Murió Paul Newman

Link

Oscar Martínez, mejor actor en San Sebastián

(EFE) La película turca "Pandora's box", de la directora Yesim Ustaoglu, obtuvo hoy la Concha de Oro del 56§ Festival de Cine San Sebastián.

El presidente del jurado, el director Jonathan Demme, encargado de dar a conocer el palmarés, informó, por otra parte, de que el británico Michael Winterbottom ha obtenido el premio al mejor director por "Genova".

La Concha de Plata a la mejor interpretación femenina ha recaído ex-aequo en la estadounidense Melissa Leo, protagonista de "Frozen river" de la debutante Courtney Hunt, y en la veterana actriz francesa Tsilla Chelton, vista en "Pandora's box".

En la categoría masculina, este premio ha ido a parar Oscar Martínez por la producción hispano-argentina de Daniel Burman "El nido vacío".

El cine español sólo queda representado por la coproducción dirigida por Burman, ganadora en las categorías de mejor actor y fotografía.

Los filmes españoles "Camino", "Tiro en la cabeza" y "El patio de mi cárcel" no han logrado ningún premio en el palmarés de la Sección Oficial.

El premio "Horizontes" a la mejor película de la sección latinoamericana ha sido para la película guatemalteca "Gasolina", ópera prima de Julio Hernández Cordón.

Las mexicanas "Parque Vía", de Enrique Rivero, e "Intimidades de Shakespeare y Víctor Hugo", de Yulene Olaizola, obtuvieron una mención especial, por unanimidad, según la presidenta del jurado de la sección "Horizontes Latinos", la actriz cubana Mirtha Ibarra.

Blackbird Harmony - Hardwood Exits (2008)

Link

Hardwood Exits is the masterful follow-up to 2004's self-released Angels With Outstretched Hands. Backed by Dallas, Texas country outfit 1100 Springs and folk chantuese Mara Lee Miller (of Denton's Bosque Brown) Evan Birdsong has crafted a album of sublime and haunting Texas Noir-Folk.

-Morgan King
Yer Bird Records

Hora de premios en San Sebastián

A juzgar por lo que leo en los diversos medios que vienen cubriendo el Festival de San Sebastián, las películas con mayores chances de llevarse premios son las del japonés Hirokazu Kore-eda, la del francés Christophe Honoré, dos de las españolas (la de Jaime Rosales y la de Javier Fesser), la norteamericana "Frozen River" y, acaso --nunca hay que descontarla a la hora de premios en festivales-- la iraní Samira Makhmalbaf.

Casi nadie menciona a "El nido vacío", salvo los que consideran que puede ganar Oscar Martínez como mejor actor. Sí mencionaba ayer "Variety" que la película está a punto de ser vendida a los Estados Unidos, "un acuerdo al que se llegaría en diez días", aseguran. El filme de Daniel Burman quedó segunda en la votación al Goya y tercera en la del Oscar que se hizo el jueves en la Argentina.

Sam Phillips - Live At The Rams Head (Annapolis, Md.)

Link

Of all of Sam Phillips' roles as a musician, her latest incarnation is the most alluring. Her jangly, mostly acoustic songs rattle and shake with graceful, noirish tales of broken lives. Phillips is currently on tour in support of her latest CD, "Don't Do Anything". She showcased the album in a full concert, recorded live at the Rams Head in Annapolis, Md. This concert recording is followed by an interview with the band and "All Songs Considered" host Bob Boilen.

"Petróleo crudo", de Wang Bing, en el docBsAs

La Ciudad de Buenos Aires será el escenario de la octava edición del docBsAs donde se verán y discutirán las mejores producciones internacionales de cine documental de creación, con la presencia de destacados especialistas de todo el mundo.

El DocBsAs/08 contará, dentro de su importante muestra documental, con el estreno absoluto en América Latina del film Petróleo Crudo, del notable realizador chino Wang Bing, de quien el docBsAs ha exhibido en anteriores ediciones sus films Tie Xie Qu: al oeste de las vías (2003) y He Feming: una mujer china (2007).

Este nuevo trabajo de Wang Bing será presentado de una manera atípica, debido a su extensa duración. Las catorce horas que constituyen el documental se proyectarán de manera ininterrumpida en una sala montada especialmente para el film en el Hall Central del Teatro San Martín (Avda.Corrientes 1530). El artista plástico Daniel Santoro concibió el diseño de este espacio de exhibición a la manera de una instalación artístico-visual.

