Turin Film Festival Day 1 to 4

Turin Film Festival 23rd Nov - 1 Dec

Despite the fact that over 300 film festivals vie for attention each year - and new ones are created every other day - there are certain festivals that have withstood the test of time and continue to stand out in a crowded marketplace. Turin - or Torino as the locals call it - is one of them. Located in the northwest area of Italy, and famous for hosting the Winter Olympics in 2006, it celebrated its 25th edition this year - the first under the helm of a brand new artistic director, Nanni Moretti.

Appointing Moretti was obviously a tactic aimed at raising the profile of the festival. However, choosing Moretti, a highly respected, award-winning filmmaker in his own right, was also an inspired decision. His film The Son’s Room won the Palm D’Or at Cannes in 2001 and his latest film, The Caiman, which is a brutal and highly critical examination of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Italia today. In his homeland Moretti is as well known for his outspoken leftist intellectual views as he is for his filmmaking. He’s known as someone who is not afraid to say what’s on his mind and he doesn’t mince words, so in 2006 when Rome held its inaugural film festival, one month before Turin, Moretti considered it a hostile act. The gauntlet had been thrown down as far as he was concerned, and the challenge was, may the best festival win.

Torino, however, has nothing to fear. It’s well known as an art house festival, and what it lacks in glitz compared to Venice and Rome - it more than makes up for in the cinematic gems it notoriously unearths from around the globe. It’s considered one of the most prestigious festivals around because it’s focus is on discovery and critical observation’ and ‘an all comprehensive view of contemporary cinema’.

This year is no different. 230 films will screen over nine days. The sections are; Torino 25 (films in competition), which will see 16 filmmakers compete for top honours, (including two Aussie films, Noise by Matthew Saville and The Home Song Stories by Tony Ayres). See the full list below.

Other sections include Premiers, Italian Panorama, Out of Competition, The State of Things (a brand new section devoted to new ideas or themes of fascination), La Zona (analyses the experimental productions in contemporary cinema), Italian Doc’s and L’Amore Per Gli Inizi (debuting Italian directors). TFF’s retrospectives have also made a name for themselves over the years. This year promises to be a real treat with both Wim Wenders and John Cassavetes being honoured.

If you’re a fan of either filmmaker (and who isn’t?) then you’ll appreciate the importance of a retrospective. It’s a rare opportunity to study a filmmaker’s career and artistic development in one fell swoop. Wenders, who helped put his retrospective together, will be on hand for Q&As after each of the screenings. He’s also made a little video introduction to each of his films. These provide a fascinating and profound insight into the motivation behind the making of his films. He talks about what was going on in his life at the time, what inspired the story and what he hoped to achieve.

The Cassavetes retrospective will screen all of the filmmakers work, including the television series Johnny Staccato and episodes of Colombo he acted in or directed. Two of the directors collaborators and friends are on hand all week to discuss the late directors work, they are actor Seymour Cassell and producer Al Rubin. Both men are clearly delighted to see the Cassavetes films live on and be discovered by a whole new generation of film lovers. Both old timers are incredibly charming, and full of behind the scene stories about the escapades the group use to get up to.

Opening Night film is Tamara Jenkins’ The Savages. The film stars Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman as two neurotic middle-aged siblings who have to deal with the fact that their estranged father has Alzheimer’s and has to go into a nursing home. The premise is not particularly sexy that’s for sure, but it’s not as depressing as it sounds. The pleasure here lies in the minutiae. The siblings childhood was traumatic, but rather than deal with it, both have tried to push it into the recesses of their minds. But being with the father brings all their issues messily spilling out all over the place. Anyone who saw Jenkins’ first film, Slums of Beverley Hills, knows that she has a way of looking at life that is both witty (in a deadpan and sardonic kind of way) yet compassionate. The characters here are damaged and flawed yet Jenkins has a knack for investing them with such humanity that the tragedy becomes something bittersweet. Jenkins has created something true to life, but avoided the melodramatic. This is a coming-of-age story with a difference.


