars his muse, Penélope Cruz, in a multilayered story of a man who loses his sight and the love of his life. A Sony Pictures Classics release.

36 Views of Saint-Loup Peak / 36 vues du Pic Saint-Loup
Jacques Rivette, France, 2009, 84m
The legendary Jacques Rivette returns with an elegiac look at the final days of a small-time traveling circus.

Antichrist
Lars von Trier, Denmark, 2009, 109m
Surely to be one of the year's most discussed films, Lars von Trier's latest chronicles a couple's efforts to find their love again after a tragic loss, only to unleash hidden monsters lurking in their souls. An IFC Films release.

The Art of the Steal
Don Argott, USA, 2009, 101m
Bound to be controversial, this intriguing account of the travails of the legendary Barnes collection of art masterworks and the foundation set up to protect it raises vital questions about public vs. private "ownership" of art.

Lola Creton in
Bluebeard
Catherine Breillat, France, 2009, 78m
Photo Credit: The Film Society of Lincoln Center/Pyramide Films
Bluebeard / La Barbe Bleue
Catherine Breillat, France, 2009, 78m
Two sisters reading Charles Perrault's 17th century tale of perhaps the first "serial killer" becomes a meditation on the enduring fascination with a character who has served as inspiration for countless novels, plays and films.

Crossroads of Youth / Cheongchun's Sipjaro
An Jong-hwa, Korea, 1934, 73m
The oldest surviving Korean film, this recently-rediscovered masterwork will be presented with live musical accompaniment as well as a benshi (offscreen narrator).

Eccentricities of a Blonde
Manoel de Oliveira, Portugal/France, 2009, 64m
One hundred years young, director Manoel de Oliveira returns with another gem: a wry, moving tale of a pure if frustrated love adapted from a novel by Eça de Queiroz.

Everyone Else / Alle Anderen
Maren Ade, Germany, 2009, 119m
The ups and downs, joys and jealousies, frustrations and fulfillments of a young couple on a summer holiday provide the premise for this brilliant meditation on modern coupling.

Ghost Town
Zhao Dayong, China, 2008, 180m
A revealing, one-of-a-kind look at China far away from the glittering urban skylines, this portrait of a contemporary rural community in China offers extraordinary insights into everything from the role of religion to gender relationships to the place of social deviants.

Hadewijch
Bruno Dumont, France, 2009, 105m
A young woman searches for an absolute experience of faith-and in the process grows increasingly distant from the world around her.

Independencia
Raya Martin, Philippines, 2009, 77m
Maverick director Raya Martin offers a kind of alternative history of the Philippines and its struggle for nationhood in this stylized tale of a mother and son hiding in the mountains after the US takeover of the islands.

InfernoPhoto Credit: The Film Society of Lincoln Center
Inferno / L'Enfer
Serge Bromberg, France, 2009, 100m
A film buff's delight, Serge Bromberg film resurrects the surviving footage of Clouzot's aborted, experimental film L'Enfer, revealing a slightly mad but beguiling project that will always remain one of cinema's great "what ifs."

Kanikosen
Sabu, Japan, 2009, 109m
Kanikosen is a highly stylized, stirring, manga-flavored update of a classic Japanese political novel, with labor unrest aboard a crab canning ship evolving into a cry of a younger generation aching to break the bonds of conformity.

Lebanon
Samuel Maoz, Israel, 2009, 92m
Debut director Samuel Maoz takes us inside an Israeli tank and the emotions of its crew during the 1982 invasion of Lebanon.

Life During Wartime
Todd Solondz, USA, 2009, 96m
Preparing for his bar-mitzvah, a young man must deal with his divorced mother's prospective fiancé as well as rumors that his own father is not really dead.

Min Yé
Souleymane Cissé, Mali/France, 2009, 135m
A work of startling originality, Souleymane Cissé's first film in over a decade insightfully and incisively chronicles the dissolution of an upper-middle class African marriage.

Mother/ Maedo
Bong Joon-ho, South Korea, 2009, 128m
Convinced that her son has been wrongly accused of murder, a widow throws herself body and soul into proving his innocence. Kim Hye-ja in the title role gives perhaps the performance of the year.

