What a week at Enzian to come back to following two virtually successive business trips to Canada for the Toronto Film Festival and New York for the IFP Market! Seth Gordon's THE KING OF KONG: A FISTFUL OF QUARTERS finishes its run Thursday night and it's easily one of the best, if not most entertaining, docs of the year. Following KONG on the schedule Friday is the exclusive Orlando engagement of IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON, the highly acclaimed doc feature about the Apollo space missions, science, and human fortitude and triumph. The highest rated film ever when it comes to Florida Film Festival Audience Award ballots, this is simply one of the most inspiring films you'll ever see--it moves you and shakes you and genuinely makes you proud to be part of the human race. It will be a major upset if David Sington's wonderful film doesn't snag an Oscar nomination for Best Doc Feature.

So that's just the regular programming. A couple of nights ago we screened an excellent studio print of the Director's Cut of Terry Gilliam's BRAZIL as part of the Sundance Channel Film Series/Cult Classics program that has taken up residence as the 9:30 show the final Tuesday of every month. Talk about a film that gets better with age! And what an incredible cast, many of whom I had forgotten were even in it: Jonathan Pryce, Michael Palin, Robert De Niro, Bob Hoskins, Jim Broadbent, Katherine Helmond, Ian Holm, the list goes on and on...

Wednesday night drew a packed house for the 10th annual Manhattan Short Film Festival, a collection of 12 shorts from around the world that featured audience award ballots that give viewers world-wide the chance to pick their favorite film from the bunch (results to be announced shortly...)

Daytimes at Enzian have been filled four days this week with field trips for local high schools screening selections from the 5th annual Global Peace Film Festival, which runs from September 26 - 30 here in Orlando (good luck Nina and Kelly!)

And this weekend, Enzian plays host to the 13th annual South Asian Film Festival from Saturday - Monday, 9/29 - 10/1. Co-produced with Jasbir Mehta and the Asian Cultural Association, once again we have put together an oustanding program of four recent films making headlines and packing festival venues and theaters nationwide. John Jeffcoat's witty and charming OUTSOURCED, Sharat Raju and Valarie Kaur's powerful DIVIDED WE FALL: AMERICANS IN THE AFTERMATH (w/ Ms. Kaur in attendance for Q & A), Rajnesh Domalpalli's acclaimed, award-winning VANAJA, and Jag Mundhra's star-studded, topical PROVOKED will all screen as part of the festival. Films are in Hindi, Telugu, Punjabi (all w/ English subtitles of course) and English, and you can count on delicious somosas and ice-cold Kingfisher beer to be served as long as supplies last. Series passes are going fast, but there should also be at least a few individual tickets still available at the door.

That's 23 different films screening at Enzian this week--not bad for a single screen, non-profit art house.

--Matthew

Tuesday night was another banner night for milestones in Major League Baseball, with one likely (AL) MVP doing his damage in a losing cause and one possible (NL) MVP bringing his team ever closer to a division title. Congratulations to Prince Fielder of the Milwaukee Brewers for becoming the youngest player ever to hit 50 home runs in a season (and the youngest since Willie Mays did it back in 1955!) His two blasts against the Cardinals helped reduce the Cubbies' lead in the division to 2 games with 5 to go--Chicago's on the road and the Brew Crew is at home, so who knows what can happen. And Fielder just keeps cranking along, now with 50 HRs and 119 RBI while hitting a very respectable .291 for a power hitter. Whether or not that's good enough to earn him a National League MVP award may depend on what happens the rest of this week. But even if they finish 2nd, he's got to be in the running with those stats. Now if he could just bury the hatchet with his estranged dad, former All-Star Cecil Fielder--that whole situation is just sad, really sad.

Back around these parts, A-Rod was hitting yet another Grand Slam to put the Yankees up 5-0 in the 3rd on the Tampa Bay Devil Rays with NY only needing one win or Detroit loss to guarantee themselves a playoff spot (so it's only a matter of time). But those pesky Rays (read:spoilers, see Washington Nationals also) roughed up the Yankee bullpen and put up a 6-spot in the sixth inning, and ended up winning it on a walk-off homer in 10th. A shocking turn of events, giving the Red Sox a 3-game division lead with 5 to play--perhaps Boston fans can finally exhale. Despite the loss, Alex Rodriguez keeps doing his thing, which will surely earn him the AL MVP at season's end. The man now has 53 HRs and 151 RBI and is hitting .311, unbelievable stats that will only be diminished if he flames out in the playoffs. Those numbers (at least 50 home runs and 150+ RBI) put him in a highly exclusive club with only 3 other players in baseball history: Sammy Sosa (in 1998 and 2001, more than likely with a little help from science don't you think?), JImmie Foxx in the 1930s (twice), and Babe Ruth in the 1920s (3 times!). Rarified air indeed.

