By James McCaskill, DC Film Society Member

The London Film Festival has been called "the world's most sophisticated cinematic showcase." It may not have the glitz and hoopla of Cannes but it does offer stars and top films. It comes in late October, after all the major film festivals, but Sandra Hebron, festival artistic director, has made great effort in garnering top films from 2005 international film festivals. Those standout films from Berlin, Cannes, Venice and Toronto were here, a few exceptions like Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain (which took home Venice's Golden Lion and high praise in Toronto) and Stephen Frears' Mrs. Henderson Presents (which has the potential to be a UK mega hit). The top Toronto films were covered in the November Storyboard article and won't be covered here.

Faced with the dilemma at least fourteen films (including the opening, Fernardo Meirelles' The Constant Gardner, and the closing film, George Clooney's Good Night, and Good Luck already opening in Washington and having seen about the same number at other festivals, I could focus on films missed the first time round and those arriving with good advance word. I was not disappointed as, for the first time at any festival, I did not see a single rubbish film.

The London Film Festival (LFF) had at least eight directors, who with a well-received first film, were back againwith an equally good second film. Some took their time coming out with film number two. The Brothers Quay took ten years between Institute Benjamenta and their second film, Piano Tuner of Earthquakes. Ira Sachs (The Delta released in 1997 and Forty Shades of Blue, 2004) and Yuan Le Moine (The Red Dwarf, 1998 and Friday or Another Day, 2005) took seven years each. Most took only two years. Faith Akin won great acclaim with Head On and did a complete change of pace with the second film focusing on Istanbul's music scene in Crossing the Bridge. Mohsen Makhmalbaf's Kandahar, 2001, and Sex and Philosophy, 2005. Dagur Kari made my top film list in 2003 with Noi Albinoi and is back with another collection of characters in Dark Horse.

The task of festival director has not been made easy in recent years as the rising cost of festivals and the need to fill every seat can bring an odd assortment of films to any festival. You now must schedule international blockbusters along with small artistic wonders; you can't just schedule art house films from unknown directors from countries you did not even know made films and balance the books. There are those films out there. One such small film, which may come to our area, was Kim Longinotto and Florence Ayis's Sisters in Law, from Cameroon. They have turned the cinematic spotlight on brave women in this small African country whose work in a magistrate's court is bringing about social change.

I had the opportunity to chat with Longinotto about making this film. "We went first to Kenya," she said, "and found stories about attempting change in the legal system. In one case 16 girls took their families to court. They had walked for days to get to court only to find that the magistrate had taken off. In Kumba, Cameroon, they found State Prosecutor Vera Ngassa and Court President Beatrice Ntuba were working to change things." In one case a woman was suing her father and husband who had kidnapped her child. The woman did not want to marry but her father had sold her for $80 and a pig. "When the judge asked the woman what should be done with these two men," Longinotto said, "I knew she was a true democrat. The judge would not listen to praise when I tried. 'I have to get back to my paper work,' she said. We did not want to film land disputes as they are so sophisticated. We wanted stories about ordinary lives. We needed resolution to the stories. Lots of beginnings were filmed." In the end this documentary looks at four real life situations. Six-year old Manka who is covered with sores and ran away from an abusive aunt; in another, a woman is seeking a divorce over the objections of her community and family from a wife beating husband; in the last segment pre-teen Sonita has accused her neighbor of rape." If all you know of Africa comes from headline after headline of tragedy and misery, see Sisters in Law. You will see two women whose humanity and humor could have stepped from the pages of Alexander McCall Smith's The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. Sisters in Law has been a hit at Cannes, Toronto and London. The director told me that the film is scheduled for a spring release by a new distribution service run by five women, "Women Make Movies."

The following are my top pick at the 49th London Film Festival. Keep in mind that films ranked in last month's article on Toronto are excluded.

Must See:
Blood and Bones (Yoichi Sai, Japan, 2005); Black Sun (Gary Tarn, UK, 2005), Sisters in Law (Kim Longinotto and Florence Anisi, UK, 2005), Working Man's Death (Michael Glawogger, Austria, 2005).

Very Good:
Based on a True Story (Walter Stokman, Netherlands, 2004), Crossing the Bridge: Sounds of Istanbul (Fatih Akin, Germany-Turkey, 2005), Portrait of a Lady Far Away (Ali Mosaffa, Iran, 2005), Unknown White Male (Rupert Murray, UK, 2005).

