The 10th Annual Capital Oscars Party

By Bonnie Joranko

Join us on Sunday, March 24, 2002 for the Washington D.C. Film Society’s 10th Annual “Capital Oscars” Party FUN-raiser held at the historic Arlington Cinema ‘N’ Drafthouse, 2903 Columbia Pike, Arlington, Virginia. The event begins at 8:00 p.m., but the doors open at 7:15 p.m. Get there early so you can be there to see the stars walk down the red carpet, and watch Whoopi Goldberg host at the 74th Academy Awards broadcast live on the big screen from Hollywood’s brand new Kodak Theatre.

Ticket prices are $15.00 for Film Society members and $20.00 for non-members. You must be 21 or older to attend. You’ll want to be sure to bring cash or your checkbook (no credit cards, please) to bid for the fabulous prizes in the Silent Auction.

This event always sells out. Guarantee your ticket by sending a check, payable to the DC Film Society, to: DC Film Society, Attn: Capital Oscars, PO Box 65992, Washington, DC 20035-5992. For more information as it becomes available, please visit our website at www.dcfilmsociety.org, or call the hotline at (202) 554-3263.

There is no better way to experience the Oscars (well, except to be there). Join friends, family, and fellow movie aficionados for an exciting evening that includes a Silent Auction, door prizes, lots of free movie promotional items, the ever-popular “Pick the Winners” contest, and more surprises. And, as if this weren’t enough already, the winners of the DC Film Society’s own “Best of 2001” will be announced that night. (See the nominees listed below).

Don’t miss out on this great opportunity to relax and enjoy the broadcast in the spacious comfort of the Drafthouse’s cafe tables and chairs, with affordable food and drinks. Enjoy the company of people who love movies as much as you do while watching the Oscars just as they should be: bigger than life!!!

DCFS Announces Its Nominees for The Best of 2001

By Brian Niemiec

The ballots are in and the votes have been counted. The Washington D.C. Film Society released its nominees for The Best of 2001 on February 12, 2002. And the nominees are:

Best Picture: A Beautiful Mind, Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings, and Memento.

Best Director: Ron Howard (A Beautiful Mind), Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings) and Christopher Nolan (Memento).

Best Actor: Russell Crowe (A Beautiful Mind), Gene Hackman (The Royal Tenenbaums) and Guy Pearce (Memento).

Best Actress: Nicole Kidman (Moulin Rouge), Sissy Spacek (In the Bedroom) and Naomi Watts (Mulholland Drive).

Best Supporting Actor: Jim Broadbent (Iris), Steve Buscemi (Ghost World) and Ben Kingsley (Sexy Beast).

Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Connelly (A Beautiful Mind), Frances McDormand (The Man Who Wasn’t There) and Marisa Tomei (In the Bedroom).

Best Foreign Film: Amélie (France), Amores perros (Mexico), No Man’s Land (Bosnia-Herzegovina).

Winners will be announced at the 10th Annual Washington DC Film Society Capital Oscars Party on Sunday, March 24, at the Arlington Cinema n’ Drafthouse. Join us for the festivities and see if your favorite won!

Cinema Lounge Tries to Outguess Academy Voters

By Brian Niemiec

The Cinema Lounge met on Monday, February 11, the night before the Oscar nominations were announced, to try and outguess the Academy…and pick our favorites, too.

For Best Picture, we thought the Academy would select A Beautiful Mind, Lord of the Rings, In the Bedroom, Moulin Rouge and Black Hawk Down. We thought for sure that the Academy would catch the patriotic wave and nominate Black Hawk Down. They went for Gosford Park instead. Our wish was to see Memento make the cut, but that was too much to hope for.

For Best Director, we chose Robert Altman (Gosford Park), Ron Howard (A Beautiful Mind), David Lynch (Mulholland Drive), Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings) and Baz Lurhman (Moulin Rouge). The Academy chose to recognize Moulin Rouge, but not the talents of its director, Baz Lurhman. Instead, they nominated Ridley Scott for Black Hawk Down, a film that didn’t even make the Best Picture cut. Funny how that happens. Our favorite was Christopher Nolan (Memento).

For Best Actor, we selected Russell Crowe (A Beautiful Mind), Denzel Washington (Training Day), Will Smith (Ali), Tom Wilkinson (In the Bedroom) and Gene Hackman (The Royal Tenenbaums). The Academy nominated Sean Penn for I Am Sam instead of Hackman. I Am Sam caused many of our attendees to guffaw at Penn’s over-the-top performance. This is certainly a surprise. We still prefer Guy Pearce’s performance in Memento.

