NYC's LBGT NewFest Kicks Off Its 22nd Season

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Saturday, 05 June 2010 18:29

Written by T. Terry Maloney

New York's annual LBGT film festival, NewFest, running June 3 to 13, 2010, kicked off its 22nd season at the SVA Theater, 333 W. 23rd Street in Chelsea, with a screening of Undertow, the first full-length feature film from Peruvian director-screenwriter Javier Fuentes-León.

Winner of the 2010 World Cinema Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival, Undertow is the story of Miguel played by Cristian Mercado (Che), a married fisherman and expectant father in Cabo Blanco, Peru, and his scandalous secret: a clandestine love affair with the openly gay Santiago, played by Manolo Cardona (Beverly Hills Chihuahua).

When Santiago drowns accidentally in the ocean's strong undercurrent, he cannot pass peacefully to the other side. He returns after his death to ask Miguel to look for his body and bury it according to the rituals of the town. Miguel must choose between sentencing Santiago to eternal torment or doing right by him and, in turn, revealing their relationship to the entire village.

With sweeping images of the beautiful Peruvian coastline, Undertow is described as an "emotional intersection of contemporary sexuality, confronted by tradition and belief."

The screening was followed by a lavish opening night party at the Chelsea Art Museum, attended by filmmakers from several countries, industry representatives and local and regional press.

This years festival will feature over 100 films from 20 countries.

Another notable film to be screened at NewFest is Howl, the story of "beat poet" and San Francisco bookstore owner Lawrence Ferlinghetti and his relationship with fellow poet Allen Ginsberg. The film details the trial following the publication of Ginsberg's poem Howl and also is a revealing look at homosexuality in 1940s New York. The film stars James Franco (Milk), Mary-Louise Parker, Jon Hamm (Mad Men) and Jeff Daniels with a score by Carter Burwell.

Women's Night on June 6 will feature a screening of The Owls, a tale of the reunion of two "older wiser" lesbians. Described as "far from your average psychological thriller," the film combines themes of aging in the lesbian community, gender anxiety and--last but not least--accidental murder.

A film that could not have been more timely in light of recent Congressional action is Out of Annapolis, the story of  LBGT navy and marine corps alumni of the US Naval Academy. The documentary was directed by Abe Forman-Greenwald and is co-sponsored by the Serviceman's Legal Defense Network

Another documentary on a lighter, although no less compelling, topic is Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work, directed by Ricki Stern and Anne Sudberg. This film follows the legendary comedian (and longtime supporter of LBGT issues) as she performs across the US, promotes her jewelry line, appears on The Celebrity Apprentice and rehearses her play. The sold-out June 9 screening will be followed by a Q&A with Rivers moderated by Village Voice columnist Michael Musto.

Those hard-to-define members of the LBGT communiy known as "bears" (not all are chubby and/or hairy) are well represented at NewFest by the romantic comedy Bear City and the documentary Bear Nation.

Bear City, directed by Doug Langway and starring Stephen Guarino and Gerald McCullouch (C.S.I.) follows five beary friends as they pursue love and face life changing decisions as Bear Party Weekend rapidly approaches.

Bear Nation, directed by Malcolm Ingram (Small Town Gay Bar) is an insightful and comical exploration of bear identity, body image and community featuring bears of all ages and types.

The true story of  "the most popular twin lesbian yodelers in New Zealand" is told in the documentary The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls, starring Jools and Lynda Topp and directed by Leanne Pooley.

National superstars (and LBGT activists) in Kiwi Land with their own comedy television show, the Topp Twins will make their US debut following the June 10 screening. This unique entertainment experience is a must-see for all twins, lesbians, yodelers, Kiwis and those who admire them.

Another legend of the show business community to be profiled at NewFest is Rock Hudson in the Andrew Davies documentary Rock Hudson: Dark and Handsome Stranger. This intimate overview of the closeted superstar features interviews with close friends and also focuses on Hudson's "deathbed" revelation that he had contracted HIV, a now historical moment that raised awareness of HIV and AIDS and impacted the level and honesty of public discourse.

The Closing Night film is Violet Tendencies starring Mindy Cohn from TV's The Facts of Life in the title role. This hilarious and politically incorrect comedy features Cohn as "the oldest living fag hag" who can't seem to meet her own Mr. Right. The film also stars Jesse Archer, Marcus Patrick, Samuel Whitten, Kim Allen and Casper Andreas, who also directs this New York based film which features "surprising cameos." The screening will be followed by the always fabulous NewFest Closing Night Party at the Chelsea Art Museum.

NewFest wil leave the SVA Theater for screenings of three films from the Bahamas, Canada and Israel. On June 7, the groundbreaking Bahamian film Children of God will be shown at Harlem Stage (150 Convent Avenue). On June 9, two documentaries will be screened at the JCC (334 Amsterdam Avenue): Gay Days from Israel and the Canadian film The So-Called Movie.

