WEEK OF FEBRUARY 8
PART 1

REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK
By B. Kite

Where Indie Films Are Alive and Well
Forget Sundance. Try International Film Festival Rotterdam, a celebration of cinema culture over star hype and box-office grosses

What are independent films? One cable channel features them, and nearly every Hollywood studio has set up its own boutique "indie" subsidiary, but for many observers this only begs the question: Now that the industry has embraced the label, just what are such movies independent of? Advertisement

Former Premiere editor Peter Biskind's recent book Down and Dirty Pictures: Miramax, Sundance and the Rise of Independent Film concludes with a grim quote from director Steven Soderbergh, whose 1989 film sex lies and videotape arguably started the wave: "The independent film movement, as we knew it, just doesn't exist any more, and maybe it can't exist any more. It's over." As for the Sundance Festival, once seen as the movement's beacon, Biskind concludes that dealmaking has usurped center stage, pushing the movies to the margin.

Some festivals retain their commitment to a global range of films that don't fit comfortably under any corporate brand. The International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR), now in its 33rd year, is a case in point. As critic and longtime attendee Jonathan Rosenbaum says, "Some festivals, like Cannes and Sundance, are about selling films. The others, like Rotterdam and Buenos Aires (my favorites), are about watching them."

EPIC OF AMERICANA. Rotterdam certainly has a lot to watch. From Jan. 21 to Feb. 1, the festival screened some 375 movies from around the world for bleary-eyed visitors from far and wide. A brief look at two of this year's Film Makers in Focus demonstrates something of the range.

The insanely prolific Chilean director Raul Ruiz has made almost 100 films in the past 35 years, forging labyrinthine narratives in every medium from Super-8 to 35-mm film to digital video. The IFFR has screened 20, from his first feature in 1968, Trés Tristes Tigres, to Responso, a video created for this year's festival.

Another partial retrospective was devoted to a true American independent: New York cinemagician Ken Jacobs, who was present for the European premiere of his Star Spangled to Death, a 45-years-in-the-making epic overview of America's cultural landscape, assembled from film both self-shot and found. He also performed a hallucinatory investigation of a Laurel & Hardy short, teasing meaning and nuance out of the old frames and creating uncanny strobing 3D effects through a jerry-built linkage of two projectors he calls "the Nervous System."

DOING BUSINESS, TOO. Chile's Ruiz has continued to work around the margins of the industry, accepting every commission that allows a sufficient degree of creative freedom and even scoring an international art-house hit with 1999's Time Regained. Jacobs clings close to a handmade mode, his Nervous System presentations more akin to jazz performance than a multiplex screening.

It's a rare festival that would shine a spotlight on two such marvelous misfits but perfectly in keeping with the goals of IFFR Co-Director Simon Field, who's retiring from the post this year. Field chose Ruiz and Jacobs, he says, "partially [as a reminder] via their continuing invention and different way of seeing the world how limited in ambition most cinema tend to be.... The ambition and vision of these filmmakers are a model for the future. This is what cinema should do. It should offer us revelations and challenge our ways of seeing and our ways of thinking."

Still, it takes money to make a feature film, and Rotterdam also has a business component, albeit one in keeping with the IFFR's informal tone. In addition to the Hubert Bals Fund, dedicated to financing work from developing countries, the festival coordinates CineMart, a meeting ground for filmmakers and financiers. Projects with a director and producer attached can apply to participate in five days of meetings and social gatherings with 750 members of the international industry.

"EVERYTHING INTERTWINES." The list deliberately mixes established filmmakers with newcomers. "You need the bigger names to get a lot of industry [attention]," says CineMart Assistant Director Bianca Taal. "Then, you politely introduce the new talent."

"This year, we got about 450 applications," says CineMart Assistant Director Marit van den Elshout. "We try to keep [the number we select] down to about 40, but it's getting harder and harder because there's always a lot of good quality." The final cut numbered 47, up from 45 in 2003 and 43 in 2002. "We should try to prevent it from growing too big," Taal says. "But still, this year was big, and everybody managed to speak to each other and to enjoy themselves -- which is good, because when everybody feels happy, they do more business."

CineMart has a good track record –- some 80% of the entrants received financing over the last couple of years. And many of those, including Bruno Dumont's Twentynine Palms and Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Bright Future, showed up in the festival this year. "We see CineMart projects coming back to screen, Hubert Bals Fund projects showing up in either CineMart or the festival, and everything intertwines," Taal says. "That's what's special about Rotterdam," adds van den Elshout.

GODFATHER OF INDIE. Rotterdam is indeed special, a celebration of cinema culture over star hype and box-office grosses. One of this year's highlights was the surprise showing of a film given up as lost for 45 years –- the first version of John Cassavetes' 1958 directorial debut, Shadows. Cassavetes withdrew the film in 1959, deleting two-thirds of the original footage and replacing it with new material. Scholar Ray Carney devoted 15 years to tracking the original cut, which he calls a "Holy Grail of the cinema."

He succeeded only a few months ago, when he got in touch with a woman whose father had inadvertently purchased it in the '60s, in a lot with other items lost on the New York subway. The buyer was reportedly disappointed it wasn't a porn film.

If the American indie movement had a godfather, it was undoubtedly Cassavetes, who shot his semi-improvised features on the cheap, with money raised from acting jobs and, in this case, contributions from listeners to Jean Shepard's famed late-night radio show. Cassavetes' first feature, a landmark declaration of cinematic independence, was right at home in Rotterdam. Carney first offered the film to Sundance, but it turned him down.

Wellspring Sets New Agenda with Werner & Guirgis and More from Berlin

by Eugene Hernandez

Ryan Werner, who is joining Wellspring as its new head of theatrical distribution, with head of acquisitions Marie Therese Guirgis outside the European Film Market in Berlin. Credit: Eugene Hernandez/indieWIRE

For New York's smaller art house and independent film distribution companies, the annual Berlinale and the concurrent European Film Market are must attend stops on the annual festival circuit. The rosters of titles in Berlin, from premiere works screening in the festival, to films from Sundance and Rotterdam that are playing here in the market, offer a lot of opportunities.

