Follow the Money   In the wake of the worldwide financial crisis, a particularly fascinating group of films has emerged that might help explain the mess we're in. In the Vancouver International Film Festival's Follow the Money series, various sectors of the economy (and aspects of human nature) are examined in illuminating, scarifying and perversely entertaining detail.   It's worth remembering that last year's VIFF took place in the midst of the very worst stret...

Film festivals come in various shapes, sizes, formats and orientations. The currently ongoing 22nd installment of the Santa Barbara Film Festival is a bit off-beat in certain aspects. Lasting eleven days and presenting some 200 films it is certainly not small -- more like "medium to large." In terms of importance, however, while it is not considered to be quite in the same class as the North-American majors, Sundance, Telluride, Chicago, New York, Toronto and Montreal, it can nevertheless ce...

There is nothing about this festival that is small from the giant projection halls in the Giant "CUBE" Building on the beachfront which houses the main events, to the big names that come and go every day. Hungarian director Istvan Szabo and his leading lady of "Being Julia", Annette Benning, took a side trip to Bilbao on Monday to see the new Guggenheim -- which is closed on Mondays -- but for these ultra special guests it was opened for a "private screening" of the collection. Yesterday it was ...