Category Archives: Film Festivals

Latinbeat, the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s annual Latin American cinema showcase, begins this Friday, July 12 and runs through Sunday, July 21. For its 14th edition, taking place a month earlier than its typical August berth, the series presents 18 films – hailing from all over the region, from Argentina to Uruguay, Chile to Brazil – of which four are documentaries:

From Colombia, Priscilla Padilla’s THE ETERNAL NIGHT OF TWELVE MOONS (LA ETERNA NOCHE DE LAS DOCE LUNAS) (pictured above) explores an indigenous tradition that keeps young women isolated for a year upon the onset of menstruation; from Guatemala/Mexico, Mercedes Moncada’s MAGICAL WORDS (BREAKING A SPELL) (PALABRAS MÁGICAS (PARA ROMPER UN ENCANTAMIENTO)), a personal reflection of growing up in Nicaragua during the Sandinista revolution; from Mexico, Emiliano Altuna, Diego Enrique Osorno, and Carlos Rossini’s THE MAYOR (EL ALCALDE), a portrait of a controversial millionaire turned politician who resorts to extreme measures to keep his community safe from the narcotrafficking violence plaguing other parts of the country; and from Argentina/France, Daniele Incalcaterra and Fausta Quattrini’s IMPENETRABLE (EL IMPENETRABLE), following the filmmaker and his brother as they try to explore inherited land in Paraguay, only to be frustrated by unwelcoming neighbors.

Southern California’s largest LGBT film event, Outfest, kicks off its 31st edition this Thursday, July 11. Over eleven nights, the festival will present nearly 60 features, close to 100 shorts, as well as panels and other special events, for an estimated audience of 55,000. Included among the lineup are more then 20 feature documentaries from which I’ll offer highlights below:

Like last year, nonfiction takes two of Outfest’s coveted Gala slots: Roger Ross Williams’ Sundance alum GOD LOVES UGANDA screens as the Documentary Centerpiece, while Pratibha Parmar’s ALICE WALKER: BEAUTY IN TRUTH (pictured) takes the Fusion Centerpiece position.

The bulk of the fest’s docs screen in the main program, which includes: Lily Keber’s BAYOU MAHARAJAH: THE TRAGIC GENIUS OF JAMES BOOKER (pictured), a portrait of the unheralded African American gay jazz pianist; Liam Sullivan’s IAN HARVIE SUPERHERO, the trans standup comedian’s concert film; Timothy Wheeler’s THE OTHER SHORE, following lesbian long-distance swimmer Diana Nyad’s attempts to finally swim from Cuba to Key West after a disappointing failed attempt three decades prior; Lisa Biagiotti’s DEEPSOUTH, exploring the inadequacies of HIV/AIDS healthcare in the American South; Fan Popo’s MAMA RAINBOW, a profile of mothers of LGBT kids in China; and Linda Bloodworth-Thomason’s Tribeca winner BRIDEGROOM, about tragedy befalling a young gay couple.

Finally, Platinum, the experimental and cutting edge section, includes two docs: Travis Mathews and James Franco’s Sundance hybrid, INTERIOR. LEATHER BAR., inspired by CRUISING; and Charles Atlas’ TURNING (pictured), a concert film on Antony and the Johnsons’ 2006 European tour.

Running tomorrow, July 4 through Saturday, July 13, the Jerusalem Film Festival celebrates its 30th anniversary. Long established as one of the region’s key film events, the festival annually showcases a broad range of both international and new Israeli productions. More than 40 documentary features and hybrids are included in this year’s lineup, appearing in a standalone competition as well as in various other sections of the festival. The following spotlights a few select titles:

Among the ten local titles vying for the main documentary awards are: Ilan Moskovich and Dan Bronfeld’s APOLLONIAN STORY, about a father and son, and the elaborate cave in which they live; Nurit Kedar and Yaron Shani’s LIFE SENTENCES, on the different paths taken by the children of a Jewish woman and an Arab father discovered to be a terrorist; Nissim Mossek’s WILD WEST HEBRON, which finds the tables turned on a German convert to Judaism turned militant settler; Itamar Alcalay’s FOUR YEARS OF NIGHT (pictured), following a photographer as he revisits the French neo-Nazi gang he documented thirty years ago; and Shosh Shlam and Hilla Medalia’s ELECTRONIC HEROIN, an up-close look at the treatment for China’s Internet “addicts.”

