In addition, HollyShorts announced the official dates for the 6th Annual HollyShorts Film Festival. The event will take place August 5-12, 2010 in Hollywood, CA!

HollyShorts Monthly Screening:
When:  Saturday, November 21, 2009 @ 8pm – 11pm
Where:  Echo Park Film Center Address: Echo Park Film Center
1200 N. Alvarado Street (@ Sunset Blvd) Los Angeles, CA 90026
What: Sreening short films, followed by Q& A.

Tickets are $10 at the door
RSVP at:  staff@hollyshorts.com

This month’s films include the following (additional films TDB):

Filmmakers: Gilchrist Macquarrie and Nguyen Palmer (soulsticksfilms2004@yahoo.com )
“Black Gloves” tells the riveting, human story of a man’s struggle to overcome the lure  of easy money, and the haunting shadows of his father’s legacy.

JENNY GOT A BOOB JOB

Directed by Lon Diamond (lonniedee@aol.com)
Jenny is a girl who barely registers a blip on the high school radar, and so flat her bras have Winnie The Pooh on them. She also suffers from severe tonsillitis, and after yet another bout with it she enters the hospital to have her tonsils removed. Alas, there is a mix up at the hospital and she is accidentally given the silicone breasts intended for a stripper. While Jenny doesn’t want to attend school, her best friend Courtney sees Jenny’s new profile as an opportunity to rule the school – taking Courtney with her.

PAGE TURNER

Directed by Oliver Pearce (oliver.pearce@gmail.com)
Lisa and Jonathan are on a first date when they come upon a night time yard sale. Jonathan buys Lisa an old photo album. Later, Lisa begins flipping through the album which somehow has photos of her future with Jonathan! The pictures reveal things to Lisa about Jonathan… terrible things…

The Tampa Pitcher in Tampa, FL, show will screen the film ‘Clear Lake, WI’, this Tuesday.  Tampa native, Morgan Simpson, directed this psychological thriller and stars next to Michael Madsen.  Morgan Simpson will attend for a Q & A session following the film.

WHEN: Tuesday November 17, 2009, 7:30 pm

WHERE: Tampa Pitcher Show, 14416 N. Dale Mabry Hwy (North of Fletcher & South of Bearss/Ehrlich)

A scene from Marco Risi's FORTAPÃSC, the Opening Night film at New Italian Cinema, November 15 - 22 at Landmark's Embarcadero Center Cinema.

The San Francisco Film Society, New Italian Cinema Events of Florence, Italy and the Italian Cultural Institute of San Francisco present New Italian Cinema, November 15 – 22 at Landmark’s Embarcadero Center Cinema. The eight-day festival is dedicated to celebrating the rich cinematic tradition of Italy and bringing to Bay Area audiences the country’s newest directors and films. The mainstay of New Italian Cinema is the competitive section featuring seven films by emerging directors. NIC opens with a three-film tribute to director Marco Risi, one of Italy’s most celebrated filmmakers and closes with Marco Bellocchio’s latest tour de force, Vincere, an operatic take on the true story of Mussolini’s first wife and their secret child.

“The 2009 New Italian Cinema festival offers yet another provocative, yet often light-hearted, lineup of recent works by up-and-coming directors,” said Film Society programmer Rod Armstrong. “This year’s edition covers issues of local politics, father-son relationships, romantic conundrums and mafia depredations. Our Opening and Closing Night films, including Marco Bellocchio’s latest masterpiece Vincere, offer rich historical and sociological context to life in Italy, from the Mussolini era to events from the more recent past.”

The New Italian Cinema Events (NICE) organization in Florence — working with selection committee members Rod Armstrong and journalists Deborah Young and Barbara Corsi — chose the best Italian entries from the year’s major European film festivals to present in the 2009 New Italian Cinema competition. Most filmmakers are expected at the Embarcadero for Q&As with the audiences. The NICE City of Florence Award will be decided by audience ballot and announced at the Closing Night Award presentation following the 5:45 pm screening of Vincere, Sunday, November 22.

