Le Festival International De Films De Fribourg
2013; Issue: 91 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
2562-2528
Autores Tópico(s)European history and politics
ResumoAPRIL 16-23, 2013 The Swiss city of Fribourg isn't the most happening place: it seems fair to call it sleepy, when their film festival's 'midnight screenings' begin at 10 pm and finish before 12. In a metropolis like Paris or London, films can get lost among all the other cultural events on offer, but festivals that take place in smaller cities get to be the centre of attention. And when a festival has a programme as exciting as Fribourg's, audiences will be glad that there's nothing to distract them. This year, the Festival International de Films de Fribourg (FIFF) had a record 36,000 spectators--not bad for a city that's home to just 39,000 people. In a speech at the closing ceremony, artistic director Thierry Jobin shared his ambitions for next year's edition, aiming for audience figures to match the city's population. The FIFF began, 27 years ago, as a festival of Asian, African and South American cinema. These three continents continue to be the focus of the festival's competition and short film selections, but as of last year new parallel sections were introduced, to allow the festival to include films from all over the world. 'Diaspora' brings together a set of films that a given country's diaspora watch as a way of keeping in touch with their roots. Atom Egoyan curated this year's Armenia-themed programme, which included highlights such as Sergei Parajanov's 1968 homage to Armenian culture, The Colour of Pomegranates (Sayat Nova, 1968), Robert Guediguian's Armenia (Le Voyage en Armenie, 2005) as well as two of Egoyan's own films, Calendar (1993) and Ararat (2002). Egoyan's work on a Canadian Opera Company production of Salome prevented him from attending the festival, but Ararat star Charles Aznavour was present to take part in a debate following the film's screening. Another new section introduced last year was 'Terra Incognita', which aims to introduce audiences to lesser-known national cinemas: countries whose film production, despite being very strong, has been largely overlooked by festivals. In 2013, FIFF turned its spotlight on Uzbekistan. Since 2004, government funding has helped to boost the country's production levels, currently at 70 films per year. Fill's programme of 8 Uzbek features revealed a distinctive national cinema that blends serious aesthetic concerns and social commentary with popular humour and romance. In Yolkin Tuychev's Postscriptum, the troubled relationship of two brothers underlines the gulf between modern urban and traditional rural life. Similarly, Ayub Shahabiddinov's The Yurt (0'tov) centres on a father who tries vainly to protect his only son from the outside world beyond the steppe. In both, Nazim Tulyakhodzhayev plays the brooding, big-hearted recluse, with a presence and pathos to rival any Bollywood star. The festival's 'Homage' section offered further discoveries: designed to recognise those who bring a broader range of cinema to world audiences, this year's selection showcased the work of the World Cinema Foundation, founded by Martin Scorsese. Since 2007, the foundation has restored more than 20 neglected classics of world cinema, of which FIFF selected 4: Imagination (Kalpana, dir. Uday Shankar, India, 1948), After the Curfew (Lewat djam malam, dir. Usmar Ismail, Indonesia, 1953), The Housemaid (Hanyo, dir. Kim Ki-young, South Korea, 1960) and Downpour (Ragbar, dir. Bahram Beyzai, Iran, 1972). The Housemaid was also part of the 'Carte Blanche' section, which gives the artistic director of another Swiss film festival the chance to programme any films they choose. Anais Emery of the Neuchatel International Fantastic Film Festival paired the 1960 original feature with Im Sang-soo's 2010 remake of the same title: both films are, as she describes them, 'psycho-sexual thriller[s]' which reflect on social class in South Korea, but with different villains and victims in each film. The 'Carte Blanche' programme was rounded out by The Taste of Money (Do-nui mat), im Sang-soo's most recent film, again centred on a rich family of questionable morals. …
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