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The Oldenburg Film Festival has picked two iconoclast filmmakers to honor for its 30th anniversary edition: French actor/director Isild Le Besco and Canadian producer Jen Gatien. Both women have carved out unique paths in independent cinema, defying conventions and expectations.

Le Besco has worked in front of the camera since she was eight, and by her early 20s was already a face of French auteur cinema, with two César nominations — for her performances in Benoît Jacquot’s Sade (2000) and Cédric Kahn’s Roberto Succo (2001) and a best actress honor in Venice for Jacquot’s L’Intouchable (2006).

Her directorial debut, 2004’s Demi-Tarif (Half-Price), the story of three young siblings, Romeo (Kolia Litscher), Launa (Lila Salet), and the youngest, Leo (Cindy David), left on their own in a rundown Paris apartment, was an unmediated look into the world of childhood and drew praise from the likes of Mia Hansen-Løve, whose review,...

Abel Ferrara has never had the easiest time when it comes to U.S. distribution for his films. He usually winds up with tiny companies who can only afford limited releases ("Chelsea On The Rocks") or taking literally years to find a screen stateside ("Go Go Tales"); being a Ferrara fan can be frustrating. But his last film—prior to this year's double whammy of "Welcome To New York" and "Pasolini"—"4:44 Last Day On Earth" hit U.S. cinemas in the able hands of IFC Films, and it seemed things went well. The company snatched up the rights to the director's next effort, "Welcome To New York," but it seems something has gone wrong. Arriving in theaters and on VOD in France this past spring, the movie is inspired by the scandal that surrounded by former Imf chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, when he was accused of sexually assaulting a New York City maid.

Abel Ferrara is a handful. With wild gestures and expertly timed jokes, he piles the digressions high, but is much sharper and in control than his legendarily hard-living persona would suggest. The sixty-one-year-old has had one of American indie cinema’s most eclectic careers. A Bronx native, Ferrara has made his way from 42nd Street’s row of exploitation and porn theaters to the Croissette in Cannes. He mantains a manic, youthful energy that is both infectious and a bit terrifying, and although since he became sober over a year ago he has mellowed a bit, the toll that years of less-than-legal substances has taken has certainly not affected the filmmaker's wit or broad-hearted sensibility.

His new film, "4:44 Last Day On Earth," was shot early last spring and was initially slated to star Ethan Hawke. Some sources have claimed that Hawke dropped out after shooting had begun, rumors that Ferrara declined to address.

If you generally like depraved movies and you love temperamental and mercurial curmudgeons, it's pretty much mandatory that you adore Bronx-born filmmaker Abel Ferrara. Maybe you don't think all his films are successful ("Dangerous Game", "Body Snatchers"), maybe you think some of them are near Big Apple sleaze-masterpieces ("King of New York," "Bad Lieutenant") and very possibly you haven't seen the ones that have had trouble finding proper distribution ("Mary," "Go Go Tales," "Chelsea On The Rocks"), but in theory, you love his no holds barred approach, his refusal to sugarcoat anything in an interview, and his general cantankerous mien.…...

A look at what's new on DVD today:

"Calvin Marshall" (2010)

Directed by Gary Lundgren

Released by Passion River

Steve Zahn exemplifies the adage those who can't do teach as a college baseball coach who never was quite good enough to make the majors who sees something of himself in an enthusiastic but unskilled player (Alex Frost) that he keeps on the team in writer/director Gary Lundgren's feature debut.

"Chelsea on the Rocks" (2009)

Directed by Abel Ferrara

Released by Hannover House

"Bad Lieutenant" director Ferrara compiles a biography of the famed Chelsea Hotel in New York through archival footage, reenactments and interviews with the many artists who have stayed there throughout the years from Milos Forman and R. Crumb to Ethan Hawke and Gaby Hoffman.

"Claang the Game" (2009)

Directed by Stefano Milla

Released by Triumphant Entertainment

A game of "Claang," a strategy-heavy match of wits, leads to a discussion...

This was a tad unexpected.

Over the past few years, Abel Ferrara has had quite an underground career. Films like Go Go Tales and Chelsea On The Rocks were pretty much unseen by the public, and even much hyped projects like his Jekyll & Hyde film were either stalled or completely shelved.

Read more on Director Abel Ferrara going to Broadway…...

Above: Abel Ferrara directs Bijou Phillips on the set of Chelsea on the Rocks.

If you think of Chelsea on the Rocks, the new movie by Abel Ferrara, as an “informative documentary,” then it probably seems like a total failure. Interviewees are never identified; when famous faces pop up, the reason for their “importance” is never explained. As far as the movie’s concerned, Ethan Hawke is just a divorced father, Dennis Hopper is just a Dylan Thomas fan, Milos Forman is just some guy who knows how to tell a good story. Any attempts Ferrara makes to explain the change in the famous building's management that's supposedly the reason for the movie are at best half-hearted. If you wanna learn about that, you're better off reading a magazine. Yes, it's a documentary, but not one about the Chelsea Hotel. The history here, the famous names and events, are just wallpaper.