--Matthew

One World, One Week, One Festival--You Be the Judge! And judge we shall this Wednesday at 6:30 PM as Enzian joins over 100 cinemas across Europe, North, South and Central America in screening an outstanding international collection of shorts under the moniker, "The 10th Annual Manhattan Short Film Festival." 12 finalists have been selected for the program from 456 entries from 33 countries, and what's even more exciting is that only one of them has previously screened at Enzian--Craig Rosenthal's THE TRAINEE from Singapore, which was a hit in this year's International Showcase in the 2007 Florida Film Festival. Audience members will be asked to vote for their favorite, and the winner is to be announced on Sunday, September 30 in Union Square Park in NYC.

The highly acclaimed lineup includes: Sonja Jasansky's LINES (USA); Susan Jacobson and Eric Boden's ONE HUNDRETH OF A SECOND (UK); Florian Ross' CLOONEY (Germany); Tom Harper's CHERRIES (UK); John Raskin's I MET THE WALRUS (Canada); Shefy Malek's BORIS'S COMPLETE BOOK OF RULES (Israel); Hugo Sanz' THE PRESTIDIGITADOR (Spain); Simon Ellis' SOFT (UK); the aforementioned THE TRAINEE; Diego Quemeda-Diez' I WANT TO BE A PILOT (Kenya); Rachel Turk's FEELING LONELY (Australia), and Sam Donovan's KING PONCE (UK). Many of these got 4-star reviews from Orlando Sentinel Movie Critic Roger Moore in last Friday's Calendar section, with Ugo Sanz' Spanish gem, THE PRESTIDIGITADOR, even earning a 5-star rave.

That's 12 films from 9 different countries--nearly 2 hours of extraordinary short works from all over the world for a $9 ticket! And not only is Enzian and Orlando one of only 3 Florida venues to host the event this week (Key West and Jacksonville being the others), but ticket buyers get to participate and have a say in the Audience Award winner as well. Sounds like another special evening at Enzian--I'm sure all of you FFF fans that flock to the shorts programs won't want to miss it!

--Matthew

In all my years living in the city during the 1980's, and all my visits back to NYC and IFFM/IFP Market business trips, I saw something on Thursday morning that was an absolute first. Heading down to the Angelika Theaters and Puck Building about 10 AM for the last day of Market screenings and video library time, I was walking on Bond street between Bowery and Lafayette. On the side of the street, right next to the sidewalk, a man was roasting a whole, very large, pig. Not on a spit mind you, but the pig was laid out stomach side down on some type of metal rack, and this guy was stoking the flames of the logs or coals underneath. Amazing...only in New York! Whether or not it came with fries and slaw is another matter...

As far as the Market goes, it was another good year for docs with a lot of potential and more of my fellow festival programmers seemed to be in attendance this time around. The Angelika itself was in better shape than usual, with no leaky ceilings and an "Up" escalator that worked the whole time--what a nice concept. The projection and sound (can't do anything about the subway rumblings so that always becomes part of the soundtrack) were improved from last year, and only Tuesday seemed to have some screenings coming off (as much as 30 minutes) late due to the ripple effect of one problem earlier in the day. Disappointingly, the venue did not provide complimentary popcorn and soft drinks as in the past, but maybe this was a sponsorship issue of some kind.

After narrative feature screenings got the boot a couple of years ago, it was the narrative shorts' turn to vanish this year. Again, a little disappointing but not a major shocker. What was a bit disheartening was that there were only 6 doc shorts to screen in the whole Market, after at least a dozen last year (many of them quite good as evidenced by 3 playing in the 2007 Florida Film Festival: MAN UP, FRIDAYS AT THE FARM, and MURIEL). Apparently this was due to a lack of submissions in the category, something that probably needs to be addressed. Perhaps it was the residual effect from dropping narrative shorts or perhaps the screening fees are too high--whatever the reason, if you're only going to screen docs for the companies participating in the Market, then an ample selection of doc shorts should be part of that programming.