Sunday, November 15
Opening Night
6:00 pm Fortapàsc
West Coast Premiere
Director Marco Risi in person
Marco Risi (Italy 2008)
On September 23, 1985, Neapolitan journalist Giancarlo Siani was murdered for his reporting on the local crime organization known as the Camorra. Risi’s fast-paced, coolly observational drama pays tribute to Siani’s life and reportage by detailing the events leading up to his death. The writer begins to garner notoriety while covering the rise of brash mobster Valentino Gionta (Massimiliano Gallo) and the ensuing war for power he initiates among vying clans. Over time, Siani (Libero de Rienzo) uncovers cops taking bribes and politicians receiving kickbacks, little realizing how his articles make him a target. With an intent focus on the story of one remarkable man, Fortapàsc (which refers to a section of Naples nicknamed “Fort Apache” for its violence) memorably evinces the tragically widespread depredations caused by the Camorra. Written by Marco Risi, Jim Carington, Andrea Purgatori. Photographed by Marco Onorato. With Libero de Rienzo, Valentina Lodovini, Massimiliano Gallo, Michele Riondino, Ernesto Mahieux. 108 min. In Italian with English subtitles. Distributed by Rai Cinema.
8:00 Opening Night Party with complimentary Italian beer, wine and appetizers, One Embarcadero Center, Lobby Level (the former B. Dalton space).
9:00 pm Fortapàsc

Monday, November 16
Marco Risi in Retrospect
Experience the broad range of Risi’s talent, from gritty drama to female-focused farce.
6:15 pm Three Wives
Director Marco Risi in person
Marco Risi (Tre mogli, Italy 2001)
In Risi’s farcical road-trip movie, three women from different socioeconomic classes chase their respective husbands across Argentina, where the men have fled after they rob an Italian bank. Beginning their quest in Buenos Aires, the three wives are at odds; sleek and wealthy Beatrice (Francesca d’Aloja) is annoyed by the mousy and anxious Bianca (Iaia Forte), while both find the younger Billie (Silke Klein) a bit uncouth. Various amusingly outlandish situations ensue as the bickering trio chase their constantly vanishing hubbies through the vast country. Over time and distance, though, the women eventually form bonds of friendship. Stunningly shot in several Argentinean locales, and delivering a memorable supporting appearance by Spanish telenovela superstar Loles León, Three Wives is an entertaining tale about female empowerment. Written by Marco Risi, Silvia Napolitano. Photographed by Italo Petriccione. With Francesca d’Aloja, Iaia Forte, Silke Klein 105 min. In Italian with English subtitles. Distributed by Rai Cinema.
7:00 pm Meet the Directors: A Conversation
Italian Cultural Institute, 425 Washington Street
A roundtable conversation with visiting filmmakers Marco Risi, Maria Grazia Cucinotta, Marco Bellocchio and Alessandro Baricco, moderated by Gavriel Moses, associate professor of Italian and Film Studies at UC Berkeley. Free with a reservation by calling 415-788-7142 or emailing rsvp@sfiic.org.
9:00 pm Boys on the Outside
Director Marco Risi in person
Marco Risi (Ragazzi fuori, Italy 1990)
This hard-hitting story of crime and joblessness among Palermo youth follows the lives of several kids leaving a juvenile reformatory and attempting to reenter society. Natale (Francesco Benigno), hoping to land a construction job with his brother, finds himself drawn back into a life of crime among his hoodlum pals. Mario, known as Mary (Alessandro di Sanzo), returns to prostitution because he’s too effeminate to get a job. Claudio (Maurizio Prollo) is hired as a mechanic only to be caught up by a violent event from his past. Featuring stunning performances by several nonprofessional actors who heartbreakingly introduce themselves at the finale, Boys on the Outside is a remarkable film about troubled youth. Written by Marco Risi, Aurelio Grimaldi. Photographed by Franco Fraticelli. With Francesco Benigno, Maurizio Prollo, Alessandro di Sanzo, Roberto Mariano. 110 min. In Italian with English subtitles. Distributed by Cecchi Gori.

