Festivals and Events

Anocha answers our questions following the screening of Mundane History, which premiered at the Paris Film Festival in July 2010. Why the title? The title in English represents a contrast between something trivial (mundane) and something bigger, eventful and more unique (history) and translates the way this quite mundane situation, that happens to an individual involves much larger dynamics. It is a microcosm if you like of the dynamics at play in Thai society today. The various (…)

Catalin Mitulescu is the co-writer and producer of If I want to whistle, I whistle. We talked to him after the film premiered at the Paris Film Festival in July 2010. Catalin is best known for his film Trafic, which won him the Short Film Palme d’Or at Cannes in 2004. How did the idea for the story come about? The idea initially came about years ago during some work we did in prison. My wife wrote the script for a play based on her observations. I had the idea of developing it as a (…)

Lu Chuan talks to us about his film City of Life and Death after it premiered in France at the Paris Film Festival in July 2010. The film is a spectacular portrayal of the Japanese army’s invasion of Nanking. Lu Chuan, a Beijing Film Academy graduate, co-wrote Black Hole, a successful TV series in China. This is his most internationally well known film to date, although his previous films had won him a number of awards and nominations on the international festival circuit. How was the (…)

The Silhouette Short Film Festival (France, Paris, Parc des Buttes Chaumont) has the advantage of being outdoors, in the leafy and secluded middle of the Buttes Chaumont, of showcasing some new and edgy shorts and of being absolutely free. On the other hand, it is outdoors: you have to be prepared for the two and a half hours sitting in the grass while the temperature drops and your concentration ebbs away. Onwards and upwards : THE FILMS: As one of this year’s attendees, I have had (…)

This screening was part of the Jeudis du Festival that take place once a month at the Nouveau Latina in Paris. It was followed by a Q and A with the director and Domingo Garcia, a lecturer and researcher on informal economy at the University of Lille III. Arena Mexico’s focus is on the workers of the country’s informal economy. Director Anne Lise Michoud has selected a number of them to present us with a well rounded panorama of their daily lives, among them a dog walker, a shaman, a CD (…)

Film Programme on every tuesday the 12th, 19th an 26th October from 8.00pm in Schijnheilig, Amsterdam (NL).

This is a special review of two of my coups de coeur from the recent International Human Rights Festival in Paris. This post is a little outdated as the festival took place in March, but many of the films have yet to be distributed on a larger scale and hopefully, some will be showing at cinemas or TV screens near you soon enough. The films are basically documentaries, but they are selected and awarded prizes in large part for their cinematic qualities; the manner with which they cover their (…)