For Best Actress we thought the Academy would select Sissy Spacek (In the Bedroom), Nicole Kidman (Moulin Rouge), Halle Berry (Monster’s Ball), Judy Dench (Iris) and Naomi Watts (Mulholland Drive). We certainly didn’t give Rene Zellweger (Bridget Jones’ Diary) a second thought, but the Academy did. They selected her despite the buzz over Naomi Watts’ performance. Our favorite is still Spacek.

In the Best Supporting Actor category, we chose Steve Buscemi (Ghost World), John Voight (Ali), Ian McKellen (Lord of the Rings), Jim Broadbent (Iris) and Ben Kingsley (Sexy Beast). We were blindsided by the Academy’s choice of Ethan Hawke (Training Day) over Buscemi, our favorite. We didn’t even consider Hawke as a possibility!

For Best Supporting Actress, we thought the Academy would recognize Jennifer Connelly (A Beautiful Mind), Gweneth Paltrow (The Royal Tenenbaums), Marisa Tomei (In the Bedroom), Helen Mirren (Gosford Park) and Maggie Smith (Gosford Park). The Academy chose to recognize Kate Winslet (Iris), who we quickly dismissed. Our favorite in this category is Connelly.

Overall, we achieved four out of five for each category. Not bad.

Cinema Lounge will meet again on Monday, March 11. Our topic is That Wacky MPAA. Join us as we discuss the MPAA ratings system and the dilemma it presents in rating today’s films, like this year’s Storytelling. Give us your thoughts for a new ratings system. As always, we meet at Borders Books, 600 14th Street, NW, Washington, DC at 7:00 PM in the Café Espresso on the second level.

The 10th Annual Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital

This spring the Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital will celebrate a decade of cinematic focus on Earth’s diverse environments. The 2002 Festival will screen 105 documentary, feature, animated, archival, and children’s films from March 14 through 24 at a variety of venues throughout Washington, D.C. Selected to provide fresh perspectives on environmental issues around the globe, the Festival will showcase winners from the 2001 Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival, the Telluride Mountainfilm Festival, Germany’s Okomedia, and the United Nations Association Film Festival.

This year’s Festival features 54 Washington, D.C. premieres, including Iranian master Abbas Kiarostami’s ABC Africa about the ravages of AIDS and civil war in Uganda; the National Wildlife Federation’s new giant screen film, Bears, on the challenges facing polar bears and grizzlies in the wild; and the Norwegian film, Cool and Crazy: The Berlevåg Male Choir.

On the Festival’s opening day, March 14, native Bolivian filmmakers present nine award-winning fiction and documentary works in Eye of the Condor/Ojo Del Condor at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. At the National Zoo, Washington filmmaker Cynthia Moses screens her film, Living With Gorillas, which journeys to equatorial Africa to document a 350-lb male gorilla in the wild.

On the final day of the Festival, March 24, director John Cohen will present two of his documentaries at The Textile Museum: Carnival in Q’eros about the remarkable Carnival celebrations of a community of Indians in the Peruvian Andes; and Peruvian Weaving examining the ancient Indian tradition of warp pattern weaving. At the National Museum of American History, Marlene Richardson shows and discusses her film, Lady Bird Naturally about the life of Lady Bird Johnson and her campaign to beautify America.

Other highlights of the Environmental Film Festival include: Agnès Varda’s award-winning film, The Gleaners and I at the Embassy of France; local filmmaker John Sorensen’s documentary, The Road to Yucca Mountain; and The Next Industrial Revolution: William McDonough, Michael Braungart, & The Birth of the Sustainable Economy about the movement for eco-friendly design.

Most Environmental Film Festival programs include discussion with filmmakers or environmental experts and are free. For a complete schedule of films, dates, and locations, call 202-342-2564 or visit the website at www.dcenvironmentalfilmfest.org.

Membership 2002-2003 Update

We hope you have been enjoying your current membership. We’ve screened more movies this membership year so far than we ever have in the past, we’ve had two great Coming Attractions Trailer Programs, and there’s a fabulous Oscars Party on the way! What more could there be?

How about two free months? Yes. In order to accommodate our busy Spring Schedules, we’ve decided to move the membership year to a June 1 start date (it had been April 1 since the Film Society began). So, we’re just giving you two months for free.

