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40th INTERNATIONAL THESSALONIKI FILM FESTIVAL
NOVEMBER 12-21
RIGHT ON TIME AT THE THESSALONIKI FILM FESTIVAL
Woman of the hour.
Spanish phenomenon Marisa Paredes arrives in Thessaloniki today to present Arturo Ripstein's "No One Writes to the Colonel". The actress plays in the film (based on a Gabriel Garcia Marquez story) alongside another Spanish-speaking muse of world cinema, Salma Hayek. In the year of Almodovar at the festival, Paredes' presence is especially appreciated, as she has brought her strong screen presence to four of the director's films since 1983: "Dark Habits, "High Heels," "The Flower of My Secret," and this year's "All About My Mother."
Millennial fears and hopes.
How one feels about the future of cinema depends on where one is coming from, as the festival's six-member international jury revealed. "We are close to a catastrophe" warned jury president Tonino Guerra yesterday, although he identified hope in films from China and Iran, as well as "removed, far away places" everywhere. Danish producer Vibeke Windelov, who has produced the films of some of her country's most successful directors, is riding high on the energy in the local film industry. Education is the only thing that can save European film, according to film critic Michel Ciment. Optimism doesn't come naturally if you are from Belgrade, director Srdjan Karanovic observed, but, while at the festival, even he has identified some possibilities for cultural survival. Irish actress Elaine Cassidy felt there was hope as long as "people are looking for deeper things in films, not just to be entertained on the surface."
No patronising allowed.
Director Carl Bessai, who brings his feature "Johnny" to the festival, wasn't able to spot the kind of "middle-class urban punks" on the streets of Thessaloniki that are featured in his international competition film. "Maybe they are hiding", he speculated yesterday, before sharing his concerns about the limited distribution of Canadian films within his country, and the pressures on films about young people to "teach a lesson". He rejects the idea in his work that films about young people must land the rebellious characters in jail and the heroic ones in happily-ever-after land.
Before it's too late.
The spotlight on Portuguese film continues today with a look at "Oxala" by Antonio-Pedro Vasconcelos,"A Comedia De Deus" by Joao Cesar Monteiro, and "Alex" by Teresa Villaverde. 1980's "Oxala" shows a Portuguese man who cannot return to his country after living in Paris in an era when his life has gone through political and social turmoil. "God's Comedy" is a recent film about seductions and revenge. "Alex" is a slow-paced film about a boy who is orphaned in the 1970s.
A golden decade.
The 1990s have been a good era for Turkish cinema, reports Atilla Dorsay. It's during this period that hundreds of thousands of audience members decided to try out their national cinema again. One commercial milestone was the film "Eskiya," which sold 2.5 million tickets -a thirty-year record. While some film critics are a little snooty about the success of popular local films borrowing from television culture and broad history, there is a definite artistic ferment taking place in the country, whether one considers the work of veteran filmmakers like Atif Gilmaz (who is finishing his latest film) and new artists such as Mustafa Altioklr. About ten films a year are made now in Turkey. Zeki Demirkubuz, whose film "The Third Page" is a part of this years Thessalonki Festival is a part of the strong, more subversive cinematic undercurrents in the country, along with the director of "Journey to the Sun," Yesim Ustaoglu. Ustaoglu's film, also at the Festival, touches on the timely issues of the politics of Kurds in Turkey.
Sign of the times.
Bill Forsyth, who brings his infectious comedy "Gregory's Two Girls" to this year's festival, urged young directors to forget about spending so much time developing scripts (as he did) and instead to concentrate in their first works on speaking in a visual language. Unlike in the past, when scripts had to be worked on for long periods of time (in order to get funding), and film shoots demanded buckets of money, these days it's much "easier" to make films, the director noted, pointing to the advances in video technology.
In synch.
Director Nikos Triandafillides' "Black Milk" is the only Greek film with Greek subtitles in the competition. The crazily-organised, fast-talking, butt-pinching, over-the-top film is about a man obsessed with his previous lover, who "beams" himself all over Athens. (The question is what film actress Myrto Alikaki will appear in at next year's Thessalonki festival, after starring in last year's "Black Out" and this year's "Black Milk").
It's your turn now.
The people behind "The Hunt of the Rabbit" are all from Thessaloniki, and bared some honest feelings yesterday about having their work subjected to the festival's quite critical audience. Regardless of what happens with director Nikolaos Vezirgiannis' film (it's waiting for a distributor and critiques), he will be back with another one, because, as one of his actors put it: "He doesn't have a choice. He couldn't live without expressing himself in films."
Time out.
No festival is complete without some wine and dancing. The new Provlita building complex is a perfect spot for both. If people seem a little sleepy today, it might just be that they were at last night's Warehouse C party again.
A painful past:
It wasn't easy to shoot "Olimpo Garage," according to actress Antonella Costa. Recreating the most painful moments of the film (which has to do with imprisonment and torture during Argentina's military dictatorship) was extremely draining on her physical and emotional resources. The actress noted that what makes the international competition film in which she appears different from other films on the same subject, is that her character is completely innocent, and suffers without being guilty of anything.
Time stood still.
While "November 17th" may look like just another day to catch another film... in Greece it is one of the most politically-loaded days on the national calendar. Today, the Festival will hold a special screening of the documentary "Witnesses", by Nikos Kavoukidis, which examines the history of Greece's dictatorship from 1967 until 1975.
Quote/unquote:
"When you are running after the public, all you will see is its behind." -One of film critic/jury member Michel Ciment's favorite sayings.
Angelike Contis
First shot, #60, 17/11/1999
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