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With the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s highly anticipated 50th edition of their New York Film Festival coming soon, it’s admirable to see that they haven’t lost sight of smaller and more niche productions.
September 12 -13, 2012, the Film Society of Lincoln Center will be exhibiting Oscar Winning Irish Short Films at the Film Center Amphitheater (144 West 65th Street), featuring five different shorts from contemporary Irish directors.
The series is put on in conjunction with Irish Film New York (IFNY), and the small cross-section of films pulls off a refreshing amount of variety in subject matter and style. The Shore, directed by Terry George about two longtime friends in Northern Ireland trying to reaffirm their bonds in the face of a monumental cultural conflict.
The Door, directed by Janita Wilson, was shot on location in Chernobyl and follows a family that has, since 1986, have been trying to piece their lives back together. Based on the book The Chernobyl Prayer by Svetlana Alexievich.
Six Shooter, direct by Martin McDonagh (In Bruges), prevails an air of intensity as a man that has just lost his wife meets a dangerous stranger on a train.
Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty, directed by Nicky Phelan, is an off-beat and comedic animated film as a surly grandmother gives her own twist on the classic fairytale.
Oscar Winning Irish Short Films presents a unique look at an oft-overlooked world of film-makers and shows that there is much more to Irish cinema than Once.
To learn more, go to: http://www.filmlinc.com
Oscar Winning Irish Short Films
September 12 -13, 2012
Film Center Amphitheater
144 West 65th Street
New York, NY 10023
For even the most eager festival-goer, swarms of characters caught up in plots can cause vertigo. As if to shore up public immunity, the Film Society of Lincoln Center is prescribing A Tribute to FIFA: The International Festival of Films on Art (September 19 to 23, 2012) prior to the 50th New York Film Festival (September 28 - October 14).
Detox yourself in four days with real stories about artistic creativity.
The Rx comes from Canada. Since 1981, Montreal has been home to FIFA's annual booster of cinema about art forms as mingled as painting, sculpture, architecture, digital art, design, fashion and photography. Beyond the visual arts, the program additionally favors films exploring theater, dance and music, among other performing arts. Literature too bobs up among the predominantly documentary fare. Comparing the language of film to that of another expressive medium doesn't get much more literal than this.
These days to have a film festival, you need an angle. Press (Tribeca), Prestige (Cannes), general wackiness (Alamo Drafthouse). The Toronto International Film Fest (September 6 – 16, 2012) at the TIFF Bell Lightbox Theater (350 King Street West Toronto, ON M5V 3X5, Canada) and various other venues, emphasizes something for everyone. TIFF has more than 300 films from over 60 countries every September.
The scope of this festival is really staggering. Forgeign dramas, animation, family films, horror, genre films, and more fill out TIFF. Trying to find a common element in all these films, other than enthusiastic innovation, is difficult. Films are grouped into categories like Short Cuts Canada, TIFF Kids, TIFF Docs, Masters, Gala Presentations, Vanguard, and Contemporary World Cinema.
Eagerly anticipated is Nick Cassevetes’ (The Notebook) bizarre incest/road-trip movie, Yellow in which a young substitute teacher escapes from her drudging everyday life by fantasizing bizarre parallel realities. Other TIFF films include:
For years Canada has been building up a reputation as a sort of haven for cinema. The TIFF represents that ideal with a focus on bringing new and interesting forms of cinema from as many walks of life, styles, and directors as possible.
To learn more, go to: http://tiff.net
Toronto International Film Festival
September 6 – 16, 2012
TIFF Bell Lightbox Theater
350 King Street West T
oronto, ON M5V 3X5, Canada
The Alamo Drafthouse (1120 South Lamar Boulevard, Austin TX) is a veritable fortress of cinema decked out in art-deco regalia. Known for attracting both Austin’s eclectic artistic elite and filmmakers the world over, it is also home to Fantastic Fest (September 20 – 27, 2012), America’s largest festival for genre films.
Founded in 2005, making it practically an infant compared to other festivals, it has quickly grown in recognition and has become a hotbed for cult, Asian, horror, and sci-fi/fantasy films like a US counterpart to Canada's Fantasia.