September 2013


Last updated on September 1, 2013. Please check back later for additions.

Contents

  • The Cinema Lounge
  • Adam's Rib Examines Fruitvale Station and Lee Daniels' The Butler in the Wake of Trayvon Martin
  • Museum Hours: Q&A with Director Jem Cohen
  • Winnie Mandela: Q&A with Director Darrell Roodt and Writer Andre Pieterse
  • Terraferma: Q&A with Actress Donatella Finocchiaro
  • Thérèse: Q&A with Actress Audrey Tautou
  • We Need to Hear From You
  • Calendar of Events

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    Last 12 issues of the Storyboard.



    The Cinema Lounge

    The next meeting of the Cinema Lounge will be on Monday, September 16 at 7:00pm. This month's topic is "Preview/Review: What Was the Best of the Summer? What Can We Look Forward to in the Fall/Winter?"

    The Cinema Lounge, a film discussion group, meets the third Monday of every month (unless otherwise noted) at 7:00pm at
    Barnes and Noble, 555 12th St., NW in Washington, DC (near the Metro Center Metro stop). The meeting area is on the second floor, special events area. You do not need to be a member of the Washington DC Film Society to attend. Cinema Lounge is moderated by Adam Spector, author of the DC Film Society's Adam's Rib column.



    Adam's Rib Examines Fruitvale Station and Lee Daniels' The Butler in the Wake of Trayvon Martin

    By Adam Spector, DC Film Society Member

    While watching Fruitvale Station, I, like so many others, could not help seeing the parallels with the Trayvon Martin tragedy. Lee Daniels' The Butler, in that context, had added power. Together these two films show that, while America has come a long way, it's not as far as most of us would like. I explain
    in my new Adam's Rib column.



    Museum Hours: Q&A with Director Jem Cohen

    By James McCaskill, DC Film Society Member

    On August 16 Jem Cohen, director of Museum Hours held a Q&A at Landmark's E Street Cinema.

    Audience Question: What was the inspiration for the film?
    Jem Cohen: There are a lot of ways to answer that. The idea goes way back to my being dragged around to museums when I was a kid. I grew up in Washington, DC and it is a wonderful thing that museums here are free and I think that really helped. It was a big important part of my upbringing even if I didn't necessarily love it at the time but it stuck. That's a big part of it and then years later there I was in Vienna and I reached for reasons to be there. I was there a number of times over four or five years. I would always go to the (Kunsthistorisches) Museum and I would gravitate to the (Pieter) Bruegel Room. I felt this kinship with those paintings, in large part because I felt they had something to do with the way that I felt when I did film. It was an extraordinary feeling that a 16th century painter somehow did something that felt familiar to me. A lot of my work is documentary based and that somehow involves going wandering on the street without a plan and in these paintings I often see lots of little things going on and I felt free to roam amongst them. I felt that that was like documentary work and that somehow got in my head and that roamed around and came out a few years later.

    Audience Question: Did the actors improvise their lines? Jem Cohen: It's roughly 50-50 in that here was never a kind of completed script that I wanted to hand over to anybody, including the actors. So I would give them a few pages before we did a scene and sometimes one of them is carefully scripted and one of them isn't. I kind of dip in and out with freedom to roam. Generally improvisations are guided when we would talk about certain things that I wanted them to touch on and then there were occasions when they would pull things in from their own lives, I wanted them to do that. Bobby (Sommer) really was a rock and roll tour manager and he had stories and I said let's let your stuff work its way in. I was really kind of hoping that people would have a hard time knowing when it was scripted and when it wasn't. That was the goal.

    Audience Question: How much experience did the actors have?
    Jem Cohen: Bobby was not an actor. When I met him he was working as a driver and waiter in a local restaurant. I was doing another project in Vienna and needed someone to read some text in German from a novel. Someone said Bobby has a good voice so I had him read. I loved the way he reads as he is very natural and undramatic. That's kind of rare. So I began to think about writing him in this part that I was just starting. That came together and he was happy to do it. Mary Margaret O'Hara I had seen as a musician 25 years ago and thought 'she's phenomenal.' There is no one else like her. Someday I'd like to put her in a movie. She had acted before, mostly smaller roles here and there but not enough to make a real profession out of it. She is a singer. And she is a great one. I highly recommend her if you can dig up her records, she's just phenomenal. So yes, I asked her if she would do it.

    Audience Question: Can you explain the use of silence in the film?
    Jem Cohen: Thank you, I appreciate that. It's as important as anything else. There are a lot of reasons why I think that. We are all bombarded all the time. When you have the opportunity in a movie and you have a captive audience it is nice to slow things down. You can make people very nervous and unhappy sometimes. For others it is a relief. It's something that people need more of, maybe. I wanted to make a movie where people had room to think. I don't necessarily need everyone all the time to be thinking the same thing at all or thinking that they know what's going to happen or this or that. Either they could be thinking back to an experience they had in a museum or walking around in a city. That's all fine but I just like the idea. Let me put it this way: I worked on movies to support myself and watched people who knew what they were doing. They had an A role and a B role. The A role is basically the movie and the B role is extra material; it could be landscapes or transitions from one thing to another. A lot of times the A role was very predictable but the B role was very good. That was the part I liked. Can you make a movie where there is no A role and B role? Same thing goes with the sonics. There is sound and there is quiet. Each of these things should have equal footing in a movie. So that's what I tried to do. One thing I should say: the exterior scenes were shot with a wind-up 16mm camera. The Bolex makes a lot of noise when you shoot so you can't do sound. It is all shot silently and sound is added in post-production. You have to be careful with what sound you put in and you don't want to take them for granted. You're not up against the wall about how much time you have in the studio to do it. You really kind of place each thing. You appreciate the quiet because it is the foundation; you're building from it.

