Chihuahua City Int'l Film Festival - Parte Dos

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Parent Category: In the Spotlight

Category: General

Published on Tuesday, 10 August 2010 19:59

Written by Laura Blum

Chihuahua may be best known for naming the dog breed that immortalized "Yo quiero Taco Bell." But the northern Mexican state also hosts a film festival in its capital city – which, like the yappy canine is named Chihuahua -- and its second run takes place August 19 to 22, 2010.

Another common denominator between the four-day Chihuahua City International Film Festival and the four-legged being is that they both celebrate the short form. Gleaned from Mexico and around the world, short films are clustered in programming blocks that span documentary, animation and fiction.

Similarly, full-length features at Chihuahua are home spun and imported. The Opening Night slot goes to Without Memory/Sin Memoria, which sics an amnesiac on his own case: who he is, whom he loves and what he has done wrong. Martha Higareda, Guillermo Iván Dueñas, Rafael Amaya and Pedro Armendáriz Jr. co-star in this Mexican thriller directed by Sebastián Borensztein and co-written by Ben Odell.

This year the Festival pays homage to Mexican writer/director/animator Carlos Carrera. His latest film, On Childhood/De la Infancia, will be screened, giving audiences insight into the link between street violence and domestic abuse by way of a ghost story.

From Spain comes Daniel Monzón's action drama, Cell 211/Celda 211. The multi-angled telling of a prison riot won a raft of prizes, including Goya Awards for best director, best film and best actor (Luis Tosar).

As this year's "Invited Country," Spain will also be represented by Alberto Arce and Mohammad Rujailahk's documentary about the 2008-2009 Gaza War, To Shoot an Elephant.

Another Spanish entry is Los girasoles ciegos/Blind Sunflowers. José Luis Cuerda directed this black comedy slash sobering drama about the struggles of an anti-Franquista trying to live and love in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War. Based on the novel by Alberto Méndez and the screenplay by the late script powerhouse, Rafael Azcona, it features an impressive cast including Maribel Verdu and Javier Camara.

As part of the guest country spotlight, Spanish actors will figure among the talent leading an ambitious lineup of workshops. From Mexico, screen lights Demian Bichir, Ofelia Medina, Patricia Bernal and Teresa Ruíz will impart their wisdoms at some of these forums, which span such topics as pitching, the short film market and 3-D animation.

Mexican singer and actress Susana Zabaleta has been tapped as the celebrity face of the 2nd annual fiesta, which aims "to bring the film to all sectors of the population," per the official festival statement. Free outdoor screenings, talks and educational activities geared toward children and families are among the offerings scheduled to take place in and around main festival venue Teatro de la ciudad.

CCIFF is part of Chihuahua's recent efforts to nurture a local media community and culture that can enhance its prestige, tourist appeal and coffers. The birthplace of screen legend Anthony Quinn boasts filmmaking facilities from university programs and, if Festival president Sergio Ochoa has his way in the not-too-distant future, film studios.

Taken together with initiatives like the Festival, these are intended to shore up the city's historic attractions and burnish its reputation beyond industry, farming and transportation – while also giving the region and nation a leg up in filmed entertainment at a time when drug wars dominate the images and narratives of Mexico.  

For further details on the festival, visit http://www.cinechihuahua.com.mx 

Chihuahua City International Film Festival
Aug. 19 - 22, 2010

Montreal World Film Festival Still Duking It Out

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Parent Category: In the Spotlight

Category: General

Published on Tuesday, 10 August 2010 03:15

Written by Laura Blum

As if dramatizing the knockdowns of a Rocky, the Montreal World Film Festival has once again toughed out the slugs of its opponents, and will enter its 34th round in the Quebec metropolis August 26 to September 6, 2010.

MWFF has been in a struggle for its survival since its main Canadian funders resolved to do it in six years ago. Yet, run like a private company by its scrappy founder and president Serge Losique, Montreal's grand cinema fête will screen 430 titles from 80 countries this year, once again ranking it among North America's largest competitive showcase of auteur works from around the globe and securing its place in the ring for yet another sequel.

Coming scant days before the Toronto International Film Festival (September 9 to 19) MWFF invites inevitable comparisons. Hands down, the industry edge goes to Toronto, but for festival-goers seeking obscure picks from obscure places – and virtually no trace of Hollywood – Montreal is the place to be. Not that TIFF abstains from discoveries, but it thrives on the crème of the Berlin, Cannes and Venice crop. Toronto's more maverick sibling mixes off-piste finds with acclaimed submissions and lets them vie for the Grand Prix of the Americas, the top prize. Montreal's poutine school of programming gives it a welcome whiff of liberté, égalité and fraternité that keeps its ticket-buying cinephiles coming back.

This year the opening film is Route 132, Louis Bélanger's road movie about a grieving father and a shyster who set out to bilk naïve old timers of their savings. The Montreal filmmaker's Gaz Bar Blues kicked off the Festival in 2003 and his debut film, Post Mortem, participated in the Official Competition in 1999. The screening of Route 132 will mark its world premiere.

Bertrand Tavernier will close MWFF 2010 with his latest feature, The Princess of Montpensier/ La princess de Montpensier. Set in France during the 16th-century wars of religion between Catholics and Protestants, the film is about a young aristocratic beauty who is intended for a prince but passionately in love with another man. The Princess of Montpensier, which is based on a short story published in 1662, competed for the Palme d'Or at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival. It will screen in the out-of-competition World Greats section, which will also feature new efforts from Zhang Yimou, Carlos Saura,

Otar Iosseliani and other celebrated names. 

