Film Festival reViews: EYE ON INDIES

film review: THE DOUBLE HOUR

noreply@blogger.com (Christina.k) — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 00:26:00 +0000

MEMENTO meets BODY HEAT mind bending seduction.

Sonia (Ksenia Rappoport), a young Slovenian woman who works as a chambermaid, goes to a speed dating club and meets Guido (Filippo Timi), a soulful-eyed, former cop who waits for her after their apparent disappointing evening without making a love connection. Their chemistry, however, is instantaneous and their connection immediately jump starts with a "double hour" timeframe (hours, minutes momentarily, numerically frozen for whoever notices) signifying an extraordinary moment like a shooting star upon which a wish is made. All lovely and romantic for two lonely people and it just might turn into something more before the night is over. That's where these niceties end because from then on, Director Giuseppe Capotondi lets go of the wheel and takes the audience for a wild ride into mind-playing tricks full of convoluted passages and secret chambers where "nothing and nobody is what it seems."

When Sonia goes away with Guido into the country, he takes her to a secluded mansion where he works as a security guard for a wealthy art collector. It turns out that Guido is a widower, still not over his wife's death, but just as Sonia gets closer and breaks down his barrier, the estate is overrun by burglars ransacking the place. Guido gets shot and killed while the bullet that goes through him gets planted into Sonia's forehead.

After that traumatic scenario, Sonia's memory and present frame of mind blur as she feels Guido's presence everywhere she turns. Her imagined sightings and whispers take over, creating confusion especially when Guido's friend who is a detective keeps asking her questions about the tragic event as well as her past in her home county, Slovenia.

Adding to this male-female connection is the blending of different cultures and their clashing values. As younger generations escape from former repressive societies, they emigrate into the bottom rung of low paying jobs and often find themselves jumping out of the frying pan into the fire. They fall into schemes for quick money without remorse until their consciences surface to overturn their unethical practices that are camouflage as tactics for survival. In the end, decisions are made for survival of the fittest, the craftiest and those whose ethics remain intact.

Clever twists and interconnecting turns with thriller-punctuated music have the viewer in its grips, waiting for the inevitable convergence and have all loose ends neatly tied. That doesn't happen in this tightly woven tale of suspense that still has you guessing until the very end as to whether the mind is as brilliant as scientists say it is or just a trap that collects bits and pieces of collective memories, rearranging their meaning for a convenient end-all.

The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2009 where Rappoport won the Volpi Cup award for Best Actress and screened at the Toronto International Film Festival. It opens at select theaters April 15.

WHEN WE COME: TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL

noreply@blogger.com (Christina.k) — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 15:18:00 +0000

My first Tribeca Film Festival was in 2006, the fifth year and normally I allot a film festival this amount of time to figure out what it wants to be when it grows up. There were already over a thousand submissions and emphasis was placed on Hollywood style premieres, celebs and red carpets. I hated being corralled in with the jostling elbows along that heinous red carpet because that's not what I was about as a writer and podcast producer. The "press" was lumped into one writhing pit of despair and the "Franklin Pass" was getting me nowhere.

Tribeca Film Festival quickly outgrew the Tribeca Cinemas and got very big, very fast at that time with growing pains along the way. After unintentionally alienating the independent media, changes were made to accommodate those solely interested in the indie films and filmmakers who worked their tails off getting films completed and submitted. Since then, the festival found a happy medium by creating two theaters, (Cinema Village East and Chelsea Clearview Cinemas) along with the School of Visual Arts theater, devoted to film reviewers as well as the general public. This effectively has turned one aspect of Tribeca Film Festival into a desired "people's film festival".

People come to the morning screenings, mingling locals and out-of-towners waiting on rush lines. Conversations about films already seen and ones read about can be heard throughout the crowd swelling out into the street after a screening and towards the next theater, walking distance away. This is the real deal and film festival feel especially for indie diehards. It's not unusual to see the likes of Michael Moore looking for a seat at an afternoon screening of PLEASE, GIVE or Kiefer Sutherland in a row of rocking drummers and air guitarists in the RUSH: BEYOND THE LIGHTED STAGE screening (also the only time in a theater where I witnessed a line outside the men's restroom). This is the pulse for a film festival, so it surprised me when the Tribeca Virtual festival was started apparently for those who can't make the screenings, but in effect it's a trendy gimmick growing more couch potatoes. Getting out for the anticipation-heightened crowd buzzing about their film experiences is the best.

In 2006, Tristan Bauer's ILUMINADOS POR EL FUEGO (BLESSED BY FIRE), a riveting account of a veteran from Argentina's disastrous Falklands War won the Best Narrative Award and WAR TAPES, digitized images taken by U.S. National Guards in Iraq directed by Deborah Scranton, won Best Documentary. The Audience Award went to CATS OF MIRIKITANI directed by Linda Hattendorf. Stories like these continue to come out and programmed into the festival lineup. While production value is visibly important like a calculated bodysculpt, good stories and storytelling remain the heart and soul no matter what the budget allows. This 2010 Tribeca Film Festival attests to what it takes as several good indie films and filmmakers shine through at the award announcements.

The first film I saw that took my breath away, WHEN WE LEAVE, written and directed by Feo Aladag, won the Best Feature in the World Competition category (film review on Eye On Indies at eyeonindiefilms.blogspot.com) and Sibel Kekilli won Best Actress for her performance as an abused wife confronted by strict social and cultural rules. Another great film I saw, BUDRUS, directed by Julia Bacha, a story of a nonviolent demonstration movement worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize won a Special Jury Mention. After briefly meeting Clio Barnard at the "Meet and Greet" for documentary filmmakers, I made a point to see THE ARBOR and was impressed by the interpretation in storytelling. While not the first of its kind, it's innovative and effective and Barnard won Best New Documentary Filmmaker.

Short films are always an audience favorite because it is can be so eclectic and quick to the point. There were quite a number with weak stories and mediocre storytelling efforts; however, production values remained high so I suppose that's what got them in. The ones I liked excelled in these categories and my favorite grouping was "Wishful Thinking" which included A BORDER STORY (Tobias Louie), DELILAH BEFORE (Melanie Schiele), THE POOL (Thomas Hefferon), EDGAR (Fabian Busch), EPIC FAIL (Ragnar Agnarsson), CRIED SUICIDE (Lauren Palmigiano), THE WAKE (Gemma Lee), THE DINNER PARTY (Peter Glanz). My favorite short film, THE CRUSH, written and directed by Michael Creagh, follows a six year old with a ten year plan to marry his teacher Miss Purdy as he confronts her undeserving fiance. A Special Jury Mention for this filmmaker's debut short film. Well done.

Finally, I still have to see AMERICAN MYSTICS this evening and will cap it off with a second viewing of RUSH: BEYOND THE LIGHTED STAGE for a midnight screening. I'm sure the entire theater will be rocking by the end of an extraordinary 106 minutes and I'll put my money on this film to win the Audience Award. I can't help but love the film festival experience LIVE in New York. It's the only way to fly.

Tribeca Shorts: THE NEW TENANTS

noreply@blogger.com (Christina.k) — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 08:22:00 +0000

Trying to escape from a busybody/new neighbor is a nightmare in itself without the rest of past interconnected characters showing up at the door of THE NEW TENANTS, a fast-paced, chain-reactive, chain-smoking, day-in-the-life of two men and their first day in an apartment that has an unnerving "dead man" history. Joachim Back received the 2009 Oscar for Best Short Film, Live Action which has Vincent D'Onofrio and Kevin Corrigan balancing the other talented and superbly cast actors, Jamie Harrold, David Rakoff, Liane Balaban many of whom were at the Tribeca screening including "the Grandma".

Quick wit and perfect timing every time the doorbell rang, makes this film a high-end, stand out from the otherwise low-end, disappointing shorts segment Hardcore previously known as New York, New York. Most of the the films in this grouping were mediocre, student films with some technical merit but not holding up to the top notch anchor film with weak story lines, little character development, trite dialogue and cliched acting. It was surprising to see this lopsided programming in a prime Saturday afternoon time slot where the full-house, crowd emptied quickly opting to miss out on the filmmaker Q&A. Hopefully, the other shorts groupings are better suited in their respective segments.

Tribeca film review: WHEN WE LEAVE

noreply@blogger.com (Christina.k) — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 04:52:00 +0000

WHEN WE LEAVE is a social drama. A young woman brought up in a traditional, conservative Turkish family in Berlin is married to a husband who beats her and bullies their son. She is a repressed soul, a walking dead living far away in Istanbul. Her in-laws cannot protect her or her son from their family member who swings between rages and warm paternal gestures. How long before it is time to go?

Making their escape, Umay (Sibel Kekilli), hopes to find comfort and support from her family back in Berlin only to find opposition and a surprising reaction as she is confronted by the strict, cultural rules of the community that directly affects her parents and siblings. Her brother threatens to take her son back to his father and Umay attempts to leave the family home that becomes a locked fortress. She calls the police who escort her out, thus causing humiliation for the family.

Smart and resourceful, Umay finds a job and goes back to school. She even learns to flirt with a coworker. Yet she yearns for her family, once very close and supportive especially for her young son who eventually becomes the brunt of shunning and an ensuing custody battle outside of the legal system. Her moments of simple every day life and pleasures are small victories that turn into brick walls between her past and the present she continually attempts to overcome. Where it all can end is anybody's guess.

