Wednesday, July 10--------Although it does not start for almost two more months, the first press releases from the Toronto International Film Festival (www.tiff08.ca) are already stirring up anticipation for what has become one of the top film festival events in the world. Overlapping with the closing days of the Venice Film Festival and immediately following the boutique Telluride Film Festival in Colorado, the Canadian juggernaut is viewed by many industry insiders as the official start of the fall film season and the first chapter in what has become an extended “awards season”. 

The independent and international film industries, which have been battered these past few months with downbeat economic realities and troubling closures of several major American and European distribution companies, are looking to Toronto to provide a ray of sunshine in an otherwise gloomy forecast. Whether Toronto can provide that shot of adrenaline that the industry desperately needs is still unclear, but the first announcements of films to screen at the prestigious showcase are already generating considerable industry buzz and speculation.  

Two highly anticipated European films were announced a few days ago in the first of several programming announcements that will be sequentially released over the next month. Good, a UK/German co-production by Brazilian director Vicente Amorim, will have its world premiere at the event. Viggo Mortensen stars as John Halder, a literature professor in the 1930s who writes a novel advocating compassionate euthanasia. His interest in “mercy killing” is quite personal….he has a neurotic wife, two demanding children and a mother suffering from senile dementia. When the book is unexpectedly enlisted by powerful political figures in support of government propaganda, Halder encounters a troubling moral dilemma with personal consequences. The film, director Amorim’s follow up to his 2003 The Middle Of The World, also stars Jason Isaacs, Jodie Whittaker, Mark Strong and Gemma Jones. It was produced by London-based production company Good Films and German shingle Miromar Entertainment. For more information and to view a trailer, visit the film’s official website: www.goodthefilm.com

Toronto serves as the North American festival premiere for the celebrated Italian film Il Divo, directed by Paolo Sorrentino. The Italian/French co-production won the Jury Prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. The film is a biopic of the controversial Italian prime minister Giulio Andreotti, who was elected to the office seven times over a 40 year political career. In many ways, he held  the fate of Italy in his h (...)

Tuesday, July 1----------With the American economy in the crapper and the dollar at near record lows, a trip to the Cannes Film Festival has become an inexpensive indulgence, even for the media professionals who “must” be there. For the general public, who may be curious about what goes on along the famed shores of the Riviera, the difficulty of being part of the Cannes action is doubly difficult. Well, for the past month, Cannes has been made affordable and surprisingly accessible, with the celebrations of the 40th anniversary of the Directors’ Fortnight at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s BAMcinématek. 

The “Quinzaine des Realisateurs” as it is known in France, emerged in the volatile year of 1968, when student, worker and film activists actually closed down the Festival, as part of the general uprising known as the “May events”. The Festival, which had been the very definition of elitism, needed a good pummeling, and one of the results of its trauma was the creation of a section at the event that would be shielded from the commercial pressure and paparazzi insanity and concentrate strictly on the auteur and his/her oeuvre (which the French still romantically call the “seventh art”). The Directors’ Fortnight became a haven for art appreciation, administered by the French directors’ guild and building a reputation for artistic integrity and independence.

For the past month, as New York suffers through its hottest June in half a century, the Brooklyn Academy of Music (www.bam.org)

has offered (air conditioned) refuge with a survey of some of the extraordinary international films that had their first unveilings in the Directors’ Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.  The Directors’ Fortnight at 40 was mounted in collaboration with La Quinzaine des Réalisateurs, Unifrance, the French Cultural Services, and co-presented with FIAF (French Institute Alliance Française).

This series combined past and current international selections from the 40-year history of the prestigious showcase. The festivities began on June 13 with a week-long run of Jacques Rivette’s Céline and Julie Go Boating (Céline et Julie vont en bateau) (1974), starring Juliet Berto, Bulle Ogier, Marie-France Pisier, and Dominique Labourier, in a recently stuck print courtesy of BFI. Following the rare week-long run, the series kicked off in earnest with a “who’s who” of international cinema superstars. First off, was German iconoclast Rainer Werner Fassbinder, who was represented by his most accessible and intriguing film, Fox and His Friends (Faustrecht der Freiheit) (1975). Next on were a pair of black-and-white films about the post-punk British music scene, Radio On (1979) by Christopher Petit (featuring Sting in his first role) (...)

