Ebertfest 2009, or "The Best Train Set a Boy Could Ever Want" »
Posted By tdrapeau 8 months, 4 weeks ago in Arts & Entertainment
It's a good thing Ebertfest is no longer called the Overlooked Film Festival. One of my choices this year, "Frozen River," was in danger of being overlooked when I first invited it, but then it realized the dream of every indie film, found an audience and won two Oscar nominations. Yet even after the Oscar nods, it has grossed only about $2.5 million and has been unseen in theaters by most of the nation.
Those numbers underline the crisis in independent, foreign or documentary films--art films. More than ever, the monolithic U.S. distribution system freezes out films lacking big stars, big ad budgets, ready-made teenage audiences, or exploitable hooks. When an unconventional film like "Slumdog Millionaire" breaks out, it's the exception that proves the rule. While it was splendid, it was not as original or really as moving as the American indie "Chop Shop," made a year earlier. The difference is, the hero of "Chop Shop" wasn't trying to win a million rupees--just to survive.
Courtney Hunt and Ramin Bahrani, the writer-directors of the two films, will be present in person at the 11th annual Ebertfest, April 22-26, along with filmmakers and actors from almost all of the other films, and our longest guest list of film critics. The festival its home in the Virginia movie palace, where as a boy I boggled at the wonders of CinemaScope. And again this year, we'll take advantage of that enormous screen to show a 70mm print--this year, a newly restored "Baraka," one of the most beautiful films ever made.
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tdrapeau
Tom Drapeau is the Director of Propeller social news. He enjoys all manner of geekery and internet foolishness. He has seen every episode of Battlestar ...
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kitika5 months ago
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Quite a week, indeed.-Online Sports
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jeez, someone's having a bad day! Lighten up, Ascot is about having fun, and I think we could all do with http://eluhealthcare.blogspot.com/ virta
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