Other Israeli titles screening include: Irit Gal’s THE FADING VALLEY, an exposé of the embattled Palestinian farmers in the Jordan Valley; Nurith Aviv’s ANNONCES, in which women offer their own interpretations of holy scripture; and Helen Yanovsky’s JERUSALEM BOXING CLUB (pictured), presented as a work-in-progress, about a bomb shelter turned gym that unites and inspires youth. Finally, from outside Israel in the fest’s Jewish Experience strand is Diana Groo’s REGINA, recounting the life of the first modern female rabbi, who perished at Auschwitz in 1944.

The 24th edition of the International Film Festival-Marseille, commonly known as FID Marseille, begins this Tuesday, July 2 and runs through Monday, July 8. Historically, the event was an exclusively non-fiction festival, but that changed about five years ago when the organizers began to screen fiction work as well, part of a shift in philosophy that aims to break down the differences between the two, champion all film as cinema, and embrace the idea that both forms are equally constructed by filmmakers. This, combined with the festival’s often labyrinthine program notes, sometimes makes it hard to determine what is and is not what most would consider a traditional documentary – clearly part of the festival’s overall point. That said, the following spotlights the new non-fiction (and potentially a few hybrids) that sound most intriguing to me.

The International and French Competitions include several world premieres, including: Travis Wilkerson’s LOS ANGELES RED SQUAD: THE COMMUNIST SITUATION IN CALIFORNIA, an exploration of the LAPD’s hunt for communists in the early part of the 20th century; Dora Garcia’s THE JOYCEAN SOCIETY (pictured), about a group of James Joyce amateur scholars; José Luis Torres Leiva’s TO SEE AND TO HEAR, following blind and deaf people as they teach one another how to communicate; and Pierre Creton’s SUR LA VOIE, an observational road movie following two men on separate, but intersecting, paths. Among doc competition entries having their international premieres are Gerardo Naumann and Nele Wohlatz’s RICARDO BÄR, a portrait of an Argentinian village constructed as a film within a film; and João Vladimiro’s LACRAU, an experimental, observational movement away from the city.

Outside of its competitions, FID Marseille’s Parallel Screens offers five sections – this year very loosely inspired by Pasolini’s oeuvre, which is presented in a large retrospective here. Among the newer work are: Pilar Arcila’s COSTEL’S PENDULUM, a portrait of Europe through the experiences of a Romanian Roma and his family; Gereon Wetzel’s CASA PARA TODOS, a meditation on what’s been wrought from Spain’s disastrous real estate speculation; Graeme Thomson and Silvia Maglioni’s IN SEARCH OF UIQ (pictured), an essay on Félix Guattari’s unfilmed sci-fi project; and Salomé Lamas’ NO MAN’S LAND, a character study of a Portuguese mercenary.

The festival also holds a number of Special Screenings, including partnerships with various organizations and associations. Among these is a series of selections in collaboration with DocAlliance: André Gil Mata’s CAPTIVE, exploring the relationship between a woman and the home she occupied for all of her 91 years; Axel Salvatori-Sinz’s THE SHEBABS OF THE YARMOUK, about the close-knit friends who grew up in a Syrian Palestinian refugee camp; and Klára Tasovská and Lukás Kokes’ FORTRESS (pictured), on the unrecognized sovereign state of Transnistria.

Nearing in on its half-century, Karlovy Vary, set in a beautiful Bohemian spa town in the Czech Republic, launches its 48th edition festival this Friday. The event is among the highest ranked competitive festivals by FIAPF, the International Federation of Film Producers Associations – colloquially referred to as an “A”-list festival – in the ranks of Cannes, Berlin, Venice, and Locarno, among other European powerhouses. Its geographic location allows it to serve as a bridge between Western and Eastern Europe cinema, while its position on the calendar allows it to launch new films outside of the shadow of Cannes and before the busy late Summer/early Fall festivals. Its setting and the weather also serve as a great excuse for a party, as thousands of university students annually backpack to the event to watch some films and drink until the wee hours of the night. With upwards of 180 features in the lineup, it’s easy to see how the event takes over the town, drawing not only students, but a large industry presence as well. While I won’t be attending, the following highlights some of the nearly 40 nonfiction or hybrids that will be screening this year: Continue reading →