January 03, 2007

The Host and many others confirmed for IFFR!

(Posted In Random Festival News )

iffr2007.jpgEven if we're the last country in the world to have it (my DVD will probably arrive on the same day as I'll be seeing this in the cinema) this was really what I was hoping for: Bong Joon-ho's "The Host" is confirmed in the IFFR line-up. Other highlights for me include the Danish anime "Princess" and Park Chul-hee's "No Mercy for the Rude".

The total line-up will be finalized on January the 18th, but the IFFR website had a present hidden somewhere between the Dutch pages: a nice big list of confirmed titles!

Because the list and all the links in it are in Dutch I've included a brief synopsis of each.

"Ten Canoes"
A story about adultery, rude jokes and revenge amongst the aboriginals in the Arafura-swamp.
Australia 2006, directed by Rolf de Heer and Peter Djigirr.

"Les Anges Exterminateurs"
A director gets in trouble when actresses accuse him of going too far (sexually) during auditions.
France 2006, directed by Jean-Claude Brisseau.

"Antonia"
Four young women try to make it in the Brazilian hiphop / R&B scene. The leads are played by local hiphop / R&B stars.
Brazil 2006, directed by Tata Amaral.

"Belle Toujours"
A sequel to Luis Buñuel's "Belle de Jour" (1967), without Catherine Deneuve but with Michel Piccoli.
France/Portugal 2006, directed by Manoel de Oliveira.

"Daft Punk's Electroma"
Experimental movie by the two guys from Daft Punk, strangely without their music.
USA 2006, directed by Daft Punk.

"Day Night Day Night"
A young woman prepares to blow herself up in Times Square, carrying a backpack full of nails. A big hit (pun not intended) at Cannes.
USA/Germany 2006, directed by Julia Loktev.

"The Host"
Yeah right, like a synopsis is needed.

"Das Leben der Anderen"
Portrait of resistance within the STASI secret police of East-Germany in the eighties.
Germany 2006, directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck.

"Nacido y Criado"
A man goes mad in Patagonia after he loses his loved ones in a car crash.
Argentina/Italy/UK 2006,directed by Pablo Trapero.

"No Mercy For The Rude"
Guy turns assassin to raise money for an operation to fix his speech impediment.
S-Korea 2006, directed by Park Chul-hee.

"No Place Like Home"
Reggae movie, sequel to 1972's "The Harder they Come".
Jamaica/USA 2006, directed by Perry Henzel.

"Opera Jawa, a Cinema Requiem"
Musical from Indonesia based on the ancient Ramayana-legend, with traditional music and dance.
Indonesia 2006, directed by Garin Nugroho.

"Princess"
An ex-priest takes revenge on the porn industry which destroyed his sister and defiled his niece, all (except the porn) told in animation.
Denmark 2006, directed by Anders Morgenthaler.

"Rain Dogs"
Coming-of-age story in Malaysia, a big hit in Toronto and Venice.
Malaysia 2006, directed by Ho Yuhang.

"Red Road"
Claustrofobic thriller set in a camera-controlled Glasgow. Winner in Cannes.
UK/Denmark 2006, directed by Andrea Arnold.

"Reprise"
Two aspiring writers in Norway get hit by life and grow apart.
Norway 2006, directed by Joachim Trier.

"Summer Palace"
Coming-of-age story featuring a girl in Beijing and the friends she has as seen over a decade.
China 2005, directed by Lou Ye.

"The Way I Spent The End Of The World"
The life of people in Romania near the end of Ceausescu's reign.
Romania 2006, directed by Catalin Mitulescu.

"Zidane, un portrait du 21e siècle"
Experimental documentary about soccer star Zinedine Zidane, based on a single game, without showing his background or even the result of the match.
France/Iceland 2006, directed by Douglas Gordon and Philippe Parreno.


By the looks of it this years' festival is as ecclectic as ever! More news if/when it becomes available.

» Posted by Ardvark at January 3, 2007 05:46 PM
Digg This / Add To del.icio.us

Reader Comments

Thanks for sharing that. First on my list would be (not in any particular order: The Host, Reprise, Das Leben der Anderen and No Mercy for the Rude. I haven't heard anything about Day Night, Day Night, but that one sounds intriguing as well...

» Posted by Jon Pais at January 3, 2007 11:31 PM

I'm also interested in Les Anges Exterminateurs and it has a crazy background: Jean-Claude Brisseau has been convicted for inappropriate behavior during the auditions for his previous film Choses Secrètes (he even got a suspended jail sentence).

