PREVIEW

Boston Internation Festival Of Women's Cinema

by Cherie Martin

Ally Sheedy in the off-beat comedy I'LL TAKE
YOU THERE directed by Adrienne Shelly

"It's becoming more of a challenge to discover those unseen gems and unknown filmmakers," says Connie White, co-director of the Boston International Festival of Women's Cinema (BIFWC). "Filmmakers are holding back their films because they know distributors count on regional festivals to generate press." Despite her disclaimer, she has once again put together a remarkable line up of films and videos by international women from the past year.

The award-winning festival marks its ninth year at the Brattle Theatre April 19-22, with expanded programming at the Coolidge Corner Theatre, Brookline. The Gala Opening night features anappearance by Marleen Gorris (Academy Award-winner Antonia's LINE) who will introduce THE Luzhin Defense, based on a book by Nabakov. With gorgeous 1920s Italian costumes and scenery, the film stars indie favorites Emily Watson and John Turturro. Sundance programmer Lisa Viola calls Luzhin Defense "a rare mix of psychological drama and an unlikely love story."

Christine Lahti makes her directorial
debut with MY FIRST MISTER starring
Leelee Sobieski and Albert Brooks.

Closing the festival in an equally star-studded manner, director Christine Lahti will introduce My First Mister. Best known as the gutsy heart surgeon on TV's "Chicago Hope," Lahti won a 1996 Academy Award for her short Lieberman in Love . Marking her feature directing debut, My First Mister opened the Sundance Festival this year and stars Leelee Sobieski and Albert Brooks. Festival director Geoffrey Gilmore hailed the film as "a love story in the truest sense of the word, full of emotion, revelation, intimacy, and range...a delightfully rich and funny film."

Fans of N.Y. director Hal Hartley won't want to miss I'll Take You There, directed by his frequent collaborator Adrienne Shelly. Prior to directing her first feature Sudden Manhattan, Ms. Shelly starred in Hartley's The Unbelievable Truth and Trust. She'll be in Cambridge to introduce I'll Take You There, an off-beat comedy with an outstanding ensemble cast featuring Ally Sheedy.

At press time, former Boston filmmaker Beth Harrington is putting the finishing touches on WELCOME TO THE CLUB: WOMEN IN ROCKABILLY, a film she describes as "an upbeat women's studies film that rocks." It asks the question Who Was the Female Elvis and Why Don't We Know about Her?

Agnes Vardas in THE GLEANERS AND I. photo: Rosalie, cine-tamaris.
Two works by women from France showcase the best of both the young and the established among Gallic artists. Girls Can't Swim is the feature debut of Anne-Sophie Birot, a filmmaker whose first short won the prestigious Young Director Prize at the Clermont-Ferrand Festival. Swim focuses on the complexities of adolescent female friendships, a frequent theme in this festival. Renowned director Agnes Varda's new documentary The Gleaners and I is a deftly captured view of those who work the land after the harvest, scavenging the remains of the crop. She draws parallels between her subjects' pastime and making a film, which she considers a form of gleaning.

Compensation, the first feature by Zeinabu Irene Davis has its world premiere in the festival. In beautiful and evocative black and white, the film's parallel stories deal with deaf culture as well as African-American issues, using the same actors for both vignettes. Davis' short A POWERFUL THANG was featured in the first BIFWC.

Emily Watson as Natasha in
THE LUZHIN DEFENSE..
photo: Mark Tillie.
Australian filmmaker Samantha Lang's feature THE WELL appeared in the BIFWC in 1998. This year, she is represented by THE MONKEY'S MASK, a noiresque thriller which stars Kelly McGillis (THE ACCUSED). The film is based on Dorothy Porter's "verse novel" published in 1994 and centers around a female private eye investigating a woman's murder who falls in love with her lesbian lover.

From China is SHADOW DANCE by Ann Hu. Based on a true story, it is a sweeping tale of old and new worlds colliding in turn of the century China and the introduction of motion pictures into the Chinese culture. The film stars Jared Harris (I SHOT ANDY WARHOL) and is Ms. Hu's second feature (Dream and Memory).

Russian filmmaker Irene Langemann's amazing portrait of four child piano prodigies, RUSSIA'S WONDER CHILDREN, premiered at the Berlin Film Festival. She juxtaposes archival footage from the early Russian Central Music School founded during Stalin's regime with intimate portraits of four very special youths.

Maggie Greenwald's SONG CATCHER stars Tony and Golden Globe winner Janet McTeer with Aidan Quinn and Taj Mahal. It won the Best Ensemble Cast award at Sundance 2000. Set in Appalachia, it is part love story and part archive of the high mountain roots of rock, bluegrass, folk, and country music.

The full schedule is not complete by press time. Advance tickets are available by calling the Brattle Theatre and Coolidge Corner Theatre box offices.

Cherie Martin is a freelance writer, project manager, and event producer. For 10 years, she was a talent manager and development executive in L.A. and has been involved locally with the New England Film & Video Festival, BIFWC, and Provincetown Film Festival. The former Associate Director of the Boston Film€Video Foundation, she can be reached at cherie.martin@alumni.usc.edu.