Ne Change Rien
Pedro Costa, France/Portugal, 2009, 103m
A shimmering valentine, Costa's latest is less a portrait than a kind of visual homage, to the artistry of actor and singer Jeanne Balibar.

Police Adjective / Politist, adj.
Corneliu Porumboiu, Romania, 2009, 115m
Discovering a teenager with hashish, a young policeman hesitates about turning him in. But his supervisor has other ideas in this beautifully acted, provocative modern morality play. An IFC Films release.

Room and a Half / Poltory komnaty ili sentimentalnoe puteshtvie na rodinu
Andrey Khrzhanovsky, Russia, 2009, 131m
Former animator Andrey Khrzhanovsky combines scripted scenes, archival footage, several types of animation, and surrealist flights of fancy to create this stirring portrait of poet Josef Brodsky and the postwar Soviet cultural scene. A Seagull Films release.

SweetgrassIlisa Barbash, Lucien Castaing-Taylor, USA, 2009, 105mPhoto Credit: The Film Society of Lincoln Center
Sweetgrass
Ilisa Barbash, Lucien Castaing-Taylor, USA, 2009, 105m
This breathtaking chronicle follows an ever-surprising group of modern-day cowboys as they lead an enormous herd of sheep up and then down the slopes of the Beartooth Mountains in Montana on their way to market.

Sweet Rush / Tatarak
Andrzej Wajda, Poland/France, 2009, 85m
Celebrated master Andrzej Wajda returns with a bold, experimental work that juxtaposes a story about a terminally doctor's wife rediscovering romance thanks with a heart-rending monologue written and performed by actress Krystyna Janda about the death of her husband.

To Die Like a Man / Morrer como um homen
João Pedro Rodrigues, Portugal, 2009, 138m
This touching, finely-etched portrait follows Tonia, a veteran drag performer confronting younger competition and her boyfriend's demands that she undergo a sex change.

Vincere
Marco Bellocchio, Italy, 2009, 129m
Mussolini's "secret" marriage to Ida Dalser, afterwards completely denied by Il Duce, along with the son born from the relationship, becomes the springboard for this visually ravishing meditation on the fascist manipulation of history. An IFC Films release.

White Material
Claire Denis, France, 2009, 100m
Photo Credit: The Film Society of Lincoln Center/Wild Bunch
White Material
Claire Denis, France, 2009, 100m
A handful of Europeans try to make sense of-and survive-the chaos happening all around them in an African country torn apart by civil war.

The White Ribbon / Das weisse band
Michael Haneke, Austria/France, 2009, 144m
The Palme d'Or winner at this year's Cannes Film Festival, this is a starkly beautiful meditation on the consequences of violence-physical, emotional, spiritual-in a northern German town on the eve of World War I. A Sony Pictures Classics release.

The Wizard of Oz
Victor Fleming, 1939, USA, 103m
The 70th Anniversary of the timeless classic, presented in a spectacular newly-restored edition makes the film a new experience even for those who practically have it memorized. A Warner Bros. release.

This year the NYFF introduces Masterworks which will feature works from India and China.
- "Re-Inventing China: A New Cinema for a New Society, 1949-1966"
- "A Heart as Big as the World: The Films of Guru Dutt"
Both series will screen at the Walter Reade Theater.

There will also be: Special Events! and Views From the Avant Garde.

(Note: Always remember the Sponsors. Due to the strange way the world works, few artistic endeavors would ever exist without private sponsors.)

Sponsors:

The Film Society receives generous, year-round support from 42BELOW, GRAFF, Stella Artois, Illy Caffè, The New York State Council on the Arts, and The National Endowment for the Arts.

The 47th Annual New York Film Festival is sponsored by HBO® Films, The New York Times, and Kodak.
HBO® and related channels and service marks are the property of Home Box Office, Inc.

HUNG - A STORYLINE

noreply@blogger.com (QPORIT) — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 22:58:00 PDT

While a man may hire a prositute for sex...