Good, Worth a Look:
Dark Horse (Dagur Kari, Denmark-Ireland, 2005), Election (Johnnie To, Hong Kong, 2005). I Saw Ben Barker Get Killed (Serge LePeron, France/Morocco/Spain, 2005), Proposition (John Hillcoat, Australia-UK, 2005), Sergeant Pepper (Sandra Nettelbeck, Germany/UK, 2004), Song of Songs (Josh Appignanesi, UK, 2005), Viva Cuba (Juan Carlos Cremata, Cuba/France, 2005), A Perfect Day (Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige, France/Lebanon, 2005).


AWARDS:

The Sutherland Trophy went to Kan Paljakka, director of The Living And The Dead and honorable mention was given to both Estamira by Marcos Prado and Murderball by Henry Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro. Washingtonians saw the latter last summer.

8th FIPRESCI International Critics Award went to Ramin Bahrani for Man Push Cart. George Perry, jury member said, "Man Push Cart is a beautiful study of an exiled Pakistani living in New York, a rock star in his homeland but now a man selling bagels and coffee from a street stall. The film is not only visually excellent but has a powerful central performance from Ahmad Razvi."

The Alfred Dunhill UK Film Talent Award winner was producer Gayle Griffiths' Song of Songs. The award is given for new and emerging UK film talent. Christopher Colfer, CEO of Alfred Dunhill said, "It is a pleasure to be supporting this award and we congratulate Gayle Griffiths." The award comes with fifteen thousand pounds.

The 10th Annual Satyajit Ray Award winner was Pavee Lackeen, directed by Perry Ogden. The Satyajit Ray Foundation gives an annual award to a first feature film premiered in the UK at the LFF. "The Jury acknowledges the high standard of many of the first features in this year's Festival, and particularly admired Bouli Lanners" Ultranova, Lee Youn-Ki's This Charming Girl and Maria Prochazkova's Shark in the head," said Jury President Clyde Jeavons. The Irish film Pavee Lackeen portrayed the traveler community in Dublin and its struggle with bureaucracy, poverty and prejudice.

The Times bfi London Film Festival Grierson Award went to Glawogger's Workingman's Death. "A harrowing and visually stunning excursion into the brutal realities of life for manual laborers across the world, this is a truly original and thought provoking documentary and a deserving winner of our inaugural presentation of The Times bfi London Film Festival Grierson Award," said Festival Artistic Director Sandra Hebron.


SYNOPSES OF TOP FILMS
Besides Sisters in Law the other three "must-see" films offer different takes on the starkness of human existence. Two are documentaries and the fourth is based upon a real person. Reality Film easily beats Reality Television. Blood and Bones stars 'Beat' Takeshi Kitano as an astonishingly brutal character. In Yoichi Sai's adaptation of Yan Sogiru's best selling novel, Chi to Hone, Takeshi offers an unflinching, unsympathetic man who in 1923 leaves his isolated southern Korea island to seek his fortune in Osaka, Japan. Based on a actual person, Kim Shun-pei takes on a brutal life of discrimination and hard labor and with his physical strength, determination and ruthlessness, beats it. Starting with a steamed fish paste factory he soon makes his fortune but his obsession drives him on. Shun-pei becomes a hardened loan shark. His wife, mistress, children, and relatives all become targets of his rage. He is so uncaring of the feelings of others that he moves his mistress into the house across the street from his wife. The director said, "It took six years for Blood and Bones to actually get started into production. It was fraught with difficulty, both personal and budgetary and, like its protagonist we had to overcome many difficulties to reach our goals." Blood and Bones is Japan's official entry for the Best Foreign Film Academy Award.

In 1978 a French documentary maker was blinded in a senseless mugging in New York City. A lesser mortal might have spent his reaming years warped by self pity. Not de Montalembert. Based on his writing and travels (a year and a half after the assault he traveled alone to Indonesia. Director Gary Tarn's Black Sun is a brilliant documentary. Huges de Montalembert's brain, used to visual stimulation, began to create its own world. In Bali, among old friends, he was reborn. There he began to write about the exquisite visual images his brain conjured. Tarn's mesmerizing images cascade across the screen giving you a glimpse of the creativeness of this blinded artist.

Last of the must-see films is Workingman's Death. Michael Glawogger's documentary on physical labor in the modern era brings forward that harsh existence that usually is out of our sight. His five studies pay honor to those in harsh crafts. From Krasni Lutsch, Ukraine, he found three who mind coal in a home made pit that is only 16 inches high and always in danger of collapsing and killing them.

