Fests and events, 7/20.

"From this Friday until the beginning of August, Sao Paulo's Galeria Vermelho hosts one of the most riveting exhibitions of the summer," announces Miguel Amado at Rhizome. "Curated by local critics Fernando Oliva and Marcelo Rezende, Communism of Form: Sound + Image + Time - The Music Clip Strategy brings together works by 30 Brazilian and international artists that reflect, examine, or evoke the aesthetics of the music clip within contemporary visual culture." Through August 4.

Michelle Phillips joins a prestigious lineup of bloggers filing entries from the Mods & Rockers Film Festival for the Huffington Post. Through August 1.

Hoping he won't mind, I want to quote the entire first paragraph of Michael Fox's piece at SF360:

As recently as a decade ago, the various local "identity" film festivals provoked minimal interest and sold few tickets beyond their niche constituencies. Those days are long gone: A full 40 percent of the audience of the SF International Asian American Film Festival is now comprised of non-Asians. The SF Jewish Film Festival reports 25 to 30 percent of attendees aren't Jewish. What's going on? For one thing, savvy moviegoers outside the target demographic have learned to scout the niche fests' programs for films that premiered to raves at Berlin or Cannes (too late, that is, to make it into the SF International Film Festival). The Jewish Film Festival specifically benefits from broad and urgent local interest in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which manifests itself as an insatiable appetite for documentaries from the region. The biggest factor, though, may be the number of interfaith and interracial relationships in the Bay Area. Looking for insights into your partner's culture or family? Tag along with them to a festival flick. All of which is to say you don't have to be Jewish to enjoy the SF Jewish Film Festival.

Also, program director Nancy Fishman points out a few highlights. Through July 26.

For the Reeler, Chris Willard talks with New York Asian American International Film Festival director William Phuan. Through July 28.

"Outfest programmers have once again assembled... a world-class collection of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered-themed shorts," writes Kim Adelman at indieWIRE. Through Monday. Also, Brian Brooks previews the New York International Latino Film Festival, July 24 through 29.

Matt Riviera previews the Melbourne International Film Festival. July 25 through August 12.

The Lumière Reader has more from the Telecom New Zealand International Film Festivals.

"A retrospective on Pedro Almodóvar and a tribute to US director David Lynch will be the main events of the Estoril European Film Festival, whose first edition will be held from November 8 - 17," reports Vitor Pinto at Cineuropa.

The Wine Country Film Festival's just opened in American Canyon; later, it'll be moving on to Napa and Sonoma.

For the LA Weekly, Hazel-Dawn Dumpert previews The Late, Great Kate: A Centennial Tribute to Katharine Hepburn, running through August 21. Susan King rounds up other local goings on for the Los Angeles Times.

The Philadelphia City Paper writes up the highlights of the second week of the Philadelphia International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival. Through Tuesday.

"Convention never could get its claws into Norman Mailer." Michael Joshua Rowin previews The Mistress & The Muse: The Films of Norman Mailer for the L Magazine. More from AO Scott in the New York Times:

The objection can be made that all of this stuff is trivial and secondary, an amusing distraction from the substantial and vexing edifice of Mr Mailer's real work, which is his books. Many of them, it seems to me, are too infrequently and poorly read, and some of their boldest gambits and thorniest truths are overshadowed by their author's reputation for excess on and off the page.

To see him as he was in his various nonliterary incarnations - as cinéaste and talk-show guest, as politician and polemicist - is to understand some of what he was up to in books like Advertisements for Myself (1959), Armies of the Night (1968), Of a Fire on the Moon (1970) and The Prisoner of Sex (1971). And Mr Mailer's first three films - Maidstone in particular - are worth seeing for the insight they provide into the ideas and ambitions that fueled Mr Mailer's writing in the 1960s and 70s, the wildest, most productive and most contentious period in a career that has never been especially calm or easy to comprehend.

More from acquarello and the Leading the Charge: Woodfall Film Productions and the Revolution in 60s British Cinema series: Tom Jones and The Charge of the Light Brigade.

"The Magnificent Revolutionary Cycling Cinema is the only UK touring bicycle-powered cinema." Thanks, Jerry!

"The short film evening Short & Sweet, which has been held weekly in Brick Lane for over a year, has arrived in the West End of London." More at the Creative Review.

10 mph may be making its way to you next month.

"The 19th Galway Film Fleadh came to an end on Sunday and by all accounts it was a rousing success," writes Mark Rabinowitz at indieWIRE.

Michael Guillén has a Robert Osborne double and, at the Siffblog, Anne M Hockens and David Jeffers wrap the San Francisco Silent Film Festival. Earlier: "SFSFF's 12th."

Rachel Leers has a Silverdocs overview for In These Times.

An Atheist Film Festival? Jim Emerson floats the idea and the suggestions roll in.

Posted by dwhudson at July 20, 2007 6:39 AM