|
The Wedding Cow:
Can two strangers find love and friendship by
learning to be more bovine?
|
On April 27 Film Fest New
Haven officially kicks off its sixth year of showcasing
independent film talent from around the world. What
started off as a one-venue venture has turned into
an event of international proportions and a year-round
schedule of cinema events. Over 70 features, shorts
and documentaries will be screened during the festival
weekend (April 27-29 2001)
New Haven Mayor John DeStefano
will open the festival at a reception on Friday night,
followed by the opening night presentation Postmark
Paradise starring the well known native American actress
Tantoo Cardinal (SMOKE SIGNALS, DANCES WITH WOLVES)
and Russian actress /musician Natalia Nazarova. Nazarova
plans to fly in from Moscow to attend the reception.
The film, which has been described as "Ukrainian mail-order
bride meets Northern Exposure", entranced Russian
film audiences when shown at 2001 Moscow International
Film Festival "Faces of Love".
|
Rupindar Nagra
as Gopi in The Goddess Method
|
For the fifth time the CT
Film Commission will present the "CT Filmmaker of
the Year" award at the opening night reception. This
year's winner is Andrea Haas Hubbell, who's no stranger
to FFNH. Her Emmy-nominated Roots of Roe, a chronicle
of the struggle for women's reproductive rights in
Connecticut, won for "Best Documentary" at FFNH in
1997.
"I try to make documentaries
with a difference" says Hubbell, who resides in Litchfield
with her husband filmmaker Harvey Hubbell V. The producer/writer/director,
who used cartoon cats and mice to explain globalization
in her award winning Global Village, Global Pillage
also adds that "If people expect something dull and
earnest while they watch my work I hope they're disappointed".
Festival goers expecting something "dull and earnest"
will have many surprises during this weekend!
On Sunday, the Little Theatre
will show Loop Dreams, produced by Andie Haas and
Harvey Hubbell V.. This "film about a film " details
the making of the low-budget feature Black Male, which
was directed by CT filmmakers George and Mike Baluzy.
George Baluzy also directed Tuesday, the short preceding
Loop Dreams. Tuesday, by the way, was written and
produced by New Haven filmmaker and arts patron Cheever
Tyler.
|
In Boundaries,
Angelica is pursued by a mute
trombonist, in a love hate saga that goes
beyond her wildest nightmares.
|
What started out five years
ago as a one-venue series of screenings seems to have
taken over the Elm City, as Film Fest New Haven has
expanded to a full five venues this year. In addition
to the York Square Cinema, the Whitney Humanities
Center and the Little Theatre, screenings will be
held at the Yale Center for British Art and the Yale
Medical School Film Society. Screenings will be grouped
by category and theme. The Yale Center for British
Art will be showing mainly documentaries with an all
arts program on Sunday, including A Thief Among The
Angels which focuses on the creation of Barry Moser's
Pennyroyal Caxton Bible. The YMSFS will host a program
of experimental films on Sunday at 7:30 pm, with the
extraordinary dark comedy Passing Stones as the late
show, while Saturday evening's shows will feature
repeat screenings of some of the weekend's favorites
This year's FFNH is the most
family-friendly yet as THE ADVENTURES OF Space Baby
& Mental Man, first introduced to us by Carol Patton
and written and directed by Boston-based Rex Dean,
will lead off a Saturday morning "Family Feature"
at the Little Theatre that will also include three
animated shorts from the Ringling School of Art and
Design. On Sunday the Little Theatre will show Ra-tim-bum
Castle, a Harry Potter-like Brazilian fantasy.
FFNH 2001 offers a look at
many cultures and diverse life-styles. The documentary
Bombay Eunuch will be screened at the Little Theater
on Saturday preceded by The Goddess Method , an intimate
look at gender issues in India. York Square will host
the German road trip romance The Wedding Cow (Sat.
at Noon), on the bill that also features the Iranian
short The Guest. This year's festival has a strong
international flavor, with films from Australia, Belgium,
Canada and Scotland, to name a few.
Of special interest to IMAGINE
readers will be Saturday's York Square program screening
the feature Orphan with Witness (a short). Orphan,
the directorial debut of Boston based Richard Moos,
mixes a hit-man/guardian angel with the sexy revenge-seeking
daughter of a man he murdered. Witness is directed
by Boston native Monika Mitchell (Night Deposit).
FFNH is known for the number of filmmakers who participate
in the event's Q&A's, and rounding off the weekend
on Sunday at the Little Theatre several visiting filmmakers
will discuss their work and the world of independent
filmmaking at a Filmmakers Forum. Jury awards, two
Kodak awards for cinematography, and a sound/music
award will be presented at an awards ceremony, one
of the many social events, which add glitter to the
weekend.
|
Philly, the "Once
and Future Queen"
in Todd Verow's underground film of
that name. photo: Todd Verow.
|
FFNH is especially proud to
present the animated short Rejected as part of a series
of shorts at the York Square Cinema on Saturday. The
film, created by Don Hertzfeldt, has been nominated
for an Oscar in the Animated Short Film category.
This will be the fourth time Hertzfeldt's work has
appeared at FFNH. Another Oscar nominee, By Courier,
will screen on Sunday at the Whitney Humanities Center.
(Also nominated for an Oscar, in the Short-Live Action
category, is Seraglio, which won both a Jury Award
and an Audience Choice Award at FFNH 5). Who knows
which FFNH 6 screenings might pop up at next year's
Oscars?
Although the festival won't
officially open till the 27th, there will be a special
showing of Books of Survival at the Sterling Memorial
Library of Yale University on Wednesday, April 25.
Shown at FFNH5, Books documents the art and life of
Greenwich Village artist John Eric Broaddus. The screening
will be followed by a reception hosted by the Library,
which will officially open Sterling Memorial's exhibit
of Broaddus' books.
For the first time there will
be a FFNH Welcome Tent on the New Haven Green, which
will provide family oriented activities and entertainment,
including giveaways, music and hands-on fun for children.
The tent will provide general information about the
festival screenings as well as where to eat, shop
or explore in the Elm City.
Film Fest New Haven offers
film fans the chance to see work that will never reach
the local googolplex, movies in which creativity,
not commercialism guides the filmmakers' craft. The
festivalgoer never knows what to expect, except the
unexpected.
Drew
Cucuzza is a first year volunteer to Film Fest New
Haven. He has taught Media Arts for several years
in Bridgeport Connecticut at Central High School,
and currently works for the court system in Connecticut.
He is a frequent contributor to the New Haven Advocate,
writing about music and of course New Haven pizza.
His roguish good looks and considerable charm keep
him out of trouble.
Maureen
Auger is into her forth year as a volunteer for Film
Fest New Haven. She works full-time as a social worker.
In her free time she travels the world and performs
in comedy improv troops.
Tony Corso
is into his third year as a volunteer for Film Fest
New Haven. He is the self-proclaimed media czar for
FFNH. In his free time he is a legend in his own mind.
