Moscow festival unveils lineup
Variety
June 9, 2008
By Nick Holdsworth
LONDON – Moscow’s 30th international film festival unspools June 19 with a
competition that includes German director Veit Helmer’s German-Afghan
co-production "Absurdistan" and "The Simple Heart" (Un Coeur Simple) the
solo debut by French actress-turned-director Marion Laine.
The festival, criticized in recent years for placing more emphasis on
attracting Hollywood guest stars and racked last year by an internal dispute
that ended in a change of organizers, has a stronger competition lineup this
year – something observers credit to Russian-speaking Finnish cineaste,
Kirsi Tykkylainen, the former head of the international department of the
Finnish Film Fund, who was appointed program head last year.
The full competition program – to be judged by a jury chaired by actress Liv
Ullmann – includes: "The Visitor" (dir. Tom McCarthy, U.S.); "Majdnem Szuz"
(Virtual Virgin; dir. Peter Bacso, Hungary); "Mao Ce Dun" (dir. Besnik
Bisha, Albania); "Sad" (The Cherry Orchard, dir. Sergey Ovcharov, Russia);
"Raiskiye Ptitsy" (Birds of Paradise, dir. Roman Balayan, Ukraine); "Giorni
e Nuvole" (Days and Clouds, dir. Silvio Soldini, Italy/Switzerland);
"Vedramot" (A Quiet Storm, dir. Guony Halldorsdottir, Iceland); "Zift" (dir.
Javor Gardev, Bulgaria); "Odnazhdy v Provintsii" (Once Upon a Time in the
Provinces, dir. Katya Shagalova, Russia); "Manecer de un Sueno" (Awaking
from a Dream, dir. Freddy Mas, Spain); "Duiande Zhangzheng" (The War of the
Shore, dir. Li Xin, China); "Be Hamin Sadegi"(As Simple as That, dir. Reza
Mir Karimi, Iran); "Der Mond Und Andere Liebhaber" (The Moon and Other
Lovers, dir. Bernd Boehlich, Germany); and "For My Father" (dir. Dror
Zahavi, Israel).
Out of competition, the festival opens with a screening of Will Smith’s
comic superhero "Hancock" at which Smith, Charlize Theron, director Peter
Berg and producer Akiva Goldsman will be present, and June 25 there is a
gala screening of Andrew Stanton’s Disney/Pixar’s new animated feature
"Wall-E."
The Moscow International Film Festival runs June 19-28.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