Release Date: Oct. 2 (limited)

Director: Abel Ferrara

Writers: Abel Ferrara, David Linter, and Christ Zois

Cinematographers: David Hausen and Ken Kelsch

Studio/Run Time: Aliquot Films, 88 mins.

In 2007, the longtime manager of New York’s Chelsea Hotel, Stanley Bard, was forced from his position in an attempt at turning the sometime-bohemian paradise into a corporate edifice earning money from its historic status. It’s an interesting and ongoing story, one that director Abel Ferrara has been capturing on film as it’s been happening by speaking with many of the hotel’s current and past inhabitants about the building’s past and future and how much it’s affected them personally. Too bad that’s only a small portion of the ramshackle Chelsea on the Rocks, which only peripherally explores the current developments and as a result topples under the weight of its unfocused ambition.

There’s no better director to chronicle the history of New York’s Chelsea Hotel than Abel Ferrara, whose best films draw energy from the city’s bohemian decay. Home, briefly or otherwise, to an impossibly long list of artistic luminaries, the hotel has been memorialized by Leonard Cohen and Andy Warhol as a vibrant den of sin, a place where geniuses rub elbows with (and sometimes are) transsexuals and heroin addicts. Ferrara himself is no stranger to substance abuse or self-destructive impulses, and he’s perfectly in sync with the Chelsea’s spirit. Ferrara’s Chelsea On The Rocks ...

This week's offerings give us the choice of walking with death or battling the undead. For those taking it easy this week, there's also roller skating with Ellen Page and having fun playing God (or inventing him, at any rate) with Ricky Gervais.

Download this in audio form (MP3: 14:51 minutes, 13.6 Mb) Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [Xml] [iTunes]

"Afterschool"

After making a name for himself at Cannes with his award-winning shorts, Nyu film grad Antonio Campos took his feature debut there last year. "Afterschool" earned its share of controversy during its festival run, along with as a Spirit Award nomination for best first feature. Reminiscent of Gus Van Sant and Michael Haneke, this hazy story of digital detachment blends viral video and prep school tragedy in its story of a paranoid internet junkie (Ezra Miller) who witnesses the death of a pair of classmates who overdose on drugs, and...

MPAA ratings: Aug. 12, 2009. The following feature-length motion pictures have been reviewed and rated by the Classification and Rating Administration pursuant to the Motion Picture Classification and Rating program. Each of the designated ratings is defined as follows under the Motion Picture Classification and Rating program.

G -- General Audiences. All ages admitted.

PG -- Parental Guidance Suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.

PG -13 --Parents Strongly Cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

R -- Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

Nc-17 -- No One 17 And Under Admitted.

Adventures of Power

Variance Films

Rated for some language including sexual references.

PG-13

Blood on the Highway

Lightning Media

Rated for strong bloody horror violence throughout, pervasive language including graphic crude sexual dialogue, and some sexuality.

R

Chelsea on the Rocks

Hannover House

Rated for language, drug content, some sexual material and brief violence.

R

Free Willy: Escape From Pirate's Cove

Warner Premiere

Rated for mild thematic elements.

PG

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Extended Version)

Warner Home Video

Rated for some scary moments and mild language.

Note: Edited Version. Content Is Different From PG Rated Version, Bulletin No. 1684 (8/22/01).

Gentrification is defined as the process of renewal and rebuilding accompanying the influx of middle-class or affluent people into deteriorating areas that often displaces poorer residents.

Along with the poor residents, many times the essence of the area departs as well.

Legendary independent filmmaker Abel Ferrara explored the disparaging effects of gentrification at the legendary Chelsea Hotel in his documentary "Chelsea on the Rocks."

The movie was was screened following Ferrara's Career Achievement Tribute at the Gusman Theater in downtown Miami Thursday night.

Anthology Film Archives regretfully announces that it will not be able to open the new feature Chelsea On The Rocks for its premiere engagement, which had been scheduled to screen daily from March 20 to 26. Anthology has been informed that the distributor with whom it booked the film, Empire Film Group / Hannover House, has decided not to, or is unable to, follow through on its plans to represent the film. The producers have thus canceled the engagement despite the prior commitment for the NY Theatrical Premiere which was announced by Anthology. Citing contractual reasons, the producers have declined to honor this commitment.

