Gotta Have Faith

Cannes is coming, Cannes is coming. So as part of the lead up to Cannes, I’ll try to give an overview of films from our seven Sister City Countries, starting with ...

Edge of Heaven (Auf der Anderen Seite), Director Faith Akin
Info on some of the Cannes films is limited, so I lifted this from ioncinema.com. Above is a picture of Akin receiving the Golden Bear at the 2004 Berlinale for his film Head On. There’s also a “Making of Auf der Anderen Seite” video, if your German is good enough. Otherwise, it’s interesting visuals (apparently Akin is a big foosball fan, I mean, who’s not?).

“Linked through encounters, relationships and even death, the fragile lives of six people connect on emotional voyages toward forgiveness and reconciliation in Germany and Turkey ... Nejat (Baki DAVRAK) seems disapproving about his widower father Ali's (Tuncel KURTIZ) choice of prostitute Yeter (Nursel KSE) for a live-in girlfriend. But he grows fond of her when he discovers she sends money home to Turkey for her daughter's university studies. Yeter's sudden death distances father and son. Nejat travels to Istanbul to search for Yeter's daughter Ayten (Nurgl YESILCAY). Political activist Ayten has fled the Turkish police and is already in Germany. She is befriended by a young woman, Lotte (Patrycia ZIOLKOWSKA), who invites rebellious Ayten to stay in her home, a gesture not particularly pleasing to her conservative mother Susanne (Hanna SCHYGULLA). When Ayten is arrested and her asylum plea is denied, she is deported and imprisoned in Turkey. Lotte travels to Turkey, where she gets caught up in the seemingly hopeless situation of freeing Ayten.”

Director Fatih Akin was born in 1973 in Hamburg and began studying Visual Communications at Hamburg's College of Fine Arts in 1994. In 1995, he wrote and directed his first short feature, Sensin - You're The One! (Sensin - Du bist es!), which received the Audience Award at the Hamburg International Short Film Festival, followed by Weed (Getuerkt, 1996). His first full length feature film, Short Sharp Shock (Kurz und schmerzlos, 1998), won the Bronze Leopard at Locarno and the Bavarian Film Award (Best Young Director) in 1998. His other films include: In July (Im Juli, 2000), Wir haben vergessen zurueckzukehren (2001), Solino (2002), the Berlinale Golden Bear-winner and winner of the German and European Film Awards Head-On (Gegen die Wand, 2003), Crossing the Bridge - The Sound of Istanbul (2005), and The Edge of Heaven (Auf der anderen Seite, 2007).

Slanted Screens

Jeff Adachi’s documentary Slanted Screen comes to PBS station KERA in Dallas as part of a series on Asian heritage.
“From silent film star Sessue Hayakawa to Harold & Kumar Go to Whitecastle, The Slanted Screen explores the portrayals of Asian men in American cinema, chronicling the experiences of actors who have had to struggle against ethnic stereotyping and limiting roles, according to the Slanted Screen website. The film presents a critical examination of Hollywood's image-making machine, through a fascinating parade of 50 film clips spanning a century.
“The Slanted Screen includes interviews with actors Mako (at left), Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, James Shigeta, Dustin Nguyen, Phillip Rhee, Will Yun Lee, Tzi Ma, Jason Scott Lee, comedian Bobby Lee, producer Terence Chang, casting director Heidi Levitt, writer Frank Chin, and directors Gene Cajayon and Eric Byler.
“The film was written, directed and produced by Adachi, co-produced and edited by Alex Yeung, with the opening music, titles and credits by Sean Dana. Michael Becker composed the musical score and the post-production sound and audio. The film also features a new song performed by the San Francisco rock-punk band Say Bok Gwai.
The documentary aires at 10 p.m., May 10 on KERA-TV Channel 13. Esther Wu, Dallas Morning News columnist, writes an interesting piece on her views on media as an Asian growing up in the United States.

This Movie is Totally “Sick”

The Japanese distributor of the movie Babel has begun warning Japanese audiences that some scenes make cause nausea or headaches.
Some 15 complaints had been filed with the distributor, Gaga Communications, which is investigating which scenes may lead to the nausea. The Academy Award-nominated film hasn’t reported this problem elsewhere in the world.
The film’s opening was highly anticipated, following the Best Supporting Actress nomination of Rinko Kikuchi (above left). The film starred Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett (above).
The film, which is directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, occurs in multiple countries and focuses on how lives in various cultures are intertwined.