One company seizing the moment here in Berlin is Wellspring, the New York based theatrical and DVD/home video distributor of world cinema and documentaries. The company confirmed last week that it has been acquired by American Vantage Media and made more news over the weekend in Berlin, announcing that Ryan Werner is on board as the new head of theatrical distribution. Werner is leaving a similar post at Palm Pictures and will oversee all aspects of theatrical distribution, marketing and publicity for the art house label. He will also work closely with head of acquisitions Marie Therese Guirgis on setting the company's release slate. In a conversation with indieWIRE over the weekend in Berlin, Werner and Guirgis said that as a result of the sale to American Vantage Media, they plan to increase their annual release slate to about ten films this year. continued at indiewire

Cate Blanchett Trained Hard for 'Missing'
Associated Press

BERLIN - Cate Blanchett said she had to wrench herself away from urban comforts and train hard on horseback to transform herself into the pioneer mother she plays in Ron Howard's "The Missing," a Western kidnap thriller.

"I'm quite urban," the Australian told reporters Saturday at the Berlin International Film Festival, where the movie is competing for the main Golden Bear prize. "I don't like to be too far away from an espresso machine."

But Blanchett said she was willing to give up luxuries to play a rare strong female lead in a Western.

Blanchett plays Maggie Gilkeson, a mother on the New Mexico frontier forced to team up with her estranged father - played by Tommy Lee Jones - after one of her daughters is kidnapped by an Indian, who plans to sell the teenage girl.

The actress, now pregnant with her second child, said she needed "intense" training in riding a horse to play the part.

Howard said she was so dedicated to getting it right that she even kept up her training on set.

"If you had an hour, it seemed like you were out riding on the range somewhere," recalled the director, sitting alongside Blanchett after Saturday's screening.

Original screenplay / the analysis

<Indies roam free here and ravenge the competition>
By VARIETY STAFF

Over the last couple of decades, original script noms traditionally have slanted heavily towards independent films -- underlined this year by the inclusion of four indies and just one studio pic.
The category's eclectic lineup also isn't so wildly different from what one would have expected, given recent precedents such as "Shrek's" 2001 nom (albeit in adapted screenplay) and last year's original nods for Spanish-lingo scripts "Y tu mama tambien" and Pedro Almodovar's winner "Talk to Her."

So, this year's recognition of another well-liked animated pic and a French-lingo Canadian film from an esteemed auteur doesn't seem so far fetched. "Finding Nemo," Disney's summer hit and worldwide B.O. phenom scripted by Andrew Stanton, Bob Peterson and David Reynolds, also grabbed nods in three other categories (animated film, score and sound editing). And Miramax's "The Barbarian Invasions," written and directed by Canuck helmer Denys Arcand, is also nommed in the foreign-lingo category.

What's notable, however, is that these pics -- as well as fellow nominee "Dirty Pretty Things," by Brit Steven Knight -- seemed to have lost some year-end awards steam. All three were released earlier in 2003 and were shut out of several key awards derbies.

By contrast, the other nominees proved to be stronger blips on the awards radar: Jim Sheridan's personal opus, "In America," co-penned by his daughters Kirsten and Naomi; and Sofia Coppola's widely praised, Tokyo-set "Lost in Translation." Both were fresh on voters' minds, thanks to recognition from a slew of recent kudofests, including the Golden Globes (where "Translation" prevailed in the org's one writing category).

These latter two, as well as "Dirty," were also among the Writers Guild of America noms, while fellow WGA nominees "The Station Agent" and "Bend It Like Beckham" were shut out of Oscar's final five. Other notable omissions that had at one point been a part of the original script kudo chatter included Guillermo Arriaga's "21 Grams," Catherine Hardwicke and Nikki Reed's "Thirteen" and scripts from former Oscar nominees Peter Hedges ("Pieces of April"), Nancy Meyers ("Something's Gotta Give") and Richard Curtis ("Love Actually").

Nominees

Denys Arcand - The Barbarian Invasions

Kudos count: None
Oscar pedigree: None
Why it'll win: Cannes film fest script prizewinner is an intelligent and emotional piece that resonates across borders. And the respected Arcand has never won an Oscar.
Why it won't: It's possible not enough voters have seen the film and it just may have lost too much year-end kudo steam.

Steven Knight - Dirty Pretty Things

Kudos count: None
Oscar pedigree: None
Why it'll win: Pic is one of the few 2003 films consistently noted for having one of the freshest and well-crafted screenplays in years, nimbly weaving issues such as immigration and the black market for human organs with an unconventional, London-set love story.
Why it won't: It might just be too unconventional for some Acad members' tastes -- it doesn't show up in any other Oscar categories. Pic also may have lost too much of its early momentum in the year-end shuffle.

Andrew Stanton, Bob Peterson, David Reynolds (orIginaL story by Stanton) - Finding Nemo

Kudos count: None
Oscar pedigree: Stanton, "Toy Story" (nom)
Why it'll win: "Nemo" was funny, sweet, clever, family-friendly and it grossed $500+ million -- industryites love a good moneymaker.
Why it won't: With a very strong chance at a win for animated film, voters might want to reward pics that are less likely to be a lock in other categories.

Jim, Kirsten and Naomi Sheridan - In America

Kudos count: Natl. Board of Review (win); WGA (nom)
Oscar pedigree: Jim Sheridan, "In the Name of the Father," "My Left Foot" (noms)
Why it'll win: It's an emotional New York-set tale that deals with immigration, poverty and loss, with an all-in-the-family twist that has played well with Acad elders.
Why it won't: "In America" was defeated by "Lost in Translation" at the Globes, where it was the only other original script in contention that's now also nommed for an Oscar.