According to a storyline in HUNG (on MTV), one of the ways a woman will use a prostitute (aka a "happiness consultant") is to make him care-for/love her and then break up with him to hurt him -- just the way so many men have hurt her by breaking up with her.

This show finds odd and amusing ways to illuminate m/f relationships (and also the mysteries of building a new business).

THE KENNEDY UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE BILL

noreply@blogger.com (QPORIT) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 21:15:59 PDT

When a satisfactory health care bill, giving everyone in the country affordable state of the art health care is passed by Congress, it should honor Senator Kennedy by naming the bill after him, for his career-long efforts on behalf of medical care for all the people of this country.

THE BACCHAE -- SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARK

noreply@blogger.com (QPORIT) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 23:29:20 PDT

Jonathan Groff as Dionysus & The Chorus
in The Bacchae
Photo by Joan Marcus
There’s a terrific production of The Bacchae (Βάκχαι), by Euripides’ (Εὐριπίδης), one of the greatest plays in all classic Greek theater, and indeed all theater, now at Shakespeare in the Park. Anyone with an interest in theater, Greek theater, or, generally, any theater which, remarkably, is as fresh now as if it had just been written, should see this version (playing just till Aug 30). It’s also outdoors, which is a rare connection these days with the ancient performances.

Greek gods often represented personalizations of archetypal human behavior or natural phenomena, or both. They were kind of living metaphors for strong, sometimes complex ideas.

Because the gods were archetypes, respect for the gods meant being respectful of the true nature of man and the power of nature. (Note 1 (disclaimer): This is one point of view. In one sentence. Many whole books have been written about the attitudes of Greeks to their gods.) (Note 2 (somewhat contrary view): See below: JoAnne Akalaitis, the director, takes a different point of view on the relation between the gods and men.)

Greek Gods did not exist a priori, they were created as myths, and the myths were refined by people, especially writers, and in the days of Greek theater, especially playwrights.

The story of Dionysus (aka Bacchus) and the Bacchae – the women followers of Bacchus – as described by Euripides was a combination of his invention with myths and history that were known to the Greeks. Each author that translated or adapted Euripides’ text and every director that staged the play since it was written added their own creative invention.

(Note: In a story about the National Theater of Scotland’s production of The Bacchae at Lincoln Center last year, I discussed in detail some of the alternative approaches to The Bacchae.)

Euripides’ version alludes to many themes associated with the myth of Bacchus:

THEME 1 -- It was a relatively new religion that swept in from the East.

This theme has echoes now in our modern world, where the western world is being tested by fervent promoters of a religion which is coming from the East.

THEME 2 -- Alcohol liberates the spirit, provides comfort – but also can provoke fighting.

This can be amplified to a basic cycle: a spirit of liberation, supported by forces of moderation; which is opposed by a repressive regime; and then there is an element which associates itself with the pacifist spirit, but which is violent.

This duality was certainly a part of the spirit of 1968-69 – the 40th anniversary of which we are celebrating now. It is epitomized by the journey from Woodstock (a festival of peace and love and mud) to Altamont (where, as described in Wikipedia, a member of the audience at a Rolling Stones Concert – one of whose anthems was “Sympathy for the Devil" -- was killed by a member of the Hell’s Angel’s). Or by the journey from the "summer of love" to the Manson murders.

Liberation:

Dionysus in 69
Directed by Brian De Palma & Richard Schechner, US, 1970;
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Richard Schechner

The liberation of the 60’s and its tie to the myth of Bacchus was expressed in the version of this play, Dionysus in 69.

(Note: For a look back, visit the contemporary impressions of Time magazine, and The New York Times -- access to NYT may require registration.)

The Tribe/Chorus
in Hair
Photo by Joan Marcus

It was also expressed (with Pot more than booze as the liberating drug of choice) by Hair.

Interestingly, a terrific production of Hair is currently playing on Broadway, where it was transferred after originating at Shakespeare in the Park last summer. Hair (especially the first act) could almost be an interpretation of the spirit of the Bacchic revelers in the present age.

