Image of the Day: Burn After Reading

Still from the Coen brothers' new picture, Burn After Reading, currently playing across the globe.

Anjelica Huston speaks up for animals

It's been a long time since I'd heard anything about Anjelica Huston so it was a pleasant surprise to see her hosting a recent Peta video exposing the cruelty against animals within the entertainment industry. If you thought child actors met a grim fate when their careers are over, you ain't seen nothing yet ...

R.I.P.: Paul Newman

Legendary actor and philanthropist Paul Newman yesterday passed away at his home in Westport, Connecticut. Paul was 83. We all remember him from some great films, my favourite being Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, alongside Liz Taylor, but in the last decades of his life he channeled his energies into his Newman's Own foundation.

The organisation has released a statement in homage to the actor that reads as follows:

For 25 years, we at Newman's Own have had a front row seat to watch Paul's entrepreneurial brilliance, humor, and compassion at work helping those in need. Our company motto, "Shameless Exploitation in Pursuit of the Common Good," was Paul's vision for Newman's Own and it is a philosophy we are proud to continue.

Paul occasionally referred to Newman's Own as the "joke that got out of control" and would express astonishment at its success. Despite this humorous approach, Paul was committed to the company's business and to providing top-notch quality – he brought all-natural food products to a wide audience long before it was fashionable. And he was one of the greatest recyclers, giving back to charity all the money he earned from the sale of Newman's Own products.

We wish the Newman family all the best in this difficult time.

New on Kamera: The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

The latest addition to the list of films that deal with the Jewish Holocaust, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, receives praise from Kamera's reviewers, Michelle Le Blanc and Colin Odell. The full review is here.

Trailer

Derek Jarman show in Zurich

(Edited Press Release) - The new exhibition in the Kunsthalle Zürich “Derek Jarman. Brutal Beauty” is dedicated to the British artist and filmmaker Derek Jarman (1942 - 1994). The exhibition is curated by Isaac Julien who worked with Jarman for many years.

While “Derek Jarman. Brutal Beauty” aims to present a representative overview of Jarman’s creative output, it is not conceived as a classical retrospective. Instead, Julien is more concerned with making it possible to experience Jarman’s interdisciplinary approach and with refocusing critical attention on the work itself.

Derek Jarman was one of the outstanding representatives of British Independent Cinema of the period 1970 – 1990. However, although he was known to a large audience mainly as a filmmaker, he saw himself as an artist, in whose interdisciplinary and highly autobiographical oeuvre film, painting, stage design and writing assumed equal prominence. In his tireless struggle for gay rights and AIDS education and awareness, Jarman’s main priority was “to unite Art with Life and vice versa” (Isaac Julien).

The exhibition opens with a selection of paintings from the 1980s and 1990s. The double projection, which was developed for the Kunsthalle Zürich and provides the basic material for Isaac Julien’s documentary film Derek (2008), offers an introduction to the work and life of Derek Jarman. It is based on an interview with Jarman recorded by writer and producer Colin McCabe in 1990. The voiceover is narrated by the actor Tilda Swinton, who appeared in many of Jarman’s films including Caravaggio (1986), The Last of England (1988) and Edward II (1991). Tilda Swinton reads excerpts from a letter she wrote to Jarman after his death. In Derek, the interview, narrative and excerpts from Jarman’s feature films and super 8 films are interwoven with relevant contemporary news footage and media material focusing on the political events of the time to form a coherent and impressive work; in this way the film conveys an overview of Jarman’s biography from the perspective of his imminent death. At the same time, insight is gained into the England of the period 1960 - 1990 through the documentation of socially volatile topics such as the punk movement, the protests by intellectuals against the government of Margaret Thatcher, the struggle for gay rights and the AIDS crisis.

The installation is juxtaposed with a still life image by Isaac Julien which were taken inside Jarman’s house in Dungeness.

The exhibition ends with Jarman’s film Blue (1993), a moving and harrowing work by an artist who was about to go blind. In this his last film, the screen remains blue for the entire duration of the work - an homage to the French painter Yves Klein, whose Blue symbolised serenity and contemplation for Jarman. The soundtrack of the film is a text written and spoken by Jarman, in which he artistically explores and reproduces life and his experience with AIDS.

Between these two central works, Isaac Julien presents a selection of rarely shown films from the super 8 archive of Jarman’s artistic estate, e.g. Imagining October (1984) and In the Shadow of the Sun (1980). Having studied painting and stage design at the Slade School of Art in London, Jarman started working with super 8 as far back as the early 1970s and experimented with this medium up to the early 1980s. Jarman, who saw himself primarily as a painter throughout his life, achieves a painterly feel in the way in which he deals with light, colour, composition, abstraction, alienation and staging.

The work It Happened by Chance Redux (2008) is a ten-screen projection composed of footage which Jarman found on the floor of his editing suite. The installation is a re-working of It Happened by Chance (around 1976). The former was curated jointly by Isaac Julien and James Mackay, the owner of the archive, and incorporates Jarman’s most important super 8 films. The sculptural arrangement of the screens in the space is intended to evoke formally the Petersburg hanging of the Black Paintings, which were exhibited in the Richard Salmon Gallery in London in the late 1980s.