Rodado a gran altura en el Desierto de Gobi, en el noroeste de China, Petróleo crudo presenta la industria de la extracción de petróleo en febril movimiento, con sus cientos de trabajadores realizando tareas agotadoras a lo largo de una extensa jornada laboral. La cámara del documentalista Wang Bing sigue a estos operarios a las cantinas y dormitorios, donde los hombres juegan a las cartas y hablan de mujeres. El clima del desierto es duro, pero el trabajo debe realizarse: la economía china tiene una insaciable necesidad de petróleo.

La razón más importante para no exhibir este film en una sala de cine convencional es su duración. En forma de instalación, el film se exhibe en continuado durante catorce horas, permitiéndole al espectador abandonar la proyección en cualquier momento y volver a encontrarse con ella unas horas más tarde. El tiempo cinematográfico corre entonces paralelo al tiempo real de observación, permitiendo la posibilidad de seguir un día completo de trabajo desde la mañana hasta la noche.


Petróleo crudo
Cai you ri ji/Crude Oil
CHINA, 2008, 840’
DIRECCIÓN Wang Bing

Tres más al Oscar

La competencia a mejor película extranjera al Oscar va tomando forma. Aquí, tres agregados más a la lista, dos de los cuales compitieron en el Festival de Cannes.

-"Waltz with Bashir" (Ari Folman, Israel)
-"Three Monkeys" (Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Turquía)
-"Los girasoles ciegos" (José Luis Cuerda, España)

Western Fifth - Stand Like A Thief (2008)

Link

Western Fifth is a band from the Minneapolis area with a sound that is hard to describe. There are roots elements at play in the music but the band does have a good rock vibe, as lonesome as it may be. I found them to be somewhat comparable to Band Of Horses only a little more straightforward without all of the fancy effects.

You might even liken some of Western Fifth’s songs to that of Wilco’s more recent output. “Wait Until Dark (A Good Time To Shine)” would be a good example of this sound. On “Smiles Of Gold” I love the way that Ryan Holweger’s vocals sound so aching. That is one of the best selling points of Western Fifth, the vocals. They aren’t perfect but that’s what makes them special. I love the way that the band allows all the instruments to stand out in the mix as well. There doesn’t seem to be anything with more priority.

Other pros with Stand Like A Thief is that the album actually has enough diversity even with Ryan’s rough vocals to make the whole thing enjoyable. The slight swing style of “Madeline” is probably the best example of where this band’s potential lies.

For an indie project, this package is professional as well. It comes in a greatly designed digipak. It shows that the band is serious about this album. Stand Like A Thief is one of the best unhyped albums this year.

"El cine español está a la altura del de Corea del Norte"

Entrevista a Albert Serra en San Sebastián

The Last Days of David Foster Wallace

Publicado en Salon.com
The people who knew the brilliant writer best talk about the crippling anxiety and spiraling depression of his torturous final weeks.

By Robert Ito

Sep. 26, 2008 | Following David Foster Wallace's suicide on Sept. 12, stunned fans, colleagues and friends paid tribute to the writer in countless articles and blog posts. They wrote of his imagination and breadth of knowledge, of the ways in which his books and essays inspired a generation of writers and forever altered the literary landscape. They used words like "virtuoso" and "genius." Many, like Jocelyn Zuckerman, the Gourmet editor who went to bat for Wallace's infamous and groundbreaking essay "Consider the Lobster," a masterwork that morphed from a scene piece about a festival in Maine into an essay about whether it's ethical to boil lobsters alive (short answer: no), now mourn the enormous talent the world has lost. "A lot of people," she says, "are really sad for all the books we're not going to get to read."

Those who knew him personally speak of his kindness: Longtime agent Bonnie Nadell recalls how he stood on line at FedEx the week before Christmas to mail an autographed book to a fan. "He would just do things like that because he was a really sweet person," she says. His students at Pomona College in Claremont, Calif., remember the committed, engaged teacher: Amanda Shapiro had taken writing classes with him the past three years, and recalls the copious comments she got back from him about her assignments. "He would write five pages of notes on a six-page story," she says, "and put so much care and thought into helping us as writers. He would type out the letters, and then annotate them, in pen, with little smiley faces and notes and corrections."

