If you thought that international film festivals were a great place to make new discoveries and to give a chance to up-and-coming filmmakers, you might want to think again. Often criticized for having gone Hollywood, the Venice Film Festival, which opened this year with Joel and Ethan Coen's spy caper Burn After Reading, is now being criticized for having gone too esoteric. The snippet below is from The Independent:
"Highlights include the directorial debut of the Oscar-nominated screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga, The Burning Plain, which stars Colin Farrell and Charlize Theron; and Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler with Mickey Rourke.
"But those who stay the full Venice course will be depending heavily on [festival director Marco] Mueller's judgement, for he has assembled a programme of films from all over the world by people that very few have ever heard of. Take Encarnação Do Demônio, the third part in the trash-horror trilogy by the Brazilian director José Mojica Marins, or Birdwatchers [above], set among tribal people in the Amazon, by the Italian director Marco Bechis.
"The latter film gives an idea of what Mueller is up to. Bechis's film is 'a highly anticipated picture,' according to Variety, 'which Mueller booked early.' It tells of the extinction of an Amazonian tribe by farmers' land grabs; the Brazilian-born director has worked on it for years, and most of the actors are tribespeople."
George Clooney, Brad Pitt at the 2008 Venice Film Festival
Sarasota Film Society's GLBT Film Festival 2008
North Carolina Gay & Lesbian Film Festival
Venice Film Festival 2008 – Competition Line-Up
ASK NOT, WERE THE WORLD MINE, THE LOST COAST: Outfest 2008
SORDID LIVES, SEBASTIANE, THE WORLD UNSEEN: Outfest 2008
The less Hollywood the better.