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Oscar-Nominated Film Reviewed -- "War/Dance"

2008-02-20T10:05:00.001-08:00

"War/Dance" premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival and is nominated for a Best Documentary Feature at the upcoming Academy Awards.

The doc is currently in limited release and will be available on DVD later this year. Following is The Hollywood Reporter review from Sundance.

War/Dance

Bottom Line: A moving docu depicting traumatized kids triumphing over tragedy.
By Justin Lowe

Feb 6, 2007

PARK CITY -- The ongoing rebel conflict in northern Uganda forms the backdrop for Sundance Film Festival documentary directing award-winner "War/Dance," a refreshingly upbeat film that finds its roots in some seriously sobering events. THINKFilm's theatrical release will capture the hearts and minds of art house audiences before a promising campaign on DVD.

The Lord's Resistance Army of rebels draws its ranks from the children of rural Uganda, kidnapping kids from their villages and forcing boys to become child soldiers and girls into sexual slavery. Many are compelled to kill relatives or neighbors, or watch their families murdered, becoming severely traumatized as a result.

For those who escape the rebel army, refugee camps are often their only way to survive after the decimation of their villages and families. The Patongo Displacement Camp shelters 60,000 refugees under constant military guard, providing a semblance of normalcy where kids can attend school and try to rebuild their shattered lives.

Xylophone player Dominic, dancer Nancy and chorister Rose -- all in their early teens -- become the focus of Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine's revealing documentary as they join the other students of the Patongo Primary School in preparing to compete in the prestigious National Music Competition. Their tragic stories of murder, abuse and loss provide the background for the school's quest to compete in the nationwide showcase for the first time.

Shooting in hi-def, the filmmakers favor a confessional, direct-address style in the kids' interviews that creates an intimacy with the audience that would be lost with more conventional framing. Artistically composed cutaways of the stunning landscape surrounding the camp and dynamic sequences of the school's enthusiastic music rehearsals provide a welcome contrast to the children's wrenching tales of terror.

However, shots that appear too smoothly executed and interviews that seem overly rehearsed are a reminder that the film could have benefited from a more realistic depiction of the squalor of the kids' lives and the harsh reality of the refugee encampment (which lacks sanitation, running water and electricity).

Nonetheless, the rooting factor is high by the time the Patongo students arrive in the capital of Kampala for the national competition, where the moderately predictable outcome still forms a nicely nuanced conclusion.

While the title is evocative within the context of the film, it could prove confusing to audiences who associate it with the unrelated phrase "war dance." At 105 minutes, the overall length might benefit from some trimming.

WAR/DANCE
THINKFilm
A Fine Films Production in association with Shine Global
Running time -- 105 minutes
No MPAA rating

2007 Sundance Film Festival Wrap-up

2007-07-18T10:26:00.000-07:00

An edited version of this review of the 2007 Sundance Film Festival originally appeared in the Spring issue of Filmmaker magazine, which holds re-publication rights for 90 days following the initial release date. The full review as originally written runs here.

Park City -- Arriving at the festival’s midpoint proved timely this year due to the atypically inverted acquisitions pattern that developed early on. After fest-watchers proclaimed that there were few standout titles available prior to the opening, buyers held on tightly to their checkbooks into the first weekend, playing a waiting game that finally ended when Magnolia Pictures bought competition doc "Crazy Love." The pick-up seemed to reassure other buyers about the commercial viability of titles throughout the fest’s sections and sales quickly set a surprisingly brisk pace.

Although Sundance organizers attempted to sway attendees’ interest away from swag salons, fringe parties and dealmaking by distributing “Focus on Film” buttons, every day brought new distribution deals, particularly for titles premiering later in the lineup. In the face of this annual onslaught of calculated commercialism, the colorful buttons seemed an exceedingly mild response, particularly since they appeared to be in scarce supply outside the Marriott headquarters, primarily attracting the interest of dedicated cinephiles.

As usual, the shuttle buses, parties and bars were the best places to catch up on the latest news and rumors. A Main Street shuttle conversation, for instance, had a producer of "The Signal" revealing news of the film’s sale to Magnolia, while the premiere party for "Chapter 27" was abuzz with hopeful anticipation of a festival deal that ultimately didn’t materialize.

Aside from the heightened sales activity, the second half of the fest revealed some favorable debuts, as well as a few non-starters. In the Premieres section, novelist and screenwriter Mike Cahill stepped behind the camera to direct "King of California," a quirkily calibrated comedy starring Michael Douglas as recently released bipolar mental patient Charlie, who returns home to his teenaged daughter (Evan Rachel Wood) with a scheme to unearth Conquistador treasure he believes is buried beneath the local Costco.

Although Cahill’s uninspired visuals do little to enliven the narrative, the script is strong, providing Douglas in particular the opportunity to fill out Charlie’s larger than life character. Audience response was warm, if not overwhelming, at the Eccles premiere and First Look Pictures took the pick up for about $3 million the next day.

Buyers were less sanguine about "Chapter 27," a killer’s-eye view account of Mark David Chapman’s 1980 assassination of John Lennon. Jared Leto delivers a fascinating performance as the self-absorbed and increasingly unbalanced Chapman, thoroughly inhabiting the role. Perhaps because the details of the crime are so well known, writer-director Jarrett Schaefer makes little effort to fill in the character’s backstory. Leto’s earnest method acting and some atmospheric lensing (along with Lindsay Lohan in a tossed-off supporting role) prove a poor substitute for better scripting that might give Chapman’s crime a more meaningful context. The film was still seeking a distributor after the close of the festival.

Late-night programming sometimes takes a toll on attendance for Park City at Midnight screenings, but the Holiday Village was near capacity for an awards-night showing of Justin Lin’s 70’s-set "Finishing the Game." Following his 2002 "Better Luck Tomorrow" Sundance feature debut, Lin staged his indie comeback with this comedy spoof that reimagines the aftermath of Bruce Lee’s 1973 death, when studio execs hijacked the martial arts star’s unfinished "Game of Death" and substituted a stand-in to create a marginally viable finished film.

In Lin’s pseudo-doc, Roger Fan, Sung Kang and Dustin Nguyen are among the wanna-be Bruce Lees auditioning for the role while the white filmmakers – including the neophyte director (Jake Sandvig) and a clueless casting agent (Meredith Scott Lynn) -- debate whether “fuckability” or acting chops are the most important qualification for the part. Lin amusingly sends up the many foibles of studio moviemaking and stages spot-on recreations of 70s TV shows and movies in this lighthearted satire that’s ultimately less incisive than BLT but may also prove more accessible to a broader audience.

Sci-fi/horror/thriller genre exercise "The Signal" sent a scrambled message across the festival airwaves from a midnight Egyptian Theater screening. Featuring several distinct narrative and visual styles corresponding to its three-act structure, the film opens with an intriguing first segment about a mysterious signal broadcast by TV, radio and cell phones that sends residents of the city of Terminus on a murderous rampage. Like a degrading transmission straying too far from its source, the storyline deteriorates in later reels with abrupt narrative and stylistic shifts, likely attributable to shared writing and directing duties among filmmakers David Bruckner, Jacob Gentry and Dan Bush. While their tag-team approach actually detracts from the film’s effectiveness, Magnolia saw enough potential in "The Signal" to acquire the picture for approximately $2 million.

The Spectrum section's mixed-bag of screenings included writer-director David Kaplan’s feature debut "Year of the Fish," adapted from an ancient Chinese version of the Cinderella fable -- a rotoscoped animated feature based on original mini-DV live-action footage. In this contemporary fairytale, Ye Xian (An Nguyen) immigrates illegally to New York's Chinatown and quickly falls victim to malevolent Mrs. Su (Tsai Chin), who expects her to join the other girls servicing clients in her massage parlor. When Ye Xian refuses, Su tasks her with doing all the chores. With the help of a magical goldfish and blind fortuneteller Auntie Yaga (Randall Duk Kim), Ye Xian may be able to escape Mrs. Su’s clutches long enough to rendezvous with handsome young bandleader Johnny Pan (Ken Leung). Although the outlines of the tale are familiar, Kaplan imbues it with enough cultural detail and local flavor to reinvigorate the story, eliciting a charming lead performance from newcomer An Nguyen.

The devastation of post-Katrina New Orleans forms the backdrop for "Low and Behold," which delves into subject matter that might have been better presented in a documentary format rather than this vaguely conceived and weakly executed feature. Turner (Barlow Jacobs) moves to New Orleans to join his uncle Ed’s (Robert Longstreet) team of insurance claims adjusters, but has a hard time adapting to the city’s devastation and angry residents until he meets Nixon (Eddie Rouse), a loquacious local who tries to help Turner navigate the complexities of his new career. As co-written by Jacobs and director Zack Godshall, the men’s unlikely partnership never gels, while Godshall’s uninvolving visual style robs the action of any momentum.

Documentary prizewinners in the competition categories spanned the spectrum from the virtually experimental (doc Grand Jury award winner "Manda Bala") to the cable-ready ("In the Shadow of the Moon"). Among the more divergent titles, "Hear and Now" and "War/Dance" were separated by a distinct difference in style and scope. In "Hear and Now," filmmaker Irene Taylor Brodsky follows her deaf parents as they prepare for cochlear implant surgery, which will give them the ability to hear for the first time in their lives. Her personal-doc approach focuses primarily on her subjects and other family members, foregoing any in-depth discussion of the implant procedure, which remains controversial in the deaf community. Although her parents are interesting and pleasant people, their melodramatic journey fails to seriously invest viewers in the outcome. Produced by HBO Documentary Films, "Hear and Now" is headed for a 2008 broadcast and more than likely will bypass theatrical release enroute.

Appropriately enough, "War/Dance" won the Documentary Directing Award, its highly cinematic visual style winning out over more conventional docs. Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine’s account of three children orphaned by war in Uganda who participate with their school in a national music competition is driven by the tension between the horror of the children’s’ suffering and the joy they discover in music. Dancer Nancy, xylophonist Dominic and singer Rose are all victims of a rebel insurgency, their lives and families decimated by war. The filmmakers contrast their schoolhouse music rehearsals with artistically framed interviews as the kids describe their experiences, intercut with impressionistic sequences conveying the terror of their ordeals. Shot on hi-def, "War/Dance" has a palpable, pristine look that sometimes appears out of synch with the squalor of the subjects’ refugee-camp life. ThinkFilm, which acquired the doc prior to the fest, can expect a welcome reception for "War/Dance" in theatrical release.

Although the critical perspective on Sundance was decidedly mixed, various estimates pegged festival acquisitions activity in the $40-50 million range -- clearly favorable from a sales perspective. Depending on where your preferences fall along the “Focus on Film” continuum, 2007 could be seen as a banner year or another fest where art was subsumed by commerce.

What Is "Independent" Film?

2007-06-06T11:51:00.000-07:00

Having recently completed a questionnaire for a friend in Austria writing a graduate thesis on "Contemporary Independent Film Criteria and Distribution Strategies," these responses are posted to encourage discussion on this always evolving topic.

1. What defines an independent film for you?

Since there are few objective criteria that define "independent" film, any definition is to some degree subjective. Although indie films have sometimes been described as non-studio releases, with the introduction of studio specialty divisions, that definition is no longer valid, since distributors like Fox Searchlight, Warner Independent Pictures, Disney's Miramax and Focus Features (Universal) have successfully co-opted the "independent" film aesthetic, as well an increasing share of the creative and performing talent (screenwriters, directors, actors) over the past decade.

One of the defining characteristics of indie films that's sometimes cited is their budget for production, post and P&A. Particularly since the entry of the specialty distributors, these budgets have increased to well over $10 million for some films, a figure that often doesn't include marketing costs, which can be even more significant if the film is an awards-season contender.

(For instance, "Righteous Kill," with a $60 million budget starring Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro, was announced at Cannes and described as “independent” by production company Nu Image/Millennium Films.)

While there's no firm guideline, films with production budgets of $5 million or less tend to be more independent with regard to both creative and financing resources. Regardless of the size of the budget, the determining factor remains the source of the financing. If a movie is fully funded by a studio specialty division, then a $5 million film isn't really independent.

Other criteria that may contribute to a film's independent characteristics and sensibility discussed below include creative opportunities for filmmakers and the overall tone of a movie.

2. What's the difference between an independent film 30 years ago and an independent film today?

Some overall trends during the past 30 years are becoming increasingly clear.

