SFIFF 2010- - links and comments thread

[Chris Knipp]

http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/816/28771a1.jpg
San Francisco International Film Festival 2010
____________


SFIFF 53, April 22-May 6, 2010

The festival opening night film was Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Micmacs, which depicts one man's war against weapons manufacturers. The centerpiece film is Josh Radnor's Happythankyouplease, a tale of twentysomethings living in lower Manhattan. The finale will be a showing of the documentary Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work (Ricki Stern, Anne Sundberg), with Ms. Rivers to be honored.

This year though just off the plane yesterday from Paris ( April 22), I don't have a knee injury to keep me from going over to San Francisco and sampling the offerings. I have a head start since I have already seen 20 of SFIFF 53's main slate films (two I did not review). These are:


NEW DIRECTORS

IN COMPETITION FOR NEW DIRECTORS PRIZE:
Night Catches Us (Tanya Hamilton 2101)--ND/NF (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2808-Film-Comments-Selects-And-New-Directors-New-Films-2010&p=24169#post24169)
Northless--ND/NF
La Pivellina--ND/NF
Tehroun--ND/NF (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2808-Film-Comments-Selects-And-New-Directors-New-Films-2010&p=24173#post24173)

OUT OF COMPETITION:
Everyone Else--NYFF (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2644-New-York-Film-Festival-2009&postid=23022#post23022)
The Father of My Children--ND/NF (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2808-Film-Comments-Selects-And-New-Directors-New-Films-2010&p=24162#post24162)
Lebanon/NYFF (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2644-New-York-Film-Festival-2009&postid=23012#post23012)

WORLD CINEMA:
Around a Small Mountain--R-V (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2644-New-York-Film-Festival-2009&postid=23051#post23051)
Hadewijch--R-V (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2644-New-York-Film-Festival-2009&postid=23026#post23026)
How I Ended This Summer --ND/NF(Alexei Popogrebsky 2010) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2808-Film-Comments-Selects-And-New-Directors-New-Films-2010&p=24156#post24156)
Making Plans for Lena--R-V (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2792-Rendez-Vous-with-French-Cinema-2010-at-Loncoln-Center&p=24056#post24056)
Soul Kitchen--Paris (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2819-Paris-report-april-2010&p=24239#post24239)
To Die Like a Man--NYFF (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2644-New-York-Film-Festival-2009&postid=23000#post23000)
White Materia--NYFFl (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2644-New-York-Film-Festival-2009&postid=23048#post23048)
Wild Grass--NYFF (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2644-New-York-Film-Festival-2009&postid=22939#post22939)

DOCUMENTARIES:
Last Train Home--ND/NF (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2808-Film-Comments-Selects-And-New-Directors-New-Films-2010&p=24148#post24148)
Henri-Georges Clouzot's Inferno--NYFF (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2644-New-York-Film-Festival-2009&postid=23078#post23078)
Nénette--Paris (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2819-Paris-report-april-2010&p=24239#post24239)
The Oath--ND/NF (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2808-Film-Comments-Selects-And-New-Directors-New-Films-2010&p=24177#post24177)
Bill Cunningham New York (Richard Press 2010)--ND/NF (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2808-Film-Comments-Selects-And-New-Directors-New-Films-2010&p=24185#post24185)

This list is, obviously, mixed. It includes a few very fine films, some that film students won't want to miss, and some missteps. Though I was disappointed in Northless and La Pivellina so did not write reviews of them, I very much like The Father of My Children, Hadewiich, Making Plans for Lena and Henri-Georges Clouzot's Inferno. Lebanon is a celebrated and compelling film, if slightly overrated. The World Cinema items are by major directors and worth seeing, though of varied merit. All those documentaries are watchable, though after To Be and To Have, Nénette is a disappointment. Perhaps the Philibert wanted a subject who would not seek royalties if the film was a big success, as happened with his schoolteacher. Everyone Else recently had a NYC release with some good reviews; it has its tedious aspects but J. Hoberman appreciated it and so, up to a point, did I. But this is a cross-section of how a big festival roster works. You take chances, but you bet on sources that produced well in the past. In both cases sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. I'll provide links to my reviews of these and some further comments on the Filmleaf "Festival Coverage" thread.


That SFIFF 2010 Filmleaf Festival Covoerage thread begins here. (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010)

INDEX TO THE INDIVIDUAL (NEW) REVIEWS:

Air Doll (Hirakasu Koreeda 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24251#post24251)
Alamar (Pedro González-Rubio 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24288#post24288)
Brand New Life, A (Ouunie Lecomte 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24303#post24303)
Cargo (Ivan Engler, Ralph Etter 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24282#post24282)
Domain (Patric Chiha 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24262#post24262)
Famous and the Dead, The (Esmir Filho 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24303#post24303)
Gainsbourg (Je t'aime...moi non plus (Joann Sfar) (20010) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24284#post24284)
Linha de Passe (Walter Salles, Daniela Thomas 2008) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24292#post24292)
Lourdes (Jessica Hausner 2008) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24280#post24280)
Loved Ones, The (Sean Byrne 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24278#post24278)
Man Who Will Come, The (Giorgio Diritti 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24245#post24245)
Moscow (Whang Cheoul-mean 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24252#post24252)
My Dog Tulip (Paul and Sandra Fierlinger 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24255#post24255)
My Queen Karo (Dorothée Van Den Berghe 2009 (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24318#post24318)
Pianomania (Robert Cibis, Lilian Frank 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24288#post24288)
Practice of the Wild, The (John J. Healey 2010) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24261#post24261)
Restrepo (Sebastian Junger, Tim Hetherington 2010) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010/page2#post24323)
Russian Lessons (Andrei Nekrasov, Olga Konskaya 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24307#post24307)
Seducing Charlie Parker (Amy Glazer 2010) (Click on the title above for the CK Festival Coverage review.)
Splice (Vincenzo Natali 2010) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2849-SPLICE-%28Vincenzo-Natali-2010%29&p=24422#post24422)
Transcending Lynch (Marcos Andrade 2010) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24275#post24275)
White Meadows, The (Mohammad Rasoulof 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24316#post24316)
Winter's Bone (Debra Granik 2010) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24294#post24294)
You Think You're the Prettiest, But You're the Sluttiest (Che Sandoval 2008) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24266#post24266)

[Chris Knipp]

Giorgio Diritti's The Man Who Will Come (2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24245&posted=1#post24245), retelling a WWII German massacre of Italian villagers, has won major film awards in Italy.

Click on the title for the CK Festival Coverage review.

[Michuk]

I'm happy to see "The Father of My Children" getting into another festival. It's a very European piece of cinema, subtle, with a quite slow pace, but it left me feeling uneasy. It's both a tribute and an assault. Very smart filmmaking.

[Chris Knipp]

Yes, I don't know about European, because I'm not European, so I'm not an authority on that, but everything European is very, well, European, ain't it? But anyway THE FATHER OF MY CHILDREN is one of the best new French films I've seen all year, and I've seen relatively a lot, more than a lot of French people do, in fact. I didn't know it had a "quite slow pace." It's not a high speed action film, but quite a lot of things happen it, and I'd say they happen at a normal pace. But it wouldn't be much fun to say "quite a normal pace," because that wouldn't be saying anything. Of course the pace for the hero slows down quit a b it midway, since he dies... But lots happens after that too, at quite a normal pace.

[Michuk]

but everything European is very, well, European, ain't it?

That was a shortcut way to say it was filmed in a non-intruding way, it did not want to rape the viewer with action, it did not try to influence their emotions in an easy/ugly way (like von Trier does) and still it was very powerful and stayed in my memory for a long time. I think this is quite an achievement.
The cinematography and editing reminded me of old French masters like Truffaut. This is not how you usually make movies today, neither in Europe nor in the US.

We can argue about what is normal pace and was is slow. The pace of most today's movies could be described as very fast for someone living in the 50's or 60's.

[Chris Knipp]

Then maybe it's old fashioned rather than European. He did make it in Europe. It reminded me of Hitchcock. Many of the great American directors came over from England and Europe. What movies have come to, the effect you call manipulative, has developed primarily in Hollywood, though it's copied elsewhere. I agree with you on the film's success. I've watched it twice, and I'd gladly watch it again.

Current action movies go at a very rapid pace. Movies of other genres, which may seem to be in the minority now, I don't know, move at a slower pace. THE GHOST WRITER isn't really an action movie, but more of a mystery thriller with political overtones. The popular movies made from Nicholas Sparks novels (DEAR JOHN, THE LAST SONG) are an example of a mainstream genre that doesn't move fast. JULIE AND JULIA, that doesn't move so fast. SEX AND THE CITY, that doesn't move very fast. If you look at the lastest page of titles I've reviewed on my website (http://www.chrisknipp.com/writing/viewforum.php?f=1) the vast majority are not mainstream blockbuster movies, so I'm not a good one to comment. Oliver Dahan's MY OWN LOVE STORY and Allen Coulter's REMEMBER ME (in my 'PARIS REPORT') did not move fast.

[Chris Knipp]

Hirakazu Koreeda's Air Doll (2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24251#post24251)


Another story about a man with an inflatable mate. This one comes to life, with sweet, fey results.

Click on the title for the CK Festival Coverage review.

[Chris Knipp]

Whang Cheoul-mean's Moscow (2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24252#post24252)

A Korean look at economic realities, class, and friendship focuses on two young women who were friends in middle school and reunite in their twenties.

Click on the title for the CK Festival Coverage review.

[Chris Knipp]

Paul and Sandra Fierlinger's My Dog Tulip (2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24255#post24255)

A hand-drawn animated film from a well-known 1959 book, both frank and droll, by English gay writer and BBC editor J.R. Ackerley about the love of his life, an Alsatian bitch. With the voices of Christopher Plummer, Isabella Rossellini, and Lynn Redgrave.