Tuesday, November 17
City of Florence Award Competition Films
6:00 pm The Sicilian Girl
Director Marco Amenta in person
Marco Amenta (La siciliana ribelle, Italy 2008)
In 1991, 17-year-old Rita Atria visits a tireless anti-Mafia judge to denounce the organization responsible for the murders of her father and brother. Using meticulously recorded information from years of diary-keeping, Rita’s testimony is the linchpin for securing convictions of numerous figures in the Sicilian mob. Rita is a deep and impetuous heroine, motivated by rage and grief, and Veronica d’Agostino’s remarkable performance conveys all of the character’s complexities. In addition to the film’s nuanced characters, cowriter/director Amenta (who addressed the same true story in a 1997 documentary) vividly documents Sicilian village life and its desecration through cycles of crime and retribution. Written by Marco Amenta, Sergio Donati, Gianni Romoli. Photographed by Luca Bigazzi. With Veronica d’Agostino, Gérard Jugnot, Miriana Faja. 110 min. In Italian with English subtitles. Distributed by Roissy Films.
Preceded on November 17 only by the short Lorenzo Vacirca (Italy 2009). A man of little means struggles to make a living while nourishing his dream of buying a fancy car. Directed by Nico Bonomolo, 13 min.
9:00 pm Ex
North American Premiere
Director Fausto Brizzi in person
Fausto Brizzi (Italy 2009)
Juggling multiple storylines with aplomb, this mostly comic study of the vagaries of romantic entanglement focuses on six different couples and the ups and downs of their relationships. From a divorce attorney going through a brutal break-up with his wife, to a French youngster smitten with his Italian girlfriend, to a handsome cop stalking his former lover, cowriter/director Brizzi presents a wide variety of idiosyncratic characters looking for love. With a grand assembly of noteworthy actors including Alessandro Gassman, Cécile Cassel and Silvio Orlando, this charming filmsuggests that there is an ex in everyone’s past who can’t — or won’t — be forgotten. Reminiscent of the best British romantic comedies, Brizzi’s film is a valentine delight to couples of all kinds — especially those who are no longer together. Written by Fausto Brizzi, Massimiliano Bruno, Marco Martani. Photographed by Marcello Montarso. With Claudio Bisio, Alessandro Gassman, Cécile Cassel, Nancy Brilli, Cristiana Capotondi. 120 min. In Italian with English subtitles. Distributed by Rai Cinema.

Wednesday, November 18
City of Florence Award Competition Films
6:30 pm PA-RA-DA
Director Marco Pontecorvo in person
Marco Pontecorvo (Italy/France/Romania 2008)
In this heartwarming true story, a French street clown named Miloud Oukili (Jalil Lespert) travels to Bucharest in 1992, three years after the overthrow of the Ceausescu dictatorship, to offer some cheer to local orphanages. When he discovers untold quantities of homeless children living in the streets, Miloud teaches the kids his trade so that they can earn money. To gain their trust, he spends time in the sewers where they live, tries to keep them sober and offers them the tools through which they can find self-respect. Touching and politically engaged, and featuring nonprofessional actors in most of the children’s roles, PA-RA-DA shows how through caring human relations an international humanitarian organization is formed. Since its incipience, the PA-RA-DA association has worked in Somalia, Kosovo, Honduras and other parts of the world. Written by Marco Pontecorvo, Roberto Tiraboschi. Photographed by Vincenzo Carpineta. With Jalil Lespert, Evita Ciri, Gabriel Rauta, 100 min. In French and Romanian with English subtitles. Distributed by Beta Cinema.
9:15 pm The House in the Clouds
North American Premiere
Director Claudio Giovannesi in person
Claudio Giovannesi (La casa sulle nuvole, Italy 2009)
Two brothers of different temperaments attempt to come to terms with their irresponsible and self-absorbed parents in this intimate family drama. Lorenzo (Emanuele Bosi) is a free-spirited jazz musician while Michele (Adriano Giannini) has a more staid life as a dog breeder. When the siblings discover that their father has sold the family home in Marrakesh, they travel there to rectify the situation. They discover that their dad is much the same as before, full of outlandish ideas including opening tourist hotels in Senegal and operating balloon trips in the Sahara. Featuring a diverse, groovy soundtrack (some of it composed by director Giovannesi) and picturesque Moroccan locales, this is a nuanced drama about parenting, brotherhood and the benefits and perils of being a dreamer. Written by Francesco Apice, Matteo Berdini, Claudio Giovannesi, Filippo Gravino. Photographed by Tommaso Borgstrom. With Emanuele Bosi, Adriano Giannini, Emilio Bonucci. 96 min. In Italian with English subtitles. Distributed by Rai Cinema.