Financing & Incentives – There is far more investment capital available for projects produced by independent filmmakers and specialty divisions than there was 30 years ago. In particular, the last few years have seen an influx of investors -- both broad-based and sector-specific -- participating in filmmaking and ancillary activities (DVD, TV, etc.).

However, with an increase in the overall number of filmmakers seeking financing and the allure of high-profile projects that are products of “packaging,” these financing sources are not necessarily more available to independent filmmakers.

The globalization of independent film has also opened up new markets to American independent film, although with the decline in foreign pre-sales, these opportunities are principally available to finished movies with pre-sold North American rights.

In addition, tax and production incentives provided by individual U.S. cities and states (e.g., NYC, LA, New Mexico, Louisiana), as well as national incentives overseas (in countries like Canada, Ireland and the U.K.) have also opened up opportunities to secure additional financing and/or defray or delay expenses.

Scale – Film projects today often have larger budgets, bigger and higher-profile casts and significant production enhancements (multiple locations, CGI, digital post production, etc.) that weren’t available 30 years ago.

Attachments – With the higher profile that independent film has gained in the last 30 yrs., prestigious actors, directors and producers are getting more involved in the independent sector. (Jennifer Aniston in “Friends With Money,” Ryan Gosling in “The Notebook,” Steven Soderbergh directing “Bubble” or Justin Lin with “The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift,” etc.).

3. Are there explicit criteria that classify a contemporary independent film?

Even within the independent filmmaking community, there is much discussion and dissension regarding the criteria that define independent films. Since the sector lacks any objective standards or regulatory oversight, there are no explicit criteria and standards may vary considerably.

Film Independent (FIND), which confers the annual Film Independent Spirit Awards, stipulates that “the cost of the completed film, including post-production, must be under $20 million” in order for projects to be considered for awards nomination.

The Gotham Awards, conferred annually by the New York chapter of the Independent Feature Project (IFP), have abandoned all budgetary criteria in considering films for awards nomination, adopting more flexible stylistic standards: “IFP believes that filmmaking is a subjective art form, and the Gothams recognize films with a point of view” (as long as the project can’t be “defined as a ‘work for hire’”). In addition, films must have theatrical distribution in the year they’re being considered. Last year, “The Departed” and “Marie Antoinette” were nominated alongside “Half Nelson” and “Old Joy.”

Numerous directors, screenwriters and producers assert that the defining characteristic of independent films is the creative freedom filmmakers require to complete their projects and/or achieve the creators’ vision.

Many audiences unfamiliar with the financing and packaging of contemporary film may evaluate whether they consider a film independent based on the visual style and narrative approach. Titles that deal with controversial, obscure or personal subject matter may be perceived as “independent,” as well as those with an unconventional or innovative visual style. At this level, definitions of “independent film” become almost entirely subjective.

Tim Bui to Direct Whitaker, Biel in "Powder Blue"

2007-05-30T13:13:00.001-07:00

Writer-director Tim Bui ("Green Dragon") is prepping his new drama, "Powder Blue" to shoot in July, starring Forest Whitaker and Jessica Biel. Sources tell CinemaPlanet that Biel's role as troubled stripper could prove particularly revealing.

Bui co-wrote the script with fellow Vietnamese-American filmmaker Stephane Gauger, who wrote and directed the impressive micro-budget "Owl and the Sparrow," which premiered at Rotterdam earlier this year with Bui as one of the executive producers, along with "Journey From the Fall" helmer Ham Tran. Gauger will also direct second unit on "Blue."

Variety has the announcement out of Cannes:

Whitaker, Biel board 'Powder Blue'

Forest Whitaker and Jessica Biel have boarded ensemble drama "Powder Blue," set up by Eleven Eleven Films in association with Spirit Dance Entertainment and Grosvenor Park Media.

Pic is helmed by Timothy Linh Bui, brother of "Three Seasons" director Tony Bui.

Continued...

How the French Do It

2007-05-16T12:24:00.000-07:00

Over at the Filmmaker Magazine blog, editor Scott Macaulay has an interesting commentary on an article in the April issue of the new online English-language edition of the venerable French film magazine, Cahiers du Cinema.

In an article titled "12 Objectives for Cinema in France" the editors essentially note that the network of state-sponsored funding known as the “French film system” -- a staple of the nation's motion picture industry -- remains inhospitable to most independent filmmakers without an established track record.

The Cahiers article goes on to list 11 more critiques and suggestions for improving film production in France, some of them fairly intriguing to consider with regard to the US industry.

World Premieres Dominate LA Film Festival Competitions

2007-05-09T09:43:00.000-07:00

Film Independent has announced 12 World Premieres to fill 19 narrative and documentary competition slots for the upcoming 2007 Los Angeles Film Festival, running June 21-July 1 in the city's Westwood district.

Among the narrative premieres by emerging U.S. filmmakers are Jess Manafort's "The Beautiful Ordinary," "How to Rob a Bank" by Andrews Jenkins, Scott Prendergast's "Kabluey," Ilya Chaiken's "Liberty Kid" and "What We Do Is Secret" from Rodger Grossman. Stephane Gauger's charming Saigon-set drama "Owl and the Sparrow", winner of the Best Narrative Feature jury award at the 2007 San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, premiered in January at the International Film Festival Rotterdam.

"Dig!" director Ondi Timoner returns with doc selection "Join Us," while other documentary competitors include Jennifer Venditti's "Billy the Kid, "Cat Dancers" from Harris Fishman, Morgan Neville's "The Cool School," and "Saint Death" by Eva Aridjis.

Jury awards funded by Target offer a $50,000 prize in both categories.

LAFF opens with "Talk to Me," directed by Kasi Lemmons and starring Don Cheadle, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Cedric the Entertainer, Taraji P. Henson and Martin Sheen in a drama based on the exploits of 1960s Washington, DC radio DJ Ralph Waldo "Petey" Greene (Cheadle), a black ex-con who mixed period soul and protest music on the airwaves with socially conscious messages. Focus Features will distribute "Talk to Me" this summer.

The festival closes with Danny Boyle's widely anticipated "Sunshine," a well-received sci-fi thriller already released in Europe and Asia about a spaceship crew on a last-ditch mission to revive earth's dying sun, starring an international cast that includes Rose Byrne, Cillian Murphy, Hiroyuki Sanada and Michelle Yeoh. Fox Searchlight Pictures plans a fall season US release.

In the International Showcase, 21 films from Africa, Asia, Europe, South America and the Middle East are eligible for the best international, narrative and documentary Audience Awards.

Festival organizers, lead by director of programming Rachel Rosen, selected in excess of 230 feature-length and short titles from more than 4,500 submissions worldwide.

Variety Assesses the Movie Blogosphere

2007-05-04T11:06:00.000-07:00

In two recent posts, Variety columnists Anne Thompson and Peter Bart checked in on the state of movie blogging and found both intriguing and troubling developments.

In her "Thompson on Hollywood" post titled "Blogs reshaping film coverage," the Variety deputy editor noted that the explosion of movie blogging is frustrating and confusing studios and publicists, as well as creating new marketing and publicity opportunities. "The line between traditional journalism and indie purveyors of buzz continues to blur," Thompson wrote.

In his column "The Back Lot," Bart focused on Free Speech rights related to blogging in a post headlined "Defining the blogosphere." He observed that bloggers are not covered by the same guarantees as traditional journalists: "To U.S. Attorneys, bloggers are not 'true journalists' and, hence, not entitled to First Amendment protection."

As the Internet, digital delivery and platform advancements continue to influence filmmaking and movie coverage, bloggers will doubtless face new opportunities and challenges. Stay tuned.

Premiere Wars

2007-04-24T10:21:00.001-07:00

As the domestic film festival calendar picks up momentum going into the spring season with numerous events following on the heels of South by Southwest last month, programmers and filmmakers are becoming increasingly vocal about concerns over competition between fests and the pressure to present premieres for local audiences.

In a recent indieWIRE article, Anthony Kaufman takes an in-depth look at how the scramble for premieres of new narrative and documentary films is affecting festivals, programmers and filmmakers.

An excerpt:

"Forced to make a name for themselves in a crowded festival season and pressured to offset rising costs (witness Tribeca's 50% ticket-price hike, for example), festivals are doing whatever they can to raise their profiles and stand out from the pack. And the most efficient way to do that is require a premiere, say many industry insiders.

Festival directors blame the obsession with premieres on the press and the film industry for paying close attention only to the newest of films."

Diverse Narratives Highlight 2007 VC Film Fest

2007-04-12T12:08:00.000-07:00

Romantic comedy, horror, period and mockumentary titles compete against straight-up dramas for the narrative Grand Jury prize at the 2007 VC FilmFest, opening May 3 with "Finishing the Game," a 70s comedy from "Better Luck Tomorrow" director Justin Lin. Lin's 07 Sundance Film Festival official selection shares the VC lineup with another documentary spoof, Grace Lee's tongue-in-cheek "American Zombie," the festival's Centerpiece presentation May 6.

"American Fusion" the Hawaii International Film Festival's 2005 audience-award winner, stars Taiwanese sweetheart Sylvia Chang and Esai Morales in a charming romantic comedy that pits cultural traditions and family obligations against the power of true love. Contemporary relationships also get a workout in "The Trouble With Romance," Gene Rhee's multi-part comedy about Angelenos struggling with the challenges of love and (especially) sex.

Among the festival's period dramas, "The American Pastime" -- set against the backdrop of the World War II Japanese-American internment -- goes up against May 10 closing night film "The Rebel," a tale of conflicting loyalties in 1920s Saigon. Romeo Candido's Canadian-Filipino psychological horror film "Ang Pamana: The Inheritance," part of a mini-wave of similar Filipino titles that includes "Blackout" and "Sigaw," follows two Canadian siblings as they journey to the Luzon backcountry to uncover the mysterious circumstances surrounding their grandmother's death.

A total of 11 features will vie for the narrative Grand Jury prize while nine films contend for the documentary award, including Linda Hattendorf's award-winning artist profile "The Cats of Mirikitani," and "View From a Grain of Sand," Meena Nanji's examination of three activist's participation in 30 years of women's rights struggles in Afghanistan. (All 20 films are also eligible for the festival's audience award.)

Capsule reviews of several narrative competitors follow.

Finishing the Game

"Better Luck Tomorrow" writer-director Justin Lin returns to independent filmmaking following back-to-back studio movies ("Annapolis," "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift") with "Finishing the Game," a raucous '70s period comedy.

Given Lin's reputation and affection for the material, sure stylistic command and engaging performances by a strong ensemble cast, ongoing festival play is assured, while well-targeted marketing by a savvy distributor will capture hip urban audiences and could help the film cross over to broader appeal.

Read the full Hollywood Reporter review

American Zombie

Returning to narrative filmmaking for the first time since her Student Academy Award-winning short film “Barrier Device,” prolific documentary director Grace Lee fuses the two genres into a trenchant black comedy focusing on Los Angeles’ fictive underground zombie community.

Playing themselves, Lee and filmmaker John Solomon set out to explore the world of the living dead in a documentary profiling four different zombies: health-food obsessed lonely heart Judy (Suzy Nakamura), convenience store clerk and zine artist Ivan (Austin Basis), self-obsessed florist Lisa (Jane Edith Wilson), and Zombie Advocacy Group community organizer Joel (Al Vicente).

While Lee is more interested in delving into the psycho-social challenges faced by the undead, Solomon remains obsessed with uncovering whether zombies actually eat human flesh and indulge in any of the other atrocities that popular media attributes to them. Their differing perspectives clash when the filmmaking team attends the zombies-only Live Dead annual retreat, leading to unexpected revelations.

Lee navigates the film with tongue planted firmly through cheek, her deadpan delivery countered by Solomon’s off-kilter intensity, while Nakamura engagingly enlivens Judy’s dramatic transformation from denial to full self-realization. The filmmakers’ mobile camerawork and documentary stylings complement the movie’s conceits, although the narrative undergoes a major tonal shift late in the film.

American Fusion

Divorced, middle-aged community reporter Yvonne (Sylvia Chang) has a lot on her hands dealing with her demanding mother, an obnoxious son and large Taiwanese-American family. She's largely given up on finding love again, although she can still dream (about boy-toy model Fabio, cameo-ing in an opening scene).

On assignment to cover a new business opening in her Pasadena-area neighborhood, Yvonne meets attractive Mexican-American dentist Jose (Esai Morales), who's quickly taken with her endearing awkwardness in an amusing meet-cute scene.