Click on the title for the CK Festival Coverage review.

[Chris Knipp]

John J. Healey's The Practice of the Wild. (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24261#post24261)

A somewhat tantalizing glimpse of the "Beat" era poet, linguist, Zen practitioner, outdoorsman, ecologist, and essayist Gary Snyder, who is now 79. But not much about the challenging 1990 collection of Snyder's essays that bears this same title.

Click on the title for the CK Festival Coverage review.

[Chris Knipp]

Patric Chiha's Domain (2010) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24262#post24262)

Gödel, alcohol, gayness: French first feature by an Austrian director about a special friendship between a gay Bordeaux teenager and his eccentric mathematician aunt, which deteriorates when she falls deeper into alcoholism. The auteurist tricks are off-putting, but the film was written as a vehicle for the iconic Béarice Dalle, who delivers. Newcomer Isaïe Sultan holds his own as the nephew.

Click on the title for the CK Festival Coverage review.

[oscar jubis]

Thanks Chris for yet another interesting set of reviews.

I happen to be a big fan of NORTEADO aka Northless. I will post a brief comment about it as soon as I get a chance.

Currently working as a supervisor for the US Census. Long hours...trying to earn a lil money before I start a Ph.D. program in August... which assumes I can live on 15 grand per year!

[Chris Knipp]

You're welcome. There will be more. I hope I can cover about 20 of the SFIFF films, which will mean I'll have comments on 39 of the total slate.

I may not have responded to NORTEADO -- perhaps my lack of Spanish caused me to miss subtleties -- it got good reviews in the trade journals and might have a good chance in the New Directors Competition. NORTEADO disappointed me. It's technique seemed a bit clumsy and the acting flat and lifeless. Surprising since the VARIETY review says, "Rigoberto Perezcano's understated, warm, non-exploitative take on a young man's failed crossings, and the temporary life he has in Tijuana, reps an impressive debut and heralds a much-needed new voice. A healthy fest life is assured..." Since the movie has won such praise from English-language critics for its new angle on the border, I didn't want to put a damper on things so I wrote no review of it after seeing it in the ND/NF screeings.

But my vote so far would go to YOU THINK YOU'RE THE PRETTIEST, BUT YOU'RE THE SLUTTIEST

AKA

Che Sandoval's TE CREIS LA MÁS LINDA (PERO ERÍS LA MÁS PUTA)(2008) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010#post24266)

A very talky Chilean film about a 19-year-old guy who says he's in love but may just be in lust or maybe he's just on a quest for what his life's all about.This one doesn't deal with the "serious social issues" of the day, but it seemed much more alive to me, and its topics pretty universal and at the same time very specific to the language and customs of today. The dialogue is outrageous, hilarious, touching, and true.

Click on the title for the CK Festival Coverage review of YOU THINK YOU'RE THE PRETIEST...

http://img295.imageshack.us/img295/6501/41546296948f0fb78733m.jpg
Che Sandoval

[Chris Knipp]

Marcos Andrade's documentary Transcending David Lynch (2010) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24275#post24275)

The filmmaker, a Brazilian practioner of Transscendental Meditation, follows the director around on a tour of Brazil to meet with the pubic and promote Lynch's book, Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness and Creativity . A minor film, but essential for Lynch buffs for the hints it provides of his creative process and the glimpses it gives of his unique aura.

[Chris Knipp]

SFIFF 2010: Index of films I've seen and will review.

This will be updated and the line entries will be activated as links to my reviews. Seen at the SFIFF. Previously reviewed SFIFF titles will be added into the index later also.

Air Doll (Hirakasu Koreeda 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24251#post24251)
Alamar (Pedro González-Rubio 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24288#post24288)
Brand New Life, A (Ouunie Lecomte 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24303#post24303)
Cargo (Ivan Engler, Ralph Etter 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24282#post24282)
Domain (Patric Chiha 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24262#post24262)
Famous and the Dead, The (Esmir Filha 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24303#post24303)
Gainsbourg (Je t'aime...moi non plus (Joann Sfar) (20010) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24284#post24284)
Linha de Passe (Walter Salles, Daniela Thomas 2008) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24292#post24292)
Lourdes (Jessica Hausner 2008) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24280#post24280)
Loved Ones, The (Sean Byrne 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24278#post24278)
Man Who Will Come, The (Giorgio Diritti 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24245#post24245)
Moscow (Whang Cheoul-mean 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24252#post24252)
My Dog Tulip (Paul and Sandra Fierlinger 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24255#post24255)
Pianomania (Robert Cibis, Lilian Frank 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24288#post24288)
Practice of the Wild, The (John J. Healey 2010) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24261#post24261)
Russian Lessons (Andrei Nekrasov, Olga Konskaya 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24307#post24307)
Seducing Charlie Parker (Amy Glazer 2010) (Click on the title above for the CK Festival Coverage review.)
Transcending Lynch (Marcos Andrade 2010) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24275#post24275)
White Meadows, The (Mohammad Rasoulof 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24316#post24316)
Winter's Bone (Debra Granik 2010) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24294#post24294)
You Think You're the Prettiest, But You're the Sluttiest (Che Sandoval 2008) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24266#post24266)

[Chris Knipp]

Brian Byrne's Austrailan teenage horror winner The Loved Ones (2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24278#post24278)

Brent turns down Lola when she asks him to be her prom date. Bad decision.