Wednesday, June 25-------Jerry Rudes is a man on a mission. For the past quarter century, he has lived with one foot in New York and the other in the lovely Provence city of Avignon, France. Reflecting his own dual domiciles, he founded the Avignon Film Festival in 1984 as a “transatlantic crossroads of independent cinema”. When asked to comment on his original inspiration for founding the event, Rudes told of a memorable encounter with filmmaker Agnès Varda. “When I first went to Cannes and started complaining about it, she scolded me: “Stop complaining”, she said, “and start your own.” The entrepreneur followed this simple but sage advice, building the Avignon event into one of the most respected intimate showcases for American and European cinema. In the past decade, Rudes replicated his winning formula with a companion event in New York City that also brought together European and American cineastes.

For the 25th anniversary, which opens this evening and continues through the weekend, “jolting Jerry” has assembled a truly eclectic mix of films from both emerging and acknowledged film directors. For the American feature film competition, films include: Goodbye Baby (Daniel Schechter), the story of a bright and beautiful young woman pursuing her dream of becoming a stand-up comic in New York City’s legendary comedy club scene; On The Doll (Thomas Mignon), a film that interweaves three disparate stories to tell a painful tale about how child abuse colors the victims’ later lives; Sita Sings the Blues (Nina Paley), a charming film based on the Indian epic Ramayana, which includes a trio of hilarious shadow puppets and a soundtrack of vocal stylings by the singer Annette Hanshaw; Suspension (Ethan Shaftel and Alec Joler), a powerful story of the redemption of a man who loses his wife and son in a terrible car accident; and The Cake Eaters (Mary Stuart Masterson), a sensitive story of intertwining lives and loves in a sleepy Hudson Valley farming community, which features a multi-generational cast of veterans (Bruce Dern, Elizabeth Ashley) and up-and-coming young talents.

European features in the program include: Affaire de Famille (France, Claus Drexel), a compelling portrait of a Grenoble family whose orderly lives are scrambled by one extraordinary event that tears their world apart; Black (France, Pierre Laffargue), an international thriller that follows the bankrobbing career of a Senegalese man who tries for one last score before retiring; The Understudy (UK, Hannah Davis and David Conolly), a winning morality tale about an unemployed New York actress ekes out a living by providing daycare for a blind woman; and Whatever Lola Wants (France/Canada (...)

by Sandy Mandelberger, Festival Circuit Editor 

Friday, June 5-----While June is still celebrated as “gay pride month” in North America, the LGBT (that’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender for you neophytes) film calendar actually has become a year-round phenomenon, making every season a new reason to think pink. In all, there are close to 100 separate LGBT film festivals in the U.S. and Canada. The most well-known take place in such gay meccas as New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami and Chicago in the U.S. and Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal in Canada. California alone has 14 LGBT festival events, Queer Filmistan, devoted to gay South Asian cinema and Tranny Fest, focused on transgender films.  

LGBT festivals are even held in some unlikely places. What is it like presenting a gay festival in conservative Oklahoma? According to Phillip Au, director of the OUT OK—Oklahoma Gay And Lesbian Film Festival“ we cannot rely on traditional means of advertising since the mainstream media either ignores us or shuns us. We get no financial support from the city or local agencies. Even finding a theater willing to house us has proven a challenge. But in the end, the rewards are great since the Festival provides a gay outlet for locals and, hopefully, opens up a few others to understanding our community a little better.”

In aggregate, the circuit creates a kind of alternative distribution for the many films that will not be picked up for traditional theatrical distribution. “We pretty much launch all our gay-themed titles on the festival circuit”, Jon Gerrans, co-president of Strand Releasing told me. “These festivals bring out the films’ target audience.  LGBT festivals are now one our most useful tools in generating awareness. In many markets, the festival exposure may be the only exposure the film may get.”