WHEN WE LEAVE won the Europa Cinemas label as Best European film in the Berinale's Panorama section. Written, directed and produced by Austrian actor Feo Aladag, who has a Master's Degree in Journalism and a PhD in Philosophy, this film becomes an incredible labyrinth of human emotions, beliefs, contradictions, love and loyalty. The decision when to leave comes from an internal switch that flicks off as the last semblance of defeat emerges into an indomitable spirit with a will to survive. If it makes it out in time.

film festival 2010: TRIBECA

noreply@blogger.com (Christina.k) — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 14:58:00 +0000

The Tribeca Film Festival press conference is going on now, Tuesday, April 20 with the Festival starting Wednesday, April 21 through Sunday, May 2. New York remains the indie film capital with an equally independent-minded audience despite economic downturns, cuts, merged, and shuttered distribution outlets and funding evaporations. As an accredited media person at Tribeca since 2006, I've seen its transformation from a local, neighborhood-friendly, downtown-centric film festival into a megabeast that needed taming from its out-of-control expansion catering to mainstream media turning into an internationally recognized tour de force welcoming voices from independent media outlets.

Much of the credit can be attributed to Tammie Rosen, vice president for communications at the festival who listened to those of us not interested in red carpet arrivals and celebrity sightings, instead keeping an eye out for that indie gem that shines its way through the hoopla. A seasoned veteran handling film festival media, she understands the difference between media groups and is instrumental in the accommodations made accordingly. The Franklin Pass permits entrance at two designated theaters to film screenings during daytime hours making an integral part of film screenings- audience reaction and filmmaker Q&A - an accessible and critical element for film reviews. Currently, the communications group must still be scrambling, rerouting filmmakers who may be stranded without air transportation because of the volcano erupting last week in Iceland. Technology will most likely step in with virtual connection and while it provides a connection, it still needs attention to detail from production management for each event.

Another streamlined direction is having one guide book that holds all Tribeca Film Festival information. Unfortunately, the graphic designer apparently lacks experience and broke the number one rule in print production - readability. The text, in 6 point type, light gray ink on white stock, is impossible to read, fading into a grayed-out block. Too bad. It could have been a solid handbook. However, I'm happy to gather available and legibly-printed handouts of film groupings - Narrative Documentaries, Road Trip, Horror & Suspense, Romance, Social Issues, Human Rights, Politics, War, Families, Youth, Hispanic & Latino, Irish, Middle Eastern, Health, Environment, (East) Asian, Comedy, Literary, Biography (Narratives and Documentaries), Animated, Art, Women (Films Centered Around) -must still be a special interest group, I guess- Returning Directors and Female Directors.

This brings me to the festival fact sheet for the 2010 director information with 96 as the the total number of feature-length directors in the festival- 19 feature-length female directors; 77 feature-length male directors; 8 first-time female directors, 32 first-time male directors; 9 returning female directors, 11 returning male directors. No matter how you look at it, it's been forever lopsided since the directing days of the first woman director, Alice Guy Blache.

Finally, total submissions for Tribeca Film Festival in 2010 was 5,050. Along with the Tribeca/ESPN Film Festival (7 documentaries), submissions included 1,260 feature narratives, 1,073 feature documentaries, 2,295 narrative shorts, 422 documentary shorts. There will be 44 world premieres, 7 international, 15 North American premieres, 6 U.S. premieres, 12 New York premieres and 1 revival. In twelve days, 496 films will be screened in locations throughout Manhattan. Looking forward to it.

film review: THE SECRET IN THEIR EYES

noreply@blogger.com (Christina.k) — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 13:52:00 +0000

A retired court investigator in Argentina who cannot forget a case gone cold twenty-five years earlier, reopens more unresolved issues than he intended while writing a novel without an ending.

The story alternates between past and present beginning in 1974 Buenos Aires, during a dark political time. Court criminal investigator, Benjamin Esposito (Ricardo Darin) is intent on solving the rape and murder of a beautiful young woman, but his search for the truth puts him at odds with the judge and a high-ranking member of the secret police as well as the object of his unrequited passion, Irene (Soledad Villamil), a woman beyond his reach, an upper class, well-educated secretary to the court on an established path for a brilliant career.

Benjamin is moved by the pain and suffering of Morales, the grief-stricken husband. His tenacity, along with sidekick, Pablo Sandoval (Guillermo Francella), alternating between deducing brilliant observation and drunken imbecility, find the murder suspect, Gomez, through the one thing a man cannot change about himself no matter what or for how long and that's his passion.

During questioning, Irene at first objects to, then helps gain Gomez's confession. However, Benjamin's past transgressions wrought vengeful retribution from the repressive secret police eventually allowing the confessed murderer to go free working on their behalf. With their lives in danger, Irene and Benjamin continue to walk the tightrope of a hot, budding romance. Supported by a powerful family, Irene sends Benjamin away to safety to the Andes where her extended family reigns as feudal lords. The farewell train station scene ends their story.

Until the present where Benjamin finds Irene successful as a judge but miserable in mediocrity. The romantic tension is renewed as the pair resume in their game of obsession through the unfinished novel, the unresolved ending of murderer and court case and romantic memories for each other. It is a love story, first and foremost, with the summation that "Memories are all that we have left. Pick the nice ones".

Director Juan Jose Campanella co wrote the screenplay and his deftness keeps the intertwining story focused and emotionally stirring just as the music score (notably violin) by Frederico Jusid. Cinematography is exceptional comparing and contrasting the characters and their emotions against the enormously staid court gallery within an openly corrupt political system against the expansive passion of Argentina's massive crowds in the soccer stadium.

THE SECRET IN THEIR EYE won the 2009 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, winner of the Goya Awards for Best Spanish Language Foreign Film and Best New Actress. It keeps moving until the final memory becomes resolved at 129 minutes. A Sony Picture Classics release, it opens Friday, April 16 in New York and Los Angeles. In Spanish with English subtitles.

Film Review: THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO

noreply@blogger.com (Christina.k) — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 06:23:00 +0000

The set up is a murder mystery where Henrik Vanger, patriarch of the wealthy and powerful Vanger clan, continues a forty year search of his favorite niece, harriet, who disappeared during a holiday gathering on the family island. Foul Play is suspected- the killer could be one of the tightly knit but mutually despised family members. a tenacious reporter is given the opportunity to try to solve the mystery and as Henrik puts it, he suspects no one and suspects them all. This is a top notch thriller, tense with dark secrets threading through the story line connecting the loose ends including Lisbeth, the girl with the dragon tattoo.

Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist), is the disgraced expose journalist for the leftist MILLENNIUM magazine and found guilty of libeling a corporate executive. Before having to serve his sentence, he is hired by Vanger to discover the truth and sets up his research center in a cottage on the estate where he sometimes spent summers as a young boy, cared for by Harriet, then a teenage girl. When techno geek, hacker yet emotionally-troubled, Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace), employed by a security company and assigned to find the dirt on Mikael, she comes up instead with the discovery that he was set up. While hacking straight into his computer and the Vanger investigation, her interest is piqued and she comes up with a possible answer to a clue no one has been able to crack. Blomkvist is furious at first, then enlists her help. Together, they link Harriet's disappearance with a number of murders connected to the secretive clan with everyone telling them to leave the island and the mystery to its own end.

But the pair become obsessed, first with the case and the picture the clues seem to be putting together, then to each other, first physically followed by elusive, deep down secrets. As Lisbeth puts it, "Everyone has secrets". She starts off as a victim, tough and terse yet vulnerable as a young woman whose delinquent past forces her to concede to the demands of an unscrupulous guardian. However, she fights back, avenging herself and ultimately becoming an unlikely hero, a saviour and avenger for the other victims who had no champion to stand up to them. The acting is exceptional, action tight and smart with archival photos and footage creating mnemonic clues for the story's convergence.

Taking on the Millennium Trilogy, (Stieg Larsson novels that have become a global sensation), is a challenge in itself with the film title presenting a conundrum as to why this character is in the title. It is a murder mystery after all. There is violence (brutally enforced) throughout, but not the gratuitous sensationalism some contemporary directors decide to celebrate. instead, the story unfolds darkly, stealthily guiding viewers along a bone chilling, labyrinthian thoroughfare of techno trails that takes on the beast, past and present purporting an unpredictable future.

As with many foreign films, it seems a bit too long to get to the point - 152 minutes. That's two and a half hours of intense viewing making the audience jump in their seats on several occasions. Yet, the film is extremely well done and well received winning the Guldbagge Awards (Sweden's Oscars) for Best Film, Best Actress (Noomi Rapace) and Audience Award for Best film and Winner of the Palm Springs International Film festival Audience Award, Best Narrative Feature. Unrated. In Swedish with English subtitles.

FILM REVIEW: THE KILLER INSIDE:MISOGYNY IN TWENTYTEN

noreply@blogger.com (Christina.k) — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 07:16:00 +0000

Every ten years or so, a film has to come out to shock the audience. In THE KILLER INSIDE ME, the gratuitous violence made everyone in the enormous Eccles Theatre squirm in their seats as acclaimed director Michael Winterbottom made the conscious decision to prolong excruciating long scenes of violent battering, showing Joyce's (Jessica Alba) face brutally beaten to a pulp and Amy's (Kate Hudson) ruthlessly, sadistic murder.

