Fests and events, 11/30.

Dennis Harvey at SF360 on the occasion of a Bay Area weekend with Otto Preminger: "For at least 25 peak years out of the 40-plus he spent in the Hollywood coal mines, he delivered popular entertainments that were profitable, often prestigious, savvy reflections of their moment in public taste and 'daring' subject matter. If his artistic value remains argued over 20 years after his death - as it was during much of his career - there's still no doubting his importance as a maverick producer, a censor-defying trailblazer, and a guy who simply refused to be ignored."

"As seen in the Harvard Film Archive's From the Tsars to the Stars series of excavated Russian epics [tomorrow through December 13], the Soviet sci-fi films are uniquely conflicted — futurism and technological progressiveness were axioms of the kingdom, but since sci-fi is inherently a form of social critique, the films struggle with their own tropes," writes Michael Atkinson for the Boston Phoenix.

For the Reeler, Peter Hames surveys the series Czech Modernism: The 1920s to the 1940s, tonight through December 10 at BAM.

Ernest Hardy previews Fusion 2006: The 4th Los Angeles LGBT People of Color Film Festival (tomorrow through Sunday) for the LA Weekly.

Peter Nellhaus sends word that the Bangkok International Film Festival, slated for January 26 through February 5, may be in trouble. Kong Rithdee explains in the Bangkok Post.

Posted by dwhudson at November 30, 2006 8:22 AM