TORINO 25 LINE UP

AWAY FROM HER by Sarah Polley (Canada, 2006)
THE BLUE HOUR by Eric Nazarian (USA, 2007)
THE ELEPHANT AND THE SEA by Ming Jin Woo (Malaysia, 2007)
GARAGE by Lenny Abrahamson (Ireland, 2007)
GYEONG-UI-SEON/ THE RAILROAD by Heung-sik Park (South Korea, 2006)
THE HOME SONG STORIES by Tony Ayres (Australia, 2007)
HULING BALYAN NG BUHI: O ANG SINALIRAP NGA ASOY NILA/ THE WOVEN STORIES OF THE OTHER
by Sherad Anthony Sanchez (Philippines, 2007)
THE ART OF NEGATIVE THINKING by Bård Breien (Norway, 2007)
LARS AND THE REAL GIRL by Craig Gillespie (USA, 2007)
LINO by Jean-Louis Malesi (France, 2007)
NAISSANCE DES PIEUVRES by Cèline Sciamma (France, 2007)
NEANDERTAL by Jan Christoph Glaser and Ingo Haeb (Germany, 2006)
NOISE by Matthew Saville (Australia, 2007)
THE SAVAGES by Tamara Jenkins (USA, 2007
VOLGELFREI by Janis Kalejs, Janis Putnins, Gatis Smits e Anna Viduleja (Latvia, 2007)

PREMIERES

10 ITEMS OR LESS by Brad Silberling (USA, 2006)
CHARLIE BARTLETT by Jon Poll (USA, 2007)
EASTERN PROMISES by David Cronenberg (Canada 2007)
IRINA PALM by Sam Garbarski (2007)
MY BLUEBERRY NIGHTS by Wong Kar Wai (Hong Kong/ China/ France, 2007)
ONCE by John Carney (Ireland, 2006)
A THOUSAND YEARS OF GOOD PRAYERS by Wayne Wang (USA, 2007)

ITALIAN PANORAMA

IN FABBRICA by Francesca Comencini (Italy, 2007)
LASCIA PERDERE, JOHNNY! by Fabrizio Bentivoglio (Italy, 2007)
NELLE TUE MANI by Peter Del Monte (Italy, 2007)
SIGNORINA EFFE by Wilma Labate (Italy, 2007)
VOGLIAMO ANCHE LE ROSE by Alina Marazzi (Italy, 2007)

OUT OF COMPETITION

ACTRICES by Valeria Bruni Tedeschi (France, 2007)
ADEUL/ MY SON by Jin Jang (South Korea, 2007)
ALEKSANDRA/ ALEXANDRA by Aleksandr Sokurov (Russia/ France, 2007)
AN SEH / THOSE THREE by Naghi Nemati (Iran, 2007)
BRICK LANE by Sarah Gravon (Uk, 2007)
BUFOR/ BEAUFORT by Joseph Cedar (Israel, 2007)
CEOT OI KAP GEI/ EXODUS by Pang Ho-Cheung (Hong Kong, 2007)
DOC by Immy Humes (USA, 2007)
FARKAS/ WOLF by Tamás Tóth (Hungary/Russia, 2007)
LOS LADRONES VIEJOS by Gonzáles Reyes Everardo (Mexico, 2007)
THE PRINCESS OF NEBRASKA by Wayne Wang (USA, 2007)
THE TRACEY FRAGMENTS by Bruce McDonald (Canada, 2006)

Turin Film Festival Day 2

If you’ve never visited Turin you should. While so many flock to Rome, Florence and Venice, the Piedmonte area in the north, has much to offer as well. There’s the wine, the food, and the chocolate - which it’s particularly renowned for. So much so that you can even buy a chocolate pass, which allows you to taste the local faire for 48 hours at selected cafes. It’s well worth it. Torino also has stunning cathedrals, the Shroud of Turin and one of the best Egyptian museums outside of Cairo. The city is some 2300 years old but it was when the Savoy family dynasty conquered the city around 1280 that Turin began to take shape. They ruled for around six centuries and it was they who established the city as the capital of Italy. They also organised for the Shroud to be brought to the city and by employing the best architects and artists at the time, they ensured that Turin was built in such a way that it would become the European epicentre for art, architecture and culture.

Even today the Baroque architecture is considered to be some of the finest in existence. Mussolini displaced the Savoy’s and from that time onwards Turin turned towards industry. It became one of the words biggest automobile centres and the home of Fiat. But there is much more to Torino these days then fast efficient cars. The town underwent a major overhaul in preparation for the 2006 Winter Olympics and it’s fair to say that Turin would give Venice and even Florence a run for its money today. There are lovely wide boulevards to stroll around, lots of pedestrian areas with cafes and shops to linger in but without the crowds or the pollution of the southern cities.

Okay, now back to the film festival. Today’s highly anticipated film was Charlie Bartlett, screening in the Premier’s section.

