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Middle East International Film Festival: Programming for the Future

20 October 2009 6:38 AM, PDT | The Auteurs | See recent The Auteurs news »

Above: Rigoberto Pérezcano’s border town film Northless.

With the programmers of the Middle Eastern Film Festival tasked with bringing cinema to Abu Dhabi—which has no alternative theaters beyond multiplexes—the lineup has taken several ways to introduce and encourage a cinema culture.

Masters are an obvious route; new films by Claire Denis, Alain Resnais, Steven Soderbergh, Tian Zhuangzhaung, and an omnibus of Romanian shorts as representative A-list world cinema is, I’m sure, welcome in the area, at least in theory.

Far more adventurous is Meiff’s attempt to bring silent cinema to the Arabian Peninsula.  Backed by the bold statement that silent films with live musical accompaniment have never played there, Meiff has generously brought in renowned silent film pianist Neil Brand to give a master class on his background in accompanying silent film and brief but delightful examples of the pleasures and challenges of the work. »

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Interview: Margot Benacerraf (Araya)

10 October 2009 | ioncinema | See recent ioncinema news »

- Venezuelan director Margot Benacerraf may have only made two films, the 1950s documentaries Reveron and Araya, but her efforts in supporting great Latin American cinema over the past 45 years has made her a national treasure in Venezuela, and in 1990, Araya, depicting the day to day lives of salt miners on a Venezuelan peninsula, had been chosen as one of the five best films in the history of Latin American cinema by the Neighborhood Film/Video Project of Philadelphia. Largely forgotten due to lack of distribution, Araya was stunningly restored for its 50th anniversary, re-released by Milestone films, and enjoying an October run at the IFC Center in NYC. Joining the ranks of other lost documentary classics like I Am Cuba and Killer of Sheep, it is a hidden gem that was not only an early documentary, but subverted its format to be more of a narrative film, to blend reality and drama together, »

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The Year’s Best? Bleakest? Elitist? 10 Questions for the Nyff Selection Committee

9 October 2009 11:08 AM, PDT | IndieWIRE | See recent indieWIRE news »

Much has been bantered about regarding this year’s 47th edition of the New York Film Festival, both with its new home at the Alice Tully Hall and decision to forgo the long-standing opening night party at Tavern on the Green in favor of the expansive foyer at the new venue, to this year’s line up of 30 features representing 17 countries. French director Alain Resnais’ Nyff opener, “Wild Grass” (Les Herbes … »

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Inside the Head of Mathieu Amalric

5 October 2009 12:41 PM, PDT | ifc.com | See recent IFC news »

"The film is really about the fact that you never know what's in the head of somebody else," muses Mathieu Amalric about "Wild Grass," the vibrant new film from director Alain Resnais, in which he plays an unconventional policeman. "I think that's what's amazing about getting old. When you see Alain Resnais, you don't think about wisdom -- he's not this sort of Buddha. No, it's crazy to do a film like that at 85 years old. It's good news!"

The French actor (and unlikely Bond villain) was one of three of the film's stars in town for the festival. He sat down with IFC's Alessandro Minoli to talk about working with a legend filmmaker, photography and where he sees himself at 85.

»

- IFC

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Nyff Review: Alain Resnais's Wild Grass

5 October 2009 9:44 AM, PDT | Vanity Fair | See recent Vanity Fair news »

With so many American movies about superheroes, robots, or 20-something idiots, it’s nice that the French (thanks to directors such as Arnaud Desplechin, Andre Techiné, and Daniele Thompson) are still making films about cultured grown-ups. One of the pleasures of Alain Resnais’ Wild Grass (part of the New York Film Festival)—about affluent, married, sixty-ish George Palet (Andre Dussollier), who falls wildly in love with wacky dentist/amateur aviator Marguerite Muir (Sabine Azema) after accidentally discovering her lost wallet in a parking garage—is simply taking in Resnais’ various tableaux of bourgeois French life. From the opening scene in which a chic, wild-haired Marguerite is buying shoes at Marc Jacobs, to the plentiful lunch George and his wife Suzanne (Anne Consigny) host for their gorgeous grown children at their exquisite house, to the image of Consigny, asleep wrapped in cashmere with a Philip Roth book in hand, Resnais’ physical world beckons. »

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C'mon, Get Unhappy

5 October 2009 9:28 AM, PDT | ifc.com | See recent IFC news »

This week's releases arrive draped in a pervasive air of dissatisfaction -- Chris Rock's daughter is unhappy with her hair, a '70s feminist movement is unhappy with their options, and Jason Ritter and Jess Weixler are unhappy with each other. Elsewhere, British cultural icons are talked up while global corporate interests are torn down.

