July 2005


Last updated on July 19, 2005. Please check back later for additions.

Contents

Comedy Beats SFX at DCFS Summer Trailer Program
Me and You and Everyone We Know: An Interview with Miranda July
Slapsticon III: A Comedy Film Festival
Undead: Audience Q&A with Directors Michael and Peter Spierig
Yes: A New Film By Sally Potter--Audience Q&A
An Interview with Harriet Fields, W.C. Fields' Granddaughter
Local Filmmakers: Call for Shorts
Flip Phone Contest
Adam's Rib Presents 100 Favorite Film Quotes
"Movies in the Morning" At Cinema Arts
The Cannes Film Festival
An Interview With Eran Riklas, Director of The Syrian Bride
We Need to Hear From You
Calendar of Events



Comedy Beats SFX at DCFS Summer Trailer Program

By Larry Hart, DC Film Society Member

Despite lots of supernatural goings-on, the ultimate Batman prequel and an updated War of the Worlds to look forward to this summer, the “preview” for an old fashioned romantic comedy, Must Love Dogs, was the audience favorite at this year’s Coming Attractions for Summer 2005 held at Landmark's E Street Cinema on June 14.

Once again, local film critics Joe Barber and Bill Henry provided context and commentary to 30 trailers that ran the gamut from another rendition of The Dukes of Hazzard to a six hour Italian epic, The Best of Youth. Joe and Bill like to place the trailers in categories and Must Love Dogs wound up in “The Decade That Brought Us Grease and the Bee Gees in Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band---Please Kill Me Now” (just don’t ask me to explain that one). Diane Lane and John Cusack head up the cast of a film that seems not to pretend to be anything but summer fun. That diverse category included The Island, which is described as the last uncontaminated place on our planet about 50 years from now, but the only thing you have to know is that it’s got Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson. They were in with The Skeleton Key, one of those scary backwoods Louisiana flicks, with a cast of old faves like Gena Rowlands and William Hurt, Last Days, a fictionalized version of a Cobain-like rocker’s end and the film festival circuit sensation, Me and You and Everyone We Know a first film directed by, written and starring performance artist Miranda July. [See
below for an interview with Miranda July].

Kicking off the evening was “Remaking the Movies-We Love the 70s” which included a new take on the old (very old) TV series Bewitched and a new yarn from the old horror-master Wes Craven-- Red Eye. (That one got a confused reaction as the trailer starts out in one direction and then reverses gears to the horror genre). The audience fave, though, went to a visually spectacular documentary March of the Penguins. A strong positive also for Stealth which will make HAL the runaway computer in 2001-A Space Odyssey seem tame by comparison. Disney’s Howl’s Moving Castle provided some lighter fare.

The Bad News Bears topped the “In the 70s We Believed in Recycling” beating out blockbuster remakes including Batman Begins--actually a prequel which Joe Barber hailed as “a classy piece of work,” War of the Worlds, Fantastic Four and a true blast from the past, The Dukes of Hazzard. Yet another remake is Charlie and the Chocolate Factory which does include a Johnny Depp version of Willie Wonka but puts more emphasis on the boy. Joe Barber says Depp’s heavily made up Wonka reminded him of a certain pop singer who’s been in the news lately. Barber and Henry pointed out that remaking Bears with Billy Bob Thornton as the Coach makes it more of a Billy Bob flick than just a rerun.

There were three trailers in the “Here’s To Farrah (and her hair)” group but The Wedding Crashers was the easy audience winner. This may be the summer hit for New Line. Also in this group were Herbie: Fully Loaded aiming the old VW bug story to the NASCAR crowd (does anyone really remember the VW bug?) and Happy Endings, a dysfunctional romantic comedy for the art house crowd with a host of independent film favorites, including Maggie Gyllenhaal, Lisa Kudrow, Laura Dern and Bobby Cannavale.

Speaking of Art House flicks, that category included the aforementioned The Best of Youth, a six hour Italian RAI-TV miniseries that has been given a theatrical release. Don’t worry about devoting a whole day to it. Spanning four decades of an Italian family, it’s divided up into two parts shown at different times. Getting the audience kudos, though, was the documentary Murderball, a fascinating look at a version of Rugby for the disabled. From the action-packed trailer, the game is not for the faint of heart. Also included: Mysterious Skin, an odd tale of very different boys, one from small town Kansas who believes he was abducted by aliens and how they find each other in New York, and two French flicks Happily Ever After, a marital comedy for the over-35 crowd, and Francois Ozun’s 5x2, which appropriates Harold Pinter’s “Betrayal’s” gimmick of playing a failed marriage on rewind and ending at the beginning.

The “Blaxploitation” genre is not quite dead, but Four Brothers gives it a twist with Mark Wahlberg joining a largely African-American cast as one of four adopted brothers who want revenge for their adopted mother’s death. The same producer (John Singleton) also has a less violent film called Hustle and Flow, set in the world of the Memphis music scene and rapper wannabes.

What would a summer season be without Slasher and Zombie movies? This summer has plenty of them. Best trailer of the lot went to more of a supernatural adventure movie, Night Watch, which involves battles between forces of light and darkness. The kicker is when the titles come on in Russian after a no dialogue trailer. (Actual title: Nochnoi Dozor.) Joe Barber pointed out that studios go to great lengths in their trailers to avoid those dreaded subtitles. We also got a taste of two zombie flicks, the bigger budget Land of the Dead, from Universal and the Lions Gate release Undead. Dark Water has poor Jennifer Connolly playing another depressed woman who, with a young daughter in tow, and in desperation for an apartment close to Manhattan, winds up in one that makes the one in Rosemary’s Baby look normal (and watch out for those helpful New York “supers” who manage the buildings).

But that wasn’t all. Some were on the “surprise” list. The latest from David Cronenberg, A History of Violence. Although as its title implies, a violent film, those who saw it at Cannes claim it’s more mainstream for Cronenberg, whose films can best be described as esoteric. For something completely different, there was The New World from Terence Malick which goes back to the explorer John Smith and a new take on the clashes between Native Americans and the British.

Lots of thanks go to lots of people who helped, including coordinating committee members Karrye Braxton, Cheryl Dixon, Ky Nguyen, Tuan Tran and Billy Coulter, Landmark’s E Street staff, Allied Advertising, TerryHines and Associates and of course the studios for all those trailers.



Me and You and Everyone We Know: An Interview with Miranda July

By Caroline Cooper, DC Film Society Member

Last April's FilmfestDC provided several new filmmakers with an opportunity to showcase their talent to the Washington film community. One such artist is Miranda July, who makes her directorial debut with Me and You and Everyone We Know.For Miranda July, the film was the next logical progression in her already impressive career as a writer, actress, and performance artist. The film has received rave reviews from critics across the country, and won prizes at the Sundance and Cannes Film Festivals. Roger Ebert calls it “This Year’s Sideways.”

Me and You and Everyone We Know traces the lives of everyday people as they embark on a journey through romantic ups and downs and professional pitfalls. The theme of the movie is connection, and July centers on the interaction of her four main characters, newly divorced Richard, budding performance artist Christine, and Richard’s two sons, to make the connections come alive.

I had a chance to sit down with Miranda July to discuss her first experience in directing a film.

Caroline Cooper: What inspired you to make this film?
Miranda July: I have been working in a lot of different mediums of performance-writing, radio-for a long time, so I was very comfortable with doing things how I wanted to do them. That was very good training for the most important parts of making a movie. I had always wanted to make a feature, but didn’t have an idea. One day I was on the L-train in Chicago and had a flash of a world--the father and his two sons, curator and the artist, and the department store--and I got off the train and thought, "I have my first feature."

Caroline Cooper: You brought a lot of your background as a performance artist to this film. Did you want your background to influence the film? I ask because the character you play, Christine, and her performance art help to “bridge the gap” in so many parts of the film.
Miranda July: You are right. Initially, that was not the case. I added a little bit of that in the reshoot. If you are going to go through the trouble of making a movie, you should not be afraid to show the thing that is most unique to you. I knew the character of Christine would be an artist. Her story (her art) isn’t any bigger than Richard selling shoes. Her work is like a placeholder, and I wanted that to represent a lonely, yet driven personality.

Caroline Cooper: How long did it take you to write the script?
Miranda July: I started in June 2001. This was a backburner project at first because I was touring and performing and months would go by and I wouldn’t look at it. I kept applying to the Sundance Screenwriters Lab (I got rejected twice), and in that process I kept rewriting. When I was accepted, it became my next project.

Caroline Cooper: Was it difficult for you to begin the writing process?
Miranda July: Yes. I didn’t even have Final Draft. I just started with dialogue because that’s the easiest part for me. I would start with two people talking and discover what the scene was about as I was writing. I would try to get a lot done and stop in a place that I would want to come back to.

Caroline Cooper: Is it easy for you to write dialogue because you are a performance artist?
Miranda July: Yes. Acting is a great place to start from. In fact, I don’t understand how people can write for film when they have never acted. Obviously, there are great screenwriters out there who do. But, I am acting as I am writing because I’m used to performing all of the parts of something. I couldn’t have planned it better if I wanted good training for screenwriting than getting used to being all of the characters.

