Found

The San Francisco Irish Film Festival

The Fifth Annual Irish Film Festival begins this Wednesday at the Roxie with a slate of narratives and documentaries imbued with Ireland’s particularly unique sense of time and place in the modern world; the people, the pubs, and that iconic, green pastoral landscape.

Irish actor and comedian Pat Shortt stars in the opening night film Garage (rhymes with ‘carriage’ when said with the appropriate accent) though the film utilizes his talents less for comedic value and more for his ability to believably portray the subtle mannerisms of Josie, the well-meaning, deeply lonely town simpleton. This is the second collaboration by director Leonard Abrahamson and writer Mark O’Halloran, whose first feature Adam & Paul, was a similar, heavily character-driven narrative marked by what seems to be emerging as a thematic trademark: sympathetic characters in inescapably tragic situations. Garage took home the C.I.C.A.E. Award at Cannes in 2007.

topics: actors, directors, documentary, independent film, irish cinema, oscars, shorts, sundance film festival

Experience

Cinema, Israeli style

Israel turns 60 in May, and the anniversary will be celebrated in this country with acres of Op-Ed space devoted to sober analyses of how the Jewish state long ago lost its idealism. It’s true that the nation is no longer defined absolutely by Zionism, the secular nationalist movement that was endorsed worldwide (except by the Arab states) as details of the Holocaust emerged in the weeks and months after World War II. Likewise, Israel’s socialist values, embodied by a kibbutz system that enjoyed mythological status until the late ’70s, have given way to the greed, selfishness and corruption endemic to most capitalist societies, young or mature. But even as the country has become a typically affluent Western society, its cinema has retained its status as a crucial component of the national dialogue. Israeli films serve as both conscience and instigator, possibly because artists are able to exert influence in a country of just 7.3 million people. (Movies in this country are produced almost exclusively for entertainment and socialization, in case you hadn’t noticed.) But Israeli movies have been exposed to even bigger audiences in recent years, garnering praise, prizes and distribution deals on the international festival circuit. With the current and imminent release of “The Band’s Visit, “Beaufort” and “Jellyfish” in the U.S., on the heels of last year’s “Close to Home” and “The Bubble,” the wave has reached our shores.

topics: directors, independent film, jewish cinema, oscars

15 docs on the Oscar short list

Fifteen documentary films have been selected for the "short list" of titles competing in the Best Documentary Feature category at the 80th Academy Awards, according to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The Documentary Branch screening committee viewed the eligible documentaries in a preliminary round of screenings, according to AMPAS, and branch members will now select the five 2007 nominees from among the 15 titles on this shortlist.

[SF360.org Editor’s note: This article appeared originally in indieWIRE on Nov. 19, 2007.]

The full list is:
1. "Autism: The Musical," directed by Tricia Regan
2. "Body of War," directed by Phil Donahue and Ellen Spiro
3. "For The Bible Tells Me So," directed by Daniel G. Karslake
4. "Lake of Fire," directed by Tony Kaye
5. "Nanking," directed by Bill Guttentag and Dan Sturman
6. "No End in Sight," directed by Charles Ferguson
7. "Operation Homecoming – Writing the Wartime Experience," directed by Richard Robbins
8. "Please Vote For Me," directed by Wejun Chen
9. "The Price of Sugar," directed by Bill Haney
10. "A Promise to the Dead: The Exile Journey of Ariel Dorfman," directed by Peter Raymont
11. "The Rape of Europa," directed by Richard Berge and Bonni Cohen
12. "Sicko," directed by Michael Moore
13. "Taxi to the Dark Side," directed by Alex Gibney
14. "War/Dance," directed by Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine
15. "White Light/Black Rain," directed by Steven Okazaki
Nominations will be announced on Tuesday, January 22, 2008 and the Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2007 will be presented on Sunday, February 24, 2008.

topics: awards, critics year end polls, documentary, lists, oscars

Where does your best picture live?

If cities are chosen for their landscapes, their food, their schools, and industries, it seems only reasonable to assume they should also be measured by their tastes in films. Based on the following assessments by various cities’ critics’ organizations, which city should you live in?

San Francisco Film Critics Circle

Best picture: “Brokeback Mountain”
Best foreign language film: “Cache”
Best documentary: “Grizzly Man”

Southeastern Film Critics Association
Best picture: “Brokeback Mountain”
Best foreign language film: “Cache”
Best documentary: “March of the Penguins”

Toronto Film Critics Association
Best picture: “A History of Violence”
Best foreign language film: “The World”
Best documentary: “Grizzly Man”

New York Film Critics Circle
Best picture: “Brokeback Mountain”
Best foreign language film: “2046”
Best documentary: “Grizzly Man” and “White Diamond,” a tie

Chicago Film Critics Association
Best picture: “Crash”
Best foreign language film: “Cache”
Best documentary: “Grizzly Man”

Los Angeles Film Critics Association
Best picture: “Brokeback Mountain”
Best foreign language film: “Cache”
Best documentary: “Grizzly Man”

Boston Society of Film Critics
Best picture: “Brokeback Mountain”
Best foreign language film: “Kung Fu Hustle”
Best documentary: “Murderball”

topics: critics year end polls, oscars, san francisco film critics circle