Thursday, November 19
City of Florence Award Competition Films
6:15 pm Ex see 11/17
9:15 pm The Sicilian Girl see 11/17

Friday, November 20
City of Florence Award Competition Films
6:30 pm Lecture 21
West Coast Premiere
Director Alessandro Baricco in person
Alessandro Baricco (Lezione 21, Italy 2008)
This visually stylish, adventurous film offers an impressionistic recreation of a lecture on Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. Mondrian Kilroy (John Hurt) is convinced that the Ninth is overrated, and in order to prove it he conjures a snowy netherworld where a 19th-century music teacher named Anton Peters (Noah Taylor) is forced to defend the work to an eccentric group of villagers. Interspersed with Peters’ efforts are scenes in which Kilroy’s former students, including the lovely Marta (Leonor Watling), reminisce about their professor’s pedagogy. Covering topics including the Austrian music scene, Beethoven’s age and deafness, and in-depth discussions of the Ninth’s score, Lecture 21 confidently joins other innovative films about music such as The Red Violin (1998), Farinelli (1994) and 32 Short Films About Glenn Gould (1993). Written by Alessandro Baricco. Photographed by Gherardo Gossi. With Noah Taylor, John Hurt, Leonor Watling, Clive Russell, Tim Barlow. 92 min. In English. Distributed by Fandango Portobello Sales.
9:15 pm Sea Purple
North America Premiere
Director Donatella Maiorca and actress Maria Grazia Cucinotta in person
Donatella Maiorca (Viola di mare, Italy 2009)
Growing up in 19th-century Sicily, rebellious Angela (Valeria Solarino) finds herself attracted to her best friend Sara (Isabella Ragonese). As deep friendship turns to romantic passion, Angela’s strict father (a quarry boss) demands that the relationship cease and that she marry one of his workers. Refusing, Angela is locked in a cellar until her father determines a solution satisfactory to them both. Adapted from Giacomo Pilati’s novel based on a true story, this beautiful and seductive film dramatically portrays a historical case of gender-bending. The stunning Maria Grazia Cucinotta (who coproduced the film) is memorable in the supporting role of Agnese. Written by Donatella Maiorca, Donatella Diamanti, Pina Mandolfo. Photographed by Roberta Allegrini. With Valeria Solarino, Isabella Ragonese, Maria Grazia Cucinotta. 105 min. In Italian with English subtitles. Distributed by Italian Dreams Factory.

Saturday, November 21
City of Florence Award Competition Films
1:00 pm Lecture 21 see 11/20
3:45 pm The House in the Clouds see 11/18
6:30 pm Sea Purple see 11/20
9:15 pm Different from Whom?
North America Premiere
Director Umberto Carteni in person
Umberto Carteni (Diverso da chi?, Italy 2009)
Umberto Carteni’s comedic debut concerns a gay man whose life is complicated when he runs for office in a right-wing town. In an unnamed Italian city, the incumbent conservative mayor builds walls to stop crime. Piero (Italian sex symbol Luca Argentero, star of Lessons in Chocolate, NIC 2007) is more interested in building community — for gays and lesbians, in particular. When he is paired with running mate Adele, a more family-focused politician, conflict is predictably set in motion. As opposites start attracting, however, Piero’s career ambitions — and his long-term relationship with Remo (Filippo Nigro) — are threatened. Punctuated by bouncy R&B tunes and featuring the talented and beautiful Claudia Gerini (also seen in Fausto Brizzi’s Ex) as Adele, Different from Whom? is a delightful farce about sexuality and politics that playfully satirizes all identities along both continuums. Written by Fabio Bonifacci. Photographed by Marcello Montarso. With Luca Argentero, Claudia Gerini, Filippo Nigro. 102 min. In Italian with English subttiles. Distributed by Cattleya.