The main character, Lou Ford (Casey Affleck) is a deputy sheriff and a psychotic killer. Affleck perfectly plays a Norman Bates persona -harmless and polite on the outside, venomous murderer on the inside- although his Texan drawl was a bit hard to understand at times. To be fair, the production value is quite high as a period piece set in 1957. Attention to detail in the streets, antique cars and airplane, the family home with its picture perfect decor all makes for a visually appealing film. Aside from that, the story based on the novel by Jim Thompson was trite with barely developed characters getting so little screen time because most of the film was devoted to sadomasochistic sex and unconscionable violence especially towards the two women characters.

After the finale when everything is blown up (what a surprise, yawn), the director came out to answer questions as the stunned, silent audience blinked in disbelief at what just screened. The first question was about the gratuitous violence and Winterbottom cited the amount of violence that goes on in real life and this work is fiction based on a book he really enjoyed thus making it a form of entertainment. The second question continued upon the first, noting that the director made a conscious decision to sensationalize such extreme savagery just to make a point? What point was that? We got it after the first dozen smashes and kicks.

Perhaps the filmmaker and Trevor Groth who wrote the description in the Sundance catalog should look into sensitivity training because this is not "stylish" and does not "dazzle" all. It is unfortunate that a misogynistic film in 2010 can be labeled a "psychosexual thriller imbued with all the amoral energy of its genre". The audience response was powerful as they filed out of the theater in silence.

SUNDANCE FILM REVIEW: TUCKER & DALE VS. EVIL

noreply@blogger.com (Christina.k) — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 20:19:00 +0000

The title, TUCKER & DALE VS. EVIL, makes me laugh with its emphasis on the twist of this romantic comedy horror genre that can be anticipated but not predicted and like a good joke, well-told with punchlines perfectly-timed, keeping the audience howling with surprise at the unexpected results. Andrew Kaiser, music composer, describing the film as SHAUN OF THE DEAD MEETS DELIVERANCE, piqued my interest as the film is not an official submission,nevertheless a Premiere in the Park City at Midnight segment, fast becoming my favorite screening time slot at Sundance Film Festival. Over eighty diehards stood on the waitlist line at the Library Center Theater, filling the venue to capacity and were not disappointed.

The opening short film, THE S FROM HELL directed by Rodney Archer, is a creatively convoluted collage revealing the seemingly innocuous 1960s update of the Screen Gems logo into a stylized "S" with annoying Moog notes, as a deliberate diabolical intrusion primarily on television viewers subjected to it at the show's close. Good warm up for what was to follow.

Director Eli Craig's introduction was a solid set up for a wild rife in the backwoods of West "Virginny". The good ol' boys, Tucker and Dale are on their vacation heading for their "fixer upper" cabin in the woods. At the last gas station stop, their paths cross with a car load of college kids going camping and Dale's innocent intentions towards pretty, blond Alison are taken as "creepy". Turns out they are all vacationing near the same lake where the college kids go skinnydipping and Tucker and Dale are fishing. A simple misunderstanding goes grotesquely wrong and the mayhem kicks into high gear not letting up until the inevitable final stand off between "Good" and "Evil".

Eli Craig and Morgan Jurgenson co wrote a whip smart script with set ups that don't give everything away and punchlines that hit their mark. Kaiser's music score captures the settings and ranges across blue grass, guitar and violin instrumentals intersecting good nature moments with menacing build up into a horror film finale. The gore is in equal parts with black humor and as Kaiser notes, he tested the gore level by showing it to his grandmother, who laughed all through the film.

Other screenings on Saturday, January 25, midnight, SLC; Wednesday, January 27, 5:30 p.m. Park City; Thursday, January 28, midnight, Egyptian Theatre, midnight Park City; Saturday, January 30, 9:00 p.m. Egyptian Theatre, Park City.

Top Twenty of Decade by Women Filmmakers

noreply@blogger.com (Christina.k) — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 17:02:00 +0000

Indie or Studio, Women Filmmakers Still Underrepresented is headline screaming from the Atlanta Film Festival website atalantafilmfestival.com/content/view/420/ The article asserts that according to a new study from the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film, the number of female directors and cinematographers has declined over the past decade. However, the study, "Independent Women: Behind-the-Scene Representation on Film Festivals," found the percentage of women working as directors, writers, producers, cinematographers and editors on domestically produced feature-length films appearing at film festivals is higher than the percentage of women working on the top 250 domestic grossing films- 24 percent versus 16 percent. Some notable numbers from the study:

• 77% percent of festival films employed no women directors

• Women accounted for 19% of writers working on films appearing at festivals, but only 12% on top-grossing films

• Women comprised 22% of executive producers working on films appearing at festivals, compared to 16% working on top-grossing films

• Women accounted for 33% of producers working on films appearing at festivals, but only 20% of those working on top-grossing films

• Women comprised 23% of editors working on festival films compared with 17% of those working on top-grossing films

Here are my Top Twenty of the Decade by women filmmakers:

1. REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES (2002) Directed by Patricia Cardoso, this coming-of-age story with newcomer and Golden Globe Award winner America Ferrera as a first-generation Mexican-American from East Los Angeles who struggles to balance her mainstream ambitions with a traditional cultural heritage. The film won the Audience Award at Sundance Film Festival.

2. WHALE RIDER (2002) A New Zealand film directed by Niki Caro, this tribal coming-of-age story embraced tradition, overcoming obstacles in a patrilineal society premiered at Toronto International Film Festival, won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Language and World Cinema Audience Award at Sundance Film Festival. Unsurpassed beauty of the South Pacific.

3. BLUE CAR (2002) Written and directed by first-time filmmaker Karen Moncrieff, the film is about a neglected teenage girl in a dysfunctional family environment finding solace in writing poetry with support from her English teacher who has passions other writing on his mind. The film was self-distributed and had a limited theatrical release and nominated for Best First Screenplay at the Independent Spirit Awards.

4. LOST IN TRANSLATION (2003) directed by Sofia Coppola. Lost in long distance loneliness.

5. MONSTER (2003) Written and directed by Patty Jenkins based on the life of Aileen Wuomos, an abused woman who was executed as a serial killer. The film doesn't excuse the murders, the woman becomes pitiful not despicable and Charlize Theron's performance is incredible as she transformed herself - not merely impersonating- into a character collecting accolades for Best Actress (Oscar, Golden Globe and Screen Actor Guild Award).

6. NOTORIOUS BETTIE PAGE (2005) Directed by Mary Harmon, is a biographical account of pin up and bondage model Bettie Page whose photos gave her the nickname "Dark Angel" and eventually led to a U.S. Senate Committee investigation. Gretchen Mol was right on and the film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.

7. WILD PARROTS OF TELEGRAPH HILL (2005) directed by Judy Irving and still finding audiences with its remarkably long tail.

8. JESUS CAMP (2006) directed by Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing is about a pentecostal summer camp for kids focusing on three remarkably intelligent and eloquent children being trained to become evangelists centering around conservative political values. The film premiered at Tribeca Film Festival and was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Documentary Feature category.

9. DIXIE CHICKS: SHUT UP AND SING (2006) Directed by two-time Academy Award winner Barbara Kopple and Celia Peck, takes the audience on the road, behind the scenes, recording studio and family home life of the Dixie Chicks - the biggest-selling female group in history. The infamous off-hand anti-Bush remark by lead singer Natalie Maines created a political firestorm that changed all three Dixie Chicks' lives and careers forever. World premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.

10. LADY CHATTERLEY (2007) director Pascale Ferran picked up five Cesar Awards (the French equivalent of Academy Awards) for this beautifully shot, visually poetic and sensuous adaptation of D.H. Lawrence's once infamous novel. A true high-erotica art film.

11. RED ROAD (2007) directed by Academy Award winner Andrea Arnold. This feature debut, an exceptionally emotionally powerful film kept taking the audience on its sexually-charged twists and turns, premiered at Sundance Film Festival and won the Prix Du Jury Award at Cannes Film Festival.

12. PROTAGONIST (2007) Written and directed by Jessica Wu about the parallels of human life and its emotions against a background of Euripidean dramatic structure. A compelling perspective, the film premiered at Sundance Film Festival.

13. MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPES (2007) Director Jennifer Baichwal follows world renowned still photographer Edward Burtynsky on his quest to document who we are in relation to our plant. World premiere at Toronto International Film Festival.

14. AWAY FROM HER (2007) Directed by Sarah Polley with beautiful memorable performances by Julie Christie, Gordon Pinsent and Olympis Dukakis celebrating life and relationships with reality and optimism.

15. WATER LILIES (2007) Written and directed by first time filmmaker Celine Sciamma, a French coming-of-age story about teenage girls' burgeoning sexuality with a confluence of emotions and hormones in the rigid schedules of competitive swimming. Selected for screening in the Un Certain Regard section of Cannes Film Festival.

16. THE BETRAYAL (NERKHOON) (2007) Written and directed by cinematographer Ellen Kuras (ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF A SPOTLESS MIND) and Thavisouk Phrasavath, a historic epic following a Laotian family forced to emigrate after the U.S. pulled out from its secret mission leaving behind their affiliates to fend for themselves against the communist government. Nominated for an Academy award for Best Documentary Feature.

