Rotterdam. Awards.

"The 35th International Film Festival Rotterdam winners will sound familiar to those who worked the nooks and crannies of the Sundance Film Festival," blogs Anthony Kaufman, who's written about two of them for indieWIRE. "I guess props should be given to Sundance's programmers for plucking these estimable titles first. But, then again, how many Sundancers actually saw them?"

At least the LA Weekly's Scott Foundas saw one: "Kelly Reichardt's exquisite, achingly beautiful Old Joy, after having first been considered for a slot in the official competition, found itself relegated to the festival's Frontier sidebar, which is commonly reserved for works of the avant-garde variety.... Evidently, sparse dialogue and a slower-than-Bruckheimer tempo are considered 'experimental' nowadays."

From Rotterdam, brotherfromanother writes at the Reverse Shot blog: "Another critic has already written that he fears discussing Old Joy for fear of overwhelming through his expressions of admiration. He's right. It is a whisper of a film, suggestive without being declarative."

The full list of awards, accompanied by jury statements, is here; a few highlights:

VPRO Tiger Awards

• Walking on the Wild Side (Lai Xiao Zi, directed by Han Jie).

• The Dog Pound (La Perrera, Manuel Nieto Zas).

• And Old Joy.

NETPAC Award (Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema)

• The Lost Hum (Hanuata-Dorobou, Hirosue Hiromasa).

• The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros (Ang Pagdadalaga Ni Maximo Oliveros, Auraeus Solito).

FIPRESCI Award: Madeinusa (Claudia Llosa).

And a few catch-up-type items: Throughout the fest, Boyd van Hoeij has been blogging with dedicated energy at europeanfilms.net, Gabe Klinger's blogged the fest at Zach Campbell's Elusive Lucidity and even got an interview with Hou Hsiao-hsien.

And one more review. Jonathan Romney for Screen Daily: "Though often extremely beautiful, Klimt never hits the delirious heights of [Raúl] Ruiz's best work."

Posted by dwhudson at February 4, 2006 4:25 PM