    Audience Question: What kind of cooperation did you get from the museum and the rights to reproduce the artwork?
    Jem Cohen: The museum was incredibly generous. I went to them and said, "You know, I really like this place but this place is probably intimidating to a lot of people. I want to make a film where the museum and artwork are relevant. I want to make a movie about why this stuff matters in the way people live their lives, whether they are art historians or the class that goes to museums. This being relevant to life as it's lived." I said, "You know I can do this and I'm not going to be working for you, not going to let you vet it." I said, "It may have some things that are critical." I don't think I would have gotten very far in the United States. They were really cool about it. They said, "OK". Also I told them I was not going to bring an army in here, not going to bring in lights or a bunch of gear. I really wanted to shoot when the museum is open. Generally speaking, that's what we did. With very few exceptions the people you see in the background are real people who just happened to wander in and out. We did have to get permission and once in a blue moon someone wouldn't give it. You can't beat the real world, you can't beat faces real people have. So it was great to just do it in that way. Generally speaking there is almost no control of locations which is a great way of making a movie. Sometimes in the cafe or bar we just kind of went in and started shooting and then said is there a manager around. As for the rights thing--we weren't allowed to shoot something from another institution. But most of this stuff goes way back so it's theoretically in the public domain although that varies from country to country. It never came up. I could never have made a movie if I didn't have access so I'm glad I didn't ask.

    Audience Question: What about the birds in the film?
    Jem Cohen: It never occurred to me that they were there but I'm always asked at Q&As so the question is perfectly legit. I really like birds. When I'm asked that I try to think of a really clever answer and I don't have one. I have a feeling that birds are one of those things that if they weren't there we'd be in real trouble. It's not in a Disney kind of way so it's not that they are cute or cognizant of making the world a better place. They are not. It's just that it's really good that they are there. If anyone thinks of a really good answer to that catch me on the way out.

    Audience Question: What can you tell us about the relationship between the two characters? How relaxed they were with each other?
    Jem Cohen: Again this is about wanting to make a movie where people go their own way with it, the nature of their friendship and what would happen once the movie ends. I'm fine with their never seeing each other again. My own personal take is they remain quite close in some way. I have no desire to indicate that to any degree to you. Because it is life. It goes its way and it's not tidy so I'm not going to tidy it up for you. Once the movie ends it's yours now. I don't expect it to be apparent to anybody. All of the voice overs, which are him talking in his own head are in German except the last one which is in English and to me that was the right thing to do. It is almost like a letter to her. And I didn't want him to be reading a letter to her. In my mind I'm going to put that in English. That's not just him talking to her, telling her what he is seeing. So I think there is a friendship.

    Audience Question: Now that the film is out, how do you feel?
    Jem Cohen: "I'm completely flabbergasted to be honest. I'm thirty years into making movies and most of them are seen by very small numbers of people which I've come to terms with. I lost the number game a long time ago. It's a crazy number game. And even this movie, if you look at the numbers as to who goes to see what movie, it will always be ridiculous. But it has been a complete revolution as to what I thought. It has been in a theatre in New York for two months which is just utterly bizarre. I thought we had a week, week and a half. If we were really lucky we might get it to two. But people keep coming to it. I feel comfortable, I feel great and really surprised to be honest, but also I've been wondering for a long time, why are they (Hollywood) blowing things up? Like a big explosion, when is enough enough? I don't know. I think that there is a lot of strange stuff going on, maybe they are doing what the people want. But that's not necessarily true. I don't know, never bought that. You have to make a place for some other fare and it's not going to be for everybody. Critics have been very kind. I look at comment cards: "Like watching paint dry." }Terrible movie." "Makes Vienna look like a dump." That's alright too. It's alright if it's not for them. I just don't want to make things for everybody. I want to make things that offer something for everybody. That's really important to me and always has been. I never bought this thing, "You're an experimental film maker." I feel it about the real world, you look out the window and you don't see exploding helicopters. Unless it is a really bad day, I feel like making movies about the way things are. The way the world looks or the way that we live. It should be a reason for people to see them. You generally don't get in the door. All I can say is "Thank you for coming and sticking it out and not being alienated by it. Please tell your friends." It makes all the difference in the world. It's weird, that what it comes down to in the movie theatre. It's word of mouth. It is kind of astonishing how important that stuff is.

    Audience Question: What is the time frame the movie takes place?
    Jem Cohen: I lost track of time also. I don't know how long she stayed in Vienna. I like shooting tin grey. It's partly a color thing. The grey brings out the color for me. I've always been attracted to that. People say, "Why is it so grey?" and I say, "Then when you see this red, it's really red." Not that I like it to be grey. I was often in Vienna in the winter. This winter I was teaching for the first time. The only time I could shoot was in the winter between semesters. All sort of things fell into place that way.