Jonathan Groff as Claude
in Hair
Photo by Joan Marcus
It is also interesting – and more than a coincidence I would think – that the current version of The Bacchae, now playing in Shakespeare in the Park features Jonathan Groff as Bacchus. He also played Claude in last year’s Hair at The Park, and also is part of Ang Lee’s Taking Woodstock, about the festival.

The current version takes note of, but does not show (much less enjoy) the spirit of liberation. There is no sex, no nudity, no Bacchants in this production. (The chorus may be Bacchants in name, but they do not participate in any Bacchic revels.) The chorus, which in many productions takes the role of the liberated women, here are purely commentators (which they do in an especially rich fashion, as we comment below). The description of liberated women is – except in the scene with Cadmus & Tiresias (Τειρεσίας), who are sympathetic to the revels – almost entirely in terms of how Dionysus has crazed the women, especially the daughters of Cadmus.

Note: Tiresias is the blind seer. Cadmus is the old, retired legendary king of Thebes who has given his crown to his grandson, Pentheus. His daughters are: Semele, the mother of Dionysus; Agave, the mother of Pentheus; Autonoe and Ino. Dionysus is thus the cousin of Pentheus and also a grandson of Cadmus.

Dionysus claims that his father is Zeus, and therefore he has divine lineage. His mother claimed Zeus was her lover, but neither Cadmus nor his mother’s sisters believed her. This rejection is the primary motivation behind Dionysus' return to Thebes to claim the respect he and his mother were denied. Continued disrespect is the motivation for his revenge.

Revenge / Violence:

This production stresses the theme of revenge. Dionysus comes out angry. The Chorus is fierce. Dionysus gives Pentheus a chance to respect him. When Pentheus does not, Dionysus arranges for Pentheus to be brutally murdered by his own mother.

On one level this is a counter-reaction of violence to repression. On another level, this is the representation (we alluded to before) of the aspect of drink that makes people fight.

Depending on how you view the play, this is

An expression of the barbarism of a pagan religion,
Or the realistic depiction of the fury that gods unleash when you do not pay them the respect they require,
Or the metaphorical description of the consequences of ignoring the reality the god represents.
(Or just fury -- its a god, no reason needed, see theme 4.)

THEME 3 – Cross dressing

In the course of his revenge Dionysus convinces Pentheus to dress as a woman so that he will not be attacked by the Bacchants.

This is a strange statement on the face of it, since earlier Euripides’ has (at least according to most translations) suggested that men and women were making love among the revelries and, besides, Cadmus and Tiresias had just gone up to join the revelers. The simplest explanation is that Dionysus was lying to Pentheus.

Pentheus expresses reluctance to wear a woman’s clothes, and the reaction the play seems to be looking for is that Pentheus is humiliated by dressing as a woman.

Jonathan Groff as Dionysus
With a smear of red lipstick
in The Bacchae
Photo by Joan Marcus
Bacchus, himself, in myths is portrayed as half-man half-woman. And stage directions in many versions of the play describe Dionysus, when he comes in, as having long blond hair, kind of androgynous. In this production, Dionysus wears just a smear of lipstick.

Anne Hathaway as Viola
in Twelfth Night
Photo by Joan Marcus

Some commentators on the play treat the theme of cross dressing as the paramount theme of the play. Indeed the ads for this whole summer’s Shakespeare in the Park stress Cross Dressing: the other play this summer being Twelfth Night, in which Viola (played by Anne Hathaway) dresses as a man.

(Note: Viola dresses as a man to be safe going around in a strange country by herself (aka himself). It was, of course, convenient for Shakespeare to have women dressed as young men, since they were, in fact, being played by young men.)

Neither play seems to make too much of cross dressing in these productions. (It was a much more important part of The Scottish Theater’s version of The Bacchae.) With respect to how cross-dressing illuminates the relation between men and women, they do take almost the same view (that in the world they live in, men are more important) in very different ways (inflating women and deflating men in Shakespeare; mostly mocking women and – perhaps mockingly – almost worshipping hunting and killing as manliness in The Bacchae).

Twelfth Night notes how a woman can be just as manly as a man, when people think she’s a man. It bursts a bubble of assumed superiority for men, and elevates woman to the same level as a man.