Although their first few dates go well, a Hispanic suitor is about the last potential son-in-law that Yvonne's conservative family can contemplate and while Jose's relatives are more accepting, there appears to be trouble ahead, particularly when Yvonne's mother is scheduled for surgery after an unfortunate run-in with a marauding massage machine.

Director and co-writer Frank Lin maintains a light touch throughout, balancing clever dialogue and amusing situations with bursts of inspired slapstick. While "American Fusion" may not break any romantic comedy molds, the film's topicality and empathy for its characters serve up an enticing multicultural blend of bittersweet heartache and genuine humor.

"Colma" Goes to Roadside

2007-04-04T09:26:00.000-07:00

Now that it's official, CinemaPlanet can finally post the insider info that sources revealed while the recent FilmmakerMagazine.com web exclusive on upstart independent film "Colma: The Musical" was in research mode: If you missed "Colma" on the festival circuit over the past year, you may be able to catch it in your hometown theater this Summer. Roadside Attractions -- distributor of "Super Size Me," "Pretty Persuasion," and "Bonyton Beach Club" among other indie gems -- has acquired international theatrical rights to Richard Wong and H.P. Mendoza's musical. indieWIRE has the details:

Roadside Croons to US Rights for "Colma"

Roadside Attractions has picked up worldwide rights to Richard Wong's "Colma: The Musical," the company announced Wednesday afternoon. The film is a musical comedy about "three recent high school grads who find themselves at a crossroads in their hometown of Colma, California, a cemetery-suffused suburb of San Francisco renowned for having more dead residents than live ones." The three teens each rebel in their own ways against the moribund reality of their hometown while making their way into adulthood. Along the way they burst into song and dance around cemeteries, shopping malls and college keg parties during the film's thirteen musical numbers. Roadside Attractions plans a summer release in the U.S. for the film, which had its world debut at the recent San Francisco International Asian-American Film Festival. Roadside co-president Eric d'Arbeloff negotiated the deal with sales agent Nguyen "Wyn" Tran of The Institution, for the filmmakers.

VC Film Fest Tips Lineup for May

2007-04-02T16:55:00.000-07:00

VC FILMFEST 2007: THE LOS ANGELES ASIAN PACIFIC FILM FESTIVAL PRESENTED BY HONDA ANNOUNCES LINE UP FOR MAY 3 – 10, 2007

Los Angeles Based Filmmakers Justin Lin, Grace Lee and Charlie Nguyen Take Center Stage

Visual Communications, the nation's premier Asian Pacific American media arts center announces their Opening, Centerpiece and Closing Night films for the upcoming VC FILMFEST 2007: The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival Presented by Honda beginning May 3 - May 10, 2007 at the Director’s Guild of America (DGA), the Laemmle Sunset 5 Theatres, National Center for the Preservation of Democracy, and the Aratani/Japan America Theatre.

Southern California's largest and most prestigious film festival of its kind launches the celebration of Asian Pacific Heritage Month through this year's slate of over 150 films and videos from both Asian Pacific American and Asian international directors. This year, Los Angeles based filmmakers are featured in the highlighted slots of the festival.

OPENING NIGHT - Thursday, May 3

FINISHING THE GAME - A FILM BY JUSTIN LIN (BETTER LUCK TOMORROW; FAST & FURIOUS: TOKYO DRIFT; ANNAPOLIS) A hit at 2007 Sundance, director Justin Lin brings his 70's based comedy on the search for the new Bruce Lee and what could have happened. Starring: DUSTIN NGUYEN, ROGER FAN, SUNG KANG, MCCALEB BURNETT, MC HAMMER, MOUSA KRAISH, MEREDITH SCOTT LYNN, JAMES FRANCO, BRIAN TEE and LEONARDO NAM

CENTERPIECE FILM - Sunday, May 6

AMERICAN ZOMBIE - A FILM BY GRACE LEE (THE GRACE LEE PROJECT)
VC FILMFEST alum Grace Lee is back with her first narrative feature film about the making of a documentary about the lives of zombies living in the US. A huge hit at 2007 Slamdance and 2007 South by Southwest film festivals, American Zombie answers the question - Is There Life After Death? - with a resounding YES!!!

CLOSING NIGHT - Thursday, May 10

THE REBEL - A FILM BY CHARLIE NGUYEN The talented Vietnamese American filmmaker Charlie Nguyen brings THE REBEL, an action/adventure romance epic set in 1920's Saigon as a government agent and the daughter of the a rebel peasant flee the clutches of a malevolent turncoat thirsty for power. Starring: DUSTIN NGUYEN, JOHNNY TRI NGUYEN and NGO THANH VAN

ASIAN INTERNATIONAL SHOWCASE - OUTSTANDING FILMS FROM ASIA

*SUMMER PALACE – China
*THE BLOOD OF YINGZHOU DISTRICT - China
*HULA GIRLS – Japan
*RETRIBUTION – Japan
*TEKKONKINKREET – Japan
*EAGLE VS. SHARK – New Zealand
*ANG PAMANA - Philippines
*TODO TODO TEROS – Philippines
*KING AND THE CLOWN - South Korea
*INVISIBLE WAVES - Thailand
*ETERNAL SUMMER – Taiwan
*SAIGON ECLIPSE – Vietnam

ASIAN AMERICAN SHOWCASE – OUTSTANDING FILMS FROM THE US

*AMERICAN FUSION – Frank Lin
*BOLINAO 52 – Duc Nguyen
*THE CATS OF MIRIKITANI – Linda Hattendorf
*FALLING FOR GRACE – Fay Ann Lee
*THE TROUBLE WITH ROMANCE – Gene Rhee
*YOUNG REPUBLIC – Nooshin Navidi
*BEST IN THE WEST – Maryam Kashani
*NA KAMELEI: MEN OF HULA – Lisette Marie Flanery
*NEW YEAR BABY – Socheata Poeuv
*BABY – Juwan Chung
*AMERICAN PASTIME – Desmond Nakano

More films and events will be announced later.

Established in 1983, VC FILMFEST is Southern California’s leading showcase for Asian Pacific American and Asian international cinema. This year, the eight-day movie-rama will also include a complement of filmmaker seminars, panel discussions, workshops, and awards.

For ticket and program information, a complete listing of sponsors and partners, and to purchase tickets, log on to www.vconline.org or contact Visual Communications at (213) 680-4462 x68.

SFIAAFF Opens March 15 With "Finishing the Game"

2007-03-06T13:46:00.000-08:00

The 25th San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival opens this week with "Better Luck Tomorrow" director Justin Lin's new indie comedy, "Finishing the Game", starring returning members of the "BLT" cast, including Roger Fan, Sung Kang and Parry Shen.

Other festival highlights include Grace Lee's "American Zombie", Saigon-set "Owl and the Sparrow" from Stephane Gauger, controversial Chinese feature "Summer Palace" and "Tre", from "Charlotte Sometimes" writer-director Eric Byler.

Closing night features "Dark Matter", a penetrating drama set in a U.S. university by Chinese opera director-turned filmmaker Chen Shi-Zheng.

Both "Finishing the Game" and "Dark Matter" screened at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival -- read the Sundance reviews for a sneak peek at what SFIAAFF has in store.

"Finishing the Game"

Sundance Film Festival
Bottom Line: A boisterous '70s comedy spoofing the flaws of studio moviemaking.

American Zombie

Returning to narrative filmmaking for the first time since her Student Academy Award-winning short film “Barrier Device,” prolific documentary director Grace Lee fuses the two genres into a trenchant black comedy focusing on Los Angeles’ fictive underground zombie community.

Playing themselves, Lee and filmmaker John Solomon set out to explore the world of the living dead in a documentary profiling four different zombies: health-food obsessed lonely heart Judy (Suzy Nakamura), convenience store clerk and zine artist Ivan (Austin Basis), self-obsessed florist Lisa (Jane Edith Wilson), and Zombie Advocacy Group community organizer Joel (Al Vicente).

While Lee is more interested in delving into the psycho-social challenges faced by the undead, Solomon remains obsessed with uncovering whether zombies actually eat human flesh and indulge in any of the other atrocities that popular media attributes to them. Their differing perspectives clash when the filmmaking team attends the zombies-only Live Dead annual retreat, leading to unexpected revelations.

Lee navigates the film with tongue planted firmly through cheek, her deadpan delivery countered by Solomon’s off-kilter intensity, while Nakamura engagingly enlivens Judy’s dramatic transformation from denial to full self-realization. The filmmakers’ mobile camerawork and documentary stylings complement the movie’s conceits, although the narrative undergoes a major tonal shift late in the film.

Year of the Fish

Adapting an ancient Chinese version of the Cinderella fable, David Kaplan's animated debut feature set in New York's Chinatown is gratifyingly unlike the sanitized Disney version.

Ye Xian (An Nguyen) immigrates illegally to Manhattan hoping to help her family in China, but quickly discovers that Mrs. Su (Tsai Chin), the cruel woman she's indebted to, expects her to join the other girls servicing clients in her massage parlor. When Ye Xian refuses, Su tasks her with doing all the chores.

One day Ye Xian meets the blind, deformed fortuneteller Auntie Yaga (Randall Duk Kim), who gives her a magical goldfish. Ye Xian's only other distraction from drudgery is daydreaming about handsome young bandleader Johnny Pan (Ken Leung).

After Su refuses to let Ye Xian attend a Lunar New Year's banquet where Johnny and his band are playing, the girl reluctantly approaches the forbidding Auntie Yaga for assistance rendezvousing with her beloved.

Although the outlines of the story are familiar, writer-director Kaplan imbues the tale with enough cultural detail and local flavor to reinvigorate the story. Newcomer An Nguyen is charming as Ye Xian and Chin plays Mrs. Su with appropriate venom. Kaplan's unique animation technique -- a form of live-action capture -- exhibits an attractive watercolor quality.

Ghosts

Mainland Chinese migrant workers seeking economic opportunities in the UK form the subject of documentarian Nick Broomfield's thoughtful first feature.

When Ai Qin (Ai Qin Lin) has to leave southern China, seeking work abroad to support her young son and parents, her family borrows from the moneylenders to pay the snakeheads' $25,000 fee to smuggle Ai Qin and two acquaintances on a six-month journey across the breadth of Europe.

Arriving in the UK, they're turned over to Mr. Lin (Zhan Yu) who rents them a room in a crowded shared apartment and helps them find work with forged permits. A succession of menial jobs wears Ai Qin down as she struggles with debt and supporting her family while Mr. Lin takes a cut of her earnings and tries to seduce her.

Casting nonprofessionals in the principal roles, Broomfield keeps his camera tight on his subjects in true verite style, using realistic, drab locations to stage much of the action. Lin, a former illegal immigrant to the UK, plays the conflicted Ai Qin with a convincing range of emotion washing across her expressive face. Shot digitally in the tradition of British social realism, Ghosts is a bracing depiction of desperate lives incongruously filled with hope.

Dark Matter
(originally published in The Hollywood Reporter, January 26, 2007)

Sundance Film Festival
Bottom Line: Challenging subject matter best suited to discerning audiences

Park City – Venturing into delicate emotional territory, opera and theater director-turned filmmaker Chen Shi-Zheng crafts an unsettling first feature that examines issues of personal ambition, academic ethics and the obstacles to cultural assimilation in the U.S.

The film’s inspired-by-true-events pedigree will interest discerning viewers, although its dark tone may prove a challenge for theatrical distribution. With careful handling by a specialty outfit, “Dark Matter” could reap modest rewards from art house markets.

Referencing an actual incident at an American university more than a decade ago, the filmmakers reimagine the events as a story about Chinese cosmology student Liu Xing (Liu Ye). Leaving university in Beijing, Liu immigrates to the U.S. in 1991 to study astrophysics at fictional Valley State University with renowned researcher and academic Jacob Reiser (Aidan Quinn). With great admiration for his mentor, Liu quickly becomes Reiser’s favored student, although fitting into American society and the university hierarchy isn’t quite as easy.

Social support for immigrants is available from the local church, where wealthy Joanna Silver (Meryl Streep), a devotee of Chinese culture and philanthropist of the university’s astrophysics department, frequently assists newly arrived students. She quickly develops an admiration for Liu’s keen intellect, particularly after he explains the concept of dark matter to her, a theory positing that 99 percent of the universe is comprised of invisible material.

Reiser and his graduate students are developing a model of the universe that doesn’t include dark matter theory, so when Liu presents his thesis topic on the subject to Reiser and the dissertation committee, he meets with resistance, rather than the support he expected. Liu suspects that Reiser is withholding the committee’s approval because his ideas contradict his professor’s and indeed Reiser resorts to some questionably ethical tactics to thwart Liu’s candidacy.