    Audience Question: What can you tell us about the art historian?
    Jem Cohen: This is one of those things where I want people to think it's a real lecture or she's a real art historian. I wrote it all. I thought she was amazing. Lucky to have found her. She hardly spoke any English so it was quite an astonishing thing for her to take it on. She had to learn a lot and she couldn't just fake it. What she did in that scene! Her talk is an amalgamation of things I read about growing up. And for much of that, there are all kinds of contradictory evidence and no real consensus and a lot of mystery. So I took what was interesting and I went into some territory where I was getting at things that I wanted to get at through her. The museum said that real artists don't do that. That's why I call her a Guest Lecturer. She is very passionate, maybe a little bit out of bounds. I went to Alice Deal (Junior High in DC) and I had a teacher in the 9th grade, she was a very good English teacher. One day she said something that was so out of line with what an English teacher would say and I remember thinking, "Did she say that?" Did I just hear that and it was amazing, a happy thing that she said. It stuck in my mind for all these years. When someone, a teacher, goes out of line it is about their own passion and a revelation about humanity. She said, "There is no such thing as sin." I remember, I was in the 9th grade and thought, "Wow! I hope she doesn't get thrown out for that"

    Audience Question: How did the museum get the Pieter Bruegel paintings?
    Jem Cohen: As she said, Bruegel only made 40 or 50 paintings. I don't know the exact details but the Hapsburg Empire was enormous. The Hapsburg Empire stretched all the way from one end of Europe to another. I think I can say that none of the Bruegels (in the Kunsthistorisches Museum) are there as a result of World War II indiscretions. I think that they just got lucky. Someone must have liked them. Like she said, they weren't that popular. It wasn't like scoring a whole room of Rembrandts. They did pretty well with these too. I think it was once the Empire was immensely powerful and between Spanish influence and the Netherlands and other things that they were able to access, they got lucky.

    Audience Question: Were you influenced by Lech Majewski's film The Mill and the Cross (Poland/Sweden, 2011) that was inspired by Bruegel's 1564 painting, "The Procession to Calvary"? (See the
    October 2011 Storyboard for notes on that film).
    Jem Cohen: I heard it was immensely popular but I wasn't going to allow myself to see someone else's Bruegel. Maybe I'll check it out now. I think they are very different.

    Audience Question: Did you talk with the guards when you went to museums as a child?
    Jem Cohen: "I don't know that I did, but wish I had. I just think that they have an amazing seat. These are people who will spend more time with these artworks than any of us ever will. When they aren't looking at the art they see people react to it. It's an interesting role. I know that for a lot of them it's tiring. It's not easy to stand on your feet all day but I do think it is remarkable. I don't think I ever talked to guards except to ask them were the bathroom was.

    Audience Question: Do you like contemporary art?
    Jem Cohen: Not really. I am interested in contemporary art but not familiar with any of the art that has come down through Vienna including some of the most extreme stuff. I don't believe in the designation that this is the old stuff and we're in a different world now. That's why I'm into movies. I think it's one world. Art is drawn through time as a continuous thing so I feel like a lot of this art (contemporary art) is very radical. A lot of it is intense in ways that are sometimes forgotten.

    Audience Question: Do you work on smaller projects?
    Jem Cohen: I'm always working on smaller projects so I never stop making short films. Some of the longer projects stretch over two years. Every once in a while something falls into place and I shoot right away. I shot a bunch that I call Newsreels on Occupy Wall Street. I was turning those around, having something cut in a couple of days. You can see those online. So it's a wide range. Right now I'm chipping away at a possible longer film. I'm making an homage on Chris Marker, a film maker I really liked, who passed away last year and I might make that into a longer piece. I'm doing a project with multiple projection. Some with live music, part of BAM. Some projects stretch over ten years. Always time and money. Money is always a concern.

    Audience Question: Do you think that museums are similar to religious spaces?
    Jem Cohen: I think we need spaces like that. It is a contemplative space. I'm a member of the Secular Church, I don't practice a set religion but I believe that there are things that we need from religion and we had better find it somewhere. One of the things I like is that museum spaces provide a contemplative environment in which people go and hush, they bring down their voices, they slow down and they are encouraged to engage with the work. They can get into an intense kind of exchange which is a dialogue which has to do with looking for some other plane in which this plane can make more sense. I do think that one of the things that has happened in the world is that spaces like that have become unpopular and there is a consenus in the museum world that you need a blockbuster show and that you have to have everything interactive. It breaks my heart a little bit to go to the Smithsonian now because when I was a kid the Smithsonian was more hushed. Even the History and Technology and Natural History had a somewhat churchy feeling to me as a kid and now I go there and I somehow feel it has been cheapened a little along the way. Maybe I'm remembering it wrong. I do feel strongly that I was trying to defend a space which gives people that kind of contemplative respite. It's an island and it's important.

    Audience Question: What can you tell us about Bobby's last comments? Jem Cohen: That is what the movie is about--taking the time to look at things. I've had people come up to me after a Q&A and say, "It's very Buddhist." I'm not Buddhist either. When I have a shoot and when the shooting is good I've often thought that thing you hear about with musicians or athletes or whatever, where you are in the moment and you are not trying to think. That has increasing been showing up in different territory. For me a lot of the movie was a kind of recognition of that feeling that was present when you hear people talk about mindfulness or the Buddhist non-judgmental acceptance of everything important, equality so as far as doing that. It's like meditation. You do it by doing it. Harder and harder to do it if we are looking at the screen. I'm looking at the screen too, it's hard not to do it.

