A Chilean Author, A World-Renowned
Artist
A Conversation about Writing and Politics, History and Memory
She was introduced on May 17 at the Broad Stage as the most widely read author in the Spanish language today, with her works translated into 30 languages and selling over 57 million copies, but her short story of less than ten pages, “Una Venganza” (“An Act of Vengeance”), was the source of the opera , Dulce Rosa more...
Brazil’s Pioneer of Cinema Novo Stepping in Tune with Tom Jobim
UCLA film and Television Archive's “Cinema According to Nelson Pereira dos Santos”
hosts Brazil’s quintessential filmmaker for
post-screening discussions April 20-21 about Rio, 100 Degrees and Music According to Tom Jobim. No country has experienced
filmmaking quite like that of Cinema Novo more...
Chinese Americans in China It’s Funnier than It Seems
I was fortunate to attend Daniel Hsia’s uniquely beguiling new film at its Hollywood premiere at the TCL Chinese 6 Theaters in Hollywood with members of the cast and crew present. Last week I was also lucky to catch a sneak preview of Shanghai Calling at USC, where the film’s prolific producer, Janet Yang, discussed more...
Bence Fliegauf Takes Us to Hungary’s Romanies And His Film Is Submitted for an Oscar
Just the Wind Opens the Hungarian Film Festival of Los Angeles
Working internationally in cinema and television and wearing many hats, from screenwriting and directing to set design and sound engineering, Bence Fliegauf returned to his native Hungary to make Just the Wind, his fifth feature film, which contributes to his rising reputation as one of the most respected and prolific of his more...
From the Spotlight to the Viewfinder From Ibsen to Alakosi
A Swedish Grande Dame at the SFFLA: Pernilla August and Beyond
Button up your overcoats — there’s a strong north wind whipping throughthe southland, a female voice that can ride as well on a whisper, that lets you see your own breath in the air when warmth and tenderness take over the chill. On January 7th at 8 pm the Scandinavian Film Festival L.A. follows its gala buffet with Beyond more...
Making an Award-Winning Film? It’s Like Riding a Bicycle, If You’re the Dardennes
Along for the Ride: The Dardennes Discuss The Kid with a Bike
Belgian brothers Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne
have been lauded worldwide as auteurs for their realistic dramas of everyday,
contemporary life since the mid-90s when they launched their production
company, Les Films du Fleuve (having already produced some sixty documentaries
with their earlier company, Dérives) more...
The Epic Battle of Chile And Forty Years of Documentaries
Patricio Guzmán: The Watchful Eye The
Chilean Filmmaker in Dialogue at UCLA's Retrospective
“Patricio Guzmán: The Watchful Eye,” from April
15 to May 11 at the Billy Wilder Theater, is a stunning retrospective by the
UCLA Film and Television Archive showcasing nine films by Chile’s renowned
documentarist, Patricio Guzmán, from his first internationally lauded work, The
Battle of Chile more...
The French Icon Is More Winning than Ever
A Six-Film Retrospective Salutes HerCatherine Deneuve, No Potiche, Reigning Supreme in Ozon’s Latest Opus
Amidst a mini-retrospective, “Beautiful Dreamer: The Early Films of Catherine Deneuve,” running from March 4-12 at the Bing Theater, the world-renowned actress paid a precious visit to avid fans at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art on March 8, 2011, following a preview of her latest, Potiche by François Ozon more...
When Money and the Mind Fail Us A Comedy of Woe from Iceland
Mamma Gógó Looks Back: The Ghostly Tales of Fridrik Thór Fridriksson
His towering presence and husky voice are at odds with his quiet reserve and soft countenance. Shaking his hand, you feel he is at one remove from the world — or altogether too in-touch with it. Seemingly part Marlborough Man and part country preacher, he is an erudite, globe-trotting, go-getter from Reykjavik more...
A Francophile Gets Out into the World An International Terrorist Falls under Scrutiny
The sprawling lawn of the Résidence de France in Beverly Hills evoked the green gardens of Summer Hours, Olivier Assayas’ last film (2008). Like the genteel characters in that crisply lyrical update of Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard in the Parisian countryside, Assayas struck a fine profile. His salt-and-pepper hair and more...
