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Stop reading if you’ve seen this movie before — a wooden mannequin with the face of Greta Thunberg greets a horde of kindergarteners emerging from a steampunk Trojan horse under a dome of gigantic smartphones bathing them in hot blue light.

Alright, keep scrolling.

That singular image is one of the many goofy but eerie arrangements that Godfrey Reggio conjures in his newest odyssey, “Once Within a Time” — a dense, trance-inducing 43-minute feature that sees the “Koyaanisqatsi” director sounding the alarm on the technocratic foundations of our digital age.

“No festival wanted this film,” Reggio tells Variety, smoking American Spirits and sporting a gray bushy beard while speaking on a Zoom call in his Sante Fe, N.M. studio. “Not even Telluride, where they celebrated the 40th anniversary of ‘Koyaanisqatsi.’ They didn’t know what to make of it.”

Perhaps the festivals could be forgiven, as implied meaning isn’t...

Luis Buñuel’s Mexican masterpiece embraces truly edgy content: morbid comedy, anti-social satire and a strong streak of anarchist surrealism. His ‘adventurer into the unknown’ this time is no ordinary pervert, but a privileged delinquent in pursuit of a childhood sex fantasy: killing a beautiful woman just for the thrill. Naughty Archibaldo’s rehearsals are an unending source of frustration — and eventual enlightenment. Buñuel can’t resist subverting the social framework — wicked digs at the status quo abound.

The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz

Blu-ray

Vci

1955 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 89 min. / Street Date September 13, 2022 / Ensayo de un crimen / Available from Vci / 29.99

Starring: Miroslava, Ernesto Alonso, Rita Macedo, Ariadne Welter, Andrea Palma, Rodolfo Landa, José María Linares-Rivas, Leonor Llausás, Carlos Riquelme, Chabela Durán.

Cinematography: Augustín Jiménez

Art Director: Jesús Bracho

Film Editors: Jorge Bustos, Pablo Gómez

Original Music: Jorge Pérez

Written by Luis Buñuel, Eduardo Ugarte from the novel...

Streaming media company Cinedigm has landed all North American rights to hit Latin horror movie “History of the Occult” from Buenos Aires-based FilmSharks. After a successful run across Latin America, Europe and Asia, it will debut in the U.S. and Canada in December via Cinedigm’s horror streaming service Screambox, powered by Bloody Disgusting.

“History of the Occult” was touted as the highest-rated horror movie of 2021 on Letterboxd’s Year in Review roundup, as voted by users of the film rating social platform.

Shot mostly in black and white, the feature debut of Argentine writer-director Cristian Ponce is set in the 1980s during the last broadcast of the leading news show on TV, “60 Minutes Before Midnight.” A band of journos are racing against the clock to persuade their main guest, Adrian Marcato, to expose a conspiracy that ties their corrupt government to an actual coven.

“Mystery, conspiracy and the...

Writer/director Guillermo del Toro discusses a few of his favorite movies with Josh and Joe.

Show Notes:

Movies Referenced In This Episode

Nightmare Alley (2021)

Nightmare Alley (1947) – Stuart Gordon’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review

Drive My Car (2021)

Wicked Woman (1953) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (2022)

Modern Times (1936)

City Lights (1931)

The Great Dictator (1940)

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) – John Landis’s trailer commentary, Dennis Cozzalio’s review, Dennis Cozzalio’s Muriel Awards capsule review

Vertigo (1958) – Dan Ireland’s trailer commentary, Brian Trenchard-Smith’s review

The Man Who Would Be King (1975) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary

Lawrence Of Arabia (1962)

The Young And The Damned (1950)

Gone With The Wind (1939)

The Golem (1920) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Sunrise: A Song Of Two Humans (1927)

Alucarda (1977)

Greed (1924) – Dennis Cozzalio’s Muriel Awards capsule review

Taxi Driver (1976) – Rod Lurie’s trailer commentary

District 9 (2009) – John Sayles...

Retracing the route that her father took after leaving Morocco and emigrating to Israel in 1965, Michale Boganim’s hybridized documentary “The Forgotten Ones” works as both a personal recovery of Boganim’s father’s life and a larger investigation into the mistreatment of Mizrahi Jews – families and their descendants who emigrated from North Africa and the Middle East – at the hands of the Israeli government. Framed around the various stops that Boganim and her daughter visit – Yeruham, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Jerusalem, etc.