The IFP could've used another long table in the Puck building area where some of the panels and Meet the Programmers meetings were held; you know, the room with the filmmaker mailboxes. The one display table for film and call-for-entry postcards, magazines, sponsor materials, etc. was inadequate and an absolute mess most of the time.

Film-wise there were plenty of things to look forward to besides those titles I previously discussed in my last blog, though it may be months, or in some cases years, before they come to fruition. Popular themes for the docs included post-Katrina life for hurricane survivors, artistic creation, films about the director's father, health care both here and abroad, the political process, racial issues, and Africa stories. Some films I'm especially looking forward to seeing a completed cut of are: Caroline Suh's FRONTRUNNERS; about a student government election at the country's most competitive high school (fellow indieWIRE blogger Michael Tully is credited as the Music Consultant so you know the score is hip at least!); Clayton Brown and Monica Ross' THE ATOM SMASHERS, in which a bunch of American physicists race against time and the rest of the world to find the so-called God particle, or the legendary subatomic "Higgs boson," Virginia Williams' FRONTRUNNER, about a woman running for President in (of all places) Afghanistan; GRAMERCY STORIES from Joyce Chopra (remember SMOOTH TALK, the film that put Laura Dern on the map?), about a foster care resiednce for gay and transgender boys; JOURNEY THROUGH AN INVISIBLE WALL from filmmakers Rick Minnich and Matt Sweetwood (HOMEMADE HILLBILLY JAM), in which Minnich investigates his father's curious case of long-term amnesia after a fairly innocuous, yet ultimately life-changing auto accident; Rick Goldsmith and Judith Ehrlich's THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN AMERICA: DANIEL ELLSBERG AND THE PENTAGON PAPERS, a highly relevant and infuriating look at the most famous whistleblower of all time from the director of the Oscar-nominated TELL THE TRUTH AND RUN: GEORGE SELDES AND THE AMERICAN PRESS; and P STAR'S REDEMPTION from Gabriel Noble (AUTUMN'S EYES), which follows 4+ years in the life of a 9-year-old Puerto Rican rapper with the weight of her family's well-being on her little shoulders. Throw in a couple of provocative subjects like the only residence in the country that houses over 50 convicted sex offenders and rapists in PREDATOR HOUSE, and the expose and community silence about rabbis accused of molesting young boys in THE EVIL TONGUE (the Jewish HAND OF GOD?), and you can see there's plenty of non-fiction features coming down the pike that should be worth waiting for.

Now it's back to my own bed (those weary travellers who did both Toronto and NY know exactly what I'm talking about) and a return to reportedly rainy Orlando...

--Matthew

It's always such an odd transition to go almost immediately from the Toronto Film Festival to the IFP Market in NYC. After watching two dozen films in less than a week's time--many of them with distribution, most of them quite accomplished (at least technically), and all of them finished--it's somewhat jarring yet also reaffirming in an indie mission kind of way to see so many docs in rough cut and work-in-progress form and be able to talk to the filmmakers.

One thing you won't see however, is anything narrative, as they not only removed features from the lineup a couple of years ago but have also done away with narrative shorts as of this year. God knows we see plenty during the Florida Film Festival selection process, but it was still kind of nice when the IFP was choosing some cream-of-the-crop titles for us programmers to check out.

So the emphasis is clearly on the No Borders industry meetings, the panels, and docs, docs, and more docs. And quite a few have caught my eye early on based on either subject matter or talent involved with the project having played Florida in the past or at least submitted something of extremely high quality even if we were unable to program it. Roger Weisberg (the Oscar-nominated SOUND AND FURY) is back with CRITICAL CONDITION, an intimate look at the health care problem and the lives of some uninsured Americans. Richard Gere's brother David, his partner Peter, and their two adopted children, are the subjects of Tom Keegan's OUT IN INDIA: A FAMILY'S JOURNEY, as they leave LA for almost a year to fight AIDS (and gay prejudice) in India with art therapy. Jeffrey Schwartz's SPINE TINGLER! THE WILLIAM CASTLE STORY is a most entertaining slice of cinema history as it traces the life and career of the king of the gimmicks and the man responsible for many of the great "B" horror films of the 1960's. Awesome clips and interviews with the likes of John Waters (who idolized him), Roger Corman, Joe Dante, and Diane Baker help make this one a lock to be hitting the festival circuit next year. Bet those prints of STRAIGHT JACKET, HOUSE ON THE HAUNTED HILL, HOMICIDAL, and THE TINGLER will start getting a workout as well.