A common thread running through the many magazine and newspaper tributes, the online eulogies and recalled anecdotes, was shock. Wallace may have been a hugely influential and critically celebrated figure, the winner, in 1997, of a MacArthur Foundation "genius" grant, but he was also a very quiet one. He had given few interviews in recent years, and he found much of the fame that came with literary success, the adoration and spotlight that countless other writers would have killed for a taste of, embarrassing and uncomfortable. He taught creative writing at Pomona, wrote short stories and essays and attended the occasional book reading and conference. When news of his suicide began to spread, fans were left wondering: Why? Why had this gifted, funny, often disarmingly humble writer -- a man with seemingly so much to live for -- taken his own life?

Unbeknown to most, Wallace had suffered from clinical depression for the past two decades. Family and close friends knew of it, but few others did. Over those years, Wallace had taken powerful anti-depression medication that had allowed him to work and write, according to his father, James Donald Wallace. But recently the drugs had been having very serious side effects. In June of 2007, Wallace and his doctor decided that they would have to try another course of treatment.

"Going off the medication was just catastrophic," his father remembers. "Severe depression came back. They tried all kinds of things. He was hospitalized twice. Over the summer, he had a series of electro-convulsive therapy treatments, which just really left him very shaky and very fragile and unable to sleep."

Suffering from near-crippling anxiety, Wallace found himself unable to write. "I don't think he'd been able to write for more than a year," says his father. Wallace told the human resources department at Pomona College that he would be unable to teach there in the fall, and he was granted a medical leave for the fall semester.

"I knew this summer had been particularly bad," says Nadell. "My job was just to keep everyone and everything away from him."

On Aug. 18, Wallace's parents came to Claremont to stay with their son. Wallace's wife of four years, Karen Green, had been called away on an urgent family matter, and Wallace did not want to be left alone. He had canceled previous visits with his parents over the past year, telling them that he couldn't bear to have people in the house, even those he loved, so the invitation came as a welcome surprise to them.

When Mr. and Mrs. Wallace arrived, they found their son exhausted and gaunt. "He was very, very thin," says his mother. "He weighed about 140 pounds, so I immediately started to try to put 40 or 50 pounds on him, the way mothers will." She cooked and cleaned. Wallace couldn't eat, he told his sister later, but he liked the way the house smelled, and how clean everything was.

Mornings were spent walking Wallace's two dogs, Werner and Bella. Wallace and his parents strolled the streets of Claremont, talking of small things. In the afternoons, they spoke some more, and helped their son deal with the paperwork and insurance issues that had been piling up. "He was very glad we were there," says his mother. "And he was very emotional. He was just terrified of so much. We would just try to hold him." The memories bring tears. "He did tell me that he was glad I was his mom."

The time together, she says, was a gift. "We hadn't spent that much time with David since he was a small boy. Once they grow up and leave home you see them, of course, and you visit, but you don't spend hours and hours with them."

Toward the end of their visit, Wallace and his parents called his sister Amy. "I'm a public defender," she says, "and I had just lost a trial that I was really upset about. He was really in a lot of pain, but he said all the right big brother things, you know, like how lucky my client was to have me." She pauses. "That was the last time I spoke with him, and it was his last chance to be a big brother. I think it really made him feel better, at least for a few minutes. I know it made me feel better."

The respite, though, was brief. "He told me that he wasn't OK," she says. "He was trying really hard to be OK, but he wasn't."

His wife returned home shortly after, and, on Aug. 30, James and Sally flew back to their home in Urbana, Ill. It was the last time they would see their son. Two weeks later, Wallace hanged himself. He was 46.

News of Wallace's death shocked fans and colleagues worldwide, even those who knew firsthand of his struggles with depression. Longtime friends busied themselves with preparations for a memorial service in October, even though the very thought of speaking publicly of their friend filled them with dread. Jonathan Franzen, author of "The Corrections," who knew Wallace for two decades, found it nearly impossible to speak about him, noting that if the words barely came now, how, in a month, would he know what to say?

His sister Amy described emotions ranging from disbelief to sadness to acceptance, of a sort. "Inevitably our thought was, if only he could have held on a little bit longer," says sister Amy. "And then we realized, he did. How many extra weeks had he hung in there when he just couldn't bear it? So we're not angry at him. Not at all. We just miss him."

While friends and family recalled the anguish of Wallace's final weeks and days, they also wanted to talk about his sweetness, his unfailing politeness, his generosity of spirit. Amy spoke of the "magical uncle" who wasn't so big on kids, but adored his two nieces. "He took them to Disneyland a few years ago," she remembers, "and God, he hated stuff like that! Just all the people and the parking and the driving in L.A. But he absolutely delighted in being with them." His mother talked about him as a husband who had, in Karen, found his best friend and soul mate. A painter and mixed media artist with her own art gallery, Beautiful Crap, in Claremont, Karen had met Wallace through a mutual friend and married him on Dec. 27, 2004, in the Champaign County Courthouse in Urbana. "The happiest he had ever been in his life was being married to Karen," his mother says. "She was the one ideal person on the planet for him, and thank God he found her."