Sofia Coppola - Lost in Translation

Kudos count: Golden Globes, Chicago Film Critics (win); WGA (nom)
Oscar pedigree: None
Why it'll win: Pic heralded the arrival of a true, new original voice. It's won most other kudos races in this category, and the Acad could be more apt to reward Coppola here than in more major categories, such as picture and director, where "The Lord of the Rings" is expected to get recognition where it hasn't before.
Why it won't: Pic's quietly hip style may not resonate as deeply with Acad's more senior members.

Performance anxiety
Branch spreads noms beyond the most popular pics to smaller, edgy roles

By PETE HAMMOND

If the 2003 Academy Award nominations tell us anything, it's that actors definitely have minds of their own.
Rarely in Oscar history has there been such a disconnection between the thesps and the rest of the Academy -- except perhaps the writers, who have always gone their own way. While most branches nominated variations on the same six or seven films to fill their slots, the acting branch spread its 20 noms among 14 different movies -- 10 of which came from the indie world.

Additionally, there are 11 first-time contenders, with only five former winners, and just one nominee from last year, Renee Zellweger, making a repeat trip to the Kodak on Feb. 29.

Three big films nominated for pic -- "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World" and "Seabiscuit" -- received no performance noms. That has occurred only twice (in 1962 and 1969) since the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences added the supporting categories in 1936.

Actors, at 1,298 members, constitute the largest portion of AMPAS by far, and their preferences could affect the outcome of the pic race, which also includes "Mystic River" and "Lost in Translation" -- the only two contenders to rate acting nominations.

With so many smaller, edgier films, such as "Monster," "21 Grams," "Thirteen" and "The Cooler," getting acting mentions, it would seem screeners, despite all the controversy, had a big impact on the race.

It's highly unlikely in the compressed award season that many voters would have found the time to get to theaters to see these indie projects otherwise. Whether the actors' enthusiasm translates to the traditionally less-adventurous tech branches, which get to join in voting for the winners, remains to be seen.

Especially notable is the recognition for "Whale Rider's" 13-year-old Keisha Castle-Hughes, making history as the youngest lead actress nominee ever and the second-youngest nominee in either lead category. (In the presupporting category era, 10-year-old "Skippy" star Jackie Cooper was nommed as actor in the 1931-32 race.) Usually, anyone not old enough to have a drink before the ceremony is relegated to the supporting group, despite the size of their role.

In fact, indie distrib Newmarket campaigned for Castle-Hughes in the supporting category and was quite surprised to see her land in the lead group, where she has to compete against its other nominee, Charlize Theron.

Comedy also made a stronger showing than usual, with Johnny Depp in "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" and Golden Globe winner Bill Murray facing off against three dramatic perfs for actor.

Former "Annie Hall" winner Diane Keaton goes for her second trophy with "Something's Gotta Give" against darker roles for lead actress.

There is a feeling that the Academy generally ignores comedic efforts when handing out lead Oscars, but several stars have proved that wrong. Dramatic actors such as James Stewart, Clark Gable, James Cagney, Glenda Jackson, Claudette Colbert, Lee Marvin and Loretta Young all won statues when they turned to lighter fare.

Heavy favorites

So who has the best chance to actually win when the envelopes are opened at the end of the month? In the actor race, Murray for "Lost in Translation" and Sean Penn in "Mystic River" are neck and neck in the pre-awards derby and both are in pic nominees, which always provides an advantage. Murray's well-received Globes acceptance speech combined with Penn's no-show has clouded a race that at one time seemed to be Penn's to lose. Many now rate this contest a tossup, with Depp the spoiler.

Former winner Ben Kingsley has his supporters for a very powerful turn in "House of Sand and Fog," while "Cold Mountain's" absence from other key races probably dims second-time nominee Jude Law's chances.

Theron's remarkable transformation in "Monster" possibly gives her the edge for actress, as the Acad has shown a recent trend toward rewarding younger actresses who unexpectedly stretch their acting muscles (i.e., Hilary Swank, Halle Berry, Nicole Kidman).

But don't count out Keaton, who got the reviews and the role of her career for playing her age, and most Acad members can probably relate more to her than the serial killer Theron plays. Naomi Watts is well admired for "21 Grams" but it may not be as widely seen, while Samantha Morton for "In America" and Castle-Hughes are longer shots.

Supporting races are full of strong candidates with many observers predicting Globe winners Tim Robbins in "Mystic" and Renee Zellweger in "Mountain" will probably repeat on Oscar night. Robbins' main competition would appear to be "The Last Samurai's" Ken Watanabe, but that film's shutout in other major races is a drawback.

Alec Baldwin's casino owner in "The Cooler" was a career standout and could get votes. "21 Grams'" Benicio Del Toro won this category two years ago for "Traffic" but seems a long shot to repeat so soon, while Djimon Hounsou in "In America" is happy just to make the list.

"Mountain's" Zellweger, coming off two previous consecutive actress noms, faces stiff competition from Iranian Shohreh Aghdashloo, who won the L.A. and N.Y. film critics awards for "House of Sand and Fog," and another critical favorite, Patricia Clarkson ("Pieces of April"). Past winners Marcia Gay Harden for "Mystic" and "Thirteen's" Holly Hunter round out an impressive lineup.

The nominees in directing and writing categories reinforce the international bent of those branches as Fernando Meirelles' surprise bid for the Brazilian "City of God" is the 27th directing nom coming from a foreign-lingo pic since 1960. None has ever won and, of course, Meirelles faces New Zealand's favorite son, Peter Jackson, nominated for the second time for the "Rings" trilogy after failing to make the cut last year.

Australia's Peter Weir is a four-time nominee widely lauded for what he achieved in getting "Master and Commander" on the screen. Don't count out past winner Clint Eastwood, an icon and Academy favorite who got even better reviews for "Mystic River" than for his 1992 Oscar winner, "Unforgiven."

Coppola, a familiar name in this category, surfaces again as Sofia becomes only the third woman nommed in the category and the first from America for "Lost in Translation." She may face longer odds to actually get a victory.