New on Kamera: interview with Joanna Hogg

Joanna Hogg´s debut feature effort has been hailed as one of the best works to emerge from British cinema in recent years. We at Kamera agree with that and interviewed Hogg on her superb Unrelated. Read the full interview here.

Interview: Naomi Watts

From the New York Times' Screen Tests series. Enjoy!

London Film Festival 2008 announces line-up

The Times BFI 52nd London Film Festival earlier this week announced the 2008 programme, which includes 189 features and 108 shorts screening alongside a line-up of special events and expected guests. The festival takes place between 15 and 30 October.

Opening Night film, Ron Howard’s FROST/NIXON, is one of the Festival’s 15 world premieres and the Closing Night Gala is the European premiere of Danny Boyle’s SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE. Other highlights include Nick Moran’s TELSTAR, Eran Creevy’s SHIFTY, and Gerald McMorrow’s FRANKLYN in addition to Shashank Ghosh’s QUICK GUN MURUGAN from India and Samir Habchi’s BEIRUT OPEN CITY from Lebanon.

Also hosting 20 European and 119 UK premieres, the Festival will be showcasing new work from established and emerging filmmakers alongside feature film debuts by upcoming talents talents. The programme includes the latest work from Laurent Cantet (Cannes Palme d’Or winner, THE CLASS), Oliver Stone (W.), Steven Soderbergh (CHE PART 1 & PART 2), Raymond Depardon (MODERN LIFE), Jonathan Demme (RACHEL GETTING MARRIED), Stephan Elliott (EASY VIRTUE), Agnes Varda (THE BEACHES OF AGNES), Shyam Benegal (WELCOME TO SAJJANPUR), Rian Johnson (THE BROTHERS BLOOM), Gabor Csupo (THE SECRET OF MOONACRE), Nuri Bilge Ceylan (THREE MONKEYS); Fernando Eimbcke (LAKE TAHOE), Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne (THE SILENCE OF LORNA), Woody Allen (VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA) and Terence Davies (OF TIME AND THE CITY). In addition to welcoming back previous Festival alumni - such as Kelly Reichardt (WENDY AND LUCY), Pablo Trapero (LION’S DEN) and Bouli Lanners (ELDORADO) - the programme introduces the work of debut directors including Lance Hammer (BALLAST), Juraj Lehotský (BLIND LOVES), Enrique Rivero (PARQUE VIA) and Ursula Meier (HOME).

The British presence at the event includes Michael Winterbottom (GENOVA) and Richard Eyre (THE OTHER MAN), in addition to new work from Justin Kerrigan (I KNOW YOU KNOW) and Pat Holden (AWAYDAYS). British directors making their feature film debuts at the Festival also include Steve McQueen (HUNGER) and Sallie Aprahamian (BROKEN LINES), whilst a special panel event, BRITISH FILM BOOM, will celebrate and examine the new generation of British film talent.

New French cinema is also present via Arnaud Desplechin’s A CHRISTMAS TALE, Christophe Honoré’s LA BELLE PERSONNE and Philippe Grandrieux’s A LAKE. Other European efforts include Ole Christian Madsen’s FLAME & CITRON from Denmark, Hungary-Germany co-production DELTA, UPRISE by Sandro Aguilar from Portugal, and INVOLUNTARY by Ruben Östlund from Sweden. In addition, the Film on the Square strand includes Uli Edel’s THE BAADER MEINHOF COMPLEX from Germany and Antonello Grimaldi’s QUIET CHAOS from Italy.

For more information, the festival's website is here.

New on Kamera: Derek Hill on the American New Wave

All you need to know about the American New Wave, which includes those much-loved, quirky films by Richard Linklater, Spike Jones, Wes Anderson, Michel Gondry, David O. Russell, Sophia Coppola ... is in Kamera Books' new title on the movement, Charlie Kaufman and Hollywood's Merry Band of Pranksters, Fabulists and Dreamers - An Excursion Into the American New Wave. Author Derek Hill chatted to us about it. Unmissable...

New on Kamera: Badlands

The BFI has re-released Terrence Malick's classic Badlands and Kamera's Sarah Manvel gives us her review of the film.

Badlands clip:

New on Kamera: The Wackness

It's 1994 and he is still a virgin, to his defensive embarrassment; he's into alternative hip-hop and dresses like a skater. His parents fight a lot, he won't upgrade to CDs, and makes really good mix tapes with all his cassettes. He's going off to college, and everything is going to change.

More +

Horse Hospital in London celebrates 15 years with film screenings

To celebrate its 15th anniversary, throughout September 'the chamber of pop culture', aka Horse Hospital, will be screening 26 great films from its archive plus a special film documenting The venue's activities over the last 15 years.