    Museum Hours is currently showing at Landmark's Bethesda Row Cinema.



    Terraferma: Q&A with Actress Donatella Finocchiaro

    By Ron Gordner, DC Film Society Member

    Terraferma (Emanuele Crialese, 2011) is the story of a fishing family on a small island near Sicily struggling to survive. Like many other contemporary European films it deals with the issue of immigration. Boatloads of African immigrants try to land in Sicily or other areas of Italy to start a better life, but local populace and the government have outlawed this way of entering the country. This is a family drama but has elements of extreme emotions also and produces many ethical dilemmas. The film is mainly in Italian with some other languages of immigrants and English subtitles. It was the 2012 Italian selection for Best Foreign language film but did not make the final five selected nominated titles. The film opens September 6, 2013 in the DC area. This question and answer discussion was held at the 55th BFI London International Film Festival in October 2011. The director/writer, Emanuele Crialese also wrote and directed Respiro, a 2002 film that played in DC. The actress had her words translated by an Italian interpreter.


    Director Emanuele Crialese and Actress Donatella Finocchiaro

    London Festival Moderator: How did you get involved with this story and film?
    Donatella Finocchiaro: I had met the director several years ago in Cannes with another film. In February 2011, he told me he had written a character for me, which I think is one of the greatest things an actor/actress can have done for him/her.

    London Festival Moderator: How did you get into the character of Giulietta to play her?
    Donatella Finocchiaro: When we met we read some of the script but he wanted to highlight the family and their relationship with the immigrants. We drove around the island and experimented with my emotional ranges and met some immigrants. It was special since all the actors created this family together. I needed to become a real woman of the island so I learned to cook with them. The women of the island helped me to create this mother's character.

    London Festival Moderator: Terraferma is a very emotional movie. Did this affect you personally?
    Donatella Finocchiaro: First I must tell you that many of the extras and people playing the immigrants or boat people are really played by people who came to the Sicily area some years ago. The immigrant mother is played by a woman who arrived in the area on a boat in 2009 and was one of three people to survive the trip when another 89 people died. So it was still real for them. It is different than people arriving in Rome or Milan. We shot in the sea, and many of them remembered their arrivals on boat which had been close by in sea and how they survived a few years earlier. The mother also has to make some very important decisions that affect not only the immigrant woman and her child but may affect the future of her immediate family.

    Audience Question: How else did you see the role of the mother and her relationship with the immigrants?
    Donatella Finocchiaro: At first she is mean and must protect her family. The director made me see that she had to be stern with her but those were very hard scenes for me when I could see the tears and feel the compassion of the African mother. But Emanuele was right--she had to do this at first.

    Audience Question: What has been the reaction to this film in Italy, especially regarding the immigration issue?
    Donatella Finocchiaro: We first showed the film on this island where it was filmed and we had a very strong positive response. They still go fishing and find bones from the boat people who have died on their trip.

    Audience Question: Did you all have to learn the local dialect?
    Donatella Finocchiaro: Well, I am Sicilian so it was not difficult for me. Some of the actors were from other areas of Sicily but did ok. I come from Catania, but it's all Sicilian.

    Audience Question: Were the African woman and other immigrants actors?
    Donatella Finocchiaro: They were not actors and had come to the Sicily area as immigrants.

    Audience Question: It seems that the director may be saying that the sea or the boats are characters also in the film.
    Donatella Finocchiaro: Yes, Emanuele's films all deal with the sea.

    Audience Question: The local people are in conflict with the government authorities. Is it supposed to be a protest film?
    Donatella Finocchiaro: No it was just to tell the story. Five weeks into shooting is when the immigration issue hit the national news. But you can interpret the film how you wish.

    Terraferma opens September 6 at Landmark's E Street Cinema.



    Winnie Mandela: Q&A with Director Darrell Roodt and Writer Andre Pieterse

    By Ron Gordner, DC Film Society Member

    Winnie Mandela screened at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival in September 2011. It is directed by Darrell Roodt (South Africa/Canada funding) and stars Jennifer Hudson as Winnie Mandela and Terrence Howard as Nelson Mandela. It had mixed reviews but interest in the upcoming film Mandela: A Long Walk to Freedom (United Kingdom/South Africa) directed by Justin Chadwick and starring Idris Elba and Naome Harris which is set for a 2013 Toronto Film Festival showing and will come out later this winter or early 2014 may have sparked interest in this earlier film that focuses primarily on Winnie Mandela. Winnie Mandela opens September 6, 2013 in DC.



    TIFF Moderator: We are beginning to see a number of films focusing on Nelson Mandela. What inspired you to tell Winnie's story?
    Darrell Roodt: Well at one point I was involved with the film Mandela: A Long Walk to Freedom which was to star Morgan Freeman, but a British company came in and bought that project and I was out of it. But the producer said you know I also bought the rights to the book "Winnie: A Life" so we decided to make that story. I knew from working on the other film that people knew about Nelson but few knew about Winnie Mandela. They knew what they thought they knew but not really documented. I was blown away by the book and I wanted to show what this woman's life was like.

