22nd Philadelphia Film Fest

The schedule for the 22nd Philadelphia Film Festival is now available online. The Festival runs from October 17-27, and tickets go on sale October 1.

This year's program follows up on the festival's previous strengths as a best-of-festivals fest. It's a great chance to see films, particular world cinema films and smaller local productions, that otherwise might not get a Philadelphia theatrical release. I personally wish there would be more adventuresome repertory screenings and more international documentary selections, but I will hardly lack for films to see.

So far, these screenings are on my radar to attend:

Burning Bush, a Czech historical that's part of a trend of televisual art films
A Touch of Sin, Jia Zhang-Ke's latest work, a continuation of his thematic exploration of the cultural changes coming to contemporary China
In Bloom, a Georgian coming-of-age drama that's gotten good play on the European film festival circuit
Let the Fire Burn - as someone who did not live in Philadelphia in the 1980s, I could stand to see a good documentary about the MOVE saga, and this one sounds promising
La Maison de la Radio - Nicolas Philibert made the amazing observational documentary Etre et Avoir, but his other films have not always found wide distribution in the US

Film Festival offerings

Kevin, a Temple film student who has been helping me on this site, posted some upcoming highlights from the Philadelphia Film Festival. Given the scope of the offerings, I thought I'd add to his list by highlighting a few films I'm particularly interested in.

Dreileben (Three Lives). This German trilogy has been a bit of a festival hit, partly because it explores a crime mystery/art film hybrid across three separate self-contained films from three different filmmakers. David Bordwell had a fuller discussion of the films. (Wed 10/26 and Sun 10/30).

The Kid with the Bike. The Dardenne brothers' latest film gets a rave from Jonathan Rosenbaum, who calls it one of the best films he's seen this year. (Sat 10/22, Sun 10/23)

Once Upon a Time in Anatolia. Winner of the Grand Prix at Cannes, this Turkish film sounds to be a slow-cinema version of the police procedural, with stunning cinematography. (Fri 10/28, Sun 10/30)

Life Without Principle. Hong Kong filmmaker Johnnie To is better known for his action films, but lately he's been venturing into other territory. This one is about the recent financial crisis and its impact on Hong Kong society. (Tues 10/25, Sat 10/29)

And as a reminder, our downloadable iCal calendar has the film festival included, so you can import and even copy the films you want to see into your personal calendar.

Fall Calendar update

The Repertory Film calendar has been updated. You can download it and import into iCal, Google calendar, or similar program. We've even included the upcoming Philadelphia Film Festival calendar for your convenience.

Spring calendar update

I have updated the Philly film calendar, including among other things the Cinefest screenings. Download and import into your Google calendar or iCal for a handy reference.

19th Philadelphia Film Festival

Still from Alamar (Pedro González-Rubio, 2009)

This Friday marks the start of the 10-day Philadelphia Film Festival. This year marks a transition year for the Festival, after a change in management, a divorce from TLA, and a shift to October rather than April. And the changes are not merely behind the scenes reshuffling, but a renewed and changed focus. First, there is more dovetailing with the fare of international film festivals like Toronto. Second, there is the inclusion of crowd-pleasing events like the Stieg Larsson film adaptations. Either of these could elicit cries of commercialization of the film festival, but frankly, I'm impressed with the range and quantity of offerings in this year's festival. It's an embarrassment of riches, since I know I will only be able to scratch the surface.

I'll not be able to do justice to the full line up, but some highlights for me are the auteur showings from Denis, Weerasethakul, and Assayas; the retrospective of a 1960 Korean film The Housemaid; the documentaries Garbo and Boxing Gym; and the recent films from various Latin American new waves.

I have created an iCal version of the festival (download) so you can add to your computer or online calendar. I've kept the festival separate from the regular blog calendar (here), in order to signal the event status and advanced ticketing. If the past is prologue, you may want to get your tickets in advance.