This first feature won an audience award at Toronto last year. The star is in the coming third Twilight move and Hollywood is pursuing talented young writer-director Byrne.

[Chris Knipp]

Jessica Hausner's Lourdes (2008) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24280#post24280)

A study of miracles that is cool, realistic, droll, mysterious, and troubling, directed by a student of Michael Haneke and starring the remarkable, pinched, fearless French actress Sylvie Testud as a women whose limbs are helpless due to a rippling disease, who makes the pilgrimage to Lourdes to receive the sacraments and take the holy waters.

http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/4479/jessicahausner.jpg
JESSICA HAUSNER

[Chris Knipp]

Ivan Engler and Ralph Etter's Cargo (2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24282&posted=1#post24282)

There aren't many films that come out of Switzerland -- though Jean-Luc Godard is Swiss, and so is Ursula Andress! This is the first Swiss Sci-Fi movie. It's about a woman doctor in space who discovers a corporate conspiracy. And cryo-sleep. With impressive accoutrements considering its 5 million Swiss Franc production cost, this is an underwritten film that plays out so poorly you may think the Swiss would do better to stick to watches and chocolate.

Click on the title above to read the Filmleaf Festival Coverage review of this film.

[Chris Knipp]

Joann Soar's Gainsbourg (Je t'aime...moi non plus) (2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24284#post24284)

A famous French graphic novel artist makes his first feature film, an imaginative and highly entertaining biopic of French songwriting icon Serge Gainsbourg.

http://img697.imageshack.us/img697/9287/joannsfar.jpg
JOANN SFAR

[Chris Knipp]

Robert Cibis and Lilian Franck's Pianomania (2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24285#post24285)

The obsessiveness of an Austrian Steinway piano tuner who works with concern pianists to prepare the instruments they will play in a concert or a recording. When he works with equally neurotic and obsessive French pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard, it's a marriage made in heaven. But the film is disappointingly narrow, and doesn't even explain how things came out in this collaboration.

Click on the film title above for the complete Festival Coverage review.

[Chris Knipp]

Pedro González-Rubio's Alamar (2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24288#post24288)

An idyllic portrait of the intimacy of a Mayan-descent father and his young son visiting from Rome, as they spend a summer together with the boy's grandfather fishing in a protected reef area off the Mexican coast.

Click on the title for the CK Festival Coverage review.

[Chris Knipp]

Walter Salles and Daniela Thomas' Linha de Passe (2008) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24292#post24292)

Four brothers who share the same mother but different unknown fathers. An answer to the ultra-violence of Mereilles and Lund's City of God, this shows poor youths, in Brazil (São Paulo this time) attempting, with mixed results, to steer clear of crime and violence. A valiant and engaging effort to merge drama and sociology, this film, whose female star Sandra Corveloni, who plays the boys' mother, won the Best Acresss Award at Cannes in 2008, manages to follow five different narrative strands at once; but the effect becomes wearying and numbing by the end.

[Chris Knipp]

Debra Granik's Winter's Bone (2010) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24294#post24294)

The director, whose first film was about drug rehab and New York State, moves to a richly flavorful setting in the Missouri Ozarks where moonshiners have been replaceD by producers of meth. Her heroine (played by Jennifer Lawrence) goes out to search for a wayward father to save her home.

http://img534.imageshack.us/img534/7599/wintersbonedirector.jpg
DEBRA GRANIK

[Chris Knipp]

How I Ended This Summer (Alexei Popogrebsky 2010).

The SFIFF has just added this title, to be shown May 6 at 6 pm at the Sundance Kabuki Theaters.

This was part of the New Directors/New Films series of FSLC and MoMA in March and another one I've seen and reported on here earlier. The Filmleaf Festival Coverage review will be found by clicking on the title below:

Alexei Popogrebsky's How I Ended This Summer (2010) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2808-Film-Comments-Selects-And-New-Directors-New-Films-2010&p=24156#post24156)

[Chris Knipp]

Ounie Lecomte's A Brand New Life (2010) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24302#post24302)

Delicately evocative autobiographical first feature about a Korean girl put in an orphanage by her father.

For the Filmleaf Festival Coverage review of the film, click on the title above.

[Chris Knipp]

Esmir Filho's The Famous and the Dead (2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24302#post24302)

Doom, the internet, and an iron bridge in the Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. A beautiful widescreen portrait of teen angst.

Click on the title for the review.

[Chris Knipp]

Koaskaya and Nekrasov's Russian Lessons (2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24307#post24307)

A difficult series of lessons about Russia and Georgia in the 1990's and 2008, with first-hand reporting of the latest warfare and analysis of international coverage which seeks to prove that the West accepted too unquestionably Vladimir Putin's version of situations and events and that the BBC published outright distortions.

