Fests, 8/17.

For a Wednesday in late August, it's been a ridiculously rich day, so let's siphon the festival news off to its own entry and begin with Todd at Twitch. Besides the lineup for the Eurasian Film Festival (September 24 through October 1), he's also got this: "Apparently Isabella Rossellini really enjoyed working with Canada's Guy Maddin on The Saddest Music in the World. She enjoyed it so much that when she wrote a film to mark the 100th anniversary of her father's birth she brought Maddin on board to direct. The end result - My Dad Is 100 Years Old - stars Rossellini in every role." Both director and star will be on hand for the film's world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (September 8 through 17) as part of the intriguing Dialogues program.

More Toronto news from Brian Brooks at indieWIRE, where he also previews the Chicago Underground Film Festival (August 18 through 25).

The Edinburgh International Film Festival opened today and runs through August 28. The Guardian's launched its special section with Peter Bradshaw's review of the curtain-raiser, Wah-Wah: "[Richard E] Grant recreates a baroque White Mischief world, but with lighter notes of comedy, absurdity and sadness." In the Independent, Louise Jury reports on "one of the strongest line-ups of British films in years," and Richard Brunton is off and blogging. At his site, Edinburgh: The Experience. At Twitch, his first review: Mørke.

The San Sebastian International Film Festival has unveiled an enticing preview of its 53rd edition (September 15 through 24).

The Chinese government is threatening to blacklist Stanley Kwan and much of the cast of Everlasting Regret, including Sammi Cheng and Tony Leung Ka Fai, if changes aren't made before the film is screened at the Venice Film Festival. Mack at Twitch has more details.

Not exactly festivals, but still, via indieWIRE Insider: MoMA's tribute to Killer Films on its 10th anniversary (September 22 through October 8) and a Daniel Brühl retro at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston (September 15 through October 5).

"Is there a statute of limitations for disgust?" asks Peter Howell in the Toronto Star. He's addressing the ongoing controversy surrounding Karla, a "biopic of sex killer Karla Homolka was supposed to premiere at the Montreal World Film Festival later this month," but now won't because Air Canada threatened to withdraw its financial support of the fest if it were shown. This is via the IFC Blog, where Alison Willmore has been following the brouhaha.

Posted by dwhudson at August 17, 2005 3:23 PM