Gérard Depardieu will muse on his iconic career and the movie industry at Montreal's first ever masterclass, to be held on the last day of the Festival. The French actor, whose role in Cyrano de Bergerac earned him an Oscar nomination, has performed in more than 150 films for directors ranging from Jean-Luc Godard to Ridley Scott.  

The Festival will mount several tributes, including to French actress Nathalie Baye and Italian acting legend Stefania Sandrelli. Baye starred in films by Gaul's top directors, including Jean-Luc Godard, Maurice Pialat, Claude Chabrol, Bertrand Tavernier, François Truffaut and, more recently, Guillaume Canet (Tell No One) – plus such international names as Steven Spielberg and Robert Wise – and will be on hand to present a retrospective of her work.

Both Baye and Sandrelli will be honored with the Grand Prize of the Americas for their respective careers. Sandrelli will present Christine, Cristina, her debut effort as director. Best known to North American audiences as the teen seductress in Pietro Germi's Divorce Italian Style and follow-up hit, Seduced and Abandoned, Sandrelli also appeared in Bernardo Bertolucci's The Conformist, Novecento and Stealing Beauty, among numerous other films.

Danish director Bille August (Smila's Sense of Snow, Oscar-winner Pelle the Conqueror) will head the international jury.

WFF 2010 spans the following sections:

   * World Competition
   * First Films World Competition
   * Hors Concours (World Greats, out-of competition)
   * Focus on World Cinema (Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania)
   * Documentaries of the World
   * Tributes
   * Cinema Under the Stars
   * Canadian Student Film Festival

For more details about the 34th MWFF, consult www.ffm-montreal.org.

World Competition:

9:06, 2009 / Colour / 71 min, Dir. Igor Sterk, Slovenia - Germany.

ANDRÉS NO QUIERE DORMIR LA SIESTA, 2009 / Colour / 108 min, Dir. Daniel Bustamante, Argentina.

ATASHKAR, 2009 / Colour / 82 min, Dir. Mohsen Amiryoussefi, Iran.
Schedule :

Au pays des têtes, Dir. Cédric Louis, Claude Barras, Canada.

BLOODY CRUMBLE, Dir. Éric Périssé, France.

COEUR ANIMAL, 2009 / Colour / 90 min, Dir. Séverine Cornamusaz, Switzerland - France.

DIA DOKUTÂ, 2008 / Colour / 127 min, Dir. Miwa Nishikawa, Japan.

DIE STANDESBEAMTIN, 2009 / Colour / 90 min, Dir. Micha Lewinsky, Switzerland.

ENEN, 2009 / Colour / 100 min, Dir. Feliks Falk, Poland.

FAST VID DIG, , Dir. Carin Brack, Cecilia Actis, Mia Hulterstam, Sweden.

HOY NO SE FIA, MAÑANA SI, 2008 / Colour / 118 min, Dir. Francisco Avizanda, Spain - France.

JE SUIS HEUREUX QUE MA MÈRE SOIT VIVANTE, 2009 / Colour / 90 min, Dir. Claude Miller, Nathan Miller, France.

JESTEM TWOJ, 2009 / Colour / 109 min, Dir. Mariusz Grzegorzek, Poland.

KORKORO, 2009 / Colour / 107 min, Dir. Tony Gatlif, France.

L'Homme et la bête, , Dir. Martin Thibodeau, Canada.

L'HOMME QUI DORT, , Dir. Inès Sedan, Canada - France.

LA FISICA DELL'ACQUA, 2008 / Couleur / 76 min, Dir. Felice Farina, Italy.

LES MANCHES NOIRES, Dir. Willy Kempeneers, Belgium.

Matières à rêver, Dir. Florence Miailhe, France.

Morgen fruh, wenn Gott will, Dir. Maria-Anna Rimpfl, Germany.

Pigeon: Impossible, Dir. Lucas Martell, United States.

REDLAND, 2009 / Colour / 105 min, Dir. Asiel Norton, United States.

STRAYED, 2009 / Colour / 90 min, Dir. Akhan Satayev, Kazakhstan.

SVETI GEORGIJE UBIVA AZDAHU, 2009 / Colour / 120 min, Dir. Srdjan Dragojevic, Serbia - Bosnia - Bulgaria.

SURMENAGE, Dir. Alexandre Leblanc, Benoît Bourbonnais, Canada.

UN CARGO POUR L'AFRIQUE, 2009 / Colour / 90 min, Dir. Roger Cantin, Canada.

UN JUEGO ABSURDO, Dir. Gaston Rothschild, Argentina.

VANVITTIG FORELSKET, 2009 / Colour / 95 min, Dir. Morten Giese, Denmark.

VIYON NO TSUMA, 2009 / Colour / 114 min, Dir. Kichitaro Negishi, Japan.

VIVE LA ROSE, Dir. Bruce Alcock, Canada.

WAFFENSTILLSTAND, 2009 / Colour / 104 min, Dir. Lancelot von Naso, Germany.

WEAVING GIRL, 2008 / Colour / 100 min, Dir. Wang Quan'an, China.

Montreal World Film Festival

August 26 to September 6, 2010

The Imperial Theater

1430 de Bleury Street
Montreal, Quebec

Theatre Maisonneuve

260 de Maisonneuve Boulevard West

Montreal, Canada

(514) 848-3883
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