Writing in tongues

The screenplay races are wide open, with foreign-language entries "The Barbarian Invasions" and "City of God" trying to repeat Pedro Almodovar's rare scribe win last year for Spain's "Talk to Her." The writers branch apparently loves subtitles, as 73 foreign-lingo scripts have been nommed over the years, with five wins.

Like the acting categories, many smaller titles impressed the writers such as "Dirty Pretty Things," "In America," "Lost in Translation" and "Barbarian" for original screenplay, which all must go up against the year's top grosser, "Finding Nemo," vying to become the first toon ever to win a writing Oscar.

In the adaptation category, another indie, "American Splendor" joins "City of God" in facing more expensive projects such as "Rings" and "Seabiscuit," and "Mystic River," written by Brian Helgeland, whose 1997 Oscar for "L.A. Confidential" makes him the only former winner in this category.

Country of My Skull

(U.K.-Ireland-U.S.)

An Icon (in U.K.)/Sony Pictures Classics (in U.S.) release of a Phoenix Pictures, Film Consortium, Merlin Pictures presentation, in association with the U.K. Film Council and Industrial Development Corp. of South Africa, of a Studio Eight Prods. (U.K.)/Country Merlin (Ireland) production, in association with Inside Track Prods., Skoop, Skiet, Drama. (International sales: The Works, London.) Produced by Robert Chartoff, Mike Medavoy, John Boorman, Kieran Corrigan, Lynn Hendee. South African producer, David Wicht. Executive producers, Chris Auty, Neil Peplow, Mfundi Vundla, Duncan Reid, Sam Bhembe, Jamie Brown. Directed by John Boorman. Screenplay, Ann Peacock, based on the book by Antjie Krog.

Langston Whitfield - Samuel L. Jackson
Anna Malan - Juliette Binoche
De Jager - Brendan Gleeson
Dumi
Mkhalipi - Menzi "Ngubs" Ngubane
Anderson - Sam Ngakane
Elsa - Aletta Bezuidenhout
Edward Morgan - Lionel Newton
Boetie - Langley Kirkwood
Rev. Mzondo - Owen Sejake
Albertina Sobandla - Harriet Manamela
Willem Malan - Louis Van Niekirk
Old man in
Wheelbarrow - Jeremiah Ndlovu
Felicia Rheinhardt - Fiona Ramsay
British reporter - Charley Boorman

By DEREK ELLEY

The combo of cultural cringe and a schematic, didactic screenplay strangles the human emotion in "Country of My Skull," an unquestionably sincere but dramatically stillborn outing by veteran John Boorman set during South Africa's mid-1990s reckoning with its apartheid past. As American and Afrikaans reporters covering the Truth & Reconciliation Commission hearings, Samuel L. Jackson and Juliette Binoche trade dialogue more fitting to ethno-political spokespeople than to characters caught up in a country trying to heal its wounds. Given its subject matter, pic undoubtedly will engender reams of earnest coverage, but average auds look unlikely to respond in sizeable numbers.
Film is a particular disappointment coming from 71-year-old Boorman, whose last picture, the quirky John le Carre adaptation "The Tailor of Panama" (2001), though a B.O. disappointment, showed him still bringing a personal style to material. Helmer's career has been dotted with pictures that play out human dramas in on-the-cusp settings ("Hell in the Pacific," "Hope & Glory," "Beyond Rangoon," "The General"), but in "Country" the director, who traveled widely in South Africa during apartheid, doesn't rise above the clunky screenplay.

Pic is based on a personal account of the TRC hearings by Afrikaans poet Antjie Krog, who was commissioned to cover the event by state radio and a local newspaper. From this, South African-born, L.A.-based scripter Ann Peacock has hewn an achingly well-meaning screenplay that decorates the old chestnut of a foreigner finding romance and personal fulfillment in an exotic location with a selection of confessions drawn from the actual hearings. Though its intent is admirable, its execution is both clumsy and emotionally distancing.

Jackson plays hard-nosed Washington Post journo Langston Whitfield, dispatched to cover the TRC hearings in December 1995 and interview (the fictional) Col. De Jager (Brendan Gleeson), who was responsible for the apartheid policing.

Whitfield initially is skeptical of the assignment, telling his editor, "I don't have to travel 5,000 miles to interview a white cop killing black folk; I can do that in my own back yard."

As he says farewell to his family, Whitfield's wife hints at flaws in his character with the words, "If you learn anything about reconciliation, let me know."

Opening reels are full of expository, right-on dialogue as we meet Anna Malan (Binoche), the fictional version of Krog, who has issues with her Afrikaans family but is proud of the solution the country has come up with to settle its past. Unlike a war-crimes tribunal, which seeks retribution, the TRC favors a mutually healing African solution, giving amnesty to anyone who fully confesses past transgressions.

As Whitfield is frequently told, this is based on the African philosophy of "ubuntu," the link that binds individuals to their community, where one's transgression harms everyone.

As soon as they meet at a TRC hearing, Whitfield and Malan are facing off over race, color and every issue on the North-South political agenda, as he brings an American perspective to what she sees as a reason for both African and Afrikaaner pride. In one of the sharper lines in the script, Malan tells him, "We can't climb back on a plane afterwards."

That's exactly what Whitfield does at the end, though not before he's learned respect for local customs, become a wiser person, bedded Malan and been given a fancy artifact for his son back in D.C. For good measure, Malan also profits from meeting Whitfield ("My skin will never forget you," she coos poetically), as well as discovering a skeleton in her own family closet.

Early on, the movie settles down into a regular rhythm, shuttlecocking between Whitfield and Anna's evolving relationship; TRC seshes in which painful past events are disinterred; and Whitfield's interview with De Jager in the latter's heavily guarded home. The last, chopped up and scattered throughout pic, fails to develop much dramatic power, despite Gleeson's potentially fine perf as the embodiment of coolly reasoning evil.

