Febio Fest 2009

TIP: Tickets go on sale Wednesday, March 18th at Village Cinemas Anděl at 13:00. Tickets for the higher-profile films typically sell out fast, so act quick if there´s something you have to see (still, tickets to the older films in the tribute sections can usually be had day-and-date). From midnight on the 18th/19th, tickets will be available for purchase at www.villagecinemas.cz. At 79 CZK per film, they’re a steal.

Below are my quick picks from the festival guide, separated by section. For more info, head over to www.febiofest.cz.

Another Shore

The Another Shore section presents a selection of queer-centric US indies and foreign flicks. Of note here is Tom Gustafson´s Were the World Mine, a gay-themed take on Shakespeare´s A Midsummer Night´s Dream. A special part of this section focuses on famed US Indie director Gregg Araki, showcasing his films The Living End, Totally Fucked Up, and Mysterious Skin – each is well worth seeing.

Asian Panorama

Featuring films from across the continent, highlights in the Asian Panorama include: Flower in the Pocket, from Malaysia and director Liew Seng Tat, a comedy that looks at a pair of mischievous brothers; former J-horror stalwart Kiyoshi Kurosawa´s Tokyo Sonata, which has notched a positive response despite a title that welcomes comparison to Ozu´s Tokyo Story; Tetsuo director Shinya Tsukamoto´s two Nightmare Detective films, which have received muted appreciation; Service, from prolific Filipino director Brillante Mendoza, which gained notoriety at Cannes for a scene in which a man bursts a boil on his ass with a soda bottle; and The Drummer, a Hong Kong drama starring Jaycee Chan, son of Jackie.

Cinema Extreme

The Cinema Extreme section features a number of avant-garde and experimental films, including Pere Portabella´s The Silence Before Bach, a melding of cinema and Bach, and Paul Mahaffy´s low-budget Wellness, about a pyramid-scheme salesman. A special section focuses on the work of Iranian-born US indie filmmaker Amir Naderi, including his latest film, Vegas: Based on a True Story.

Denmark After Dogme

The Denmark After Dogme section takes a look at the world of post-Von Trier Danish films. Featured are Nightwatch director Ole Bornedal´s Just Another Love Story, The King is Alive director Kristian Levring´s Fear Me Not, Ole Christian Madsen´s Flame & Citron, starring Mads Mikkelsen, and Omar Shargawi´s drama Go with Peace Jamil, which also screened at last year´s Karlovy Vary fest.

Latin American Panorama

Taking a look at recent films from Latin (and South) America, films in the Latin American Panorama include A Year Without Love director Anahi Berneri´s Encarnacion, Albertina Carri´s La Rabia, a look at life in the Argentine pampas, Amat Escalante´s Los Bastardos, which looks at 24 hours in the lives of two Mexican day laborers in L.A., Pablo Agüero´s drama Salamander, and Alex Rivera´s Sleep Dealer, which has been called a Mexican Matrix.

Made in USA

A mixture of 2008 US films that haven´t yet made it to Czech cinemas includes Oscar nominees The Reader and The Visitor, Kevin Smith´s Zack and Miri Make a Porno, Edward Zwick´s Defiance, and Gavin O´Connor´s Pride and Glory. There´s also a high-profile 2009 release, Tom Tykwer´s The International. Two highlights in this section: Clint Eastwood´s Oscar-snubbed Gran Torino and Charlie Kaufman´s directorial debut, Synecdoche, New York.

New Europe Competition

Among the films screening as part of New Europe Competition is Magnus, from Estonia and director Kadri Kousaar, which Variety has called “a profound emotional experience”; Aida Begic´s Snow, which was Bosnia and Herzegovina’s official submission to last year´s Academy Awards; Summer Book, from Turkey and director Seyfi Teoman; and Jens Jonsson´s Swedish production King of Ping Pong, which picked up a pair of awards at last year´s Sundance fest.

