Other fests, other events, 9/5.

"I have seen a lot of striking work so far this year, but no film floored me like Ronald Bronstein's Frownland," blogs Michael Tully.

Introduced by Lodge Kerrigan in a presentatino moderated by Filmmaker's Scott Macaulay, it screens tonight, at the IFC Center in NYC.

With the Film Forum screening 16 films by Rouben Mamoulian from Friday through September 18, Dan Callahan assesses this "Strange Case" at the House Next Door: "The director stayed loyal to a few stylistic, visual and aural devices throughout his film career: slow dissolves, wipes, looming shadows on walls, shots of statues, and the idea of catchy music spreading from one person to another like a shared disease. Whether Mamoulian stayed loyal to any particular theme is another matter."

More from Elliott Stein in the Voice: "He was merely the most innovative director in American movies during the early sound period, and throughout his entire career proved himself equally brilliant with horror, musicals, swashbucklers, historical romance, and crime dramas."

Starting one day later but running through September 30 is the Museum of the Moving Image's Fritz Lang, King of Noir. As J Hoberman writes in a film-by-film guide, Lang " did noirs that were fatalistic and paranoid even by noir standards."

"The notion that no films worth seeing came out of Mexico between the time of Buñuel's return to Europe and the release of Amores Perros is the same casual racism that inspired the popular media to dub Alejandro González Iñárritu, Guillermo del Toro and Alfonso Cuarón 'the Three Amigos' and put Gael García Bernal's unconventional Mexican mug on the cover of fashion glossies," writes Ed Gonzalez. "Food for corrective thought, this year's Latinbeat sidebar - a tribute to four breakthroughs from Mexico's New Cinema - is one part reality check and three parts wish fulfillment, recognizing as it does the popular impact of Amores Perros but also fancying an alternate universe where the comparably less chic cultural visions of Fernando Eimbcke (Duck Season), Carlos Reygadas (Japón) and Maryse Sistach (Violet Perfume) command similar attention and wield the same influence." Friday through September 18.

"Hollywood has adopted a gentler, more insidious colonialism in regard to Africa. Stars embrace the continent's orphans; studios make movies about its turmoil, injustice, and despair featuring white characters in the leading roles," writes Peter Keough in the Boston Phoenix. "Too bad Ousmane Sembene - who died last June at the age of 84 and whose short repertoire of films made over the course of 40 years screens this weekend at the Harvard Film Archive - never took up this feckless, patronizing brand of exploitation as a subject in a film.... Sembene, as it happens, didn't see much value in taking the foreign oppressors to task. The Africa of his films can't afford to waste its valuable time and energy in blaming others. It needs to take responsibility for its actions, analyze the mistakes of the past, and move on." Friday through Monday.

"The MadCat Women's International Film Festival is back for its 11th consecutive year, with 11 fascinating film programs (two features and nine shorts series)." Maria Komodore offers an overview in the San Francisco Bay Guardian. September 11 through 26.

"It all kinda began at Harry Knowles's wedding, believe it or not," begins Matt Dentler. "During the reception, filmmaker Richard Kelly and I were talking about how much we loved Moby's song, 'Memory Gospel,' which features prominently in his upcoming film, Southland Tales." One thing led to another, and: "A Conversation with Moby" is set for March 11 as part of SXSW Film 08.

"The Rotterdam Film Festival has appointed two part-time directors to oversee its 2008 edition, following this month's departure of topper Sandra den Hamer, while the search for a full-time director continues," reports Ian Mundell for Variety.

"Spike Lee is to preside over an online film festival which will aim to make it easier for budding filmmakers to showcase their talents," reports the Guardian. "The Babelgum online film festival, named after the internet TV network, will showcase films that are shorter than 45 minutes long, either shot in English or with English-language subtitles."

Posted by dwhudson at September 5, 2007 12:27 PM