The producer of 39 POUNDS OF LOVE (Hilla Medalia), the 2005 Best Documentary winner in the Israeli "Oscars," has AFTER THE STORM, a post-Katrina film (there's a bunch as you might expect) about a group of NY artists helping some New Orleans kids stage a production of the Broadway musical, "Once on This Island." Producer Gill Holland brings a couple of new and enticing projects to the Market: James Rasin's BEAUTIFUL DARLING, about Warhol superstar Candy Darling, star of both WOMEN IN REVOLT and FLESH, two staples of the New College Film Series back in my mid-seventies college programming days. Buzz is also good on Drew Denicola's NATURAL SOUL BROTHER, a film about the African Americans that broke the color barrier in the 1950's and invented the late-night radio DJ.

Three FFF veterans also have brand new projects here, though in various stages of completion. Mitch McCabe, director of the short film SEPTEMBER 5:10 PM from a few years back, brings MY MOTHER'S BEAUTY CREAM, a look at the absurdity of aging hysteria, even as the filmmaker herself (daughter of a plastic surgeon) turns 40. MIchael Chandler, winner of last year's Grand Jury Award for Best Doc Feature, KNEE DEEP (first seen at the 2006 IFP Market by the way), has a new film with the rather unwieldy (and tongue-in-cheek) title, GREEDY TRIAL LAWYERS: WILL WE MISS THEM WHEN THEY'RE GONE? And Dori Berinstein, director of SHOWBUSINESS: THE ROAD TO BROADWAY, winner of the 2006 FFF Grand Jury Award for Best Doc Feature, showed an amusing clip from GOTTA DANCE. The film follows a group of old folks (who still have a lot of spunk) as they try out for the New Jersey Nets new Senior Dance Squad. Adam Zucker (the acclaimed GREENSBORO: CLOSER TO THE TRUTH) is the editor on the project--nicely done and a definite crowd pleaser.

--Matthew

Heading up to New York for the IFP Market after a brief pit stop back home to kiss the girlfriend, hug the kids, and get some laundry done, here's some more quick takes on films from my Toronto Film Fest experience:

Sarah Gavron's BRICK LANE (4-stars) is a subtle and beautifully acted adaptation of of Monica Ali's novel about a Bangladeshi woman living in an arranged marriage in the Muslim community in London. When she starts working to help pay the bills and gets romantically involved with an activist, her life becomes a whole lot more complicated and decisions about her family and future must be dealt with. A worthy (if familiar) immigrant drama of cultural disapproval and forbidden love.

Joe Wright's ATONEMENT (3-stars) is another handsome adaptation of a famous novel I haven't read (by Ian McEwan), this time from the director of PRIDE & PREJUDICE. A surprisingly effective Keira Knightley and LAST KING OF SCOTLAND's James McAvoy star in this multi-layered period piece about a romance between an upper-crust British beauty and a housekeeper's son prior to World War II. The set up is fine (especially with its lush shades of cream color scheme) and the ending with Vanessa Redgrave a clever touch that pulls it all together, but the battle of Dunkirk sequence that dominates the second half of the film goes on way too long--even with that amazing tracking shot. Unfortunately.

Noah Baumbach's MARGOT AT THE WEDDING (4-stars) is his star-studded sibling rivalry follow-up to his excellent and highly perceptive film about a marriage-in-ruins and divorce, THE SQUID AND THE WHALE. Nicole Kidman and Jennifer Jason-Leigh are the screwed-up sisters duking it out over the past, present, and the latter's choice of fiancee--an unemployed loser played by Jack Black. There's plenty of angst and neuroses here for everyone, with kids, potential ex-es, lovers, and crazy neighbors brought into the fray over one weekend in Connecticut. Hilarious at times and uncomfortable at others, the film's look is another matter altogether--going for the intimate, hand-held, home movie aesthetic, I found the print to be underlit in spots and offputting. We'll see how it plays in the burbs...