But wait… there’s more! We are also revamping our Membership structure to allow for more members and access to screenings without overcrowding. Until we’ve finalized this structure, we are not accepting renewals or new memberships. Please don’t send in checks, as we will send them back. We will be mailing you your renewal letters and forms in April, so you have a chance to renew before we open up for new memberships applications. If you have friends who have wanted to join, please ask them to visit our web site mid April for membership information. We cannot accept a waiting list or respond to individual e-mails at this time.

Thank you for being a great bunch of members!

Report from the Rotterdam Film Festival

By Jim McCaskill

ROTTERDAM, The Netherlands. What sheer joy it is to find a film festival with such deep commitment to film and film makers. The good folks in Rotterdam just ended two weeks of film passion. They adore films as evidenced by 350,000 paid admissions and 24 World Premieres, 29 International Premieres, 13 European Premieres and one royal wedding. The wedding was just added delight as all Holland brought everything to a halt and celebrated the nuptials of the Crown Prince and his Argentine bride.

In this windy city on the North Sea the words heard most were "independent" and "innovative." Words are given more than lip service here--these people eat, sleep and dream films year round. Most other festivals are content to bring together the mix of film makers, distributors and attendees but here, through several funds, they support young and experienced film makers, challenge your concept of what film should be and remind you of what film can be by shining their bright spotlight on the grand traditions of cinema.

In a dizzying array of film categories they thrust film in all its guises to center stage. Not content to have the usual suspects in a Main Programmme Feature, a mix of 200 brand new and films gaining respect at other festivals, the Film Festival Rotterdam had 350 short films and entries in nine other categories. These other categories include two that give financial support to film projects; the 21 films vying for Hubert Bals Fund money and 16 films chasing VPRO Tiger Award honors. If that is not enough, the Prince Claus Fund presents a grant to a rising talent from Africa, Asia, Latin American or the Caribbean for his or her project. And that is only the beginning as the 19th CineMart film market selected 43 works-in-progress to the attention of distributors. That's 43 films out of 423 submissions. Highly selective and deserving film. We are not through yet. This year, in an arrangement, six successfully launched Cinemart projects were showcased at the Berlin International Film Festival.

One film really impressed me. Lavoura Arcaica (Luiz Fernando Caralho, Brazil), (Left hand of the Father will be the English title). This is a Faulkner-style script that is beautifully filmed and looks at a Lebanese Catholic family in Brazil under an autocratic father. One son rebels and runs away. At times over wrought but always keeping you involved. No US distributor at this time but deserves one.

Now you can take a deep breath and let's look at this year's award winners. These aren't home town favorites. The Dutch films have no leg up as they compete with film makers from around the globe. Let's start with those CineMart films on the Rotterdam-Berlinale Express: La Nina Santa (Lucrecia Martel, Argentina), Waiting for the Clouds (Yesim Ustaoglu, Turkey), The Paradise Girls (Fow Pyngtlu, the Netherlands), Father and Son (Aleksandr Sokurov, Russia and Germany), Springtime in a Small Town (Tian Zhangzhuang, China), and The Giggle Factor (Jamie Babbit, USA). These are films that will not be completed for a year or so but they are off to a great start. Another film that won't be completed for some time is The Photograph, the second feature film by Indonesian filmmaker Nan T. Achnas. That got financial support from the Prince Claus Fund. This film is conceived as being a 90-minute digital film, first of three about life in Jakarta. This follows an old photographer as he seeks his successor in this dying trade. The press release on this award was given because "As a female producer/director she embodies the emancipatory strength of a new generation of female filmmakers in Indonesia. She deserves support not only for developing her talent, but also because of working in a difficult social-political climate." Her project is scheduled for a first screening in a future Film Festival Rotterdam.

Two of the top three audience awards went to films that have already had some success in the states: Denis Tanovic's No Man's Land, Bosnia/France/Belgium (nominated for Best Foreign Language Academy Award) was ranked number one and received the Canal+ Award; number two was Atanarjuat, the Fast Runner from Zacharias Kunuk, Canada. Third place went to the Netherlands's Tussenland, a film about a grumpy old man and a young African refugee.

The International Film Critics voted Germany's Mein Bruder der Vampir (Sven Taddicken directed) as the Best Film. This film, whose German title means what you think it means "My Brother the Vampire," will be retitled for the US market. Here it will be Getting My Brother Laid. Ok. Which title would you prefer and what does it say about you. It is billed as "a chaotic ride through a bizarre family's coming of age." Didn't know families came of age, thought it was individuals. The second title is closer to the theme of the film where three siblings involved in the love life of their 30 year old "mentally handicapped brother." The critics voted a special mention to La Libertad, (Lisandro Alonsa, Argentina). This engrossing film, told in documentary style, shows a day in the life of a simple Argentine woodcutteer on the pampas.

