Fests and events, 11/11.

Jeremy Blake's "New York gallery Kinz, Tillou, and Feigen (KTF) is opening a Memorial Exhibition from November 10 to January 5." Writes David Michael Perez at Rhizome: "In hindsight, it is sadly poignant that the couple's tragic demise would embody so many aspects of the salacious celebrity arc that they set out to critique then."

"Another Festival of Films from Iran opens at the Museum of Fine Arts, and the Bush Administration still hasn't started bombing Tehran," notes Peter Keough in the Boston Phoenix. "George and company had better hurry up, because, to judge from its movies, the country is closer to developing American culture than it is to developing a nuclear bomb." Through November 24.

Doug Cummings posts reviews of a few films he's caught at AFI Fest, wrapping tonight and "one of the few events here in Los Angeles sponsored by AFI worth attending." Also, quick takes on several of the festival's animated shorts.

More on AFI Fest from Michael Lerman at indieWIRE, where you'll also find lots of pix.

"It's common knowledge that Frisco Bay is home to a lot of film festivals," writes Brian Darr. "But this November is the busiest month for them in my memory." Dates, places and links follow thick and fast.

"Few Italian movies make it to American cinemas now, for various reasons - including the fact that most are pretty routine.... But that doesn't mean there aren't still good films worth catching... if you have the chance, of course," writes Dennis Harvey at SF360. "Which is why the NICE (aka New Italian Cinema) is an annual bright spot on the calendar for our city's sizable Italian-heritage populace and Italophiles of all stripes." Tonight through November 18.

At the San Francisco International Animation Festival, Michael Guillén enjoys The Pixar Story ("great, rousing, inspiring") and Film Noir.

"The western grew up with 1923's The Covered Wagon, a sprawling epic about the settling of the Wild West in the late 19th century that was shot on location in Utah and Nevada with a cast of thousands," writes Susan King in the Los Angeles Times. "James Cruze, a former actor who had directed some Fatty Arbuckle and Will Rogers comedies, helmed the sagebrush saga, which was the second film to play at the newly opened Egyptian Theatre. This Wednesday, it will screen at the venerable movie palace as part of the Egyptian's 85th anniversary celebration. Daniel Redfield provides the live piano accompaniment."

In the Guardian: "A few years ago, I embarked on an exploration of landscape in early film, with the idea of discovering something about the evolution of urban space that I would convey in a work made with some of the films called, rhetorically, The City of the Future," writes Patrick Keiller, whose work will be on view at BFI Southbank from November 23 through February 2.

"Marco Mueller will be re-appointed artistic director of the Venice Film Festival for four additional years thanks to a move by Italian culture minister Francesco Rutelli, which will give the Lido some much-needed continuity," reports Nick Vivarelli for Variety.

Posted by dwhudson at November 11, 2007 2:32 PM