Mike Cahill's KING OF CALIFORNIA (3-stars) is a Terry Gilliam-esque father-daughter dramatic comedy from the producers of SIDEWAYS. This Mike Cahill, by the way, is a novelist and first-time filmmaker, not the Mike Cahill who co-directed the excellent documentary about Cuba, BOXERS AND BALLERINAS (2005 FFF?), with Brit Marling, and worked on LEONARD COHEN, I'M YOUR MAN and Stewart Copeland's Police movie. Michael Douglas, looking (and acting) like Don Quixote, plays a delusional ex-jazz musician recently released from a mental hospital into the care of his put-upon, latchkey teenage daughter (Evan Rachel Wood). His need to reconcile with her is at the heart of this sometimes funny and moving story, even as he sets out on a quest to find the 17th century Spanish treasure he believes is buried beneath the local Costco. Polarizing audiences who found Douglas' performance either insufferable or Oscar-worthy and the film magical or ridiculous, I sit somewhere in the middle. As usual though, Wood is very good and the ending will leave you smiling.

Last and definitely least out of this group, Hans Weingartner's RECLAIM YOUR BRAIN (2-stars) is the latest work from the director of the superior THE EDUKATORS. Starting out strong with a bold look at a coked-out, reality TV superstar producer who happens to be a total asshole, the film goes completely off the rails when his personality changes after a woman tries to kill him with her car. Our producer/hero decides to reform by gathering a merry band of misfits to start manipulating the black boxes that tabulate the national TV ratings. Thus, by "fixing" the TV ratings to reflect a desire for more intelligent programming, they will cause a cultural revolution and change society. Naive, bluntly satirical, and uncompelling, chalk this one up as a disappointment to say the least.

--Matthew

Much to my delight (and surprise) after the older plane that I took north, my return flight to Florida on Wednesday night featured one of those spiffy newer models with the multi-media touch screens. I was particularly amused by the film choices within each category--while "Hollywood" featured a couple of monster hits like SPIDER MAN 3, "Classics" turned out to be X-MEN 2 (!) and "Avant Garde" offered up WAITRESS (!). Nice way to kill a couple of hours in the air, but who's picking the titles for these categories? Still, I was quite psyched by one of the choices in the "Canadian" listing: Guy Maddin's BRAND UPON THE BRAIN! So while virtually every chairback headrest glowed with the colorful images of Peter Parker, Wolverine, and Keri Russell and her pies, I was on my own with BRAND's lovely and bizarre flickering b&w images and Isabella Rossellini's soothing narration. I loved what I got to see, but exhaustion from a week of late nights, early mornings, tons of screenings, and a cold got the best of me as I slipped off into dreamland. The images on the backs of my eyelids were merely an extension of Maddin's childhood memory play. I'm ready to see MY WINNIPEG again...

--Matthew

More short takes on Toronto viewings: Eran Kolirin's THE BAND'S VISIT (4-stars) is a surprisingly apolitical comic fable about what happens when a small Egyptian police orchestra accidentally gets stranded in a remote Israeli town. Focusing entirely on the relationships between the band members and the locals they must deal with for a night, the film is humorous, touching in spots, and completely understated. At times the approach is so minimalist and deadpan that it may try the patience of some viewers, but stick with it and you'll end up with a most rewarding crowd pleaser. Too bad it's so new as to be unavailable for the upcoming 9th Central Florida Jewish Film Festival in November--or is it?

Ole Bornedal's THE SUBSTITUTE (4-stars) is one of the real treats of the festival. Playing in the Sprockets Family Zone program, this sci-fi/horror/family thriller (!) from Denmark stars director Paprika Steen as a new 6th grade subsitute teacher. Her behavior is a bit odd however, and soon the kids are in a race against time to convince their parents that "Ulla" is actually an evil, malicious alien from another planet. Good special effects, nice pacing, and frequent comic relief help make this a winner of a genre film that my kids would absolutely love...even with having to read subtitles.

LARS AND THE REAL GIRL (5-stars) from director Craig Gillespie (MR. WOODCOCK !?!) seems to be a unanimous winner amongst festival-goers. I can't imagine what the pitch meeting was like for this one: Ryan Gosling plays a maladjusted, delusional recluse who's in love with his life-size plastic love doll, and the whole town where he lives goes along with it because they care about him. Yeah, right. Yet somehow this scenario plays out just beautifully, with wonderful supporting performances from Paul Schneider and Emily Mortimer as his brother and pregnant sister-in-law, Patricia Clarkson as the small-town doctor/psychiatrist, and Kelli Garner as an office co-worker with a special interest in Lars. The story is rich in comic moments, and you'll be amazed and moved by how much the community (not to mention the audience) comes to care about the inanimate "Bianca." And after HALF NELSON, Gosling has done it again and turned in another astonishing performance--he really is that good.