17. THE ORDER OF MYTHS (2007) Written and directed by Margaret Brown taking the audience along the rim of the rabbit-hole she had free fallen into, unlocking that ornately embellished door and drawing us into an exotic world of Southern decorum and secret, mystical societies with both blacks and whites staunchly clinging to their centuries-old traditions. Mardi Gras masks still invade my dreams.

18. FROZEN RIVER (2007) Written and directed by Courtney Hunt with Melissa Leo in the role of one of two desperate women who smuggle illegal immigrants across the frozen St. Lawrence River. The film was Grand Jury Prize winner at Sundance Film Festival, Melissa Leo was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Actress and won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead.

19. BRIGHT STAR (2009) Directed by Jane Campion, this beautifully shot Festival de Cannes competition entry is a treat for literary romantics who allow their senses to become absorbed by carefully selected words and thus emotionally awakened. Read the prize-winning love letter on the website and swoon.

20. THE HURT LOCKER (2009) Directed by Kathryn Bigelow, the film is set in Iraq with an opening title, War is a Drug setting the stage that can be blown up at any time through the exploits of the main character, a bomb disposal expert living on the edge. No stunts or CGI used as Bigelow builds tension with classic tools of fear and surprise. Explosive.

Listen in on Film Festival reViews podcast conversations with Melissa Leo and Courtney Hunt (FROZEN RIVER), Ellen Kuras (THE BETRAYAL), Margaret Brown (ORDER OF MYTHS), Pascale Ferran (LADY CHATTERLEY) www.filmfestivalreviews.com

Top Twenty Films of the Decade

noreply@blogger.com (Christina.k) — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 15:10:00 +0000

Recently I read FILMMAKER MAGAZINE put out a list of twenty-five top independent films of the decade. Per their assessment, I do not agree with all of the choices. I do agree; however, that it all depends on memory, at least that much was given aside from the box office results. It also depends on who triggers that memory for others to agree with and from the list of people mentioned as contributors who voted, they were primarily the usual suspects for film reviews.

The past decade involved a monumental amount of changes in my life, both personal (successfully completing my marriage), educational (graduate degree from American University, School of Communications) and professional (moving back to New York area as writer, producer, podcaster Film Festival reViews). So, indie films, attending film festivals and talking to filmmakers became an integral part of my life with many films changing my attitude towards, genres, filmmaking techniques, storytelling in that I cannot go along with FILMMAKER MAGAZINE's suggested film list just because someone else's memory may be tunes in to a most certainly different station, some more violent than others. In any event, the list is chronological, depending on my memory.

1. CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON (2000) directed by Ang Lee, this Chinese B-movie genre involved magic, warriors, flying monks, noble swordsmen. Mythically lyrical, it was on my birthday that I saw it at the Avalon Theatre in Chevy Chase, Maryland. The next day the theater closed with plans for renovating it into a CVS or some other retail outlet. The Key and Biograph were already shut down in Washington, DC and the Silver Theatre in Silver Spring, Maryland was still a closed eyesore ready to be razed. It was on the precipice either to be a renovated downtown theater venue or parking lot for the American Dream Mall.

2. O, BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? (2000) by the Coen Brothers, an adventure film integrating a classical epic, Southern politics and American folk music coming away with a soundtrack that won a Grammy. I greatly admire their work (MILLER'S CROSSING as my favorite) and understanding when violence is used to move the story ahead. This one, however, that made the memory list is beyond the need for blatant violence. Amen.

3. ENDURANCE, THE SHACKLETON'S LEGENDARY EXPEDITION (2001) director George Butler's documentary on the big screen, one of the first in the decade making it a respectable box office success. The mix of original and new footage, stills and reenactments turned it into a hybrid docudrama we are so familiar with today especially knowing that Shackleton funded the expedition by selling the rights to Nat Geo before starting out. Most memorable when Shackleton ordered the photographer to burn over 400 pictures they chose not to carry with them, so that they wouldn't be tempted to return for them.

4. MEMENTO (2001) directed by Christopher Nolan, it's on my list as Best Mystery Thriller and has been acclaimed for its nonlinear narrative structure carefully delineated using black and white versus color sequences punctuated with aggravating sounds now used profusely as a mainstay in television. The marketing strategy was similar to BLAIR WITCH in that the website was used to provide clues and hints to the story. I especially liked the use of Polaroids which I found very helpful when supporting my own wandering memory searching for misplaced keys.

5. DONNIE DARKO (2001) directed by Richard Kelly, a science fiction that became a cult classic and one I can follow more readily than any David Lynch film. Timing is everything and a theater audience's cult-like following resurrected this film for another film life.

6. 21 GRAMS (2003) Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's dramatic feature appeared with an ensemble cast and non linear, interlocking story based around a car accident alluding to the afterlife with 21 grams representing the departing soul. While there is no scientific evidence to support this, the notion kept watercooler discussions going.

7. LOST IN TRANSLATION (2003) directed by Sofia Coppola. Lost in long distance loneliness. Not a big Bill Murray follower, but it was a brilliant decision on his part to take on this mid-life crisis role and relationship with a younger woman. One of the only Older Man-Younger Woman films I can appreciate and connect with.

8. THE STATION AGENT (2003) directed by Tom McCarthy won the Sundance Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award and Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay about a man who, looking for solitude at an abandoned train stop in New Jersey, becomes enmeshed in his neighbors' lives and neurosis. Patricia Clarkson is Queen of Indie Films.

9. THE FOG OF WAR: ELEVEN LESSONS FROM THE LIFE OF ROBERT S. MCNAMARA (2003) Errol Morris' brilliant documentary using archival footage and conversation recordings along with octogenarian Robert McNamara, himself. Awarded the Academy Award and Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary Feature, along with the "Lessons", I recognize and support the power of creative direction in a film bringing this from a potentially boring talking heads and audio recordings doc to new heights with conceptual graphics and visual presentation.

10. ROBOT STORIES (2003) four stories by Greg Pak called "science fiction from the heart" that continue to resonate with me since my Literature of the Fantastic course in college. This is an exemplary film by a first time filmmaker for first time filmmakers. Subtle and sublime presentation of human nature in a technological-worshipping society.

11. MARCH OF THE PENGUINS (2005) Luc Jacquet's doc on the mating rituals of the Emperor penguins in the Antarctic totally surprised me. However, I was angered (along with many parents of small children) by the distribution company's deceptive marketing practice calling this film "family fun". At the NYWiFT program event A Case Study on the Making of a Documentary, producer Emmanuele Priou discussed the tremendous obstacles in a hostile environment both in the Antarctic and stakeholders boardroom, as well as changes made to appeal to an American audience. It was awarded an Oscar for Best Documentary feature and became the highest grossing box office success at the time ($77 million).

12. WILD PARROTS OF TELEGRAPH HILL (2005) directed by Judith Irving based on a book by a man taking care of a population of feral parrots. Maybe it's because growing up, my family was adopted by one such parrot, Lulu, who became such a member of the family that her socializing forever left an imprint on me about most living things' basic needs for social connection. The budget was one million and after its theatrical release, Emerging Pictures digitized the film for its Emerging Cinema Digital Network and the film continues to do well finding new audiences and having a very long tail with it.

13. VOLVER (2006) Pedro Almodovar directed this coming home (literally translated as return to a place) drama/tragicomedy about the rich culture of death and superstition taken from Almodovar's birthplace. Penelope Cruz finally had a role that put her on a best actor level. She reminded me of Sophia Loren in the 1954 Italian comedy THE GOLD OF NAPLES and I hope she finds more roles like this one. I also loved the way Almodovar directed and brought out the essence of his women characters as a tribute to the women in his life and place.

14. THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY (2006) directed by Ken Loach is the only war film I have on the list, not that there aren't great films that should be listed (maybe on the Top Fifty). Set during the Irish War of Independence and the Irish Civil War, the story is about two brothers torn by their beliefs and honor. It's a history that few are familiar with and caused a flurry of protests by rival historic interpretations. The film won the Palme d'Or at Cannes Film Festival in 2006.

15. AWAY FROM HER (2007) directed by Sarah Polley with beautiful, memorable performances by Julie Christie, Gordon Pinsent and Olympia Dukakis. Kudos for the screenplay adapted from a short story into a feature that could have fallen quickly into a quagmire of depression. Instead, it celebrated lives and relationships with reality and optimism.

16. DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY (2007) Julian Schnabel won the Best Director award at Cannes and while the entire film kept me in awe, the scene I found most affecting was Bauby shaving his ailing father and their man-to-man, heart-to-heart. Touching.

17. THE LIVES OF OTHERS (2007) directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck and awarded the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. Its details and nuances are what makes the film so captivating and surprising at what it means to recover your personal humanity no matter what the circumstances are or consequences can be.

18. FROZEN RIVER (2008) written and directed by Courtney Hunt, it started as a short story then turning full bloom into a feature with Melissa Leo as one of two desperate women who smuggle illegal immigrants across the frozen St. Lawrence River. Leo was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Actress and won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead. When the Academy Award nominations were announced, gossip editor Courtney Hazlett on MSNBC announced her ignorance live on camera stammering she never heard of FROZEN RIVER and that only films that people know about should be nominated and she wouldn't know where to go to see it. Meanwhile at Sundance, Quentin Tarantino, ready to announce the Grand Jury Prize Winner (Dramatic), described the film as "a vise around your heart that is continuously squeezed until the very end".