• As usual, Wild Bunch comes to Cannes this year loaded up in film offerings with most notably three antcipated titles in post production status: Aronofsky's The Wrestler,  Belge helmer Jaco Van Dormael's Mr Nobody and Claire Denis' White Material. The Paris-based company has a heavy slate which is comprised of Cannes selected films and market projects. A Complete History Of My Sexual Failure  by Chris Waitt - Completed      Afterwards  by Gilles Bourdos - Post-Production  Buddhas Collapsed Out Of Shame   by Hana Makhmalbaf - Completed     Camino  by Javier Fesser - Post-Production     Che - Part 1  by Steven Soderbergh - Completed     Che - Part 2  by Steven Soderbergh - Completed     Chelsea On The Rocks  by Abel Ferrara - Completed     Don't Look Back  by Marina De Van - Post-Production     Dorothy Mills  by Agnès Merlet - Completed     Downloading Nancy  by Johan Renck - Completed     Hollywood : I'm Sleeping Over Tonight  by Antoine De Maximy

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• I’m guessing that with one third of the films representing first time efforts, this year’s Un Certain Regard section will be a crapshoot for buyers and critics alike. Those that stick out among the pack come from promising directors with sophomore features such as…: Milh Hadha Al-Bahr (Salt of this Sea) (Annemarie Jacir)We often see stories about the immigrant struggle in a country that is not theirs…this is the flipside Pov a former Palestinian finding it difficult to find her footing in her native land. Jacir’s debut looks like a sure bet for a healthy film festival circuit. Los Bastardos (Amat Esclante)Crossing the line for a pair of Mexican immigrants appears to take on a whole new meaning with Amat Esclante’s 2nd feature. His debut, Sangre belongs to the contemporary, art-house bunch of films that portrays a dismal life. Los Bastardos

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• Here is the complete 2008 Cannes Line Up. Main Competition: Nuri Bilge Ceylan - Three Monkeys (Turkey-France-Italy) Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne - Le Silence De Lorna (France-Belgium)Arnaud Desplechin - A Christmas Story (France) Clint Eastwood - Changeling (Us)Atom Egoyan - Adoration (Canada) Ari Folman - Waltz With Bashir (Israel) Philippe Garrel - La Frontiere De L'Aube (France) Matteo Garrone - Gomorra (Italy)Charlie Kaufman - Synecdoche, New York (Us) Eric Khoo - My Magic (Singapore) Lucretia Martel - La Mujer Sin Cabeza (Argentina-Spain) Brillante Mendoza - Serbis (The Philippines) Kornel Mondruczo - Delta (Hungary-Germany) Walter Salles & Daniela Thomas - Linha de Passe (Brazil) Paolo Sorrentino - Il Divo (Italy) Pablo Trapero - Lion's Den (Argentina-South Korea) Wim Wenders - The Palermo Shooting (Germany) Jia Zhangke - 24 City (China)Steven Soderbergh - Che (Us-Spain-France) -- one four-hour competion title comprised of The Argentine and Guerrilla Out of competitionSteven Spielberg -

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The 10th annual CineVegas Film Festival, set for June 12-21 at the Palms Casino Resort and the Brenden Theatres in Las Vegas, will kick off with the world premiere of Peter Cattaneo's The Rocker, starring Rainn Wilson as a failed drummer who joins his nephew's high school rock band.

Sean McGinly's The Great Buck Howard, starring John Malkovich, Colin Hanks, Emily Blunt and Tom Hanks, will close the fest.

CineVegas, under the leadership of artistic director Trevor Groth, will host several other world premieres, including Ben Rodkin's Big Heart City; the neo-noir musical Dark Streets from director Rachel Samuels; the comedy Happy Birthday, Harris Malden, from Sweaty Robot, a Philadelphia comedy troupe; Josh Fox's Memorial Day; Rolf Belgum's She Unfolds by Day; J.L. Vara's South of Heaven; and Matthew Wilder's Your Name Here.

The fest will also hold a new competitive section for documentaries that will include Aaron Rose's Beautiful Losers; Abel Ferrara's Chelsea on the Rocks; Nicola Collins' The End; Paul Eagleston and Stephen Rose's Hi My Name Is Ryan; Dan Lindsay's "Road to the World Series of Beer Pong "; and John Corey's Lost in the Fog .

The fest line-up will also include a group of films from first and second-time Mexican filmmakers under the sidebar title La Proxima Ola; Vegas Uncovered, a special section of documentaries about Las Vegas; Diamond Discoveries, a sampling of new indie features seeking distribution; and Sure Bets, advance screening of indie features that are set for release.

• Apart from film examples such as The Band's Visit, Munyurangabo (Liberation Day) and Terror's Advocate, last year’s Un Certain Regard Section had its share of misfires – films that took the experimental route but felt more like - old bath tub water. This year’s batch of twenty titles includes another mix of veteran and first time filmmakers with perhaps the James Toback's bio-docu on friend (Iron Mike) Tyson, Abel Ferrara’s latest work Chelsea On The Rocks and finally Bong Joon Ho, Leos Carax and Michel Gondry collab Tokyo! to garner the most attention from buyers and critic crowds. The five films I’m most looking forward to are Germany’s Wolke 9 by Andreas Dresen, Los Bastardos by Amat Escalante (he is the was the Dop for Carlos Reygadas’ first two films and a couple of years back he released another dismal portrait of Mexico with Sangre.

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