Although Joanna encourages Liu to pursue his own cosmological model, even her intervention can’t convince Reiser to give Liu a chance to prove himself. Meanwhile, a newly arrived Chinese student (Lloyd Suh) -- Liu’s nemesis from Beijing University -- becomes Rieser’s new protege.

The tension engendered by academic politics and the demands of advanced astrophysics push Liu toward a mental and emotional crisis as he becomes increasingly delusional and dangerous, finally erupting in a shocking act of violence.

Chen, himself a Chinese immigrant to the U.S., explores the difficulties that students from China face when relocating to the U.S. through the lens of the academic community that is often the gateway for many new arrivals. Through Liu’s frequent letters to his parents detailing his academic progress, voiced-over scenes of his working-class family in China, Chen demonstrates the importance of the American Dream to many newcomers.

The director’s theatrical background is apparent in Liu’s occasional fantasy sequences about becoming a famous researcher and the final climactic scene. However, neither the main narrative nor these stylistic devices go deep enough to reveal his motivations and Liu Ye’s acting abilities alone are insufficient for the task.

In an evocatively tamped-down performance, Streep skillfully evokes Joanna’s drive to assist new immigrants, but her fascination with Chinese culture and Liu in particular comes across as rather obscure. Quinn is strong as the alternately affable and acidic Reiser, who expertly manipulates university politics and hierarchies to inflate his own importance.

Like the dark matter that forms the film’s essential metaphor, Liu’s desperate downward spiral from model student to disgraced outsider remains essentially mysterious.

DARK MATTER

American Sterling Productions presents in association with Saltmill LLC

Credits: Director: Chen Shi-Zheng; Writer: Billy Shebar; Producers: Janet Yang, Mary Salter, Andrea Miller; Executive producers: Kirk D’Amico, Linda Chiu; Director of photography: Oliver Bokelberg; Production designer: Dina Goldman; Music: Van Dyke Parks; Costume designer: Elizabeth Caitlin Ward; Editors: Pam Wise, Michael Berenbaum.

Cast: Joanna Silver: Meryl Streep; Jacob Reiser: Aidan Quinn; Liu Xing: Liu Ye; Laurence Feng : Lloyd Suh.

No MPAA rating, running time 88 minutes.

Oscar Foreign Language Short List Favors Euro Fare

2007-01-18T14:49:00.000-08:00

When the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) announced the short list of contenders for Best Foreign Language Film, it came as little surprise that the majority -- six out of nine -- were European movies:

Algeria -- "Days of Glory," directed by Rachid Bouchareb
Canada -- "Water," directed by Deepa Mehta
Denmark-- "After the Wedding," directed by Susanne Bier
France -- "Avenue Montaigne," directed by Daniele Thompson
Germany -- "The Lives of Others," directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
Mexico -- "Pan’s Labyrinth," directed by Guillermo del Toro
The Netherlands -- "Black Book," directed by Paul Verhoeven
Spain -- "Volver," directed by Pedro Almodovar
Switzerland -- "Vitus," directed by Fredi M. Murer

Of the 61 countries submitting 2006 films for Best Foreign Language Film consideration (a record number), European nations did not represent a majority of entrants, but ultimately gained disproportionate representation on the short list. Over the past 10 years, 70% of Best Foreign Language Film Oscar winners have been European movies.

This year the Academy overlooked a number of excellent international films that could easily compete with "After the Wedding," "Black Book" or "Vitus," some of them directed by far more prestigious filmmakers (Zhang Yimou, Feng Xiaogang) than those shortlisted.

Some of these worthy titles, praised by critics and honored by international film festivals, included:

Australia -- “Ten Canoes,” directed by Rolf de Heer
China -- “Curse of the Golden Flower,” directed by Zhang Yimou
Egypt -- “The Yacoubian Building,” directed by Marwan Hamed
Hong Kong -- “The Banquet,” directed by Feng Xiaogang
India -- “Rang De Basanti,” directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra
Indonesia -- “Love for Share,” directed by Nia Dinata
Peru -- “Madeinusa,” directed by Claudia Llosa

Are Academy voters hopelessly Eurocentric? The latest response to that question won't be available until the Oscars are awarded February 25.

A complete list of the 2006 submissions for Best Foreign Language Film consideration:

Algeria, “Days of Glory,” Rachid Bouchareb, director;
Argentina, “Family Law,” Daniel Burman, director;
Australia, “Ten Canoes,” Rolf de Heer, director;
Austria, “You Bet Your Life,” Antonin Svoboda, director;
Bangladesh, “Forever Flows,” Abu Sayeed, director;
Belgium, “Someone Else’s Happiness,” Fien Troch, director;
Bolivia, “American Visa,” Juan Carlos Valdivia, director;
Bosnia and Herzegovina, “Grbavica,” Jasmila Zbanic, director;
Brazil, “Cinema, Aspirins and Vultures,” Marcelo Gomes, director;
Bulgaria, “Monkeys in Winter,” Milena Andonova, director;
Canada, “Water,” Deepa Mehta, director;
Chile, “En la Cama,” Matiaz Bize, director;
China, “Curse of the Golden Flower,” Zhang Yimou, director;
Colombia, “A Ton of Luck,” Rodrigo Triana, director;
Croatia, “Libertas,” Veljko Bulajic, director;
Cuba, “El Benny,” Jorge Luis Sanchez, director;
Czech Republic, “Lunacy,” Jan Svankmajer, director;
Denmark, “After the Wedding,” Susanne Bier, director;
Egypt, “The Yacoubian Building,” Marwan Hamed, director;
France, “Avenue Montaigne,” Daniele Thompson, director;
Germany, “The Lives of Others,” Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, director;
Greece, “Chariton’s Choir,” Grigoris Karantinakis, director;
Hong Kong, “The Banquet,” Feng Xiaogang, director;
Hungary, “White Palms,” Szabolcs Hajdu, director;
Iceland, “Children,” Ragnar Bragason, director;
India, “Rang De Basanti,” Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, director;
Indonesia, “Love for Share,” Nia Dinata, director;
Iran, “Transit Cafe,” Kambozia Partovi, director;
Iraq, “Dreams,” Mohamed Al-Daradji, director;
Israel, “Sweet Mud,” Dror Shaul, director;
Italy, “Golden Door,” Emanuele Crialese, director;
Japan, “Hula Girls,” Sang-il Lee, director;
Kazakhstan, “Nomad,” Sergei Bodrov, Talgat Temenov, Ivan Passer, directors;
Korea, “King and the Clown,” Lee Jun-ik, director;
Kyrgyzstan, “The Wedding Chest,” Nurbek Egen, director;
Lebanon, “Bosta,” Philippe Aractingi, director;
Lithuania, “Before Flying Back to Earth,” Arunas Matelis, director;
Macedonia, “Kontakt,” Sergei Stanojkovski, director;
Mexico, “Pan’s Labyrinth,” Guillermo del Toro, director;
Morocco, “The Moroccan Symphony,” Kamal Kamal, director;
Nepal, “Basain,” Subash Prasad Gajurel, director;
The Netherlands, “Black Book,” Paul Verhoeven, director;
Norway, “Reprise,” Joachim Trier, director;
Peru, “Madeinusa,” Claudia Llosa, director;
Philippines, “The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros,” Auraeus Solito, director;
Poland, “Retrieval,” Slawomir Fabicki, director;
Portugal, “Alice,” Marco Martins, director;
Puerto Rico, “Thieves and Liars,” Ricardo Mendez Matta, director;
Romania, “The Way I Spent the End of the World,” Catalin Mitulescu, director;
Russia, “9th Company,” Fyodor Bondarchuk, director;
Serbia, “Tomorrow Morning,” Oleg Novkovic, director;
Slovenia, “Gravehopping,” Jan Cvitkovic, director;
Spain, “Volver,” Pedro Almodovar, director;
Sweden, “Falkenberg Farewell,” Jesper Ganslandt, director;
Switzerland, “Vitus,” Fredi M. Murer, director;
Taiwan, “Blue Cha Cha,” Cheng Wen-tang, director;
Thailand, “Ahimsa Stop to Run,” Leo Kittikorn, director;
Turkey, “Ice Cream, I Scream,” Yuksel Aksu, director;
Ukraine, “Aurora,” Oxana Bayrak, director;
Venezuela, “Maroa,” Solveig Hoogesteijn, director;
Vietnam, “Story of Pao,” Ngo Quang Hai, director.

San Francisco's 4 Star Theater Gets New Lease on Life

2007-01-02T12:49:00.000-08:00

Visiting San Francisco over the holiday weekend, I stopped by Clement Street's 4 Star Theater with a couple of friends to chat with owner-operator Frank Lee. The 4 Star is one of the city's few remaining single screens (with an adjacent, smaller screening room), where Lee and his wife Lida show first-run releases and an eclectic repertory selection. Around town, the theater is best known for its presentation of films from Asia, particularly Hong Kong, Taiwan and China.

A recent San Francisco Chronicle article detailed the Lee's legal victory in finally receiving the green light to purchase the theater from the property owners, who had been attempting to evict the Lees following the expiration of their lease in 2005.

As usual, Frank was behind the counter selling tickets and dispensing popcorn when we emerged from a screening of "Stranger Than Fiction," which was playing on a double bill with "The Queen." He confirmed the 4 Star's transfer of ownership and said he'll continue programming the theater with a diverse film selection.

The Lees, who have operated the 4 Star since 1992, are planning renovations to the theater and also hope to reopen the Cinema 21, nearby the Presidio Theater, which they also currently operate.

The 4 Star's survival is a major victory for independent theater operators in San Francisco, where nearly 40 neighborhood theaters have reportedly closed since 1980, with the Alexandria, Coronet and Metro most recently shuttered.

Frank assured me that the 4 Star's annual Asian Film Festival will be back this summer, after missing the 2006 edition due to all the legal maneuverings required to save the theater.

FILM REVIEW: Inland Empire

2006-12-21T07:14:00.000-08:00

In a presentation preceding the 20th anniversary screening of "Blue Velvet" at the 2006 Los Angeles Film Festival, writer-director David Lynch revealed his intention to abandon film and concentrate on digital production instead. Inland Empire is Lynch’s first feature-length foray into digital video, a format he now prefers for its lower cost, simplified production requirements and characteristic visual aesthetic. In terms of narrative structure and visual style, "Inland Empire" is probably Lynch’s most experimental film since 1977’s "Eraserhead," his feature debut, and audiences will likely find it challenging, even frustrating.

Once again pursuing a meta-filmic structure (as he did in "Mulholland Drive"), Lynch opens "Inland Empire" with the visit of a strange new neighbor (Grace Zabriskie) to the Los Angeles home of Nikki Grace (Laura Dern), an actress contending for the lead role in a new movie. The odd woman seems to know a great deal about Nikki’s new project and asks the actress progressively personal questions, finally warning Nikki away from the film.

Shortly afterwards, Nikki learns she’s landed the part in On High in Blue Tomorrows and begins rehearsals with director Kingsley Stewart (Jeremy Irons) and married co-star Devon Berk (Justin Theroux), who has a reputation as a serial philanderer. On High concerns an illicit affair between their characters, Susan Blue and Billy Side, and as their movie relationship heats up, so do the offscreen dynamics between Nikki and Devon, even though her jealous husband has warned Devon to keep his distance from Nikki. Meanwhile, the cast and crew of On High become increasingly agitated following the discovery of a mysterious intruder on the set and rumors that the script is based on a Polish folktale adapted into a film that was never completed after the two leads were murdered.

Early in the second hour of "Inland Empire," Lynch departs from this relatively coherent plot as Nikki’s character appears to fragment, entering several other storylines that intersect the main narrative only tangentially. Through a house built on the set of On High, she transits to Poland, where she takes up with a group of prostitutes who reside in the house, making bored pronouncements in English and at one point performing a syncopated dance number to the 70s novelty hit, “The Loco-Motion.”

In another thread, she consults a strange man who listens to her rant about the men in her life who’ve mistreated her and how she took revenge against them. Periodically, Lynch inserts disorienting segments from a Polish drama about ill-fated lovers, which may or may not be the precursor to On High in Blue Tomorrows. And then there are the occasional scenes from what appears to be a stagy sitcom featuring actors dressed in rabbit costumes who make banal remarks to the sound of canned applause and laugh tracks.

