Fests and events, 2/27.

"When I got in touch with Paul Festa to find out if I might take a look at his 2006 film, Apparition of the Eternal Church, in which a group of people listen to a piece of organ music by Olivier Messiaen and describe their reaction, I introduced myself as a film critic first and then, more importantly, as a full-blown Messiaen obsessive," writes Nathan Lee in the Voice. "'Join the club,' came his knowing reply." Screens tonight "with live organ accompaniment at St Bartholomew's Church as part of a centenary celebration program that includes the New York premiere of Messiaen's 'Fantaisie' for violin and piano, with Festa himself manning the bow."

Also tonight: A free preview screening of Kimberly Peirce's Stop Loss in Chicago. The Reader's JR Jones has details.

Back in the Voice, J Hoberman: "It's been half a century since A Face in the Crowd had its premiere, but there's a sense in which this 1957 Elia Kazan flick remains the founding movie of postmodern times. Election years make it only too evident that our popular culture and electoral politics are symbiotic; A Face in the Crowd was the first to dramatize it." Budd Schulberg and Patricia Neal will be on hand for a screening at Film Forum on March 5. Somewhat related: Peter Nellhaus on The Arrangement.

"Of all the documentaries premiering at this year's South by Southwest Film Festival, we're probably most excited about seeing Second Skin [site], an up close and personal look at the lives of seven MMORPG (Massively multiplayer online role-playing game) players and the fictional worlds they inhabit." Austinist's Matthew Smith talks with producer Victor Piñeiro. Via Matt Dentler. Earnest Cavalli talks with him, too, by the way, for Wired.

Karina Longworth's SXSW preview today: Natural Causes. And Chris Garcia has more SXSW news.

Michael Guillén has begun posting reviews from Cinequest 08. So far: Around the Bay (site) and La Antena (The Aerial). The festival runs through March 9.

"On the same day in 2006 that Zhang [Yimou] (born 1951) premiered in China his Curse of the Golden Flower, Jia Zhangke (born 1970), the most important 'Sixth Generation' director, opened his Still Life, a blustery act of provocation," writes Gerald Peary in the Boston Phoenix. "The films couldn't be more different. Zhang's lavish action-romance costumer is the most expensive Chinese picture ever. Still Life, which plays at the MFA March 6 - 16, is tough, lean, pessimistic, documentary-like."

"On Wednesday, April 30, the San Francisco International Film Festival, with Platinum Sponsor Vanity Fair, will present its annual Directing Award to Mike Leigh, whose history with us stretches back to 1986 when the Festival held this country's first retrospective of his gritty and unsparing, often bitingly funny work."

In the San Francisco Bay Guardian, Dennis Harvey previews this weekend's Cinema Piemonte.

For indieWIRE, Michael Gibbons files a dispatch from Brazil focusing on how the country's reacting to the Berlinale awarding Elite Squad its Golden Bear.

And Daniel Kasman wraps his Berlinale coverage.

At Screengrab, Phil Nugent rounds up more goings on in New York, San Francisco and Seattle.

Online viewing tip. Filmmaker's Scott Macaulay has "Why Film Festivals Don't Work," a video that explains the thinking behind From Here to Awesome.

Posted by dwhudson at February 27, 2008 1:03 PM