“The circuit is definitely a viable alternative distribution track”, New York’s NewFest director Basil Tsiokos added. “With so few films getting wide releases, we encourage our filmmakers to use the momentum generated at the festivals to drive dvd sales, digital downloads and non-theatrical sales.”

The LGBT Film Festival season officially kicks off in April in Miami. This year, the Miami Gay And Lesbian Film Festival (www.mglff.com) celebrated its 10th anniversary in high style with film premieres and a rash of chic parties. Take the Festival’s opening night…..Festival Director Carol Coombes appeared on-stage in a pink mini-dress with thigh-high silver go-go boots that attracted as much delighted applause as the opening film, Breakfast With Scot. Afterwards, local tourist attraction Jungle Island was decked out in a fanciful “winter-wonderland-in-the-tropics” atmosphere (to match the film’s “home-for-the-holidays” theme).

Parties aside, films premiering in Miami were also of high calibre.  When I Knew, is a touching collection of personal realization stories compiled by directors Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato ( (...)

 Campbell Scott and Jeff Abramson at 2007 Gen Art Film Festival

Friday, April 4-----The 13th edition of the Gen Art Film Festival kicked off festivities on Wednesday night with the East Coast Premiere screening of DIMINISHED CAPACITY, a family drama starring Matthew Broderick and Alan Alda. The Festival continues through next Tuesday, showcasing one feature film and accompanying short film per night, followed by a party at some of New York’s most trendy nightspots. On the eve of the Festival, I interviewed Jeff Abramson, Head of the Film Division for Gen Art, the national non-profit membership organization that showcases emerging talents in the fields of visual arts, music, dance, fashion and film.

Sandy Mandelberger (SM): So, where will the Festival be held this year, since I understand that the Chelsea West has closed?

Jeff Abramson (JA): Well, actually we’re in the same venue as last year, only known its called the School of Visual Arts Screening Room. The School recently purchased the theater, which they are going to use for both classes and multimedia displays. They are really bending over backwards, since the deal just closed in mid February. The theater is undergoing renovation and will be a leader in the presentation of digital and 35mm cinema. We’re really glad to be back there, since it is a perfect location mid-way between downtown and uptown.

SM: The Opening Night Film is going to be presented at the Ziegfeld Theater. Why do it there and when did you first become aware of the film, DIMINISHED CAPACITY?

JA: This is the third year that we are presenting the Opening Night Film at the Ziegfeld. As the largest single-screen theater left in Manhattan, just being there is an event. It is such a thrill for the filmmakers to have their film presented in such a beautiful space, with a large screen and perfect sound. When I first came to New York from Minneapolis, this was the theater that really made me fall in love with the movies. So I am so thrilled to share that excitement with visiting filmmakers and our audiences. As for the film, I first saw it at Sundance and felt that it really had the qualities that are right for an Opening Night Film…..great acting, direction and a lot of heart. The fact that the film is very New York-based is also a big plus, so that we can have the director, the producers and the actors Matthew Broderick, Bobby Canavale and Alan Alda on hand for the excitement. This is the kind of film that brings the New York community together.

SM: April is such a busy month for film festivals in New York, with New Directors/New Films at the end of March running into April and Tribeca Film Festival a few weeks from now. How do you position Gen Art in this busy festival season?

JA: We decided to move the Festival a little earlier so that we would be further away from Tribeca. It’s not that they are such big competition for us, but their program (...)

ST. TRINIAN'S 

Monday, March 31------When you host a well-organized film event on a beautiful island in the Atlantic Ocean, the appeal is instantaneous. For the Bermuda International Film Festival, which kicked off its eleventh season this past Friday, the mix of top flight films and a genial atmosphere make for a winning combination. 

The Festival opened on Friday night with the audience pleaser ST. TRINIAN'S, a comedic farce by director Oliver Parker, best known for his film adaptations of the Oscar Wilde plays THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST and AN IDEAL HUSBAND. This current romp stars Rupert Everett, Colin Firth, Stephen Fry and Mischa Barton. The film tells the hysterical tale of the efforts of a motley crew of ungovernable teenage girls who use their wit and ingenuity to save St Trinian's School from bankruptcy. The film has been a major box office hit in its native UK since its release last Christmas. 