Sunday, November 22
City of Florence Award Competition Films
12:00 pm Different from Whom? See 11/21
2:45 pm PA-RA-DA see 11/18
Closing Night
5:45 pm Vincere
West Coast Premiere
Marco Bellocchio (Italy 2009)
Marco Bellocchio’s latest masterpiece details the life of Ida Dalser (Giovanna Mezzogiorno), the mother of notorious womanizer Benito Mussolini’s only acknowledged illegitimate child. The couple begin their relationship in Milan in 1914; Ida owns a beauty salon and Benito is an impassioned socialist union organizer and the editor of Avanti. Only a year later, however, he marries someone else, rewrites his left-wing past and repudiates his former lover and their son. Ida, obsessed to the point of madness yet tragically aware of what she’s doing, fights to be acknowledged and as a result is forcibly interned until death. With a stunning performance by Mezzogiorno as a woman grossly wronged, Bellocchio conceives Vincere as a grand opera gracefully employing historic newsreel footage, inventive montage techniques and an extraordinary score to give the film a surging symphonic stature. Written by Marco Bellocchio, Daniela Ceselli. Photographed by Daniele Ciprì. With Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Filippo Timi, Fausto Russo Alesi, Corinne Castelli. 128 min. In Italian with English subtitles. Distributed by IFC Films.
8:00 Closing Night Party in celebration of the City of Florence Awards with complimentary Italian beer and wine and delicious appetizers, One Embarcadero Center, Lobby Level (the former B. Dalton space).
9:00 pm Vincere

Film tickets $10 year-round SFFS/IIC members, $12.50 general, $11 seniors, students and persons with disabilities; Fall Season CineVoucher 10-Packs $90 SFFS/IIC members, $115 general; Opening Night film and party $15 SFFS/IIC members,  $20 general; Closing Night film and party $15 SFFS/IIC members, $20 general; Tickets available online at www.sffs.org, by calling 925.866.9559 or by faxing 925-866-9597. Box office opens October 6 for SFFS/IIC members and October 13 for the general public.

Full schedule and information: www.sffs.org.

New Italian Cinema is presented in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute, San Francisco under the auspices of the Consulate General of Italy and with sponsorship from the Italian Film Commission, Los Angeles; Moretti Beer; Hewlett-Packard; Ministero dei Beni Culturali; Comune di Firenze; Mediateca Regionale Toscana; Landmark Theatres; and Embarcadero Center. Support for the Opening and Closing Night parties is provided by Fuzio Universal Bistro, Moretti Beer and Siena Imports with additional support for the Closing Night party provided by Ciao Bella Gelato.

Rakhshan Bani Etemad, Iranian film director and screenwriter.

Two recent documentaries by Iranian director Rakhshan Bani-Etemad, “We are Half of Iran’s Population” (2009) and “Angels of the House of Sun”(2009), will be shown for the first time in the United States at Williams College. The screening will take place on Monday, Nov. 2 at 6:30 p.m. in Paresky Performance Space.  A Q&A will follow the screening.

“We are Half of Iran’s Population” takes place shortly before the June Presidential elections in Iran. The Women Rights Activists of Iran pose their questions to presidential candidates of Iran, and three of those candidates discuss their opinions after watching the film. Current President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad was not willing to take part in the film or to respond. By the time the film was completed, three of the individuals who took part landed in prison during the post-election protests and detentions. The film provides an extraordinarily intimate glimpse into the current situation in Iran.

