June, 2001.

Festival Attendance Breaks All Records

Himalaya and Lumumba tie as winners of Audience Award at Washington, DC International Film Festival

Closing its fifteenth and most popular year to date, the Washington, DC International Film Festival announced Himalaya and Lumumba as joint winners of the Audience Award. Filmfest DC's Audience Award is based on votes collected from audience members at over 100 screenings throughout the thirteen-day festival. This year's attendance surpassed all preceding years, drawing in a record breaking 37,000 viewers.

Director Eric Valli's Himalaya, produced by Galatée Films/Antelope/Les Productions JMH, tells the story of a generational power struggle for the leadership of a tiny Tibetan mountain village, played out between its proud old chief and a headstrong young caravaner. Under the title Caravan, Himalaya was one of the final five in the 2000 foreign film Oscar race and won the audience award at the Flanders festival. Lumumba, a JBA production directed by Raoul Peck, tells the story of Patrice Emory K. Lumumba, the charismatic first leader of the newly independent Zaire, tracing his courageous fight for his country's independence.

Rounding out the top five films were Director Jan Hrebejk's Divided We Fall (Czech), Juan Carlos de Llaca's Dust to Dust (Mexico), Silvio Soldini's Bread and Tulips (Italy) and Eliseo Subiela's Wake Up Love (Argentina).

To learn more about this year's festival visit the official website, or call the Filmfest DC public information line at (202) 628-FILM.

Coming Attractions: The Art of the Movie Trailer

by Cheryl Dixon and Michael Kyrioglou

Some of us love to see lots of trailers when we go to a movie-it's a peek into the future for hungry movie fans. Others couldn't care less and just want the movie to start. For the trailer lovers, the Film Society's twice annual Coming Attractions Trailer Program was the place to be on May 21, with a chance to see and discuss preview trailers of many of the summer's hot releases (19 actually in total). Film Critics Joe Barber and Bill Henry returned as the event's co-hosts to offer their no-holds barred insights, witty repartee, background buzz and general remarks about the unique art of film marketing. And our non-shy audience of more than 120 movie-lovers enthusiastically participated in the Q&A sessions.

There was a spirited discussion of ultra-realistic animated films (like the upcoming Atlantis: The Lost Empire or Final Fantasy) as a virtue or vice-there's sophisticated animation, but will sci-fi fans or family audiences be drawn in? Disney's Monsters, Inc. received the best response with laughter and hearty applause. In the Teenage Wasteland category, we see a Pretty Woman knockoff for teens (from Garry Marshall, the director of that movie) in The Princess Diaries (featuring Julie Andrews believe it or not), while Reese Witherspoon in Legally Blonde definitely conjures up images of Clueless. Can lightning striking twice with these familiar formulas? The crowd seemed split. Anticipation of Pearl Harbor seemed eminent, but comments centered around the film's length, historical accuracy and the spectacular battle shots (especially what Bill called the "money shot" of the bombing of the Arizona). And did you recognize The Green Mile's Michael Clarke Duncan and Merchant/Ivory stalwart Helena Bonham Carter under all of that makeup in the Planet of the Apes trailer? Finally, America's Sweethearts seemed like the trademark Julia Roberts film fans expect and will flock to; we questioned whether director John Singleton can pull off another Boyz in the Hood with his Baby Boy, after a string of less than stellar movies; and What's the Worst That Could Happen? (with Danny Devito) appeared to be Ruthless People meets any Martin-Lawrence-thief-movie we've already seen.

Of course, we discussed a lot more than just what was on the menu, from basic questions such as "When do the studios decide to release a movie?" or trivia such as the likelihood of a Jurassic Park IV (the answer is yes). Anything is bound to be discussed at this event. The movie posters, hats, CD's and other promotional giveaways are always a fun component of this event, too. If you missed it, don't forget to check us out for the fall edition.

Many thanks to our event coordinators Cecilia Capece, Mary Lee and Cate Nielan, as well as Catherine Stanton, Larry Hart, Billy Wickert, Ky Nguyen and Tuan Tran, and our event hosts, Joe Barber and Bill Henry.

The Cinema Lounge Dissects Sacred Cows

by Brian Niemiec

There is a classic episode of Seinfeld in which Elaine is shunned by her friends and loses her boyfriend because of her intense dislike of The English Patient. Finally, she is forced to watch it a second time with her boss. Squirming in her seat in mental anguish, she screams out, "Oh, would you just die already!"

On Monday, May 14, Cinema Lounge met to discuss Sacred Cows. Sacred Cows are movies that the critics adore, your friends can't stop talking about and you just hate. Going against the grain isn't easy. It can spark some fierce debate, as it did during our discussion.