19. MAN ON WIRE (2008) directed by James Marsh was another Sundance Grand Jury Prize Winner (Documentary) and Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary. The entire film went off like the planned bank heist that Philippe Petit had envisioned in his 1974 high-wire walk/dance between the Twin Towers. During the decade, doc filmmakers over-used reenactments and other elements to alter their film's characteristics, often unsuccessfully. This film was not only superb technically, but it had the visual and emotional intensity taken to heights that even Alfred Hitchcock would have approved of.

20. DEPARTURES (2009) directed by Yojiro Takita and awarded the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, this film embodies tradition and non traditional families along with a taboo subject of death, encoffinment, ceremonies and bereavement. Nevertheless, the soulful cello score throughout the film and the entire ceremony at the end of the credits become the small gems often missing in mainstream indie films.

NEXT: The Top Twenty Films of the Decade by women filmmakers.

FILM FESTIVALS: Grow Up and Get a Life

noreply@blogger.com (Christina.k) — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 04:26:00 +0000

The year 2007 may have been the height of indie films theatrical exhibition and distribution then it all failed miserably in 2008-09. Beyond blaming the economy, maybe it was more than the glut of mediocre films just to get them out in theaters. The same thing was going on with film festivals- a glut of them operated by inexperienced festival directors with too many cooks in the kitchen and the funding eventually drying up. For many festivals there wasn't much going for it if the general description would read " a festival that showcases undistributed short and feature films in all genres from around the world". Can't get anymore general than that including the ever expanding programming with "something for everyone" becoming the eventual death knell. One such festival in LA was touted as a non profit "established to provide a showcase for independent film that are often neglected and rarely presented". Yawn. Apparently, this festival started off with a bang in 2000 and peaked in 2007, at least two years beyond what I give a film festival the time necessary to figure out what it wants to be when it grows up. This festival is not around anymore since 2007 and there were probably more reasons for its demise that may have included bad management, bad films and bad economy.

One of the biggest blunders a film festival can make is not having a focus and getting too big, too fast before it has time to mature, establish and maintain a following. Two hundred films scheduled over a short period of time, understaffed in trained personnel and volunteers (yet there are thirty people sitting on the Board of Directors), not enough venues and technicians operating various projection systems, limited marketing and promotion planning and budget including stagnant websites that don't always include festival dates on their landing page. Nightmare city. The independent film audience that this was all going for becomes one or two people in a theater that seats four hundred and a disappointed filmmaker who gave up the prize (a premiere is like giving up your virginity - you only do it once) all for nothing.

The best festival websites have their festival name, dates and location in the title page, perfect for search engines to find and show up on the top of their list. The best film festivals go beyond panel discussions, master classes, public parties and private receptions. They have experienced, savvy film festival directors and programmers who understand the indie film business, are creative marketers and use their knowledge in conjunction with technology trends that takes over the lead from abandoned, ineffective distribution business models offering options for distributing the films that have been accepted in their program lineup and probably would not have progressed any further past the first film life and theatrical screening momentum. Film festivals need to get a life, too. Next: PART II FILM FESTIVALS THAT HAVE A FOCUS

film review: SAINT JOHN OF LAS VEGAS

noreply@blogger.com (Christina.k) — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 04:21:00 +0000

What is it about first time filmmakers? It's all the same, especially when the director, also writer of SAINT JOHN OF LAS VEGAS, Hue Rhodes "has a circuitous path to filmmaking, following many interests and careers before deciding to focus on becoming a director in his late twenties" (taken from the production notes). What I saw was a bunch of poorly shot scenes totally unrelated within a very small story. It's like going off on tangents while telling an overly-long bad joke. Typical of the first time writer/director is the character's bland narration, inconsistently placed, lacking originality and freshness with the obligatory opening: a start-in-the-bathroom scene staring in the mirror, doing some personal hygiene, standing in front of the closet in underwear, getting dressed. The rest of the movie takes place in badly lit convenience stores (three), gas stations/office bathrooms (three), cheap hotel rooms (two), very long car rides, harsh blinding desert light into total blackness of a strip club, strippers parading around to obnoxiously audio-mixed music, naked militants reassessing their philosophy. None of the characters with their trite one-liners are funny, surprising or add anything to a weak script.

What is surprising is that Steve Buschemi is starring in this lowly, low budget class exercise coming out of the film-related extension courses taken by the director because that is the reason why I went to see this film in the first place. Buschemi consistently takes an odd-ball character to new heights, midtones and ranges as shown in so many excellent films and his attempt to do so in this film is commendable. Recently, THE MESSENGER was screened at the Hamptons Film Festival and I saw him at different social gatherings deeply engrossed in conversation with producers and filmmakers who probably pitch him left and right. Perhaps after reading the script about a down-on-his-luck character -the trials and tribulations of a former gambler trying to change his luck- made an impression on him and I could understand what may have drawn him to the project. It makes sense especially seeing a credit "in association with" Olive Productions where he and partners Stan Tucci and Wren Arthur have various film and television projects in development and signed a first look deal with Lionsgate Television. On the other hand, a very talented Peter Dinklage who has not had a role that outshines the one in THE STATION AGENT (then named as one of the "breakout stars" of the year) should have been more selective. The character he plays in the film is especially offensive.

This type of film and filmmaking may be what's in store for years to come since the end of the indie film distribution model as we know it where films are submitted to festivals, screened competively with audience awards as a kind of focus group, picked up by a distributor and theatrically exhibited. Not that there weren't problems with that and often unfair to first-time filmmakers, but the filters have been removed and in place of film aficionados there are financiers, lawyers and acquisition coordinators turned producers raising funds up front to cover low budget production through investors, product placement and video game development and then financing an independent theatrical release. Oh yeah, don't forget a drop dead great trailer with rearranged scenes and dialogue to make this look like a funny, exciting film is a must. A case for false advertising if ever there is one where so many features are guilty of this ruse. While it's still true that filmmaking itself takes a "circuitous path" once made until theatrically released, this one goes straight downhill from the start.

Film Review: THE LOVELY BONES

noreply@blogger.com (Christina.k) — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 05:21:00 +0000

On Wednesday, December 2, the red carpet rolled out in front of the Paris Theatre in New York City to welcome cast and crew who all came out for the film to celebrate the special screening event of THE LOVELY BONES directed by Peter Jackson. Mark Wahlberg, Stanley Tucci, Rachel Weisz, Michael Imperioli, Susan Sarandon (who looked absolutely stunning at the premiere), the acting including Sairse Ronan and Rose McIver was excellent, the entire cast was outstanding as was the film production and special effects.

The drama takes us through the afterlife of Susie Salmon, a small-town Pennsylvania girl who was murdered by her neighbor, a local serial killer. She looks down on her shattered family from her place in limbo seeing her mother abandon the family and her father becoming increasingly obsessed with finding her killer on the verge of a mental and emotional breakdown. From this celestial vantage point, she starts to fear for the safety of her little sister who may become the next target of this seemingly innocuous neighbor.

The trailer is awesome. I didn't read the book but read how great the book was in the production notes and why everyone was so excited about it. It is intriguing and challenging. Just as other great books turn into movies, some translate well, others do not. Since the film premiere, I have been watching the trailer over and over again. It's a great trailer that makes me want to see the film and then I asked myself - what happened with the movie?

There were individual, separate vignettes of characters, all well presented but they didn't gel. Where one story begins, another becomes attached and then forgotten as another becomes introduced and takes over the film. From a crime ripped out of the headlines, followed by grandmother and grandson stealing scenes from one another for comic relief, then the marriage that inevitably falls apart without really knowing the cause culminating with the tense, horror film genre where the young heroine puts herself in harms way only to be saved at the last minute. Finally, the suspicious neighbor seems to get away with murder. Tough story for the big screen. I still like the trailer best.

film review: NEIL YOUNG'S TRUNK SHOW

noreply@blogger.com (Christina.k) — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 23:52:00 +0000

Ten years ago at the first Woodstock Film Festival, Jonathan Demme screened his Talking Heads performance film STOP MAKING SENSE, so it makes perfect sense to screen his latest film, NEIL YOUNG'S TRUNK SHOW, at this year's Woodstock Film Festival tenth anniversary. Demme's enthusiasm is contagious, spreading over the audience like wildfire during the introduction, saying he wanted to capture the "energy of the rock and roll show" starting from scratch in making art and putting it on film that would create a satisfying emotional experience. And that's exactly what happens watching Neil Young rock away on tour through his direction.

Demme's earlier film with Neil Young was HEART OF GOLD, a tightly coordinated collaboration with Young providing his own creative insights into the filmmaking process. This time around, the directorial undertaking unfolds with Demme focusing on all aspects of the staging during a tour stop at the Tower Theatre in Upper Darby, PA. Built in 1927, the theater was a vaudeville house one of the area's first movie houses and since the 1970s has been a venue for music concerts. It is known for its natural acoustic properties and used in the past for recording live albums. Neil Young booked many theaters like this on his tour paying homage to the spirits of past performers and theatrical performances that linger among the collection of equipment and items that sometimes have no meaning other than they come out of Neil Young's trunk. It feels like a painting, a still life set up with appropriate lighting, elements making up the scene, an artist ready to capture it all on canvas. And then the music explodes.