Dutch film critics gave their award to Bolivia (Adrian Caetano, Argentina) that follows a homesick Bolivian in Buenos Aires who wants to be a grill chief. Other films highly regarded by these ciritics was Sabado (Juan Villegas, Argentina) and La Libertad. Don't know if the political events in Argentina and their disatrious consequences for the Argentine film industry influenced so many voters. The South Korean film, Take Care of My Cat from Jeong Jae-Eun was in thrid place. This touching film followed five girlfriends in their immediate years after school.

Rotterdam has always been a strong supporter of Asian films. This year the Network for the Promotion of Asian Films gave its nod to Okuhara Hiroshi, Japan'sWave and Secret Ballot from Babak/Payami, Iran/Italy. MovieZone's Youth Jury gave top mark's to Fat Girl (Catherine Breillat, France).

Other feature films that I saw and strongly recommend that may open in the USA are: Baran (Majid Majidi, Iran), Bread and Milk (Jan Cvitkovic, Slovenia), Chicken Rice War (CheeK, Singapore), Delbaran (Abolfazi Jajlili, Japan/Iran), Lalsalu (Tanvir Mokammel, Bangladesh), Ljubljana (Igor Sterk, Slovenia. An interview with this director will be in a future Storyboard.), Mischka (Jean-Francois Stevenin, France), The Orphan of Anyang (Wang Chao, China), Wild Bees (Bohdan Slama, Czech Republic).

I was really impressed with the films coming out of Slovenia, one of the "new" countries in central Europe with old traditions. Up until World War II, Slovenia had made some short films and documentaries. Since World War II, mostly while part of Yugoslavia, they have made 200 films total. Italy makes that many films in one year. Two million citizens and 5 or 6 feature films each year and this year they had four films in Rotterdam. A future article will be with the outstanding young director Igor Sterk. Besides his film, Ljubljana, and Jan Cvitkovic's Kruh in Mleko (Bread and Milk) there were Trdnjava Evropa (Fortress Europe) and the highly acclaimed No Man's Land by Danis Tanovic was almost entirely shot in Slovenia.

Next year the International Film Festival Rotterdam will run from 22 January to 2 February. Come and be challenged. You may change your mind about what film can do. This year film goers were enlightened by the discussions and films in the Film is series. Film is important in Rotterdam.

Calendar of Events

FILMS

Freer Gallery of Art
Along with the National Gallery of Art and other venues, the Freer will show films by Indian director Satyajit Ray in March and April. The March films are The Music Room (1958) on March 1 at 7:00pm, The Adventures of Goopy and Bagha (1968) on March 2 at 2:00pm, Distant Thunder (1973) on March 15 at 7:00pm, Days and Nights in the Forest (1969) on March 17 at 2:00pm, and The Kingdom of Diamonds (1980) on March 24 at 2:00pm. The series continues in April.

National Gallery of Art
The Gallery's March Satyajit Ray films are Kanchenjungha (1962) shown with a documentary Rabindranath Tagore (1961) on March 1 at 2:00pm and March 3 at 4:00pm; Pather Panchali (1955) on March 8 at 12:30pm and March 9 at 2:30pm; Aparajito (1957) on March 8 at 3:00pm and March 10 at 4:00pm; The World of Apu (1959) on March 15 and 22 at 3:00pm and March 30 at 12:30pm; The Philosopher's Stone (1957) on March 23 at 12:30pm; The Golden Fortress (1974) on March 23 at 3:00pm; The Elephant God (1978) on March 29 and 30 at 3:00pm; and The Big City (1963) on March 31 at 4:00pm. In addition to the Ray films, the Gallery takes part in the Environmental Film Festival with Cool and Crazy: The Berlevåg Male Choir (Knut Erik Jensen, 2001) on March 15 at 12:30pm and March 17 at 4:00pm and Rivers and Tides: Andy Goldworthy Working With Time (Thomas Riedelsheimer, 2000). A documentary on Michelangelo, Michelangelo: Self-Portrait (Robert Snyder, 1987) is on March 27-29 at 12:30pm and March 31 at 12:00pm. Films about Christo: Wrapped Walkways (1978) is on March 1 and 3 at 12:30pm, Islands (1985) is on March 6, 7, and 10 at 12:30pm, and Christo in Paris (1990) is on March 13, 14, 20, 21, and 24 at 12:30pm.