Charlie Bartlett (Anton Yelchin) has been thrown out of every private school he’s ever been sent to, so now it’s public schools for him. He takes it on the chin and is even optimistically hopeful that it will all turn out okay. Charlie is a con man, he can’t help himself but this time around he’s determined to fit in. But how? That’s when he discovers that his fellow teens are secretly in desperate need. He recognises an entrepreneurial opportunity when he sees one, and so he starts up a nice little pharmaceutical business and becomes the school’s underage shrink who listens to the private confessions of his classmates. Hope Davis stars as his loving but overwhelmed, ditzy mother and Robert Downey Jr stars as the disenchanted principal who is hot on his tail. Newcomers, Gustin Nash (screenwriter) and Jon Poll (director) both make their debut’s here, and quite an impressive one it is. Most teenage comedies are predictable and childish and often depict teens as little more than very tall toddlers. This film does none of that. Nash has written something incredibly smart and funny that will appeal to both young and old alike. The humour is as fresh and sassy as Ferris Bueller’s Day Off was in its heyday but its Yelchin (Hearts in Atlantis, Alpha Dog) who is the main attraction here. He is as ferociously talented as Matthew Broderick, and like the older actor deftly balances pathos and humour. This is easily one of the best films to emerge in this genre for quite some time.

The other stand out film today was The Home Song Stories by Aussie filmmaker Tony Aires. Joan Chen stars as Rose a former Shanghai lounge singer who follows her heart - and a sailor - to Australia. Ayes semi-autobiographical film recounts his memories of his mother uprooting them and migrating from Hong Kong to Oz in the early 1970’s and their struggles to survive in a foreign land. This is a drama of the highest calibre; the performances are emotionally rich, the writing is non judgemental and brutally honest. Ayres rightly won Best Director and Writer at the recent AFI while Chen won Best Actress at both the IF Awards and the AFI. Don’t miss it.

The other film I wanted to give a quick mention to is The Doorman by Wayne Price. The film looks at the New York City club scene and its most famous gatekeeper who stars as the host of the film. Trevor (Lucas Akoskin) has the power. He knows people but, more importantly, he knows people who know him. After mysteriously losing his job, Trevor struggles to keep up appearances in front of the camera while his glamourous jet set celebrity lifestyle goes into an abrupt and awkward tailspin.

"The characters in the film are just as you see them, except Trevor, whose story is completely made up," says Price. "This isn’t a documentary, given the fact that our objective was to represent a funny and pathetic character and to put him in a context that was as real as possible. All the people that worked with us had been informed about he project and they would respond to Trevor’s lines with spontaneous answers, we didn’t suggest anything. The only actor in the film is Lucas."

Wim Wenders Buena Vista Social Club screened to packed audiences today. "I made this film in Havana in 1998," he says. "At that time, not many people knew about life in Cuba or the Cuban musical tradition. In the U.S. due to political issues and the embargo, Cuba had been wiped off the map. One day Ry Cooder and I were in the studio, working on the music for The End of Violence. He had just gotten back from Havana. His head was in the clouds. I asked him what was the matter and he said his head was still there because he’d just recorded the best music of his life. I wanted to hear it but he said it wasn’t ready he still had to mix it. But I have a hard head so I kept bugging him until he coughed up a cassette, which I listened to in the car. I got home three hours later. I can say that the film began the next morning."

You don’t have to be a fan of Latin music to appreciate this film. It was nominated in the Best Documentary category at the Oscars and although Wenders didn’t win (and was seriously pissed off about that), the aim of the project was to capture the music by these 80 and 90 year olds, so that it wouldn’t be lost forever. The sound track became a worldwide best seller.

When you visit Turin, a great hotel to stay at is Hotel Genio. It’s right near the Porta Nuova Railway Station, but unlike other cities the main railway station here is not in the ugly part of the town. The staff at the hotel will ensure that you have a great stay. They speak several languages between them and they’re a wealth of information whatever you require, whether its restaurants, bars, best local pizza, or the famous chocolate. They know it all and are more than happy to spend time with you assisting with sightseeing plans. From the hotel you can walk to the centre of the city in minutes and you’re also within easy distance to shopping areas, museums etc. The rates are very reasonable, the rooms spacious and the hotel has all the mod cons. Check it out at www.hotelgenio.it or call +39 011 6505771 or email them on info@hotelgenio.it

Turin Film Festival - Day 3

Today there are some exciting prospects on offer in both retrospectives. John Cassavestes Husbands, the film that supposedly inspired Wes Anderson’s Darjeeling Limited is screening today. Al Rubin, a long time collaborator of Cassavestes said, "Husbands was made in the late 1960’s. Thanks to the success of the film that preceded it, Faces, we got the opportunity to do another movie together and had a real good time. Casting was pretty much mandatory, Peter [Falk], Ben [Gazzara], John and I had been old time friends, all of us in New York with similar backgrounds." When Seymour Cassell is asked what he remembers about the film, he quips, "I wasn’t in it. They all had dark hair and I was blond."