Caroline Cooper: Was it difficult for you to develop your characters and keep the story moving forward?
Miranda July: Yes. As I was writing I realized that the more the characters can connect, the more interesting the film will be.

Caroline Cooper: Outside of the dialogue, was it difficult for you to find ways to tell the story?
Miranda July: I didn’t start with the story; I started accumulating scenes. For a movie like Me and You and Everyone We Know, that works. Although by the end, you have to look at how people change and whether the plot becomes a single story. At later stages of writing, I realized that characters such as Christine and Richard would need to connect again and she needs to get something across or get new information. It’s kind of nice to be at that stage, to have assignments for yourself as a writer.

Caroline Cooper: Did your participation in the Sundance Screenwriters Lab help you to get financing for the film?
Miranda July: Sundance helps because you can say you were in the Lab, and that’s the biggest help in terms of financing. People will look at the scripts that go through the Lab, and that’s saying a lot because there are a lot of scripts out there. I never went to film school; I am totally self-taught in all the things I do. So, for me, the experience provided me with confidence about the process. I met some advisors at the Lab who continue to be supportive of the project.

Caroline Cooper: How much time did it take for you to finish the script and start shooting?
Miranda July: I went to the Sundance Filmmaker’s Lab in June 2003, and I began shooting in June 2004. During that time I was rewriting the script and working with my producer to get money. Once we got FilmFour and IFC on-board, we started instantly because we wanted to make Sundance this year.

Caroline Cooper: How did you select you actors? Did you have anyone in mind for the parts?
Miranda July: I didn’t have anyone in mind for any of the roles. I knew that I didn’t want name actors; it didn’t seem appropriate for this movie. I saw a ton of people for most of the parts and just kept looking for a certain quality--it didn’t have to do with experience but whether they had a certain type of energy.

Caroline Cooper: Like the character Robby?
Miranda July: Exactly. I still love watching the parts of the movie with his facial expressions.

Caroline Cooper: Did you have rehearsal time?
Miranda July: We had very little rehearsal time. We had one or two rehearsals with everyone to troubleshoot--going through the scenes to ensure there were no misconceptions. To be honest, I was so new to moviemaking that it was better to start shooting. For the next movie, I will have a better idea of what I would want to do in a rehearsal.

Caroline Cooper: Were you pleased with how the actors developed the characters?
Miranda July: Completely. The joy of not playing all the parts yourself (as I do in performance art) is that actors can do it so much better. The delivery of a certain line would blow me away. It is so satisfying when a character’s face can tell a story.

Caroline Cooper: Richard’s facial expressions were very vivid. Can you tell me about John Hawkes and his background?
Miranda July: He’s been in a million things. Right now, he’s in Deadwood. He’s never been cast as a romantic lead. He’s an intense and smart guy, and was perfect for the role of Richard. I looked at a million people and finally saw him and said he’s Richard.

Caroline Cooper: Was it difficult for you to find locations for this film?
Miranda July: It’s a weird process. There is a location manager, but ultimately, I drove around, pointed to houses, and knocked on doors to ask to shoot there. It’s a hard process because you are invading people’s lives. And none of the interiors looked like what I wanted. You have to change the inside--carpet, put up wallpaper.

Caroline Cooper: How much time did you take to shoot the film?
Miranda July: 24 days. It was very tight. Every second was precious. You spend years writing and perfecting a scene, and then you have only three minutes to shoot the perfect take.

Caroline Cooper: When did you finish the film? How much time did it take you to edit?
Miranda July: We finished the day before we left for Sundance--January 20. There were little things I fixed after Sundance because we shot on HD. There were points in editing when I didn’t think we would make Sundance. Somehow it all worked out.

Caroline Cooper: Have you been pleased with audience reaction so far?
Miranda July: Yes. You just don’t know how a crowd will react. The reaction to the film is a lot more visceral; people really laugh. It was pretty surreal the first time I watched it with an audience. It took me a moment to realize what was happening.

Caroline Cooper: Will you participate in other film festivals?
Miranda July: Yes, there are a handful of U.S. festivals and some in other countries.

Caroline Cooper: Can you describe your best and most challenging experiences in making this film?
Miranda July: The best and most challenging experiences were somewhat the same. Writing and acting are very instinctive for me. But, directing is much more challenging; I feel like a novice. I felt so inarticulate in working with the actors, but at the same time I got the actors to do what I imagined them to do. That part of it makes me lie awake at night thinking I have to make my next movie.

Caroline Cooper: Do you have another project in mind?
Miranda July: Yes, I’m just in the early stages of the project. I started when I was editing Me and You and Everyone We Know. Once this movie is launched, then I will shift my focus to the next movie. The movie will be a bigger movie in scale because it will cost more. I don’t want it to be an ensemble piece, but I keep adding characters. Someday, I would like to do something with just two people.

Caroline Cooper: What advice would you offer to a budding filmmaker?
Miranda July: I would suggest starting the process with feelings that you have each day when you are writing; don’t create things that are not based on the way that you feel right now. Even if you have to come up with a scene to fit the plot, there is still something that you are feeling in that moment that has something to offer the movie.

Me and You and Everyone We Know opens in the Washington area July 1.



Slapsticon III

The DC area once again hosts the Slapsticon Comedy Film Festival, back in town for its third year (last year was in Boston). Dedicated to classic motion picture comedy, the festival begins July 28 and ends July 31 at Rosslyn's Spectrum Theater in Arlington, Virginia. Rare short films and feature length comedies will be shown--both silent and sound, and the rarer the better for classic comedy fans. This is a festival that attracts out-of-towners, some collectors, some researchers--most of whom are walking encyclopedias of early film comedy. If you're weary of today's verbal-based comedy, come see the pioneers: Charley Chase, John Bunny, Snub Pollard, Mabel Normand, Fatty Arbuckle, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, W.C. Fields, Laurel and Hardy, and lots more. Silent films will have piano accompaniment. More more information visit the website.



Audience Q&A with Michael and Peter Spierig, Directors of Undead

By John Suozzo, DC Film Society Member

On June 27 DC Film Society members had an opportunity to see Undead by Australian directors Michael and Peter Spierig at Landmark's E Street Cinema and talk to them after the film. DC Film Society's director Michael Kyrioglou was host. Before the film, the brothers mentioned that they had financed it entirely with their own money--down to their last $50! Their story of self-finance, hard work and luck should be an inspiration for any budding filmmaker.

Michael Kyrioglou: There are a lot of thriller/horror/zombie type movies being released this summer in the US. I know you guys filmed this a while ago but were you aware of all the other zombie projects back then?
Michael Spierig: It’s weird the way these things work out. We shot Undead in 2001 and we heard back then that Resident Evil was being made. That’s how long we’ve been on this thing. We made it thinking there were no other zombie films out there. We thought that we could try something different. “Let’s make a zombie film,” we said, “nobody’s doing that anymore”. Now there’s a dozen [zombie] films that have come out.

Michael Kyrioglou: This film was made very cheaply, right?
Michael Spierig: This film cost about $700,000 US which is very cheap. That [amount] was probably the coffee budget on Land of the Dead.

Michael Kyrioglou: The effects looked fantastic, amazing actually considering the amount of money you had to spend.
Peter Spierig: We spent about 9 months doing visual effects on PCs and laptop computers. The scene towards the end where you saw the plane falling through the clouds took 11 hours to render. Our computers would crash at the end of every frame. What would happen is that a scene that would last four seconds onscreen would take 100 frames and we had to restart the computer 100 times to make it. So every scene would be crash, restart, crash, restart.

Michael Kyrioglou: Did you have to finance the film completely on your own or was there a point where others came in to help you get the film made?
Peter Spierig: No, it was us the whole way. We had finished transferring the film to tape when we raised enough money from foreign sales to pay for the film transfer onto 35mm. But everything up to that point was Michael and I paying for it out of our pockets.
Michael Spierig: I’ll explain the process how it got released here in the US. We made the film [with money] out of our own pocket. We had next to no money for distribution or promotion. But we set up a Web site early on while we were still in the editing process. We put images up and started to contact Internet gossip sites like AICN, Dark Horizons and Creature Corner--very specific horror sites. They were really good to us and started to put out the news. For $300 we got some very good grass roots international marketing. After we completed the film, we sent out screener tapes to some of these Web sites, who thankfully gave us some good reviews, and everything sort of snowballed after that. So we actually spent virtually no money and yet were able to promote it around the world. The Internet is the perfect place to promote genre pictures.

Question: How long did the process take from setting up a Web site until today?
Michael Spierig: About 3 years. The movie took about 2 years to make and we spent just about as long selling it. We didn’t have any foreign sales nor did we have any pre-sales or distributors involved when we started the film so we were kind of behind the eight ball from the beginning. We had to go out blindly trying to find distributors, which is not a good way to make a film. It’s very difficult to make an indie film and get it released.

