Manhattan Short Film Festival
Manhattan Short Film Festival has long outgrown the boundaries of the New York City district. The U.S. directors have not even made it on this year’s list of best shorts. Ten filmmakers from Australia, Ireland, Mexico, the U.K., Croatia, France, Canada, Poland, Germany, and Italy will compete for the viewers’ appreciation. The festival takes place simultaneously in some 200 cities across the world.
The rules are simple: viewers vote for the movie they fancied right after the showing. Their votes are later sent to New York for a count. The film getting the most votes wins – no hot-shot experts or jury will intervene.
The shorts gig was started in 1997 by a guy named Nick Mason who placed a screen on his truck and showed a few short movies on one of the streets in Manhattan.
In Ukraine, the event will take place in seven cities: Kyiv, Odesa, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Lviv, Dnipropetrovsk, and Zaporizzhya. Not all of the films will be shown in original language, so call the cinema in advance.
ASIA FILM FESTIVAL
Asian producers go for extremes. Their stories are sharp and controversial, challenging esthetic and philosophical norms. In short, Asians dig into the issues Westerners wouldn’t dare touching. In 1988, movie Red Sorghum by a Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou started what some critics call an Asian wave. The interest in Asian films has been strong ever since.
This year Asia Film Festival presents five award-winning works by Japanese and South Korean filmmakers. Their quirky personalities shine through in the films. Take Hong Sangsoo, for example. A Korean director of Hahaha, he is infamous for his love for alcohol. To get to know his actors better, he always invites them for some booze. Unsurprisingly, his films are full of drunken scenes and – to make the show look more convincing, actors get wasted before shooting.
Films are shown in original language with Ukrainian subtitles.
HAHAHA, 2010, Drama, 115 min.
THIRST, 2009, Drama/Horror/Romance, 133 min.
MOTHER, 2009, Crime/Drama/Mystery/Thriller, 128 min.
HOTTARAKE NO SHIMA – HARUKA TO MAHO NO KAGAMI, 2009, Animation/ Action/Adventure/ Family, 93 min.
AIR DOLL, 2009, Drama/Fantasy, 125 min.
DOUBLE INDEMNITY
Language: English
Crime/Film-Noir/Thriller/USA (1944)
Directed by Billy Wilder
Starring Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson
Double indemnity, in insurance language, means a clause which guarantees double compensation in case of death from a hardly probable accident. Keep that in mind as you meet a good-looking but not so clever insurance agent Walter Neff. He fancies Phyllis Dietrichson, who is, of course, married to another man. The foxy lady makes Neff sell her husband an insurance contract with the double indemnity. The murder and an investigation are next in the plot with many dark and odd developments.
Based on James M. Cain’s novel, the film is a classic film noir. It was nominated for seven Oscars but did not win any.
BENNY’S VIDEO
Language: German
Drama/Thriller/Austria/Switzerland (1992)
Directed by Michael Haneke
Starring Arno Frisch, Angela Winkler, Ulrich M?he, Ingrid Stassner
Everyone thinks that Benny is a quiet teenager from a nice family. Like many boys of his age, he likes video games and moving images, especially those of horror and porn. Busy working on their own pig farm, his parents think Benny is a good boy. But in the meantime, the youngster is learning how to use his folk’s methods of killing pigs in order to try it out on his girlfriend.
“Benny’s Video” is one of Michael Haneke’s first works before classics such as “Forbidden Games,” “Pianist” and “White Ribbon.” His films highlight a postindustrial society challenged by feelings of aggression and guilt. Haneke’s violence is intriguing and paralyzing with its mysterious and irrational nature.
The film won the prize of the European Film Academy FIPRESSI in 1993.
CHATROOM
Language: English
Drama/Thriller/Great Britain (2010)
Directed by Hideo Nakata
Starring Aaron Johnson, Imogen Poots, Matthew Beard, Hannah Murray
Teenage friends Eve, Jim, Emily and Moe befriend William – a mysterious guy they met in a chat room on the Internet. Soon they become completely fascinated with his character. But William is playing a game of his own. Helping Jim to get off the antidepressants, he’s really on a mission to bring him down. The Internet in this movie reminds a cheap motel, where every site is like a room full of vice.
“Chatroom” is filmed in English by Hideo Nakata, the world-famous Japanese master of horror films and the author of creepy “Ring,” which is considered one of the best in its genre.
