Fests and events, 1/9.

"La vie en Rose, the adaptation of the life of famous singer Edith Piaf by Olivier Dahan, starring Marion Cotillard as Piaf, will open the 51st Berlin Film Festival (February 8-18, 2007), according to the weekly film publication Le Film Français." Cineuropa's Fabien Lemercier breaks the news to the English-speaking world before the Berlinale itself.

First impression: Likely a good choice. Opening films need to strike a difficult balance between pleasing the crowds and drawing a dash of glamor on the one hand (and with Gérard Depardieu, Sylvie Testud, Clotilde Courau, Pascal Greggory and Emmanuelle Seigner also in the cast, this one could), while on the other, offering some modicum of, how you say, artistic quality. We'll see. At any rate, with The Good German, The Good Shepherd and Goodbye Bafana already in the Competition lineup, it looks like there's going to be a lot of thinking about 20th century history going on in Berlin in February.

Updated through 1/10.

The most recent issue of Offscreen to appear online is a big festival roundup. Randolph Jordan and Donato Totaro offer two takes from two angles on October's Festival of New Cinema in Montreal, while Ryan Diduck talks with one of the featured filmmakers, Julia Loktev, whose Day Night Day Night garnered praise throughout 2006.

Betty Kaklamanidou looks back to the Thessaloniki International Film Festival and Philip Gillet reviews the Leeds International Film Festival. Both took place in November.

IndieWIRE's latest Sundance interviews: Four Sheets to the Wind director Sterlin Harjo and Eagle vs Shark director Taika Waititi.

Update, 1/10: The Berlinale confirms the opener.

Posted by dwhudson at January 9, 2007 10:15 AM