In all, this year’s Festival welcomes almost 80 films from 32 countries. Closing the Festival on April 5 will be the highly acclaimed THE BAND’S VISIT, which was the major winner at this year’s Israeli Oscars, as well as picking up prizes at the Cannes, Montreal, Munich, Palm Springs and Tokyo film festivals.

The core of the Festival are the two competition categories, one for Narrative Features, the other for Documentary Features. Among the high profile films competing in the Narrative Feature Competition are the Santa Barbara Film Festival winner AMAL, the Cannes Film Fsetival sleeper hit CARAMEL, the Rotterdam Film Festival winner WONDERFUL TOWN, the Goya Award prize winner XXY from Argentina, as well as other film festival circuit hits, such as BUDDHA COLLAPSED OUT OF SHAME, ISKA’S JOURNEY, THE BIG SHOT-CALLER and YOUNG PEOPLE FUCKING. All will compete for the Mary Jean Mitchell-Green Award, which carries a $5000 first prize. 

The Documentary Feature Competition also boast a high caliber roster of non-fiction works from around the world, including DEMOCRACY IN DKAR, GAHAN WILSON: BORN DEAD, STILL WEIRD, IRON LADIES OF LIBERIA, JERUSALEM IS PROUD TO PRESENT, SAVING LUNA, SILHOUETTE CITY, SOUVENIRS and VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE: TALES FROM KOSOVO. 

All features in the Festival are eligible for the Bacardi Limited Audience Choice Award, which includes a cash prize of $3000. New this year at the festival is a Reel Music Sidebar, with four films including LOU REED’S BERLIN (directed by Julian Schnabel), the classical music documentary FIVE DAYS IN SEPTEMBER, the UK hip-hop film SOUTH COAST and the chronicle of the Marley Family concert in Ethiopia to celebrate the life of Bob Marley in AFRICA UNITE. 

This year’s Festival features a focus on Modern South African Cinema and a group of Bermuda-shot films, including the feature BEHIND THE MASK: BERMUDA GOMBEYS PAST PRESENT AND FUTURE, chronicling the many gombey dance troupes on the island. The gombeys combine African roots with a nod to St. Kitts’ Masquerade dancers, and originated at a time w (...)

21 (Director: Robert Luketic) 

Tuesday, February 5-------------On Super Tuesday, with 22 Presidential primaries unfolding on the same day, the Presidential nominees will be in place and the hint of a new chapter will be in the air. SXSW, the South By Southwest Conference and FilmFestival, decided to unveil its program on what could be a significant date in current American discourse and affairs. The Festival, based in the libertarian outpost in Texas (Austin), the Festival has seen its reputation rise rapidly in the past decade. These days, it is second only to Sundance in its embrace of American independent film.

While some wags might comment that SXSW's proximity to the Park City circus means that the American indie gems have all been unveiled in Utah, so the program remains somewhat "under the radar". But the truth is, that many of the most critically acclaimed indie films of the year originate here. Last year's HANNAH TAKES THE STAIRS (a true Austin discovery) not only was a "success d'estime" but it seemed a seminal film in a certain kind of low-budget yet expressive filmmaking style.

This year, the Festival's edition is a mix of just-made-it-at-Sundance films and a healthy sampling of big name and newcomer indie talents. In all, the Festival, which runs from March 7 to 15, will screen over 100 fiction and documentary feature films. The event, while will open Robert Luketic's "21," will close with Stephen Walker's Young@Heart. Several of the high profile titles screening in the Spotlight Premieres section, include such Sundance breakout hits as Nanette Burstein's "American Teen," Jay & Mark Duplass' "Baghead," Aaron Rose & Joshua Leonard's "Beautiful Losers," Clark Gregg's "Choke," and Nicholas Stoller's "Forgetting Sarah Marshall,". Among the more high profile films form some established indie talents, the list includes Michael Almereyda's "New Orleans Mon Amour," Joe Swanberg & Greta Gerwig's "Nights and Weekends," Martin Scorsese's "Shine A Light," Kimberly Peirce's "Stop-Loss," Liz Mermin's "Shot In Bombay," and Morgan Spurlock's "Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?".