Fathers and Sons in
Humans in Harmony with
Nature
In his uniquely intimate Alamar, Pedro González-Rubio approaches the lyrical narrative as no other filmmaker does. This is a bold statement considering that comparisons abound: the first decade of this century sparkles with films from Mongolia to Argentina, from Kazakhstan to Colombia — just to hint at the many gems of more...
Andrew Hall Fills the Screen
For the film aficionado forever seeking kino caviar, a key venue becomes vitally important, since in more ways than one, it is likely to become a second home — or from time to time, even a first home, the same seats taken up by the same familiar faces, each there to feast on a reliable plat du jour. So even more at the heart of more...
Acting on the Stage or Acting on the Screen?
Andi Vasluianu on The Other Irene: Inside the Curl of Romania’s Next Wave
At the South East European Film Festival Los Angeles (SEEFEST), April 29-May 3, 2010, held at the Goethe-Institut Los Angeles and UCLA’s James Bridges Theater, I discovered The Other Irene, a spellbinding new Romanian film directed by Andrei Gruzsniczki. The lead actor, Andi Vasluianu, was on hand to receive more...
War and Immigration in Everyday Life Two Generations of Women’s Filmmaking in Iran
Social Issues through Women’s Eyes in Iranian Cinema Arefpour and Bani-Etemad Talk about Heiran and Gilaneh
Shalizeh Arefpour’s sumptuous and sobering debut feature, Heiran, headed off the “20th Annual Celebration of Iranian Cinema” (February 5-20, 2010, screening eight features and four shorts) by the UCLA Film & Television Archive, which continually offers one of the oldest Iranian film festivals in the United States. Iran's more...
South Korea’s Independent Cinema Jeon Soo-il Discusses the Time and Space Between
Himalaya and With a Girl of Black Soil: Jeon Soo-il and the Rhythms of Life
On January 15, 16, 17, and 24, the UCLA Film & Television Archive screens a six-film retrospective of the work of the internationally esteemed Jeon Soo-il, a series presented by the Ciné-Asie Film Institute of Montreal that travels to three Canadian cities and three American cities through April, 2010. In the last thirteen more...
When All of Us Are Files for Someone Else Romania's Post-Policier
Internationally lauded for his highly original 12:08 Bucharest (2006), a droll look at the quizzical moment of the Romanian Revolution as everyday citizens might have taken stock of it, Corneliu Porumboiu began writing and visualizing Police, Adjective by observing his local environment, this time by listening to the daily work more...
A Portrait of Forgiveness from Finland An Auteur Wins the Fest’s Main Award
Klaus Härö Graces Mannheim-Heidelberg Fest with Letters to Father Jacob
The 58th International Film Festival Mannheim-Heidelberg, where the “art of cinema” is upheld above all celebrity, box office, and entertainment values, screened 32 new films this season: 17 in the International Competition section, 8 in the International Discoveries program, and 7 in the Festival Highlights segment more...
When Less Is More The Right Programmer Does Wonders for a Festival
The journalist who wrote this in 1868 was stunned by Claude Monet as an intrepid observer of nature more...
The Danish Resistance at
Eye-Level
A Look at the Bigger Picture
Ole’s Reason -- A Love Story:
Documentary Prize-Winners Hail from
A silence but for the chirping of
birds gives way to the voices of small children as a hand-held camera enters
their school in the state of Jalisco, Mexico.
As they draw pictures of men, their teacher asks how many of their dads
have crossed over to the North. Seven
out of seventeen raise their hands. Why do they go? “To work more...
Mastering the Game in Queen
to Play
Caroline Bottaro’s Directorial Debut
When
Two Heads Are Better than One:
Five-and-a-half years ago, when Caroline Bottaro’s
next-door neighbor dropped in to share a book she’d just finished creating and
ask for a critique, could Bottaro, the screenwriting partner of Jean-Pierre
Améris, possibly have known that she herself would turn this first novel into such an
inspiring feat for her own first feature more...
Musical Chairs with a
French Twist
Emmanuel Mouret Minds His Manners in Shall We Kiss?
With good reason, the word “finesse” comes from the French: for one thing, the Gauls are famous for finagling ways to follow their desires and manage the damage at the same time. Strategy is needed, but manner is key. And anyone familiar with The Art of Courtly Love knows that manners must grapple with morals. From more...
