Udine's FEFF @ 10.

The tenth edition of the Far East Film Festival in Udine, Italy, opens on Friday and runs through April 26. Variety marks the occasion with a package featuring Darcy Paquet's brief history.

Mark Schilling explains the FEFF's decision in 2000 to include Japanese films in its lineup.

Derek Elley, the festival's first programmer, looks back on "Udine's cinephile origins."

And:

Updated through 4/21.

Far East moviemaking may seem to be well repped on the international map, but the reality is far different, with the West cherry-picking films that mirror either Euro-style art movies or out-of-date cultural cliches. No case is more egregious than that of Asia's most populous nation - China - whose pic industry is still largely an undiscovered country.

Between the peaks of a handful of big-budget helmers (Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige, Jiang Wen, Feng Xiaogang) and the shoreline of "indie"-cum-"underground" hardcore auteurs (Jia Zhangke, etc) lies a vast plain of midrange filmers whose pics are almost unseen outside Asia - except in specialist berths like Udine's Far East Film Festival.

Nick Vivarelli profiles FEFF "co-toppers" Sabrina Baracetti and Thomas Bertacche.

Also: "Italy's northeastern corner packs a triple punch when it comes to heavyweight fests." Besides the FEFF, there's Venice and the Pordenone Silent Film Festival.

"Few Western distribs have been as successful at the art of releasing Asian films as independent French distributors," reports Tobias Grey.

More pix, via Blake Ethridge.

Update, 4/21: Todd Brown is sending reviews into Twitch.

Posted by dwhudson at April 16, 2008 2:02 PM