F E S T l V A L — film/usrinos
David Hill‘s Sunday on Mars. Zhang Tielin‘s Man From China and Bill Anderson‘s King ofJazz. Once Upon A Time There Were Seven Simeon Brothers (Hertz Frank. USSR, 1989) 6pm. Extraordinary offering from revered Latvian documentarist Frank follows the true story of the familyjazz ensemble the Seven Simeons, who hijacked an airlinerto leave the country then took their own lives when the attempt failed. Screening with English voice-over. I FlLMHOUSEl Pools of Fortune (Pat O‘Connor. Ireland. 1989) 6.30pm. Iain Glen and Julie Christie star in this slightly bungled but handsome-looking domestic saga. set in inter-war Ireland and adapted from the novel by William Trevor. Screening as part ofthe Michael Powell competition. I CAMEO A Wedding on The Fringe (Vassilis Kessissoglou. Greece.1989)6.30pm. An octogenarian revisits his home village in the north and after many decades resumes his romantic relationship with the woman from whom he separated during World War I. Charming Greek production. with much to say about the country‘s concept of philotimo. or keeping one’s honour. I FILMHOUSE 2 Employees (Pupi Avati. Italy, l985)8.15pm. Fora timid and repressed young bank clerk. the office around him becomes a miniature Sodom and Gomorrah ofsmall-time corruption when the staff lose their inhibitions at a party. Original version. no subtitles. I FILMHOUSET Lost Springtime (Alain Mazars. France/China. 1990) 8.45pm. Shot in China before the events of Spring 1989. Mazars‘ knowledgeable film transposes the story ofa 16th Century opera to the fortunes of a singer sent to a work camp during the Cultural Revolution, and looks at the unchanging melodramatic core at the heart of Chinese society. French subtitles, English voiceover. I CAMEO The Garden (Derek Jarman, UK, 1990) 8.45pm. World premiere ofthe latest Jarman film. which uses super-8 and video techniques to draw the links between the theological condemnation of homosexuality and the tenor ofthe response to
the current AIDS crisis. See also feature.
TUESDAY 21
I FILMHOUSE 1 Young Filmmaker oi the YearProglo 10.45am. Work by students from Columbia University, New York and London‘s Goldsmith College. Lunchtime Animation 12.45pm. A tribute to the GPO Film Unit, which gave animator Norman McLaren his first break, and its successor the Post Office Film and Video Unit. Into The Night (John Landis, US, 1985) 2pm. Jeff Goldblum and Michelle Pfeiffer star in this comic catalogue of urban paranoia with a cast list largely made up from moonlighting film directors. I CAMEO Paper Mask (Christopher Morahan, UK, 1990) 2.15pm. See Friday 17. I FILMHOUSE 2
‘All Jews Out' (Emmanuel Rund, W. Germany, 1990) 2.30pm. Testimonies from the 305 years of anti-Semitism and intimidation that led up to the wartime Holocaust.
I CAMEO
David Puttnam Lecture 4.30pm. Dave the Rave dons mortar board and cape to give a talk entitled Cinema and the Environment of the Mind. I FILMHOUSE 2
AWoman Alone (Agnieszka Holland. Poland. 1981) 6pm. The director fled to Poland after completing this long-suppressed story of a middle-aged postwoman’s unenviable existence, as she struggles to raise a family amidst incompetent bureaucracy and falls tragically in love with a young cripple.
I FILMHOUSE 1 Hush-A-Bye Baby (Margo Harkin, Ireland/UK, 1989) 6.30pm. Sinead O'Connor provides the soundtrack and has a small role in this production from Derry Film and Video Workshop, which looks at the lives of four working-class convent school girls and benefits greatly from the tart and insightful Derry patter.
I CAMEO
Ground Floor (Igor Minaiev, USSR, 1990) 6.30pm. Second feature from a filmmaker once banned from working at all by the Soviet bureaucracy, is a stylised, staccato narrative looking at a well-worn narrative of love, obsession, jealousy and murder. In that order.
Screening with English voice-over.
I FILMHOUSE 2 Graduation Party (Pupi Avati, Italy, 1985) 8.15pm. Rimini, 1950, and a humble baker’s longtime unrequited love for a student doyenne of the Bologna smart set leads him to organise a special graduation party for her.
I CAMEO
Circus Boys (Kaizo Hayashi, Japan, 1989) 8.45pm. Ingratiating blend of tragic drama and fantasy traces the diverging destinies of two brothers who grew up together training to be future stars of the circus. I FILMHOUSE 1
Listen Up (Elion Weissbrod, US, 1990) 8.45pm. World premiere of this portrait of arranger and producer extraordinaire Quincy Jones, who’ll be in attendance. Popping up in the movie are a host of talents Jones has worked with, including Miles Davis, Frank Sinatra, Michael J ackson, Ella Fitzgerald. and more. And then more again.
WEDNESDAY 22
I FILMHOUSE 1
Young Filmmaker oithe Year Prog 11 10.45am. Student work from the VGIK, Moscow and Ohio University and Columbia College Chicago.
Post Ditice McLaren Award 1 12.45pm. A new prize sponsored by the Post Office and named in honour of Scots animator Norman McLaren aims to recognise outstanding work in new British animation. First of four programmes gathering together the entrants. Spies Like Us (John Landis, US. 1985) 2pm. Messrs Aykroyd and Chase in big budget espionage capers. And more film director cameos.
I FlLMllOUSE 2
Silence= Death (Rosa Von Praunheim, W. Germany, 1989) 2.30pm. First part of a Von Praunheim‘s trilogy. angrily seeking to make the general public and officialdom more aware of the true scale and implications of the AIDS epidemic.
