Nortel Palm Springs Film Festival

Founded in 1989 by then Mayor Sonny Bono, the Nortel Palm Springs film festival passed its 10th year without completing the transition it’s been so long poised to make: from local diversion in exotic garb to valuable niche outlet for foreign film distribution and buzzmaking.

Peter Lynch's The Herd.

Over 12 days, the festival screened 160 films from 44 countries, including its traditional roundup of foreign-language Oscar submissions. There were 32 world premieres – almost exclusively American movies – as well as 41 U.S. premieres from nations as far flung as Iceland and the Republic of Macedonia. The National Canadian film board has been closely allied with the festival for all of its 10 years, and a sidebar of homegrown films varied from comic, middle-aged millenial musings (John W. Doyle’s The Extraordinary Visitor, which lands John the Baptist in modern-day Newfoundland) to hip, post-Gen X millenial musings (the French-language Oscar submission Un 32 Aout sur Therre). There was also an Italian sidebar boasting Roberto Begnini’s brilliant mistake and world festival pet, Life is Beautiful, as well the nicely loopy, Italian blockbuster road film, Three Men and One Leg. Other notable entries included The Book of Great Wishes, a sometimes mawkish yet wholly irresistible Polish heartwarmer about orphans and old folks; a beautiful glimpse of rural Sri Lankan life, Death on a Full Moon Day; and the Chinese Oscar candidate Genghis Khan, a picture whose bizarre blend of love story and epic machismo is no doubt attributable to its Mongolian directoress, Mai Li Si, who made an imposing figure at the screening swathed in black leather and accompanied by an entourage in traditional Mongolian costume.

Yet, despite its consistently strong and far-reaching survey of world cinema, the festival was redolent with the rarified air of command performance purchased by and for the town’s wealthy visitors and retirees. Festival patrons have proven that they’re willing and able to shell out the funds necessary to mount the festival, even purchasing the future site for a $2 million-dollar festival complex, complete with three screens, a coffee shop and an "Italian street facade." Of course, the festival also provides a practical opportunity for studios and distributors to reach out to voting Academy members who’ve moved to this retirement haven. The opening night awards gala paid tribute to such old-school standbys as Debbie Reynolds and MPAA president Jack Valenti. Audience favorites – the only honor to be obtained at this non-competitive event – tended towards sentimental pictures that arrived with a favorable buzz, including Central Station and Carlos Saura’s Tango. Overall screenings were enjoyed not by swarms of industry seekers and eager talent, but by crowds of silver-haired film buffs.

Typical for the festival was the U.S. premiere of The Herd, the second feature by Peter Lynch, the Canadian director of ’98’s goofy but great documentary Project Grizzly. A lovely, mythically charged piece about the real-life, six-year drive of 3,000 reindeer from the Yukon to the Canadian Northwest territories, the film was shown to an audience of about 30, most of whom were seniors. Lynch, whose film did receive some tentative interest from American distributors at the last Toronto film festival, didn’t seem too put off by the lack of action in Palm Springs. "I don’t get a sense the festival is about that," said the filmmaker cheerfully adding that this visit was less business than "a sort of holiday."

And the festival does make for a fine vacation. Palm Springs director of programming Monica Breckinridge feels the festival’s potential lies partly in the town’s laid back comfort. "What’s great about this location," says Breckinridge, "is that it’s a good time to be here. It’s a very gracious town."

Breckinridge is the fourth programmer the festival has had in 10 years. The former executive director of the Black Filmmaker Foundation and director of development for House Party’s Hudlin Brothers, Breckinridge was hired last October, and had to have a schedule to the printers by the middle of November. It’s a timetable that left little time for courting industry or exploring the festival’s potential. "I think it’s time for them to look at having a programmer year round," Breckinridge says, "It’s important for the identity of the festival to have some consistency." When asked if that programmer might be herself, Breckinridge is cautiously positive. "I think it can be me," she offers, "I see the opportunity here, I have the energy and the credentials for it, and I love films.

Sundance Film Festival by Ray Pride
Miami Film Festival by Brandon Judell
New York Underground Film Festival by Michelle Handelman
Thessaloniki International Film Festival by Ray Pride
Alpe Adria Film Festival by Natasha Senjanovicl
Nortel Palm Springs Film Festival by Hazel-Dawn Dumpert