Crazy Blood

Italian director Marco Tullio Giordana (above) has begun filming his next project Sangue pazzo, a film set in fascist Italy following WWII. The film is about two famous actors who were part of the Salò Republic, were accused of collaboration and were later tortured and shot.
It stars hottie Monica Bellucci (left), Luca Zingaretti and Alessio Boni. Filming is slated for a 13-week run in Venice, Milan, turn and Rome. "Sangue pazzo" translates literally as "Crazy Blood".
The €10 million film received €1 million in funding from Eurimages and was deemed of cultural interest by Ministero per i Beni e le Attivita Culturali – General Direction For Cinema, according to cineuropa.com.
It’s scheduled for a spring 2008 distribution. The €1 million is the largest amount granted by Eurimages this year.
Eurimages also funded Palestinian helmer Suleiman $500,000 for "The Time That Remains"; Michael Glawogger's "Das Vaterspiel"; Helma Sanders-Brahms' biopic on composer couple Clara and Robert Schumann, "Clara"; psychotherapy thriller-drama "Dorothy Mills" by France's Agnes Merlet; Denmark's Madsen for "Flammen & Citronen," with Mads Mikkelsen; "Ljubav i drugi zlocini" (Love and Other Crimes) by Serb director Stefan Arsenijevic; and music drama "Fados" from Portuguese director Carlos Saura.

Speed Racer Gets Cash Crash

The German Federal Film Fund is granting $12.3 million to the producers of “Speed Racer,” which will be produced at Babelsberg Studios near Berlin this summer.
Based on Tatsuo Yoshida’s hit cartoon series of the ‘60s, this version will be live-action. Joel Silver is producing and it’s his second film at Babelsberg. V for Vendetta was his first.
The film stars Emile Hirsch (left) as Speed along with Christina Ricci, John Goodman and Susan Sarandon and is slated for May 2008 opening.
Also slated for the fund is the Leo Tolstoy bio, "The Last Station," starring Anthony Hopkins and Meryl Streep.

Jack Valenti Dies

Jack Valenti, the Houston native born of Sicillian parents and former LBJ assistant who made a name for himself as the unapologetic lobbyist for the Motion Picture Association of America, died yesterday at 85. His biggest contribution likely was the introduction of the ratings system.

As we've worked to communicate with our international counterparts for the upcoming Lone Star International Film Festival, featuring the FWSCI Film Series, we've spent time recently reviewing the MPAA ratings system and comparing that to those of other countries.

The current MPAA movie ratings consist of:
G - General Audiences - All ages admitted
PG - Parental guidance suggested Some material may not be suitable for children
PG-13 - Parents strongly cautioned Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.
R - Restricted Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.
NC-17 No one 17 and under admitted.
If a film has not been submitted for a rating, the label NR (Not Rated) is often used; however, NR is not an official MPAA classification. Films that have not yet received MPAA classification, but are expected to, are often advertised with the notice "This Film Is Not Yet Rated" or "Rating Pending."

The Kirby Dick documentary This Film Not Yet Rated, takes a look at the ratings system. According to the Independent Film Channel's website, "The documentary asks whether Hollywood movies and independent films are rated equally for comparable content; whether sexual content in gay-themed movies is given harsher ratings penalties than their heterosexual counterparts; whether it makes sense that extreme violence is given an R rating while sexuality is banished to the cutting room floor; whether Hollywood studios receive detailed directions as to how to change an NC-17 film into an R, while independent film producers are left guessing; and finally, whether keeping the raters and the rating process secret leaves the MPAA entirely unaccountable for its decisions."

Filmies Meeting, 6 p.m. May 8

Funimation will be our guests at the next Filmies group meeting Tuesday, May 8, 2007, at the PourHouse, 209 W. Fifth St. in downtown Fort Worth.
In case you don't know, Funimation folks brought us Dragonball Z, Basilsk and other great anime via Cartoon Network and other media, plus the live-action film Shinobi on DVD, which I wrote about in February. Anime is Japanese animation.

Debra J. Kennedy, Funimation vice president of marketing and a University of Texas at Austin alumnae, will be the guest speaker.

Funimation is a Tarrant County-based company -- who knew? -- and they're doing a lot of cool things. So come out to the PourHouse and get the inside scoop.

Filmies is a Fort Worth Sister Cities International Film Special Interest Group. We meet monthly to hang out, talk about movies and have a beer after work.

Learn about our upcoming international film series that will be held simultaneously and in partnership with the Lone Star International Film Festival in Nov. 8-11, 2007.

RSVP to Lisa Gail Barnes at Sister Cities (lisa@fwsistercities.org), or request more information.