NewFest also features six shorts programs and a series of filmmakers workshops and film seminars.

NewFest is presented by Marc Jacobs and sponsors include The Real L Word, Mitchell Gold+Bob Williams, Tekserve, LBGT Center, Gem Hotel, Grand Marnier, ifp and Orchard Films.

For a complete list of films, workshops, seminars and ticket information please go to: www.NewFest.org

NewFest
June 3 to 13, 2010

The New Festival, Inc.
Orchard Films
68 Jay St, Suite 319
Brooklyn, NY 11201
646-290-8136
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

SVA Theater
333 W. 23rd St.
New York, NY 10011
212-592-2980

Chelsea Art Museum
160 11th Avenue
New York, NY 10011
212-255-0719

Harlem Stage
150 Convent Avenue
New York, NY 10031-9200
212-281-9240

JCC
334 Amsterdam Avenue
Samuel Priest Rose Building
334 Amsterdam Ave, at 76th St.
New York, NY 10023
646-505-4444 

Edinburgh Int'l Film Fest, Spry at 64

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Saturday, 05 June 2010 12:44

Written by Laura Blum

At 64, the Edinburgh International Film Festival (June 16 to 27, 2010) brings off another program of discovery, classics and special events -- and every indication that its admirers will still need it and feed it. Birthday greetings, bottle of wine to the world's oldest continuously running festival.

There is also evidence that Artistic Director Hanna McGill has once again gone for something sentient but fun -- and for something that embodies the United Kingdom.

Edinburgh of the 1950s is the setting of The Illusionist/L'Illusionniste, which opens the Festival. Sylvain Chomet's (The Triplets of Belleville) animated film is about an aging vaudevillian taken for a real magician by a young woman on his performance circuit. That the main character is an avatar of French director and comedian Jacques Tati (Mon Oncle, Playtime) is traceable to the story's origins as a letter Tati addressed to his eldest daughter.

The Closing Night selection is Third Star. Hattie Dalton's directorial debut unfolds in West Wales as four friends embark on a coastal trek that ends badly, if comically. It's one of 22 world premieres at the 2010 Festival, along with Morag McKinnon's Donkeys, the second feature of the "Advance Party" trilogy from Scotland's Sigma and Denmark's Zentropa.

The EIFF docket carries further glints of British sense and sensibility in Ben Miller's Huge, a poke at making it in stand-up comedy, and in Mr. Nice, Bernard Rose's screen translation of the best-selling memoir by former drug smuggler, Oxford alum and spy Howard Marks.

For this year's retrospective, the Festival will present "After the Wave: Lost and Forgotten British Cinema 1967-1979." Rescued from cinema's hidden "closets" are such exemplars as Ken Russell's biopic of French sculptor Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, Savage Messiah; Michael Hodges' subversive crime thriller, Pulp; Stephen Frears' first feature, Gumshoe; and a spanking new print of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's last collaboration, The Boy Who Turned Yellow.

The coveted prize for Best New British Feature Film bears Powell's name. Sponsored by the UK Film Council, the award will be presented at the Festival's British Gala. Shakespearean-actor-turned-Star Trek-headliner Sir Patrick Stewart helms the jury, and will take the stage at the BAFTA in Scotland interview.

EIFF will draw additional sheen from the participation of L.A.-based producer Graham King (Oscar-awarded for The Departed) and actress and EIFF Patron Tilda Swinton (I Am Love/Lo sono l'amore) among other cinema luminaries. However, Edinburgh is not the natural habitat for hype; it's more about smoking out fresh and emerging British filmmakers -- and giving them a helpful push -- than it is about the care and feeding of celebrities on red carpets.

Not that much arm twisting will have been required to toast such longtime patrons as Sir Sean Connery on the occasion of his 80th birthday. John Huston’s classic The Man Who Would Be King will be screened in his honor -- it's his favorite film -- and the man who would be Bond will attend a Gala in his honor at the Festival Theatre (13-29 Nicolson Street).

Also hailing from Great Britain are several concentrated efforts to spook the audience: Paul Andrew William's (London to Brighton) urban thriller Cherry Tree Lane and – returning to Edinburgh as the backdrop -- Outcast, a horror flick from Colm McCarthy, and A Spanking In Paradise, Wayne Thallon's black comedy set in a brothel. Late-night screenings of the latter two stand to enhance their cult creepiness.

Though by no means is EIFF limited to domestic productions. One of its most anticipated works comes from German grizzly man Werner Herzog. The title alone of his latest effort, My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done tells you that the doyen of inspired whackdom has outdone himself, an impression only deepened by the producer credit given to David Lynch and the casting of Willem Dafoe, Udo Kier and Chloë Sevigny.

The film enlarges on the true story of Mark Yavorsky, a San Diego man who took the cue from Sophocles' Electra and stabbed his mother to death. Candidates for Madame Tussaud's, all.