MAIN SCREENINGS

Fri 12th Sept 7:30pm
£7 - £5 mems/concs
No Age, New York + Cutting Moments + shorts tbc

Fri 19th Sept7.30pm
£7 - £5 mems/concs
Terror of Tiny Town + The Rough South of Harry crews

Wed 24th Sept 7:30pm
£7 - £5 mems/concs
The Northerners + A Reason to Live

Sat 27th Sept- Triple Bill
£12 - £10 mems/concs All 3 Films or £5 - £4 concs per screening
Ghosts of the Civil Dead - Screening at 4.30pm
R.I.P. Rest in Pieces: Joe Coleman - Screening at 6.30pm
Holy Mountain - Screening at 8.30pm

SPECIAL AFTERNOON SCREENINGS
(6th Sept - 27th Sept, Mon-Sat)
Films Start Each Day at 4pm, £5 + free celebratory drink!

Sat 6th: Freaks Uncensored
Mon 8th: Mon Oncle
Tues 9th: Rubin and Ed
Wed 10th: Europa
Thurs 11th: Peeping Tom
Fri 12th: Hotel Room
Sat 13th: Even dwarfs started small
Mon 15th: Annie Sprinkle's Herstory of Porn
Tues 16th: Cinema of Transgression
Wed 17th: Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life
Thurs 18th: Grey Gardens
Fri 19th: The Night of the Hunter
Mon 22nd: Space is the Place
Tues 23rd: The Singing Ringing Tree
Wed 24th: Careful
Thurs 25th: Gummo
Fri 26th: Saint Clara

New issue of Senses of Cinema

The new issue of Senses of Cinema, one of the best academic film journals on the web, is online now. The issue includes an article on Priscilla, the Queen of the Desert, a analysis of each of the twelve tableaux that compose Jean Luc Godard's Vivre sa vie (1962) and an essay on Sydney Pollack.

London calling: Portobello Film Festival

Now, if one film venue can truly call itself 'independent', that will be the Portobello Film Festival. Since 1996 the event has managed to keep an uncompromising attitude to programming that is quite refreshing. What's more, all the screenings are free, which confirms that old adage about the best things in life. Starting on Friday 28 August and continuing until 14 September, the programme is too big to mention so check out the festival's website and go West for some film fun.

The Possibility of an Island: a cinematic shipwreck before it opens

The Possibility of an Island: desert-like entertainment

French author and controversialist Michel Houellebecq's debut effort has been met with severe criticism at the Locarno, Switzerland film festival, according to a Guardian film blog. "Critics at the Locarno film festival have given the author's directorial debut - an adaptation of one of his own novels - a resounding thumbs-down after the movie was savaged for its flat dialogue, confusing plot and unwelcome dose of sentimentality. There wasn't even, they cried, much sex", wrote the Guardian.

The trailer of the film goes give the impression that the whole business is a pretentious mess, with lots of sci-fi-ish babbling about immortality. However, I did like the film version of Houellebecq's Atomised, which mercifully he didn't direct himself. Sometimes delegating is good, you know...

The Possibility of an Island (La Possibilité d'une île) is released in France on 10 September.

WATCH: Carl Dreyer's The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)

Film about Richard Serra at New York's Film Forum

Maria Anna Tappeiner's film about artworld's superstar Richard Serra, Richard Serra: Thinking On Your Feet, will be shown at New York's Film Forum on 02 September with an introduction by Jane Panetta.

"Richard Serra’S monumental steel sculptures are among the defining works of art of our time. Serra is wonder fully articulate, whether talking about his early paintings, Brancusi’s influence upon him, the historical context in which his work developed, or the public controversies and even hostility his art has engendered. He elucidates how “matter imposes form on form,” the unique qualities of steel, and how a space may move simultaneously in two directions — with a lexicon that includes gravitational vectors, open and closed volume, tectonics, conical sections and torquing elipses. An installation of several immensely heavy steel plates (40 tons each) at the Bilbao Museum highlights this elegant portrait of the art world’s man of steel."

Here you can listen to Ms Panetta talking about the film.

Serra also made video art in the 1970s and Television Deliveres People is one of his most famous pieces of electronic art.

Television Delivers People (1973)
Uploaded byTomsutpen

Asian House Film festival

In partnership with Curzon Cinemas, Asian House is putting together an Asian film festival, with five UK Premieres from Singapore, South Korea, Iran, Indonesia and China. These include Royston Tan's hit musical 881 (Singapore), Seven Days (starring Lost's South Korean star Yunjin Kim) and the Chinese period epic Three Kingdoms: Resurrection Of The Dragon starring Andy Lau, Sammo Hung and Maggie Q.

Our friends from Wallflower, one of the UK's leading publishers of books on film, will be giving away copies of its Electric Sheep magazine to the first thirty people entering the cinema at the opening night screening of 881 on 22 August.

The event then runs until 28 August.

Jacques Rivette starts shooting new production

Veteran director Jacques Rivette started shooting his new film 36 vues du Pic Saint-Loup (36 Views from the Pic Saint-Loup) at the Cinecittà studios in Rome. The cast includes Jane Birkin and Sergio Castellitto. More +

New on Kamera: Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day

A period British comedy? Before you run to the exit door, listen to what Colin Odell and Michelle Le Blanc have to say about it...