    Audience Question: Has the film been sold yet?
    Darrell Roodt: This is the first public screening of the film and it still needs a bit of work to finish it. We have sold it so far to Iceland only but hope once it has been seen to pick up more distribution. We haven't screened it for American buyers yet either. International sales have just opened so we hope an auction will be coming soon.

    Audience Question: What can you tell us about the casting?
    Darrell Roodt: Jennifer [Hudson] and Terrence [Howard] were our top choices early on. It was difficult to get Jennifer because she had a number of family tragedies befall her as you know, so we are so lucky she finally came on board. She also then had a child so we had to wait. I also just saw Terrence Howard in my mind for the role of Nelson Mandela.

    Audience Question: Was Winnie Mandela involved in the script?
    Darrell Roodt: I wanted to involve the real Winnie in the process somehow and verify the film but Andre said if we do that to just get her endorsement of everything we may be dead in the water. Is it a film for or about Winnie Mandela? I think she deserves a lot more credit than she is now given.

    Audience Question: Has there been any communication with Winnie?
    Andre Pieteres: At first it was very negative. We received threatening letters from her lawyers about the film. We did buy the book about her written seven years ago and she took no legal action against the book. Since we based the film on the book we were advised to proceed with the film and see what happens. We tried to make her understand that if we had involved her at any time it would be seen as compomising the integrity of the film. She has recently assisted in granting her approval of using the Soweto Choir with Jennifer Hudson to sing the main song of the film. We think that she must have communicated with some of the many people who have worked on or edited the film to identify it as a love story about a young girl and her life.

    Audience Question: What about the football club? How much was based on Winnie's life and how much was dramatized?
    Darrell Roodt: Well for me that is one of the most contentious periods or subjects of her life: the story of Stompie Moeketsi. I tried to slow down the scene where he goes into the room on his own and we know what will happen but I needed to slow it down and make it somewhat ambiguous and make everyone, including Winnie think about what was happening.

    Audience Question: Due to the sensitive nature of this story, did you receive threats or did you need to compromise what your vision of the film would be?
    Darrell Roodt: Absolutely not, we had six bodyguards (laughs).

    Audience Question: What was the reason for having American actors rather than South African actors?
    Andre Pieteres: We could have had some very excellent South African actors in their place, but we wanted it to stand side by side with other Hollywood films. It has created great interest already with these Academy award winners or nominees. It is an expensive film and those actors helped finance it. Mrs. Mandela with Mr. Malema are mentioned together but I do not think she subscribes to all his views but they have a similar base of reaching the common people.

    Audience Question: What was the choice to show Winnie as an alcoholic particularly when the film entered the murky parts of what she was doing?
    Andre Pieteres: There were always these stories that she was drinking at this time. Was it true or not? We deliberately did use this.

    Audience Question: What happened to the second daughter in the film?
    Darrell Roodt: She was not politically active like her other daughter Lindsay was and when we had to cut the length of the film she did disappear as we think she did in Winnie's life somewhat.

    Winnie Mandela is scheduled to open September 6.



    Thérèse: Q&A with Director Claude Miller's wife Annie and Actress Audrey Tautou

    By Ron Gordner, DC Film Society Member

    Thérèse also knowm as Thérèse Desqueroux is based on Francois Mauriac's 1927 novel of two land-rich French families who marry their children for the convenience of maintaining the land and fortune in the families. Not long after the marriage, Thérèse quickly finds her husband Bernard has lost interest in her and the marriage in favor of the running the estate. Bernard's younger sister and Thérèse's friend Anne now also faces a similar fate of being froced into another loveless marriage of convenience, rather than follow her heart. This magnifies Thérèse's own suffocating position within the bonds of her loveless marriage and responsibilities to her husband and two families. The film is sumptuously photographed by Gerard De Battista capturing the beauty and ruggedness of the pinewood areas of Landes in southwestern France. This was the last film made by the famous French director Claude Miller shortly before he died. His wife Annie and lead actress Audrey Tautou were present for a Question and Answer discussion at the 37th Toronto International Film Festival in September 2012. The film opened in DC on August 30, 2013.


    Annie Miller and Audrey Tautou at the Toronto International Film Festival

    TIFF Director and CEO Piers Handling interviewed his widow and the actress with some questions being answered by the audience and some of the discussion was translated by an interpretor on stage.

    Piers Handling: [To Annie Miller] What attracted your husband Claude to make a film about this magnificent French novel?
    Annie Miller: The original request came from the producer Yves Marmion to do another famous novel by Mauriac called "Le Désert de l'amour" but he had also read "Thérèse Desqueyroux" and preferred to adapt this also famous novel because of all the restrained emotions in the story. He also loved to show women especially who were trapped by emotional situations and how they wanted to free themselves. This is a theme in some of his other movies.

    Piers Handling: [To Audrey Tautou] This is easily the best and perhaps most challenging role you have had to play since of course Amélie. How did you manage to play such a wide range of emotions? How was the aging of the character done in the novel and movie?
    Audrey Tautou: This is probably one of the most dark but serious characters I have ever played. She has so many different emotions and layers of tragedy. She was not able to escape everything that she had grown up with, but now she also has learned to hate: the house, her husband, the families, her responsibilities and yet she is dutiful to a degree. So she mainly escapes only in her dreams which is what makes the character so rich.