As part of the intro, Demme warned the audience that if they don't like Neil Young, electric guitars, a 22-minute electric guitar rendition or very loud rock music, they should leave the theater before the start of the film. And then it begins, rocking hard and loud, later the acoustic guitar is brought in, harmonic sounds as Neil Young communes with the past and the present. His music is an emotional journey through the epic, long distance, hard core blaring electric guitar, then back down into the acoustics all along resonating that satisfying, draining, emotional experience.

NEIL YOUNG'S TRUNK SHOW embodies the musician heart, mind and soul with an astute filmmaker's eye that mixes sight and sound with a combination of cameras, digital and stock footage into a blend- some grainy, hi def, full of lighting and shadow design adding to the performance itself and highlighting rarely-heard selections from Neil Young's proverbial "trunk". Great stuff. Long live rock!

film review: 2B: THE ERA OF FLESH IS OVER

noreply@blogger.com (Christina.k) — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 13:50:00 +0000

Even the logline is a statement that cannot be dismissed merely as exaggerated fiction: New York, soon. Technology's exponential growth is fast and furious. Human life is in the process of being transformed. Mia 2.0, the world's first "Transbeman" and her creator, "father" Dr. Tom Mortlake make a shocking, global political statement "designed to prove that human reliance on the fragile, human body is over and eternal life is at hand". It sends a spine tingling chill down my own fragile, flesh body.

The story is not a new one with well known science fiction authors as well as Mary Shelley's foreboding message in Frankenstein - that we ought not to dabble with Nature by playing God. There are consequences. And there are scientific and medical advances that humans are accepting into their lives at a remarkable level of technological expansion despite expressing discomfort at the pace and what is predicted as what will be.

The setting in a gritty New York is familiar with the lights and huge screens in Times Square streaming breaking news from around the world. James Remar (THE WARRIORS, COTTON CLUB, 48 HOURS) plays Dr. Tom Mortlake (mort=death, lake=water,birth), an eccentric technology inventor and billionaire who lives in a cavernous mansion echoing medieval great halls and labyrinths and is surrounded by and immersed in media that plays throughout the environs. His genius/madness brought into being Mia, played by Jane Kim (WEST 32ND STREET, FEEL), a beautiful, naive creation, who is summoned to participate in Mortlake's showdown with leaders of the "Fleshists" movement. The Fleshists are the political power ready to take Mortlake down before MINDFILE (a software that downloads human consciousness) becomes available to the public. During a news blast, the entire world, including down and out journalist Clay Konroy, played by Kevin Corrigan (THE DEPARTED, GOODFELLAS), as Mia executes Mortlake, shooting him in the head in cold blood. She leaves the scene with Mortlake's cerebral/soul essence in a box, escaping human homicide detective, Vicky Borano's (Florencia Lozano) hot pursuit. Following Mortlake's direction, Mia finds Clay and asks for his help in uploading the first MINDFILE, thus resurrecting Mortlake back for his eternal life. The white light spreads all over. All are welcome.

Visual effects and production design with technological graphics delivers a synthesis between the digitized and filmic styles. Everything could be going on either now or the very near right now, especially the gritty neighborhoods that camouflage the ultra cool tech bar where the fugitive Mia meets with Clay for her side of the story. But it's the music that gives it the human touch and composer Michael Galasso's score is beautifully poignant throughout this film adding sentiment into an otherwise biotecho engrossing and a seriously palatable course in science fiction entertainment.

Watch the streaming video from the Woodstock Film Festival panel Redesigning Humanity- The New Frontier on www.2bmovie.com

film review: AGAINST THE CURRENT

noreply@blogger.com (Christina.k) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 16:51:00 +0000

AGAINST THE CURRENT, written and directed by Peter Callahan, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival this year. As most filmmakers already know, the audience there is an eclectic sampling of demographics representing Sudance festival lovers while the recent screening at the Woodstock Film Festival has the hometown crowd welcoming the hometown filmmaker son of the Hudson Valley.

The film's premise sets the tone where the main character, Paul (Joseph Fiennes) is still grieving after five years over the loss of his wife and unborn child. A date is marked on the calendar in memory of that fateful day and plans are set into motion to swim the length of the Hudson River starting from Troy all the way to the Verazzano Bridge where the ocean begins. He enlists his best friend, Jeff (Justin Kirk), a wisecracking actor/bartender who invites Liz (Elizabeth Reaser) to come along on the boat that will escort Paul on his mission. During the first leg of the swim, Paul reminds Jeff of his promise five years earlier and Liz gets the story from Jeff on Paul's plan to commit suicide. From that point, Liz tries to change Paul's mind and despite the stopover at her mother's (superbly played by Mary Tyler Moore) with other eccentric family members and a night together, Paul's course and destiny is apparently set.

Justin Kirk (WEEDS) and Elizabeth Reaser still have the onscreen chemistry first seen in PUCCINI FOR BEGINNERS and, as the supporting cast, their banter moves the film along with the swimmer. Mary Tyler Moore's character, an exggerated, blissfully ignorant suburbabite living in her own glossed-over bubble, is reminiscent of the mother character in ORDINARY PEOPLE who couldn't deal with her younger son's attempted suicide. Joseph Fiennes understands the tortured soul character from ELIZABETH and SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE where as a young Shakespeare, he was prodded into writing a play about pirates, clowns and "a bit with a dog" then, surrounded by actors, eager with anticipation, he describes the scene where Romeo takes the poison and Juliet, upon seeing him dead, kills herself. Unresolved grief is just as strong as true love in its purest form. At times, there are no words that can comfort.

The setting and scenery along the Hudson Valley is beautiful and these moments are skillfully interwoven by editor Michael Taylor (ORDER OF MYTHS). While not always in the order except for the beginning (Troy, New York) and the end (Atlantic Ocean), the film is deftly handled along with music composr Anton Sanko's lyrical calling to our primordial emotions, capturing the alluring mystique that the Hudson River evokes. It's one that the local population have known for a long time.

AGAINST THE CURRENT will be playing at the local theaters in and around Hudson Valley.

film review: WOODSTOCK: NOW AND THEN

noreply@blogger.com (Christina.k) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 14:10:00 +0000

The tenth annual Woodstock Film Festival Opening Night event promised and delivered a communal experience exemplified a generation ago by showing on a big screen WOODSTOCK: NOW AND THEN produced and directed by Barbara Kopple with executive producer, Michael Lang who produced the Woodstock Music and Arts Festival in 1969. The Q&A following the film was led by WFF founder and executive director Meira Baustein whose film arts community is an inviting environment for such collaborations.

While there are numerous docs and books on the now mind numbing, legendary gathering of the masses for a weekend of music and human connection, Barbara Kopple used the archival footage from early documentary filmmakers (including a young, seriously-focused Thelma Schoonmaker) intertwined with recently-discovered treasure trove of memories, personal photo stashes and artistic renditions.

It's the sights and sounds that have the most impact; however, as there were many in the audience who were participants reliving the event that so many (including myself) could only wish they could have been. Barbara Kopple goes beyond the obvious and finds elements that connect and enliven the main event presented- from a Craigslist posting, an attendee who had just arrived in the U.S. and found himself on the road to Woodstock, a new generation of student musicians from the School of Rock, framed Woodstock admission tickets numbers 1 & 2, a high school student's assignment who wrote for and received a press pass, led to amazing photographs never seen before, a couple who met at Woodstock frolick with their grandchildren forty years later, an artist from another country, who like so many, heard about the event but couldn't be there, has a comic book version highlighting the now-famous stories.

While I was on the way to Woodstock, I had the soundtrack blasting, taking me back on a long strange trip through my own turbulent adolescent years. From the opening scene, the music took me in and didn't let go. Watching the performances that the Woodstock audience themselves had missed is a wonderful experience interspersed with behind-the-scenes backstories and how things turned out through sheer willpower (NO RAIN). The final day (Monday morning) with Jimi Hendrix (scheduled to be on stage Sunday afternoon) who performed before the remaining 40,000 proving the adage that the best things come to those who don't (or can't) get up on time. True in this case and I stayed with this film until the last credits roll. Truly a fitting way to open the Woodstock Film Festival going on from Wednesday, September 30 through Sunday, October 4, 2009.

IFP Week and the State of Film Festivals as Emerging Technology Takes Over the World

noreply@blogger.com (Christina.k) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:59:00 +0000

Independent Film Week, running from September 19-24, 2009 in New York City and formerly known as the IFP Market, was always the place to be whether you had a film in your pocket or just happy to see other filmmakers networking their hearts out, hanging on to every word industry professionals expound on revised business models and film festival philosophy. The film festival landscape is shifting out from under our feet just like continental shelves groaning under geological pressures as film festivals revert into individual altered states and the top tier directors/programmers check out of the executive positions. Maybe that's not a bad thing.

Historically, film festivals started out as a means of extending the tourist season in seaside regions producing revenue for the local economies in the off-season months. While there are festivals that still play that card, others that started out as such blossomed (or bloated) into a huge festival business eventually spinning off into year-round, entertaining target-marketed enclaves. Submissions, acceptance, rejections and awards often have been held over filmmakers' heads, overshadowing good filmmaking with the coveted brass ring of getting a distribution deal for theatrical exhibition. Just as the shake out of festival directors and programmers have left us pondering how this is going to affect the way things work for the continuously streaming influx of new and emerging filmmakers, emerging technology is stepping in, automating processes faster, more efficiently and environmentally sound, taking over and touting online festivals and submissions.