When David was 5, his mother recalls, he decided that he had two careers to look forward to. He would be a professional football player, for one. In the off-season, while the other players were recuperating or doing whatever it is that pro football players do when they're not running or passing or slamming their bodies into each other, he would be a neurosurgeon. His mother has no idea how, at 5, her son might have heard about neurosurgeons or what they were or did, but he had. The first day of his medical career, he promised his mom, he would take out all of her frayed nerves and fix them. "Somehow he knew about neurosurgeons," she says, "and he knew that my nerves needed fixing."

After Wallace's death, readers began revisiting his books and essays, searching for clues to his death, hints of suicide notes planted between the lines. There were, of course, plenty to be found. There were references to depression, death, paranoia and, yes, suicide -- more and more clues, the more one chose to look. But those who knew him hope that what we now know of the demons he struggled against won't forever color the way his books are read, or the way he is remembered.

"I understand that he was apparently depressed, but that wasn't the only important part of his life," says former student Amanda Shapiro. "And I don't think that's where his genius came from. I think his genius came more out of his passion, and the things that he thought were worth living for and writing about in the world."

"I hope he'll be remembered in the way that every writer hopes to be remembered," says Little, Brown publisher Michael Pietsch, who acquired and edited "Infinite Jest" in 1992 and had worked with Wallace ever since. "That people will continue to read his books. His mind is there on every page. 'Infinite Jest,' in particular, is one of the great works of a mind in our time."

-- By Robert Ito

Trailer Trash: "Valkyrie", de Bryan Singer

Más (y peores) noticias sobre el FICCO

Publicado en El Excelsior

Paula Astorga, quien durante cinco años fungió como directora del Festival Internacional de Cine Contemporáneo de la Ciudad de México, decidió presentar su renuncia al cargo, que ostentó hasta hace un par de días, a los ejecutivos de Cinemex debido a diferencias de tipo ideológico e intelectual.

En entrevista exclusiva con Excélsior, Astorga comentó los motivos por los que decidió separarse de dicho festival que cada año se realiza en el DF. “Renuncié porque es muy fuerte la presión del mundo corporativo. Cinemex ha cambiado mucho: hace dos años se vendió a una empresa norteamericana y pues FICCO entró en una necesidad de hacerse una estructura corporativa.

De hecho en las últimas juntas ya no se le llamaba “el festival”, sino este “producto” de Cinemex y pues eso a mí ya no me pareció. No me gustó que FICCO se tuviera que anclar a una empresa. Ésa ya no es mi visión como promotora cultural y, la verdad, así no me iba a poder inspirar. Me sentí maniatada y sentí que tenía que moverme de ahí. Creo que perdí todos los estímulos. Tuve que hacer un ejercicio de honestidad profunda por el bien del mismo festival y por eso decidí renunciar.”

Aunque Paula presentó su renuncia el viernes pasado a Alma Rosa García, directora general de Cinemex, ella expresa que fue la tarde del lunes cuando se hizo todo el papeleo. No obstante, hará pública su decisión este viernes con el fin de que los ejecutivos de la empresa cinematográfica puedan hacer los movimientos pertinentes. Astorga aseguró que una parte de su equipo se quedará para seguir haciendo el FICCO, mientras que la otra saldrá de las filas del festival.

Astorga dijo que los ejecutivos de la cadena exhibidora le ofrecieron otros puestos dentro de la empresa para que no se desligara al 100% del certamen, sin embargo, decició darles las gracias, pues no consideraba prudente seguir siendo parte de una empresa que no comulga con sus intereses profesionales y culturales.

"Leonera" va al Oscar

La película “Leonera”, de Pablo Trapero, será la representante argentina al Oscar, mientras que “Aniceto”, de Leonardo Favio, hará lo propio en la competencia a mejor película latinoamericana en los premios Goya del cine español.

“Ser seleccionado ya es un premio –dice Trapero desde el Festival de San Sebastián, donde está presentando su película--. Para los distribuidores es muy importante. Es la posibilidad de abrir una puerta en el mercado de los Estados Unidos. Después, sería ideal quedar entre las cinco nominadas, pero ya esto me llena de alegría”.