Michael Kyrioglou: Did Lions Gate Films give you any indication on the timing of the release?
Michael Spierig: They said “soon”. Lions Gate, which is a great company, had just acquired Artisan (The Blair Witch Project) and picked up their entire catalog so they had a lot of films to release. We were in a group of films like High Tension so it took a while to get them all released in theaters.

Question: It seemed looking at the film that it was shot on tape. Did you shoot it on tape or film?
Peter Spierig: We shot it on 16mm and then transferred it to high definition to get the look that we wanted. Then we burned that back to 35mm. It’s called “creating a digital intermediate”, a fairly standard process now.

Michael Kyrioglou: I wanted to talk about the music. Early on there’s a scene when we saw the kids running around the playground where the music reminded me of Jaws.
Peter Spierig: That was intentional. We were trying to create a B-movie feel. The music was B-movie and it had a 1950s kind of kitsch about it but that’s what we were aiming for.

Question: A question about the blue palette that the film had. It looked like some of the scenes were meant to be viewed in 3-D. The film looked like it had both red and blue tones to it.
Peter Spierig: The color changes in the film are very intentional and they happen at very specific moments. It starts off very warm and then it turns to that blue tone which happens once you see the clouds come overhead. All that was very intentional and done during the post-production process.

Michael Kyrioglou: The press notes said that you had done a short film trilogy that was sort of the basis for this film.
Michael Spierig: Peter and I had done about 20 short films and directed some commercials before this film. This film was loosely based--very loosely based--on a trilogy of films we made just out of high school. They were really bad short films called Attack of the Undead, Rampage of the Undead and Massacre of the Undead. They were learning films for us that we made in the back yard with friends. We got them into quite a few film festivals and they were well received. We thought we should continue making what we were comfortable with and since we comfortable with genre pictures we made a feature that’s funny and silly, too.

Question: What are you going to do next?
Michael Spierig: We were with this film for a long time--we’re still with it now--but we started work on a new project about a year ago. It’s a vampire film that we’re doing for Lions Gate and we hope to start shooting by the end of the year.

Question: Have you moved on from self-financing your films?
Michael Spierig: Definitely. This film is like winning the lottery. It’s been successful; we’ve sold it to 40 countries so that means we’ve won. The rule is that you should never gamble again if you ever win big so we’re never, ever going to spend our own money on a film again!

Michael Kyrioglou: Has this movie played in Australia?
Michael Spierig: Yes, it was released there in 2003. It did pretty well in cinema but nobody is really going to see Australian films at the moment. But it did great on DVD.

Michael Kyrioglou: When you guys collaborate on a movie, do you gravitate to certain jobs or do you both do everything?
Peter Spierig: Michael and I both do the writing, directing and producing. Michael spends a lot more time on the design aspects--he has a graphics design background from college. I spend more time in the camera department and sound design.

Question: Can you tell us how you recruited the actors for the cast?
Peter Spierig: We cast just about all of the actors from an acting school in Brisbane where we’re from. Most had done no feature films before, only commercials or student films. They were all very green but so were we.
Michael Spierig: With the technical crew as well, we were all in the same boat. They may have all done a film or two, but certainly not as Head of the Department. We got young people who were all keen on making the best possible film they could with absolutely no money.

Question: What was the most important thing you learned from this project?
Peter Spierig: To always be prepared. We storyboarded every single shot; we scheduled everything down to the minute. We knew exactly what we wanted to shoot. We only had 1 or 2 takes for everything so we were very specific about what we asked for. I think low-budget filmmaking is a great way to start in the business. It forces you to be creative on a very limited budget. The arts department budget for this film was $5,000; the makeup budget was $3,500; the music was $2,000.The choir was recorded in the composer’s mother’s office. These are tricks that we’ll take into the next film. Except the next film will have better catering. (Laughter)
Michael Spierig: I think we learned that on the next project we’re not going to do as many jobs. Directing takes up all of your time. Also, directing and producing can be at cross-purposes. You need to balance how much you want a shot with whether you can afford it.
Peter Spierig: I was always asking, “What hat am I wearing today?”
Michael Spierig: There were lots of logistical problems that kept cropping up. I would never take on as many roles on a project ever again.

Question: Are there any actors or directors you would like to work with in the future?
Peter Spierig: There’s a big long list. I think of people like DeNiro (Laughter). I think he’d love to make a B-grade movie. I’m sure he does a great Australian accent, too.
Michael Spierig: I’d love to work with Bruce Campbell in something.
Peter Spierig: Directors? Michael and work together so I don’t think there’s any room left for more directors.

Michael Kyrioglou: Will you continue to concentrate on writing and directing?
Michael Spierig: Yes. We don’t have to write everything we direct. We’ll certainly look at projects from other writers. I don’t think we’ll write everything we direct in the future.

Undead opens in the DC area on July 8.



Audience Q&A with Sally Potter, Director of Yes

By John Suozzo, DC Film Society Member

On March 30 on Landmark's E Street Cinema, audience members discussed the film Yes with director Sally Potter. DC Film Society's director Michael Kyrioglou led the discussion:

Michael Kyrioglou: This is such a unique and beautiful film. Your background is in theater direction and the film looked very choreographed. What kind of rehearsal process did you have with the actors?
Sally Potter: Unusually with this film, we had some real rehearsal time--three weeks. It was a six-week shoot in four countries. We had to be well prepared. And because there was so much text, we needed the time to find a natural way to speak the dialogue.

Michael Kyrioglou: I especially liked the scene in the Banquet Hall in the beginning--it was almost like a tango. Truly stunning. The film is brimming with incredible, button-pushing things to say. Tell us about the writing--I understand that you started writing shortly after 9/11.
Sally Potter: I started writing on 9/12. We all felt anxiety and despair. What was also clear was that people from the Middle East were going to be increasingly demonized and become objects of fear for those of us in the West. And the reverse is also true--the hatred of America and the misunderstanding between cultures would increase. It’s a two-way street. What could I do as a filmmaker? Something that will go in the opposite direction--away from the hatred, fear and war. I thought a love story was the answer--two people who love each other in spite, and perhaps because, of their differences.

Michael Kyrioglou: I was sort of taken with the scenes in the kitchen and in the garage. Why is He dumping all this heavy stuff on She?
Sally Potter: Yes, like Joan Allen says in the film, “I’m just an individual. Not a country.” We discussed this a lot in rehearsal. The actors needed to listen to each other. It was very emotional--they were just weeping copiously in order to get their emotions to that place. He (Simon Abkarian) comes from Lebanon in reality--he’s an Armenian from Lebanon, the victim of a different sort of racism.

Question: Tell us about Simon.
Sally Potter: It was his first role as a leading man on film and his first English-speaking role. He’s a very well known theater actor in France, where he lives. He’s an Armenian who grew up in Lebanon and France. He’s done Shakespeare and the Greek Tragedies on stage. Since doing this film, he’s done several other lead roles in film--mostly comic roles. He’s very, very funny and was cast very much against type in this. I’d love to work with him again as a comedian.

Question: Why was Joan Allen’s character American/British/Irish?
Sally Potter: Why is Joan Allen an Irish-American living in England? Belfast and Beirut are like twin cities. Both have been involved in Holy Wars with divisions based along religious lines. These two people would profoundly understand each other on some level. Also I think it is rare to find someone who has only one identity. England is an entirely mongrel culture. Going back to the Vikings and the Celts, the people there have always been a blend of what came before.

Question: Why was Cuba the safe ground?
Sally Potter: The people who were most surprised by the ending of the film were Cubans. Cuba is weird from an American standpoint. We showed this film at the Havana Film Festival and the people gasped when she moved into Cuba. They wanted to know why the hell I sent her character to Havana. For the two characters it is a place that is neither East nor West. Secondly, the auntie sends her there. For the auntie, Cuba is the last outpost [of communism] and also her dying wish. All the characters are trying to figure what they believe is important in life.

Question: Tell us about Grace’s character?
Sally Potter: Grace’s belief? I think like many teenagers, and many teen-aged girls in particular, she’s having problems with self-image. She’s growing up in a culture of celebrity where the most important thing is to become famous. She hasn’t found her way yet.

Michael Kyrioglou: Is Grace the only lead character that actually has a name?
Sally Potter: We didn’t name all the characters. In real life we don’t use names a lot in dialogue. In the first draft, the main characters were simply called He and She--sort of like Universal Man and Universal Woman in a way--but that was confusing for stage directions. Later versions had them named Mary and Khalil but I thought that was too specific.

Question: I liked the character of the “Dirt Consultant”.
Sally Potter: Shirley Henderson is a fabulous actress. Her character is sort of like a Greek Chorus. I loved writing her monologues. But I began to think of her as the more unsung philosopher and scientist of the piece. Nobody notices that she’s there but she sees everything.

Question: Why did you bring the poetry into it?
Sally Potter: It was written in verse from the very first line. It just kind of came out that way. I gradually realized that, strangely, it was an easier way of writing about “Big Ideas”. Because there are a lot of Big Ideas: God, Death and War are big ideas that people don’t find easy to talk about. The very old idea of verse has always been a way of allowing those ideas to flow.

