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WSWS : Arts Review : Film Festivals

From the 45th Sydney Film Festival

Two hundred films from 35 countries were screened at the 45th Sydney Film Festival, held from June 5-19. In addition to commercial productions already released in the US and Europe, such as Taste of Cherry, The Apostle and Twentyfourseven, the festival screened some provocative documentaries and several interesting artistic works.

Richard Phillips and other WSWS reporters viewed a total of 19 documentaries and 9 dramas during the festival. They included documentaries from Germany, Hungary, France, Europe and the US, together with new features from Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam, Bosnia, France, Iran, the US and Australia.

Reviews

Pennebaker and Hegedus:
seminal figures in American documentary film

Radiance, directed by Rachel Perkins, screenplay by Louis Nowra
Unhelpful praise for an imperfect film

Blue Moon, written and directed by Ko Yi-cheng
A self-assured experiment in film

Documentaries at the Sydney Film Festival
Case studies of social breakdown

First Love, Last Rites directed by Jesse Peretz, from a short story by Ian McEwan
A refreshing change from Hollywood's image of youth

An interview with Jesse Peretz, director of First Love, Last Rites

The Eel, directed by Shohei Imamura, screenplay by Daisuke Tengan and Shohei Imamura
A naive answer to some serious questions

See also the following reviews:

Life in prison:
The Farm: Angola, USA,
directed by Jonathan Stack and Elizabeth Garbus
[23 May 1998]

An interview with Jonathan Stack:
"What is this society going to do with the surplus humanity?"
[23 May 1998]

'Taste of Cherry', a new film by Abbas Kiarostami
'Despair, hope, life'
[11 April 1998]

TwentyFourSeven, a film written and directed
by Shane Meadows
A first effort, dangerously praised
[20 May 1998]

The Apostle
Robert Duvall's false objectivity
[24 March 1998]