“Angels of the House of Sun” is about a women’s shelter in one of Tehran’s poorest neighborhoods, where women gather a few hours a day to respite from daily abuse and tragic problems of poverty and drugs.

Rakhshan Bani-Etemad is among the most prominent Iranian film directors. She received a degree in film directing from the Faculty of Dramatic Arts at the Tehran University. Initially, she worked as a reporter but soon became interested in directing and screenwriting. She began examining and documenting various social and political issues in modern Iran, as well as the situation of women in Iranian society. “Foreign Currency” (1989), “Nargess” (1992), “The May Lady” (1998), and “Gilaneh” (2004) are just a few of the highly successful films she has directed. Bani-Etemad has received a number of local and international awards for her work, from the Fajr Film Festival, the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, and the Locarno International Film Festival.

[via] | image via wikipedia

“Bowling for Columbine”

“One Day in September,” “Bowling for Columbine” and “The Fog of War” will be among the 12 Oscar®-winning short and feature documentaries that will screen as part of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ “Oscar’s Docs, Part Five: Academy Award®-Winning Documentaries 1998–2003” beginning Monday, October 19, at 7:30 p.m. at the Academy’s Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood. The screenings will be held Monday evenings through November 23.

“Oscar’s Docs” is a comprehensive screening series of every short subject and feature to win the Academy Award for documentary filmmaking since the category was established in 1941.

The retrospective will feature the best available prints from the documentary collection of the Academy Film Archive. All of the evenings will feature panel discussions with the filmmakers (schedules permitting).

The complete “Oscar’s Docs” screening schedule is as follows:

Monday, October 19

“The Personals: Improvisations on Romance in the Golden Years” (1998) – 37 mins.
At a community theater in Manhattan, a group of senior citizens rehearse and perform an original play about their romantic lives.
Featuring an onstage discussion with producer-director Keiko Ibi.

“The Last Days” (1998) – 87 mins. Five Jewish Hungarians, now U.S. citizens, tell their stories of joyous lives before World War II, the horrors of Nazi persecution, and how they survived the Holocaust.
Featuring an onstage discussion with director-editor James Moll, producer June Beallor and Holocaust survivor Renee Firestone.

Monday, October 26

“King Gimp” (1999) – 40 mins. This film follows Dan Keplinger, born with cerebral palsy, from age 12 until his graduation from college, documenting his struggles with mainstream acceptance and his birth as an artist.
Featuring an onstage discussion with co-director and producer Susan Hannah Hadary.

“One Day in September” (1999) – 94 mins. This film revisits the international crisis that unfolded when members of the Palestinian group Black September took Israeli athletes hostage at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games.

Monday, November 2

“Big Mama” (2000) – 40 mins. An 89-year-old African-American woman in Los Angeles struggles to raise her troubled grandson against immense odds.
Featuring an onstage discussion with producer-director Tracy Seretean.

“Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport” (2000) – 122 mins. One of the lesser-known stories of the Holocaust is that of the Kindertransport, which saved the lives of 10,000 Jewish children.
Followed by a panel discussion with writer-director Mark Jonathan Harris, producer Deborah Oppenheimer and editor Kate Amend.

Monday, November 9

“Thoth” (2001) – 40 mins. In New York’s Central Park, the iconoclastic artist Thoth presents original one-man operas in an unknown language, accompanied by his exuberant violin performances.
Featuring an onstage discussion with producer Lynn Appelle.

“Murder on a Sunday Morning” (2001) – 111 mins. An African-American teenager is accused of murdering a woman in Florida, but his lawyer reopens the investigation and finds some crucial evidence supporting his client’s innocence.

Monday, November 16

“Twin Towers” (2002) – 34 mins. An elite NYPD emergency response unit, on call for a variety of extreme situations, took a heavy blow on 9/11, including the loss of Detective Joseph Vigiano, a talented officer whose family was rooted in public service.
Featuring an onstage discussion with executive producer and co-director Robert David Port, and producer Dan Sturman.