Question: On the question of rhyme, how well did it work? Did you ever feel that you had created a monster? Are you satisfied with how the rhyming worked?
Sally Potter: I knew I had created a monster when I saw how terrified the financiers were. (Laughter). When I got to rejection number 350 and the budget got slashed and slashed and splashed. This is the first film in set modern times and in a modern language that’s written entirely in verse. Well, I kind of like being the first. It’s good to take a risk. Once you start [in verse] it’s a good frame for the work. Iambic pentameter is either eight or ten syllables--always. I told the actors they should forget about it in their performances because the rhymes didn’t always come at the end of their lines. It’s about speaking from the heart. At some of the early screenings, some people didn’t notice it was in verse, which was kind if satisfying. I overcame my trepidation and terror by talking with a lot of people who knew about verse. One is the actress Fiona Shaw, who is really legendary in the UK. Another was John Berger, a great writer and poet, and both are thanked in the end credits.

Question: How was it working with Joan Allen?
Sally Potter: Joan Allen is a wonderful actor, one of the greatest of our time, who started in theater and because of that loves being part of a team and in an ensemble. She is very disciplined and very dedicated and very generous. She really put herself into my hands and that act of trust is the greatest gift one can give a director. This was probably the happiest experience of my life in terms of working with actors.

Question: Has this film been shown in Arab countries?
Sally Potter: We recently had a screening in Turkey, the first Muslim country in which we have distribution. There have been quite a few Arabic people at screenings but it hasn’t actually been released yet. The picture will be released in June.

Question: You said you talked to 350 people who said “No” about the financing--who finally said “Yes”?
Sally Potter: GreeneStreet Films and the UK Film Council. But the largest part of the financing were the deferred fees agreed to by the cast and crew. This is the lowest budgeted film I’ve ever done. That’s the way it had to go to get made.

Michael Kyrioglou: Tell us about the process when you begin to write a film.
Sally Potter: Sitting in a room for a year, writing. Then going around to people to convince them that it’s a good idea. Shooting--that’s the short part--lasts about a year. Then another 7 months of editing. So for me it’s a four-year cycle. I wish it were less, but since I write my own films it’s tough to get it done in less.

Question: I liked the way you used music in the film. I liked the tinkling music and the use of the Blues.
Sally Potter: The tinkling music was by Phillip Glass performed by the Brazilian group Uakti. Deutsche Gramophone will release the soundtrack. The character Sam Neill played was based loosely on some of the politicians like Tony Blair and others who often were rock musicians when they were kids.

Question: This is the 3rd Joan Allen film of the year. How did you get into her schedule? Was she your first choice?
Sally Potter: She wasn’t my first choice going in--hers was a part that a lot of really, really good actresses wanted to do. But after I met her she was my first choice. And I fit into her schedule because she had done Off the Map before this and she hadn’t started work on The Upside of Anger yet.

Yes is scheduled to open in July.



An Interview with Harriet Fields, W.C. Fields' granddaughter

W.C. Fields: The Icon of American Humor

By Annette Graham, DC Film Society Member and Storyboard Editor

Back in June 2004 I met Harriet Fields, W.C. Fields' only granddaughter, when Films on the Hill did a short series of W.C. Fields' films, including the rarely seen Sally of the Sawdust. She graciously agreed to an interview at the time, and after learning that the AFI would be doing a retrospective, we thought that the interview would be an appropriate accompaniment to the series. Also during July Slapsticon will show two of W.C.'s silent films. Those interested in learning more about W.C. Fields are encouraged to see the Emmy Award winning special by Ronald J. Fields, W.C. Fields Straight Up which is available on DVD, and his books, the essential filmography W.C. Fields: A Life on Film and W.C. Fields: His Intended Autobiography. Two biographies have appeared in recent years: Man on the Flying Trapeze: The Life and Times of W.C. Fields (1997) by Simon Louvish and W.C. Fields: A Biography (2004) by James Curtis.

Storyboard: Your grandfather died in 1946 before you were born. Do you remember how you first learned about W.C. Fields and how you learned that he was your grandfather?
Harriet Fields: Well, we, my four brothers and myself, saw his films on television with my father, W.C. Fields, Jr. sitting in the living room with us as young children growing up. My father looked exactly like his father, except Pa was tall, 6 feet, Pa even had the same ear lobes, so sitting side by side and as I told you when we met, it was a bit disconcerting for a young child to figure out where reality began or ended, for there on the television screen was WCF and there in the living room with us was WCF, our father.

SB: So, did someone tell you, "that's your grandfather" or did you figure it out based on the names being the same?
HF: Of course my parents told us, my father was proud and respectful of his father's accomplishments as an artist. We visited WCF's wife, my paternal grandmother, Hattie every Sunday. She would often reminisce about WCF and her part on stage with him performing throughout the world in vaudeville, before the birth of their only child, my father. There were also pictures of the young father, WCF, and his adorable young son, my father displayed in Hattie's bedroom, as well as a picture of Hattie and her sister, Kitty, with WCF's parents, Jim and Kate, and their youngest son, Leroy. Every time we visited Hattie, would show us these pictures, and evidently took pride in her accomplishments and family.

SB: Your younger brother Ronald mentions in his book that he didn't know anything about it until he was 12 years old.
HF: Yes. My youngest brother Ron, only two and a half years separate us, says that since he was the youngest of five children all born within less than six years, no one ever bothered to tell him why we were watching these wonderful movies on television with our father, until one day he was laughing so hard he had to leave the room, and as a dutiful sister and subsequent dear friend, I went out and asked about his welfare< "Are you alright?" He said he never saw anything so funny, I said, "Well don't you know W.C. Fields is your grandfather?"

SB: I just love that story. What a revelation for a 12 year old. There have been quite a few books about W.C. Fields and his films over the years. There is also a documentary. What else has Ron done?
HF: As you know, Ron, Ronald J. Fields the writer, is the W.C. Fields scholar and Emmy Award winner. Ron's first book W.C. Fields: His Intended Autobiography was Prentice Hall's best seller of 1973. Ron's filmography: W.C. Fields: A Life on Film is the quintessential film resource and guide for Fields's films and St. Martin's highly acclaimed publication of 1984. In 1986, Ron won the Emmy Award for co-producing and co-writing the best Public Television Documentary, W.C. Fields Straight Up, which is now out on DVD. I cry whenever I see this touching documentary. There is one line narrated by Dudley Moore reading Ron's line, when the sixteen year old William Claude Dukenfield is walked to the train station in Philadelphia by his mother, for young Bill was taking the train to New York to try his hand at his great talent on the stage in New York and vaudeville throughout the world. The narration of Ron's words says: her boy would never be hers again, he would now belong to the world. And, how true. That is why I love W.C. Fields, because he belongs to us all.

SB: I knew nothing about W.C. Fields when I first started watching his films and had no idea that he was an expert juggler and had had a long and distinguished career in vaudeville. I only wish some of W.C. Fields' vaudeville shows had been photographed. Because WCF appeared in movies, he will live on forever and the rest of the world can enjoy his work. Comedians and dramatic actors who didn't make movies are just unknown to us; they may have been first-class in their day, but soon no one will be alive who has seen their work.
HF: W.C. Fields' art is about us. His humor is piercing, intelligent, and immediate, and thus, ultimately, so deeply satisfying. Where else do you see such deep understanding, nuance, relevance to current events in any other comedian, present or past, than W C. Fields? I would love to see a book addressing current events with Fieldsisms as commentary. Perhaps I shall compose such a tome. A few years ago, CNN did a profile of how people in the world do have great affection for Americans, even though they might not agree with current American policies. This segment was filmed in a former East German city where at the time, the whole townspeople came out to see then-president Clinton. Inside filming in a local tavern, was a picture on the wall of Clinton and W.C. Fields. Do you know there is a W.C. Fields Fan Club in Denmark, and just last week a colleague told me of purchasing an endearing card with WCF's photo in London. Many years ago, while in Trafalgar Square gazing off to my left was a book store with two huge glass store front windows, one adorned with a poster of Woodie Allen, the other, W.C. Fields, their native son, for WCF's father was born in that old mother country.

SB: Is there a W.C. Fields Fan Club?
HF: Yes, and it is alive and well with its own active
Web site and newsletter, the Lompoc Picayune Intelligencer. Ted Wioncek the president, performs an enormous act of love and devotion. Yahoo hosts a group that helps spread the word of Fields and both have initiated a letter writing campaign to Universal Studios to release more Fields films.

SB: Anything we can do to help?
HF: Universal Studios owns most of WCF's films. We are trying to work with them to release them on DVD along with our now "added value material" (as they term it) of our paternal grandfather's artifacts and memorabilia, what a treasure feast it would be for the public to view. As you know, Universal has been absorbed with their own well publicized internal problems the last many years, but we will continue to pursue. So, any communication campaign to Universal will certainly help.

SB: W.C. Fields has been getting some attention lately and this year is the 125th anniversary of his birth. Two recent books have been published, W.C. Fields by James Curtis and The Man on the Flying Trapeze by Simon Louvish. I don't recall any of his films having been shown recently in our area other than the Films on the Hill series last year. Now both the AFI and Slapsticon are doing some films. This increased interest in W.C. Fields must make you feel proud.