The Bacchae, in the person of Agave, boasts how a woman can be just as strong as a man when she is crazed, while Pentheus, dressed as a woman is mocked: Men are strong, women are maddened by Dionysus; when a man is maddened, he is made to play the role of a woman and mocked; a woman can think she is as strong as a man only if she is maddened. In this view, Euripides is quite a misogynist. (Other interpretations of Euripides, stressing the androgynous nature of Dionysus, and the freedom and independence of women in the Dionysian rites, are quite different.)

THEME 4 – Human powerlessness in the face of irrational gods

I had no direct access to the creative team, but the NYT quotes JoAnne Akalaitis, the director, as saying the play is “partly about human powerlessness in the face of irrational gods…” In this interpretation, Dionysus is not even revenging himself, his fury is irrational.

(If one wishes to put this irrationality in context, it could be tied back to the idea that excessive drinking makes one irrational, and to a modern notion that the gods of Greece were pagan gods.)

THE STAGING

There is an additional element in the interpretation of a play, especially a Greek play, and that is how the play is staged.

In the story I referred to above, I discussed the staging of the play last year by The National Theater of Scotland. That staging was notable for its ability to find humor in the text, and for cross-dressing, and for its vivid effects.

The Chorus
in The Bacchae
Photo by Joan Marcus

In addition to being outdoors! (as Greek plays were originally staged), the most notable element of the staging in The Park is the magnificent score by Philip Glass, and the singing, chanting, dancing and appearance of the chorus. It is almost operatic, and is the central element for most of the play. (In the program, Eustis, the Artistic Director of The Public Theater, says the chorus was “almost really the starting point for this entire endeavor.”)

Watching The Bacchae, and listening, I thought back to the last opera I saw: Doctor Atomic, with a score by John Adams. There is something about our times that is bringing a certain musical sensibility, large in scope, concerned with real and mythical events, recent and ancient events, that remind us of the precariousness of our situation, comfortable at home, but threatened by the possibility of imminent cataclysm.

There is a similarity between our times and the times when Euripides wrote The Bacchae – Athens was in grave danger, both militarily, politically, and philosophically, with much of the danger coming from Persia and the East. The Bacchae may be 2,400 years old, but it is a modern play, and this is a timely production.

(Note: It has little to do with rest of this article, but I just wanted to note that these are extraordinary photos by Joan Marcus. These are not only great shots, but they show the extraordinary concentration and the incredible life that is going on with every one of the characters shown in the pictures. They are a great tribute both to the productions, and to the photographer.)

BRAZILIAN FILM FESTIVAL WRAP-UP

noreply@blogger.com (QPORIT) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 22:00:55 PDT

The Brazilian Film Festival (officially named "VII Cine Fest Petrobras Brasil-NY") presented a balanced picture of an eclectic film industry in a huge country with political stability and somewhat more economic stability – and growth – than most of the world. It was very enjoyable.

Aside from well known, beautiful and talented superstars (eg Sonia Braga, Alice Braga, Giselle Bundchen) of Brazilian origin, Brazil has a reservoir of great talent... less well known outside of Brazil. And there was a lot of talent on display in the films in the festival.

There is a charming feeling of relaxed sexuality, and adult behavior in the films (and the performance of Silvia Machete at the opening night party). Indeed, one feature of the films was they were mostly about adults. (As one member of the organizing committee told me, we don’t need to make films for or about kids and teens; the Americans take care of that.) The center of gravity for the fictional characters was about 40 years old and moderately prosperous. Many of the documentaries were about even older musicians.

The strongest of the films I saw (I saw many, but not all the films) were Romance, an original, bright romantic comedy, and Veronica, a well-written action/chase movie. Overall, the greatest strength in the films was the acting; good writing, and a very personal dedication was also evident in the great labor it took to make the films, especially the documentaries.

The weakness of the films that I saw included a tendency to be safe in their overall stories, an almost complete lack of expensive effects – for example, low light graininess seemed more like cheap filmmaking than sophisticated style. And some really terrible subtitles (sometimes invisible white words on white backgrounds, sometimes ungrammatical, incomprehensible or even nonsensical translations – it seems like many people in Brazil speak good English – except for the translators who work on subtitles). The movies, while very good, seemed in some cases to not quite fully achieve the scope and edge in story and technique of great feature films.

