Fests and events, 5/11.

The series Angry Young Cinema: The Original British New Wave opens today in Los Angeles and runs through May 24. Ella Taylor celebrates in the LA Weekly: "Having lived now for going on 28 years in America, whose passion for moving on up precludes all but the most grudging attention to the lives of its worker bees, I consider it a treat to be brought back to a time and place when a vigorous brew of class pride and shame was bred in British blood, bone and sinew, onscreen and off."

"Does the success of Ang Lee's Oscar-winning, box-office-busting tearjerker mean that the mainstream has embraced gay characters and narratives? Or has it merely absorbed them and reduced them to its own common denominator?" asks Peter Keough in the Boston Phoenix. "This year's Gay & Lesbian Film/Video Festival at the MFA doesn’t so much confront these issues as it embodies them."

Even if you don't read French, you've got to see the shot of Godard (not the one here) that accompanies Jean-Louis Kuffer's piece in 24heures. Is just it me or is Godard becoming Groucho? Anyway, as euro|topics explains, the piece heralds the exhibition Voyages en utopie, Jean-Luc Godard, 1946 –2006 at the Centre Pompidou in Paris through August 14.

At SF360, Susan Gerhard talks with founder Jeff Ross about the DocFest, opening tomorrow and running through May 21. Related: Michael Guillen previews Letters From the Other Side.

One of the most talked about films at the Tribeca Film Festival was Jesus Camp, which, writes Brian Brooks, "steps into the right end of America's cultural divide, profiling a group of Evangelical Christians who home school their children, evangelize on the streets, and use their considerable political clout to promote their conservative ideals." He talks not with the directors but with one of the subjects of this special jury prize for outstanding achievement in documentary, Pastor Becky Fischer. Also at indieWIRE, Sarah Keenlyside looks back on the Hot Docs fest.

As he preps for Cannes, Andrew O'Hehir delivers a final verdict on Tribeca: "Too many damn movies. A lot of dark and rich documentaries (The Bridge, Jonestown, Jesus Camp, The War Tapes), but not nearly enough decent narrative films to justify a festival of that size. One of the great advantages of Cannes is that they've whittled down an entire year of new films to 61, and whether you like their selections or not, you can actually see most of them while still sleeping and eating meals." Also, takes on Giuliani Time, Russian Dolls and Refuge.

More Tribeca: Sam Adams in the Philadelphia City Paper and Michael Beuning at PopMatters.

Fernando F Croce has a fine overview of the recently wrapped San Francisco International Film Festival in Slant.

Cinematical's Martha Fischer: "Despite rumors to the contrary, Clerks II will, in fact, be debuting at Cannes." And Grady Hendrix reports that, though Time wasn't invited, Kim Ki-duk is taking it to Cannes anyway.

Felicia R Lee previews the Sundance Institute at BAM "series of film screenings, musical performances and theater, as well as discussions with filmmakers and other events" in the New York Times.

The Austin Chronicle has the schedule for the Paramount Summer Classic Film Series.

Posted by dwhudson at May 11, 2006 10:35 AM