News

With Janus possessing the much-needed restorations, Catherine Breillat is getting her biggest-ever spotlight in November’s Criterion Channel series spanning 1976’s A Real Young Girl to 2004’s Anatomy of Hell––just one of numerous retrospectives arriving next month. They’re also spotlighting Ida Lupino, directorial efforts of John Turturro (who also gets an “Adventures In Moviegoing”), the Coen brothers, and Jacques Audiard.

In a slightly more macroscopic view, Columbia Noir and a new edition of “Queersighting” ring in Noirvember. Gregg Araki’s Teen Apocalypse trilogy and Miller’s Crossing get Criterion Editions, while restorations of David Bowie-starrer The Linguini Incident, Med Hondo’s West Indies, and Dennis Hopper’s Out of the Blue make streaming debuts; and Kevin Jerome Everson’s Tonsler Park arrives just in time for another grim election day.

See the full list of titles arriving in November below:

36 fillette, Catherine Breillat, 1988

Anatomy of Hell, Catherine Breillat,...

New Indie

Michael Almereyda has tackled science (as a topic of either biopics or dramas) in a fascinating way in “Experimenter” and “Marjorie Prime,” and now he’s bringing that same energy to the inventor-biopic with “Tesla” (Shout Factory/IFC), a bold and audacious look at the life of Nikola Tesla. Ethan Hawke, in the title role, is evenly matched by Eve Hewson’s Anne Morgan, and they both nail Almereyda’s unique tone, which throws in anachronisms and green-screens to tell the story of someone who stretched the notions of what his peers imagined could be possible.

Also available: Madison Iseman plays a young girl with mental-health issues who can’t convince anyone she’s witnessed a crime in “Fear of Rain” (Lionsgate); 2012 indie “Watching TV with the Red Chinese” (Mvd Visual), co-starring Constance Wu and Gillian Jacobs, makes its U.S. DVD debut; Sienna Miller and Diego Luna...

The York Theatre Companyin association with Documentary Artspresents the world premiere of the new musical Lonesome Blues, based on the true story of legendary bluesman Blind Lemon Jefferson, created by Alan Govenar Texas in Paris and AkiBabatunde Blind Lemon Blues, directed by Katherine Owens How Is It That We Live or Shakey Jake Alice, performed by AkiBabatunde with David Weiss on guitar.

Celebrating a program built on the notion that not every national cultural treasure becomes a household name, Alan Govenar's Extraordinary Ordinary People introduces viewers to the varied bunch of Americans who've been awarded National Heritage Fellowships over the last 35 or so years. Though undistinguished as a piece of moviemaking (its aesthetic is best suited to educational settings), the doc benefits from the spectrum of talent on display. It's also a reminder, in an increasingly arts-hostile time, that government programs don't only support esoteric and controversial works: If there's not something (likely many somethings) you enjoy represented on the long...

The wordless opening sequence of You Don’t Need Feet to Dance packs a powerful punch. The camera remains an impassioned observer as it follows African immigrant Sidiki Conde going through his morning paces — getting out of bed, taking a vigorous bath, dressing himself and bounding down the steps of his NYC fifth-floor walk-up apartment. It would all be quite mundane, except for the very relevant fact that he’s doing all this without the use of his legs. This documentary by Alan Govenar (The Beat Hotel) film chronicles the backstory and current day-to-day existence of this

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From director Alan Govenar comes a feature documentary titled You Don’t Need Feet to Dance, which tells the life story of Sidiki Conde, born in 1961, in Guinea, West Africa, who, at age fourteen, was left almost completely paralyzed by polio. Here's his story, courtesy of a First Run Features press release (they are releasing the film): Sent to live with his grandfather in a village deep in the forest, Sidiki learned to manage his disability, building his upper-body strength so that he could walk on his hands. When faced with the dilemma of dancing in a coming of age ceremony, he reconstructed the traditional steps by dancing on his hands instead of his feet. In time...

From director Alan Govenar comes a feature documentary titled You Don’t Need Feet to Dance, which tells the life story of Sidiki Conde, born in 1961, in Guinea, West Africa, who, at age fourteen, was left almost completely paralyzed by polio. Here's his story, courtesy of First Run Features, who are releasing the film: Sent to live with his grandfather in a village deep in the forest, Sidiki learned to manage his disability, building his upper-body strength so that he could walk on his hands. When faced with the dilemma of dancing in a coming of age ceremony, he reconstructed the traditional steps by dancing on his hands instead of his feet. In time Sidiki ran...

In conjunction with the Austin Parks and Recreation Department, SXSW returns to the George Washington Carver Museum & Cultural Center with several events open to the general public. This year's evening events include:

"Blacks in Technology" on Friday, March 12 (6 pm-9 pm) and "Latinos in Technology" Sunday, March 14 (6 pm-9 pm)

Carver will also host the Texas High School Shorts on Saturday, March 13 at 5 pm. This showcase serves as a preview of the next filmmaking generation, as Texas high school students present shorts of 5 minutes or less.

Also screening for free at Carver is The Work of Alan Govenar: Part 1, Sunday, March 14 at 2 pm, featuring:

Little Willie Eason and His Talking Gospel Guitar (2005) takes the stage of the street and a House of God Church south of Miami to highlight the man who introduced the pedal steel guitar as an instrument to express his deep-seeded faith.

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Diversity seems to be the key this year at the SXSW festival, which takes place in Austin, TX from March 12-20, as they’ve now announced the full lineup of Panels and short films that will be at this years event. As with the feature films schedule, this list of panels and shorts should provide an almost endless supply of diverse and interesting programming for attendees.

Following sre some highlights of panels we think are worth checking out. For a full list and descriptions, head over to the SXSW official site. Also, be sure to check back here at The Flickast as we’ll be at SXSW this year to bring you all the details on these great events and much more.

A Conversation with Michel Gondry

The stratospheric rise of Academy Award-winning visionary Michel Gondry is one of the great success stories of modern film. Working with fellow travelers like Spike Jonze,...

The South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival (March 12 - March 16, 2010) has announced the short film program and the list of panel participants. Michel Gondry, David Gordon Green, Jody Hill, Danny McBride, Ruben Fleischer, Matt Reeves, Eli Roth, Quentin Tarantino, and Ti West are among the people scheduled to participate. The full list can be viewed at the provided link. As to the shorts program, the list is featured at the bottom of this post. The lineup is extensive, and full of unique films waiting to be discovered.

Comprehensive Short Films Lineup

Narrative Shorts

A selection of original, well-crafted films that take advantage of the short form and exemplify distinctive and genuine storytelling. The winner of our Grand Jury Award in this category is eligible for a 2011 Academy Award nomination for Best Narrative Short.

Anatinus

Director: David Wanger

A glimpse of the dawn of a strange new era.

Bedford Park Boulevard...