    Piers Handling: The film and the book also demand Thérèse to have so many emotions but also to not broadcast them or physically show them. Was this a particularly difficult or challenging role for an actress to convey without words, to communicate so much with her eyes and face?
    Audrey Tautou: Yes I hope I did this. Also as we get into the story no one wants to listen to her or tries to understand her. Sometimes you need to realize that others didn't see her at all or later perhaps as some kind of monster.

    Piers Handling: Annie do you recall Claude telling you that there were specific parts or scenes for him to capture in this film?
    Annie Miller: Not really. In fact he remarked on how peaceful the shooting of this film was for him. He knew he was ill, but was surrounded by a wonderful team of actors and staff that he was extremely happy and comfortable with.

    Audience Question: [To Audrey Tautou] Did you have problems believing the character remaining trapped in her situation?
    Audrey Tautou: Not at all. You have to realize the time period and how easy it is to do everything your parents tell you to do. It is much harder to break out of that cycle and find yourself and live your own life and to follow a different road than the one people expect for you.

    Audience Question: Because you are working from a novel, is there any difficulty providing your own interpretation of the character?
    Audrey Tautou: I was sent the novel to read at least three years before the movie was made. Later I was also sent the script and I based my character and my acting on the script primarily. I think Claude helped me to create this character and with the reality that she like many other things in the movie is a property. We read the script several times and discussed it but it was not an intense characterization that he wanted. Claude would often send me texts from the script during the shooting also and I would think about it more and he helped to give me confidence I was correctly channeling the character Thérèse.

    Piers Handling: Audrey, do you watch yourself on screen in the daily rushes?
    Audrey Tautou: Usually not. I did watch it on DVD during the editing process.

    Audience Question: Do you prefer to do historical or contemporary roles?
    Audrey Tautou: I do not really have a preference.

    Thérèse opened August 30 at Landmark's E Street Cinema.



    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, Karlovy Vary Film Festival, London Film Festival, Venice Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto Film Festival, Austin Film Festival, Edinburgh Film Festival, the Berlin Film Festival, the Palm Springs Film Festival, the Reykjavik Film Festival, the Munich Film Festival, and the Locarno 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? Taken notes at a Q&A? 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
    The 24th annual AFI Latin American Film Festival takes place September 19-October 9. Films from Latin American countries plus Spain and Portugal will be shown, many of which are local premieres and film festival winners. A few titles are Thesis on a Homicide from Argentina and starring Ricardo Darin, Sugar Kisses from Mexico's Carlos Cuarón, So Much Water from Uruguay and A Gun in Each Hand from Spain. Passes are available, see the website.

    "Totally Awesome 7: Great Films of the 1980s" concludes in September with The Right Stuff, Baby It's You, Suburbia, Runaway Train, American Gigolo, Breathless, Variety, Krush Groove, Wild Style, Downtown 81, Style Wars.

    "Ozploitation: Australian Genre Classics" is a series of films from Australia. September's titles are Road Games, Dead End Drive-In and BMX Bandits.

    "70mm Spectacular, Part 2" follows up on last summer's popular 70mm series. Just one left for September: Lawrence of Arabia.

    "Scandinavian Crime Cinema" is a large and ambitious series of "Nordic Noir," films from Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Iceland, both old and new. During September you can see Avalon, Smilla's Sense of Snow, The Last Contract, Kim Novak Never Swam in Genesaret's Lake, Northwest, R, Slim Susie, Raid, Eight Deadly Shots, Lilya 4-Ever and Drive. A pass is available for six or twelve films.

    The Silver Theater opened September 15, 1938 and to celebrate the 75th anniversary a few of 1938's notable films: Carefree, The Lady Vanishes, Four Daughters, The Adventures of Robin Hood and Bringing Up Baby. Special prices for these films.

    "Ernest Borgnine Remembered" is a series of 15 films featuring the actor, who died in July of last year. The remaining titles are Escape from New York and Ernest Borgnine on the Bus.

    Three special events for September: Skirt Chasers (2013), the latest film from Czech director Jiri Menzel who will be present to introduce the film on September 15 at 5:00pm. (See also National Gallery of Art). With a new version of "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" about to be released, see the original Danny Kaye version from 1947 on September 1 and 2. The Harder They Come (Perry Henzell, 1973), on September 26, in advance of Jimmy Cliff's visit to DC on September 27.

    The "Opera on Film" for September is Giuseppe Verdi's "Aida" performed by the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, Italy and conducted by Riccardo Chailly and starring Roberto Alagna and Violeta Urmana. Staged by film director Franco Zeffirelli and shown on September 13 at noon and September 14 at 11:00am.

    The "Ballet on Film" for September is "The Pharaoh's Daughter" from the Bolshoi Ballet, Moscow, Russia. Music by Cesare Pugni, choreographed by Pierre Lacotte, shown on September 6 at noon and September 8 at 11:00am.