Continue reading ‘The Forgotten Ones’ Review: Michale Boganim’s Film Is A Personal Reflection On The Discrimination Of Mizrahi Jews [Doc NYC] at The Playlist.

In a series of key pacts for Argentine political horror pic, “History of the Occult,” Netflix has snapped up streaming rights to the film for Spain and Latin America, which it plans to drop on Oct. 15, while WarnerMedia’s HBO Max has scooped up all Central European streaming rights.

In addition, Eurozoom took all French rights and plans a first quarter 2022 theatrical release, said Guido Rud, CEO of Buenos Aires-based sales and production company FilmSharks International.

“We believe that high concept horror is hard to find, and high concept with amazing scripts, almost impossible. But miracles happen and we are lucky that we know the right buyers who have the skills and foresight to recognize these gems when we do,” said Rud.

FilmSharks picked up worldwide and remake rights to the genre pic last May. A major U.S. genre producer is eyeing it for a remake, which FilmSharks subsidiary,...

Following the Sundance premiering “Odessa, Odessa” and Venice title “Land of Oblivion,” French-Israeli filmmaker Michale Boganim is back on the Lido with “The Forgotten Ones”.

The film, represented in international markers by Reservoir Docs, is a heartfelt documentary exploring the systemic discrimination against Oriental Jews in Israel through the story of Boganim’s late father, who emigrated from Morocco and was part of Israel’s lesser-known Black Panthers movement in the 1970s. “The Forgotten Ones,” which world premieres in the Venice Days section Sept. 6, was just acquired by Sophie Dulac Distribution and will be released in France in early 2022.

Boganim, who started developing the film years ago, embarked on a road trip across Israel’s impoverished suburbs along with her young daughter and met Sephardi Jews from different generations whose lives have been shaped in some ways by this discrimination. Many of them are children or grandchildren of people who...

Director Michale Boganim explores her father’s role in Israel’s own Black Panther movement in her new Venice documentary: “The Forgotten Ones”.

The 1950s movement sprang from the Mizrahim community – Jews who were ethnically cleansed from North Africa and the Middle East – who sought refuge in Israel. Battling discrimination, Mizrahi Jews looked to the U.S. Black Panther movement for inspiration, Boganim’s father and his friends fought back, politically and otherwise.

In the documentary, Boganim embarks on a road trip to search for some of her father’s colleagues, taking a tour of Israel’s history and meeting with three generations of Mizrahim in the process.

Boganim, who was born in Israel and later studied in France, won the Gras Savoye award for her student film “Dim Memories,” which was selected for Director’s Fortnight in Cannes. Her first fiction feature, “Land of Oblivion,” which starred “Bond” actor Olga Kurylenko,...

The programme for the 2021 Venice Film Festival has been unveiled, and includes new films from Pedro Almodóvar, Jane Campion, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Michelangelo Frammartino, Pablo Larraín, Paul Schrader, Ridley Scott, and more.Parallel MothersCOMPETITIONParallel Mothers (Pedro Almodóvar)Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon (Ana Lily Amirpour)Un Autre Monde (Stephane Brize)The Power of the Dog (Jane Campion)America LatinaL’Evenement (Audrey Diwan)Official CompetitionThe Hole (Michelangelo Frammartino)Sundown (Michel Franco)Lost Illusions (Xavier Giannoli)The Lost Daughter (Maggie Gyllenhaal)Spencer (Pablo Larrain)Freaks Out (Gabriele Mainetti)Qui Rido Io (Mario Martone)On The Job: The Missing 8 (Erik Matti)Leave No Traces (Jan P. Matuszyński)Captain Volkonogov EscapedThe Card Counter (Paul Schrader)The Hand of God (Paolo Sorrentino)Reflection (Valentyn Vasyanovych)The Box (Lorenzo Vigas)Out Of COMPETITIONFeaturesDune (Denis Villeneuve)Il Bambino Nascosto (Roberto Andò)Les Choses Humaines (Yvan Attal)Ariaferma (Leonardo Di Costanzo)Halloween Kills (David Gordon Green...

“Madeleine Collins,” the buzzy psychological drama directed by France’s Antoine Barraud (“Portrait of the Artist”) and toplined by popular Belgian actress Virginie Efira who plays the lesbian nun in Paul Verhoeven’s “Benedetta,” is among ten competition titles set to launch from the Venice Film Festival’s independently run Venice Days section.