Download this in audio form (MP3: 19:59 minutes, 18.3 Mb)

Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [Xml] [iTunes]

"After The Storm"

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Oscar-winning filmmaker and activist James Lecesne's decision to bring a production of the Off-Broadway musical "Once on This Island" to the storm-ravaged city of New Orleans was both obvious and inspired, with an extra layer of resonance provided in the casting of local kids affected firsthand by the disaster. Captured by director Hilla Medalia, this documentary takes us behind the scenes of the production to follow 12 young actors »

- Neil Pedley

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This Year's Nyff Theme: Divisiveness

3 October 2009 7:02 AM, PDT | The Wrap | See recent The Wrap news »

By Eric Kohn

The intriguing thing about this year's edition of the New York Film Festival isn't merely the program's whimsical nature (a given), the broad range of international selections (also a given) or that many of the movies lack U.S. distribution.

Instead, I have been struck by how nearly every film at the festival seems to divide people. Both the

comic zaniness of Alain Resnais' surrealist comedy "Wild Grass" and the explicit madness of Lars Von Trier's "Antichrist" were met with mixed responses. A similar situation arose with documentaries, including the Chinese ... »

- Lew Harris

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Nyff: Drunk on Cinema

29 September 2009 3:16 PM, PDT | ifc.com | See recent IFC news »

Being unfamiliar with "The Incident," the novel by Christian Gailly on which "Wild Grass" is based, I like to imagine it this fine-boned, New Yorkeresque tale of lonely Parisians brought together by coincidence. If that's the case, Alain Resnais' high-strung film is something like happens when you get that story drunk and it lurches around the house, knocking things over and hitting on your host's wife. In the New York Film Festival's opening night selection, mad flourishes are daubed all over moments that don't seem like they demand any particular emphasis, peculiarities abound and characters ramp up to and back away from emotional heights at perilous speeds.

The incident in question is a minor one that brings into contact two strangers, but the connection catches and holds, leading to a bemusing love affair. Marguerite Muir (Sabine Azéma), a dentist whose passion is aviation, has her purse stolen when out shoe shopping, »

- Alison Willmore

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Les herbes folles (Wild Grass) - New images from the Alain Resnais film

28 September 2009 12:59 AM, PDT | Movie Jungle | See recent Movie Jungle news »

"Les herbes folles" ("Wild Grass") has new images in the group. The film is sent out by Sony Pictures Classics and directed by Christian Gailly. Alex Reval and Laurent Herbiet write. The drama stars Mathieu Amalric, Emmanuelle Devos, André Dussollier, Anne Consigny and Nicolas Duvauchelle. The film is a Cannes Film Festival Award winner of two awards at this year's fest - The Special Jury Prize and the Special Award. Additioinally, it was nominated for the Golden Palm Award... »

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Wild Grass and Alice Tully Hall Take Center Stage at Nyff Opening

27 September 2009 5:14 PM, PDT | IndieWIRE | See recent indieWIRE news »

French director Alain Resnais and Sony Pictures Classics co-president Michael Barker walk the red carpet Friday night for the opening of the New York Film Festival. Resnais’ latest, “Wild Grass” (Les herbes folles) officially opened this year’s 47th edition at the Alice Tully Hall in Manhattan’s Upper West Side. This year, the after-party did not take place at the traditional venue, Tavern on the Green, which was a disappointment to some … »

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Nyff '09 Podcast: Wild Grass + Nyff preview