Another buzzed-about Festival number is Steven Soderbergh's documentary And Everything Is Going Fine, which fashions a posthumous autobiography of monologist Spalding Gray using his archival performance and interview footage.

Films from beyond the U.K. receiving their world premiere can contend for the Projector.tv Best International Feature Award. Ryan Denmark's Chase the Slut, Rona Mark's The Crab and Zach Clark's Vacation! are but three entries that fit this bill.

The Festival began as a documentary showcase when it first bloomed in August of 1947 under the shade of the Edinburgh International Festival. (It moved to its current June slot in 2008.) EIFF's romance with true stories lingers with Superhero Me, Steve Sale's merry crusade to save L.A. from iniquity, and with Lucy Martens’ Out of the Ashes, among nearly 20 other non-fiction features.

All told, the 2010 Festival will screen 133 films from 34 countries, a simmering of 1,500 feature films and 2,500 short films that swelled its submissions box.

More about EIFF 2010 awaits you at http://www.edfilmfest.org.uk

Filmhouse (Festival HQ)
88 Lothian Road
Edinburgh EH3 9BZ

Edinburgh Festival Theatre
13-29 Nicolson Street
Edinburgh Midlothian EH8 9FT

Cameo
35 Home Street
Tollcross
Edinburgh EH3 9LZ

Cineworld
Fountain Park
130/3 Dundee Street
Edinburgh EH11 1AF

Collective Gallery
22-28 Cockburn Street
Edinburgh

Fruitmarket Gallery
45 Market Street
Edinburgh

EIFF +44-(0)-131-228-4051

Cine Fest Petrobras Brasil Shakes NY

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Wednesday, 02 June 2010 17:48

Written by Laura Blum

Caphirinas, dee-jayed dança and Brazilian beats in Central Park....  Even if Cine Fest Petrobras Brasil (June 5 to 12, 2010) weren't bringing a week of new Brazilian cinema to New York, it'd still be a pretext to samba.

Back for its eighth run, the week-long carnival will lead off with the Opening Night film The Well Beloved One/O Bem Amado, followed by a festa brasileira. Guel Arraes's feature adaptation of playwright Dias Gomes' classic comedy sends up small-town politics and mores with its tale of a mayor fixated on opening a cemetery.  

It's one of 12 films competing for the audience-balloted Chrystal Lens Award, to be presented on Closing Night as part of a tropical bash at Central Park's Summerstage. Screening under the stars (though out of competition) will be the Closing Night film, Oscar Niemeyer–Life Is a Blow. The documentary by Fabiano Maciel entwines a portrait of the nation with a biography of Brazil’s legendary modernist architect.  

You may not recognize the name Oscar Niemeyer, but if you've seen photos of Brazil's planned capital city, Brasília, you've surely seen one of his signature works: the spiky, spidery Cathedral-Basilica of Our Lady Aparecida.

Brasília turns 50 this year, and Cine Fest Petrobras Brasil has seized the occasion for a multi-hued salute. Prior to the Closing Night screening, Brazilian superband Paralamas do Sucesso will rock Summerstage with rising star and fellow Brasília denizen Maria Gadú. And the Festival program includes several films set in Brasília or made by brasilienses, such as Sunstroke/Insolação, Felipe Hirsch and Daniela Thomas' anthology of unrequited love stories.

Also to mark the jubilee is an exhibition tracing Brasília's construction by Niemeyer and fellow architect Lúcio Costa, who designed its wing-shaped urban plan. The show will be on display at Festival headquarters, Tribeca Cinemas (54 Varick Street).

Like the 2002 international hit City of God, most Brazilian movies are produced with the support of Globo Filmes, a corporate sibling of the country's largest television network, TV Globo. Since having entered the film scene in 1998, Globo has had a hand in Brazil's most successful commercial titles, many of which crossed over from -- or to -- telenovelas.

One example is the aforementioned The Well Beloved One, which debuted as a stage play and became a well beloved series on TV Globo. Another is So Normal 2/Os Normais 2, which comes to New York amid titters and expectations of sold-out screenings. Building on the popular sitcom and on the series' first feature film, So Normal 2 director José Alvarenga Jr. swings the lead couple into a ménage a trois.

Presented by Inffinito Group, Cine Fest Petrobras Brasil also offers Q&A sessions and other opportunities to chat with many of the filmmakers and actors featured in the 15-film program. Variations on the Festival travel to other cities, including London, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Rome, Madrid, the Brazilian town of Canudos and -- for the largest competitive festival of Brazilian cinema outside of Brazil, with 40 productions -- Miami.

Full details on the Cine Fest Petrobras Brasil are posted at www.Brazilianfilmfestival.com.

Cine Fest Petrobras Brasil
June 5 to 12, 2010
Tribeca Cinemas
54 Varick Street
New York, NY 10013
(at Laight Street, one block below Canal Street)
646-827-9333