Fests and events, 6/14.

Back to Seattle in a moment, but first to E Steven Fried at the Siffblog, where not only is his introduction to his interview with Jack Smith And The Destruction of Atlantis director Mary Jordan excruciatingly fair and even-handed, but the conversation itself somehow makes for both a leisurely and meaty read.

The film also plays Friday at the Roxie in San Francisco, and the San Francisco Bay Guardian's Johnny Ray Huston wonders, "if [Smith] were alive today, would his work be accepted into Frameline's 30th incarnation [tomorrow through June 25], or those of its straight counterparts? It's a question worth pondering, as Frameline is forced to grapple with post-New Queer Cinema profiteering and post-"death of gay culture" mainstreamed, apolitical notions of identity, while the popularity of festivals makes their formulaic aspects increasingly apparent." Still, the SFBG finds plenty to recommend.

Anthony Kaufman at indieWIRE: "While the 17th annual Human Rights Watch International Film Festival (HRWIFF) kicked off in New York last week, there are more and more such events taking place around the globe. Today, there are established human rights festivals in Nantes, Moscow, Prague and Seoul, newer events in Bologna, Nuremberg, Paris, and Geneva, and fledgling showcases in New Zealand, New Orleans, Rhode Island and the Ukraine." Meanwhile, acquarello has been offering excellent HRWIFF coverage.

From the Sydney Film Festival (through June 25), James Russell on Jackie Chan's The Myth, "the sort of deeply flawed but nonetheless fascinating work of art I often find myself more interested in than your classically perfect and flawless works." More Sydney coverage: Michael Collins at Hollywood Bitchslap and Matt Riviera on Pusher and Old Joy.

"The Chicago International Children's Film Festival will hold two sessions of its wildly popular Young Chicago Critics camp this year due to growing demand. The intensive eight-day camp offers children the rare opportunity to learn about film critique and participate in every aspect of filmmaking." Click that fest and scroll down for details; the two sessions will run June 21 through 30 and July 10 through 19.

SFist impressions from the ongoing Another Hole in the Head festival: Eve and Wendy on Broken and The Gravedancers; Eve on Blood Deep, Room 6 and The Beast.

At the IFC Blog, Alison Willmore begins previewing offerings from the New York Asian Film Festival (Friday through July 1) with her takes on Always: Sunset on Third Street, A Bittersweet Life and Linda Linda Linda.

Michael Atkinson previews the fest for the Village Voice: "[T]he series has always erred on the side of popness, psychotronica, and pulpitude.... The sugar highs and crashes can be exhausting, but the ethnographic gains can overshadow the most rigorous realist art film." And The Reeler calls up "NYAFF co-founder and all-around swell guy Grady Hendrix to get the latest on this year's fest."

Cinematical's Kim Voynar talks with director Rick Stevenson and actor Robert Guthrie about their Seattle International Film Festival entry, Expiration Date and reviews OSS-117: Nest of Spies.

"No controversy, no political messages," writes Sakis Kontos at Cineuropa. "This year's Karlovy Vary International Film Festival [June 30 through July 8] is going to be 'a feast of world or European film premieres celebrating cinema' according to the event's organizers who announced the official competition program in Prague." Fine, but if you're looking for the full lineup, Boyd van Hoeij has it at europeanfilms.net.

Bside launches a Touring and Independent Film & Music Festival.

Catherine Deneuve will chair the jury at the Venice Film Festival this year, and the fest will see the premiere of Kenneth Branagh's The Magic Flute. Reuters reports.

At Twitch, Todd notes that the site for the Toronto After Dark Film Festival (October 20 through 24) is already up.

Richard Armstrong at Flickhead: "The MediaMag Short Circuit short film competition is the initiative of the UK education resource Media Magazine, a publication catering to film and media students of the 16-18 age range. A shortlist of twenty-one shorts, trailers and pop videos has appeared on a DVD and there are some powerful little movies on it."

Online viewing tip. Via Screenhead, shorts by the French animation school Gobelins, l'école de l'image for the just-wrapped International Animated Film Festival in Annecy.

Posted by dwhudson at June 14, 2006 3:46 PM