AFI FEST 2007 – Wednesday, Nov. 7
The AFI FEST 2007 is being held at the ArcLight theater complex in Hollywood.
Clouds Over Conakry (above, France / Guinea) at 1:45 p.m. – Set in Conakry, director-screenwriter Cheick Fantamady Camara’s film depicts the clash of cultures taking place not only in Africa but all over the world. A young man secretly works as a cartoonist for the city paper, using his drawings to satirize the local religious freaks. One problem: his father is an imam. (Replace fundamentalist Islam with fundamentalist Christianity, and you’ll see that this story — or something quite similar to it — could be taking place right next door.) In French /Malinke with English subtitles. 115 min.
Manuela y Manuel (above, Puerto Rico) at 4:45 p.m. – I wasn’t crazy about Raul Marchand Sanchez’s dramatic comedy about family, friendship, and drag queens — I found the humor puerile and the situations much too contrived — but the Monday evening audience seemed to thoroughly enjoy this mix of La Cage aux folles with (a very mild) Pedro Almodóvar. Now, the colorful costumes and the decor are first-rate, and so is the cinematography — especially considering that Manuela y Manuel was shot on video. In Spanish with English subtitles. 94 min.
Hollywood Chinese (US) at 6:45 p.m. – Arthur Dong’s Golden Horse Award-nominated documentary takes a look at the portrayal of Chinese and Chinese-Americans in Hollywood films. Several cast members and the filmmaker are expected to attend the screening, which will be followed by a panel discussion. 89 min. More on Hollywood Chinese.
The Duchess of Langeais (France) at 6:45 p.m. – Nouvelle Vague veteran Jacques Rivette, 80, is back with this romantic melodrama set in Paris during the Restoration, where a married woman entices a handsome general only to turn him down. The roles, however, are eventually reversed. Screenwriters Pascal Bonitzer and Christine Laurent adapted Balzac’s novel, while Jeanne Balibar, Guillaume Depardieu, and veterans Michel Piccoli and Bulle Ogier star. In French with English subtitles. 137 min.
Silent Night (left, Mexico / France) at 7:15 p.m. – Carlos Reygadas‘ drama is set in a small Mennonite community in Mexico where a married man falls in love with another woman. Silent Light tied with Persepolis (screening this Saturday) for the Special Jury Prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. In Plutdietsch with English subtitles. 127 min.
Used Parts (Mexico / France / Spain) at 9:30 p.m. – In this socio-psychological drama, writer-director Aarón Fernández Lesur tells the story of a 14-year-old Mexican whose "American Dream" is quite literally the United States. Like so many good Americans and American-wannabes, in order to achieve his dream the teenager will do whatever it takes.
Additionally, the AFI FEST will screen a number of shorts all day tomorrow, including Lilah Vandenburgh’s Bitch ("love at first sneer"), Robert Cosnahan’s Psycho Hillbilly Cabin Massacre ("a bloodbath erupts when a group of Ivy League students discover an isolated hillbilly cabin in the woods"), Osbert Parker’s Yours Truly ("film icons burst through lost layers of yesterday’s emulsion in this gripping second installment of Parker’s contemporary noir trilogy"), and Albert Jan van Rees and Diederik Ebbinge’s Naked (eight-year-old boy visits a sauna with his mother).
HOLLYWOOD CHINESE at the AFI FEST 2007
AFI FEST 2007 – International Shorts Competition
AFI FEST 2007 – Saturday Highlights
American Film Market Public Screenings – Friday
AFI FEST 2007 – Latin Showcase
AFI FEST 2007 – American Showcase
AFI FEST 2007 – African Showcase
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