Buddhadeb Dasgupta's THE VOYEURS (2-stars) tells the non-compelling story of a young man from the country who moves to the sprawling and urban Kolkata to work with his friend. The friend is a computer jock and is trying to get a surveillance camera installation business going. When he secretly puts a hidden camera in the apartment of the beautiful neighbor next door, a strange and ultimately tragic series of events unfold. Dasgupta tries to throw in everything into the plot, including commentary on AIDS education, the press, terrorism, police brutality, voyeurism, love, and God knows what else. THE VOYEURS does happen to feature an absurd beatdown (complete with silly sound effects) by a dwarf film director of his overweight lecherous producer. This jaw-dropping sequence instantly brought to mind the now classic clip on You Tube of Part 2 of the Indian midget break-dancing in that old film and then climbing the guy's tie to smack him around. So it wasn't a total loss...

--Matthew

While Monday was a bit of letdown film-wise for myself and many others, the evening social activities were a blast and Tuesday's lineup promises to be the real deal. The tropics were out in full swing, first with a nice get together for the Caribbean International Film Festival at a little place on Richmond St. East called Harlem. I stayed away from the spicy foods ( a bigger wuss you'll never find), but the coconut shrimp were delicious and the "special " rum drink of the night (made with mango juice and 3 Jamaican rums and who knows what else) was refreshing to say the least. After that it was over to the Sarasota Film Festival 10th anniversary celebration in a very cool place on Queen Street West called The Ultra Supper Club (a fitting name). The tunes were good (Grace Jones! Imagination's "Just an Illusion!") and the open bar and myriad of tasty hors d'oevres that were passed for hours were even better. Congrats to Jody, Tom, and Holly for a really nice and fun shindig.

Films from the last day or so with the most acclaim amongst the cocktail conversation: Julian Schnabel's Cannes Best Director Award-winner, THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY (which seems to be in a class all its own), and Ken Loach's IT'S A FREE WORLD... Since I unfortunately missed them both, I guess I'll just have to wait for each to open commercialy like everybody else.

Tuesday's Press & Industry screenings include the new films from Woody Allen, Brian DePalma, Claude Chabrol, Francois Ozon, Paul Schrader and Hector Babenco, Alexi Tan's BLOOD BROTHERS (produced by John Woo and Terence Chang), a new John Sayles, the Todd Haynes Dylan film, the Gillian Armstrong Houdini movie, new Harmony Korine, Stuart Gordon, and George Romero flicks, and Alan Ball's directorial debut, NOTHING IS PRIVATE. Are you kidding me? How many hours are there in a day?

--Matthew

I found it odd that there was no official 2007 Toronto Film Festival trailer to make fun of this year (come on--what festival trailer have you ever not gotten sick of after so many viewings?) Then a staff member told me that the Bell Lightbox piece about the future facilities for the festival is in its place. I can live with that, especially when the soundtrack is taken from "I Feel it All" from the excellent most recent Feist CD, "The Reminder." The tune instantly grabs your attention, and if you like what you hear, I highly recommend the whole thing. I think it's officially the-CD-I've-given-the-most-as-a-gift in 2007, so that's gotta mean somethin'.

I had missed Andrew Wagner's STARTING OUT IN THE EVENING (4-stars) when it played at Sundance, so I was`happy to be able to catch up to it here. This is a graceful New York drama, with an outstanding Frank Langella as a once-distinguished writer and professor whose books have gone out of print and his latest has been a work-in-progress for a decade. While he still maintains close relations with his single, my-clock-is-ticking daughter (a fine Lili Taylor), his routine receives a huge jolt when he agrees to be interviewed for a pushy graduate student's Masters thesis (Lauren Ambrose from "Six Feet Under.") The give and take that develops in the relationship between these intelligent individuals is fascinating and sometimes touching to experience. With InDigEnt no longer producing small, quality films such as this one, let's hope similar stories still find a way to get told.

Canadian iconoclast Guy Maddin's self-described "docu-fantasia" about his hometown, MY WINNIPEG (4-stars), is a brilliant homage to past and place. It's also probably the funniest and perhaps most entertaining thing he's ever done. Combining re-enactments of traumatic family experiences from his youth with archival footage from the city's odd history with moments of pure fantasy, this is documentary filmmaking at its most surreal. Listening to the filmmaker's narration while being assaulted by the images, rear projection, and titles up on the screen, reminded me somewhat of a magical blend of Alan Berliner, David Sedaris, and early David Lynch. Wait until you see the horse "monuments" after a fire at a racetrack stable caused the animals to flee and get stuck in a frozen lake for the whole winter--unbelievable, and images I won't soon forget.