“Bowling for Columbine” (2002) – 120 mins. As filmmaker Michael Moore explores gun culture and the roots of gun violence in the United States, he offers a personal examination of the fear, bigotry and brutality that pervades American society.

Monday, November 23

“Chernobyl Heart” (2003) – 39 mins. This film traces the effects of a radiation disaster on the children of Belarus, through the country’s hospitals, cancer centers, orphanages and mental asylums.
Featuring an onstage discussion with producer-director Maryann DeLeo.

“The Fog of War” (2003) – 107 mins. Former Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara provides startling insights into his involvement in World War II, his controversial decisions during the Vietnam War, and his later years as president of the World Bank.

Tickets to Oscar’s Docs are $5 for the general public and $3 for Academy members and students with a valid ID. Tickets are available for purchase by mail, at the Academy box office (8949 Wilshire Boulevard, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ), or online at www.oscars.org.

A limited number of series passes for all six evenings of screenings are available for $15 for the general public and $10 for Academy members and students with a valid ID. (Previous “Oscar’s Docs” passholders can renew their old passes for a $5 discount. )

Doors open one hour prior to the event. All seating is unreserved. The Linwood Dunn Theater is located at the Academy’s Pickford Center for Motion Picture Study, 1313 Vine Street in Hollywood. For more information call (310) 247-3600 or visit www.oscars.org.

Darwin’s Dilemma will be screened at 7 p.m. on Sunday, October 25th in the IMAX Theater at the California Science Center, a specially designated Smithsonian affiliation. Following the film will be a post-film discussion featuring Darwin skeptic Dr. David Berlinski, author of The Devil’s Delusion: Atheism and its Scientific Pretensions, and leading intelligent design scientist Dr. Jonathan Wells, biologist and author of Icons of Evolution. The screening is sponsored and hosted by the American Freedom Alliance.

The hour-long documentary explores one of the great mysteries in the history of life: the sudden appearance of dozens of major complex animal types in the fossil record without any trace of the gradual transitional steps predicted by Darwin. Frequently described as “the Cambrian Explosion,” the development of these new animal types required a massive increase in genetic information.

The film, shot on location at fossil digs in China and Canada, traces Darwin’s own study of the fossil record and recreates the prehistoric world of the Cambrian era with state-of-the-art computer animation. Darwin’s Dilemma also features interviews with leading evolutionary paleontologists such as Simon Conway Morris of Cambridge University and James Valentine of the University of California at Berkeley, as well as Dr. Stephen Meyer, Dr. Wells, and other intelligent design proponents.

In 2005, the Discovery Institute premiered the film The Privileged Planet at the Smithsonian’s Museum of Natural History.

SOURCE Discovery Institute

Where: Westfield Memorial Library, 550 E Broad St, Westfield, NJ 07090
Date: October 20, 2009
Time: 2:00pm–4:00pm

Features: Open to All

Website: http://www.wmlnj.org/

Jellyfish is a 78-minute long 2007 Israeli film which also won the 2007 Camera d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. The film, directed by Shira Geffen and her husband, Etgar Keret, is about three women in Tel Aviv and gives a picture of life in Israel.

The film follows three distinctive women as they struggle through their lives in modern Tel Aviv. Batya (Sarah Adler) is a catering waitress whose problems include a dissolving relationship, a soul-sucking job, a trunk full of mommy and daddy issues, and the unexpected responsibility of caring for a mute waif (Nikol Leidman) who emerges out of the sea and lands in her life. Keren (Noa Knoller) is a beautiful young bride who breaks her foot at her wedding reception — her Caribbean honeymoon is replaced by a dissatisfying stay at a local hotel. Lastly, there is the ironically named Joy (Ma-nenita De Latorre), an English speaking Filipino wracked with guilt because she has left her five year-old son in her native land while she scratches out a living as a personal nurse to the elderly who insist on speaking Hebrew to their uncomprehending aide. [via] | [via]

Showtime @ 7:30 pmAdmission:

$8 – general
$5 – students/seniors

GIFF members free!