By the time Nikki’s journey through these alternate worlds concludes after she briefly re-enters the principal storyline, the plot has become so completely snarled as to defy straightforward description. Perhaps Lynch intends "Inland Empire" to refer to the inner landscapes of the unconscious, but the movie lacks the internally consistent dream logic of films like "Lost Highway," "Mulholland Drive" and even "Fire Walk With Me."

Despite the wobbly plot, Dern gives an impressively fierce performance as a frightened woman navigating uncertain narrative territory. Lynch directs the cast with his usually penchant for creepy characters, but the other actors principally serve to support Dern’s role and lack sufficient screen time to adequately register.
Lynch’s direction heightens a sense of unease running throughout the film, with an abundance of shaky handheld camerawork, atmospheric lighting and jarring editing techniques, abetted by Angelo Badalamenti’s score and a range of ominous sound effects. However, many shots appear poorly focused or underlit, creating murky images that fail to enhance either the performances or the narrative.

As the writer, director and occasional producer and editor on his films, Lynch is one of the few acknowledged contemporary auteurs of American cinema, with a career of intriguing, provocative movies, but "Inland Empire" seems to have lead him astray. Perhaps the ease and affordability of digital video was too much of a temptation, but at three hours running time, Inland Empire is an indulgence perhaps best suited to true believers.

Directed by: David Lynch
Starring: Laura Dern, Jeremy Irons, Justin Theroux, Harry Dean Stanton, Grace Zabriskie
Running Time: 179 mins.
MPAA Rating: Not Rated

2006's Ten-Best Films

2006-12-21T07:04:00.000-08:00

Checking around the web and flipping through print publications, it appears there are a variety of formats for year-end Ten-Best Lists -- some even include 20 or more titles. My approach is to only consider films with theatrical releases in the U.S. this year. Those that received only film festival screenings may end up on the "5 Films to Watch for 2007" list, because they may not have been available to the general public.

The other caveat is that the following titles are the 10 best films that I screened this year. Many other important and worthy films were released, but not every critic has the opportunity to see them all.

In no particular order, these are the ten best films I saw in 2006:

The Departed
A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints
Neil Young: Heart of Gold
Kekexili (aka Kekexili: Mountain Patrol)
The Aura (aka El Aura)
Babel
United 93
Clean
Half Nelson
An Inconvenient Truth

5 of 2006's Most Overrated Indie and International Releases

In Between Days
Quinceanera
Old Joy
Volver
L'Enfant

5 Films to Watch for in 2007

The Host
Luxury Car
Ten Canoes
Colma: The Musical
Journey From the Fall

Slamdance Film Festival Reveals 2007 Slate

2006-12-05T10:57:00.000-08:00

The Slamdance Film Festival released titles of the 2007 competition categories today, leading off on opening night with the screwball comedy "Weirdsville," directed by Allan Moyle and starring Scott Speedman, Wes Bentley and Taryn Manning -- "the story of two junkies on the run from a satanic cult, a cabal of midget knights, a vengeful drug dealer, and a mouse, in a little town called Weirdsville."

Ten films will compete in the narrative and documentary categories, including
Grace Lee's debut feature, the zom-com "American Zombie" and Halloween frightster "Murder Party," written and directed by Jeremy Saulnier.

For the first year, the fest's Documentary Feature Competition is being sponsored by reality TV company Langley Productions. Competitors include arcade-gamers profile "King of Kong" and Wu-Tang Clan doc "Rock the Bells."

Narrative and documentary special screenings round out the festival, along with a selection of films for mature audiences, titled "21+."

The event runs concurrently with the Sundance Film Festival, January 18 - 27, 2007 in Park City. The full press release is on the Slamdance Film Festival website.

2007 Sundance Film Festival Unveils Remaining Programs

2006-11-30T14:15:00.000-08:00

Director of the Sundance Film Festival Geoffrey Gilmore and John Cooper, Director of Programming, today announced the lineup for the fest's out-of-competition slates, including the Park City at Midnight, New Frontier and Premieres programs.

“We are struck by the sheer diversity of independent film in this year’s festival, particularly in the Premieres and Spectrum sections,” said Gilmore. “The range of artistic expression this year -- both directorial and in performances -- gives a special quality to the films presented in Premieres. The Spectrum section truly uncovers the aesthetic experimentation and complex storytelling that is at the heart of emerging independent filmmaking at this moment.”

The announcement includes confirmation of the Salt Lake City opening night film on January 19, Sarah Polley's "Away From Her," a Toronto favorite starring Olympia Dukakis, Gordon Pinsent, Julie Christie, and Michael Murphy in the story of a man coping with the institutionalization of his wife as she falls victim to Alzheimer’s disease. ("Chicago 10," written and directed by Brett Morgen, was previously announced as the Park City opening night film on January 18.) The closing night film in Park City will be the world premiere of Nelson George’s "Life Support," a narrative based on the true story of a woman overcoming crack addiction to become an AIDS activist in the black community, featuring Queen Latifah, Anna Deavere Smith, Wendell Pierce, and Evan Ross.

Highlights from the non-competitive festival programs include "Better Luck Tomorrow" writer-director Justin Lin's new independent feature, "Finishing the Game," among the Park City at Midnight selections -- a comedy that explores the aftermath of martial arts star Bruce Lee's death while filming "Game of Death" as various actors audition to stand in for the role, starring James Franco ("Annapolis"), along with BLT alumni Roger Fan, Sung Kang, Parry Shen and Jason Tobin.

The Park City at Midnight lineup also includes Gregg Araki's druggie comedy "Smiley Face," with Anna Faris and John Cho; the Crispin Glover-directed "It is Fine! Everything is Fine;" and offbeat zom-com (zombie comedy)"Fido," with Carrie-Anne Moss, Billy Connolly and Tim Blake Nelson.

Spectrum program films sure to get a closer look include Hal Hartley's "Fay Grim," Steve Buscemi's "Interview;" "Angel-A," directed by Luc Besson; Katsushiro Otomo's "Bugmaster" -- a period-set fantasy based on a popular manga; and Philippine drama "Tuli" from "Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros" director Auraeus Solito. David Kaplan's NYC Chinatown-set, contemporary Cinderella-style fairytale "Year of the Fish," (profiled in my Filmmaker magazine article, "On the Road to Sundance?") may also garner attention, based on its intense rotoscoped animation style.

The Frontier section, always a haven for experimental and non-commercial film, has been re-christened "New Frontier" and features "Slipstream" from actor-writer-director Sir Anthony Hopkins; the sports pastiche featuring soccer star "Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait" by Douglas Gordon and Philippe Parreno; and the self-reflexive "Offscreen" from Danish director Christoffer Boe -- about a man obsessed with filming himself.

Meanwhile, the Premiers program will feature the usual specialty studio labels premiering likely box office and awards contenders for 2007. The "Hustle and Flow" filmmaking team of director Craig Brewer and producer Stephanie Allain returns with the Southern drama "Black Snake Moan," starring Christina Ricci as a white-trash sex addict and Samuel L. Jackson as the Bluesman who tries to rescue her, from "Hustle" distributor Paramount, this time on the Vantage label.

"Slums of Beverly Hills" director Tamara Jenkins' new film "The Savages" (Fox Searchlight) will also premiere, featuring Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman in a dysfunctional family dramedy. Multi-hyphenate Mike White returns with "Year of the Dog," starring Molly Shannon in a Paramount Vantage film about a happy-go-lucky secretary whose life is thrown into crisis when her beloved dog dies (Paramount Vantage).

Among the many films still seeking distributors, IndieWire tips several titles in the Premieres program as likely sales targets in the annual Sundance bidding frenzy, including "The Good Night," directed by Gwyneth Paltrow's brother Jack and starring the actress and Penelope Cruz; Jarrett Schaefer's film "Chapter 27" about John Lennon assassin Mark David Chapman, starring Lindsay Lohan and Jared Leto; and Mike Chahill's "King of California," with Michael Douglas and Evan Rachel Wood.

I'd also add "Finishing the Game," since Lin's "Better Luck Tomorrow" did nearly $4 million in theatrical boxoffice for MTV Films/Paramount and Lin's added cachet as an in-demand studio director ("Annapolis," "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift") could add to the pic's allure for distributors. Araki's films are reliable earners (his last, "Mysterious Skin" did about 700K in theaters), which could put "Smiley Face" in contention as well.

"It is Fine! Everything is Fine" is Crispin Glover's directorial debut and could generate some heat based on his name recognition, depending on how it plays to festival audiences -- frequently an unpredictable lot.

Maneuvering on many of the available titles has already started as sales agents, producers reps and publicists sign on with the better-connected films and will continue right through the festival and in some cases for months afterwards.

The full non-competition lineup is available on the Sundance Film Festival website.

2007 Sundance Film Festival Announces Feature and Doc Competition Lineups

2006-11-29T13:46:00.000-08:00

In one of the most eagerly awaited independent film announcements of the year, Sundance Film Festival programmers today unveiled selections for the event's independent documentary and dramatic competitions, as well as the World Cinema doc and feature competition lineups.

Sterlin Harjo, director of the independent dramatic competition selection "Four Sheets to the Wind" and world cinema director Taika Waititi ("Eagle Vs. Shark") were recently featured in my Filmmaker magazine article, "On the Road to Sundance?" (pgs. 82-83).

The festival runs January 18-28, 2007, in Park City, Sundance, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, Utah.

Following is the festival press release. See the Sundance Film Festival website for more information.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NOVEMBER 29, 2006

2007 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES
INDEPENDENT FILM AND WORLD CINEMA COMPETITIONS

A Festival of Discovery to Feature New and Familiar Filmmakers Presenting Original and Surprising Stories

Park City, UT — Sundance Institute announced today the line-up of 64 films selected for the Independent Film and World Cinema Competitions for the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. The premier showcase for the best new work by American and international independent filmmakers, the Sundance Film Festival’s competitive categories provide audiences with opportunities to discover the most innovative new dramatic and documentary films from today’s emerging independent filmmakers. In addition to the Competition categories, the Festival presents films in five out-of-competition sections, to be announced tomorrow. The 2007 Sundance Film Festival runs January 18-28, 2007, in Park City , Sundance, Salt Lake City, and Ogden , Utah . The complete list of films is available at www.sundance.org.

For the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, 122 feature films were selected including 82 world premieres, 24 North American premieres and 10 U.S. premieres representing 25 countries with nearly 60 first or second-time feature filmmakers. These films were selected from 3,287 feature submissions composed of 1,852 U.S. feature films and 1,435 international feature films. These numbers represent an increase from 2006 when 1,764 U.S. feature films and 1,384 international films were considered.

“We are witnessing a broadening of the traditional independent arena. In this year’s Festival there is a breadth of subject matter, vision and innovative storytelling that is transforming the old idea of the American indie film,” said Geoffrey Gilmore, Director, Sundance Film Festival. “This year’s American Competition reflects a newfound awareness and self-expression that results in an engagement by the work that is both political and personal, a collective voice fueled by a steadfast optimism and hope for the future.”

The dramatic and documentary sections of the Independent Film and World Cinema Competitions each present 16 films, for a total of 64 films that screen in competition. The Independent Film Competition is the heart of the Sundance Film Festival program and has introduced audiences to many of the best American independent films and filmmakers of the past two decades. Launched in 2005, the World Cinema Competition reflects the shared commitment of the Festival and Sundance Institute to support international artists, to provide audiences with an opportunity to discover the most compelling work by international filmmakers.

“In this year’s program, filmmakers are exploring different narrative techniques and devices, pushing the documentary form to new limits, and embracing a global perspective in filmmaking,” said John Cooper, Director of Programming, Sundance Film Festival. “The films in the World Cinema competition embrace complex stories and are exploring topics that transcend the confines of personal, geographic, and artistic borders.”

INDEPENDENT FILM COMPETITION: DOCUMENTARY

Since the inaugural Independent Film Competition in 1985, documentary films have been given the same profile at the Festival as fiction films, with the Documentary Competition becoming a focal point of the Festival. These films represent a broad section of the best new documentary films by American independent filmmakers. This year’s eclectic program features a range of films with personal, political, and global stories including current and historical examination about the effects of war, global warming, racism in America, a 50 year love story, and the personal and public role of religion in America.

This year’s 16 films were selected from 856 submissions by American filmmakers. Each film is a world premiere.