Dog Day Afternoon ranks high on most film fanatics all time best lists. Based on a True Story takes its title from that film's opening statement. Sidney Lument was afraid the film was too unbelievable. Dutch director, Walter Stokman, wanted to know the real story behind that film and what happened to the principals. What happened on August 22, 1972 in the hold up of a Brooklyn Chase branch? We may remember that John Wojtowicz needed money to pay for his male lover's sex change operation. His lover was in Belleview Mental hospital after attempting suicide because he could not afford the surgery. It turns out that Wojtowicz was not in favor of the operation but did not want his lover to commit suicide. The irony in all this is that the lover got the sex change operation but it was financed by the money Warner Brothers gave him for the film rights. After the operation they never met again. Wojtowicz went to jail, and his boyfriend married a teenager and recently died of AIDS. Wojtowixcz is still taking hostages, trying to hijack the documentary by demanding more and more money and at one time telling the director, "The documentary is not yours, the documentary is mine." Using interviews and news reel footage, Based on a True Story is a fascinating story of the individuals caught in a Hollywood classic.

What sounds come to mind when you think of Turkish music? Istanbul is a lively, cosmopolitan city and as such as a diverse music scene. Fatih Akin and musicologist Alexander Hacke (he did the soundtrack for Head On) invite you along on a musical odyssey in the Turkish capital. From modern electronic sounds, rock, hip-hop and back to classical "Arabesque" music join in and enjoy the cultural clashes of modern Istanbul in Crossing the Bridge. The band Baba Zula may be more accepted in Europe than in Turkey, at least their records sell better there. Their mix of jazzy psychedelic rock and oriental sounds make them a bit too avant-garde for many Turks and their over-the-top costumes don't help. Orient Express has their own take on history. For them the orient begins in India and ends in Istanbul. The occident begins in Istanbul and ends in Los Angeles so everything comes together in Istanbul. Radio Oxygen spreads their tunes to the young and hip. Want punk rock? Try Duman or for the more sophisticated there is Replikas. Fear that Western decadence is creeping in? Erkin Koray kicked that off 40 years ago with their covers of Top of the Pop hits. Ceza (translation: The Punishment) is Public Enemy moved to Eurasia and his fast pace has been described as "a preacher on speed." Mercan Debe brings sufi music to club sounds. Ever think you would hear rock played on a ney? In Sufism the ney, a bamboo pipe, is philosophically important as Sufism is based on equal parts transparency and tolerance, all questions and answers of being can be found in the heart of each person. Think whirling dervish reaching a state of emptiness. The beat and music of Istanbul goes on.

Ali Mosaffa, actor turned director, was cautioned not to make a film. He told me that, "It is an experience, as a first film everyone said, 'You are digging your own grave with your own hands.' Then I said I didn't know if I would live another day so why not make this film. It was like trying to break through some norm I had learned. I had to break through the films of my own country. For 7 or 8 years I was an actor. Then what the director was doing became more and more important to me than what I was doing." In his film, Portrait of a Lady Far Away, he has broken through and has made a very different Iranian film. An unknown woman leaves a message on the answering machine of an aging architect. She says she dialed his number a random and wants someone to know that she is planning her own death. Thus a search for her begins. The address given turns out to be an empty apartment where he meets the caller's friend who takes him on a night long search for the potential suicide. It is a journey not only to find the unknown caller but deep into the protagonists own interior world. This dreamlike film is a brave film for a first time director. Portrait of a Lady will be seen in Washington at the Freer in February.

What would you do if given the chance to jettison your past? All knowledge of events, family, friends wiped away in one second. Doug Bruce was given that option sometime between 8pm on July 1st and 7am on July 2, 2002. Waking that morning on a New York City subway headed towards Coney Island, Bruce could not recall his name or anything else about himself. Two MRTs, two CAT scans, 26 blood tests and a battery of psychiatrists could not make a diagnosis. Turns out he had the rarest form of memory lost, Retrograde Amnesia. Rupert Murray, a long time friend of Bruce, has made a documentary that asks the right "How did that happen" questions but does not always find an answer. Unknown White Male allows you to ride along as Murray examines Bruce's unfolding world. The documentarian brings a skillful touch in combining the bits and pieces of his friends past using home-video from their younger days combined with interviews with people in his present life. We watch as he rebuilds his world, keeping the best parts and letting go of the unwanted. The ultimate question is: Does Bruce want the old Bruce back? Would you want the old you back?

Stars are all over London. On the screen at the London Film Festival and on stage in West End plays. The London Film Festival is indeed the most sophisticated cinematic showcase.

