Festivals & Events

“MAN WITH A MOVIE CAMERA” AT STRANGER THAN FICTION

Since part of the mission of Stranger Than Fiction is to promote “lost gems,” it should come as no surprise that programmer Thom Powers would choose to screen Dziga Vertov’s Man With A Movie Camera, a little seen (outside of film schools) Soviet classic that has had a profound influence on everything from Jean-Luc Godard to car commercials. A mish-mash of documentary material and visual effects, Man With a Movie Camera is a rapidly edited documentary experiment — and perhaps the world’s first music video. Last night’s screening featured a modern score arranged by John Walter, an editor and filmmaker […]

By Mary Anderson Casavant on May 26, 2010 Festivals & Events
“UNCLE BOONMEE” TOPS CANNES WINNERS

The 63rd edition of the Cannes Film Festival wrapped up this evening in France with Apichatpong Weerasethakul‘s Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (pictured) taking the coveted Palme d’Or. Other winners include Xavier Beauvois‘s Of God and Men receiving the Grand Prix, Mathieu Amalric winning Best Director for Tournee, Juliette Binoche was awarded Best Actress for Certified Copy and in a tie Javier Bardem (Biutiful) and Elio Germano (La Nostra Vita) won Best Actor. See full list of winners below. Palme d’Or: Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul Grand Prix (runner-up): Des […]

By Jason Guerrasio on May 23, 2010 Festivals & Events
“HA HA HA” WINS UN CERTAIN REGARD

South Korean filmmaker Hong Sangsoo‘s Ha Ha Ha received top honors for Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section last night. The jury also gave a special award to the three actresses from Ivan Fund and Santiago Losa’s Los Labios (The Lips), Adela Sanchez, Eva Bianco, and Victoria Raposo. The main Cannes jury awards will be announced later today.

By Jason Guerrasio on May 23, 2010 Festivals & Events
@CANNES: “MYTH OF THE AMERICAN SLEEPOVER” DIRECTOR DAVID ROBERT MITCHELL

One of the discoveries of the 2010 Cannes Film Festival was a film that actually premiered at SXSW: David Robert Mitchell’s Myth of the American Sleepover. Receiving its international premiere in the Critics Week section, Myth of the American Sleepover is a dreamy, romantic, and wistful take on the amorous longings of our teenage years. It’s set during one night in which Mitchell’s various teen characters crisscross their Michigan town between several sleepovers, all-night slumber parties, and general hang outs. Without stooping to farfetched plot elements or melodramatic contrivances, the film compels our viewing by nailing just the right tone […]

By Scott Macaulay on May 22, 2010 Festivals & Events
BROOKLYN INTERNATIONAL FILM FEST ANNOUNCES TITLES

The 13th annual Brooklyn International Film Festival (BiFF) will be held June 4th-13th at indieScreen and the Brooklyn Heights Cinema. This year’s BiFF will feature over 100 premieres from 92 countries, including a record 16 films made by Brooklyn filmmakers on Brooklyn sets. For more information, please visit: www.brooklynfilmfestival.org. Some of the feature films to be shown: Gabi on the Roof in July | NY Premiere Director: Lawrence Michael Levine Narrative Feature / United States, 2010 99 min An edgy character-driven ensemble comedy about ex-girlfriends, sibling rivalry and whipped cream set in a city that’s constantly in flux. Bad Day […]

By Jaimie Stettin on May 19, 2010 Festivals & Events
NANTUCKET FILM FEST CELEBRATES 15th ANNIVERSARY WITH STARS AND “TOY STORY 3”

In celebration of its 15th anniversary, The Nantucket Film Festival (NFF) is expanding its program to include more special guests and events. This year, NFF will present an All-Star Comedy Roundtable presented and moderated by Ben Stiller and featuring Sarah Silverman and Zach Galifianakis. Its annual Screenwriting Tribute will honor a trinity of Academy Award winning writers, including Barry Levinson (Diner), Michael Arndt (Toy Story 3), and Davis Guggenheim (Waiting for “Superman”). And the fest will screen Toy Story 3 for it’s opening night. See full list of films below. For passes and more detailed information, please visit: www.nantucketfilmfestival.org. Ticket […]

By Jaimie Stettin on May 19, 2010 Festivals & Events
“MY PERESTROIKA” AT STRANGER THAN FICTION

Like history itself, historical documentaries tend to be written by the winners – experts whose “greatest hits” style approach is as comforting as the muzak that plays underneath their interviews. Last night’s Stranger Than Fiction featured director Robin Hessman’s My Perestroika, a documentary so good at breaking the rules of historical docs that it makes you question why anyone ever follows them. Hessman focuses on the Meyersons, an ordinary Moscow couple who teach history at the same school they attended as children. Struggling to articulate what it meant to grow up Soviet to a group of students that did not, […]

By Mary Anderson Casavant on May 19, 2010 Festivals & Events
“BIUTIFUL” SHINES AT CANNES

I ran into another New York film critic last night. I said that this doesn’t seem to be a very good Cannes. Her answer was, “No masterpieces so far.” The closest is, according to many journalists here, Mike Leigh’s Another Year. Not for me, however. It’s fine, filming a middle-class family (with working-class roots) against four distinct seasons. The problem is that Leigh’s renowned “rehearsal method,” in which actors develop their characters over time, before a script is written, backfired a bit. The usually dependable Leslie Manville channels Brenda Blethyn in Secrets & Lies, but overdoes the tics and drunken […]

By Howard Feinstein on May 17, 2010 Festivals & Events
‘LIFE 2.0? AT STRANGER THAN FICTION

For enthusiasts of Second Life, a 3-D virtual world that enables users to interact with each other through avatars, all the hype surrounding Avatar must have seemed kind of overblown. After all, they’d been living their own science fiction fantasies for years, and their virtual world reflects the fantasies of millions of people, not just Mr. Cameron’s. Last night, Stranger Than Fiction featured a screening of Life 2.0, a dreamy documentary that explores what happens when people start living a Second Life. Director Jason Spingarn-Koff explores the phenomena from the inside – his filmmaker avatar straps on a digital camera and […]

By Mary Anderson Casavant on May 12, 2010 Festivals & Events
FILMMAKERS TAKE CHARGE AT THE MARYLAND FILM FESTIVAL

Tomorrow, May 6, through Sunday May 9 runs the Maryland Film Festival, which includes this year a one-day conference on Friday entitled “Filmmakers Taking Charge.” The festival itself has a pretty excellent schedule and then there is the conference, which is described like this: This intimate event is a daylong set of case study roundtables and networking opportunities focused on identifying methods to connect audiences and filmmakers in an increasingly overpopulated (and tech-savvy) market. The conference will bring visiting and local filmmakers together with a variety of distributors, critics, and exhibitors in a spirit of mutual support and cooperation that […]

By Scott Macaulay on May 5, 2010 Festivals & Events

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