It's no secret among my friends that I don't regret leaving New York City, where I once lived, but I do wish I could make a short trip back to see David Lynch's latest, INLAND EMPIRE. I'm pretty satisfied with arthouse and foreign distribution in São Paulo -- a small cluster of companies like Pandora, Europa, Califórnia, and Imagem bravely offer atypical titles, many of which earn only minimal commercial returns. Some movies are released shockingly quickly, like Grbavica, mere months after it won the Berlinale Golden Bear. Many French and Argentinean movies show up yet, as far as I know, never make it to U.S. cinemas. And it goes without saying that we see Brazilian films before anyone else. However, for a variety of reasons, some notable titles fall through the cracks. I'm still puzzled as to why Michel Gondry's The Science of Sleep shows no signs of making it to Brazil, not even for a festival screening.

Most American films we can rest assured will arrive after a comfortable wait, but considering Lynch's self-distribution strategy for INLAND EMPIRE, I'm anxious about when São Paulo will get a glimpse. How will this film be distributed internationally? I expect something will be worked out for European markets (if it hasn't already) but I hope Lynch's South American fans won't be kept waiting another year or two to see his work on the big screen. I'm already dying of curiosity and Manohla Dargis' passionate review hasn't helped my patience.