HF: Thank you, yes. Proud, proud, proud! As I told you when I met you last year at Films on the Hill, I have always kept a very low profile about my paternal heritage. Not that I am not proud, but I know humbly and realistically it is W.C. Fields who is our inspiration, and it has nothing to do with me; I am proud of that on my own. However, I do feel at this point in life it is time and my responsibility to help spread the word of W.C. Fields to future generations. That is why I introduced myself to you and was pleased to field questions to the audience. I always love people who love WCF, because to me it means he means as much to them and their lives and developmental stages as WCF means to me and my siblings. So it is only an embarrassment of riches. My concern now is to spread the joy that W.C. Fields means to the human condition.

SB: What are you doing in that direction?
HF: My four brothers and myself inherited all of WCF's artifacts and memorabilia. What a glorious treasure trove! As with all family matters it has taken us quite awhile after it was processed through my paternal grandmother, Hattie's provenance and then my father and then finally us. Well, a few years ago, I realized based on advocacy and work I have done here in Washington as the federal Court Monitor in the D.C. Village Nursing Home case, that actually we cannot sit on material that really belongs to the world. We have placed our WCF material at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Margaret Herrick Library. I am happy for WC to have his materials there as a final resting place--he is with his entertainment colleagues--for the Academy is solely devoted to the preservation, restoration, archiving, cataloguing and sharing with researchers and the public their great collections devoted solely to the entertainment industry. Perhaps in a traveling exhibition the artifacts could reach the public in this country and all over the world.

At left: Harriet Fields models a beautiful dress at the DAR Museum's book reading and fashion show last year, celebrating Rosemary Reed Miller's book "Threads of Time, the Fabric of History," about African-American dress designers

SB: Can you tell us something about yourself and your four brothers?
HF: I was born three weeks after WCF's death and was named after his wife, my paternal grandmother Harriet. Shortly after me, Allen and Ron were born. Our two older brothers are W.C. Fields III and Everett. I have a doctorate from Columbia University in community health and nursing education and am a former nurse educator. For the past many years I have been consulting in nursing home reform. Recently, I served as the federally appointed Court Monitor in the D.C. Village Nursing Home case, and am currently with the National Endowment for the Arts, Office for AccessAbility, and at The Phillips Collection in Washington, DC. I am the Vice-President of W.C. Fields Productions, Inc. My brother Allen A. Fields, a business person in San Diego, is President of W.C. Fields Productions, Inc.; Ronald J. Fields, the writer and Fields expert, is Secretary. William C. Fields III and Everett F. Fields are both lawyers. We, my brothers and myself, oversee W.C. Fields Productions, Inc. Our purpose is to preserve, protect and promote the legacy of our paternal grandfather, our world treasure, W.C. Fields. He committed his life, art, passion, and himself to give pleasure and comfort to the world. I feel and believe, by mere accident of birth, it is our great responsibility and joy to share him. What a humble, exhilarating, and profound privilege.

SB: You are an inspiration to all us fans and to all others who might happen, through accident of birth, to be related to someone famous. What's your personal take on WCF?
HF: I love my paternal grandfather's films. W.C. Fields is my spiritual inspiration. For there is no instance in the human condition that one cannot find a source of refuge and solace in WCF's art. He studied the human condition and then served it back to us in his art. Whether it is the pain of a difficult marriage, teenage children, rebellious youth, contentious employers, less than loving in-laws, WCF persevered with sweetness, resolve, gentleness and understanding of the human condition, if not a bit of befuddlement about the circumstances he found himself. Some say that WCF was a misogynist. I do not believe that. In fact two years ago, Turner Classic Movies had as their star of the month, W.C. Fields. A comedy writer in Los Angeles wrote me that his girlfriend had never seen a WCF film until then. He said she was so overwhelmingly impressed by WCF's sweetness of being and his commitment to keep his family together. How true.

SB: Thank you so much for taking the time to talk with us. Anyone wanting to learn more: see the films at the AFI and at Slapsticon, check out the fan club and newsletter mentioned above, read some of the numerous books on W.C. Fields (beware--some of them are "print the legend" types) and possibly even make a pilgrimage out to the Margaret Herrick Library at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Also Harriet Fields will appear at several of the screenings at the American Film Institute and at Slapsticon.



Local Filmmakers: Call for Shorts

The DC Shorts Film Festival is looking for local shorts for its second year festival. Although films will be shown from around the world, it is hoped that 30% will be local. The deadline is July 5 and tapes must be received by July 10. The festival will take place September 16-18.



DC's Best Video Phone Filmmaker to Win Free Movies for a Year

Flip Phone Filmmaker Contest for Local Auteurs

Marty Scorsese watch your back. Loews Cineplex Entertainment is sponsoring the Flip Phone Filmmaker Contest in the Washington, DC metropolitan area and ten other markets this summer. Interested cineastes will be challenged to make their own summer blockbuster--a 30-second film recorded on their video phone--and submit the movie masterpiece to the contest sponsor, HOT 99.5/WIHT-FM, beginning July 19 through August 12

The entries will be judged by HOT 99.5 listeners. The winner will walk away with a free year of movies at any Loews Cineplex Theatre as well the premiere of their flip phone film on
Loew's website. Visit HOT 99.5/WIHT-FM for contest details.

Haven’t got a video phone? Not a problem. This summer, Loews is offering moviegoers another reason to come in from the heat and enjoy the show. Beginning July 1 until the end of the summer, Loews customers can win one of thousands of free Motorola V551 Video Phones, (valued at $150) given away during the Loews Summer Flick Phone Giveaway national promotion.

Patrons are encouraged to save their Loews’ ticket stub and enter their ticket number online to receive the phone. Each customer must activate a new two-year service agreement with Cingular Wireless and will receive the Motorola V551 Video Phone in the mail, activated and ready to shoot.

“We hope moviegoers will enjoy going to Loews even more this summer with our exciting promotion,” said John McCauley, Senior Vice President of Marketing for Loews Cineplex Entertainment. “We strive to bring the most enjoyable movie entertainment experience to our customers. Our customers continue to come to Loews to enjoy the finest in filmed entertainment, and in addition to offering them the most anticipated summer blockbusters, we want to give them something extra as a thank you for their patronage.”



Adam's Rib Presents 100 Favorite Film Quotes

By Adam Spector

Last month the American Film Institute (AFI) unveiled its
list of the 100 greatest film quotes of all time. Not to be outdone, I proudly present my own list in a new Adam’s Rib. My list is from an eclectic mix of films covering different time periods and different genres. Some quotes are there because they capture that film or a particular scene perfectly. Some of the other quotes are just very funny and some are just plain cool. While I often went for the most famous quotes from a film, sometimes, as with Swingers, I bypassed the obvious pick for a more clever line.

Any of your favorite quotes not on my list or the AFI’s? E-mail me with your picks.

One note: Not all great quotes come from great movies. Some come from guilty pleasures. I’m not going to present Back to School as a cinematic masterpiece. But, boy it had some funny lines. On the flip side, classics such as All Quiet on the Western Front, Stagecoach, Rear Window, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and Raging Bull, while all well written, have no quotes that jump out at you.

In Quiz Show, Dorothy Van Doren, describing her husband, said "His own quotes are his greatest pleasure." These quotes are some of my great pleasures, and I hope you will enjoy them too.

Read the column here.



New at Cinema Arts: "Movies in the Morning"

Cinema Arts in Fairfax announces "Movies in the Morning" beginning July 20. Classic American and foreign films will be shown Wednesdays through Sundays, including those devoted to a specific actor or theme. Silent and trend-setting independent films are also planned. Admission is $5 and refreshments will be a bargain $1. Check the website for titles.



Lights, Camera, Cannes! Part Trois

By Cheryl Dixon, DC Film Society Member

The Palais des Festivals

The sights and sounds of the 58th annual Festival de Cannes held this year from May 11-22 continue to dazzle the senses. Fellow Film Society member Claudia Lagos and I found ourselves for the third time amidst the crowds of the Cannes Film Festival on the Cote d’Azur. Yes, they are all still there: the omnipresent gowned and tuxedoed ladies and gents, the hordes of adoring fans straining for a glimpse of celebrity red-carpet arrivals at the Palais des Festivals, the gendarmes, the paparazzi, the international journalists, the world-class hotels, the beach, the palm trees, and flowers, movie billboards along the Boulevard de la Croisette, the yachts in the adjoining Old Port … and of course the movies, hundreds of them, the long waiting lines, and the celebrities themselves. C’est Cannes, part trois!

