Fests and events, 12/19.

"The wisecracking, self-reliant, brash, and bubbly blonde acted in nearly 100 features in a career that spanned over 50 years. She could play gold diggers and dumb bunnies, but was most memorable as warm and honest Depression dames who knew the score." For the Voice, Elliott Stein previews Joan Blondell: The Bombshell from 91st Street, running from tomorrow through January 1 at MoMA. More from Bruce Bennett in the New York Sun. Update: Charles Silver, associate curator of MoMA's Department of Film, and Matthew Kennedy, author of Joan Blondell: A Life Between Takes, are guests on the Leonard Lopate Show.

"An exciting chapter of recent German film history is the focus of a special Berlinale series, 'Rebellion of the Filmmakers' (Aufbruch der Filmemacher). The starting point is the documentary film Gegenschuss - Aufbruch der Filmemacher (Reverse Angle - Rebellion of the Filmmakers) which deals with the origins, development and crises of the legendary film publisher, Filmverlag der Autoren, in the early 1970s. Producers and authors such as Werner Herzog, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Wim Wenders, Thomas Schamoni, Michael Fengler, Veith von Fürstenberg, Hans W Geißendörffer and Hark Bohm are synonymous with this turbulent, vibrant and also contentious period in the history of German film."

Also: a preview of this year's Generation 14plus program.

"It seems almost ungrateful to complain that a 400-plus-minute film adaptation is too short, but when the book in question is Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace, seven hours is not enough," writes in the Boston Phoenix. "The adaptation is Sergei Bondarchuk's celebrated 1967 effort, which the Museum of Fine Arts is showing this month in four installments; if you go on Thursday December 27, you can see all four, in order, on the one day."

"Carlos Reygadas's Stellet Licht (Silent Light) made a sweep of the 29th Havana International Film Festival of New Latin American Cinema, winning nods for best picture, director, cinematography and sound," reports Anna Marie De La Fuente for Variety's Circuit.

"Two international film festivals wrapped things up on Sunday with the traditional awards ceremonies: the 9th Jakarta fest and the 4th Dubai fest." Eric D Snider's got winners at Cinematical.

Ahmed Atef's Al-Ghaba "is an unsettling portrait of Cairo today, brutally exposing the disheartening conditions of those living at the edges of a society that has become highly polarized," reports Noha El-Hennawy for the Los Angeles Times. "The 90-minute movie was screened for the first time at Egypt's major annual cultural event, the Cairo International Film Festival, which wrapped earlier this month."

Posted by dwhudson at December 19, 2007 3:23 PM