    Freer Gallery of Art
    "Pages of Beauty and Madness: Japanese Writers Onscreen" is a new series of films based on Japanese books. On September 8 at 2:00pm is Woman in the Dunes (Hiroshi Teshigahara, 1964) based on the novel by Kobo Abe. On September 13 at 7:00pm is Sound of the Mountain (Mikio Naruse, 1954), based on the novel by Yasunori Kawabata. On September 20 at 7:00pm is A Page of Madness (Teinosuke Kinugasa, 1926), with live music accompaniment by the Miyumi Quartet. The film will be introduced by Aaron Gerow, author of A Page of Madness: Cinema and Moderity in 1920s Japan. On September 22 at 2:00pm is The Makioka Sisters (Kon Ichikawa, 1983), based on the novel by Junichiro Tanizaki. On September 27 at 7:00pm is The Sailor Who Fell From Grace with the Sea (Lewis John Carlino, 1976), based on the novel by Yukio Mishima. On September 29 at 2:00pm is The Outrage (Martin Ritt, 1964), based on stories by Ryunosuke Akutagawa.

    National Gallery of Art
    "Kerry James Marshall Selects" is a short series to accompany the exhibit, chosen by the artist as relevant to the themes explored in his show. On September 1 at 4:30pm is Black Orpheus (Marcel Camus, 1958) and on September 2 at 2:00pm is Daughters of the Dust (Julie Dash, 1991).

    "From Vault to Screen" is an annual showcase of film preservation from international archives and special collections. On September 7 at 2:30pm is Le Petit Soldat (Jean-Luc Godard, 1963); and on September 22 at 4:30pm is Le Joli Mai (Chris Marker, 1963).

    "A Day with Jiri Menzel" features new wave Czech director Jiri Menzel in person on September 14 at 2:00pm with Closely Watched Trains (1966) and on September 14 at 4:00pm with Larks on a String (1969). Also see the AFI for Jiri Menzel's visit on September 15.

    "Rouben Mamoulian: Making Movies Musical" is a three-film series introduced by Joseph Horowitz, author of "On My Way: The Untold Story of Rouben Mamoulian." On September 28 at 2:00pm is Applause (1929); on September 28 at 4:00pm is Love Me Tonight (1932); and on September 29 at 4:00pm is Blood and Sand (1941).

    Special events at the Gallery include Caesar Must Die (Paulo and Vittorio Taviani, 2012) on September 1 at 2:00pm (also see the story from the August newsletter). On September 8 at 4:30pm is a cine-concert "Abstract Animation Since 1970" with Andrew Simpson accompanying a selection of abstract animations. On September 15 at 4:00pm is Glory (1989) with an introduction by director Ed Zwick and on September 21 at 2:30pm is The Massachusetts 54th Colored Infantry 1991) with director Mark Sampels present to introduce the film.

    Smithsonian American Art Museum
    On September 25 at 6:30pm is a screening of Episode 6 of the PBS Documentary Screening "Latino Americans," (2013). A panel discussion will follow with producer John Ray Telles, Ray Suarez, author of the companion book for the series and E. Carmen Ramos, curator.

    Washington Jewish Community Center
    The Israeli TV show series "Hatufim" (Gideon Raff, 2010) continues, with one episode shown per week on September 3, 10 and 17, all at 7:30pm. The series concludes in October.

    Goethe Institute
    "Women in History as Played by Barbara Sukowa" is a new series of films starring Barbara Sukowa in historical roles, all directed by Margarethe von Trotta. On September 9 at 6:30pm is Marianne and Julianne (1981); on September 16 at 6:30pm is Hannah Arendt (2012); on September 17 at 6:30pm is "An Evening with Barbara Sukowa," a discussion with actress Barbara Sukowa, Helmut Berghoff from the German Historical Institute and Wilfried Eckstein from the Washington Goethe-Institut. On September 23 at 6:30pm is Rosa Luxembourg (1985) and on September 30 at 6:30pm is Vision (2009) with Barbara Sukowa as Hildegard von Bingen.

    On September 12 at 6:30pm is Almanya (Yasemin Samdereli, 2010) with an introduction by Asiye Kaya from Georgetown University.

    National Air and Space Museum
    On September 29 at 8:00pm is "Rhythms of the Universe: An Evening with Mickey Hart and George Smoot," a screening of their film Rhythms of the Universe followed by a discussion with Grateful Dead percussionist Mickey Hart, Nobel Laureate George Smoot and Richard Kurin of the Smithsonian.

    French Embassy
    On September 10 at 7:00pm is Rust and Bone (Jacques Audiard, 2012) with Marion Cotillard and Matthias Schoenaerts.

    The Japan Information and Culture Center
    On September 18 at 6:30pm is Until the Break of Dawn (Yuichiro Hirakawa, 2012), based on the novel by Tsujimura Mizuki.

    The National Theatre
    A series of Joan Crawford films begins September 23 at 6:30pm with The Women (George Cukor, 1939) and September 30 at 6:30pm is Possessed (Curtis Bernhardt, 1947). More in October and November.

    Arlington Arts and Artisphere
    On September 15 at 2:00pm is I Shot Andy Warhol (Mary HaRron, 1996) shown in conjunction with the exhibit "Andy Warhol: Silver Clouds."

    National Archives
    On September 26 at 7:00pm is the 7th Annual Charles Guggenheim Tribute Program. New York Times writer Roger Cohen will introduce Berga: Soldiers of Another War (2003), Guggenheim's final film.