The Venice section modeled around the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight is largely made up of international first works this year. All entries are world premieres.

Besides “Madeleine” in which Efira (pictured) plays a woman who leads a double life –– and which also features Nadav Lapid, who is also the Israeli director of “Synonyms” and also Jacqueline Bisset –– the three other pics competing in Venice Days that are not first works are: the drama “Private Desert,” by Brazilian director Aly Muritiba (“Rust”) that is centered around a 40-year-old-cop’s Internet love interest who goes missing; “Dusk Stone,” by Argentina...

Outgoing Screen Australia head of First Nations Penny Smallacombe is set to join Bunya Media Group as a producer.

Smallacombe will produce a number of the company’s upcoming projects, including Sbs drama series Copping It Black, working with directors Erica Glynn and Steven McGregor, who both penned the script with Danielle Maclean.

While at Screen Australia, Smallacombe helped shepherd to screen several Bunya Productions projects, including ABC series Mystery Road, Warwick Thornton’s Sweet Country and Ivan Sen’s Goldstone, as well as helping to facilitate Bunya Talent Hub LA.

Smallacombe, a Maramanindji woman from the Northern Territory, tells If she has loved Bunya’s “big, bold” output over the past few years, and considers it a privilege to join the team. She is keen to use her new role to continue to bring authentic First Nations stories to screen, particularly from exciting new talent.

“They’re a trusted...

Worldwide and remake rights to Argentine political horror pic, “History of the Occult,” has been snapped up by leading Buenos Aires-based sales and production company, FilmSharks International.

According to FilmSharks’ CEO Guido Rud, advanced talks are underway with a streaming giant while a major U.S. genre producer is eyeing it for a remake, which FilmSharks subsidiary, The Remake Company, handles.

Filmed in black and white and set in the 1980s, “History of the Occult” takes place during the last broadcast of the #1 news show on TV, “60 Minutes Before Midnight.” A band of journalists are racing against time to convince the lead guest, Adrian Marcato, to expose a conspiracy that connects their corrupt government to an actual coven.

Marcato is played by veteran Argentine film, theatre and commercials actor German Baudino whose credits include “Abrakadabra,” 2017’s “Los Olvidados” and “Dia de los Muertos.”

The feature debut of Christian Ponce, whose...

After six and half years, Screen Australia head of Indigenous Penny Smallacombe will depart the agency in June.

Smallacombe joined Screen Australia in 2014, and during her tenure has helped shepherd to screen some of the Indigenous Department’s most high-profile projects, including ABC series Mystery Road and Total Control, feature films Sweet Country and Goldstone, and documentaries Maralinga Tjarutja, Looky Looky Here Comes Cooky and She Who Must Be Loved.

The highly-regard executive also stewarded the “The Next 25 Years” – the Indigenous department’s new strategy, the culmination of extensive consultation that occurred throughout the department’s 25th anniversary year (2018).

While at the federal agency, she has also overseen numerous initiatives, including Bunya Talent Hub LA, Songlines on Screen, Pitch Black Shorts, Shock Treatment, State of Alarm, [Black Space] and the Producers Initiative.

“Heading up Screen Australia’s Indigenous Department for the past six years has been one of the best jobs I...

All hail the cinematic delights of Luis Buñuel, a world-class directing genius whose work ranges from insightfully impish to point-blank outrageous. Driven from Spain by Fascists and from New York by commie hunters, he found a cinematic haven in Mexico, adapting his surreal mindset to popular film forms. These final three French features embrace the surrealist ethos, where a coherent narrative is optional. We definitely recognize our ‘rational’ world; Buñuel’s high art simply tells the truth.

Three Films by Luis Buñuel

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, The Phantom of Liberty, That Obscure Object of Desire

Blu-ray

The Criterion Collection 102. 290, 143

1972-1977 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date January 5, 2021 / 99.95

Cinematography: Edmond Richard

Production Designer: Pierre Guffroy

Film Editor: Hélène Plemiannikov

Written by Luis Buñuel, Jean-Claude Carrière

Produced by Serge Silberman

Directed by Luis Buñuel

Tracking down the films of Luis Buñuel has been an ongoing effort.