You’ve heard this all before. So, what’s new, exciting, and different? The Cannes Classics section focused on the works of British Director Michael Powell and French Director Jean Renoir. Movies featuring James Dean in East of Eden and Rebel Without A Cause were screened. Cinema de la Plage, the free movies screened outdoors on the beach, was back with a diverse selection of popular films, including the first Star Wars movie, Episode IV--A New Hope, as well as documentaries, and musicals. Star Wars: Episode III--Revenge of the Sith received a royal reception as George Lucas, Natalie Portman, Hayden Christensen, and Samuel L. Jackson were present at the Palais screenings. Cannes, incidentally, was the place where Mr. Lucas made the original deal for Star Wars. In addition, there was a tribute to film music as evidenced by contemporary musicians’ performances prior to the outdoor screenings. One musical set was devoted to Actress/Dancer Josephine Baker. A pre-Festival jurors’ conference featured discussion on providing access for young talent and the possibility of creating a traveling, mini-Cannes Festival with selected Festival screenings. Catherine Deneuve, who received an honorary Palm Award, offered an Acting Master Class and African Director Sembene Ousmane lectured in the La Lecon de Cinema section. The Festival opened a new theatre, “Cinema du Monde,” in the Village International, screening movies from Morocco, South Africa, Mexico, Austria, Peru, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines that were not made for foreign audiences. Billboards revealed beaucoup Beyonce on the Boulevard, and Rosario Dawson and Jessica Alba of Sin City were also popular billboards. The Chronicles of Narnia (watch out Harry Potter fans!), War of the Worlds, and, of course, Star Wars billboards were seen everywhere.

For a complete description of the Festival’s mission, competition categories, and a complete roster of films, please see previous Storyboard articles on Cannes in the
July 2004 Storyboard and July 2003 Storyboard or check out the Festival’s website.

Fast Facts
The big winners of the coveted Palme d’Or were brothers, Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne for the movie, L’Enfant (The Child). The Festival’s Opening Night Film was Lemming (France, Dominik Moll) about the troubled relationship between two couples, and Closing Night Film was Chromophobia (U.K., Martha Fiennes) about the disintegration of an upperclass London family. The Feature Film Jury President was Emir Kusturica, with a jury that included Fatih Akin, Javier Bardem, Nandita Das, Salma Hayek, Benoit Jacquot,Toni Morrison, Agnes Varda, and John Woo. Un Certain Regard Jury President was Alexander Payne.

2005 Festival de Cannes Film Lineups (Partial Listing)
Feature Films in Competition: Broken Flowers by Jim Jarmusch; Cache (Hidden) by Michael Haneke; Don’t Come Knocking by Wim Wenders; Election by Johnnie To; Last Days by Gus Van Sant; L’Enfant (“The Child”) by Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne; Kilometre Zero by Hineer Saleem; Lemming by Dominik Moll; Manderlay by Lars Von Trier; Shanghai Dreams by Wang Xiaoshuai; Sin City by Robert Rodriguez, Frank Miller; Where the Truth Lies by Atom Egoyan.

Feature Films Out of Competition: Chromophobia by Martha Fiennes; Joyeux Noel by Christain Carion; Match Point by Woody Allen; Star Wars: Episode III--Revenge of the Sith by George Lucas; The Power of Nightmares by Adam Curtis.

Un Certain Regard: Delwende by S. Pierre Yameogo; Down in the Valley by David Jacobson; Habana Blues by Benito Zambrano; Le Filmeur by Alain Cavalier; Le Temps Qui Reste by Francois Ozon; Sleeper by Benjamin Heisenberg.

And the Winner is…2005 Awards
Feature Films: Palme d’Or: L’Enfant (“The Child”) by Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne
Grand Prix: Broken Flowers by Jim Jarmusch
Best Actress: Hanna Laslo for Free Zone
Best Actor: Tommy Lee Jones for The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada
Best Director: Cache (“Hidden”) by Michael Haneke
Best Screenplay: Guillermo Arriaga for The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada
Jury Prize: Shanghai Dreams by Wang Xiaoshuai
Short Films: Palme d’Or: Wayfarers by Igor Strembitskyy
Short Film, Special Mention: Clara by Van Sowerwine
Un Certain Regard: Moartea Domnului Lazarescu by Cristi Puiu, Le Filmeur by Alain Cavalier, and Delwende by S. Pierre Yameogo
Camera d’Or: The Forsaken Land by Vimukthi Jayasundara and Me and You and Everyone We Know by Miranda July (tie).

So, Who Was There?
Woody Allen, Daniel Auteuil, Javier Bardem, Juliette Binoche, Hayden Christensen, Penelope Cruz, Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, Nandita Das, Benicio Del Toro, Catherine Deneuve, Andre Dessollier, Robert Downey, Jr., Atom Egoyan, Ralph Fiennes, Colin Firth, Morgan Freeman, Lukas Haas, Salma Hayek, Paris Hilton, Samuel L. Jackson, Benoit Jacquot, Jim Jarmusch, Scarlett Johansson, Tommy Lee Jones, George Lucas, Liza Minnelli, Toni Morrison, Brittany Murphy, Bill Murray, Sembene Ousman, Clive Owen, Alexander Payne, Michael Pitt, Natalie Portman, Charlotte Rampling, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Robert Rodriguez, Mickey Rourke, Hiner Saleem, Kristin Scott Thomas, Sharon Stone, Hilary Swank, Tilda Swinton, Gus Van Sant, Lars Von Trier, Marco Tullio Giordana, Wim Wenders, John Woo, Billy Zane, Zhang Ziyi, to name a few….

Parting Comments
The Cinema du Monde

It remains true that Cannes is a place where the official selections are reserved mostly for the viewing pleasure of the press and the well-connected only. However, there are still many opportunities for the public to view international movies through venues such as Cinema de la Plage, or the ticket booth nearby the Noga Hilton Hotel for the Quinzaine des Realisateurs (Directors’ Fortnight) program. Long lines remain unavoidable, but your patience will be well-rewarded. Also never underestimate the power of a chance meeting with someone in Cannes who can kindly provide tickets, information, or access to events. Purchase your ticket and chat with whomever is standing next to you in line. We met a wonderful French woman, Josette, who gave us tickets to the Cinema du Monde section complete with a champagne reception. Also, friends from Germany and new-found friends from England got us into a “hot” club, the invitation-only V.I.P. club in Cannes. During the Festival, a lot of business is conducted in both formal and informal social settings, whether on the revolving dance floor with the floor show featuring scantily-clad female and fully-clothed male dancers/singers (and the pole dancers and cages) or on a luxury yacht. Do take advantage of the international scene to mix and mingle and appreciate the French way of doing things, like nightclubbing! Above all, see some movies and enjoy yourself. See you next year, somewhere along the Croisette!



Cannes Spotlight: Two Festival Acting Debuts

By Cheryl Dixon, DC Film Society Member

Along the Boulevard de la Croisette, you stroll past the “Big Four” hotels, and the equally grand and expensive, but lesser-known beachfront hotels, the beach with the outdoor movie screen, palm trees, movie billboards, barricades, luxury stores, the world-famous, red-carpeted Palais and the international village pavilions promoting the works of film companies. The handsomely-dressed gendarmes mostly providing escort duty and police officers providing the main security and their vans are as everywhere present as the bejeweled, gowned, and tuxedoed Festival guests, including the movie stars and the associated film principals and, of course paparazzi, and other journalists. As large as the Cannes Film Festival and the Croisette are, Cannes is still the kind of place where you will easily meet people and run into people that you either already know or have just met.

Claudia and I met two actors in Cannes this year. One of them, Cesar Montano, is a multi-talented, well-known, seasoned actor (as well as producer, director, and writer) from the Philippines making his Cannes acting debut in the film, New Moon (“Bagong Buwan” (2001, Philippines)) directed by Marilou Diaz-Abaya. This film was one of the official selections of Tous les Cinemas Du Monde, a showcase of international film could be found tucked away at the section of the Croisette nearby the Old Port. The Festival had created a movie village consisting of large tents and a winding red grass carpet. We approached Mr. Montano, who was surrounded by admiring film fans, following the screening of New Moon, a serious-toned work about a city doctor returning home to the village where his son has just been killed during a civil war. The movie’s themes are on truth, justice, peace, and the futility of war. The movie is a difficult one to watch; there are far too many characters that die. Claudia and I agreed, however, that the best parts of the movie were the characters’ performances and the lush cinematography, particularly the footage of the village countryside settings amidst the battles.

Luckily, we exited the theatre at the same time as Mr. Montano. We chatted briefly with him alternately congratulating him on his performance and wishing him the best in the future and a long run for the movie in future festivals. He happily signed autographs and posed for photos. We thought he was a real “find” and take pride in “discovering” this actor, a former sit-com star who has performed in over 40 film/TV productions. Soon we’ll have to share him with the rest of the world. He next appears in possibly a U.S./Australia film debut this year in as Captain Juan Pajota in The Great Raid (2005), a World War II POW rescue mission drama featuring Joseph Fiennes, Benjamin Bratt, and James Franco. Watch for him! He’s beautiful and talented!