Click on the title above for the CK Festival Coverage review.

[Chris Knipp]

Amy Glazer's Seducing Charlie Parker (2010) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24311#post24311)

A brittle, witty social comedy about actors and producers in Manhattan and a vagina dentata (blonde) newly arrived from Ohio.


Click on the title above for Filmleaf's Festival Coverage review.

[oscar jubis]

Made some time to read these reviews amidst my busiest schedule since I started posting here in 2002. Some interesting films at this year's SFIFF. Have to be honest and say I just didn't like your review of LOURDES. I don't know if you have quite decided how you truly feel about it. I remember you writing in relation to L'Ora di Religione that religion isn't your "thing" and that you probably were under-estimating the worthiness of that film. Maybe that applies here as well. You tell me. You use the word "off-putting" but there is no evidence of anything specific about the film that deserves that adjective. Then you quote a review that praises the film, you state how you agree with it and proceed to tell us that the film is "not a barrel of laughs" which is right but means nothing since the film never, not once, aims to make the viewer laugh.

[Chris Knipp]

Jessica Hausner's Lourdes (2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24280#post24280)


[Oscar Jubis:]
I don't know if you have quite decided how you truly feel about it. I remember you writing in relation to L'Ora di Religione that religion isn't your "thing" and that you probably were under-estimating the worthiness of that film. Maybe that applies here as well. You tell me.

I have decided how I feel. This is good film and quite an original one. I don't know of anything quite like it. I respect it but do not find it particularly enjoyable and it may be seriously flawed in in its structure, though that still doesn't keep it from being a good and original piece of work.

When I say LOURDES isn't a barrel of laughs, I refer to the fact that it is considered to be a comedy.


Through her eyes, Hausner stages her story as a dry, ironic comedy -- Dan Persons in The Huffington Post. (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dan-persons/emmighty-movie-podcastem_b_468288.html)


Jessica Hausner's new film Lourdes may be the most mysterious film ... makes for a strangely beguiling, austere experience of suspense, spirit, and comedy--The Auteurs.


Sly and suggestive, Lourdes is a cosmic black comedy --TimeOut New York.


In fact, it's so dry it might not be a comedy at all-- [?] [Rotten Tomatoes].


Hausner’s schematic approach to debunking religion is predictable and unfunny
--Armond White.

I think it makes perfectly good sense to qualify the "comedy" description, and the emphasis on the film's "dry" and "droll" qualities, by pointing out that it is not a barrel of laughs. It's in other words a very dry comedy. Not the fun kind. And much of it must be taken very seriously, because it is about a paralytic and seekers of miracle cures who are examined with a documentary flatness. It is dryly funny that you say there is no evidence of anything off-putting about the film.

Dryly funny though LOURDES is, it also does not mock Lourdes or people's expectation of miracles and neither, despite my once saying religion is "not my thing", do I. Clearly for many viewers (and critics) LOURDES is ambiguous and hard to know how to take. If I don't know how to take it, I'm simply reacting in the usual way to the film and perhaps the way Jessica Hausner wants. And I might add that probably a movie like this is very well suited for someone who finds religion is "not his thing."

[Chris Knipp]

Mahammed Rasoulof's The White Meadows (2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24316#post24316)

Rituals and allegories of repression and loss. A new film about a traveling healer who collects tears by the Iranian director of Iron Island, who was recently arrested along with others including Jafar Panahi.

Click on the title above for the CK Festival Coverage review of this film.



http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/6963/200907913607986654b714d.jpg
mohammad rasoulof

[Chris Knipp]

Dorothée Van Den Berghe's My Queen Karo (2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24318#post24318)

Coming of age in a hippie communal squat in 1974 Amsterdam. Open marriages are hard on young kids, it would seem.

Click on the title to see the Filmleaf Festival Coverage review.




http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/6194/75001909.jpg
VAN DEN BERGHE

[Chris Knipp]

Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington's Restrepo (2010) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010/page2#post24323)

A closeup of US soldiers fighting on a 15-monhth deployment in the treacherous Korangal Valley in Afghanistan, this won the Grand Jury Prize for documentary at Sundance this year and is being broadcast globally by National Geographic.

Click on the title above for the Festival Coveragy SFIFF 53 review.