The titles bantered about ranged from Hollywood classics to Indie favorites. They included: Life is Beautiful, Apocalypse Now, Dancer in the Dark, Sound of Music, Shakespeare in Love, Breaking the Waves, Leaving Las Vegas, Gone With the Wind, Goodfellas, Age of Innocence, O Brother, Where Art Thou, Fargo, Saving Private Ryan, The Thin Red Line, Do the Right Thing, The Fugitive, Forrest Gump, An Affair to Remember, Eraserhead, The Producers, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Love Story, Braveheart, The Sixth Sense, It's a Wonderful Life, Schindler's List, The Shawshank Redemption, American Beauty, You Can Count on Me, Carousel, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Unforgiven, The Bridges of Madison County, In the Line of Fire, Malcolm X, The Lion King, Boyz N the Hood, The Bone Collector, Soul Food, Vertigo, An American in Paris, The Deer Hunter, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Nashville, Dracula (1931), Pillow Talk, My Fair Lady, Blazing Saddles, Pretty Woman and anything by Fellini.

One key word kept popping up: pretentious. The dictionary defines pretentious as, "claiming or demanding a position of distinction or merit, especially when unjustified." Many of the films in the list make this claim because they are created by admired directors who are given free reign to do as they please. The result is self-indulgent, labors of love that polarize audiences, as evidenced during our discussion. Given the opportunity to defend these movies, participants fiercely argued to no avail. Those who hated them could not be swayed, no matter what was said. In the end, it was agreed to disagree.

First Anniversary Coming Up!
Join us for the first anniversary of Cinema Lounge on Monday, June 11, 7:30 p.m., at Borders Books, 5333 Wisconsin Ave. NW in the Café Espresso on the second floor. We will be talking about the changing face of film criticism. With the advent of the Internet and other information technology, anyone can be a critic. How has this forced professional criticism to change? Washington, DC film critics Joe Barber and Bill Henry are scheduled to join us for what promises to be a lively discussion you won't want to miss.

An Interview with Lisa Torrance

Film Festival Watch: Edinburgh

by Jim McCaskill

This interview took place in the coffee shop, Film House, Edinburgh, on May 17. This was Lisa's fourth day as head of Press at the Edinburgh Film Festival. Wonder if she will reveal something about the films that will be shown?

The only hoof and mouth problems in Edinburgh this August will be your tired feet from walking from venue to venue and your sore throat from cheering great performances.

Q. Will Harry Potter received its world premiere at the Edinburgh Film Festival?

A. The festival will run from August 12-26 this summer. We anticipate over 300 films will be shown. List of all films and ticket information will be online around July 10 at www.edfilmfest.org.uk. Bookings can be made online or by telephoning, from the states, 011 44 131 229 2550.

Q. Will Harry Potter be the opening film?

A. There are four major international festivals going on at the same time: the Film Festival, Edinburgh International Festival, the Fringe, and the Book Festival. Information on all can be found online at www.edinburghfestivals.co.uk. Information on accommodations can be found by contacting the tourist board: 011 44 131 473 3800.

Q. How many times will Harry Potter be shown?

A. The films we show are like precious stones in a valued ring. There is so much going on in this compact city during festival. The film festival is the longest continually running film festival in the world. This year we will have a retrospective of the documentaries of Werner Herzog.

Will Harry Potter be shown in Edinburgh? Could not get Lisa to say so you will have to come to the festival to find out and maybe one of the first to see this film.

Next month our intrepid interviewer talks with Hans Smitsman, one of the five student directors nominated for the Student Foreign Language Academy Award.

Letter to the Editor

Virginians Are Not Culture-Lacking Barbarians

I just read your front-page story of [the May] Storyboard and was surprised to read the comments about Virginia and its "lack of cinema celebration," which was followed by a comment about Charleton Heston and the NRA. Although the article was clearly tongue in cheek, it rekindled a long-standing pet peeve I've had about moviegoers north of the Potomac River who feel that anyone south of the river is a cultural moron.

Virginia may not have the West Wing, Barry Levinson or the Blair Witch, but we do have a highly-regarded Film Festival, constantly praised by Roger Ebert, in Charlottesville every fall. There is a new studio south of Richmond that welcomed the crews of Hannibal and The Contender last year. Fairfax Cinema Arts Theater was recently lauded by The Washington Post for bringing Art Films into the "frontier" outside the Beltway.

Personally, I would love to see more [DCFS] film screenings in Virginia (most seem to be along the Wisconsin Avenue corridor). I've felt this way for a long time and your cover story was the straw that broke this camel's back! Thanks for this opportunity for letting me vent.

David Rosse
Serious Film Buff in Reston, VA

Previous Storyboards

May, 2001
April, 2001
March, 2001
February, 2001
January, 2001
December,2000
November, 2000
October, 2000
July, 2000