Film Festivals
The Cannes Film Festival opened, not with a bang, but with a quirky charm as director Wes Anderson's latest, Moonrise Kingdom, was presented to the usual crowd clad in black tie and evening gowns. All evening screenings in the Lumiere Theater of the festival Palais are formal affairs; unless you show up in the appropriate garb, you will be denied entrance, even with an invitation.
Anderson's latest film, whose cast includes some of his regulars (Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman) as well as some great talent new to his stable (Bruce Willis, Tilda Swinton, Frances McDormand), is a beautifully crafted work that lives just off the edge of what we might perceive to be reality.
The standouts here are Jared Gilman and Kara Haward, two young discoveries who play a pair of 12-year-old lovers. Well, not lovers in a 2012 sense, but their desire to be with each other, because each one of them understands the other, helps to define love in this scenario. As the pair take off together on a fictional island in a time long ago (well, 1965), Anderson creates a story of love, adventure and scouting (yes!) that plays with notions of family and loyalty.
Of course Cannes is about the films, but it's also about the parties. Opening NIght was no exception.
While small receptions take place all over town (this writer had champagne and munchies at the apartment/office of a french sales agent with a terrace that overlooked the red carpet at the Palais), the big events are the formal dinner for the filmmaker and guests (more on that dinner and the chefs who create the menu at a later date) and the opening night party.
This year the party was to take place in a castle in the old part of town, but for unexplained reasons it was moved to one of the many beach restaurants that line the croisette. Knowns and unknowns come to this shindig: talking her way into the party without a ticket is a young Swedish actress; enjoying the festivities with invitation is photographer Gregory Crewdson.
The rest of the party is peopled with industry types -- among them, Marcus Hu, head of American independent distributor Strand Releasing, Francine Brucher of Swiss Films (promoting Swiss films throughout the world) -- and the press, of course.
Catered by the Carlton Hotel, one of the major festival hotels, there was plenty of food and drinks flowed freely. A highlight of the cuisine (actually a highlight of the stemware) were the plastic champagne flutes that somehow were back-lit from the bottom of the glass. Many tried to figure it out. No one succeeded. But it made for lively conversation after everyone praised the film (and in this case, praise was all this writer heard).
And then to bed: this is Cannes, after all, and screenings start at 8:30am the next day, and will continue in that manner until the bitter end, in 11 days.
[Marian Masone is Director, Festivals/Associate Program Director at Film Society of Lincoln Center]
Opening Memorial Day Weekend May 25-28 2012, Mountainfilm in Telluride will host its 34th annual festival in Telluride, Colorado with approximately 70 films for screening along with various attendees ranging from scientists, artists, writers, adventurers and filmmakers. This year’s selection of films deals with the reality of humanity, the environment, culture and societal issues. From such documentaries like Alison Klayman’s Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry which illustrates the life of Artist Ai Weiwei and his strong determination to overcome cultural/political struggles in China, to the elaborately painted tsunami aftermath of the lives of Japanese people in The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom directed by Lucy Walker, the national flower, Sakura, depicted as a sign of hope, and Sara Terry's Fambul Tok, sending out a powerful message to the world about the results in Sierra Leone after the civil war; these films will move viewers, changing the way they perceive existence.
“With the symposium theme of population, we have several outstanding films that look at critical environmental, cultural and social issues that will blow people away,” said festival director David Holbrooke. “And then, sometimes there are films that don’t fit any particular genre, but they have a place at Mountainfilm because they’re outstanding and celebrate indomitable spirit.”
Holbrooke also stated, “And much of what you take away from a film is what you bring to it —your mood, energy and receptivity to new ideas — but I feel that all of these films in the list will resonate with audiences in a real and sustained way.”
A Taste of Mountainfilm’s 2012 Selections
- Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry: Artist Ai Weiwei is a major cultural and political force in China whose fearlessness shines through in this inspiring documentary by first-time filmmaker Alison Klayman.
- Bidder 70: Telluride filmmakers Beth and George Gage tell the unprecedented story of climate activist Tim DeChristopher, who has taken civil disobedience to a new level.
- Big in Bollywood: This rollicking fun, feel-good tale is about a Californian-born actor with little connection to his parents’ homeland of India until he’s asked to audition for a role in a Bollywood film, which turns out to be a hit and turns his life upside down.
- Chasing Ice: Photographer James Balog set up time-lapse cameras and focused these truth-tellers on glaciers around the world. The result is a ground-breaking — or glacier-breaking — film about climate change and a harbinger of an uncertain future.
- Darwin: This elegiac and haunting story about a small, remote Californian desert town weaves together the story of its boom/bust mining history, the mysterious nearby military base where secret weapons are tested, and the unforgettable residents who have chosen to live life on their own terms.
- Ethel: Rory Kennedy, the youngest daughter of Ethel and Robert F. Kennedy, made this touching and tender, yet surprisingly funny, film about her mother..
- Fambul Tok: This deep and powerful film tells the story of a way to forgiveness in Sierra Leone after a brutal civil war left the country riven.
- The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom: This stunningly beautiful film by Lucy Walker (director of Waste Land) movingly melds the seemingly disparate topics of the Japanese tsunami and the onset of the traditional Cherry Blossom season.
- Living Downstream: Sandra Steingraber is a quietly powerful voice who makes the link between our environment and our health by telling her own story and extrapolating it to the many unnatural toxins in our world.
- Winter's Wind: Skiing is life. That’s the motto for this allegorical — yet very real — ode to the ski bum.
In addition to film screenings, attendees will experience the joy of numerous live performances, social events, gallery reception, presentation, panel discussion, and special programs.
For more information on the good things to come and a detailed schedule, check out www.mountainfilm.org/festival.
About Mountainfilm in Telluride:
Established in 1979, Mountainfilm in Telluride is dedicated to educating and inspiring audiences about environments, cultures, issues and adventures. Working at the nexus of filmmaking and action, its flagship program is the legendary Mountainfilm Festival — a one-of-a-kind combination of films, conversations and inspiration. Mountainfilm also reaches audiences year round through its worldwide tour, on Outside Television, with its online Minds of Mountainfilm interviews and in classrooms through its educational outreach initiative, Making Movies that Matter. Mountainfilm has the power to change lives. To learn more, visit www.mountainfilm.org. To join the conversation, please visit the Mountainfilm in Telluride blog, follow us on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.
Mountainfilm in Telluride 34th Annual Festival
May 25-28 2012
Telluride, Colorado
With all the film festivals that populate the yearly calendar (you’ve read about most of them here), the Festival de Cannes is the most well known. Mention the word “Cannes” to anyone in the field, and they know you are not talking about the lovely seaside town on the Rivera.
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