Sitting in the audience. I braced myself for another onslaught of streaming video, online distribution platforms, mobile phone screenings, etc. Sean Farnel, festival programmer for Hot Docs, Jarod Neece, SxSW, Erick Opeka, New Video and Christian Gaines, formerly festival director AFI West and currently film festival director for Withoutabox (WAB), all brought out points for expanding the film community, platforms and acquisitions. The IFP staff recorded this panel and it would be a good idea to check it out, particularly on how Christian Gaines sees film festival programmers becoming "curatorial attention managers" providing recommendations for audiences of what they would like to see, therefore, "assuring a strong, provocative, curatorial experience" for audiences who still want to watch films on the big screen and in a communal, film festival setting.

During the Q&A, someone asked the panel their opinion on the recent shake up at Film Society of Lincoln Center New York's Film Festival (going on from September 25-October 11, 2009) without Kent Jones, ten year veteran, associate director of programming and editor-at-large at Film Comment, whose high-profile resignation and departure had the indie film community buzzing. The panel members shrugged and said they knew nothing about it. Maybe that's not a bad thing.

Check out an earlier podcast conversation with Kent Jones at www.filmfestivalreviews.com

Silence is Golden in a Black Market: LORNA'S SILENCE

noreply@blogger.com (Christina.k) — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 19:00:00 +0000

An early scene in LORNA'S SILENCE sets the tone between the married couple, Lorna and Claudy, when Lorna arrives home with the groceries - a money exchange and exact change returned for the purchase. The visual statement of this marital arrangement is punctuated by setting out the mattress for Claudy to sleep on in the living room. He doesn't sleep, however, but goes through heroin addiction withdrawals calling out her name. She becomes his unwilling nurse and inspiration to stop being a junkie. His junkie status and Belgian citizenship was her reason for marrying him including the money paid by her black market connection, Fabio.

The marriage of convenience business has gone on forever because there are always reasons other than love that make people bond in legal matrimony. For young Eastern European women, there are limited choices with possible entrapments in human trafficking lurking at every hope-inducing job opportunity thus holding them hostage to taking chances. The black market ring for citizenship offers Lorna a misguided opportunity at securing a loan to open a snack bar with her boyfriend, Sokol, who also travels outside their home country borders for similar deals in fast buck moneymaking.

What Lorna doesn't count on is her influence on Claudy and as he becomes the non violent, decent but unemployed young man coming out of his heroin addicted persona, her conscience tugs at her emotions as she tries to alter the original plan for Claudy to O.D. Another marriage to a Russian mobster paying for Belgian citizenship is already being arranged and Lorna tries to obtain a divorce rather than follow Fabio's orders. Just as the loosened lynchpin throws off the cogwheel's balance, so does the decisions Lorna makes in trying to save Claudy's life and in the process derails her best laid plans and puts her own life in jeopardy.

The film is shot in 35mm and it shows, especially in the night scenes where Lorna frantically tries to make deals all the while becoming part of the deal with the next customer. The main character is a composite of the young women coming from a big European city that embodies all sorts of hope often turning into something unimaginable happening to them. Arta Dobroshi, the actress chosen to play Lorna brings these qualities together beautifully. Finding the money Claudy gave to Lorna for safekeeping and her attempt to return it to his mother becomes a heart-wrenching meeting between two women who otherwise would not have exchanged a single word despite their marital ties. It was another attempted money exchange, but this time not accepted. Again, the tone is set, yet there's a sensual, innocent quality added to the unfolding dramatic darkness up until the end.

The Dardenne brothers, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, have been making documentary and narrative films since the 1970s but it was not until twenty years later that their films won a major prize at Cannes and since then their films have played at the Cannes main competition. This latest film, LORNA'S SILENCE (LE SILENCE DE LORNA), won Best Screenplay at the 2008 Cannes festival and will open in New York (Lincoln Plaza and Cinema Village) and Los Angeles on Friday, July 31 with a national roll out to follow.

film review: A WOMAN IN BERLIN

noreply@blogger.com (Christina.k) — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 15:18:00 +0000

It's hard to imagine. The fear, the atrocities, the humiliation that Stalin's soldiers of the Red Army inflicted on women, raping them one after another, time and time again. It was the last days of war, they were enemies and critically acclaimed film A WOMAN IN BERLIN is not easy to watch. Written and directed by Max Farberbock, the film is based on the diary of Anonyma, a well-educated, well-versed woman and journalist who lived in the capitals of the world, Moscow, London, Paris and believed in the nationalistic rhetoric of a new world order. It is visually, compelling storytelling.

In the final days, Berlin, the Soviet Red Army makes its way to the center of what civilized life once was, their barbaric trampling and wanton destruction strikes fear in what will come next. It's hard to watch what does come next because of the knowledge that it's coming. It is known that the rapes had begun as soon as the Red Army entered east Prussia and Silesia in 1944. By the time the Red Army reached Berlin, its reputation had already terrified the population, many of whom fled while others stayed behind. That's where the story begins, bombed out ruins with rumblings of tanks approaching, people scrambling for the safety in meandering cavernous cellars twisting into dead ends. But no one was safe.

The Soviets saw rape, often carried out in front of a woman's husband and family, as an appropriate way of humiliating the Germans who had treated Slavs with disdain as an inferior race. In accordance with Russia's patriarchal society, Stalin condoned the brutality and encouraged binge-drinking that kept his soldiers drunken and depraved. Women were raped on their death beds, pregnant and due to give birth, others raped by countless men waiting their turn, one after another, day after day. Fear, shame and because they were members of the nation that started the bloodiest war in history contributed to their gritted teeth and silent suffering.

Scenes flowed from the real-life journalist's pages. After the initial barrage of physical attacks, life had a way of settling down as the soldiers settled in looting and pillaging what were once shops and private homes. The juxtaposition of sitting room and dining furniture dragged out in the street and the care taken of a treasured mahogany table within one apartment dwelling brought out the universal need to carve out a little comfort from the chaos. When the women made their decision to do whatever it takes to survive the ordeal, victors and their victims took on faces and voices of real people, not what the official propaganda branded them to be.

And that's how the author of this journal determined not to be the victim, but decided who would be allowed to take her, finding higher ranking officers who would not only protect her but the other occupants within the building she resided. The relationship with the Major teetered on mutual respect and admiration for their educated conversations and the sudden realizations that they still are on opposite ideological fronts still suffering from wounds inflicted by their own people. Here, Farberbock brought out the faces from the maddening crowd that could have been a blur for the women characters whereas, they became: the Alpha Wolf, the Farmer who managers a milk cooperative, a Merchant with gifts for a specific woman he visits, the silent Mongolian sentry. Their countenances are that of young men, fathers, sons, brothers and brethren of war under dire circumstances with their own personal stories of death and destruction. The cinematography superbly captures the haunted looks of the women and the soldiers with particular emphasis on the defeated who could only stand by and witness the rapes, unable to do anything to stop it.

Academics have begun recording the victim's experiences and according to military historian, Anthony Beevor, the Red Army's rapes were conducted on a much greater scale than otherwise suspected but never brought up as war crimes. "By the time Russians reached Berlin, soldiers were regarding women as carnal booty: they felt because they were liberating Europe they could behave as they pleased. That is very frightening, because one starts to realise that civilisation is terribly superficial and the facade can be stripped away in a very short time." Although the Mein Kampf struggle came to an end in May 1945, the ordeal of german women continued well into the end of the decade when the soldiers were finally removed from where civilians lived and remanded to security checkpoints and their own camps. The scale of rape is suggested by the fact that about two million women had illegal abortions every year between 1945 and 1948.

A WOMAN IN BERLIN screened as part of Special Presentations at the 2008 toronto Film Festival and under Film Comment Selects at the Film Society of Lincoln Center in 2009. Opens in New York on Friday, July 17 at the Angelika Fiml Center followed by a national roll out.

film review: DEPARTURES

noreply@blogger.com (Christina.k) — Fri, 22 May 2009 03:51:00 +0000

First, I advise all to stay for the end credits because they roll over a scene of the entire ceremonial procedure in one take, culminating what the main character has learned into an art form. The logline reads "Winner of Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, DEPARTURES is a delightful journey into the heartland of Japan as well as an astonishingly beautiful look at a sacred part of Japan's cultural heritage." In essence, what DEPARTURES turns out to be is all about the art of life and living it well.

The established character scene spotlights Daigo Kobayashi (Masahiro Motoki) playing the cello at his job with a symphony orchestra. While most people highly regard symphony musicians as artists, in reality, many are not truly musicians, but technicians trained to produce their instrument's piece from the notes provided. And so, Daigo lives his life this way, doing what is expected and in the process finds it difficult to handle common human interactions such as telling his wife, Mika (Ryoko Hirosue) that he lost his job and that be bought an exorbitantly expensive cello without telling her, afraid she would say no. His attempt to empathize with a still-moving octopus Mika brings home for dinner proves clumsy and ineffectual when he tries to release the mollusk off an embankment into the river, killing it in the process. It's not until after the couple moves back to Daigo's hometown where he answers an ad thinking it's a tour guide position when in fact it's a pre undertaker "encoffinment" profession, that he discovers and embraces his inner humaneness. It doesn't come out all at once, but evolves through one of Japan's most accomplished directors, Yojiro Takita's deft intertwining of the film's characters and interactions.