I FILMHOUSET
AIDS and The Media 4.15pm. Special event to focus attention upon the attitudes of the Media, particularly film and television, to the issues of AIDS. The keynote speaker will be John Maddison, whose forthcoming book AIDS The Protean Scourge will be a major source of
documentation on the history and social implications of the disease.
I FILMHOUSE 2
The Prosecutor (Ljubomir Scharalnshiev, Bulgaria, 1968) 6pm. A humane prosecutor faces a moral dilemma when he’s asked to sign the warrant for the arrest of a friend, one of the victims of the political trials of the repressive Stalinist era. Well-acted psychological drama first released internationally at Berlin last year. Screening with English voice-over. I FILMHOUSE 1
Black Rainbow (Mike Hodges, UK, 1989) 6.30pm. Creepy supernatural tale with Jason Robards and Rosanna Arquette as a travelling father and daughter medium act caught up in a mysterious murder. Proficiently handled by director Mike Hodges to rely on characterisation rather than cheap shocks.
I CAMEO
Longtime Companion (Norman Rene, US. 1989) 6.30pm. Outstanding American drama chronicling the story of how AIDS decimated the gay community throughout the Eighties. The title is the euphemistic phrase used in obituaries to describe the surviving lovers of those who die from the disease.
I FILMHOUSE 2 Christmas Present (Pupi Avati. Italy, 1986) 8.15pm. Four middle-aged friends meet in a Bologna villa on Christmas eve, the purpose being to reconcile two of them after a quarrel over a woman. Yet in this darker than usual offering from Avati, they‘re also out to bring off a huge poker swindle.
I CAMEO
Tllal (Idrissa Ouedraogo, Burkina Faso,1990) 8.45pm. Following up the worldwide arthouse success of his previous feature Yaaba, Ouedraogo‘s latest offering, again set in the desert village where he does all his filming, pits illicit lovers against traditional justice.
I FILMHOUSET
Common Threads: Stories From The Otilll (Robert Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman, US, 1989) 8.45pm. Inspiring and moving documentary Oscar winner focusing on the lives of five very different individuals who died through AIDS, and encapsulates the media history of the virus throughout the Eighties. Juvenile Liaison 2 (Nick Broomfield, Joan Churchill, UK, 1975/90) 10.30pm. A late addition to the programme is Broomfield’s disturbing documentary, banned for the past fifteen years, which shows the Blackburn police doling out harsh treatment to children who’ve committed only minor crimes. This new version includes fresh present day material.
THUR DAY 23
I FILMHOUSE 1
Young Filmmaker oi the Year Prog 12 10.45am. Student work from PCL Harrow College and the Polish Film Television and Theatre School, Lodz. Post Ditice McLaren Award 2 12.45pm. A further nine selections for the animation competition. Three Amigos (John Landis, US. 1986) 2pm. Namely Steve Martin. Chevy Chase and Martin Short in this Mexican comedy musical fiesta. One problem though. only two laughs.
I CAMEO
lia: Path of The Sun God (Lesley Keen. UK, 1990) 2.15pm. Carefully crafted over four years, Lesley Keen‘s remarkable tableau ofancient Egyptian religious lore remains both a fascinating visual experience and a reminder of the boundless potential ofthe animated medium.
I FILMHOUSE 2
Positive (Rosa Von Praunheim, W. Germany. 1989) 2.30pm. Second part of the trilogy looks at the angry response of the New York gay community to the AIDS crisis.
Shivers (Wojciech Marczewski, Poland.
1981 ) 6pm. The Stalinist mid-505 and Marczewski‘s semi-autobiographical film takes a frank approach to depicting the terror of everyday life in a provincial town and the harsh indoctrination practised at a training school for adolescents.
I FILMHOUSE 1 The Reflecting Skin (Philip Ridley, UK. 1990) 6.30pm. Novelist, artist and screenwriter of The Krays, Philip Ridley
makes a predictably eyecatching directorial debut with this haunting rites of passage tale set in 1950s Idaho.
I CAMEO
Alligator Eyes (John Feldman. US. 1990) 6.30pm. Spiky American independent feature about a trio of friends who pick up an attractive blind hitchiker. and become drawn deeper into her private spiral oftragedy. Gripping and flavourful stuff with a particularly fine eye for the passing landscape.
I FILMHOUSE 2
Last Minute (Pupi Avati, Italy. 1987) 8. 15pm. Ugo Tognazzi plays the passionate manager ofa football team. who‘s given up everything for his job but in response. the new President of the club sacks him. Avati described this one as ‘another opportunity to observe the changes ofthe present‘.
I CAMEO
Ghost (Jerry Zucker. US. 1990) 8.45pm. Another late addition to the programme is Zucker's suprise US hit with spirit Patrick Swayze failing miserably to get in touch with his widow, Demi Moore. until he enliststhc help ofcranky psychic Whoopi Goldberg. Effects courtesy of Industrial Light and Magic.
I FILMHOUSEl
The Tiger Man (Buddhadeb Dasgupta. lndia.1989)8.45pm. Changing times oust an Indian village‘s traditional tiger dancer from his previous popularity. Authentic ethnic study from the sub-continent. Pink Ulysses (Eric de Kuyper. Netherlands. 1990) 11pm. Filmed at home largely with a group of friends. de Kuyper has constructed an unhibited homophile odyssey for film buffs.
I APOLOGY
We managed last issue to erroneously inform readers that the premiere of The Big Man was at the Cameo. and to omitThom Dibdin‘s byline from the Pupi Avati piece. The culprit‘s head may now be viewed atop a spike outside Filmhouse.
70 The List 17- 23 August 1990