The New York Film Festival feels especially airy and capacious this year, as if a wind had blown the doors wide open. Credit goes, in part, to
Scott Foundas ,
J. Hoberman, and
Lisa Schwarzbaum, guest curators who (along with chief
Richard Pena and Film Society's
Kent Jones) sculpted this year's lineup.
I sat down with Foundas and asked him if the films that made the cut marked a new direction for the venerable festival, which may or may not be looking over its shoulder at the ambitious over-reaching-and-corporatized Tribeca Film Festival. About half the NYFF lineup arrived without distribution, Foundas told me. Hardly surprising, since the market is currently so inhospitable for international fare, including works that in the past would have gotten picked up. So what's shifted over the years is not so much the NYFF itself, but rather the economic and cultural landscape. "And the role of the festival has changed," says Foundas, "because it may give New Yorkers their only chance to see certain films." The hostile landscape also explains, in part, the glut of festivals, which bring films to cities that might not otherwise see them.
While the committee dug deep into Cannes for this edition's lineup -- I counted 7 films -- it also made a concerted effort to favor films that didn't have U.S. distribution. "Sometimes it was a tossup between two films that might be similar," said Foundas. "But the film that wasn't going to show in New York otherwise got the edge."
As well, the question of balance figured heavily. An opener should be entertaining, not too long, with stars to walk the red carpet. And it helps if the filmmaker has a huge following in New York. Hence
The Darjeeling Limited. Into the mix also went films the crix deemed "important and provocative," along with
Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis, which though subtitled, is also an accessible crowd pleaser. Not everyone on the committee is a fan of
Brian de Palma, who's been tagged a low rent shock artist -- yet his
Redacted was in the lineup from the start for its Brechtian reaction against media saturation, and effort to nail the role of cinema in digesting it.
Throughout the selection process a collegial spirit prevailed, for which Foundas credits Pena (now marking his 20th year at the helm). "Certain films are divisive, but you work it out," said Foundas. "Richard put together a committee whose opinion he respects. You're on a level playing field." Occasionally a film,such as
Mr. Warmth, The Don Rickles Project, arrives on the committee's radar through the six degrees syndrome -- in this case, critic
Dave Kehr happened to be a friend of director
John Landis.
This year saw a surplus of good films. But would someone please tell me why the fest nixed
The Duchess of Langeais by
Jacques Rivette?
# posted by Erica Abeel @ 9/30/2007 12:43:00 PM
Comments (2)
You counted seven films from Cannes? There are 14.
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posted by md'a @ 10/01/2007 12:41 PM
That is why the de Palma got in? It is an absolute piece of shite of a movie. Forget meta-commentaries about "the media"; where is the humanism? Everyone in this film is a stereotype, devoid of drama, and each of de Palma's restagings of different media types (YouTube, video blogging, 'French documentary', etc) feels less authentic than the next. How did this committee fall for this load of bollox?
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posted by Tom @ 10/01/2007 1:27 PM