Minnie and Moskowitz also screened today. The film was made in 1974 and this one Seymour Cassell was only more than happy to chat about. He remembers why he agreed to be in the film. "This is how it went. I was going back to New York by plane with John, who showed me a cheque for $750,000 that he’d gotten for Husbands". He told me "why don’t we go have fun in Brazil?" He was obviously joking because only a third of that money was his. He told me he was preparing another film and that if I’d grow my hair I could be the leading actor along with Gena [Rowlands]. I asked him, ‘will I be able to kiss her?’ He said yes, so I accepted. It was as simple as that.

The competition film today is a beautifully intense drama from Malaysia called The Elephant and the Sea, directed and written by Woo Ming Jin. The story revolves around two men in a small village on the coast of Malaysia, which has been hit by a strange fish related epidemic. Yun Ding [Berg Lee Seng Wan] is an aimless young man who barely makes a living from causing minor traffic accidents and then making sure the unlucky tourists pay for his breakdown service. The older Ah Ngau [Chung Kok Keung], is a fisherman who returns home after many days at sea to be told his wife has died from the mysterious disease sweeping the village, and his house is under quarantine. When Yun’s best mate dies each man’s loss throws their lives into turmoil.

Woo set out to explore "how two people of different ages react to pain." With that in mind, he explores the isolation of the human condition and paints a vivid picture of two men struggling to cope with their dire situations. Woo runs parallel stories and we watch each of them search for meaning in a world that seems hopeless and bleak. Woo is clearly an exciting new voice to keep an eye on. The film is gorgeously shot, the sound scape vibrant and the dialogue is minimal which suits the inner journey of each character. All in all it’s a cinematic experience that will linger for days afterwards. The story was inspired by the director’s personal experiences. This is not a feel good flick, but as Woo points out "I don’t think this is a depressing film, on the contrary. There’s lots of hope and trust in a new life. There are also amusing moments, it’s not all realism. There are also strange and bizarre occurrences."

Eric Nazarian’s first feature film The Blue Hour, In Competition, also deals with death and loss. Nazarian sets four stories about everyday life in a working class neighbourhood of Los Angeles. A Mexican graffiti artist paints a mural on the river, an Armenian camera repairman attempts to communicate with his wife after the death of their daughter, a blues guitarist is taking care of his mother and a WWII vet spends his days preparing for lunch by his wife’s grave.

Nazarian demonstrates an uncanny affinity for the language of cinema. It’s an incredibly quiet film that attempts to "explore the theme of communication, even though most of the film is without directly spoken dialogue," he says. "By minimizing dialogue from the script, I wanted to explore the unspoken connection between characters that don’t communicate," he said. While the film is emotionally engaging, it loses some impetus by being sliced up into four narratives, where one might have generated more dramatic depth. However, having said that, like Woo, this is clearly another filmmaker to watch out for in the coming years. Nazarian grew up in the U.S. and cites his influences as Sam Peckinpah, Bertolucci, Visconti and Cassavetes. And like the late Cassavetes, Nazarian demonstrates an uncanny ability to compose the most striking images and memorable performances on a shoe string budget. Biggest names in the film are Alyssa Milano and Paul Dillon.

Turin Film Festival - Day 4

Turin is an impressive looking city with its cobble stoned streets, huge piazzas and wide boulevards lined with imposing colonnades under which expensive shops and elegant cafes reside. The colonnades give Turin a distinct skyline and were built at the request of the Savoy’s who wanted to stroll around their city without fear of being rained upon or becoming unduly sunburnt. We have to thank them really, because aesthetically you’d be hard pressed to find a more gorgeous looking city.

One of the leading architects of the day, Guarino Guarini (1624-1683), was responsible for establishing the city’s Baroque buildings, and much like the designer himself the city is known for its order, quiet and elegance. Guarini among others also designed the royal residences that UNESCO has named a "patrimony of humanity". I also visited the Superga Temple where the royal tombs of the House of Savoy are housed. The Superga, designed by Filippo Juvarra is built on the top of a hill with panoramic views for miles around. It’s really worth the climb.

