The second
annual All-American fest, organized by film-maker and guru of
short films, Todd Tinkham, unfolds over four days and at four
venues, showcasing a crop of news shorts and features from NC,
the U.S., Canada, Greece, Spain, the UK, Germany, Italy and
more...plus a great sampling of local music from 10 bands, including
jazz, blues, and pscyho-billy.
Click here
to read Allan Maurer interview with Todd (at left) on
the NC
Flix blog
photo
by Renee Wright ARR
(links on this site are in red)
Robert
Osborne hosts the annual Classic Film Festival in Athens,
GA, See his favorite classics on big screens and meet
some of his favorite stars at festival events.
The
2008 festival, April 10-13, includes such classics as
Journey to the Center of the Earth, The King and I,
Lawrence of Arabia, Notorious and Young
Frankenstein.
Danny DeVito at the 2006 Full Frame
Photo by R. Wright ARR 2006
We
were just sitting there having lunch at the Full Frame awards
ceremony, when we felt a hand on our shoulder...we turned,
looked down, and there was DiVito, wandering through the
lunch crowd, making contact. You can't get more real than
this guy. He knew that having a movie star put his hand
on your shoulder would have a lasting effect, but you had
the feeling he just wanted to connect with real people.
Is it ok to call an Italian a mench?
Coverage of the 2005, 2006
and 2007 festivals are on our blog: http://ncflix.blogspot.com
Martin Scorsese honored
Vittorio De Seta at 2005 Full Frame Documentary Film Festival. more...
This was the first of two film festivals
that launched in the Queen City last year.
The multiple uptown venues make
catching as many of the films as you want to see easier than at
many festivals.
This year, the festival got underway
on Thursday, September 6 with an Opening Night Gala and Awards
Ceremony, which it will host on the rooftop of the Mint Museum
of Craft + Design, in the heart of Uptown Charlotte. Following
that, and before concluding on the evening of Sunday, September
9, the festival screened more than thirty narrative, documentary
and international features and short films from all around the
globe; many of them world premieres.
The
Virginia Film Festival focused on the dynamics of family
life for its 20th anniversary. Guests included Independent
film director John Sayles (in photo above). Sayles
appeared at the 1989 festival and returned this year with
his partner, producer Maggie Renzi, for a showing
of Sayles' new release, "The
Honeydripper." Starring Danny Glover, Charles Dutton,
singer-songwriter Keb' Mo' and University of Virginia alumnus
Sean Patrick Thomas, the film looks at the origins of rock
and roll in the deep South. We think it's among his best
and will post a review and a substantial look at Sayles
work here soon.
Sayles almost single-handedly
created the modern independent film back before anyone ever
heard much about such a thing. "Return of the Secaucus
Seven" is a landmark in the history of indie filmmaking
and still one of our personal favorites. Both "Secaucus"
and "Brother From Another Planet" are currently
running on Encore cable channels periodically in sharp prints
better than the ones I saw in art theatres way back when.
This
year's
Asheville Film Festival, always one of the most exciting
and prestigious events in NC, film or otherwise, presented
its career award to Oscar-nomnated actress Tess Harper.
Harper
(above in a publicity shot and speaking at the Asheville
Festival this year, photo by Renee Wright)
started her film career in Bruce Beresford's "Tender
Mercies" in 1983 and has appeared in more than 70 movie
and TV films, including "Silkwood," and "Crimes
of the Heart."
She's
worked with Mike Nichols, Elaine May, Sam Shepherd, Robert
Mulligan and the Coen Brothers in "No Country for Old
Men." The film, if not Harper, is likely to see some
Oscar nominations this year.
Also at the Asheville Film Festival:
Andie McDowell and "Intervention"
Our
favorite event, however, was seeing Andie McDowell (above
in a photo by Bestfilmfests' Renee Wright) at the screening
of "Intervention," a unique film in which the
actors improvised their dialog. McDowell said at least one
actor really surprised her in a scene. Look for more here,
soon...
Robert
Osborne hosts the annual Classic Film Festival in Athens,
GA, See his favorite classics on big screens and meet
some of his favorite stars at festival events.