The films screening in Documentary Competition are:

BANISHED (Director: Marco Williams)—This story of three U.S. towns which, in the early 20th century, forced their entire African American populations to leave, explores what—if anything—can be done to repair past racial injustice. World Premiere.

CHASING GHOSTS (Director: Lincoln Ruchti)—Twin Galaxies Arcade, Iowa, 1982: the birthplace of mankind's obsession with video games. The fate of this world lies in the hands (literally) of a few unlikely heroes: They are the Original Video Game World Champions and the arcade is their battleground. World Premiere.

CRAZY LOVE (Director: Dan Klores)—An unsettling true story about an obsessive relationship between a married man and a beautiful, single 20-year-old woman, which began in 1957 and continues today. World Premiere.

EVERYTHING’S COOL (Directors: Judith Helfand, Daniel B. Gold)—A group of self-appointed global warming messengers are on a high stakes quest to find the iconic image, proper language, and points of leverage to help the public go from embracing the urgency of the problem to creating the political will necessary to move to an alternative energy economy. World Premiere.

FOR THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO (Director: Daniel Karslake)—Grounded by the stories of five conservative Christian families, the film explores how the religious right has used its interpretation of the Bible to support its agenda of stigmatizing the gay community and eroding the separation between church and state. World Premiere.

GHOSTS OF ABU GHRAIB (Director: Rory Kennedy)—This inside look at the abuses that occurred at the infamous Iraqi prison in the fall of 2003 uses direct, personal narratives of perpetrators, witnesses, and victims to probe the effects of the abuses on all involved. World Premiere.

GIRL 27 (Director: David Stenn)—When underage dancer Patricia Douglas is raped at a wild MGM stag party in 1937, she makes headlines and legal history, and then disappears. GIRL 27 follows author-screenwriter David Stenn as he investigates one of Hollywood 's most notorious scandals. World Premiere.

HEAR AND NOW (Director: Irene Taylor Brodsky)—Filmmaker Irene Taylor Brodsky tells a deeply personal story about her deaf parents, and their radical decision—after 65 years of silence—to undergo cochlear implant surgery, a complex procedure that could give them the ability to hear. World Premiere.

MANDA BALA (SEND A BULLET) (Director: Jason Kohn)—In Brazil, known as one of the world's most corrupt and violent countries, MANDA BALA follows a politician who uses a frog farm to steal billions of dollars, a wealthy businessman who spends a small fortune bulletproofing his cars, and a plastic surgeon who reconstructs the ears of mutilated kidnapping victims. World Premiere.

MY KID COULD PAINT THAT (Director: Amir Bar-Lev)—A 4-year-old girl whose paintings are compared to Kandinsky, Pollock and even Picasso, has sold $300,000 dollars worth of paintings. Is she a genius of abstract expressionism, a tiny charlatan, or an exploited child whose parents have sold her out for the glare of the media and the lure of the almighty dollar? World Premiere.

NANKING (Director: Bill Guttentag, Dan Sturman)—A powerful and haunting depiction of the atrocities suffered by the Chinese at the hands of the invading Japanese army during “The Rape of Nanking”, one of the most tragic events of WWII. While more than 200,000 Chinese were murdered and ten of thousands raped, a handful of Westerners performed extraordinary acts of heroism, saving over 250,000 lives in the midst of the horror. World Premiere.

NO END IN SIGHT (Director: Charles Ferguson)—A comprehensive examination of the Bush Administration’s conduct of the Iraq war and occupation. Featuring first-time interviews with key participants, the film creates a startlingly clear reconstruction of key decisions that led to the current state of affairs in this war-torn country. World Premiere.

PROTAGONIST (Director: Jessica Yu)—PROTAGONIST explores the organic relationship between human life and Euripidean dramatic structure by weaving together the stories of four men—a German terrorist, a bank robber, an "ex-gay" evangelist, and a martial arts student. World Premiere.

CHASING GHOSTS (Director: Lincoln Ruchti)—Twin Galaxies Arcade, Iowa, 1982: the birthplace of mankind's obsession with video games. The fate of this world lies in the hands (literally) of a few unlikely heroes: They are the Original Video Game World Champions and the arcade is their battleground. World Premiere.

WAR DANCE (Director: Sean Fine, Andrea Nix Fine)—Devastated by the long civil war in Uganda, three young girls and their school in the Patongo refugee camp find hope as they make a historic journey to compete in their country’s national music and dance festival. World Premiere.

WHITE LIGHT/BLACK RAIN: THE DESTRUCTION OF HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI (Director: Steven Okazaki)—WHITE LIGHT/BLACK RAIN offers a visceral, topical and moving portrait of the human cost of atomic warfare. World Premiere.

ZOO (Director: Robinson Devor)—A humanizing look at the life and bizarre death of a seemingly normal Seattle family man who met his untimely end after an unusual encounter with a horse. World Premiere.

INDEPENDENT FEATURE FILM COMPETITION: DRAMATIC

One of the most recognizable sections of the Festival, the Dramatic Competition presents a broad selection of narrative films representing some of the most compelling and highly anticipated films in American independent cinema. From moving and personal stories about life in suburban and small town America to reflections on life outside America ’s borders, the films in this year’s Dramatic Competition exemplify the range and strength of storytelling that has become entrenched in American independent film.

This year’s 16 films were selected from 996 submissions. Each film is a world premiere.

The films screening in Dramatic Competition are:

ADRIFT IN MANHATTAN (Director: Alfredo de Villa; Screenwriters: Nat Moss, Alfredo de Villa)—Set in New York City, a grieving eye doctor is forced to take a closer look at her life; an aging artist confronts the loss of his eyesight, and a young photographer battles his innermost demons. World Premiere.

BROKEN ENGLISH (Director and Screenwriter: Zoe Cassavetes)—A young woman in her thirties finds herself surrounded by friends who are married, in relationships or with children. She unexpectedly meets a quirky Frenchman who opens her eyes to a lot more than love. World Premiere.

FOUR SHEETS TO THE WIND (Director and Screenwriter: Sterlin Harjo)—Cufe Smallhill finds his father dead. Fulfilling a dying wish, he disposes of the body in the family pond and sets off to begin a new life in the big city of Tulsa. World Premiere.

THE GOOD LIFE (Director and Screenwriter: Steve Berra)—A story about a “mostly normal” young man whose small town existence running a faded movie palace is shaken when he comes in contact with a mysterious young woman. World Premiere.

GRACE IS GONE (Director and Screenwriter: James C. Strouse)—A young father learns that his wife has been killed in Iraq and must find the courage to tell his two young daughters the news. World Premiere.

JOSHUA (Director: George Ratliff; Screenwriters: David Gilbert, George Ratliff)—A successful, young Manhattan family is torn apart by the machinations of Joshua, their eight-year-old prodigy, when his newborn baby sister comes home from the hospital. World Premiere.

NEVER FOREVER (Director and Screenwriter: Gina Kim)—When an American woman and her Asian-American husband discover they are unable to conceive, she begins a clandestine relationship with an attractive stranger in a desperate attempt to save her marriage. World Premiere.

ON THE ROAD WITH JUDAS (Director and Screenwriter: JJ Lask)—Reality, fiction and the notions of storytelling intertwine in this narrative about a young thief and the woman he loves. World Premiere.

PADRE NUESTRO (Director and Screenwriter: Christopher Zalla)—Fleeing a criminal past, Juan hops a truck transporting illegal immigrants from Mexico to New York City, where he meets Pedro, who is seeking his rich father. World Premiere.

THE POOL(Director: Chris Smith; Screenwriters: Chris Smith, Randy Russell)—A boy working in a hotel becomes obsessed with a swimming pool at a home in the opulent hills of Panjim, Goa in India. His life gets turned upside-down when he attempts to meet the mysterious family that arrives at the house. World Premiere.

ROCKET SCIENCE (Director and Screenwriter: Jeffrey Blitz)—A 15-year-old boy from New Jersey with a stuttering problem falls in love with the star of the debate team and finds himself suddenly immersed in the ultra-competitive world of debating. World Premiere.

SNOW ANGELS (Director: David Gordon Green; Screenwriter: Stewart O'Nan)—A drama that interweaves the life of a teenager with his former baby-sitter, her estranged husband, and their daughter. World Premiere.

STARTING OUT IN THE EVENING (Director: Andrew Wagner; Screenwriters: Andrew Wagner, Fred Parnes)—The solitary life of a writer is shaken when a smart, ambitious graduate student convinces him that her thesis will bring him back into the literary spotlight. World Premiere.

TEETH (Director and Screenwriter: Mitchell Lichtenstein)—Still a stranger to her own body, a high school student discovers she has a “physical advantage” when she becomes the object of male violence. World Premiere.

THE UNTITLED DAKOTA FANNING PROJECT (Director and Screenwriter: Deborah Kampmeier)—Set in late 1950s Alabama, a precocious, troubled girl finds her angel in the Blues. World Premiere.

WEAPONS (Director and Screenwriter: Adam Bhala Lough)—WEAPONS presents a series of brutal, seemingly random youth-related killings over the course of a weekend in a typical working class American suburb, and tragically reveals how they are all interrelated. World Premiere.

WORLD CINEMA COMPETITION: DOCUMENTARY

The last decade has seen an explosion of interest in American documentaries, yet American audiences enjoy few opportunities to view documentaries from beyond their own borders. The 16 films represent 13 countries including Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Mexico, the Netherlands, Tunisia, and the United Kingdom. The films in this year’s competition are an eclectic mix exploring topics in ways that transcend geographic, political and cultural boundaries. The subjects include explorations of life’s struggles and tragedies, human space exploration, the impact of the war on drugs, women’s role in the government of Afghanistan, the life of a U.S. defector during the Cold War, the effects of Israel’s incarceration of Palestinians, a British gangster’s trials and tribulations, and the creative and uniting power of cinema. With their thematic and aesthetic range, these films invite us to glimpse the astounding breadth and complexity of the human experience.

The 16 films were selected from 506 submissions. The films screening in World Cinema Documentary Competition are:

ACIDENTE / Brazil (Director: Cao Guimarães and Pablo Lobato)—Experimental in form, this lush cinematic poem weaves together stories and images from twenty different cities in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, to reveal the fundamental role the accidental and the unpredictable play in everyday human life. North American Premiere.

BAJO JUAREZ, THE CITY DEVOURING ITS DAUGHTERS / Mexico (Director: Alejandra Sanchez)—In an industrial town in Mexico near the US border, hundreds of women have been sexually abused and murdered. As the body count continues to rise, a web of corruption unfolds that reaches the highest levels of Mexican society. U.S. Premiere.

COCALERO / Bolivia (Director: Alejandro Landes)—Set against the backdrop of the Bolivian government’s attempted eradication of the coca crop and oppression of the indigenous groups that cultivate it and the American war on drugs, an Aymara Indian named Evo Morales travels through the Andes and the Amazon in jeans and sneakers, leading a historic campaign to become the first indigenous president of Bolivia. World Premiere.

COMRADES IN DREAMS / Germany (Director: Uli Gaulke)—From the far ends of the globe, four lives that could not be more different are united by a single passion—their unconditional love of cinema and their quest to bring the magic of the silver screen to everyday lives to those who need it most. North American Premiere.

CROSSING THE LINE / UK (Director: Daniel Gordon)—CROSSING THE LINE reveals the clandestine life of Joseph Dresnok who, at the height of the Cold War was one of the few Americans who defected to North Korea, one of the least understood countries in the world. North American Premiere.

ENEMIES OF HAPPINESS (VORES LYKKES FJENDER) / Denmark (Director: Eva Mulvad and Anja Al Erhayem)—Malalai Joya, a 28-year-old Afghani woman, redefines the role of women and elected officials in her county with her historic 2005 victory in Afghanistan’s first democratic parliamentary election in over 30 years. North American Premiere.

THE FUTURE IS UNWRITTEN / Ireland/UK ( Director: Julien Temple)—An invitation from Joe Strummer, the Punk Rock Warlord himself, to journey beyond the myth to the heart and voice of a generation. His life, our times, his music. World Premiere.

HOT HOUSE/ Israel (Director: Shimon Dotan)—At once chilling and humanizing, HOT HOUSE provides an unprecedented look at how Israeli prisons have become the breeding ground for the next generation of Palestinian leaders as well as the birth place of future terrorist threats. North American Premiere.

IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON / UK (Director: David Sington)—One of the defining passages of American history, the Apollo Space Program literally brought the aspirations of a nation to another world. Awe-inspiring footage and candid interviews with the astronauts who visited the moon provide an unparalleled perspective on the precious state of our planet. World Premiere.

MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPES / Canada (Director: Jennifer Baichwal)—This stunningly visual work provides the unique perspective of photographer Edward Burtynsky, who chronicles the transforming landscape of the world due to industrial work and manufacturing. U.S. Premiere.

THE MONASTERY: MR. VIG AND THE NUN / Denmark ( Director: Pernille Rose Grønkjær)— Worlds collide, tempers flare and dreams are realized when Mr. Vig, an 82-year-old virgin from Denmark and Sister Ambrosija, a headstrong Russian nun, join forces to transform Mr. Vig’s run-down castle into an Orthodox Russian monastery. North American Premiere.

ON A TIGHTROPE / Norway, Canada (Director: Petr Lom)—The daily lives of four children living in an orphanage who are learning the ancient art of tightrope walking becomes a metaphor for the struggle of the Uighur’s, China’s largest Muslim minority, who are torn between religion and the teachings of communism. North American Premiere.

THREE COMRADES (DRIE KAMERADEN) / Netherlands (Director: Masha Novikova)—In this intimate film we witness the lives of three lifelong friends who’s worlds are torn apart by war in Chechnya’s bloody struggle for independence. North American Premiere.

A VERY BRITISH GANGSTER / UK (Director: Donal MacIntyre)—Given his many contradictions, Dominic Noonan, head of one of Britain’s biggest crime families, is a man who defies stereotypes. This close up look at his life, from gun trials to the murder of his brother on the streets of Manchester, reveals a community struggling with poverty, violence and drugs. World Premiere.

VHS—KAHLOUCHA/ Tunisia (Director: Nejib Belkadhi)—In a poor district of Tunisia, self-made auteur, Moncef Kahloucha, a guerilla filmmaker in the purest sense, demonstrates that it takes a village to make fun movies as he brings the power of cinema to the people. North American Premiere.

WELCOME EUROPA / France (Director: Bruno Ulmer)—Kurdish, Moroccan and Romanian young men migrate to Europe for a better life only to face the harsh realities and the laws of survival on the streets of a foreign land. North American Premiere.

WORLD CINEMA COMPETITION: DRAMATIC

The World Cinema Dramatic Competition reflects Sundance’s commitment to championing the independent spirit in filmmakers everywhere and to fostering creative dialogue between divergent cultures. This year’s 16 selections represent 13 countries including Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Canada, Georgia, Germany, France, Ireland, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia, and the United Kingdom. This year’s films include stories about the discovery and tragedy of infidelity, spiritual healing and the power of belief, the travails of a writer from China, a nomad in Mongolia, a peasant in Burkina Faso, and the aftermath of crime and war.

The 16 films were selected from 929 submissions. The films screening in World Cinema Dramatic Competition are:

BLAME IT ON FIDEL (LA FAUTE A FIDEL) / France (Director and Screenwriter: Julie Gavras)—A 9-year-old girl weathers big changes in her household as her parents become radical political activists in 1970-71 Paris. North American Premiere.

DRAINED (O CHEIRO DO RALO) / Brazil (Director: Heitor Dhalia; Screenwriters: Marçal Aquino, Heitor Dhalia)—A pawn shop proprietor buys used goods from desperate locals—as much to play perverse power games as for his own livelihood, but when the perfect rump and a backed-up toilet enter his life, he loses all control. North American Premiere.

DRIVING WITH MY WIFE’S LOVER (ANE-EUI AEIN-EUL MANNADA) / South Korea (Director: Kim Tai-sik; Screenwriters: Kim Jeon-han, Kim Tai-sik)—When a mild-mannered South Korean man decides to track down the cab driver having an affair with his wife, a strange bond develops between the pair during a long-distance drive. North American Premiere.

EAGLE VS. SHARK / New Zealand (Director and Screenwriter: Taika Waititi)—The tale of two socially awkward misfits and the strange ways they try to find love. World Premiere.

EZRA / France (Director: Newton I. Aduaka; Screenwriters: Newton I. Aduaka, Alain-Michel Blanc)—A young ex-child soldier in Sierra Leone attempts to return to a normal life after the civil war which devastated his country. World Premiere.

GHOSTS / UK (Director: Nick Broomfield; Screenwriters: Nick Broomfield, Jez Lewis)—Based on a true story, GHOSTS is the tragic account of an illegal Chinese immigrant woman as she struggles relentlessly for a better life in the U.K. North American Premiere.

HOW IS YOUR FISH TODAY? (JIN TIAN DE YU ZEN ME YANG?) / UK (Director: Xiaolu Guo; Screenwriter: Rao Hui, Xiaolu Guo)—Blurring boundaries between reality and fiction, HOW IS YOUR FISH TODAY? traces a Chinese writer's inner journey through his fictional characters. North American Premiere.

HOW SHE MOVE / Canada (Director: Ian Iqbal Rashid; Screenwriter: Annmarie Morais)—Following her sister’s death from drug addiction, a high school student is forced to leave her private school to return to her old, crime-filled neighborhood where she re-kindles an unlikely passion for the competitive world of “Step” dancing. World Premiere.

THE ISLAND (OSTROV) / Russia (Director: Pavel Lounguine; Screenwriter: Dmitri Sobolev)—Somewhere in Northern Russia in a small Russian Orthodox monastery lives an unusual man whose bizarre conduct confuses his fellow monks, while others who visit the island believe that the man has the power to heal, exorcise demons and foretell the future. U.S. Premiere.

KHADAK / Belgium/Germany (Directors and Screenwriters: Peter Brosens and Jessica Woodworth)—Set in the frozen steppes of Mongolia, KHADAK tells the epic story of Bagi, a young nomad confronted with his destiny after animals fall victim to a plague which threatens to eradicate nomadism. U.S. Premiere.

THE LEGACY / Georgia/France (Directors and Screenwriters: Géla Babluani, Temur Babluani)—Three French hipsters and their translator travel through rural Georgia to claim a remote, ruined castle that one of them has inherited. En route, they encounter an old man and his grandchild who are on a journey to carry out a mysterious, morbid ritual designed to end a conflict between warring clans. North American Premiere.

THE NIGHT BUFFALO (EL BUFALO DE LA NOCHE) / Mexico (Director: Jorge Hernandez Aldana; Screenwriters: Jorge Hernandez Aldana, Guillermo Arriaga,)—A 22-year-old schizophrenic commits suicide after his girlfriend cheats on him with his best friend. Before killing himself, he lays out a plan that will drive the lovers into an abyss of madness. World Premiere.

NOISE / Australia (Director and Screenwriter: Matthew Saville)—A young cop, beset with doubt and afflicted with tinnitus (ear-ringing), is pitched into the chaos that follows a mass murder on a suburban train. He struggles to clear the screaming in his head while the surrounding community deals with the after effects of the terrible crime. World Premiere.

ONCE / Ireland (Director and Screenwriter: John Carney)—ONCE is a modern-day musical set on the streets of Dublin. Featuring Glen Hansard and his Irish band “The Frames”, ONCE tells the story of a busker and an immigrant during an eventful week as they write, rehearse and record songs that reveal their unique love story. North American Premiere.

RÊVES DE POUSSIÈRE (DREAMS of DUST) / Burkina Faso/Canada/France (Director and Screenwriter: Laurent Salgues)—A Nigerian peasant comes looking for work in Essakane, a dusty gold mine in Northeast Burkina Faso, where he hopes to forget the past that haunts him. North American Premiere.

SWEET MUD (ADAMA MESHUGAAT) / Israel (Director and Screenwriter: Dror Shaul)—On a kibbutz in southern Israel in the 1970's, Dvir Avni realizes that his mother is mentally ill. In this closed community, bound by rigid rules, Dvir must navigate between the kibbutz motto of equality and the stinging reality that his mother has, in effect, been abandoned by the community. U.S. Premiere.

Festival films screen in nine sections: Documentary Competition, Dramatic Competition, World Cinema Documentary Competition, World Cinema Dramatic Competition, Spectrum, New Frontier, Park City at Midnight, From the Sundance Collection and Premieres. Feature films selected for the Premieres, Spectrum, Park City at Midnight, New Frontier and From The Sundance Collection categories will be announced tomorrow, Thursday, November 30. The Short Film program will be announced on Wednesday, December 6.

American films selected to screen in Dramatic and Documentary Competition are eligible for a number of jury awards including Grand Jury Prizes, Cinematography Awards and Directing Awards. Other jury awards include the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award sponsored by Utah Film Commission and presented to a film in Dramatic Competition, and the Documentary Editing Award which is presented to the editor of a film in Documentary Competition. The Alfred P. Sloan Prize is presented to an outstanding dramatic feature film for the quality of its presentation of science or technology themes. Films in the Independent Film Competition are also eligible for the Dramatic and Documentary Audience Awards. Films screening in the World Cinema Dramatic and Documentary Competition are eligible for the World Cinema Jury Prizes and World Cinema Audience Awards.

New for 2007: New Frontier Program

"New Frontier" represents the evolution of the Frontier section which explored the experimental world of filmmaking. New Frontier is an expanded program that includes work from artists pushing the boundaries of art by using the moving image to create new modes of storytelling. The program includes films screening throughout the Festival, as well as media installations, media-based performances, and panel discussions at New Frontier on Main Street — a new venue located in the Main St. Mall formerly known as the Film Center . Artists whose work will be featured in the program are Paul Chan (animation), R. Luke Dubois (video), Eric Dyer & Martha Colburn (multi-media installations), Lincloln Shatz (multi-media performance) and Travis Wilkerson (multi-media performance).

Spirit Award Nominations Released

2006-11-28T09:53:00.000-08:00

Film Independent's Spirit Awards nominations were announced today, with Ryan Fleck's "Half Nelson" and Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris' "Little Miss Sunshine" leading the 41 nominees with five nods each, including in the Best Feature category, where "American Gun," "The Dead Girl" and "Pan’s Labyrinth" were also selected.

One of the most important features of the awards nominations (no longer called the "Independent Spirit Awards") is to draw attention to smaller films still seeking distribution and wider audiences, among them Richard Wong's thoroughly entertaining, Bay Area-set "Colma: The Musical" (nominated for the $50,000 IFC/Acura Someone to Watch Award, along with "In Between Days and "Day Night Day Night"), as well as Ali Selim's self-distributed"Sweet Land"(Best First Feature, Best Female Lead).

FIND's criteria for nominee selection -- made by appointed committees -- in competitive categories:

Uniqueness of vision

Original, provocative subject matter

Economy of means (with particular attention paid to total production cost and
individual compensation)

Percentage of financing from independent sources

Running time at least 70 minutes long

Cost of the completed film, including post-production, under $20 million

Fittingly, independent writer-director David Lynch and actress Laura Dern will share a Special Distinction Award "In recognition of their unique and stunning collaborative work in the mesmerizing 'Inland Empire', as well as the influential independent classics 'Blue Velvet' and 'Wild at Heart.'"

Awards are given in the following categories: Best Feature, Best First Feature, Best First Screenplay, Best Director, Best Screenplay, John Cassavetes Award (given to the best feature made for a budget under $500,000), Best Male Lead, Best Female Lead, Best Supporting Male, Best Supporting Female, Best Cinematography, Best Foreign Film, and Best Documentary.

Last year’s Film Independent’s Spirit Award winners included Brokeback Mountain, which won Best Feature and Best Director (Ang Lee), Capote for Best Screenplay and Best Male Lead (Philip Seymour Hoffman); Crash for Best First Feature and Best Supporting Male (Matt Dillon); Transamerica for Best Female Lead (Felicity Huffman) and Best First Screenplay; and Junebug for Best Supporting Female (Amy Adams).

Film Independent's Spirit awardees will be selected by a vote of the organization's membership, along with members of the Independent Feature Project network, and conferred Feb. 24 in conjunction with a live broadcast on IFC.

A complete listing of the nominations is available on the Spirit Awards site.

Political Doc to Open '07 Sundance Film Festival

2006-11-16T13:27:00.000-08:00

The Sundance Film Festival announced today that the 2007 event will open with a world premiere of the documentary "Chicago 10," a film that examines the anti-war protests surrounding the 1968 Chicago Democratic Party national convention.

“We are pleased to open the 2007 Sundance Film Festival with Brett Morgen’s 'Chicago 10.' We are particularly excited to be able to present a film that pushes the boundaries of many of the traditional aspects of documentary filmmaking, that speaks to audiences beyond what one might expect and that exemplifies the range of creativity and diversity that we support at the Festival,” said Geoffrey Gilmore, Director, Sundance Film Festival.

