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Filmmaker
Spotlight
 Living
Afterwards by Laurent
Bécue- Renard
Laurent Bécue-
Renard's remarkable documentary film follows three Bosnian women
who have lost their husbands in the massacres. In Harrison's
Flowers, Elie Chouraqui's foray into the atrocities of the Bosnian
conflict, the editor of a prestigious US photo magazine confesses:
"We were completely mistaken. We didn't have the faintest idea
of what this conflict was going to be. It's not just another bit
of skirmish. It's a damn bloody ethnic cleansing." In Living
Afterwards, no explosions there, no gruesome dismemberments
in front of the camera... but the tears and confessions of Sedina,
Jasmina and Senada are tantamount to anything exposed during the
conflict. Living Afterwards was awarded the Planet Prize
at the Marseille International Documentary Film Festival. Laurent
Bécue-Renard opens up. more
Trailer
Interview
Titans
Rival Olympians
Despite predictions of weak box office
receipts (blamed on the Olympics, which finished October 1), the
US box office rebounded this weekend, with the opening of Remember
The Titans, the football drama starring Denzel Washington. This
was followed by The Exorcist, Almost
Famous, and Urban Legends: Final Cut. The cheerleading
hit Bring It On rallied to remain in the top five, squeaking
by in the fifth position. In the UK, Stuart Little was yet
again the top draw, followed by Me Myself and Irene and Hollow
Man. Rounding out the UK top five were Scary
Movie and the festival favorite Billy
Elliot from Stephen Daldry. In France the top film was Hollow
Man, followed by What
Lies Beneath, and O' Brother. In Australia,
while national attention was focused on the Games, the number one
box office draw was Big Momma's House followed by Scary
Movie and Pokemon.
Billy
Elliot Pirouettes to BIFAs
Stephen Daldry's
Billy Elliot has been nominated for five BIFAs (British
Independent Film Awards), including best British independent film
and best director. The film (screened at Cannes under the title
Dancer) follows Billy Elliot, a 13-year old miner's son who
takes boxing lessons to please his macho father but falls in love
with ballet. Jamie Bell was nominated for best onscreen newcomer
for his role as Billy, while his costar Julie Walters was nominated
for best actress. Other films given nods are Terence Davies' The
House Of Mirth, Kevin MacDonald's Oscar-winning documentary
One Day In September, Nigel Cole's Saving Grace and
Paul Pawlikowski's The Last Resort. Nominees for best English-language
foreign independent film include Boiler
Room, Chuck
And Buck, Jesus'
Son, Nurse
Betty and The Straight Story.
Alec
Baldwin Directs The Devil
Actor Alec Baldwin will make his directorial debut (and star with
Anthony Hopkins) in a remake of The Devil and Daniel Webster
for Cutting Edge Entertainment and El Dorado Pictures. Baldwin will
star as Jabez Stone, a writer who sells his soul to the devil in
exchange for fame and fortune. Shooting is expected to begin in
January 2001.
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Swedish
Beauty
Daniel Fridell
Festival: Toronto 2000
It's summer 1964 and the arrival of Sofia, a Brigitte Bardot look-alike,
to a small town in Sweden motivates two 15 year old boys to become
filmmakers. Their goal: to see a woman naked. They hire Sofia to
be in their film and to their surprise fall in love rather than
lust.
6ixtynin9
by Pen-ek Ratanaruang
Festival: Toronto 2000
A young woman named Tum gets fired from her much needed job then
finds a box of organized crime money left outside her door. She
keeps it, setting off a bizarre chain of events as she is pursued
by the criminals.
Pandaemonium
by Julien Temple
Festival: Toronto 2000
Set against the philosophical revolution of the late 18th Century
and the beautiful English countryside, Pandaemonium follows the
friendship between poets Samuel Taylor Colerige and William Wordsworth.
Eisenstein
by Renny Bartlett
Festival: Toronto 2000
Eisenstein is an examination of the interior life of the great 1920's
Soviet director Sergei Eisenstein as he creates great films, grapples
with the state and his critics and ultimately his own character.
waydowntown
by Gary Burns
 Festival:
Toronto 2000
Set in downtown Calgary, waydowntown follows a group of employees
who bet a month's salary on who can last the longest without going
outside.
Low
Self Esteem Girl by
Blaine Thurier
Festival: Toronto 2000
Low Self Esteem Girl was developed from director Blaine Thurier's
weekly cartoon strip. The story follows a girl named Lois whose
relationships with a series of quirky (and sometimes cruel) men
lead to a violent, almost farcical confrontation between clashing
religious groups.
The
Hotel Splendide by Terence Gross
Festival:
Berlin 2000, Cannes Market 1999
The damp, dilapidated hotel is fastidiously run by the family of
the late and still overbearing 'Mummy' but the stiff operation is
put under threat by the return of the chef's former sous chef and
lover, the colourful Kath. With emotions running high behind the
peeling façade, a gastronic competition is deemed the only way to
set things straight. However, this sure-fire plan for disaster soon
becomes a recipe for love and the end of 'Mummy's' macabre hold
over the hotel.
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