But if architecture is not your thing, Torino is also known for its stunning cuisine. Martini, chocolate, coffee and gourmet cooking are the treasures of the city and it’s the homeland of the Salone del Gusto (the worlds biggest gastronomic event). Did you know that in 1786 vermouth, white wine with the addition of sugar, alcohol and spices was invented in Torino? Or that Torino is known as the ‘Italian district of chocolate’? It’s famous for some extraordinary creations over the centuries like the gianduioti chocolates, an unforgettable mix of cocoa and Piemontese hazelnuts. Then there’s the beverage called bicerin, which is made with coffee, chocolate (melted) and milk. It’s seductive notoriety was such that in the 19th Century, French writer Alexandre Dumas on a visit to Toroino, tasted the drink and said, ‘among those firs rate things worthy of note in Torino I shall never fail to remember bicerin.... To celebrate the confection a huge Cioccolato Fair is held every March, which runs for ten days.

If you are a chocoholic, then Torino is for you. Make sure you visit individual chocolate shops like Mamycao, or Pasticceria Guardia Costantino. You can sample a bicerin at one of Torino’s historical and elegant cafes. Many of these establishments still have the original furniture and ooze a relaxed elegance that turns the simple act of having a coffee into a special occasion. A couple of the one’s worth a visit are Café Fiorio, which dates back to 1780. Café Al Bicerin was established in 1763 and the gorgeous Café Baratti & Milano in 1875. This is a town where café society is well and truly alive and flourishing.

After my café crawl this morning, it was back to the business at hand - films. One doco that caught my eye today was Manufacturing Dissent by Rick Caine and Debbie Melnyk. Originally the idea of the film was to make a biography of one of their icons, Michael Moore. But through the process of making the film, the premise changed somewhat and the pair ended up questioning Moore’s filmmaking methods and tactics. The film looks at the relationship between the filmmaker and the audience. The pair followed Moore on his 2004 Slacker Uprising tour, when he tried to encourage college students and other young people to make sure their vote counted in that year’s presidential election.

Caine and Melnyk interview a range of people who have worked with or known Moore over the years and a very different side of the doco maker is revealed, like how he plays fast and loose with the truth and the chronology of events to suit the drama he wants to tell. "The problem is that Moore sets himself according to the moment either as a journalist or as a man of showbiz," says Caine. "In doing so he creates confusion between what’s real and what’s fictitious. The point is that Moore talks about important things and this being the case he can’t afford to base himself on fake events and work from sources that haven’t been cleared as authentic."

Wenders fabulous Wings of Desire screened today, and to see it again on a big screen was a real treat. Wenders introduced the film and here’s what he had to say. "As I was walking here, it occurred to met that I shot Wings of Desire exactly 20 years ago in November 1987. It was a cold winter in Berlin and during the first days of shooting it started raining. Bruno Ganz said we couldn’t go on because his jacket was wet and who knew what would happen to angels if they got wet. Actors want to know everything they can about their characters, their whole life stories, so they can better get into their roles. But we didn’t know anything, none of us knew how to deal with these angels, or how to dress then. In the beginning we tried putting wings on the two angles, but that made it hard for them to move around and they looked silly. I tested their costumes by calling over some kids, based on their reactions, I could tell whether the costumes were silly or not. In the end, we went for a minimalist look."

The competition film today is Brick Lane directed by Sarah Gavron. The story is about a 17-year-old girl Nazneen (Tannishtha Chatterjee) who is uprooted from Bangladesh and sent to London’s East End after an arranged marriage to an older man. It’s a strange new world and she’s homesick, and pines for her sister. But she struggles to do her duty to her husband. Fast forward to 2001, Nazneen is a mother of two and devotes her life to raising her family, despite fighting her demons of discontent. Everything is pottering along until the young politically active Karim (Christopher Simpson) bursts into her life, who is everything her husband is not. Set in the aftermath of 911 and a time of increasing racial tension, Gavron is indeed a brave woman to attempt to adapt Monica Ali’s celebrated novel for the big screen. While she’s done a fair job, the film doesn’t pack the same punch as the novel. However, having said that, it still has a lot going for it namely the performances. The young Chatterjee is particularly impressive, as is her husband (Satish Kaushik), as an overweight idiot with insight. Gavron’s film works best on the personal level, depicting the small, cramped existence of Nazneen’s world. What is missing is anything to do with the politics of the day, Islamic radicalisation, or even arranged marriages. Gavron glides over all the difficult nasty stuff and instead concentrates on the family drama. The book caused an uproar with the Bangladeshi’s in London who felt that Ali had insulted their community. It’s unlikely that the film will upset.

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