Recently in Rotterdam Category

Ok, so I have finally gotten around to switching from Buzznet (they are so '05) to Flickr and am in the process of posting pix, some with witty bon mots, even! So far, it starts at the indieWIRE anniversary party in late November 2006 up to Berlin, 2007. Keep checking back, as by the end of next week I hope to have a few years worth of pix loaded, most of which have never been in this blog before and many of which include you. Yes, you!

So come on by and check them out and comment, comment, comment!
Even better, join Flickr, put your own pix up and be my friend!

Thanks.

And now we get to two of the films that I'll have to put down as not exactly my favorites. As I've said before, I don't normally beat up on small films, but as the title of this piece might indicate, these two films need to be exposed for what they are. Claudio Assis's Bog of Beasts (Brazil) and Jilani Saadi's Tender is the Wolf have both, according to their filmmakers, been misunderstood. Well, I'm pretty sure that's complete bollocks. Not only that, but I can find no excuse for the 2007 IFFR VPRO Tiger Awards jury to have given an award (even one ex aequo) to Assis's film. From my second day in town, the words being used to describe this film included such "superlatives" as: loathsome, repugnant, vile, irredeemable and misogynist.

I cannot remember if I have ever seen a more contemptible or brutal film. This story of life in a small Brazilian village is so chock-a-block with despicable characters as to defy description. It's something like I'd imagine a town would be if it were almost completely populated with pederasts, rapists and incestuous (not to mention pedophilic) old men. This village is so far to the fucked zone of the moral compass, the drunks, pimps and whores are the among the more virtuous citizens. It's a village where the sons of the rich fit in the narrow range between being only morally bankrupt and being psychosexually sociopathic, all without any sort of consequence. This is a group led by a caricature of a man so insane, that gang-raping a prostitute isn't enough for him, he also need to sodomize her with what appears to be a 2 x 4.

Perhaps the most original and technically striking films I saw at Rotterdam was Douglas Gordon and Philippe Parreno's Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait. A truly original style of documentary, the filmmakers trained 17 cameras of various type on one man during a football (soccer) match between Spanish giants Real Madrid and their league opponents Villareal. That man was Zinédine Zidane, the French maestro of the midfield who is one of, if not the greatest players of his generation.

An integral part of the French triumph in the 1998 World Cup, 'Zizou,' as he is known, retired under somewhat ignominious circumstances following France's loss in the final match of the 2006 Cup but that hardly dulls what was an extraordinary career on the pitch and by isolating the man Zidane attempts to capture something of what it is to be Zidane. For the 80-odd minutes he is on the pitch (Zidane gets ejected for a red card foul before the end of the match), the film does exactly that.

So there it was, February 6th and I was taking my customary 3-day Amsterdam break between the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) and the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale). I've been pretty abstemious during this trip, as I might have mentioned. Drinking relatively little, early to bed and rise, no drugs, etc. However, with Amsterdam, well, when in Rome... So I was sitting in Barney's, somewhat...altered, having just finished an Irish breakfast (minus the black pudding, thanks) and sipping on a "cuppa tay." I hope I remember to proof this before I post.... (proofing it sober in Berlin....)
The Killing of John Lennon was heads and shoulders above nearly everything else at this year's IFFR and one can't help but wonder what the Berlinale was thinking when they used the fact that the film had played the Edinburgh fest as reason for turning it down... or so I've heard. Andrew Piddington's chronicle of the months leading up to and following Mark David Chapman's murder of John Lennon is an exceptional piece of work and I can't imagine that US and other distribs won't be clamoring to pick up this gem at the European Film Market in Berlin (screening times: Sunday, Feb. 11th at 5:30pm, CineStar 1 on HDCam and Tuesday, Feb. 13th at 9am in CinemaxX Studio 17 on Digi Beta. I might even see it again. It would also be nice to see this film get a slot at the New York Film Festival...hint hint! Ok, I am a retard and can't tell my August from my September. Yes, if it was going to play the NYFF, it would have played last year. Duh. I do believe it's eligible for ND/NF, if you're listening, FSLC!

So, here's a brief statistical rundown of my IFFR experience:

Days attended - 8
Films seen (all or part of) - 23 features and 4 shorts
Films seen in the video library: 10 features and 4 shorts
Walk Outs: 5 (78% completion)
Films I'd rate above a "C" grade: 16 (70%)
Films whose makers should be flogged for crimes against humanity: 4, of which only two seriously deserve to have "Bullshit!" called on them.

