Fests and events, 4/14.

"I had the privilege of visiting Joe Dante in his office on the Warner Hollywood lot to talk about the movies he's programmed as the curator of the Dante's Inferno film festival at the New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles." On top of the interview, Dennis Cozzalio's got some clips, too. "We begin by talking about his legendary project The Movie Orgy, which screens as the festival's closing-night feature."

"[T]he majority of documentaries made for the armed forces or general release [during WWII] were more propaganda films to rally the troops and the country," writes Susan King in the Los Angeles Times. "Then John Huston entered the picture. And war documentaries grew up." The Academy will be screening "John Huston's Suppressed World War II Documentaries" on Tuesday evening.

The cinetrix discovers that Cornell Cinema is screening a two-day series of films by Leonard Retel Helmrich on Thursday and Friday - and she's blurbing it, too.

In San Francisco:

• "With two films from Argentina, two from Brazil, one from Chile, and a short from Colombia, the sampling of South American cinema in this year's [San Francisco International Film Festival] line-up is considerably less ample than in past years," writes Michael Guillén. "Notwithstanding, the sextet warrants mention."

• Speaking with Johnny Symons about his documentary Ask Not, Michael Fox opens a series of SF360 interviews with Bay Area filmmakers with films screening at the SFIFF.

• "Justicia Now! is a documentary about Chevron Texaco's toxic legacy in the Northern Ecuadorian region of the Amazon rainforest - and a courageous group of people called Los Afectados (The Affected Ones) who are seeking justice for the ensuing cancer, sickness and death in the largest environmental class action lawsuit in history." Premiering in San Francisco at the Roxie on April 17.

• At the Siffblog, Anne M Hockens looks back on the one-day Jazz + Silent Film Festival at the Castro: Sherlock Jr, The Cabinet of Dr Caligari and Nosferatu, all accompanied by the Club Foot Orchestra.

"On April 21, The Importance of Being Earnest kicks off the Edmonton Film Society's spring screening series - this one devoted to British comedies of the 40s and 50s," notes Paul Matwychuk. "In some ways, Earnest is the odd film out among these eight titles."

Krazy! The Delirious World of Anime + Comics + Video Games + Art. At the Vancouver Art Gallery from May 17 through September 7.

"Sunny, warm weather and a sea of smiling faces greeted attendees of the Sarasota Film Festival as the southwestern Florida event wrapped its tenth anniversary and continues to grow in prominence as an important part of the film festival circuit," reports James Israel at indieWIRE. Also:

• Matt Dentler's got stories and pix.

• AJ Schnack's got a note on serving on the documentary jury: "[T]he process is ephemeral and, dare I say, a bit mysterious even to the participants."

• The IFC's Alison Willmore enjoyed "a kick-ass mix of an ambitious and wide-ranging film line-up from programmers Tom Hall and Holly Herrick, lavish, gown-and-tux-and-shrimp cocktail parties, and downtime on the beach." And she's got the award-winners.

The 10th Maryland Film Festival runs May 1 through 4.

The mission of the Humanitarian Media Foundation, set to launch on May 1: "Employ multiple forms of media (film, television, journalism, photojournalism art, photography, music) to explore aspects of domestic and international humanitarian crises, issues and histories; raise awareness for humanitarian matters; and facilitate change in areas where it is most needed." And a festival's in the works.

Posted by dwhudson at April 14, 2008 2:31 PM