25 September 2009 9:07 AM, PDT | GreenCine Daily | See recent GreenCine Daily news »

The 47th New York Film Festival gets underway tonight with Alain Resnais' playful ode to romantic impulses late in life, Wild Grass. The general consensus among my peers is that it's the 87-year-old French master's richest and most accessibly experimental film in quite some time, but that's the wonderful thing about critics: we can simply agree to disagree. Outside the Walter Reade Theater, where the Nyff press screenings have been held, I was joined by Slant Magazine's Nick Schager and my Benten Films partner Andrew Grant, who hashed over their contradicting views on the film. In the first of a series of GreenCine Daily podcasts from this year's festival, we also review the programming lineup with, again, our differing tastes. What are we most eagerly anticipating? What have we already seen? What should people not miss? Here we go, folks... To listen to the podcast, click here. (16:52) Podcast Music

Intro: Mark Snow, »

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Martyn’s Top Ten Disturbing Films

17 September 2009 4:40 AM, PDT | FilmShaft.com | See recent FilmShaft.com news »

It is rarely highlighted what a strange habit and practice cinema-going is. Off we go to sit in a darkened room, usually with complete strangers, and watch something akin to a dream unfold before us. After all, Hollywood in particular, has been known as “The Dream Factory”. Why restrict it to Hollywood? Cinema = dreams. And as the subconscious plays havoc; dreams can turn into nightmares.

Audiences can laugh, cry and scream together. Each person maybe processing information in a variety of differing ways, yet, filmmakers employ a bag of tricks to invoke particular responses, at particular times.

Film experiences have a habit of becoming cherished, personal memories. It can achieve an ambiguous effect. Millions were astounded by Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park, just as they were terrified by Jaws, seventeen years earlier. Alfred Hitchcock devised the infamous shower sequence in Psycho relying on suggestion, chocolate sauce, rapid editing and shrieking »

- Martyn Conterio

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Tiff #3: Some of the films I've seen

11 September 2009 7:28 PM, PDT | blogs.suntimes.com/ebert | See recent Roger Ebert's Blog news »

I have a quirky policy about writing of films from a film festival. In the early years, I tried to avoid an actual "review," especially negative, because I believed a film deserved a chance to open before I laid into it. This was grandiose--as if the world was awaiting my opinion. Then I began suggesting my thinking, without going into detail. Then, being human, I allowed that approach to enlarge into specific descriptions of films I really loved, or hated.

Alex Vo, editor of Rotten Tomatoes: No Meter when he needs it most.

That's now the strategy I use, with amendments. I can only review a film for the first time once, and if I've used all my energy in rehearsal, what have I saved for opening night? I'll reflect the general reception of certain films, however, if only in the spirit of providing news coverage. The first year I was here, »

- Roger Ebert

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Tiff #1: Darwin, Herzog, the Coens and the Antichrist

8 September 2009 6:28 AM, PDT | blogs.suntimes.com/ebert | See recent Roger Ebert's Blog news »

I've just finished combing through the list of films in this year's Toronto Film Festival, and I have it narrowed down to 49. I look at the list and sigh. How can I see six films a day, write a blog, see people and sleep? Nor do I believe the list includes all the films I should see, and it's certainly missing films I will see. How it happens is, you're standing in line and hear buzz about something. Or a trusted friend provides a title you must see. Or you go to a movie you haven't heard much about, just on a hunch, and it turns out to be "Juno."

Nicolas Cage in "Bad Lieutenant"

I can't wait to dive in. Knowing something of my enthusiasms, faithful reader, let me tell you that Tiff 2009's opening night is a film about the life of Charles Darwin. The festival includes the »

- Roger Ebert

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Tiff completes lineup!

21 August 2009 12:07 AM, PDT | SoundOnSight | See recent SoundOnSight news »

The Toronto International Film Festival announced its complete slate, adding 45 titles to the overall line up. The festival now has 271 films, including 100 world premieres, and has released a list of over 500 guests. Expected to show are George Clooney, Penelope Cruz, Demi Moore, Steven Soderbergh, Claire Denis. and Oprah Winfrey, among scores of others. Added to the list of films screening as a part of the Masters selection is Francois Ozon's Le Refuge, Michael Haneke's Palme d'Or winner The White Ribbon [1]; Lars von Trier's erotic horror pic Antichrist; [2] And Marco Bellocchio's fictionalized portrait of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, Vincere [3]. Here is a short list of films we here are interested in seeing. [Rec] 2 [4] - Jaume Balagueró | Paco Plaza Bitch Slap [5] - Rick Jacobson Daybreakers [6] - Michael Spierig | Peter Spierig George A. Romero's Survival of the Dead [7] - George A. Romero Jennifer's Body [8] - Karyn Kusama The Loved Ones »

- Ricky

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The 'Antichrist' Cometh

16 August 2009 2:10 AM, PDT | NYPost.com | See recent New York Post news »

The movie that scan dalized Cannes 2009 is headed here.