I’m just guessing here, but the causes of these limitations could be: a home market that can not support very expensive films; a funding system that does not facilitate independent, well-budgeted, cutting edge films (which, of course, is true everywhere); and inexperience with all the possibilities of feature films as a medium different from TV.

The films shown include glimpses of a stable, prosperous country, the Brazilian musical scene, some corruption, and a lot of sexually charged relationships. Yet, the stories could have even greater scope and more edge, the moment-to-moment activity could be more complex and subtle, the visual canvas can be much broader, including more spectacular and diverse locations; and there is still room for more passion to underlie the films about what is really exciting about Brazil.

Also, getting someone who speaks native English to produce the final subtitles would be an instant boost to the films in the American market.

Young Brazilian pop singing superstarSandy Lima
on the Red Carpet for Wandering HeartPhoto by Eric Roffman for QPORIT

The opening of Wandering Heart, about the highly respected musician, Caetano Veloso, was the occasion for the Red Carpet event, though it could have been more exciting, with some prominent celebrities being no-shows. Indeed, more actors and actresses could have come for the screenings and all the parties to promote their films, the festival, and above all, themselves.

As a note to the organizers of all festival parties for filmmakers and journalists, I would like to make a suggestion for the name badges (brilliantly implemented by Esther Dyson at her tech events, by the way): Name tags should be huge, and the name and the person’s reason for attendance (eg the film’s name, and the person’s role – actor, director, producer…) should be able to be easily read by anybody nearby. It makes the people you want to meet so much easier to find, and conversations so much easier to start.

For all that, the festival itself was fun, with good screenings, parties, and a nighttime disco.

The Brazil on display is a Brazil I have always wanted to visit.

With a large TV industry to provide a reservoir of technical and – especially – great acting talent, and a huge, diverse, and untapped environment, Brazil provides a unique prospect as a site for movie makers to set their movies.

Here are some reviews of specific films and the opening event:

SILVIA MACHETE

With a sly, engaging personality and a performance that is both retro and avant garde, Silvia Machete gave a real boost to the festival on opening night.

Performing at the Central Park SummerStage, in the open air in beautiful weather, after a day of horrible rain, she thanked the organizers for inviting her, mentioning that she lived in New York for a while -- giving street performances in Central Park, and suspected this might be the first time the police would ever let her finish her performance.

She has a nice voice, a pleasant jazzy style in both English and Portuguese, and fine back-up musicians. She performed her distinctive set-piece: hand rolling and lighting a “cigarette,” whose ingredients are stashed in various parts of her anatomy and clothing, while twirling a hula hoop. She also was taken up on her offer to give a free disc to some young man in the audience who would come up on stage and suck her toe (sic… yup… he did that… she did that).

Gloria Pires and Tony Ramos
If I Were You 2
If I WERE YOU 2

If I Were You 2 was shown on the open air screen at Central Park on opening night.

This is a pleasant, enjoyable, amusing comedy. The acting and directing are very good in this role-reversal film, and the visual style is pleasant. The projection in Central Park, even before it was fully dark was excellent.

It is said to be the most successful domestic Brazilian film of the year (maybe ever). I was told that it grossed about 1.5 million dollars, which does set a limit on Brazilian domestic box office, and indicates why it may be difficult to provide large budgets for any films not likely to be a big success domestically and internationally.

The film conveys a feeling of a prosperous and stable society, which may be just the image the festival had in mind for its opening night. The film is kind of old fashioned both in style and content. In truth, the film could have been made in the US 50 to 75 years ago (if they had color then).

The couple’s young daughter, whose boyfriend has gotten her pregnant, is played by Isabelle Drummond, (actually, Isabelle Christine Lourenço Gomes Drummond), an impressive young actress. I was a bit confused by the dialog which refers to her boyfriend as a pedophile and exploiter of young girls, because she looks well over the age of consent and sophisticated and beautiful enough to be experienced. According to IMDB, however, she was actually only about 14 when she made this film, which explains a lot. Brazilians may be used to such young beauties, but for the external market, it would have been helpful to place her in a classroom with some young friends to set more context. Americans are used to seeing 25 year old actors play 16 year old high school students. Understanding that an actress who looks, perhaps, 18-19, is actually only 14, and supposed to be playing 15-16, is not intuitive for an American audience.