It would have been easy to let Daigo's mentor, the Boss (Tsutomo Yamazaki) become the focus of Daigo's metamorphosis, but like a good seasoning, the Boss is used sparingly, effectively and unsentimentally potent yet providing comic relief starting in the opening scene. His staid outer business demeanor gradually melts away, like the winter scenes into the cherry blossom spring, as he attends to and is surrounded by blooming plants and life-affirming dining experiences. Supporting characters, particularly the women, provide the insights and backstories, confirming the Boss' philosophical views that Fate brought Daigo to his destiny as do the families who are portrayed anything but what an outsider might presume a typical Japanese family would be within today's mix of traditional and unconventional situations.

Eventually, Daigo immerses himself into his calling, showing respectful caring for the deceased and becoming the "tour guide" with an uncanny sensitivity for the ones left behind in need for closure. The childhood cello turns his music from formally trained into spiritual delight, playing under a string of small moments throughout the film that interweave personal history into Daigo's transformation ultimately finding "it really isn't what it is". The cello's major role in the film highlights a music score both sumptuous and sadly beautiful as only a cello can do, encompassing themes of rebirth and reconciliation. Very stirring.

Fortunately, the film, distributed by Regent Releasing, has only been out since October 2008 going on to win an Oscar and subsequently 10 Japan Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor, the Grand prix des Ameriques at Montreal World Film Festival, Best Feature at palm Springs International Film Festival, Washington DC International Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival and Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival. It opens in theaters May 29 at Lincoln Plaza Cinema, City Cinema 1, 2, 3 and landmark Sunshine Cinema, 143 East Houston Street, New York, Los Angeles, San francisco and Chicago followed by a national roll out as I most definitely plan to see it again especially staying for the end credits.

62nd Festival de Cannes 60s Love Fest

noreply@blogger.com (Christina.k) — Fri, 22 May 2009 02:41:00 +0000

Festival de Cannes began May 13 and goes on through May 24. While I did attend the last two years (see Film Festival reViews website for Cannes 2007 and 08) wasn't able to make it there this year but have been keeping up with the updates from a lot of sites including the Festival newsletter that I have been getting all along. There are a few familiar names and directors I've seen and have been following that are in competition.

Big Cannes premiere for director Ang Lee's TAKING WOODSTOCK. The trailer is out and I think it will get the audiences into the theaters just for the nostalgia of the 60s music, counterculture, free love and being a hippie even if you never were one. Jane Campion's BRIGHT STAR on a torrid, romantic interlude between the poet John Keats and a young woman, Fanny, told from her point of view. Spanish director Pedro Almodovar and Penelope Cruz came to cannes with VOLVER in 2006 and are back this year with BROKEN EMBRACES (LOS ABRAZOS ROTOS).

I look forward to Andrea Arnold's film FISH TANK, an intimate family situation about a rebellious teenager having to deal with her mother's new boyfriend. After winning the 2006 Jury Prize with RED ROAD, I met up with Andrea at the New Directors/New Films 2007 and we talked about her twisting, winding way that ends up smack against a wall. I remember seeing her squirm in her seat not knowing how the audience will react to her film. I thought it was intensely gripping as she sets her characters in situations that find a way to go wrong.

The best part of the Marche du Film is the Short Film Corner (added to the Cannes film market in 2003) promoting emerging filmmakers with opportunities to be seen and make professional contacts during Festival de Cannes. Films must be less than 35 minutes, produced after January 2008, not previously screened in the Short Film Corner and only one film per filmmaker per year. Over 1,900 were submitted in four categories: narrative, documentary, animation and experimental mostly from france, U.S and the UK totaling more than 1,400. They digitize the film submissions and are made available for individual or two-person viewing during a two-hour period. There's also a Buyers Corner and three mini screening rooms with seats for 3-9 persons. A great opportunity for an entrepreneurial filmmaker out to get their film in front of the right person. All filmmakers with short films should be there.

Beyond the Narrative

noreply@blogger.com (Christina.k) — Thu, 21 May 2009 22:35:00 +0000

I like to find the most innovative filmmakers taking risks and finding their own cutting edge and the most recent podcast on Film Festival reViews filmfestivalreviews.com EPISODE 65 Top Notch Filmmaking includes a couple more conversations from BE FILM: The Undergound Film Festival. Just an amazing group of films and filmmakers that kept my attention even weeks after the festival ended. Tim and Mike Rauch are animators behind GERMANS IN THE WOODS. Their illustrative style matches the animation with a rhythm and pace of an orchestrated composition, getting the nuances of physical gestures perfectly in sync with the grain in the voice. Other animation artists challenged them on how they were going to create complex camera movements and getting in on the subject from all angles. Amazing deft work of very talented directing, illustrators as directors of photography - I was hooked on every scene. Check out their website at Rauch Bros. Animation www.rauchbrothers.com Their most recent film Q&A, another remarkable, three minute brain whoo that won Best in Show at ASIFA East will be at the ANNECY in France, June 8 through 13. I find their Rauch Brothers blog quite interesting, too.

Fearless filmmakers Mark du Pace, Matt Okterberg and Elliott Jokelson of Ghost Robot describe their technique used to create a spec ad for the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival (June 11 through 14, 2009, Manchester, TN) as a stratelstencil animation procedure which involves removing the negative space of an illustration enabling you to see the animation move in time and space. Their energy level rises not only from talking about the collaboration efforts and logistics involved but from the artistic and artisan aspect in making the 3D film look really beautiful and natural without resorting to cheap CGI tricks. The process took about three months to complete with thirteen people spending weeks cutting out each one of the 1,336 frames by hand then mounted on and shot with a special-constructed 3D camera rig.

Their collaborations take them where few traditional filmmakers attempt to go and that's just about every visual media market from award-winning theatrical feature films most recently AGAINST THE CURRENT that premiered at Sundance this year and directed by Peter Callahan who along with editor, Michael Taylor, I met at Sundance in 2008. The film just won the Special Jury Award at the AFI Dallas International Film Festival. Past films include CHOKING MAN, THE HAWK IS DYING and one of my favorites, THE STATION AGENT and their most recent feature documentary, CROPSEY premiered at Tribeca Film Festival. Their work includes 3D music videos and commercials, video games, interactive shorts, magazine covers and websites and can be seen in movie theaters, art galleries and museums, local and international film festivals like Sundance, Tribeca and BE FILM The Underground Film Festival where collaborator Encyclopedia Pictura's Bjork film WANDERLUST won the 3D category.

Ghost Robot was founded in 2005 with award-winning work across all platforms as well as all virtual spaces on the Internet. On their website they invite visitors to call, email or swing by their studio at 25 Howard Street, Third Floor to learn more. Maybe I'll do that.

BE FILM Is A Festival to Watch

noreply@blogger.com (Christina.k) — Fri, 08 May 2009 02:53:00 +0000

During film festivals, I gather recorded conversations throughout my stay and then put them into a podcast creating a non linear piece where each show feels like a short film sans the visual part. So, being present as film festival podcaster at BE FILM The Underground Film Festival for the entire festival schedule was a first time for me - there's a first time for everything - everyone's still a virgin at something. It presented a challenge, however, to be present as part of the festival team, set up before the screenings, meet and record conversations with filmmakers, industry and film supporters, watch the films, get home and edit the recording making it sound somewhat balanced and then get it out before having to be at the next screening location and do it all over again. The pace was hectic yet I didn't miss any of the short films because they were just sooo good. As mentioned in my first podcast, I was a virgin at watching 3D films, not sure why probably I just wasn't interested in the Hollywood hype and didn't know very much about the technology. Being the first established film festival in the U.S. to have enough stereoscopic films in competition is an outstanding achievement and surely will put BE FILM on the map of film festivals to watch and for filmmakers to submit their films.

Having been around the film festival block, I see a lot of high points and pitfalls when it comes to running one and experienced what it's like at the forefront of the pre festival film search and submissions when I worked for Catherine Wyler, artistic director for the High Falls Film Festival. While BE FILM is already established as one of the best short film festivals on the East Coast, the submissions increased as it did after several years with many films eventually getting nominated for Academy Awards. Not a bad reputation to have. But then founder and executive director Laurence Asseraf along with programming director, Dimitris Athos decided to up the ante with a category first and their search for 3D indie films from around the world grew into a monumental task for all involved. Filmmakers sent their films in every kind of format known, technical professionals from Dolby Production Services and Heavy Light Digital came in with their projection equipment and system set ups that had not been invented before and the New York Stereoscopic Society - an assorted collection of scientists, artists, entrepreneurs, pioneering souls - collaborated with their combined knowledge and came out in full support Opening Night celebrating an achievement at finally having a competitive platform for 3D indie films. Necessity is the mother of invention? That's what made it so exciting, especially for me because I knew what was going on behind the scenes. The focus was deadline driven where that extra ounce of adrenalin kicks in, they worked nonstop to get it right before a seated audience who waited in anticipation with their 3D glasses on. We were not disappointed. Only after the house lights go on that they realize their being at the forefront of a breakthrough taking technology to the next level, pushing science to the limit where they hadn't gone before. Ideas are already in the works for BE FILM next year as are filmmakers planning their next film in 3D.