La película de Trapero, que compitió en el Festival de Cannes, resultó cómoda vencedora en la elección local para el Oscar a la mejor película en idioma extranjero que otorga la Academia de Hollywood. El filme centrado en una mujer embarazada que va a la cárcel y que allí da a luz y educa a su bebé recibió 29 votos, seguido por “Aniceto”, que logró 19. En tercer lugar quedó “El nido vacío”, de Daniel Burman, con catorce.

La elección de la película que representará a la Argentina en los Goya fue bastante más reñida. Mientras se leían los votos las posiciones iban cambiando hasta que finalmente se separó “Aniceto”, que logró un total de 17 votos, seguida de cerca por “El nido vacío (con 14), “Leonera” (13) y “Rancho aparte”, de Edi Flehner (11).

“Aniceto” es la versión ballet del clásico filme de Favio “El romance del Aniceto y la Francisca”, de 1966. Anteayer, el propio Favio presentó en San Sebastián la película ante invitados de diversos festivales españoles. Fue sorpresiva –y bien recibida— aquí la buena performance en las votaciones de “Aniceto”, el primer filme de ficción de Favio en 16 años que pasó bastante desapercibido en la cartelera.

En ambas elecciones votaron 86 miembros de la Academia de las Artes y Ciencias Cinematográficas de la Argentina, sólo un poco más de un tercio del total de sus integrantes. La ceremonia fue conducida por dos miembros de su comisión directiva: la actriz Graciela Borges (visiblemente emocionada al leer el triunfo de Favio) y el productor Pablo Bossi. En la sala se encontraban además otros miembros de la Academia como Alejandro Doria, Pablo Rovito y Juan Vera, uno de los productores de “Leonera”, entre otros.

Luego de que cada país selecciona sus representantes quedará en manos de los votantes de ambas Academias –la norteamericana para el Oscar, la española para el Goya—decidir si el filme queda o no entre las cinco candidatas definitivas a pelear por el premio. En el caso del Oscar, la última película argentina en quedar entre las cinco nominadas fue “El hijo de la novia”, de Juan José Campanella, en 2001. La última candidata –que finalmente no quedó nominada— fue “XXY”, de Lucía Puenzo.

NOTA: México presentará al Oscar "Arráncame la vida", de Roberto Sneider. "Lake Tahoe", de Fernando Eimbcke, irá al Goya.

VOTACION:

OSCAR:

“Leonera” 29

“Aniceto” 17

“El nido vacío” 14

“La mujer sin cabeza” 5

“Cordero de Dios” 5

“Un novio para mi mujer” 3

“Café de los maestros” 3

GOYA

“Aniceto” 17

“El nido vacío” 14

“Leonera” 13

“Rancho aparte” 11

“La mujer sin cabeza” 8

“Cordero de Dios” 5

“Lluvia” 5

“Un novio para mi mujer” 3

Cambios en el FICCO

Paula Astorga, la directora del Festival Internacional de Cine Contemporáneo de la ciudad de México (más conocido como FICCO) renunció a su cargo, como parte de una serie de cambios que no se saben aún cómo terminarán, pero que --por lo que sé o puedo imaginar-- no "pintan" demasiado bien.

Habrá novedades pronto...

Karl Blau - Nature's Got Away (2008)

Link

Karl Blau’s collaborations ( D+, Microphones, Mt Eerie, Laura Viers) and his solo work have drawn plenty of praise. This time around he should get stellar press as he’s topped his previous efforts with a consistently fine record that at times appears to be channeling Samuel Becket, Neil Young and Tom Zé. The first few tracks have a lively feel with drums, bass, guitars and spry witticisms to the fore. This sprightly atmosphere contrasts with Blau’s thoughtful lyrical hi-jinks and gives them a measure of profound weight. He manages to sing the line “Heartbeats with accompanying moans” in a way that recognizes that to be alive is to suffer, yet offers encouragement and fun! Similarly he can sing about feeling nothing “betwixt the tomb and the womb” (in a neat counter-clockwise take on Beckett’s “born astride the grave”) but balance that with a distorted Carpenters reference at the end of the first song: “Just like me, they long to be…getting out of Dodge.”