And speaking of unforgettable images, how about a hot actress (the lovely Manuela Velles) taking a dump on Gerritt Graham's face in Julio Medem's way over the top CHAOTIC ANA (1-star). The ridiculous and disappointing new work from the director of SEX AND LUCIA is a coming-of-age film in which the heroine gets repeatedly hypnotized to travel back in time and see how her past lives have affected her present one--who cares? Even the great Charlotte Rampling looks silly in this confused (and confusing) outlandish drama. It does feature some nice cinematography though. I guess that wasn't enough for all the walk-outs.

--Matthew

The Bata Shoe Museum was the site for the Czech Film party on Friday night, and one of those happy accidents resulted from my attending. Industry vet and former Florida Film Festival juror TC Rice is up here doing publicity for Jan Sverak's EMPTIES, and made it a point to introduce me to the Oscar-winning director (KOLYA). Tickets were offered for the first public screening shortly after the party, and I'm glad I had`the opportunity to take in a totally unexpected,non-press & industry screening for a change, where filmmakers are usually in attendance for Q & A. EMPTIES (4-stars) is the fourth collaboration between the director and his father, Zdenek, who not only stars but wrote the screenplay as well. It's a lovely and extremely funny comedy about growing old gracefully, relationships, and how retirement isn't for everyone. The elder Sverak plays an aging high school teacher who ups and quits one day, then finds himself increasingly restless as he stays home with his wife of 30 years. After a series of attempts at other employment, this busybody finds his niche working in the bottle return department of a supermarket. There he can get the human interaction he craves to stay young, not to mention futher indulging in his daydreams and fantasies about train sex.

Charming, wise, laugh-out-loud funny, and very "Czech," EMPTIES is a sweet film that should appeal to even young adult audiences, though it obviously will have more resonance with an older one (perfect for Florida!). I would not be at all surprised to see it get picked up by some smart distributor.

--Matthew

While groceries and convenience stores in my Toronto neighborhood all seem to stock club soda, Pellegrino, and Perrier, I have been unsuccessful in finding regular old, simple, bubbly carbonated water. One storekeeper pointed me toward the Alka Seltzer on the shelf--uh, no. This begs the question: do Toronto delis make chocolate egg creams, and if so, what do they make them with? I wasn't aware that seltzer was a uniquely American concept.

The Opening Night Party was as impressive as ever with its sheer size, variety of offerings, and how many people it can accomodate. But recent years have seen a shift in the type of people that attend, with more and more sponsors and locals making the social scene and less of the indie distributors, journalists, and fellow film festival staffers that I'm used to hanging out with. There was`a Greek theme this year (complete with traditional dancers and enough baklava to fell an army), no doubt inspired by one of the settings in Jeremy Podeswa's festival opener, FUGITIVE PIECES. The food was tasty, but there was a serious lack of chocolate in the dessert offerings. I did like the change from Sleeman's beer to Stella Artois, and the pour-your-own station, complete with Stella girls to lend their assistance, was a fun idea. As Stella also sponsors the Florida Film Festival, this should be part of the deal come springtime. Only celebrity sighting: Scott Speedman (maybe not UNDERWORLD or DUETS, but I'm still partial to "Felicity.")

Short takes on movies--for consistency sake, I'll use a 5-star system just like the Orlando Sentinel and Orlando Weekly. It's always important to start out strong (ONCE was my Sundance opener), and Anton Corbijn's CONTROL (4-stars) was lead-off dynamite. One of rock's greatest photographers does a masterful job recreating the tragic story of Ian Curtis, lead singer of Manchester's incredibly influential (pre-New Order) punk band, Joy Division. Beautifully shot in b&w cinemascope, the film covers 1973 - 1980 in its story of this troubled young artist being torn apart by his talent, his love for two women, and his failing mental and physical health as a result of epileptic seizures and the drugs prescribed to control them. Though the film labors a bit in the third act, this is an amazing feature debut for Corbijn and Sam Riley as Curtis couldn't be better. To top it all off, the actors actually play live in all of the Joy Division concert scenes and sound great.

Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud's PERSEPOLIS (4-stars) is a wonderful, smart, and sometimes very funny adaptation of her autobiographical graphic novels (which, to be honest, I was not familiar with). Rendered in a lovely and deceptively simple looking, hand-drawn, mostly b&w animation, this is a precocious girl's coming-of-age tale that spans two decades of a revolution, a war, the fall of the Shah, and life in Iran, Austria, and France. It's so personal, refreshing, and disarming, I wasn't surprised at the ovation it received after its industry screening--and rousing applause from the press is an occurence that doesn't take place very often.

Julien Leclercq's CHRYSALIS (2-stars) is a highly stylized piece of French sci-fi, a cyber punk film noir set in Paris in 2025. There's a link between a murder, a badass smuggler/cop killer, and a super high tech surgical center that also happens to be doing memory erase and implant experiments, and it's up to an ultraviolent Police Lieuteneant of few words to figure it all out. Unfortunately, with exception to some intense hand-to-hand combat and its striking production design (and loud sound mix), the story deteriorates into a mass of cliches and over acting. The walkouts were frequent and numerous on this one.

--Matthew

A 4:15 AM alarm in early September or mid-January usually means one thing and one thing only--it's festival time again and I'm heading north to Canada or west to Utah. North it is, and it appears I brought the heat with me. With temperatures ranging from the low 50s to the high 70s for the past few days, it was`a bit surprising (and sweaty) to suddenly be faced with 90 degrees and muggy. How fitting that Jimmy Buffet played here last night at the Molson Ampitheater--maybe it's his fault. I heard the climate should be like this for just a couple of days, and then the pleasant weather will return. I can live with that.

Kudos to the Toronto airport for making some much-needed cosmetic improvements. It definitely looks more modern and is easier to navigate. I must say it was`a bit unusual for it to be so empty and to get out of there so effortlessly.

Exchanged any US currency for Canadian money lately? For the first time since I've been coming up to the festival (we're talking 11 years), the Canadian dollar is worth more than one of ours. The exchange rate is 99 cents on the dollar--now that's a sad state of affairs.

Something else sad I noticed on the drive in from the airport was the shuttered storefront of Sam the Record Man way down on Yonge Street. I went in there one time a few festivals back. It reminded me of one of those giant stores with absolutely everything, like on Broadway in NYC or on Collins Ave. on Miami Beach. The ones where only the record jackets are in the bins, and the clerk has to climb a ladder to find the actual LP on a wooden shelf somewhere. Those types of places are a dying breed unfortunately.

In silent tribute to Shan, I had to maintain the tradition of having the first meal (always lunch after registering) at Biscotti on Bay Street--they may have been 86 on the spinach/ricotta ravioli, but it didn't disappoint. Time to hit some movies...

--Matthew

One World, One Week, One Festival--You Be the Judge! And judge we shall on September 26 at 6:30 PM as Enzian joins over 100 cinemas across Europe, North, South and Central America in screening an outstanding international collection of shorts under the moniker, "The 10th Annual Manhattan Short Film Festival." 12 finalists have been selected for the program from 456 entries from 33 countries, and what's even more exciting is that only one of them has previously screened at Enzian--Craig Rosenthal's THE TRAINEE from Singapore, which was a hit in this year's International Showcase in the 2007 Florida Film Festival. Audience members will be asked to vote for their favorite, and the winner is to be announced on Sunday, September 30 in Union Square Park in NYC.

The recently announced lineup includes: Sonja Jasansky's LINES (USA); Susan Jacobson and Eric Boden's ONE HUNDRETH OF A SECOND (UK); Florian Ross' CLOONEY (Germany); Tom Harper's CHERRIES (UK); John Raskin's I MET THE WALRUS (Canada); Shefy Malek's BORIS'S COMPLETE BOOK OF RULES (Israel); Hugo Sanz' THE PRESTIDIGITADOR (Spain); Simon Ellis' SOFT (UK); the aforementioned THE TRAINEE; Diego Quemeda-Diez' I WANT TO BE A PILOT (Kenya); Rachel Turk's FEELING LONELY (Australia), and Sam Donovan's KING PONCE (UK).

That's 12 films from 9 different countries--nearly 2 hours of extraordinary short works from all over the world for a $9 ticket! And not only is Enzian and Orlando one of only 3 Florida venues to host the event during the week of September 23 - 30 (Key West and Jacksonville being the others), but ticket buyers get to participate and have a say in the Audience Award winner as well. Sounds like another special evening at Enzian...

--Matthew