[Chris Knipp]

Awards of the SFIFF

Golden Gate Award Documentary Feature Winners

Investigative Documentary Feature:
Last Train Home, Lixin Fan (Canada/China 2009)
- Winner receives $25,000 cash prize and Final Cut Studio software provided by Apple

Documentary Feature:
Pianomania, Lilian Franck and Robert Cibis (Austria/Germany 2009)
- Winner receives $20,000 cash prize and Final Cut Studio software provided by Apple

Previously announced Golden Gate Award winner
Bay Area Documentary Feature:
Presumed Guilty, Roberto Hernández, Geoffrey Smith (Mexico 2009)
- Winner receives $15,000 cash prize, FInal Cut Studio software provided by Apple and $2,000 in lab services from EFILM Digital Laboratories

New Directors Award
Alamar, Pedro González-Rubio (Mexico 2009)
- Winner receives $15,000 cash prize and Final Cut Studio software provided by Apple

FIPRESCI Prize
Frontier Blues, Babak Jalali (Iran/England/Italy 2009)

Audience Awards
Winter's Bone, Debra Granik (US 2009), narrative feature
Budrus, Julia Basha (Palestinian Territories/Israel, 2009), documentary

[Chris Knipp]

All my SFIFF reviews for 2010

SFIFF 2010 FILMS REVIEWED EARLIER (except Northless and La Pivellina, seen at ND/NF but not reviewed):

Around a Small Mountain (Jacques Rivette 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2644-New-York-Film-Festival-2009&postid=23051#post23051)
Bill Cunningham New York (Richard Press 2010)--ND/NF (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2808-Film-Comments-Selects-And-New-Directors-New-Films-2010&p=24185#post24185)
Everyone Else (Maren Ade 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2644-New-York-Film-Festival-2009&postid=23022#post23022)
Father of My Children, The (Mia Hansen-Løve 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2808-Film-Comments-Selects-And-New-Directors-New-Films-2010&p=24162#post24162)
Hadewijch (Bruno Dumont 2010) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2644-New-York-Film-Festival-2009&postid=23026#post23026)
Henri-Georges Clouzot's Inferno (Serge Bomberg, Ruxandra Medea 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2644-New-York-Film-Festival-2009&postid=23078#post23078)
How I Ended This Summer (Alexei Popogrebsky 2010) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2808-Film-Comments-Selects-And-New-Directors-New-Films-2010&p=24156#post24156)
Lebanon (Samuel Moaz 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2644-New-York-Film-Festival-2009&postid=23012#post23012)
Making Plans for Lena (Christophe Honoré 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2792-Rendez-Vous-with-French-Cinema-2010-at-Loncoln-Center&p=24056#post24056)
Night Catches Us (Tanya Hamilton 2101) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2808-Film-Comments-Selects-And-New-Directors-New-Films-2010&p=24169#post24169)
Northless (Rigoberto Pérezcano 2009)
Oath, The (Laura Poitras 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2808-Film-Comments-Selects-And-New-Directors-New-Films-2010&p=24177#post24177)
Pivellina, La (Tizza Covi, Rainer Frimmel 2009)
Soul Kitchen ((Fatih Akin 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2819-Paris-report-april-2010&p=24239#post24239)
Tehroun (Nader T. Homayoun 209) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2808-Film-Comments-Selects-And-New-Directors-New-Films-2010&p=24173#post24173)
Last Train Home (Fan Tixan 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2808-Film-Comments-Selects-And-New-Directors-New-Films-2010&p=24148#post24148)
To Die Like a Man (João Pedro Rodrigues 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2644-New-York-Film-Festival-2009&postid=23000#post23000)
White Materia (Claire Denis 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2644-New-York-Film-Festival-2009&postid=23048#post23048)
Nénette (Nicolas Philibert 2010) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2819-Paris-report-april-2010&p=24239#post24239)
Wild Grass (Alain Renaid 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2644-New-York-Film-Festival-2009&postid=22939#post22939)

REVIEWS OF FILMS SEEN AT THE FESTIVAL:

Air Doll (Hirakasu Koreeda 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24251#post24251)
Alamar (Pedro González-Rubio 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24288#post24288)
Brand New Life, A (Ouunie Lecomte 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24303#post24303)
Cargo (Ivan Engler, Ralph Etter 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24282#post24282)
Domain (Patric Chiha 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24262#post24262)
Famous and the Dead, The (Esmir Filha 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24303#post24303)
Gainsbourg (Je t'aime...moi non plus (Joann Sfar) (20010) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24284#post24284)
Linha de Passe (Walter Salles, Daniela Thomas 2008) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24292#post24292)
Lourdes (Jessica Hausner 2008) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24280#post24280)
Loved Ones, The (Sean Byrne 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24278#post24278)
Man Who Will Come, The (Giorgio Diritti 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24245#post24245)
Moscow (Whang Cheoul-mean 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24252#post24252)
My Dog Tulip (Paul and Sandra Fierlinger 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24255#post24255)
My Queen Karo (Dorothée Van Den Berghe 2009 (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24318#post24318)
Pianomania (Robert Cibis, Lilian Frank 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24288#post24288)
Practice of the Wild, The (John J. Healey 2010) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24261#post24261)
Restrepo (Sebastian Junger, Tim Hetherington 2010) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010/page2#post24323)
Russian Lessons (Andrei Nekrasov, Olga Konskaya 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24307#post24307)
Seducing Charlie Parker (Amy Glazer 2010) (Click on the title above for the CK Festival Coverage review.)
Transcending Lynch (Marcos Andrade 2010) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24275#post24275)
White Meadows, The (Mohammad Rasoulof 2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24316#post24316)
Winter's Bone (Debra Granik 2010) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24294#post24294)
You Think You're the Prettiest, But You're the Sluttiest (Che Sandoval 2008) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24266#post24266)

[Chris Knipp]

The audience vote just came in. The favorites were:

Audience Awards
(Popular favorites determined by ballots collected after public screenings)

Narrrative feature:
Winter's Bone, Debra Granik (US 2009)
Runner-up: Teddy Chen's Bodyguards and Assassins

Documentary:
Budrus, Julia Basha (Palestinian Territories/Israel, 2009), documentary
Runners-up: Richard Press's Bill Cunningham New York and Davis Guggenheim's Waiting for "Superman"

I've added these winners of the audience vote above. Sorry I missed Budrus!