"Antichrist," by the great Dane Lars von Trier, is one of 29 films from 17 countries that will unspool in the main section of the New York Film Festival, which is returning to Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall (newly renovated) after an absence of several years.

"Antichrist" stars Charlotte Gainsbourg and Willem Dafoe as a grieving couple who retreat to a cabin in the woods.

The film features, in case you haven't heard, bloody masturbation, male and female castration, »

- By V.A. MUSETTO

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Almodovar's Broken Embraces To Close 09 Nyff

12 August 2009 6:46 AM, PDT | Filmmaker Magazine - Blog | See recent Filmmaker Magazine news »

The line up for the 47th New York Film Festival has been announced. The U.S. premiere of Alain Resnais's Wild Grass will open the fest and Pedro Almodóvar's Broken Embraces will close. Nyff will run Sept. 25 - Oct. 11. (Click here to watch our video coverage of last year's fest by Jamie Stuart.) Full line up is below. Opening Night Wild Grass / Les herbes folles Alain Resnais, France, 2009; 113m The venerable Alan Resnais creates an exquisite human comedy of manners, mystery and romance with some of France's - and our - favorite actors: Sabine Azéma, André Dussollier, Emmanuelle Devos and Mathieu Almaric. A Sony Pictures Classics release. Centerpiece Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire Lee Daniels, USA, 2009; 109m Precious is... »

- Jason Guerrasio

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Cannes Titles Pepper New York Film Festival

11 August 2009 3:03 PM, PDT | The Wrap | See recent The Wrap news »

Resnais' "Wild Grass," Almodovar's "Broken Embraces" bookend event.

By Wrap Staff

A smattering of films from international directors and Cannes veterans will screen at this year's 47th annual New York Film Festival, the Film Society of Lincoln Center said Tuesday. 

 

The festival will open Sept. 25 with the U.S. premiere of "Wild Grass," a film from Alain Resnais ("Hiroshima Mon Amour") which tells the story of a variety of characters brought together by a stolen purse. Almodovar's new film, "Broken Embraces," about a heartbroken screenwriter who is also blind, will close the event on Oct. 11.

 

Oth... »

- Amy Kaufman

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Nyff Will Screen Wild Grass, Broken Embraces, Antichrist

11 August 2009 12:18 PM, PDT | Thompson on Hollywood | See recent Thompson on Hollywood news »

Cannes critics’ fave Wild Grass, directed by Alain Resnais, will open the 2009 New York Film Festival on September 25, 2009. The fest closer will be another Cannes title, Pedro Almodovar’s Broken Embraces, on October 11. Lee Daniels’ Sundance hit Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire will be the fest’s centerpiece. Cannes titles also screening include Lars Von Trier’s controversial Antichrist, as well as Cornelieu Porumboiu’s more popular Police … »

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A Cannes Heavy Nyff Puts Resnais, Lee Daniels and Almodovar in the Spotlight

11 August 2009 | ioncinema | See recent ioncinema news »

- Film Society program director Richard Pena and critics Melissa Anderson, Scott Foundas, J. Hoberman and Dennis Lim have curated another edition that borrows heavily from the festival circuit. Freshly picked from Berlin, Cannes, Venice and Toronto slates, the 47th edition of the New York Film Festival will commence the festivities (Sept. 25-Oct. 11) with Alain Resnais' Wild Grass – the just acquired film from Sony Pictures Classics. Among the 29 titles announced, the “centerpiece” spot is given to Lee Daniels' Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire - he must be tripping from having of showing off the brutal drama at Sundance, Cannes, Tiff and now Nyff. The fest closes out with a familiar guest in Almodovar and Broken Embraces. A quick glance at the list, and if I were attending the festival, I'd focus on Maren Ade's Everyone Else (Kent Jones wrote an essay in this month's »

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2009 | 2008 | 2006 | 1998

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