Jackson largely gives a stiff, straight-up perf as Whitfield, and there's little natural chemistry between him and Binoche when they're not trading cultural and political points. Latter gives a reasonable approximation of an Afrikaans accent but doesn't create much of a character to root for on a human level. Both thesps are at their most relaxed alongside charismatic young TV star Menzi "Ngubs" Ngubane, as Malan's sprightly, wisecracking assistant. "Guess who's coming to dinner," jokes Ngubane, as Malan takes Whitfield off to meet her folks.

More touches like that would have helped take the PC cringe out of the screenplay and strengthened the emotional clout inherent in the material. (Fiona Ramsay is also, too briefly, fine in this respect as Malan's no-nonsense boss.) As a result, the TRC sessions, though admirable in their intention, don't engage the viewer as they should.

Tech credits are pro but with no special flavor, neither gritty nor glossy, and eschewing Boorman's usual widescreen format. Seamus Deasy's lensing creates a believable backdrop from South African locations. If only the same could be said for the figures within it.

Camera (Deluxe London prints), Seamus Deasy; editor, Ron Davis; music supervisor, Philip King; production designer, Derek Wallace; art director, Emelia Roux-Weavind; costume designer, Jo Katsaras; sound (Dolby), Tom Johnson, John Fitzgerald; second unit director, Kevan Barker; associate producers, Peter Fudakowski, Niles Helmboldt; assistant director, Diana Keam. Reviewed at Berlin Film Festival (competing), Feb. 7, 2004. Running time: 103 MIN.
(English, Afrikaans dialogue)

Actor Tim Roth Wants to Become a Director
Associated Press

BERLIN - Actor Tim Roth said he wants to go behind the camera as a director, which he calls "the best job in the world."

Roth, who has acted in movies including "Reservoir Dogs" and "Everyone Says I Love You," made his directorial debut with 1999's "The War Zone," a drama about incest.

Roth said Sunday that he's still searching for the right project to take on.

Meanwhile, he stars with Nick Nolte and Damien Nguyen in Norwegian director Hans Petter Moland's "Beautiful Country," which documents a young Vietnamese man's efforts to find his American father.

The film is one of 23 movies competing for the Berlin Film Festival's Golden Bear Prize.

After escaping a refugee camp in Malaysia, Nguyen's character stows away as human cargo aboard a ship commanded by the morally ambivalent Captain Oh, played by Roth.

The movie tries to "stay away from the cliche and not to preach," Roth said.

Cate Blanchett presents women-driven Western at Berlinale

BERLIN Feb 8 - A Western starring Cate Blanchett as a rifle-toting American pioneer joined the running for the Golden Bear at the 54th Berlin film festival Saturday, one of 23 films from around the world vying for the event's top prize.

Blanchett, who is pregnant with her second child, told reporters that the role in ``The Missing'' by director Ron Howard required several weeks of study of 19th century herbal remedies, research on the American Old West and fierce training in horseback riding.

``It was intense,'' she said. ``I didn't even have time to get saddle-sore.''

The Australian actress said she had ridden the ridges of New Mexico with ``Marlboro men'' to rehearse for the part and was subjected to crawling tarantulas in scenes that were finally left on the cutting room floor.

``I'm quite urban,'' she said. ``I don't like to be too far away from an espresso machine. But I promised Ron I could do it.''

Co-starring Tommy Lee Jones, the film tells the story of a widowed healer in the American Southwest whose teenage daughter is captured by Apache bandits to be sold in Mexico.

Although she had been abandoned by her father (Jones) 20 years early when he went to live with the Indians, the single mother realises he is her only hope to recover her daughter.

Blanchett, who won an Oscar nomination for her role in ``Elizabeth'' and is playing Katherine Hepburn in Martin Scorsese's ``The Aviator,'' said she was pleased to take on another meaty and unusual female part.

``I wasn't particularly familiar with the genre. My father is from Texas and I grew up hearing John Wayne bouncing and shooting away on a Sunday afternoon. But it was always a very male-dominated genre for me. It was a journey into the unknown,'' she said.

Howard, who brought ``A Beautiful Mind'' starring Russell Crowe to the Berlinale two years ago, acknowledged that it his women-driven Western had marked a departure.

''(It was) an unusual set of characters to be at the centre of a traditional Western, rare that a female character as strong as Cate's is in a film set in that time period,'' Howard said.

Blanchett related to the role as an independent mother trying to juggle family and career and said she generally takes her two-year-old son Dashiell with her on film sets.

``It is a very stimulating environment for a young child,'' she said.

``I have thousands of treasured memories from the time in Santa Fe - that's where he learned to walk, that is where he first started to speak.''

Although the film has been panned by critics and audiences in the United States, Howard said he was hopeful that international audiences would be more responsive.

Also screening in the Berlinale competition Saturday was ``The Country of My Skull,'' a drama by British director John Boorman about racial reconciliation in the decade since the end of apartheid, starring Samuel L. Jackson and Juliette Binoche,

The 11-day festival has singled out South Africa for special focus this year, a decade after the first free elections in the country.

A series of documentaries called ``Project 10'' and produced by South African broadcaster SABC1 are being showcased in the festival's Forum section and singer Miriam Makeba has been invited as an honorary guest.

Oscar-winning American actress Frances McDormand (``Fargo'') is chairing the Berlinale's seven-member jury, which will hand out the top prizes on February 14. - AFP

Roth Captains 'Floating Hell' in New Film
Associated Press

BERLIN - Tim Roth on Sunday described his role as a people-smuggling captain in new movie "Beautiful Country" as the commander of a "floating hell" - one of many dark episodes in the bittersweet tale of a Vietnamese man's search for his American father.

"Beautiful Country," directed by Norwegian Hans Petter Molland, premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival, where it is one of 23 movies competing for the main Golden Bear prize.

The film follows the hardships of Binh, a young Vietnamese man, as he searches for his American GI father, played by Nick Nolte. After escaping a refugee camp in Malaysia, Binh, played by Damien Nguyen, finds himself stowed away as human cargo in the cargo ship commanded by Roth's morally ambivalent character, Captain Oh.

