Berlinale 2008 - February 7-17, 2008

The Berlin International Forum of New Cinema just kicked off yesterday. Ekkehard Knörer recently published a good review of what is on the menu this year. A couple of films of note are Erick Zonca's "Julia" (director of "the Dreamlife of Angels", his new film stars Tilda Swinton), and Mike Leigh's new film "Happy-Go-Lucky".
Also of note is Isabella Rossellini's Green Pornos, exposing her fascination with entomology.

NOTE: Der Spiegel has an excellent section on the Festival.

NOTE: Good video on some of the smaller films on the IHT site.
Plus this roundup by Dennis Lim can be found there as well.


(to be updated)

People have asked me why this is happening

I don't have an answer, at least not one they want to hear at any rate. The film festival starts tonight. This year's line up looks alright however not as promising as the one circa 2005. That was indeed a time to remember. In terms of programming, on a certain level I can understand why some basic so-called indie romances are included however they just don't provide any interest for me-- at all. I'd prefer more somewhat didactic documentaries, or ones that are at least educational to a certain degree-- something that the Canadians and Europeans seem to excel at.

Speaking of Canadian film-- that is to say Quebecois cinema-- "Congorama" (dir. Philippe Falardeau is one of the last films that Jean-Pierre Cassel starred in before passing away. I'm looking forward to that as well as Sarah Polley's (who is also on this year's Cannes jury) first feature film: "Away From Her". At any rate, this is all due to materialize in the near future.

What has piqued my attention in the many news stories regarding this year's Cannes Film Festival are Fatih Akin's new film "Yasamin Kiysinda", which includes Hanna Schygulla among its cast, and a film version of Marjane Satrapi's work Persepolis.

2007 Rhâââ Lovely Festival

This music festival in Belgium is coming up fast and is pretty hard to beat. Thanks to the Silent Ballet for providing free downloads of a compilation featuring bands from this year's festival. Enjoy.

P.S. FYI- the 'agenda' section of the Rhâââ Lovely Festival website provides a good listing of upcoming concerts in Belgium-- where the active music scene never rests.