The festival will kick off for me with a film I didn't really intend to see but because of aforementioned ticketing disaster, I had to go with an alternate. It's a documentary entitled Beautiful Darling and is focused on one of Andy Warhol's "superstars", Candy Darling. My final year Visual Arts body of work is an appropriation of Warhol's works so this is my obligatory teach-me-something-so-I-can-tell-people-it's-research festival pick.
Next, I'm going to see Julie Bertucelli's drama The Tree which I know close to nothing about other than the fact that it's premiering at the closing night of Cannes. Premiering at the closing, wow that's contradictory. The other thing I know is that Charlotte Gainsbourg of Antichrist "fame" stars in the film. I use the word fame loosely. I'm excited to see her in a proper film as she is such a terrific actress.
On the same night (I'm going to have to dash from one cinema to the next) I'm finally going to see one of my most anticipated film of this year. I've been obssessing about this movie for so long, I've even dedicated my twitter background to it (as well as my desktop wallpaper). It is of course the much loved Australian horror film, The Loved Ones.
I'm going to see two more documentaries, both I know very little about but their subject matter interests me. First is the doco called Bill Cunningham New York. It is about..well...Bill Cunnigham in New York. Cunningham, a New York Times journalist, is considered to be one of the most influential and hardworking fashion photographers in the industry and we get an inside peek into his world. The other doco is Last Train Home and judging from the trailer, it should turn out to be one of the most beautifully captured docos of the festival, mimicking that deliciously cinematic style akin to other docos like Up The Yangtze and The Cove.
From now on, it's all dramas, starting with Sundance-opener, Howl. Followed by a Filipino film directed by Brilliante Mendoza, who snagged the Best Director prize from Cannes last year with his new film, Lola.
Then it's Police, Adjective. Again, I know nothing about this film but it got favourable reviews so I booked it. Then finally, I finish with two films from Sundance - Winter's Bone and Hesher. The former I'm excited about because it won the prize in Sundance and the latter I'm excited about because Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars in it.
So there you go, hopefully I'll be able to catch some other films during the festival if I have time (or money) and just dive in with a film I've never even heard of, to make it exciting and hopefully find my own little festival gem.
Ooh, if would definitely add The Loved Ones, Winter's Bone and Hesher to my list. My only film festival this year, like for the last two years, will be the Cornwall Film Festival in November. I was planning on going to the Edinburgh Film Festival next month but the train fayre alone is a good couple of hundred quid. Might do the London one next year though
ReplyDeleteShalom, my sibling cinéastes in Sydney,
ReplyDeleteI've done my due diligence perusing the program and put down for 17 screenings. The prospect of another of Guy Maddin's retro-atmosphero-weirdo productions means DRACULA, PAGES FROM A VIRGINS DIARY was my first booking.
If you are going to the festival you might like to meet and chat with my film discussion group who are planning some excursions.
The first is to CAIRO TIME on Saturday June 5.
Learn more on the club's blog, including rendezvous detail as decided.
See http://moviebookchats.posterous.com/savor-superior-cinema-at-sff