"It's like a floating hell," Roth said of the ship. But, he added, the film is "trying to stay away from the cliche and not to preach."

"We wanted to make a film that was beautiful without being pretty," Molland added.

Roth is no stranger to dark themes. His 1999 directorial debut, "The War Zone," was a starkly realistic and emotionally brutal family drama about incest. It's his only feature film so far - but Roth said Sunday he was ready to direct again if the right project emerged.

"It's the best job in the world," he told reporters.

Kinowelt returns to its roots
Big business of DVD sales keeps things afloat

By ED MEZA


BERLIN-It's been a year since Rainer and Michael Koelmel bought back the assets of their insolvent film group Kinowelt, and if the company's current state is any sign for the rest of the German industry, things are looking up.
The ravenous hulk -- which once dared to rival local giants RTL Group and Kirch Media, sought to build a theatrical distribution network throughout Eastern Europe and entertained plans to launch its own TV broadcaster -- has transformed back into the mild-mannered indie distrib it used to be before its exposure to the Neuer Markt in 1998.

While the IPO morphed Kinowelt into a behemoth, both overindulgence and a glut of content in the market eventually led to its undoing in 2001.

After a prolonged process, hampered by a slew of legal problems, the former Kinowelt chief exec Koelmels bought back the company from creditor banks and have now returned it to its modest beginnings under the management of new chief execs Bertil le Claire and Ralph Koch.

Kinowelt's theatrical distribution isn't what it used to be -- its next bigscreen release will be Gus Van Sant's Cannes winner "Elephant" in April -- but the company is experiencing a renaissance thanks to the ongoing DVD boom.

"Our home entertainment division is bringing in the lion's share of revenue," says Rainer Koelmel, who decided to forgo the chief exec post and is instead managing Kinowelt Intl., the group's acquisitions and licensing division.

While he won't mention profit figures, he says the company made x40 million ($51 million) in revenue last year and is expecting $63 million in 2004 thanks to a hefty library of films as well as new acquisitions. With a 3.4% market share, the company was the leading independent home entertainment distrib following U.S. majors and RTL Group's Universum.

Among the company's top-selling titles are special-edition collectors' boxes of classic German films and beloved stars like Romy Schneider, Heinz Ruehmann and the "Don Camillo" film series starring Italian comedy duo Fernandel and Gino Cervi.

Kinowelt, which holds rights to "Terminator 2: Judgment Day," recently partnered with Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment and MGM Home Entertainment to bring out a boxed "Terminator" set. Columbia TriStar and MGM hold respective rights to "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines" and the original "Terminator."

"The DVD boom has really given us the opportunity to exploit these titles," Rainer Koelmel says. "We are packaging these films for fans that are starting their own DVD collections and want these classic films."

Indeed, two-thirds of its sell-through titles are from Kinowelt's library, with the remaining third made up of new acquisitions. Hit rentals include "Jeepers Creepers 2," "Frailty" and "Whale Rider." Company released 150 new DVD titles last year and is planning to release 180 in 2004.

While the industry may be showing more signs of life, Koelmel says Kinowelt's comeback would not have been possible without DVD. "If you're going to try to recoup your business through TV sales, forget it," he declares.

Nevertheless, company has made a number of modest sales to local players like paybox Premiere, commercial web ProSieben and pubcaster ARD.

Meanwhile, Koelmel is confident that his brother Michael will be found innocent of any wrongdoing in connection with the insolvency of the former holding Kinowelt Medien in 2001.

Michael Koelmel was charged with 15 counts of embezzlement last month and is expected to go to trial later this year. The Munich District Attorney's Office alleges Koelmel misappropriated $32 million and impeded insolvency proceedings. Koelmel denies the charges and maintains he will be found innocent if the case goes to trial.

As film fest curtain falls, MDC is praised
The Miami International Film Festival, produced for the first time by Miami Dade College, ends with positive reviews from moviegoers.
BY RENE RODRIGUEZ
rrodriguez@herald.com

It was a college -- not a movie -- that dominated the buzz at the closing-night festivities for the 21st Miami International Film Festival.

Buoyed by an aggressive marketing campaign and infused with energy from its new parent, the first edition of the festival produced by Miami Dade College received strong reviews from audience members attending Saturday night's screening of Dogville at the Gusman Center for the Performing Arts.

''The change is noticeable,'' said festival diehard Angel Rodriguez, 40, of Miami, who has attended the event since the 1980s and sat through 22 films this year. ``The organization is much better, things are running smoothly and there was an energy that had been missing in the last couple of years.''

The 10-day event, which concludes today, featured a lineup of 66 films shown in five venues across Miami-Dade County. Kathie Sigler, provost for operations for MDC, estimated festival attendance had reached about 50,000 as of Saturday afternoon.

Ticket sales had generated $267,000, with another $150,000 in memberships. Final figures will be released later this week.

''I have been delighted to see all of the Miami community coming back to the movies,'' Sigler said. ``One filmmaker told me he loved hearing people speaking so many different languages coming to see the same film. And we have had a tremendous demand from students for tickets, which bodes well for the future of the festival.''

MDC provided a number of free tickets to students to ensure that growth.

Guillermo Barrera, 24, and Gina Viggiani, 22, were among those who took advantage by attending Dogville. It was the fourth free festival screening Barrera had attended. ''I like movies,'' said Barrera, a public relations major, ``so it's great that the college invited the students to participate.''

The festival was taken over in October by MDC after former parent Florida International University, facing budget cuts and a deficit of $800,000, announced it would pull the plug. This year's festival, produced on a budget of $1.1 million, had to be put together in only three months.

''I always knew it was a big risk not having enough time,'' MDC President Eduardo Padrón said at the closing-night party, attended by about 2,000 people at the Wachovia Plaza in downtown Miami.

``But this has exceeded my expectations for the first year. I am thrilled about how this community has come together and supported us. Hopefully this will set the basis for many more festivals in the future.''