Written and directed by Morgen, the doc features a mix of interviews, archival footage and original animated sequences.

“I am thrilled and honored that 'Chicago 10' has been selected to open the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. The Festival’s long-standing generosity and tenacious support of independent filmmakers is exhilarating and humbling,” said Morgen. “It seems fitting to me that a film about the importance of taking a stand should launch the 2007 edition. For the past five years I have labored to bring this story into focus and with each passing day, the film becomes increasingly relevant. I can’t think of a more appropriate time and place to unleash this beast.”

"Chicago 10" is only the second doc to be selected as the festival's opening night film, following Stacy Peralta's big-wave surf celebration "Riding Giants" in 2004. Morgen is also the director of the documentaries "The Kid Stays in the Picture" and the Academy-Award nominated "Against the Ropes," both of which premiered at Sundance.

The 2007 edition of the festival runs January 18-28 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden, and Sundance, Utah. Further programming announcements on next year's lineup will be forthcoming later this month and next.

New Digital Content Initiative Puts Sundance Institute on the Mobile Map

2006-11-14T16:43:00.000-08:00

In a move that could provide the catalyst for new independent film distribution and exhibition opportunities, the Sundance Institute announced a pilot program on Nov. 8 to sponsor and deliver content for mobile devices.

The Institute will partner with the GSM Association (GSMA) in creating the Sundance Film Festival: Global Short Film Project. The Festival has recruited six alumni filmmakers to create a series of five 3-5 minute short films exclusively for mobile distribution, including "Little Miss Sunshine" directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, "Better Luck Tommorrow"'s Justin Lin and director Cory McAbee ("The American Astronaut").

“Cell phones are fast becoming the ‘fourth screen’ medium, after television, cinema and computers,” said Sundance Institute president and founder Robert Redford. “We feel this experiment embodies fully, our quarter-century dedication to exploring new platforms to support wider distribution of independent voices in filmmaking. We are excited about bringing this opportunity to independent filmmakers and most excited to see what they will do with it,” he added.

The Festival will premiere the films February 12-15, 2007 at the annual 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona and then make them available for mobile device download.

Festival Director of Programming John Cooper will oversee the project, which is co-sponsored by the GSMA, the global trade association that represents 700 GSM mobile phone operators in 215 countries worldwide. In an indication of the potential reach of the new initiative, the Institute indicated that GSMA's members serve more than two billion customers -- 82% of the world's mobile phone users.

Recent Pickups Put APA Pics in the Pipeline

2006-11-03T09:46:00.000-08:00

News of distribution deals for two independent Asian Pacific American feature films hit in late October as both were playing the Hawaii International Film Festival in Honolulu.

Writer-director Ham Tran's debut feature "Journey From the Fall," a 2006 Sundance Film Festival official selection and multiple award winner on the festival circuit, became ImaginAsian Entertainment's first theatrical film pickup when the newly minted ImaginAsian Pictures unit acquired "Journey" for North American distribution.

The commitment also includes a home video release through DVD distributor Genius Products, which is majority owned by indie industry heavy-hitter The Weinstein Company. The filmmakers and distributor are planning a Spring 2007 release for the historical drama that details the ordeals endured by refugees fleeing the Communist takeover of Vietnam. The deal was brokered by sales agent Nguyen Tran representing the flimmakers and David Chu on behalf of ImaginAsian Entertainment.

Read my detailed article on the acquistion in the Fall 2006 issue of Filmmaker Magazine.

The "Journey" distribution deal was followed by news that IFC's First Take label has acquired North American rights to "Charlotte Somtimes" writer-director Eric Byler's recent feature "Americanese" for theatrical release and simultaneous video-on-demand distribution.

An double-award winner at Austin's SXSW Film Festival, "Americanese" stars Chris Tashima, Allison Sie, Joan Chen, and Kelly Hu in a bittersweet relationship drama adapted by Byler from Sean Wong's novel by the same title. Release is slated for summer 2007.

San Francisco International Film Festival Secures Prestigious Academy Grant

2006-08-18T11:31:00.000-07:00

The Academy Foundation of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences -- presenter of the Academy Awards -- has named the San Francisco International Film Festival as the third recipient of its prestigious $150,000 "secure foundation" grant.

Beginning this year, the festival will receive $50,000 annually over three years to support current programs and new initiatives. "With the Academy guaranteeing funds for three years, our hope is that this type of grant will help a festival build a sturdy foundation for a project," said Festival Grants Committee Chair Gale Anne Hurd. "That kind of security will permit a festival to take some chances with programs they might otherwise not be willing to try."

The SFIFF was a past recipient of the Academy Foundation's annual funding in 2000, 2003 and 2005, but is only the third US film festival to receive the three-year grant. Previous grantees include the Los Angeles Film Festival and the Telluride Film Festival. The foundation will review these grants next year and decide whether to continue the special funding program.

Next year marks the 50th anniversary of the San Francisco International Film Festival -- the oldest continually running festival in the Americas. San Francisco Film Society Executive Director Graham Leggat welcomed the Academy grant. “Visionary from the get-go, the International has a long and storied history of innovative programming. The Academy’s generosity as we approach our historic 50th anniversary is a terrific encouragement to innovate still more.”

Weinstein Co. Postpones New Tony Jaa Release

2006-08-15T10:26:00.000-07:00

The Weinstein Company informed journalists this week that release of Tony Jaa's new actioner "The Protector" has been pushed to Sept. 8 nationwide. Titled "Tom Yum Goong" for its original Asia release, TWC had previously scheduled the film for an Aug. 25 rollout.

Jaa's follow-up to "Ong Bak: Muay Thai Warrior," his sensational international martial arts debut, finds the Thai martial artist in a similar role, playing a country boy pursuing international gangsters, but with the action set primarily in Australia. Helmed by "Ong Bak" director Prachya Pinkaew, "Tom Yum Goong" debuted throughout Asia in 2005, moving on to Europe earlier this year under various titles, including "Honor of the Dragon" and "Revenge of the Warrior."

Advance English-language reviews of the film have been running mixed -- a response shared by CinemaPlanet following a screening of the Thai-language version of "Tom Yum Goong." Jaa's Muay Thai martial arts stunts and fight scenes are still spectacular, particularly in a confrontation with a Capoeira expert in a Buddhist temple during a raging fire, but the storyline is episodic, lacking narrative momentum.

Whether TWC has imposed a re-cut that improves the pacing as part of the US distribution deal remains to be seen when press screenings are rescheduled for the Sept. release. The delay is reminiscent of the Weinstein's tenure at Miramax, where they were sometimes known for acquiring Asian-language titles and putting the US release on hold or shelving them entirely.

Within a couple of weeks it should become clear whether a similar pattern is developing at The Weinstein Company, or if Tony Jaa's growing international stature will create enough momentum to deliver the film to US audiences.

Los Angeles Film Festival Opens June 22

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The LAFF begins this week in the Westwood Village district of Los Angeles, after relocating from its former location on Sunset Blvd. The move will hopefully provide better access and reduce travel time between most theater venues, while offering audiences some of the best screens in the city, favored by studios for premieres and special events.

Presented by Film Independent, the festival's gala screenings showcase several upcoming summer studio releases, kicking off with David Frankel's "The Devil Wears Prada" (Twentieth Century Fox), starring Meryl Streep as a ruthless fashion magazine editor. Closing out the fest, a wildly dysfunctional family makes a cross-country trek to a children's beauty contest in the comedy "Little Miss Sunshine" (Fox Searchlight Pictures). The Centerpiece Premiere features "Quincenera" (Sony Pictures Classics), the 2006 Sundance Film Festival double-award winning drama about a teenage girl's troubled social debut in L.A.'s Echo Park neighborhood. Both of the latter are independent productions picked up for distribution by studio specialty divisions earlier this year at Sundance.

Among the world and North American premieres scattered throughout the 8 narrative competition slots are Ian McCrudden's regional drama "Islander," the romantic comedy "Ira & Abby" from Robert Cary, Chris Chan Lee's long-awaited Koreatown crime drama "Undoing" and the lighthearted comedy "The Lather Effect," by Sarah Kelly.

World premiere Documentary competitors include the Oklahoma-set environmental diary "The Creek Runs Red," by Bradley Beesley, Alan Berg's New Orleans dancehall celebration "A Place to Dance," and the pedophile-priest profile "Deliver Us From Evil," by Amy Berg. Both competitions award the winning director a $50,000 cash prize.

The fest's International Showcase presents 21 titles from Europe, Asia, South America, Australia, Africa and the Mideast, while "Dark Wave" serves up a sidebar of genre offerings.

Special screenings, short films and a free movie series, along with a variety of Festival Talks, filmmaker discussions and symposia -- including FIND's annual Financing Conference -- round out the fest.

CinemaPlanet's "don't-miss picks" include:

A 20th anniversary screening of "Blue Velvet" with director David Lynch in person

Vice-President Al Gore's presentation of the documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" -- a global warming wake-up call

Sundance Film Festival 2006 standouts "Half Nelson," "The Aura" and "Old Joy"

Must-see music docs "Leonard Cohen I'm Your Man" and Sex Pistols profile "The Filth and the Fury," as well as the Fatboy Slim music video compilation "Weapon of Choice"

LAFF guest director George Lucas' presentation of Jean-Luc Godard's "Masculine Feminine," Akira Kurosawa's "The Seven Samurai" and Stanley Kubrick's "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb"

10 days, 11 historic theaters, more than 250 films -- what better way to begin summer in Los Angeles?

Justin Lin's The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift Finishes Third in Box Office Race

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Director Justin Lin's ("Better Luck Tommorow") big-budget debut took third place in the June 16 weekend box office derby with $23.9 million, finishing behind "Cars" and "Nacho Libre." "The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift" marks Lin's second studio movie, following "Annapolis," released earlier this year.

Lin has come a long way since his first feature, "Better Luck Tomorrow," caused a sensation at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival with its dark depiction of Asian-American teens gone astray. In just three movies, Lin's gone from a low-budget indie feature to a summer blockbuster, breaking into the ranks of in-demand young Hollywood directors.

If you're thinking "sell-out," consider that Lin's success is enabling him to self-finance his next indie film, "Finishing the Game," which will reunite much of the "Better Luck Tomorrow" cast in a 70's-set satirical feature, to be produced by year-end.

Discover more about Lin's experience on "The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift" and his upcoming projects in a recent MySpace.Com Film feature article. And check back with CinemaPlanet for more updates on developments with "Finishing the Game" and Lin's rapidly accelerating career.

Cavite Opens SF Bay Area and San Diego June 16

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The intriguing no-budget indie suspenser Cavite expands to additional cities this weekend after pulling in some respectable box office numbers since opening in two LA and NYC Landmark theaters May 26.

Co-directors Ian Gamazon and Neill dela Llana's ingenious Filipino-American feature is scheduled for one-week runs beginning June 16 in San Francisco, Berkeley and San Diego before moving on to Seattle June 30. Check Landmark Theaters for information on locations and showtimes -- and don't miss this award-winning example of global diasporic cinema.

Best of 2002-2004

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Read some of my best features and reviews published over the last few years in Filmmaker magazine, AsianWeek newspaper and other outlets.

ASIANWEEK Movie Review, Dec. 2004: "House of Flying Daggers" Strikes Target

ASIANWEEK Movie Review, May 2004: "The Twilight Samurai" -- Director Yoji Yamada offers a gentle portrait of a Japanese fighter

FILMMAKER MAGAZINE Feature, Spring 2003: "Crashing the Gates" -- Part II of Justin Lowe's story on "The Debut."

ASIANWEEK Movie Review, Mar. 2003: "Mass-appealing 'Bend it Like Beckham' Opens in San Francisco"

ASIANWEEK Movie Review, Sept. 2002: "Spirited Away" -- A World of Genius

Welcome to CinemaPlanet

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With the onset of the summer movie season -- one of the year's busiest -- CinemaPlanet is launching to bring the images and voices of independent and international cinema to a wider audience. News about film production, acquisition and distribution will provide updates on independent film trends. Short features and links to online resources add valuable depth. Tips on breaking news, filmmaker appearances, special events and upcoming screenings keep readers a step ahead.

Use the comments section to provide feedback or additional information. Press releases, pitches and tips should be sent directly by email to: CinemaPlanet"AT"gmail.com. You know how to replace the "AT" to keep the spammers guessing.