We are always looking for film-related material for the Storyboard. Our enthusiastic and well-traveled members have written about their trips to the Cannes Film Festival, London Film Festival, Venice Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto Film Festival, Edinburgh Film Festival, the Berlin Film Festival, the Munich Film Festival—and for the first time the Locarno Film Festival. We also heard about what it's like being an extra in the movies. Have you gone to an interesting film festival? Have a favorite place to see movies that we aren't covering in the Calendar of Events? Seen a movie that blew you away? Read a film-related book? Gone to a film seminar? Interviewed a director? Read an article about something that didn't make our local news media? Send your contributions to Storyboard and share your stories with the membership. And we sincerely thank all our contributors for this issue of Storyboard.

FILMS

American Film Institute Silver Theater
"Risks and Reinvention: The Cinema of Louis Malle" concludes in December with Lacombe, Lucien (1974), Black Moon (1975), Pretty Baby (1978), Atlantic City (1980), Damage (1992), May Fools (1990), and Au Revoir les Enfants (1987). A few are in January: Viva Maria! (1965) and The Thief of Paris (1967). See the website for dates and times. Other Louis Malle films can be seen at the National Gallery and the French Embassy.

Also concluding in December is "The Lubitsch Touch, Part 2" with To Be or Not To Be (1942) and The Shop Around the Corner (1940). For another Lubitsch film see below.

The AFI also takes part in the Washington Jewish Film Festival with La Petite Jerusalem (2005), The Last Mitterand (2005), and Metallic Blues (2004). A week-long run of Claude Berri's The Two of Us (1967) begins December 9.

Christmas films include the great classic It's A Wonderful Life (Frank Capra, 1947), A Christmas Story (Bob Clark, 1983), and A Muppet Christmas Carol (1992).

"Ernest Lehman Remembered" showcases the screenwriting talents of Ernest Lehman who died this year. Films include the musicals The Sound of Music, West Side Story, The King and I and Hello Dolly (in 70mm!). Two Hitchcock films are North by Northwest and Family Plot. Plus Sabrina, The Sweet Smell of Success, and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?.

Check the AFI's website for more December films including Felicidades (2000), a Christmas tale from Argentina and films by Jim Henson including Labyrinth, The Dark Crystal and a program of shorts.

Freer Gallery of Art
Films from Vietnam rarely get shown in our country. On December 2 at 7:00pm is Glorious Time in Me Thao Hamlet (Nguyen Viet Linh, 2002); on December 4 at 2:00pm is Sandy Lives (Nguyen Thanh Van, 1999); on December 11 at 2:00pm is King of Rubbish Dumps (Do Minh Tuan, 2002); on December 16 at 7:00pm is Lost and Found (Vuong Duc, 2003); and on December 18 at 2:00pm is Deserted Valley (2002) with director Pham Nhue Giang present for discussion after the film.

National Gallery of Art
"Cine Chileno: Forty Years of Films from Chile" concludes in December with Julio Begins in July (Sylvio Caiozzi, 1979) on December 3 at 4:00pm; The Borderland (Ricardo Larrain, 1991) on December 10 at 4:00pm; Amnesia (Gonzalo Justiniano, 1994) shown with Chile Obstinate Memory (Patricio Guzman, 1997) on December 11 at 4:00pm; Coronation (Silvio Caiozzi, 2000) on December 17 at 2:30pm; The Sentimental Teaser (Cristian Galaz, 1999) on December 18 at 4:30pm; and Machuca (Andres Wood, 2004) on December 31 at 2:00pm.

"Risk and Reinvention--The Films of Louis Malle" at the AFI, the Embassy of France, and the National Gallery of Art concludes in December. On December 4 at 2:00pm is Human, Too Human (1972) and at 4:00pm is Calcutta (1969) both introduced by Margarita de la Vega. On December 10 at 2:00pm is Vanya on 42nd Street (1994). The 6 hour Phantom India (1968-69) will be shown in three parts: on December 1 and 2 at 2:00pm is Part 1, 2, and 3. On December 8 and 9 at 2:00pm is Part 4 and 5. On December 15 and 16 at 2:00pm is Part 6 and 7. Phantom India is also at the French Embassy. More Malle films are at the AFI.

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Chilean-born artist Alfredo Jaar will introduce his film Muxima on December 7 at 7:30pm. Arranged into cantos revealing the rise of AIDS and the legacy of civil war, each canto is set to a different version of the popular folk song Muxima (Heart).