Said managing director Dale Webb, who guided the festival during its FIU era and oversaw its transition to MDC this year, ``We became a team that pulled together and put on the festival that was envisioned five years ago.''

Festival director Nicole Guillemet also praised the efforts of MDC staffers, whose experience with other cultural events like the Miami Book Fair International and the Cultura del Lobo series allowed them to negotiate the tight time frame.

''They can rally their resources so fast that it made a difference at the box office,'' Guillemet said. ``Everyone on staff wanted this festival to be the best.''

''I think it's terrific that Miami Dade College stepped in,'' said Paula Musto of Miami, a longtime festivalgoer. ``If we would have lost this, it would have been a tremendous blow to the community.''

A REAL DUTCH TREAT

By V.A. MUSETTO


February 8, 2004 -- THERE are two major film festivals to choose from each January: Sundance and Rotterdam.

Cine File took in Sundance once, and never went back. Too hard to navigate, too many Miramax publicists and too few worthwhile films.

So each year he journeys to the Dutch port city of Rotterdam for what fest co-director Simon Field calls "one of the most adventurous and risk-taking of festivals."

This year was no different, and with 600 movies — 200 of them features — to choose from, Cine File was in paradise.

The 12-day jamboree opened in grand style with "Zatoichi," the story of a 19th-century blind swordsman, directed by and starring Japanese auteur Takeshi (Beat) Kitano.

"This past year we had 'Kill Bill' and 'The Last Sumarai.' But don't be fooled by those American imitators. This ['Zatoichi'] is the real thing," Kitano told the opening-night audience.

In person, Kitano appeared shorter than he does on screen. But just like in the movies, the real Kitano rarely smiled and had little to say.

French provocateur Catherine Breillat showed up with "Anatomy of Hell," her latest piece of misogynistic art-house porn.

A woman (Amira Casar) pays a gay guy (Rocco Siffredi) to join her in her cliff-top house for kinky sex, including the use of a garden tool as a sex toy.

Casar went into a rant at a press conference when Cine File asked if the sex was real, as it was in another Breillat film ("Romance").

"To insist on what's real and what's not smacks of McCarthyism," the actress huffed.

There were no complaints about "The Saddest Music in the World," by maverick Canadian Guy Maddin.

Isabella Rossellini is a hoot as a legless beer baroness whose motto is, "If you're sad and like beer, I'm your lady."

"Last Life in the Universe," by Thai director Pen-ek Ratanaruang, was a pleasure to watch, thanks in large part to Christopher Doyle's stunning cinematography.

The story involves a suicidal young man in Bangkok and the sister of a woman killed by a car as she tries to stop him from plunging from a bridge.

Takashi Miike, the Japanese cult director, has a cameo as a mobster.

Doyle, the Aussie best known for his work with Wong Kar-wai, was also behind the camera for "Green Tea," a stylish love story from director Zhang Yuan of China, featuring delicious actress Zhao Wei.

New Yorker Kimi Takesue traveled to Rotterdam with "Summer of the Serpent," a charming short about a strange encounter at a swimming pool. Keep an eye on the talented Takesue.

The Brazilian chiller "Nina" proved an unexpected treat.

A young woman (Guta Stresser, in a brave performance) is driven to insanity — and possibly murder — by the landlady from hell.

Cine File is willing to bet that director Heitor Dhalia has seen Roman Polanski's "Repulsion" more than once.

Another woman goes off the deep end in "Somnambuul," a dark look at the hallucinatory world of a lighthouse keeper and his flipped-out daughter (Katariina Lauk-Tamm) by Estonian director Sulev Keedus.

Cine File was enthralled, even though the film's so depressing they should hand out Prozac with each ticket.

Many of these films will be coming to New York, so stay alert.

V.A. Musetto is film editor of The Post. He can be e-mailed at vam@nypost.com

Cinema
IFFR: anatomy of a film festival
The 33rd International Film Festival Rotterdam 2004 ends
Sabbir Chowdhury, back from Rotterdam, the Netherlands

600 films in 24 film theatres with 355,000 audience turnover and a revenue of Euro 1,000,000 from ticket sales: that, in brief, is all about this edition of International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR). But figures do not always speak the truth. Figures cannot say everything about a very successful film festival. The fact that the audience turnover is the largest among the film festivals in the world (bypassing the biggest film festivals on earth: at Cannes, Berlin and Venice) is enough to prove the worth of the festival. Throughout its thirty-three editions, ever since its inception in 1972, Rotterdam has proved itself to be the best loved film festival in the world.

Rotterdam Film Festival is something very special to the independent, activist and less-known filmmakers. Because, they know that this festival has always been friendly to them. Nowhere else in the biggest film festivals can they expect a sympathetic consideration. As a result, Rotterdam Film Festival has become the largest get-together of independent filmmakers in the world. This is more so because of the fact that each year, the festival's Hubert Bals Fund supports a good number of independent filmmakers from around the world in three stages: script development, post-production and distribution. Naturally, the festival programme contains a lot of films made by independent filmmakers. This year, a record thirty Hubert Bals Fund supported films were included in the Tigers Competition and the main programme.

Parallel to the screening of the films were lot of programmes like the Rotterdam Film Parliament, debates, talk shows, interviews, exhibitions, installation programmes, 'Filmmakers in Focus', 'Artist in Focus', 'What is cinema?' and so on. This was Simon Field's last festival as co-Director. Simon joined Rotterdam Film Festival as the only Director eight years back and remained so for five years. For the last three years, Simon Field and Sandra den Hamer acted as co-Directors. Simon was basically the Artistic Director and Sandra was the Managing Director, but this distribution often overlapped. Sandra den Hamer will be in charge of the festival as Director from 2005.