Where: Studio@620, 620 1st Ave. South, St. Pete, 727-895-6620

Those Three (An Seh)

A film by Naghi Nemati

Farsi and Turkish, with subtitles in English

Iran, 2007 (80 minutes)

Synopsis

Just one day from completing their military training, three conscripts desert their camp and escape into the frozen wilderness of Northern Iran. Travel through this mountainous, snowbound region is dangerous, but “those three” opt for the independence it promises and must now forge their way through an uncertain landscape, with only friendship to see them through. In this austere and mesmerizing debut feature, director Naghi Nemati’s attention to the minutiae of human relationships is a quiet and deliberate meditation on the value of responsibility, connection and sacrifice.

About the Director

Naghi Nemati was born in Ardebil, Iran in 1977. He is a graduate of Film Directing from Soureh College of Isafahan. In 1993 he began making short films, the first of which, Like The Umbrella of the Kids, received several awards and screened successfully at festivals worldwide. He has enjoyed a multifaceted career in film, having held several different positions, including scriptwriter, editor, actor and photographer. Those Three is his first feature film.

“The Telephone Book” a once forgotten, biting satire on sexual morality about a girl who falls in love with the world’s greatest obscene phone caller has been re-discovered by a new generation of young moviegoers and has become a DVD cult-film sensation throughout Europe. It will now be seen in Los Angeles, for the first time in 40 years, when the American Cinematheque hosts a special screening of the film at the Egyptian Theater on November 5th at 8:00 pm. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with the film’s producer and well-known figure in motion picture advertising, Merv Bloch.

Once dismissed by mainstream film critics as obscene and pornographic, it is now being hailed as a missing masterpiece. It was considered a source of inspiration for Bernardo Bertolucci’s “Last Tango In Paris.” Steve Martin called it one of his favorite films of the ‘70s. “The Telephone Book”, has not been seen in Los Angeles since it played at the Vogue Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard in 1971.

The subject matter of the film was uniquely ahead of its time since it focused on “telephone sex” which has since become a virtual staple of modern sexual expression.

Written and directed by Nelson Lyon, the film stars Sarah Kennedy (a distant relative of the Kennedy family) and features Jill Clayburgh in one of her early screen roles. Also appearing in the movie are an eclectic cast of actors, including Barry Morse (Inspector Gerard in the TV series “The Fugitive”), William Hickey (Academy Award nominee for “Prizzi’s Honor”), Roger C. Carmel an actor who achieved television immortality by appearing as Harry Mudd in the original “Star Trek” TV series and Norman Rose, a veteran actor best known for his voiceover work in radio and television commercials. Andy Warhol film regulars Ultra Violet, Ondine and Geri Miller are also in the cast. Andy Warhol actually appeared in the film but his scene was later cut and lost. A substantial reward is being offered for any information leading to the recovery of this lost Warhol footage.

The Merv Bloch Production, “The Telephone Book”, will be presented at the American Cinematheque on Thursday, November 5th at 8:00 pm. Following the screening and a Q&A with Merv Bloch, the Cinematheque will show a special highlight reel featuring many of Bloch’s iconic movie trailers and TV spots. From 1970 to the early 1990’s, Bloch was one of the leading, independent creative forces in movie advertising and his company, Rosebud Studio, designed and produced some of the most distinguished and successful advertising campaigns, film posters and trailers of that period, including, “Saturday Night Fever”, “Star Trek”, “Heaven Can Wait”, “Marathon Man”, “Julia”, “Cabaret”, “Flashdance”, “Hannah And Her Sisters”, “Radio Days”, “Crimes And Misdemeanors”, “Bullets Over Broadway”, “An Unmarried Woman”, “Paper Moon”, “Murder On The Orient Express”, “The Conversation”, “Chinatown” and “Raging Bull.”

A special edition DVD box-set plus signed reprints of the award-winning film poster for “The Telephone Book” will be available for purchase.

For further information, please go to American Cinematheque website, (www.americancinematheque.com) or “The Telephone Book” website,

(www.hello-film.com)