General
Public Access
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The
Pleasures and Displeasures of Attending Festivals
by Klaus Eder,
General Secretary of FIPRESCI
I
am writing these lines in a hotel room in San Sebastian, Spain.
It's a room with a view on the Concha - the beach, the bay, a blue
sky. You've got some reason to envy me. One of the attractions of
the San Sebastian International Festival is indeed San Sebastian.
The marvelous old city. The bars with those delicious small sandwiches
which they call tapas. The beach, 36 degrees, the other day. If
you're politically interested: the manifestations pro and contra
the separatists of the ETA. Want me to continue?
more
What
is FIPRESCI?
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San
Sebastian Rewards "Ruination"
21
- 30 September
 On
Saturday night, September 30, the San Sebastian Festival awarded
its prizes at the closing gala. How fitting for a Mexican - and
not just any Mexican, his name is Arturo Ripstein - to receive the
Golden Shell for the Best Film and Best Screenplay: The Ruination
of Men. Several other prizes were bestowed on European filmmakers,
but when it comes comes to acting, San Sebastian once again honored
the best in the Spanish world. And let us remind you that the jury
was headed by British director Stephen Frears.
Vancouver
Int'l Film Festival: Mid-Fest Report
21
September - 5 October
More concentrated than other festivals this size, Vancouver appears
to selectively invite industry guests most likely to foster unique
and profitable relationships with attending filmmakers. In attendance
this week are several festival directors and programmers scouting
films for their own programs, including those from Rotterdam, Pia,
Human Rights, Melbourne, Taos Talking Pictures, Fantasia, Toronto,
Wellington, Portland, Thessaloniki, Brisbane, San Francisco, Tromso,
Deauville, Cinequest, AFI and Cleveland Festivals among others.
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New
Academy Award Established
An Academy Award category for feature-length animated films, the first
new award category since 1981, was created September 26 by the board
of governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It
could be presented for the first time at the 74th Annual Academy Awards
in March, 2002.
Pusan
International Film Festival
6
- 14 October
The 5th annual Pusan Film Festival will open with Indian director
Buddhadeb Dasgupta's The Wrestlers, which was screened at
Venice and will make its Asian premiere in Korea. The fest will
close with In the
Mood for Love from Hong Kong director Wong Kar Wai. In between,
the fest will feature 18 world premiere films from international
directors.
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Iranian
Films Find Homes in USA
Three Iranian films have been acquired for US distribution this
month, thanks partly to their success on the festival circuit. They
are: Jafar Panahi's The
Circle (which won the Golden Lion at Venice),
Bahman Farmanara's Smell of Camphor, Fragrance of Jasmine and
Hassan Yektapanah's Djomeh
(screened at Cannes) each secured
a deal this week just before the start of the New
York Film Festival.
Lions
Gate Films Picks up The Golden Bowl
Although Miramax abandoned its US commitment to
The Golden Bowl (after its creators Ismail Merchant and
James Ivory refused to trim the 184-minute film), all is not lost
for the period piece. Lions Gate has recently snapped up the rights
and will release the film in Spring 2001.
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La
comunidad (Common Wealth) by Alex de la
Iglesia
 On
the eve of the screening of Common Wealth at the 48th San Sebastian
Film Festival, State councilor Jose Luis Ruiz was brutally assassinated
by the ETA and a group of demonstrators planted themselves the following
day in front of the Festival's centre. The tone seemed to be set
for what proved to be Iglesia's goriest movie, with such set pieces
as a man sliced in two parts by an elevator, another one beating
Carmen Maura black, blue and red, and the same bleeding to death
in a bathtub only to rise a moment later. But more than ever, Iglesia's
violence is of a comic book nature.
El
Celo (Presence of Mind) by Antoni Aloy
The casting of El Celo adds to the mystery of the film: how did
Antoni Aloy, a young Spanish director aged only 31, convince Harvey
Keitel and Lauren Bacall, one of the last feminine legends of Hollywood
cinema, to play in his first feature? "Very simply" answered the
Spanish whiz-kid. "We sent them the script, and much to our surprise,
they replied that they were very interested in the project."
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