A major reason for the Festival's success is the energy and ideas of festival producer Matt Dentler, who has become a regular on the international film festival circuit. The Festival shows films in the two main competition sections, the Spotlight Premieres, Emerging Visions, 24 Beats Per Second, Lone Star States, 'Round Midnight, and Special Screenings. One can be sure that the films will be eclectic, controversial, thought provoking, abit outrageous and definite challenges for the distributor community. But the same guts required to make the film needs to be matched by any buyers looking for cool gems in the hot city of Austin.

For more information on the film festival, the parallel music festival, and panel discussions, log on to the webiste: www.sxsw.com

Sandy Mand (...)

 Sony Center At Postdamer Platz, Berlin

Tuesday, February 5---------In the non-stop romp that is the international film festival circuit, the travelling nomads of the film industry, who have just unpacked their bags from stints in Palm Springs, Park City and Santa Barbara, are turning eastward towards the Berlin Film Festival, which opens on Thursday evening.

After a tame Sundance and an Oscar season that ignored some of world cinema's best achievements (what, no 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS, 2 DAYS or PERSPEPOLIS or THE ORPHANAGE or THE EDGE OF HEAVEN in the Best Foreign Film Oscar race?), industryites are now looking to Berlin for some breakout international films to add to their coffers. The Festival's eclectic program and invigorated market screenings now make it one of the top three "must go" stops of the film year and as important, in its way, as the Cannes Film Festival in May. For films with a political or social bent that can generate international audiences based on artistic expression and intellectual content, Berlin is ground zero for quality international cinema.

Come back to this blog for full coverage of the Festival, the European Film Market and the excitement swirling around the Potsdamer Platz, as Germany's capital becomes the central focus for filmmakers, film buyers, film programmers and film lovers. Wilkommen!!

Sandy Mandelberger, Festival Circuit Editor

 Colin Firth and Helen Hunt in THEN SHE FOUND ME

Tuesday, January 15---------The Palm Springs International Film Festival, which just ended its run on Sunday, has the distinction of being the first festival event of the New Year. The Festival, now in its 19th year, prides itself on its international scope and its diverse programming strands. The Festival screens nearly all of the international films up for Academy Award consideration in the Best Foreign Language race, along with choice indie gems and some heavy hitter studio projects. In many ways, it is the kinder, gentler Sundance.....much less of an industry or media frenzy but a place where film professionals and buffs can take stock of the best of the past year's productions, as well as films that will matter in 2008.

The Festival began its almost two week run on January 3rd, screening over 200 films from 66 countries, including 65 premieres and 55 of the 63 foreign entries for this year’s Academy Awards. The Festival's physical proximity to the epicenter of Los Angeles, the presence of many Academy members and its famously enthusiastic audiences set the stage for the film festival circuit that will play out over the next twelve months. In its 19th edition, the Festival broke audience attendance records, hostings many international film creatives and hosting a star-studded Gala that included appearances by  Daniel Day-Lewis, Sean Penn and Halle Berry. The Festival's veteran director, Darryl MacDonald, is already making plans for next year's 20th anniversary edition, which should be a major event.

The Awards announced this past Sunday at a gala luncheon, perfectly reflect the Festival's expansive programming philosophy and its eclectic audience tastes.  This year’s Festival attendees selected THEN SHE FOUND ME (USA) directed, co-written by and starring Helen Hunt as the Mercedes-Benz Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature.  The U.S. premiere opened the Festival and stars Hunt, Bette Midler, Colin Firth and Matthew Broderick. The film, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival, will be theatrically released this coming May by THINKFilm. AUTISM: THE MUSICAL (USA) by American independent documentarian Tricia Regan won the Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature.  The documentary follows the six-month rehearsal process of the Miracle Project, in which a group of autistic children writer and perform a full-length musical.  The film is shortlisted for the Best Documentary Oscar.

A special jury of international film critics reviewed the official Best Foreign Language submissions to the Academy Awards screened at this year’s Festival to award the (...)

