Programme director Walter Provo is confident about the quality and range of films on offer at this year's festival, which includes a special section devoted to both classic and new films from the British film industry. Nicholas Cunningham investigates
Walter Provo, programme director of the Flanders International Film Festival, is more than confident about the 1996 event. I feel very secure this year as far as the programme is concerned because it has been an exceptional year for film. The very high standard of the films which I've seen at various festivals and those I've been sent on video cassette makes me certain that we will be able to present a very strong slate of films this year. This feeling is enhanced by the decision of the festival to reduce the number of feature films from over 160 last year to 140 this year. This enabled Provo to more easily separate the wheat from the chaff and so raise the overall standard of the festival selections. It was a lot more difficult to cut out titles than to add titles, says Provo.
This did not mean, though, that he had carte blanche access to any film that he wanted to programme: The major distribution companies apparently no longer require festival premieres for their major product. However, he is delighted to concede that this leaves the door open for the festival to properly support an interesting, thematically eclectic and truly panoramic cross-section of films, a few of which will not yet have a Belgian distributor attached. He cites Like Grains of Sand, by Japanese director Hashiguchi, and Zusje (Little Sister), by the Dutch director Robert Jan Westdijk, two small and impressive first films, which are counter-balanced in the programme by more traditional and classical films such as Hamsun, a Scandinavian co-production starring Max von Sydow and directed by Jan Troell.
The most important place in the programme has been reserved for British cinema. In the official selection are Beautiful Thing, Jude, Shine (Australian co-production) and Some Mother's Son (Irish co-production). British films out of competition include The Pillow Book, The Van and Christopher Hampton's The Secret Agent. The festival will also screen 25 classic British films (including Brief Encounter and Kind Hearts) plus 20 new and recent British productions.
There will also be the chance to see a comprehensive anthology of British short films, rarely screened or broadcast in Belgium, and a separate selection of 13 UK films which have not found a theatrical distributor in Belgium. These include Robin Mahoney's Glastonbury: The Movie, David Hayman's The Near Room, Nigel Finch's Stonewall and Tony Palmer's latest, England, My England.
Provo is unashamedly optimistic about the future of European cinema, Britain's position within the mix, and the festival's ability to continue to provide a platform for the best film fare from filmmakers the world over, especially from Europe.
In spite of all of the lamenting by European producers about the crisis within European cinema, the festival will present quite a few very original, highly interesting European productions. Of course, Britain is still one of the leading nations, despite some gloom among the British film industry. British cinema is still strong, and the films the industry produces big productions and smaller, independent ones are among the best in Europe. I hope this year's festival programme will put all this into perspective.
[Home ] [Content ] [The Sponsors ] [The Team ] [Comments ] [Help ]