Pedro Almodóvar had a busy 2020. He scored his latest Oscar nomination for “Pain and Glory” in February, shortly before the pandemic took hold, and spent several weeks in lockdown writing a series of essays that were published in English on this site. By midyear, the Spanish auteur was working on his first English-language filmmaking endeavor, the Tilda Swinton-starring “The Human Voice,” which premiered at the Venice Film Festival in the fall and opens in theaters in March 2021. In the midst of all that, Almodóvar also found time to watch some new films. Here is his annotated list of favorites, which he published this week on the site of his production company. It has been translated here into English by Deirdre Mac Closkey with his approval.

This list has been updated to include “Nomadland,” which Almodóvar watched after the initial publication of his favorite films.

“Nomadland,” by Chloé Zhao

After Fern (Frances McDormand) loses all,...

The Amsterdan event is planned as a hybrid physical-digital edition.

International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (Idfa) has unveiled the first titles selected for edition, which is set to go ahead as a mix of physical and virtual events from November 18-29.

The festival will screen 30 documentaries first selected for the Berlinale, Sundance and Cannes under the banner Best of Fests.

Scroll down for full list of titles

The titles include The Truffle Hunters by Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw, which debuted at Sundance before being being selected for both Cannes and Telluride (although neither took place); and Elizabeth Lo’s Stray,...

Sophisticated chatter about the purpose of artistic expression ushers in Salvador Simó’s “Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles,” a genius and layered animated drama that functions as both a revelatory making-of for a seminal 1933 non-fiction film, and a surrealist biopic about the director behind it, who’s tormented by a yearning for his stern father’s approval.

Simó and co-writer Eligio R. Montero find Luis Buñuel (voiced by Jorge Usón), the expat Spanish auteur whose best-known films were made in France and Mexico, fresh off the success and controversy of the groundbreaking “Un Chien Andalou” and “L’Age d’Or,” both of which he co-wrote with the equally iconoclastic Salvador Dalí. Already regarded as a provocateur critical of the Catholic Church, Buñuel was branded persona non grata at home, which hindered his efforts to get another movie financed.

Asymmetrical in its facial features, the 2D animated rendering of...

Programme will also pay tribute to Milos Forman.

A screening of Easy Rider attended by lead actor Peter Fonda and a midnight screening of The Shining presented by Alfonso Cuarón lead the programme of the 16th edition of Cannes Classics, the heritage cinema section of the 72nd Cannes Film Festival (May 14-25).

Fonda, who co-wrote and co-produced the American independent classic as well as starred in it, will be present to celebrate its 50th anniversary. The film had its world premiere in Competition on the Croisette in 1969.

Mexican director Alfonso Cuarón will present a midnight screening of Stanley Kubrick’s...

This year’s Cannes Classics lineup has been announced, with one screening immediately catching the eye: Alfonso Cuarón presenting the remastered version of “The Shining.” The “Roma” filmmaker will be on hand to introduce Stanley Kubrick’s horror classic, which is in the program alongside “Easy Rider,” three films from Luis Buñuel, Lina Wertmüller’s “Seven Beauties,” two from Milos Forman, and many others.

The full lineup:

The 50 years of the mythical “Easy Rider”

Presented half a century ago on the Croisette, in Competition at the Festival de Cannes, the film won the Prize for a first work. Co-writer, co-producer and lead actor, Peter Fonda will be in Cannes at the invitation of the Festival to celebrate this anniversary.

“Easy Rider” by Dennis Hopper

Restored in 4K by Sony Pictures Entertainment in collaboration with Cineteca di Bologna. Restored from the 35mm Original Picture Negative and 35mm Black and White Separation Masters.

This short article is in the spirit of the crowded ad-mat advertising blurbs that, once upon a time, would show up in the newspaper for horror related features. The particular composite above is a fantasy, but since all films back then were for General Audiences, a stack like it is entirely credible. Here, it’s an excuse for a trio of personal Savant anecdotes, vividly remembered from fifty-odd years ago.

Not Bad! Charlie Largent assembled this convincing triple bill ad paste-up,

customized for San Bernardino in 1964.

Don’t listen to Gen X’ers or Millennials, kids: the Real era to be an adolescent moviegoer was in the 1950s and 1960s, when downtown movie palaces had regular Saturday kiddie matinees, just as seen in the nostalgic Joe Dante movie. Theaters in most towns functioned as ad hoc babysitters, with kids dropped off in clumps. In many cases the oldest squab in...