So far so good, but at the halfway point of the album I expected one of three things to happen: the quality of the songs would fade badly, or they would simply repeat what had gone before, with diminishing returns, or attempts at variety would seem forced and would splinter the intensity. However, beginning with “Mockingbird Diet” Blau hits his stride and what follows is absolutely irrepressible. The fluid brilliance and rhythmic nuance we hear on “Of Your Feet, Of Your Place”, “Stream of Ganders” and “That’s the Breaks” might be the record’s peak. Consequently, although “2 Becomes 1” is marvelously direct, it feels like a fever has broken. Cleverly, Blau’s voice seems to get deeper throughout Nature’s Got Away as if he were imitating an entire career in a single album. The title of the disc is nicely ambiguous although the Randy California aspect is probably just a figment of my imagination. Hopefully, Karl Blau can maintain the impression of meandering, of going with the flow, even as he carefully plots his upward course.

Duncan Edwards

Adelantos del Festival de Roma

Fuente: Variety

U.S. and European indie pics play prominently in the Rome Film Festival's Extra sidebar, a mix of cutting-edge and vintage offerings including onstage conversations with Al Pacino, Wes Anderson, Michael Cimino and David Cronenberg.

The 27-pic selection, 12 of which are docus, will see Sundance standouts "Baghead" and docu "Man on Wire" unspool alongside the international bow of Danish Dogma helmer Thomas Vinterberg's new drama "When a Man Comes Home."

Gallic helmer and former Cahiers du Cinema critic Olivier Assayas will be on hand with his "L'heure d'ete" (Summer Hours), to be followed by a public chat.

The all-formats section also sees a selection of animation shorts by California Institute of the Arts 2008 graduates; the John Walter docu "Theater of War," which delves into Meryl Streep preparing her stage perf in Bertolt Brecht's "Mother Courage"; and Morgan Spurlock's docu "Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden?"

Belgian movie "JCVD," in which Jean-Claude Van Damme parodies his action-stud persona, segues from Toronto, while Peter Greenaway's "Rembrandt's J'accuse," which links a Rembrandt painting to a murder plot, will unspool in Rome after preeming in Pusan.

Pacino will be feted by the Eternal City fest on opening day, Oct. 22, with a previously announced lifetime achievement nod.

Anderson is coming on behalf of Martin Scorsese's The Film Foundation to present a new print of Albert Levin's 1951 fantasy "Pandora and the Flying Dutchman," starring Ava Gardner and James Mason, restored by the foundation in tandem with the Rome fest.

Cronenberg will unveil Chromosomes, an art show of his movie stills, and also will be feted with a retro, while Cimino will hold a public conversation about his favorite dance sequences on film, likely to include his Blue Danube Waltz set piece in "Heaven's Gate."

Besides Extra, the fest's other sidebar is a focus on new Brazilian cinema that will kick off with culinary comedy "Estomago: A Gastronomic Story" and include recent smash local hit "My Name Ain't Johnny" by Mauro Lima.

As previously announced, helmer Edoardo De Andrade's docu "Coracao Vagabundo," dedicated to pop sensation Caetano Veloso, will unspool with Veloso on hand to perform following the screening.

A lavish Brazilian carnival-like party on Rome's Piazza Navona, choreographed by multi-tasking musician Arto Lindsay, will be the centerpiece of the fest's opening-day celebrations.

The Rome Film Festival runs Oct. 22-31. The main lineup will be announced Oct. 1.

Olivier Pére dirigirá Locarno

Se la tenía guardada... Pasó por Buenos Aires y no dijo nada, al menos públicamente. Pero hoy se confirmó que desde 2009, el director artístico de la Quincena de Realizadores del Festival de Cannes será el director del Festival de Locarno.

Aquí, el informe de prensa (en inglés) enviado por el festival suizo.

Olivier Père, Locarno Festival’s future Artistic Director.

The Board of the Locarno International Film Festival, at an extraordinary meeting on September 25th, appointed Olivier Père, currently in charge of the Director’s Fortnight at Cannes, as the new Artistic Director for the Locarno Festival, who will start at the end of next year’s festival (5-15 August 2009). He will succeed Frédéric Maire, who, as was announced last June, will become head of the Swiss Cinémathèque on 1st November, 2009.

Born in 1971 in Marseilles, a French national, Olivier Père graduated in Humanities at the University of Sorbonne (Paris IV). He joined the French Cinémathèque in 1995, and soon became in charge of the programme, organizing numerous retrospectives and thematic seasons. Alongside his work there, in 1996 he began a long-standing collaboration with the Belfort « Entrevues » Film Festival, for whom he organized retrospectives. Since 1997 he has been writing for the cultural publication “Les Inrockuptibles” on film, television, and DVD. Since 2004, Olivier Père has been Artistic Director of the Directors’ Fortnight, the prestigious independent section at the Cannes Festival, organized by the SRF (Société des Réalisateurs de films).