    West End Cinema
    The Mutual Inspirations Festival is about mutual inspirations between Czech and American cultures. Each year an influential Czech personality is featured. On September 12 is Plastic People of the Universe (Jana Chytilová), about an underground Czech band. Post-screening Q&A conducted by members of the Czech Embassy staff. More films in October and November.

    Interamerican Development Bank
    On September 5 at 6:30pm is Red Princess (Laura Astorga, 2013) from Costa Rica. On September 19 at 6:30pm is 180 Degrees (2010) with Mexican director Fernando Kalife present for Q&A.

    The Avalon
    The "Czech Lions" film for September is the documentary Vaclav Havel, Prague Castle on September 11 at 8:00pm. The French Cinematheque film is The Minister (Pierre Scholler, 2011) on September 18 at 8:00pm. The September film for "Reel Israel" is TBA.

    The Corcoran
    On September 23 at 6:30pm is the 8th edition of WPA's Experimental Media Screening Series. Short video works explore privacy and surveillance in contemporary society.

    Italian Cultural Institute
    On September 10 at 7:00pm is Loose Cannons (Ferzan Özpetek, 2010). On September 16 at 7:00pm is Magnificent Presence (Ferzan Özpetek, 2012).

    Wolf Trap
    On September 6 and 7 at 7:30pm is Lord of the Rings (Peter Jackson) with Howard Shore's award-winning music performed live with orchestra, chorus and soloists. Erik Ochsner conducts.

    Solas Nua
    On September 16 at 7:00pm is Paradiso, a music documentary. Shown at the Renaissance Washington Dupont Circle Hotel, 1143 New Hampshire Ave., NW.

    The Hill Center at the Old Naval Hospital
    On September 13 at 7:00pm is Flip Flop Flippin' 2 (Scott Herriott), a documentary about Herriott's attempt to hike the Appalachian Trail. A skype discussion with the director will follow the screening.

    Bloombars
    On September 3 at 7:00pm is The Minister (Pierre Schoeller, 2011). On September 10 at 7:00pm is Soul Food Junkies (Byron Hurt, 2012) with discussion via skype after the documentary.

    Workhouse Arts Center
    On September 7 at 8:00pm is "Cinemagic Memories," a musical journey through Hollywood featuring songs from the Golden Age of Movie Musicals through today's box office hits. Pianist Jacob Kidder accompanies cabaret artists Kristen Jepperson, Antonio Bullock, Mary Payne and Michael Omohundro.

    Busboys and Poets
    On September 22 at 5:00pm and 8:00pm is The Suspect with Q&A afterwards with director Stuart Connelly, at the 14th and V Street location.

    Alliance Francais
    On September 20 at 7:00pm is La Source des Femmes (Radu Mihaileanu, 2010), a comedy set in West Africa. Part of the Ciné Francophone Maghred series.

    The Jerusalem Fund
    On September 20 at 6:00pm is Notre Musique (Jean-Luc Godard, 2004).

    George Mason University
    On September 11 at 4:30pm is Where Soldiers Come From, followed by Q&A with director Heather Courtney and subject of the film Dominic Fredianelli. The documentary follows three friends from Michigan to Afghanistan and back over four years.

    The Phillips Collection
    On September 22 at 3:30pm is the DC premiere of Dangerous Edge: A Life of Graham Greene (2013), Q&A afterwards with director and writer Thomas P. O'Connor. On September 12 at 6:30pm is "Experimental Media 2013," experimental video work exploring cybersecurity, data collection and imaging surveillance. See also the Corcoran for more of the Experimental Media 2013.



    FILM FESTIVALS

    DC Shorts Film Festival
    DC Shorts Film Festival celebrates its tenth anniversary with 153 films from 23 countries. This year the festival runs from September 19-29 at the following locations: Landmark's E Street Cinema, U.S. Navy Memorial, Angelika Mosaic, Atlas Arts Center, Anacostia Arts Center and Visarts. The films in competition will be shown in 18 90-minute showcases, all followed by Q&A sessions with the filmmakers. After the competition, the films will be re-screened September 22-29, culminating in the "Best of DC Shorts." See the website for the schedule and ticket information.

    AFI Latin American Film Festival
    The 24th annual AFI Latin American Film Festival takes place September 19-October 9. Films from Latin American countries plus Spain and Portugal will be shown, many of which are local premieres and film festival winners. A few titles are Thesis on a Homicide from Argentina and starring Ricardo Darin, Sugar Kisses from Mexico's Carlos Cuarón, So Much Water from Uruguay and A Gun in Each Hand from Spain. Passes are available, see the website.

    Movies on the Potomac
    Films are shown approximately 20 minutes after sundown at the Plaza, National Harbor. Bring a lawn chair. One film remains for "Silver Screen Sports:" Remember the Titans on September 1.

    The Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention
    The Mid Atlantic Nostalgia Convention takes place September 19-21 at the Hunt Valley Wyndham in Hunt Valley, Maryland. Featured are screenings of vintage movies, world permiere documentaries, Hollywood celebrities, vendor tables, and seminars from authors and historians. See the website for more information.



    FILM-RELATED LECTURES

    Smithsonian Associates
    On September 19 at 6:30pm is an evening seminar "Graffiti and Street Art" with a screening of The Legend of Cool "Disco" Dan. Graffiti historian and author Roger Gastman and film director Joseph Pattisall will conduct a post-screening Q&A.



    Previous Storyboards

    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012


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