And speaking of beautiful and talented. We also met Daniel Staley, a Swedish actor who did voiceovers for the Swedish movie, Det var ett jakla fint kok du har, which translates roughly to “What a Lovely Kitchen” directed by Christina Erman Widerberg. Mr. Staley communicated his excitement about working in this movie, which was part of the Festival’s Short Film Corner. He described the movie as a collage of images with voiceovers shot on Super 8 film. His main preoccupation, though, was how he would keep his tuxedo dry for that evening’s press promotion of the movie as we were all caught in an unexpected downpour. We are certain that this downpour, however, did not in any way drench his high spirits and the exuberance of having this movie as part of Cannes’ official selection.



Cannes Spotlight: Turkish Afternoon Delight

By Cheryl Dixon, DC Film Society Member

When you think of Cannes, you cannot separate from the sight of the enormous yachts in the adjoining Old Port just a stone’s throw from the Palais des Festivals on the Boulevard de la Croisette. It’s fitting--the grandeur and scale at Cannes. Everything is big and supremely stylish here. The Marche du Film, focusing on the actual business of film: distribution, sales, and the associated wheeling and dealing had a record number of participants this year. Much of the business conducted in Cannes is done as an intricate part of the social scene, at the parties, receptions, and other social events, many of which take place on these yachts, which are leased specifically for entertaining Festival guests. Over 30 Festival vessels grace the Old Port stationed side-by-side. Their respective countries of origin are readily identifiable by both the country flag and country name displayed on the yacht. For the right price package (try “$49,000-$65,000” per week leasing rate), a film production company might showcase a film and invite prospective buyers to view and discuss the film while onboard a world-class yacht.

Captain Ekrem Lalanci of the "Suheyla Sultan"

Claudia and I, therefore, gladly accepted an invitation from Seaman Ariff to take our shoes off, a standard requirement, and come onboard one afternoon to tour a Turkish yacht, the “Suheyla Sultan.” The Cote d’Azur is one of the many exotic ports of call for the Suheyla Sultan, this elegant, state-of-the-art yacht which features luxury accommodations, with king-size beds, an entertainment center, excellent service, gourmet cuisine, and finishing touches including an open-air fitness lounge, underwater lights, and a rotating sundeck. Sales literature seductively promises “ incomparable stargazing experiences,” “panoramic views,” and “culinary pleasures of the highest standards.” Just a few thousand dollars buy a lot of paradise on earth! There, in addition to the tour of the Suheyla Sultan’s world-class accommodations, we thoroughly enjoyed a glass of wine and a chat with the affable Captain Ekrem Lalanci and other crew members.

Captain Lalanci explained to me that his vessel was leased by a client so that Festival goers and other prospective film distributors might enjoy the show and tell of the unnamed, big-name movie studio over dinner and drinks. A glance around the yacht’s interior reveals the leftovers of somebody’s marketing and promotions campaign. Movie posters’ taglines indicate: “Boo, you don’t have a Ghost of a Chance” and “Fear Nothing, Risk Everything.” It isn’t difficult to imagine the entire scene live, the posters strategically displayed, the press kits and other promotional literature, the gift bags, as the back drop to the well-dressed invitees conversing, clinking their glasses, or dining at a table overflowing with gourmet cuisine.

While thousands of the international filmmakers, film executives, film stars, and film fans converge at the Cannes Film Festival, thousands of accredited journalists compete to gain access to the official film selections, and to the parties where they might meet the movers and shakers. The journalists have to work extra hard to gain access to the social events, like these fabulous yacht parties. Here, as elsewhere, around the Festival invitations and personal connections are key.



An Interview with Eran Riklas, Director of The Syrian Bride

By Larry Hart, DC Film Society Member

In the embattled Middle East there are Muslims, Jews and Christians, and then there are the Druze. A fiercely independent religious sect dating back to the 11th Century that regard themselves as Muslims, they are not accepted by other Muslim groups. About half of the 600,000 Druze live in Syria, while another 70,000 live in the Golan Heights, Syrian territory before the Israelis claimed it after the 1967 war. It is there where Director Eran Riklas has set his film, The Syrian Bride, which puts a human face on a bureaucratic nightmare where people have their passport stamped “Nationality uncertain” and where once you cross the border in either direction you can never return.

Storyboard caught up with Riklas prior to the screening of The Syrian Brideat FilmfestDC who said the film evolved from a documentary he shot six years ago in Israel called Borders. One of the border stories concerned the Druze weddings, well-known in Israel but seldom discussed, between Israeli brides who leave their family for Damascus never to return and brides from the Syrian side who face the same dilemma in moving to the Golan Heights.

Riklas explained the history this way: “The Druze always considered themselves Syrians, even after the Israelis took over the territory after the 1967 war. In 1982, Israel formally annexed the Golan Heights, requiring the residents to accept an Israeli identity card. About 90 per cent of the Druze refused to take one and that’s why their nationality is listed by the Israelis as ‘undefined’.”

The Syrian Bride tells such a story in fiction form. Mona (Clara Khoury) has agree to leave her family in the Golan to marry Syrian TV personality Tallel (Derar Sliman), only to have her wedding day threatened by a bureaucratic snafu. Adding to her emotional trauma is her dysfunctional family--a father just released from jail for his political activities and threatened with going back to jail if he attends the wedding, a sister who insists on shedding the traditional clothes and role of Muslim women and an excommunicated brother who ran off with a Russian bride.

Riklas said he wanted to make the film because it is unexplored territory. “On the one hand it provides a great story with great characters while still making a film which reflects Israeli society and Middle Eastern politics, but not in a direct way that would reflect the news of the day,” Riklas said. “I think I am the first filmmaker to deal with the actual life in the Golan Heights as such.” (The film used actual locations in the Golan Heights and elsewhere in Israel).

Riklas, who describes himself as “living in Tel Aviv but working with the world,” co-wrote the film with an Israeli-Palestinian (Suha Arraf) and most of the actors are listed as Israeli-Palestinians as well. Only one actor (the sister’s husband) is actually Druze as Riklas says the Druze have no tradition of theatre or cinema and actually are hostile to these art forms.

I asked Riklas, considering the circumstances, the difficulties with the location shooting: “It’s strange. On the one hand, personally, I had a very good reputation with the Druze because after spending two years in the Golan Heights with the documentary, I received a certain degree of trust. On the other hand, the local politics was very difficult. The Mayor of the local village, for example, is pro-Israeli while most of the villagers are pro-Syrian. So I had to play my own politics as you would really, in any small town anywhere, say South Dakota. I can tell you that when I showed the film for the villagers, it was tough. On the one hand, they loved the feeling that their story was being told to the world. The main issues with the film were tradition and religious issues. For example, showing the brother as an outcast to his father for marrying a Russian, the sister shedding traditional clothes and wearing jeans. No closed society likes to see the truth brought to the surface. But I think can still go to the Golan Heights and not worry about my life. I think I’m OK there.”

Riklas said it was not his intention to make a “political” film: “I’m really weary of films that say ‘this is the situation, this is what you should think.’ Obviously, there is politics in the film, but what I tried to do, first of all, is make a democratic film, in the sense that each character brings their emotions to the film and you can draw your own conclusions. In that sense, whether they are an Israeli bureaucrat, a Syrian officer or a Druze father, they are all victims of global politics, they’re pieces in a chess game somebody else is playing. But I also think it shows that people can take control of their own lives, that the border they cross is not just a physical one, but mental and emotional as well.”

The Syrian Bride is listed as an Israeli-French-German co-production, but, unlike many filmmakers I have talked with, Riklas said the financing was easy. At a cost of $2.5 million, Riklas said the number is “a joke” for most feature films, but it is triple the cost of the average Israeli film. “The traditional European sources (Canal Plus in France) and Israeli sources came through. The reaction was, it’s a good script and a refreshing story.” Riklas said it’s also reflective of the increasing popularity of Israeli cinema in Europe and the U.S. as well.

The 50 year old Riklas brought a strong commercial background to this effort going back to his first feature in 1975, On A Clear Day You Can See Damascus. His credits include the critically acclaimed Cup Final, Zohar, an Israeli box office hit and lots of TV work.

As for his next project, Riklas says he’s looking at one possibility that would break from his Middle East theme and would be set in South America. “Although I’m based in Tel Aviv and live in Israel (with his wife and two children) I feel now I can go anywhere and make a good film.”

Riklas says The Syrian Bride has already played to receptive audiences in Israel, France and Germany after winning awards at the Montreal and Locarno Film Festivals and has been slated for a U.S. release in October.



We Need to Hear From YOU

We are always looking for film-related material for the Storyboard. Our enthusiastic and well-traveled members have written about their trips to the Cannes Film Festival, London Film Festival, Venice Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto Film Festival, Edinburgh Film Festival and the Berlin Film Festival. We also heard about what it's like being an extra in the movies. Have you gone to an interesting film festival? Have a favorite place to see movies that we aren't covering in the Calendar of Events? Seen a movie that blew you away? Read a film-related book? Gone to a film seminar? Interviewed a director? Read an article about something that didn't make our local news media? Send your contributions to Storyboard and share your stories with the membership. And we sincerely thank all our contributors for this issue of Storyboard.