World Cinema Panorama

With some of the highest-profile current international releases at the fest, highlights of the World Cinema Panorama section include: Adoration, the latest from director Atom Egoyan; Guy Ritchie´s RocknRolla; Uli Edel´s The Baader Meinhof Complex, which was nominated for the Foreign Film Oscar; Nic Balthazar´s excellent Ben X, an examination of teenage anxiety from Belgium; Declan Recks´ well-received Irish drama Eden; JCVD, a supposed comeback for Jean-Claude Van Damme; Tengri, a Kyrgyzstan-set love story from director Marie-Jaoul de Poncheville; The Dust of Time, the latest from prolific Greek director Theo Angelopoulos starring Willem Defoe and Bruno Ganz; and Sergej Dvorcevoj´s Tulpan, which won the Un Certain Regard award at Cannes last year.

Tributes

A tribute to Barbet Schroeder features some of the director´s better-known works, the Mickey Rourke-starring Barfly and the Jermey Irons-starring Reversal of Fortune, along with his latest film, the French-Japanese thriller Inju: The Beast in the Shadow. Fans of Pink Floyd: be sure to check out Schroeder´s first film, the slow-moving but hypnotic More, which features a classic Floyd soundtrack.

German New Wave director Wim Wenders also receives a tribute here, which showcases some of his best films, including critic favorites The American Friend and Paris, Texas. Also on display is his one big worldwide hit, Wings of Desire (screening – as it does consistently in Prague´s arthouse cinemas – without English subtitles) and his most recent, Palermo Shooting, which re-teams him with American Friend star Dennis Hopper. Not to be missed: a rare screening of Wenders´ 1982 film The State of Things, which follows a strapped-for-cash Roger Corman film crew in Portugal, and has been little-seen on home video over the years (note: the fest guide lists the language as German, but it´s mostly in English).

A tribute to directors Gustave de Kervern and Benoît Delépine features the duo´s three films, Aaltra, Avida, and Louise-Michel. A tribute to Argentinean exile Marco Bechis features a selection of the director´s festival favorites along with his latest picture, Birdwatching, while four films from Israeli producer Marek Rozenbaum are highlighted in his tribute.

A tribute to UK director Mike Leigh features his latest, Happy-Go-Lucky, one of his best, 1996´s Secrets & Lies, along with Vera Drake and All or Nothing, while a tribute to dogme co-founder Thomas Vinterberg features his best, The Celebration, his most curious, the English-language It´s all About Love, and his two most recent, Dear Wendy and When a Man Comes Home.

Note: most of those given tributes at Febio Fest, including directors Wim Wenders and Thomas Vinterberg, will also be attending the festival.

Other Sections

A bizarre selection of films that deal tangentially with shopping, films in the World of Shops and Shopping Malls section includes Schumacher´s Falling Down and Tarantino´s Jackie Brown, along with some Czech classics (screening without subtitles). It´s also the first (and hopefully, last) time I´ve spotted You´ve Got Mail screening at a film fest. Films in this section are screening at the Černý Most shopping center. Screenings in this section are held for free.

Out of the five films in the New Russian Cinema section, the highest-profile is Alexei Balabanov´s Cargo 200, an ultra-black comedy focusing on a sadistic police captain.

A well-chosen (if somewhat obscure) slice of 60´s French cinema, most of the films in The French New Wave section will only be screening with Czech subtitles. Alain Resnais´ I Love You, I Love You, Jacques Rivette´s L´amour fou, and Eric Rohmer´s Romance of Astree and Celadon will be screening with English subtitles, however. The Rivette and Resnais films have been little-seen and mostly unavailable since their releases, making them (for me) must-sees.

Two Czech films will have their premieres at the fest; Jan and Adam Novák´s Citizen Havel is Rolling Barrels, a documentary looking at the former president´s play Audience, will screen with English subtitles. Jan Němec´s The Ferrari Dino Girl is screening in Czech, without subtitles.

Top Ten

In no particular order, here´s what I´ll be looking to see at this year´s fest – taking into account that some of the films I really want to see, like Synecdoche, New York, will make their way to Prague cinemas soon enough, while others I may never get a chance to see again.

I Love You, I Love You
L´Amour fou
The State of Things
More
The Dust of Time
Tulpan
Los Bastardos
Service
King of Ping Pong
The Silence before Bach

Pictured: up top, Dennis Hopper in Wim Wenders’ The American Friend; above, Harry Dean Stanton in Wenders’ Paris, Texas.