Marco Solari, Festival President notes: “A young and enthusiastic cinéphile, Olivier Père knows all that is involved in programming inside out, and has spent years heading up a section that is closest to the nature of the Locarno Festival, which has always focused on young cinema, discovery and experimentation. I am delighted with this choice.”

Olivier Père commented on his appointment as follows: “My responsibilities as Artistic Director of the Locarno Festival will allow me to continue the work of discovery and valorisation of young auteur cinema that I have undertaken for Directors’ Fortnight since 2004. They will also enable me to fulfil an obligation, born of admiration, to directors who are essential to film history, and major figures who have contributed to the development and influence of film. Finally, the post offers an opportunity to exercise, a wider scope than previously possible, my conviction that a festival must above all rally to the cause and render service to the cinema and to those who make it.”

Olivier Père will assume his post as the Locarno Festival’s new Artistic Director on September 1st, 2009.

Diez años de cine independiente

Ciclo 10 Años de Cine Independiente
(Del 2 al 26 de Octubre – Malba)

Grilla de programación

Jueves 2

14:00 EL CAZADOR ES UN CORAZÓN SOLITARIO + LOS PRÓXIMOS
PASADOS, de LORENA MUÑOZ
16:00 REGRESO EN AUTO + VÍSPERAS, de DANIELA GOGGI
18:00 LA NOVIA ERRANTE, de ANA KATZ
21:00 VECINAS + LA CÁMARA OSCURA, de MARIA V. MENIS (con invitación)

Viernes 3

14:00 SOS EX, de ANDRÉS TAMBORINO
16:00 SÉPTIMO DÍA + JUDIOS EN EL ESPACIO, de GABRIEL LITCHMANN
00:00 AEROPLANO + EL DESCANSO, de RODRIGO MORENO

Sábado 4

14:00 LA ESCENA + LA NOVIA ERRANTE, de ANA KATZ
16:00 LA ÚLTIMA ESCENA DE ESTA PAREJA + UPA! UNA PELÍCULA ARGENTINA, de SANTIAGO GIRALT
18:30 TRES MINUTOS, de DIEGO LUBLINSKY
20:00 POR LA RAZON O POR LA FUERZA, de VERONICA CHEN
22:00 LA GUERRA DE LOS GIMNASIOS + SERVICIOS PRESTADOS, de DIEGO LERMAN

Domingo 5

14:00 ALGUNAS MUJERES + CUANDO ELLA SALTÓ, de SABRINA FARJI
16:30 SÉPTIMO DÍA + JUDIOS EN EL ESPACIO, de GABRIEL LITCHMANN


Jueves 9

14:00 LA GOTERA + NIETOS, IDENTIDAD Y MEMORIA, de BENJAMÍN AVILA
16:00 MALA ÉPOCA, de SALVADOR ROSELLI

Viernes 10

14:00 ESPECTRO + EL OTRO, de ARIEL ROTTER
16:00 LA QUINERA DE LOS HÉROES, de DANIEL ROSENFELD
19:00 GERMÁN, de FERNANDO MOLNAR

Sábado 11

14:00 UNA TARDE FELIZ + ANA Y LOS OTROS, de CELINA MURGA
16:00 ALUAP + YO SOY LOLA, de TATIANA MEREÑUK
18:30 PCI: CORTOS PROGRAMA 1*
20:15 LAS ORILLAS, de SERGIO WOLF
22:00 OCHO + EL SUEÑO DEL PERRO, de PAULO PÉCORA

Domingo 12

14:00 VOCES BLANCAS + BUENOS AIRES 100KM, de PABLO MEZA

Jueves 16

14:00 PCI: CORTOS PROGRAMA 1*
16:00 XXY, de LUCIA PUENZO
18:30 NADAR SOLO, de EZEQUIEL ACUÑA
22:00 KILÓMETRO 22 + LLUVIA, de PAULA HERNÁNDEZ

Viernes 17

14:00 RUTAS Y VEREDAS + LOS SUICIDAS, de JUAN VILLEGAS
16:00 LEO 16 + MODELO 73, de RODRIGO MOSCOSO
19:00 IDENTIDAD + CUENTO CHINO CLASISTA Y COMBATIVO, de PEPE SALVIA
00:00 MERCANO, EL MARCIANO, de JUAN ANTIN