[Chris Knipp]

Debra Granik's Winter's Bone (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24294#post24294)will have its US theatrical release beginning June 11, 2010. Besides its SFIFF narrative film award it recei ed the Grand Jury Prize for Drama and the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. There will be a special "premiere" preview screening in NYC at MoMA's Titus 2 Theater June 9, at 8:30. Granik will be present.

[oscar jubis]

ALAMAR is being made available on DVD by Film Movement in July, around the same time as its commercial run at Film Forum in NYC. Life in a Mexican fishing village through the eyes of a native father and the boy who resulted from his brief but lovely relationship with an Italian tourist. Father and child reunion depicted with attention to minute detail in naturalistic style. Not a single overwrought moment. Stunningly photographed.

[Chris Knipp]

If I didn't note the DVD release I should have. "Life in a Mexican fishing village" might slightly mislead one who hasn't seen the film, as festival blurbs often do. There is no picture of a fishing village, just brief interaction with a few of the fishermen. The main focus and a very intimate one is of course on father and son.

Alamar (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24288#post24288) had its US theatrical premiere at BAMcinétek March 4 (http://www.bam.org/view.aspx?pid=1950) as part of a series Rotterdam @ BAMcinétek, and the Film Forum run begins July 14 sponsored by, indeed Film Movement.

[Chris Knipp]

Debra Granik's Winter's Bone (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24294#post24294) was just shown at Cannes May 14, 2010, and Mike D'Angelo, AV Club's blogger from the fest, wrote glowingly of it (http://www.avclub.com/articles/cannes-10-day-two,41162/)


. . .just as 'Down to the Bone' singlehandedly jump-started Vera Farmiga’s career, I suspect that 'Winter’s Bone' marks the beginning of a long-term love affair between discerning moviegoers and Ms. Jennifer Lawrence. . .Lawrence turns in a performance so steely and yet so heartbreaking that maintaining an intellectual distance soon becomes impossible. I wish Cannes luck matching this one, frankly. Grade: A-

[Chris Knipp]

Update on SFIFF 2010 films as of July 6, 2010:

Current or soon coming to Bay Area theaters:

AIR DOLL (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24251#post24251) Landmark theaters. Mediocre reviews; short run.
ALAMAR (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24288#post24288). Special brief SFFS showing at Sundance Kabuki Theater.
EVERYONE ELSE (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2644-New-York-Film-Festival-2009&postid=23022#post23022). Current at Landmark Theaters. Fair to good reviews.
FATHER OF MY CHILDREN, THE (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2808-Film-Comments-Selects-And-New-Directors-New-Films-2010&p=24162#post24162) Landmark Theaters, San Francisco run finished. Fair to good reviews.
LEBANON (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2644-New-York-Film-Festival-2009&postid=23012#post23012) Coming to Landmark Theaters.
RESTREPO (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010/page2#post24323) San Francisco; coming to other areas. Fair to good reviews.
WILD GRASS (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2644-New-York-Film-Festival-2009&postid=22939#post22939) Coming to Landmark Theaters.
WINTER'S BONE (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24294#post24294). At four Bay Area theaters currently. Rave reviews.

(Landmark has widespread control of Bay Area art houses, making it harder for others to survive, but there are some independents.)

WINTER'S BONE has received rave reviews in the Bay Area, notably in the influential SF Chronicle newspaper, with special praise (as elsewhere) for Jennifer Lawrence's lead performance. AIR DOLL did not do well critically. RESTREPO has gotten fair reviews with some very positive comments.

[Chris Knipp]

More about Sebastian Juner and Tim Hetherington's RESTREPO:

The documentary's lack of a position on the Afghan war may in fact be more a pro-war position if one is to judge by Sebastian Junger's statements in recent TV appearances. This at least is the assertion of Bill Cody in an article (http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/article/a-closer-look-at-sundance-favorite-restrepo) online at www.ropeofsilicon.com, "A Closer Look at Sundance Favorite 'Restrepo.'" Cody has recent personal experience filming US combat troops and says he has looked at a lot of Afghan war footage. He points to a lack of basic information in RESTREPO (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010/page2#post24323) about the unit and its training. He questions the quality of the camerawork itself and says there's a lot just as good to be found on YouTube. Cody points out these guys were originally not there to make a film at all but to do a Vanity Fair article. Did Sundance get fooled not only about the merit of the film but about its politics, since they have previously favored anti-war docs like IRAQ IN FRAGMENTS (http://www.chrisknipp.com/writing/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=589&start=0) and NO END IN SIGHT (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2106-Charles-Ferguson-No-End-in-Sight-%282007%29)? Some have interpreted RESTREPO as anti-war. Junger's would call that seriously into question. (I personally do not think it is anti-war in any way. It is critical of the conduct of the war only in the sense of many pro-war strategists who argue there should be more and massive support and far more foreign troops involved, not as anti-war people feel, that the US ought to get out of Afghanistan.)