Calendar of Events

FILMS

American Film Institute Silver Theater
In July, the AFI shows films by George Lucas including the Star Wars episodes, American Graffiti, THX 1138, and the Indiana Jones films. David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia in 70mm gets a revival, as does Jaws (1975) on its 30th anniversary. If you missed the Massimo Troisi retrospective begun last month, there are still a few films left in July. A retrospective of films by Slovenia's Damjan Kozole begin in July with Damjan Kozole appearing in person with his latest work Labor Equals Freedom. A series of W.C. Fields films begins on July 15 and includes many old favorites such as The Bank Dick and My Little Chickadee plus three silent films with accompaniment by Ray Brubacher. Harriet Fields, W.C.'s granddaughter will appear at the AFI. Also see the interview above.

Freer Gallery of Art
The 10th Annual Hong Kong Film Festival starts in July and continues through August. On July 8 at 7:00pm and July 10 at 2:00pm is Throw Down (2004), a comedy by Johnnie To; on July 15 at 7:00pm and July 17 at 2:00pm is Kung Fu Hustle (Stephen Chow, 2004); on July 22 at 7:00pm and July 24 at 2:00pm is DragonBlade (2005), Hong Kong's first CGI-animated blockbuster; and on July 29 at 7:00pm and July 31 at 2:00pm is Love Eterne (1962), one of Hong Kong's great classics based on the Chinese opera The Butterfly Lovers. More in August.

National Gallery of Art
The Gallery concludes the "Marius" trilogy with Fanny (1932) on July 1 at 2:00pm and Cesar (1936) on July 3 at 4:30pm and July 4 at 2:00pm. A series of new preservations includes Baby Face (Alfred E. Green, 1933) on July 9 at 3:00pm and July 10 at 4:30pm; Counsellor at Law (William Wyler, 1933) on July 16 at 2:30pm; A Face in the Crowd (Elia Kazan, 1957) on July 17 at 4:30pm; some preserved prints of Stan Brakhage on July 23 at 4:00pm; The Scarlet Letter (Victor Seastrom, 1926); films from the Slapsticon film festival on July 30 at 4:00pm and Claude Renoir's The River (1951) on July 31 at 4:30pm.

Art films shown include Rivers and Rides: Any Goldsworthy Working with Time (2000) on July 6-8 and July 13-16 at 12:30pm; a collection of early 1900s films "Electric Edwardians" on July 23 at 2:00pm; and The Venetian Dilemma (Richard and Carole Rifkind, 2004) on July 27-29 at 12:30pm and July 30 at 2:00pm.

National Museum of African Art
Animated films for children, including both traditional African tales and contemporary stories, are shown on July 5, 12, 19, and 26 at 10:30am. On July 10 at 2:00pm is Cosmic Africa (2002) from South Africa, and on July 17 at 1:00pm is Monday's Girls (1993), a documentary contrasting two women's viewpoints on an initiation ceremony.

National Museum of the American Indian
Two short films, Hawaiian Sting (1997) and Stolen Waters (1996), both about native Hawaiians, are shown July 8 and July 23 at noon. The Voyage Home (Karin Williams, 1996), a documentary about the first Hawaiian canoe built in centuries, which sails a historic journey across the Pacific to Alaska and Washington state, is shown on July 9 and 22 at noon.

National Museum of Women in the Arts
To accompany the exhibit "Women in Blues and Jazz" are two film events for July. On July 6 at 7:00pm is a tribute to Lena Horne, Stormy Weather (Andrew L. Stone, 1943) preceded by a short film, Boogie Woogie Dream (Hans Burger, 1941). On July 20 at 7:00pm is Tiny and Ruby: Hell Divin' Women (1988), a documentary about jazz trumpeter Tiny Davis and drummer-pianist Ruby Lucas shown with International Sweethearts of Rhythm (1986), a documentary about the 1940s all-women jazz band. Directors Greta Schiller and Andrea Weiss will attend the screening.

Films on the Hill
All three of Burt Lancaster's technicolor swashbucklers from the early 1950s are featured in July. On July 13 at 7:00pm is The Flame and the Arrow (Jacques Tourneur, 1950); on July 20 at 7:00pm is His Majesty O'Keefe (Byron Haskin, 1954), shot entirely on the Fiji islands; and on July 23 at 7:00pm is The Crimson Pirate (Robert Siodmak, 1952). Burt Lancaster, a former circus acrobat, performed all his own awesome stunts, thrilling audiences of the day.

Washington Jewish Community Center
As part of the "Soiree on the Steps" series is Melinda and Melinda (Woody Allen, 2005) on July 14 at 7:00pm. Paper Snow (Lina and Slava Chaplin, 2003), a video from Israel is on July 28 at 7:00pm; it is based on a true story and set in the early 1930s among the Tel Aviv literary artists.

Pickford Theater
On July 5 at 7:00pm is Christmas Holiday (Robert Siodmak, 1944); on July 8 at 7:00pm is Happy Anniversary (David Miller, 1959); and on July 15 at 7:00pm is Lonesome Cowboys (Andy Warhol, 1968). Check the website for others.

Goethe Institute
"Great Novels, Great Films" is a series of five adaptations of works by German writers. On July 11 at 6:30pm is The Magic Mountain (Hans W. Geissendorfer, 1982) without German subtitles and on July 18 at 6:30pm is Death in Venice (Luchino Visconti, 1971). The series concludes in August.

The National Theatre
Baseball is the theme for this summer's video series. On July 11 is The Natural (Barry Levinson, 1984); on July 18 is Soul of the Game (Kevin Rodney Sullivan, 1996); and on July 25 is A League of Their Own (Penny Marshall, 1992). All are at 6:30pm. More in August.

Screen on the Green
The seventh annual "Screen on the Green," movies shown on the Mall, begins July 18 with The Way We Were (Sydney Pollack, 1973). On July 18 is The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (John Huston, 1948). Movies begin at sunset on the Mall between 4th and 7th Streets. More in August.

National Museum of Natural History
In conjunction with the Folklife Festival's "Forest Service" exhibition, the film The Greatest Good (2004), a documentary commemorating the centennial of the Forest Service, will be shown on July 1 at noon and July 2, 3 and 4 at 2:00pm. Director Steve Dunsky will introduce his film.

Cinema Arts Theater
Every day from July 8 to July 21, Cinema Arts will screen favorite films from the DC Independent Film Festival, hold "Open Screen" for anyone to display clips of their work, present classic "first" independent films from today's most successful filmmakers, lead seminars that cover topics from "Going Foreign" to "How to Get Into the Film Business," and showcase the New Directors, New Visions program. Check the website for more information.

The Avalon
The Avalon continues its Local Filmmakers Nights on Wednesdays throughout July. On July 6 at 9:15pm is an evening of short films including Sweet Dreams (Paul Awad) and First Session (Lonnie Martine). On July 13 at 9:15pm is a feature-length documentary Voices of Wartime (Rich King), in which soldiers, journalists, historians and experts on combat discuss their perspectives on war's effects on civilians, soldiers, and society. On July 20 at 9:15pm is Bloodsworth (Adrian Muys), shot on location on Maryland's Eastern Shore, the story of Hurricane Isabel's effect on a small crabbing community.



FILM FESTIVALS

Slapsticon 2005
Slapsticon is a four-day international film festival dedicated to classic motion picture comedy. Held at Rosslyn's Spectrum Theater July 28-31, the festival will show rare short comedies and feature length films. Familiar names include Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, Laurel and Hardy, and Charlie Chaplin but comedy buffs and old-movie fanatics are also interested in the lesser known names such as Max Linder, Snub Pollard, Raymond Griffiths and Larry Semon. Both silent (accompanied by Ben Model and Phil Carli) and sound films will be shown. Of special interest is a W.C. Fields tribute on July 28 at 7:00pm with Pool Sharks (1915) and So's Your Old Man (1926). Harriet Fields will attend--see the interview above.

The D.C. Independent Film Festival
The DCIFF Summer Series takes place July 7-21 at the American Film Institute and Cinema Arts Theater. See the website for titles and dates.



FILM LECTURES

Smithsonian Associates

The Cinema of Tim Burton, a lecture by film historian Max Alvarez (with film clips) about the visionary filmmaker, is on July 10 at 1:00pm, just in time to accompany Tim Burton's newest film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Time for Laughter: A Look at Comedy on Film is an all-day seminar on July 16 from 10:00am to 4:30pm. Topics will include "High Comedy," "Parody, Satire, and Farce," "Comedy of Rebellion," and "Black Comedy." Instructor Jack Jorgens will illustrate his talk with film clips. For more comedy, see the Slapsticon Film Festival.

The Essentials: Hollywood's 10 Must-See Movies, a lecture by Max Alvarez illustrated with film clips, is on July 24 at 1:00pm.



FILM SERIES

Smithsonian Associates
The series "Cinema of the Celtic Lands" ends this month, with A Way of Life (Amma Asante, 2004) on July 7 at 7:00pm.



Previous Storyboards

June, 2005
May, 2005
April, 2005
March, 2005
February, 2005
January, 2005
December, 2004
November, 2004
October, 2004
September, 2004
August, 2004
July, 2004
June, 2004


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