Constantin Costa-Gavras 

Friday, December 7---------The Berlin Film Festival, which will be held in February 2008, has begun to make announcements that are just now beginning to shape the flavour of one of the world's most important film showcases. News comes from the press office that Constantin Costa-Gavras, the celebrated Greek-born director of such films as Z and MISSING, will head the Competition Jury. The director, known for his ouevre of political and social message films, has won virtually every major film prize, including the Festival de Cannes' Palme d'Or and a screenplay Oscar for MISSING. In 1990, he won the Golden Bear, the top prize at the Berlin Film Festival for MUSIC BOX, the story of a lawyer (played by Jessica Lange) who defends her father when he is charged with war crimes.

Another major announcement was the choice of veteran Italian director Francesco Rosi, who will receive the Festival's Golden Bear for Lifetime Achievement, and be the subject of a major retrospective at the winter event. The series will include 13 Rosi films, including his 1962 breakthrough SALVATORE GUILIANO, which won the young director the Best Director Silver Bear at the Berlin Fim Festival. The following year, his lacerating expose of building scandals in his home city of Naples, HANDS OVER THE CITY (1963), won both the Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or, the Berlin Film Festival Silver Bear and the Venice Film Festival Golden Lion (a rare trifecta that is almost unprecedented).

With its February position, the Festival and its accompanying European Film Market, have become major events, both for film buffs (and the Berliners are among the most enthusiastic) and film professionals. Second only to Cannes for its influence and prestige, the Festival has been able to maintain a unique integrity, building on its history as an event that was especially receptive to films of social conscience and the cinema of the "outsider". Expect exciting news from Herr Dieter Kosslick and company in the coming weeks.......so check out the Festival's website: www.berlinale.de

Sandy Mandelberger, Festival Circuit Editor

STRANDED 

Tuesday, December 4--------IDFA, the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam, concluded its 10-day marathon of films this past weekend with the announcement of its major awards. The Festival, which celebrated its twentienth anniversary this year amid an explosion of film attendance and a major change in screening venues, has emerged as one of the hallmark events on the documentary film calendar. Films from all over the world not only get screened at IDFA, but sales are made and development pitches are presented that are making a vital difference to the growing yet still fragile world of documentary film and video.

STRANDED, a French film by Gonzalo Arijon, won the Festival's top prize, the VPRO Joris Ivens Award.  In STRANDED, the survivors of a plane crash in 1972 relate how they were able to survive more than ten weeks in the inhospitable Andes mountains. Jury chair Diane Weyerman (formerly of the Sundance Film Festival) praised the cinematic qualities of the film, which the jury found both “emotional and poetic”. The film was one of several dozen that were originally pitched to financiers and distribution executives at the IDFA Forum in 2005. More and more, films that first came to the industry event as projects in development are finding their way to film screens and to awards acclaim.

The Israeli fllm TO SEE IF I'M SMILING by Tamar Yarom, which chronciles the experiences of young women in the Israeli army in the territories occupied by Israel, was a double prize winner, winning both the Silver Wolf and the Volkskrant Audience Award. A Special Jury Prize was awarded to Kim Longinotto for HOLD ME TIGHT, LET ME GO, which focuses on the day-to-day life at a school for dysfunctional children.  

The First Appearance Award, which also includes a cash prize of € 5,000 was presented to Australian director Robert Nugent, for the film END OF THE RAINBOW (a co-production between Australia and France), which tells the story of a multinational corporation who hires the local population in Guinea, West Africa to operate a gold mine. The film is both a humanistic story and a critical think piece on the realities of globalisation. 

The Movies that Matter Human Rights Award, for the best documentary on human rights and human dignity, went to JERUSALEM IS PROUD TO PRESENT from Israeli director Nitzan Gilady. The film is about the organisation of the Pride Parade for homosexuals in Jerusalem, which was strongly opposed by religious factions and even the local government. THE DICTATOR HUNTER by local Dutch director Klaartje Quirijns was given a special mention by the jury for a stirring story of the commitment and determination of a Human Rights Watch lawyer fighting to have former President Habré of Chad brought to trial.