The main programme at Rotterdam featured some of the very best films of 2003 and 2004 like the 'Golden Palm' winner at Cannes Elephant by Gus van Sant, the 'Golden Lion' winner at Venice The Return by Andrei Zvyagintsev, The Story of Marie and Julien by Jacques Rivette, Father and Son by Alexander Sokurov, Code 46 by Michael Winterbottom, Zatoichi by Takeshi Kitano, The Barbarian Invasions by Denys Arcand, Anatomy of Hell by Catherine Breillat, Crimson Gold by Jafar Panahi, Distant by Nuri Bilge Ceylan, 21 Grams by Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu, Twentynine Palms by Bruno Dumont, Lost in Translation by Sofia Coppola, The First Letter by Abolfazl Jalili, the 'Golden Leopard' winner at Locarno Silent Waters by Sabiha Sumar, and The Silence Between Two Thoughts by Babak Payami.

The Tiger Awards, given to three films each year (each of the films should be a first or second feature by the independent filmmaker), worth Euro 10,000 each, are also of immense help to the filmmakers. The winners can very well start their next film projects with this amount of money. This year's three Tiger Award recipients are: The Missing by Lee Kang-sheng (Taiwan), Summer in the Golden Valley by Srdjan Vuletic (Bosnia-Herzegovina), and En Route by Jan Kruger (Germany). The Missing also won the NETPAC (Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema) Award and the KNF (Association of Dutch Film Critics) Award. The Amnesty International-DOEN award went to Last Train by Alexei German, Jr. The International Film Critics (FIPRESCI) Award went to Peep "TV" Show by Yutaka Tsuchiya (Japan).

Lee Kang-sheng is best known as the celebrated Taiwanese filmmaker Tsai Ming-liang's lead actor in his films. The Missing is Lee's debut feature. It centres on a woman who loses a child and starts searching for him. This sense of loss pervades the film and the film is also a search for identity in an apparently mechanised city life in modern Taipei. Summer in the Golden Valley is also the debut feature by Bosnian filmmaker Srdjan Vuletic. It deals with the protagonists, two young boys, trying to cope with the situation in the collapsed city of Sarajevo where the environment is degraded morally and ethically. Though there is a hint of a better future, but who knows how long it will take. En Route is a film about a young mother, her daughter, her boyfriend and a charming young man who intrudes in their apparently quiet life in their camping holiday site.

The International Film Critics (FIPRESCI) Award winner Peep "TV" Show by Japanese filmmaker Yutaka Tsuchiya is a DV feature made with a very low budget. The film centres on a group of young people who roam around Tokyo, the mega city. They live alienated and dislocated lives in tiny apartments, passing their times surfing through the Internet, mostly indulge themselves in the Internet porno. They also intrude into the privacy of other people's lives. They are seen escaping the closed circuit television (surveillance) cameras. Their lives are miserable and that gives an idea about the future. The film is an apocalyptic vision of the future.

The filmmakers who visited the festival include Takeshi Kitano from Japan, Catherine Breillat from France, Raul Ruiz from France, Michael Winterbottom from the UK, Isaac Julien from the USA, Abolfazl Jalili from Iran, Gaston Kabore from Burkina Faso, Tunde Kelani from Nigeria, Kamal Haasan from India, and Sabiha Sumar from Pakistan.

Sabbir Chowdhury, a film critic and film activist, teaches in the department of English at Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Defying tyranny
By: Farrukh Dhondy
February 7, 2004

In the days when the Gdansk shipworkers of Poland struck against their communist, Soviet-puppet regime, I saw a Polish play at a theatre festival in Spain. It was a subtle satire on communist censorship, bureaucracy and repression. Its director told its audience that it had been very enthusiastically received in Poland and had even been chosen to represent the country in a theatre festival in Russia.

The director was most gratified to see that the house for the first performance was full and that there were queues outside. He stood in the audience and waited for the rumbles of amusement that would, on past performance , grow into open laughter and raucous empathy.

Nothing. Silence. Not a titter from the packed audience. For a moment he didn’t get it. Then he did and waited anxiously for the demoralised actors to wrap it up.

The last lines were spoken. The audience didn’t applaud. They sat in total silence before filing out. The actors didn’t know whether to take a bow or not, but the director was in the wings calling them off. It was a constructed nightmare. The Communist Party had packed the hall with dedicated members conscripted for the performance and instructed to give it the icy shoulder.

The company cancelled the next performance and stole back to Warsaw that night. A few years later the Berlin Wall came down and the Stalinist Soviet tyranny was overthrown by its own people. There is no doubt that the unofficial media, the underground literature that defied the censorship, philistinism and propagandist muddle-mindedness of the Soviet state contributed momentum to the overthrow.

I’ve even heard writers of the generation of Milan Kundera bemoaning the passing of repression on the singular grounds that it bred a glorious counter-culture that defied repression.

The birth of counter-cultures is not confined to societies with repressive and censorious regimes. America and UK have an ‘underground’ but it isn’t
necessarily populated by the world-changers and the self-righteous.

There are unsavoury counter-cultures of pornography — orchards of forbidden fruit. The complaint of the ‘clean’ documentary makers of these countries is that their stuff is too far-out or before its time and so dubbed obscure, or that the markets are just not interested in their dedicated concerns.

So it’s quite pleasing to arrive in Mumbai and find that documentaries in India are rebels with several causes. The Mumbai International Film Festival is accused of censorship and the sort of political correctness that the state and central governments would approve of or impose if they had the powers.

It’s no good making protest documentaries if they don’t offend anyone, and who better to offend than the most obvious powers in the land? When I worked for a British TV Channel commissioning documentaries, one of the first questions we asked the would-be producers was “Who won’t want your film shown?” The second question, inevitably, was “Who will want to see it?”

The questions were aimed successively at finding out if the proposed films would have guts and acquire glory. The fact that dissenting documentary makers have chosen to show their work at VIKALP, an alternative to the Mumbai International and not in Rotterdam or some other Mecca of the behalfists, means that they expect or hope to find a real audience.

It is the existence of such an audience, one which wants to see or read material that is offensive to the state, that constitutes a counter-culture. The fact that there are dissenting voices with dissenting messages who exchange them on their own bush- telegraph, or raise the ticket money to Rotterdam, is not.