I enjoyed this film. It was a good start for the festival.

Andrea Beltrao with Matheus de Sá
Veronica
VERONICA

This rather gritty chase film / thriller begins with excellent dialog and a setup that could come from Hitchcock: A burnt-out, everywoman teacher helps a child who is not picked up after school, and finds herself protecting the boy from drug dealers and corrupt, drug-dealing cops who want to kill him, like they killed his parents, to recover the recording his father, an informer, made of their drug transactions (a recording which the father, rather dangerously, gave the kid to take to school in the morning as kind of a necklace).

The acting is excellent. Andrea Beltrao – who plays the teacher here, (and a very different character in Romance) throws herself into the role, and Matheus de Sá playing the boy is pitch perfect. The style is grainy and realistic (though it seems sometimes to be more ugly-ish and grainy because of the budget than because it’s the best choice for the film).

I found myself just a little put off by the way the script portrays the teacher as a 20 year veteran teacher and “one of the best teachers in the school” since she seems totally confused at first about what to do with a student who is not picked up; and completely unfamiliar with the neighborhood. (In 20 years there must have been students not picked up on time; and you’d think she’d know the neighborhood better.) It might have been just a bit more credible for me if she was, at least, new to that particular school.

The way it ends is interesting. Not to give too much away, the ending is neither too pat, nor too easy and over-optimistic.

Letícia Sabatella and Wagner Moura
Romance

ROMANCE

This very nice romantic comedy deals with many issues that arise in theater, TV, and films:

1 -- A director and an actress love each other. But he is jealous, she is beautiful, and there are so many handsome actors, talented directors, and rich producers around...

2 – Theater can be awfully stagy.

3 – There’s much more money in TV than in theater.

4 – Theatuh is about the wuhrk, people should come for the ahht, not to see a famous actress.

5a – Happy endings can be unrealistic. Depressing endings are bad for box office.

5b – Classic theater pieces (especially Tristan and Iseult, Romeo and Juliet, etc) have classically tragic endings. TV and films usually have happy endings. When a classic tragedy is adapted for popular TV, should it end as happy/TV or classic/tragedy?

5c – For that matter, how should the movie itself end? It starts with classic theatrical tragedy and ends in the theater, but it’s a film with popular aspirations.

The acting is excellent again here, Letitia Sabatella, as the actress, is beautiful and sympathetic. Letitia is also active in issues involving native Brazilians, and is the co-director of Hotxua. Andrea Beltrao, who is very good as the lead in Veronica, plays a very different sort of character here. These are two terrific actresses. Wagner Moura, who plays the director, is also very good.

This film is interesting, romantic, amusing and interesting. It begins with kind of an arty, arch, theatrical start (… well, after all, it begins by portraying an arty, arch, theatrical production, so I guess that style is appropriate). But the film becomes warmer and more and more naturalistic as it develops, -- and better and better -- finishing with a warm, comic flair.

Of course, half the final joke is that the warm comic flair of the finale is exactly what the character of the Director objected to in his TV film. The other half of the joke is that at the end of the film, now that he's got his girl, he's delighted to have a happy ending. (Note: It is hardly a "spoiler" to reveal that a romantic comedy called "Romance" has a comedic, romantic ending.)

Arnaldo Baptista

Loki -- Arnaldo Baptista is an old fashioned, threadbare documentary and a very interesting film about a very interesting subject -- Arnaldo Baptista, a musician who was instrumental in developing the evolution of Brazilian music. It is a portrait of a unique personality. It is also a story of love lost. In an interview, Sean Lennon says of Arnaldo, he has "the soul of a child." That could have been the title of this film.

The director/producers went to extraordinary lengths to obtain fascinating archival footage. This film, directed by Paulo Henrique Fontenelle, won the Festival's Crystal Lens Award for Best Feature Film, by the vote of the audience.