IN BRUGES

Tuesday, November 20---------------If it's Thanksgiving, then it must be time for the Sundance Film Festival to begin announcing the fims for its 2008 edition, which runs from January 17 to 27th in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah. IN BRUGES, the directorial debut of Irish playwright Martin McDonagh will open the Festival on January 17th. The film, which stars Ralph Fiennes, Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson is, according to the Festival release, "a twisted tale of two London hit men who are ordered to take a forced vacation in Bruges, Belgium."

McDonagh has become an internationally celebrated playwright in Europe and in the United States for his productions of such provocative plays as The Beauty Queen of Lenane, The Lonesome West and The Pillowman. In 2005, he directed the short film SIX SHOOTER, which also starred Brendan Gleeson, and won the Oscar for Best Short Film the following year.  IN BRUGES is produced, and will be released in the United States, by Focus Features, the company behind such current releases as LUST, CAUTION (Ang Lee) and EASTERN PROMISES (David Cronenberg).  The film is co-produced by the UK's Film Four, along with Blueprint Pictures and Scion Films.

The Sundance Film Festival, long respected as the prime showcase for new American independent production, has emphasized international cinema in its last few years, introducing competition categories for World Fiction and World Documentary films. The choice of a non-American film for the Festival's Gala Opener is another indication of Sundance's aspiration to be the primary film event for international cinema as well. Festival spokesmen said that they will announce the full 2008 film program next week. Stay tuned.

Sandy Mandelberger, Festival Circuit Editor

MAGICIANS 

Monday, November 12---------If you like your humor British and bawdy (and who doesn't?), then the feature film MAGICIANS is right up your alley. The film had its US Premiere on Saturday evening at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival, and was an instant hit with the capacity crowds at the back-to-back screenings at the Cinema Paradiso.  Starring the comedy team of David Mitchell and Robert Webb, whose Channel Four series PEEP SHOW has been an award-winning megahit in the UK, MAGICIANS is a spot-on spoof, written by PEEP SHOW's Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain, and directed by former game show host and professional magician Andrew O'Connor.

This tale of rival magicians competing for the top prize at a magicians' convention is an outrageous laugh fest, in the tradition of BEST IN SHOW, with a little Ricky Gervais and Monty Python thrown in for good measure. With an accidental guillotining, a handful of fake poop, swear words aplenty and over-the-top comic performances, this satiric gem made it to the big screen in the UK in May 2007. FLIFF Festival Director Gregory von Hausch saw the film at the Cannes Film Market, and immediately responded to its bawdy humor and outrageous comic timing. "It reminded me of the British series that I love, like FAWLTY TOWERS", von Hausch shared with me. "These guys are not as well known in the United States as they should be, and we are so pleased to offer this great film a first showing in America."

For Mitchell and Webb, who also perform in tandem at live theatrical and concert events, the transition from television to film wasn't much of a stretch, although each shared that seeing their faces magnified to "the size of Mount Rushmore" took some getting used to. The film allows the talented comedians a chance to go beyond their television and stage personas, and actually play roles that require more background and depth. Their professional rivalry is always tempered with their obvious love for one another and the film does not eschew from sentimental moments that convey the camaraderie and loyalty of the dubious duo. In one hilarious sequence, Webb, his body covered to his neck in the sand, is taunted by the maligned Mitchell with the threat of retaliatory urination. One is never quite sure how far the humor will go, and that tightrope walk gives MAGICIANS an exhilirating feel of unbridled and nasty fun.

The environs of stage magic are no stranger to director Andrew O'Connor, who knows a thing or two about pulling rabbits out of hats. In a previous life, he was named Magician Of the Year at the tender age of 18, but was eventually kicked out of the Magic Circle for taking part in a television show called THE SECRETS OF MAGIC REVEALED. O'Connor (an engaging personality and quick wit himself) spent a decade in the purgatory of television game show hosting before mak (...)

Friday, November 9----------On the sunny terrace of the Gallery One Double Tree Suites Hotel, facing the intracoastal waterway in Fort Lauderdale, I sat down with Mary Stuart Masterson, the debut director, and Jayce Bartok, actor and screenwriter of THE CAKE EATERS