He denies that this movie was made as an exempt to exonerate himself. He states that most of the script for Les Anges Exterminateurs was written before the police arrested him and all shooting had finished before the trial started.

Anyway, might be interesting to see what he has to say on the subject. Apparently he says that what he did during the auditions for Choses Secrètes was essential for the success of that film.

» Posted by ardvark at January 4, 2007 05:30 AM

Nineteen Hubert Bals Fund supported films in official selection

A total of nineteen films in Rotterdam’s 2007 Official Selection are supported by the festival’s Hubert Bals Fund, amongst which the Opening Film La antena (The Aerial):


Tiger Awards Competition
LOVE CONQUERS ALL by Tan Chui Mui (Malaysia), European premiere
LA ANTENA (THE AERIAL) by Esteban Sapir (Argentina), world premiere, Opening Film

Maestros: Kings and Aces
OPERA JAWA by Garin Nugroho (Indonesia)
HEREMIAS (BOOK ONE: THE LEGEND OF THE LIZARD PRINCESS) by Lav Diaz (Philippines), world premiere
ARARAT - FOURTEEN VIEWS by Don Askarian (Armenia)

Cinema of the World: Time & Tide
MAYAK (THE LIGHTHOUSE) by Maria Saakyan (Armenia/Russia)
SVOBODNOE PLAVANIE (FREE FLOATING) by Boris Khlebnikov (Russia)
BARAKAT! by Djamila Sahraoui (Algeria/France)
ROMA WA LA N’TOUMA (ROME RATHER THAN YOU) by Tariq Teguia (Algeria/France)
U REKI (AT THE RIVER) by Eva Neymann (Ukraine), world premiere

Cinema of the Future: Sturm und Drang
TAI YANG YU (RAIN DOGS) by Ho Yuhang (Malaysia)
WEED by Wang Liren (China), world premiere
JU ZI CHEN TU (RAISED FROM DUST) by Gan Xiao’er (China), world premiere
BEFORE WE FALL IN LOVE AGAIN by James Lee (Malaysia), European premiere
FAMILIA TORTUGA (TURTLE FAMILY) by Ruben Imaz Castro
ANTONIA by Tata Amaral (Brazil), European premiere
LING YI BAN (THE OTHER HALF) by Ying Liang (China), European premiere
BALIKBAYAN BOX by Ramon Mes De Guzman (Philippines), international premiere
THE ELEPHANT AND THE SEA by Woo Ming Jin (Malaysia), world premiere
CHALLANGGAI (DANCING BELLS) by Deepak Kumaran Menon (Malaysia), world premiere

» Posted by beavis at January 4, 2007 06:09 AM

Yes, the IFFR website is updated quite often and with only two weeks left till the finalised schedule new titles will be revealed on a daily basis.

» Posted by ardvark at January 4, 2007 06:30 AM

In spite of whatever you might have read about Brisseau's Choses Secrètes, the film is no more than soft-porn dressed up for the art-house crowd.

» Posted by jon pais at January 4, 2007 08:41 AM

It is? Well, the art-house crowd needs guilty pleasures as well as the rest of us. I'll do some more research and might scratch it off my list.
Not that I'm opposed to softcore (art-house or not) but I can only watch a limited number of films during the festival, therefore I want to make my picks count.

Which reminds me: why are you interested in Reprise? I know next-to-nothing about that one, so I'm very curious (and open for suggestions)!

» Posted by ardvark at January 4, 2007 09:18 AM

Superb reviews of Reprise both here --

http://www.twitchfilm.net/archives/007460.html

and at european-films.net --

http://european-films.net/content/view/339/57/

And yes, there are much better erotic films available -- just surf around the forum a bit

» Posted by jon pais at January 4, 2007 12:11 PM

Oh yes, that was smart of me, NOT checking if Reprise was reviewed on this site. :-(
You're right, I'm adding this to my list.

» Posted by ardvark at January 4, 2007 01:10 PM

Post Your Comments

Remember Me?   

(You may use HTML tags for style.)

  

Buy DVDs At The Twitch Store

Our Latest Reviews

Archives

Our Latest Interviews

Archives

Our Latest Entries

Stuff We Like

Shop at our affiliated sites and support Twitch while feeding your pop-culture addiction.

Find your favorites


eThaiCD