National Museum of African Art
On December 4 at 1:00pm is A Young Man's Dream, a documentary about sculptor Efaimbelo in Madagascar.

National Museum of the American Indian
House Made of Dawn (Richard Morse, 1972), shown on December 8 at 6:00pm is adapted from the Pulitzer-Prize winning novel by N. Scott Momaday. The director, author, and lead actor will be present to introduce their film. On December 10 and 16 at noon is a documentary about the 21st Annual Eskimo-Indian Olympics.

National Museum of Women in the Arts
Two Miranda July programs are scheduled for December. On December 1 at 7:00pm is Me and You and Everyone We Know (see the Storyboard interview). On December 12 at 7:00pm is a program of short videos. Call 202-783-7370 for reservations.

Films on the Hill
On December 9 at 7:00pm is one of Laurel and Hardy's first features, The Devil's Brother (1933), with the boys as inept bandits who hook up with the fearsome Fra Diavolo who robs the rich and gives to himself. On December 14 at 7:00pm is a silent (with music) double feature of The Last Performance (Pal Fejos, 1929) with Conrad Veidt as a magician whose love for Mary Philbin is unrequited which shown with Eternal Love (Ernst Lubitsch, 1929) with John Barrymore and Camilla Horn as thwarted lovers stalked by others. On December 16 at 7:00pm is Ten Gentlemen From West Point (Henry Hathaway, 1942) about the first class to graduate from West Point, overcoming the politicians who try to prevent the school's establishment.

Washington Jewish Community Center
The 16th Washington Jewish Film Festival takes place this month. See above.

Pickford Theater
A number of Bette Davis films are shown this month including Bad Sister (1931) and The Golden Arrow (1936) on December 13 at 6:30pm; Now Voyager (1942) on December 15 at 6:30pm, Front Page Woman (1935) on December 16 at 7:00pm, and In This Our Life (1942) on December 20 at 7:00pm.

Goethe Institute
"Young and German" is a film series in which German directors portray the young generation in contemporary Germany. On December 5 at 6:30pm is Kroko (Sylke Enders, 2004) in which a tough blonde is sentenced to do community service in a housing project. On December 12 a 6:30pm is En Route (Jan Krueger, 2004), a road trip to Poland.

French Embassy
The Embassy of France also takes part in the Louis Malle retrospective. On December 1 at 7:00pm is Phantom India (parts 1, 2 and 3); on December 6 at 7:00pm is Phantom India (parts 4 and 5); and on December 15 at 7:00pm is Phantom India (parts 6 and 7). Phantom India is not only a remarkable document on a place and a time, it is also a meditation on the difficulty of truly knowing the Other, the way that a camera's "view" always betrays an attitude, beyond an objective recording.

National Archives
A series of films complements the exhibit "The Way We Worked." On December 9 at 7:00pm is The Phantom of the Operator about telephone operators place in the development of global communications. Filmmaker Caroline Martel will be present to introduce and discuss her film. On December 15 at 5:30pm is a program of shorts, newsreels and film clips documenting various occupations, working environments and labor-saving practices. On December 16 at 7:00pm is Roll on Columbia: Woody Guthrie and the Bonneville Power Administration, the story of the balladeer's temporary job with the Bonneville Power Administration where he wrote 26 songs in 30 days to promote the dam.

Loews Cineplex "Fan Favorites" Film Series
Five holiday films for December include Scrooged on December 1, How the Grinch Stole Christmas on December 8, All I Want For Christmas on December 15, It's a Wonderful Life on December 22, and White Christmas on December 29. All begin at 8:00pm.

The Avalon
As part of Asia Cinevisions is Long Life, Happiness, and Prosperity (Mina Shum, 2002) starring Sandra Oh as a single mother whose daughter begins to dabble in magic potions to improve her mother's life on December 11 at 8:00pm.

Smithsonian Associates
The final two films in the program "Cinema of Norway" can be seen this month. On December 7 at 7:00pm is Hawaii, Oslo (Eric Poppe, 2004) in which five strangers cross paths in a road accident. This was Norway's Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Film. On December 14 at 7:00pm is "An Evening of Animated Shorts," fun for the whole family. NOTE: DCFS members are offered a discount on these films; for details refer to your e-mail.

Previous Storyboards

November, 2005
October, 2005
September, 2005
August, 2005
July, 2005
June, 2005
May, 2005
April, 2005
March, 2005
February, 2005
January, 2005
December, 2004
November, 2004