We might extrapolate from Cody's discussion and ask: Aren't war films that "lack context" or are "apolitical," like THE HURT LOCKER and RESTREPO, really pro-war by virtue of their sheer lack of criticism of the situations they relate? You're either for it or against it, and if you're not against it, you're for it. As for the film, reviewers often seem to think that its intense "vérité" feel means it is valid. Cody finds it too much like the footage the troops make of themselves.

In fact, Cody says, the 173rd Airborne unit covered in RESTREPO is a highly trained attack force, but the film focuses on the youngest faces and makes them look like a crew of innocents, while its vérité look and clumsy technique mask a highly manipulative structure.

I was not, that I recall, familiar with the www.ropeofsilicon.com website or Bill Cody but this "ripping into" Junger piece is being referenced elsewhere on the Web. I think it is valid in that at least the same caveats are in order here as for THE HURT LOCKER (http://www.cinescene.com/reviews/hurtlocker.htm).

[Chris Knipp]

Pedro González-Rubio's Alamar (2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24288#post24288)

An idyllic portrait of the intimacy of a Mayan-descent father and his young son visiting from Rome, as they spend a summer together with the boy's grandfather fishing in a protected reef area off the Mexican coast.

Click on the title for the CK Festival Coverage review.

Film Forum will show ALAMAR for one week, July 14-20. This well-publicized New York run begins a theatrical tour of the film in the US, perhaps.

Stephen Holden reviewed the film in the NY Times July 13, 2010: http://movies.nytimes.com/2010/07/14/movies/14alamar.html?hpw


The characters in “Alamar” may be playing versions of themselves, but the writer, editor and director Pedro González-Rubio has constructed a film in which the journey has an overarching mythic resonance that evokes fables from “Robinson Crusoe” to “The Old Man and the Sea.” Holden points out the "grandfather" is not a real blood relative, and explains that the ne-story cabins perched on stilts above the water are called "palafittes." A well-informed review that gracefully touches all the bases.

[Chris Knipp]

Gainsbourg (Je t'aime...moi non plus (Joann Sfar) (20010) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010&p=24284#post24284)


This excellent biopic, winner of the César award for best first film 2010, is having a US theatrical release, and it begins with Aug. 31-Sept. 13 at Film Forum in New York City.

[Chris Knipp]

http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/3456/domainv.jpg

DOMAIN

This French movie starring Béatrice Dalle opens at the San Francisco Film Society's theater on Friday, Feb. 3. 2012. I'll republish my review of this film from the 2010 San Francisco International Film Festival (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010) on that day. Meanwhile here is the SFFS's blurb:

This moody, contemplative drama explores the unusually intimate relationship between an aunt and her nephew. Nadine (Betty Blue's Béatrice Dalle), a single mathematician in her 40s, is struggling with alcoholism. She’s worldly, educated, wild and mischievous and she dazzles young Pierre with captivating stories from her past on their daily walks through the park. With suspenseful restraint, first-time filmmaker Patric Chiha reveals the story, allowing room for silence, facial expressions and body language to do their work. Dalle is mesmerizing throughout matched by newcomer Isaïe Sultan’s compelling work as Pierre. Selected by John Waters as his favorite film of 2010.

Domain was released in NYC January 13, 2012.

[Chris Knipp]

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/320x240q90/835/lzi6.jpg

Che Sandoval (José Manuel Sandoval): Te creís la más linda/You Think You're the Prettiest, But You're the Sluttiest (2008)--SFIFF2010 (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2823-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2010#post24266)

You can currently watch this flavorful and original Chilean youth film in a good quality print on YouTube with English subtitles HERE. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wGbUn_2iDQ) The scenes are remarkably real and natural, the portrait of aimless youth contemporary and atmospheric. Young debutant actor Martín Castillo as the motormouthed main character, Javier, is a atural, fun to watch in action; Castillo has gone on to be in another feature and in two TV series since. Che Sandoval is an original talent: how come it took so long for him to make a second film? It was five years before he made another film, Much Better Than You/Soy mucho mejor que vos (2013), whose plot is a spinoff of a character Javier, of TE CREÍS LA MAS LINDA, meets in a bar. There is only one review of this sophomore effort (in Spanish) linked to on IMDb, but as far as I can make out it's a rave. This film had some festival exposure last year and opened in Sandoval's native Chile a month ago.