THERE were many good lines in Chaplin's first "talking" movie, The Great Dictator. But the one that has stuck in my mind over the years comes from the final scene (or was it the penultimate scene) in which the barber is mistaken for Adenoid Hinkle and has to make a speech."We think too much, and we feel too little", says Charlot as he addresses the massed ranks of soldiers who have been rallied to hear a pro-Nazi anti-Jewish rant. (no problem here for the programmers of the Toronto film festival...
by Sandy Mandelberger, TIFF Dailies Editor
The Gala Presentations here at the Toronto International Film Festival are certainly meant to dazzle....and they are doing just that by bringing name actors and directors to the fold for Toronto's enthusiastic public. Expect to see the following helmers tomake their way down the red carpet over the course of the next few days to present their latest films: Alejandro Amenábar, Miguel Arteta, Sylvain Chomet, Rodrigo Ga...
The much-anticipated third edition of the Middle East International Film Festival today announced the sixteen selections to be screened out of competition in its World Cinema Showcase lineup. Peter Scarlet, the Festival’s Executive Director commented, “The lineup for World Cinema Showcase presents an impressive group of films, many of which have already earned recognition at other international film festivals around the world this past year.”MEIFF’s World Cinema Showcase offers a plethor...
THE MERRY WIDOW (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, US 1925)
is the opening night film at the 2009 Giornate de Cinema Muto 200,
The Music
When I first accompanied The Merry Widow years ago, I was totally struck by this highly creative and inventive film adaptation of the operetta, directed by the genius Erich von Stroheim. Immediately I realized that my “one” piano + singer accompaniment wasn’t at all enough to serve this brilliant film. I started a serious quest to develop a score for the...
THE MERRY WIDOW is the opening film ofthe 2006 Giornate de Cinema Muto.
Comments on The Music
When I first accompanied The Merry Widow years ago, I was totally struck by this highly creative and inventive film adaptation of the operetta, directed by the genius Erich von Stroheim. Immediately I realized that my “one” piano + singer accompaniment wasn’t at all enough to serve this brilliant film. I start
The most famous and very historically important monument in Pula, Croatia, the old Roman Amphitheater, today is the venue for summer performances, which can seat about 5,000 spectators and the underground passages, once used by the gladiators, nowadays hosts the Croatian National Film Festival. Popularly called Arena of Pula, which was once the site of gladiator bloodthirsty fights, 18th till 25th of July holds on the fight of the Croatian filmmakers. This starting and ending point of every sigh...
The most famous and very historically important monument in Pula, Croatia, the old Roman Amphitheater, today is the venue for summer performances, which can seat about 5,000 spectators and the underground passages, once used by the gladiators, nowadays hosts the Croatian National Film Festival. Popularly called Arena of Pula, which was once the site of gladiator bloodthirsty fights, 18th till 25th of July held on the fight of the Croatian filmmakers. This starting and ending point of every sight...
by Sandy Mandelberger, Online Dailies Editor
To the untrained ear, Wroclaw, Poland, the site of the ERA NEW HORIZONS International Film Festival, is generally mispronounced as "ro-claw". I've been learning to offer the correct pronunciation, which is more like "rotz-vav". The former German city known as Breslau has been on-again and off-again part of the Polish empire for centuries. It is now a major economic and cultural center for the modern state of Polan...
by Sandy Mandelberger, Festival Dailies Editor
As SILVERDOCS, the nation's most prominent documentary film festival, begins to hit its stride, it is worth mentioning that the documentary film has not had the charmed life at the box office as we saw earlier in the decade. While not every film can hope to reach the stratosphere of FAHRENHEIT 911 (which had a record-shattering $120 million international box office gross in 2004), the recent crop of documentaries coming to theaters ...
“Don Quixote rides again,” Gilliam said. “We’ve re-written the script and finally got the script back from the lawyers… and the plan is to begin shooting next springtime.”
Jeremy Thomas, whose 1986 epic, The Last Emperor, went on to win nine Accademy Awards, is attached to the project, Gilliam said.
Nesta Morgan has sketched Jeremy Thomas during the panel on distribution at the UK film Center Pavilion in the International Village."The secret of my success: A prod...
PRESS RELEASE
11th THESSALONIKI DOCUMENTARY FESTIVAL
Images of the 21st Century
March 13 – 22, 2009
The 11th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival - Images of the 21st Century, part of the Thessaloniki International Film Festival, presents approximately 170 films by directors from all over the world, as well as a full parallel events program, to be announced next Monday, March 9th.
OPENING FILM
The ...
Friday, March 6---------The celebrated documentary VALENTINO: THE LAST EMPEROR will kick off festivities at the 26th Miami International Film Festival, with a special screening this evening at the historic Gusman Center for the Performing Arts, the Spanish-style art deco movie palace in downtown Miami.
The film chronicles the life and career of Italian fashion designer Valentino Garavani as he wraps up his celebrated 50 year career as the guru of international fashion. The last...
Director: Ashutosh Gowariker.
SYNOPSIS
Jodhaa Akbar is the story of the greatest Mughal emperor that ruled
Hindustan, Jalaluddin Mohammad Akbar, and the fiery young Rajput princess, Jodhaa.
Set in the sixteenth century, the epic romance begins as a marriage of alliance between two cultures and religions, for political gain, with King Bharmal of Amer giving his daughter’s hand to Emperor Akbar. When Akbar accepts the marriage proposal, little does he know that in his efforts to strengthen his relations with the Rajputs, he would in turn be embarking on a new journey – the journey of true love.
From the battlefield where the young Jalaluddin was crowned, through the conquest that won him the title of Akbar the Great, to winning the love of the beautiful Jodhaa, Jodhaa Akbar traces the impressive graph of the mighty emperor and his romance with the defiant princess.
With Hrithik Roshan as Akbar and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan as Jodhaa, the film is produced by Ronie Screwvala and Ashutosh Gowariker.
Director: Chris Ranson.
As the caretaker of an indoor swimming pool its Edwards job to keep everything in order. Aged and lonely, Edward starts to struggle as his pool is vandalised and it seems not only is his job on the line but also his grip on reality and a past long forgotten.