Sábado 18

14:00 AMOR COLOR REPTIL + CLON, de ALEJANDRO HARTMANN
16:00 AEROPLANO + EL DESCANSO, de RODRIGO MORENO
18:00 LA GOTERA + NIETOS, IDENTIDAD Y MEMORIA, de BENJAMÍN AVILA
20:00 MACEDONIO FERNÁNDEZ + EL PAIS DEL DIABLO, de ANDRÉS DI TELLA
22:30 TANGO DESIR + RONDA NOCTURNA, de EDGARDO COZARINSKY

Domingo 19

14:00 NADAR SOLO, de EZAQUIEL ACUÑA
16:30 EL OTRO, de ARIEL ROTTER

Jueves 23

14:00 PCI: CORTOS PROGRAMA 2**
16:00 ESTUDIO + UNA DE DOS, de ALEJO TAUBE
18:30 XXY, de LUCIA PUENZO
20:15 OJOS DE FUEGO + VIDA EN FALCON, de JORGE GAGGERO
22:00 SOS EX, de ANDRÉS TAMBORINO
00:00 MERCANO, EL MARCIANO, de JUAN ANTIN

Viernes 24

14:00 POR LA RAZON O POR LA FUERZA, de VERONICA CHEN
16:00 DÓNDE Y CÓMO OLIVEIRA PERDIÓ ACHALA + BONANZA, de ULISES ROSELL
19:00 TATA DIOS + LA SOMBRA DE LAS LUCES, de BALTAZAR TOKMAN

Sábado 25

14:00 REGRESO EN AUTO + VÍSPERAS, de DANIELA GOGGI
16:00 SCRATCH + HERMANAS, de JULIA SOLOMONOFF
18:30 PCI: CORTOS PROGRAMA 2**
20:00 LOS PRÓXIMOS PASADOS, de LORENA MUÑOZ
22:00 INFANCIA + INCÓMODOS, de ESTEBAN MENIS

Domingo 26

14:00 PELÍCULA BRUTA + MALA ÉPOCA, de SALVADOR ROSELLI
16:30 DÓNDE Y COMO OLIVEIRA PERDIÓ ACHALA + BONANZA, de ULISES ROSELL
Finalización del ciclo

Jueves 30

16:00 AMOR COLOR REPTIL + CLON, de ALEJANDRO HARTMANN

Viernes 31

16:00 ESTUDIO + UNA DE DOS, de ALEJO TAUBE
19:00 GERMÁN, de FERNANDO MOLNAR

Sábado 1

14:00 VOCES BLANCAS + BUENOS AIRES 100KM, de PABLO MEZA
16:20 RUTAS Y VEREDAS + LOS SUICIDAS, de JUAN VILLEGAS
18:00 ALGUNAS MUJERES + CUANDO ELLA SALTÓ, de SABRINA FARJI

Domingo 2

14:00 LA QUIMERA DE LOS HÉROES, de DANIEL ROSENFELD


*PROGRAMA DE CORTOS 1:
1. AHENDU NDE SAPUKAY, Pablo Lamar (11 min.)
2. AHORA TODOS PARECEN CONTENTOS, Gonzalo Tobal (24 min.)
3. AMANCAY, Milagros Mumenthaler (18 min.)
4. EL RELOJ, Marcos Berger (15 min.)
5. GUACHO, Juan Minujín (14 min.)
Total 85' aprox.

**PROGRAMA DE CORTOS 2:
6. HOY NO ESTOY, Gustavo Taretto (8 min.)
7. LEONARD ADELT, Gabriel Mori (12 min.)
8. TRES JUNTOS, Laura Citarella (16 min.)
9. TRILLIZAS PROPAGANDA, Fernando Salem (15 min.)
10. NADIE, Belén Blanco (16 min.)
Total 65' aprox.

Críticas de cine: 25/9/2008

"Aaltra", de Benoit Delépine y Gustave De Kuerten (Clarín)

Francisco Nixon - Es perfecta (2006)

Link

"Es perfecta" es el primer disco solista de Francisco Nixon (AKA Fran Fernández, Gijón, España, 1971), quien ha editado un buen puñado de discos al frente de Australian Blonde, banda muy representativa del indie pop español de los años 90 y aún en actividad. Ya en el nuevo milenio, se unió a Sergio Algora (El Niño Gusano) y otros músicos de Zaragoza para crear La Costa Brava, cambiando en sus composiciones para este prolífico grupo el inglés por el español. last.fm