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2 articles from 2008

24 September 2008 11:10 AM, PDT | From TwitchFilm.net | See recent Twitch news

Race.  Religion.  Politics.  According to Mill Valley Film Festival‘s Director of Programming Zöe Elton, those are subjects to avoid when choosing “something breezy” to open and close a film festival.  At a recent press conference to announce this year’s line-up, however, she was obviously making ironic note of that supposition.  As it turns out, this year’s fest is bookended by films steeped in those three volatile topics.

Opening the festival’s 31st edition on October 2nd will be Religulous and The Secret Life of Bees.  The Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center will host the latest from Borat director Larry Charles, a documentary in which Bill Maher ridicules the world’s three major monotheistic religions.  Over in Mill Valley, the Sequoia Theater will screen the west coast premiere of Gina Prince-Bythewood’s tale of race relations in 1964 South Carolina, starring Dakota Fanning, Queen Latifah, Jennifer Hudson, Alicia Keys and Sophie Okonedo.

Michael Guillen

28 August 2008 3:33 PM, PDT | From Cinematical.com | See recent Cinematical news

Last year was great for American independent cinema; this year, not so much. The lineup for the 35th annual Telluride Film Festival has been announced, and only two U.S. filmmakers made the cut -- Paul Schrader (Adam Resurrected) and Tim Disney (American Violet). In addition, David Fincher will be there to screen his cut of Zodiac and to accept the festival's Silver Medallion.

According to Michael Jones at Variety's festival blog, the scarcity of U.S. films is simply the result of not very many homegrown films being submitted. Some likely candidates, like Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler and the Coens' Burn After Reading, chose to focus on other festivals. Other contenders, like Revolutionary Road, Milk, and W., aren't done yet. The writers' strike and the big studios' ongoing financial problems with their art house divisions also contributed to the dearth of American product.

It looks like a fantastic foreign lineup,

Eric D. Snider

2 articles from 2008