Not bad, really. Those of you who know my history will know that it's been many a year since I saw upwards of 20 films during a weeklong fest. Here's hoping for 30+ more at Berlin!

As of the end of my day on February 1st, I've seen all or part of 15 films in my 5 days of screenings which for those of you familiar with my past festival behavior must seem like I've been kidnapped by aliens. Not only that but, I've not bought or smoked any cannabinoids, have been up before 9am every day and was back at my hotel before midnight every day but one. But enough about me....cinema!

I started my fest off, oddly enough, with three films in a row whose titles begin with "Man." A Man to Remember (more on this recently discovered 1938 gem in a future post), A Man's Job and The Man Of No Return and rather than bore you with lengthy reviews of films that should best be avoided, I'll just say that A Man Of No Return should have stayed away. Normally I'd also ignore A Man's Job as a film to be, well, ignored but I feel compelled to comment on a particular element of this film.

As the industry party wound down earlier this week, three enterprising guests discovered a piano and proceded to bang out some blues. Go, man, go!

A couple cuts a rug to a mashup of Coldplay and some Latin dance tune at the Industry Party at Engels, a restaurant in Rotterdam.
It was a swell affair and I have to confess that I was only in Rotterdam for about 30 hours before I broke my promise and ended up staying out until 2am, even though I had to get up at 8 the next morning. It all worked out ok, though and I am only slightly worse for wear. Tonight, however, is an early one, I promise. No...really.

Filmmkaers Blue and Laura Kraning making the scene at the Doelen, the festival HQ. Blue is here with his doc Blasted!!! The Gonzo Patriots of Hunter S. Thompson while wife Laura is at the fest with her short doc American Parade. For some reason, Blue's 58-minute doc is in the "Short: As Long As It Takes" program, but in an entirely adorable move, the festival programmed Blue and Laura's films to screen together.

Hmmm...maybe I should start calling these pic posts "mPop....?"
Heh.

Since I Arrive in Rotterdam on Saturday for a week of films and filmmakers at one of the most hospitable festivals I travel to each year, I guess I ought to post a little bit about the program. The Rotterdam International Film Festival (IFFR) is one of the premiere festivals devoted to discovering new talent, especially from areas of the world that might not be thought of as traditional film powerhouses. In concert, CineMart (the IFFR's annual co-production market) and the Hubert Bals fund (an IFFR initiative that gives "financial support to film projects from developing or southern countries") are powerful forces in the development of truly international and independent cinema.

I urge those of you who usually skip over the IFFR by going from Sundance to Berlin to, at least once, leave the Wasatch wackos a few days early and make a trip to Rotterdam to check out the IFFR. For 12 days the fest hosts some 3,000 guests and screens 250 features and 425 shorts on 27 screens. I know I've said it before, but it bears repeating: I have been to some 80+ festivals (including repeats) around the world and nowhere have I found an audience as appreciative, enthusiastic and knowledgeable as in Rotterdam. "Obscure" and "experimental" are not the death sentence description for films that they are in many other festivals around the world.

The other day it was announced that Werner Herzog's excellent film Rescue Dawn would open the 2007 Rotterdam International Film Festival and today the fest's site mentions that the closing night film will be Christopher Nolan's well-received The Prestige. Despite being a massive David Bowie fan, I managed to miss The Prestige when it was open here in the US, so I am greatly looking forward to seeing it in Rotterdam!

Oh...the title of this post. Right. Both movies star Christian Bale.
Photo © Touchstone Pictures

Many industries have a part of their calendar year that is referred to as the "silly season." In European football it's when the transfer windows are open in the summer and during the month of January and in the marginally independent segment of the film biz in which I find myself, it's pretty much from January to March. In that space of time you have the Sundance, Rotterdam and Berlin film festivals, the Golden Globe Awards, the Oscar nominations and awards and the Spirit nominations and awards. Whew.

So my Rotterdam experience is over and tomorrow begins the Berlinale. For those who've read my indieWIRE article on the subject, you'll know it was somewhat of a mixed bag for me but there were definitely some gems to be found amongst the costume jewels and Michael Tully's Cocaine Angel is one such film. You see, I was nervous as hell going in to the screening since Tully and I are friends and the last thing one wants to do is lie to a friend about their film. Thank god I didn't have to.