In contrast to the older music of Loki, the documentary Favella On Blast concentrates on the baile funk, music with its roots in one of the most violent and poor places, the shanty towns in Rio de Janeiro.

Fernando Grostein Andrade
Director of Wandering HeartPhoto by Eric Roffman for QPORIT
I did not have the chance to see Wandering Heart, but I did have a chance to chat with the director, who strikes me as extraordinarily skilled. He has accomplished a lot while very young, and he’s also charming. He is a good bet to become an important filmmaker.

The presence of three documentaries about music (and one fictionalized film version of a true story -- see below) testifies to the importance of musical traditions in the Brazilian culture.

Selton Mello and Alessandra Negrini
The Herb Of The Rat

HERB OF THE RAT

This bizarre film (co-directed, and written by Júlio Bressane -- based on some famous stories) is sensuous, sexual, visually interesting, and logically completely incoherent. It has some of the worst subtitles ever; but I suspect that even in its native language it is better with the sound track off.

The cinematography and, especially, the actors, however, are very good. Selton Mello is a distinguished actor in Brazil, with many awards. The actress, Alessandra Negrini, of whom we see a lot in this film (and even more is available online), is a fine actress and very attractive. Her Cleopatra, from 2007, also directed by Júlio Bressane, won numerous awards in Brazil, including best actress for Alessandra.

The film has three distinct sections: the beginning could be a satire of an art film; the middle section is sexual and, except for the dialog, engrossing; toward the end it’s just gross… and also ridiculous: sort-of a bloodless, tensionless, pointless, horrorless, would-be horror film. I don't particularly like the title, which seems like a bad translation for the name of a poison. The film might perhaps better be called The Rat & The Pussy.

Watch the middle.

CHILDREN’S ORCHESTRA

This fictional recreation of a real story, for most of the movie, presents the universal epic of a fledgling arts organization trying to organize in the face of financial and political obstacles. The insanely rapid progress the students make in their musical abilities, without obvious instruction, is a bit fake, but it’s fun. The young performers in the films are terrific, both in music and acting; and the young girl singer has an especially beautiful voice.

The first hour could (and should) be shown to every young orchestra and every municipal council anywhere in the world. But then for a short while, this story gets really ugly: a child kidnapped, beaten and abused physically, then abused some more -- psychologically -- by corrupt investigators; the maestro falsely accused of sexual abusing his students; suicide, blood, would-be murder. This awful stuff is over quickly, but it makes the film unsuitable for most audiences that would most appreciate it.

It’s also over too quickly to be a really adequate dramatization of the exceptional corruption and venality that made this story famous, or the exceptional way that media coverage, community support, and judicial review resolved the problems. (The story could have been a two-part movie or TV mini-series, with the “ugly” part given 90 minutes all its own.)

Happily the end credits suggest that the orchestra and teaching institution are flourishing and the children involved have gone on to successful lives, mostly with professional careers in music.

Adriana Dutra
Director
Smoking I Wait

Smoking I Wait is an earnest film that presents a compelling description of many aspects of the tobacco problem: the difficulty of quitting (the director uses herself as the guinea pig); the addiction and marketing of cigarettes, the history of tobacco, and more. The attractive and affable Adriana L. Dutra is the director, the face of the story and, as it happens, also one of the organizers of the film festival.

WRAP-UP PART II: THE WRAP-UP WRAP-UP

Looking back over all the films in the festival and the whole experience, I am pleasantly impressed. There’s room for improvement in the quality of the films, yet the handmade feeling also provides a warm, personal feeling that gives the viewer the feeling of being really there, close to the action and the filmmaker, and not removed by a degree or two – the way films that are too sophisticated exist at a remove from the viewer.

The acting was exceptional.

There is enormous opportunity, I think, for filmmakers to tap into the Brazilian world, and Brazilian talent. And when major financiers put more financial support into the technical quality of the films, it will be easy for homemade Brazilian films to expand aggressively into the world market.

This festival travels around the world. It's worth visiting whenever it comes to your city.

I’m already looking forward to next year’s Brazilian Film Festival.