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
An early wide-screen film, The Bat Whispers (Roland West, 1930) is on March 7 and 8. As part of the Environmental Film Festival a selection of short films from Bolivia can be seen on March 14 and Doe Boy (Randy Redroad, 2001) is on March 15. The annual Slamdance selections of shorts and features screens on March 21 and 22 at 8:00pm with festival director Peter Baxter. All are at 8:00pm.

National Museum of Women in the Arts
As part of the Environmental Film Festival is Life and Debt (Stephanie Black, 2000) on March 20 at 7:00pm. A Mexican film, Lola Casanova (Matilde Landeta, 1948) is on March 21 at 7:00pm. (Note that this is a change from what is listed in the printed newsletter).

Films on the Hill
On March 13 at 7:00pm is a double feature "Occidentals Play Orientals" with Edward G. Robinson as a Chinese assassin in San Francisco in The Hatchet Man (William Wellman, 1932) and Charlie Chan in London (Eugene Forde, 1934) which is the film being talked about in Gosford Park. Taking part in the Environmental Film Festival, Films on the Hill shows Valley of the Giants (Charles Brabin, 1927) with live piano accompaniment by Ray Brubacher on March 15 at 7:30pm and Storm Over Tibet (Andrew Marton, 1952) on March 22 at 7:30pm. Martin Scorsese said that his interest in Tibet (Kundun) was inspired when he saw this film in the 1950s.

DC Jewish Community Center
A series "Edges of the Diasporo: Jews in Africa, Asia, and Beyond" takes place in March. The films are: Salaam Shalom: The Jews of India (Vanessa C. Laufer, 2001) on March 12 and Hammam Memories (Peggy Vassiliou, 2000) with Rhodes Forever (Diane Perelsztejn, 1995) about Jews in Greece on March 18. All are at 7:00pm. All are videos except for Rhodes Forever. A program of videos and film about soccer is on March 19 at 7:00pm. The titles are: Micronesia Grass Legend (Yoram Zack and Hagai Lapid, 2000); The Worst Jewish Football Team in the World (Gary Ogin, 1999); and The Football Pitch (Lewis Hausler, 2000). Call 800-494-TIXS for tickets.

Pickford Theater
The Pickford takes part in the Satyajit Ray retro with The Adversary (1970) on March 28 at 7:00pm and the Environmental Film Festival with Yellow Sky (William Wellman, 1948) and Fair Warning (Norman Foster, 1938) among others.

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
A series of four films, each detailing a compelling and little-known aspect of Holocaust history will include discussions with filmmakers and commentary by other experts. The films are: The Struma (Simcha Jacobovici, 2001) on March 11 at 7:00pm and March 12 at 1:00pm; Porraimos: Europe's Gypsies in the Holocaust (Alexandra M. Isles, 2001) on March 18 at 7:00pm and March 19 at 1:00pm; My Grandfather's House (Eileen Douglas, 2000) on March 25 at 7:00pm and March 26 at 1:00pm; and Outwitting Hitler (Christopher Ward, 2001) on April 1 at 7:00pm and April 2 at 1:00pm.

National Geographic Society
The annual "Best of the Banff Festival of Mountain Films" takes place March 19, 20 and 21 at 7:00pm with a different program of short films on each day.

French Embassy
Agnès Varda's The Gleaners and I (2000) is shown as part of the Environmental Film Festival on March 15 at 7:00pm.

National Museum of Natural History
Selections from the Telluride Mountainfilm Festival can be seen on March 16 from 2:00-5:30pm and selections from the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival are on March 17 from 11:00am to 5:15pm, among others.

Smithsonian Associates
The Washington Premiere of the new IMAX film Bears is on March 21 at 7:30pm with Chris Palmer of National Wildlife Productions introducing the film. The silent Buster Keaton film Steamboat Bill Jr. (Buster Keaton, 1928) with a six-piece ensemble providing music accompaniment is on March 22 at 7:30pm. Both are part of the Environmental Film Festival.

Previous Storyboards

February, 2002
January, 2002
December, 2001
November, 2001
October, 2001
September, 2001
August, 2001
July, 2001
June, 2001
May, 2001
April, 2001
March, 2001
February, 2001
January, 2001
December,2000
November, 2000