One of the best Hollywood historical epics takes Technicolor to Mexico for a Production Code version of La conquista: the Inquisition is still bad, but the Church is exonerated. Likewise with the invasion — Cesar Romero embodies a marvelous Hernán Cortés, substantially less murderous than the one we now know from accurate history books. Tyrone Power is the heartthrob hero and newcomer Jean Peters the lowborn girl who loves him. The magnificent scenery is matched by the music score of Alfred Newman.

Captain from Castile

Blu-ray

Twilight Time

1947 / Color / 137 Academy / 141 min. / Street Date October 17, 2017 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store / 29.95

Starring: Tyrone Power, Jean Peters, Cesar Romero, Lee J. Cobb, John Sutton, Antonio Moreno, Thomas Gomez, Alan Mowbray, Barbara Lawrence, George Zucco, Roy Roberts, Marc Lawrence, Reed Hadley, Robert Karnes, Estela Inda, Chris-Pin Martin, Jay Silverheels, Gilberto González.

Cinematography: Arthur Arling, Charles G. Clarke, Joseph Lashelle

Film Editor: Barbara McLean...

Luis Buñuel's most direct film about revolutionary politics brandishes few if any surreal touches in its clash between French star Gérard Philipe and the Mexican legend María Félix. Borrowing the climax of the opera Tosca, it's an intelligent study of how not to effect change in a corrupt political regime. La fièvre monte à El Pao Region A+B Blu-ray + Pal DVD Pathé (Fr) 1959 / B&W / 1:37 flat (should be 1:66 widescreen) / 96 min. / Los Ambiciosos; "Fever Mounts at El Pao" / Street Date December 4, 2013 / available at Amazon France / Eur 26,27 Starring Gérard Philipe, María Félix, Jean Servais, M.A. Soler, Raúl Dantés, Domingo Soler, Víctor Junco, Roberto Cañedo, Enrique Lucero, Pilar Pellicer, David Reynoso, Andrés Soler. Cinematography Gabriel Figueroa Assistant Director Juan Luis Buñuel Original Music Paul Misraki Written by Luis Buñuel, Luis Alcoriza, Charles Dorat, Louis Sapin from a novel by Henri Castillou Produced by Jacques Bar, Óscar Dancigers, Gregorio Walerstein...

In today's roundup: David Bordwell on Agnès Varda, Guy Maddin on walking and making collages, the unlikely connection between Orson Welles and the New Queer Cinema of the early 90s, the Chiseler on Mae Busch and Larry Tucker, Patti Smith on Bob Dylan and Karina Longworth on David O. Selznick, Jennifer Jones and Robert Walker. Plus: Deniz Gamze Ergüven’s Mustang wins this year's Lux Prize, two new projects for Lee Daniels, Werner Herzog's Rogue Film School is heading to Munich and Richard Linklater will be discussing Luis Buñuel's Los Olvidados in Austin tonight. » - David Hudson...

In today's roundup: David Bordwell on Agnès Varda, Guy Maddin on walking and making collages, the unlikely connection between Orson Welles and the New Queer Cinema of the early 90s, the Chiseler on Mae Busch and Larry Tucker, Patti Smith on Bob Dylan and Karina Longworth on David O. Selznick, Jennifer Jones and Robert Walker. Plus: Deniz Gamze Ergüven’s Mustang wins this year's Lux Prize, two new projects for Lee Daniels, Werner Herzog's Rogue Film School is heading to Munich and Richard Linklater will be discussing Luis Buñuel's Los Olvidados in Austin tonight. » - David Hudson...

In today's roundup: Interviews with Werner Herzog, Gaspar Noé, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Telaroli and Kurt Walker. Richard Linklater on Jean-Luc Godard's Masculin-Féminin, Luis Buñuel's Los Olvidados, Robert Bresson's Pickpocket, Ulrike Ottinger's Ticket of No Return, Martin Scorsese's New York, New York and Nagisa Oshima's The Ceremony. Vanity Fair's Bill Murray profile. Remembering actor and scriptwriter Colin Welland (Chariots of Fire). Simon Callow on Orson Welles. News of forthcoming films by Shane Carruth, Xavier Dolan, Duncan Jones and Edgar Wright—and more. » - David Hudson...

In today's roundup: Interviews with Werner Herzog, Gaspar Noé, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Telaroli and Kurt Walker. Richard Linklater on Jean-Luc Godard's Masculin-Féminin, Luis Buñuel's Los Olvidados, Robert Bresson's Pickpocket, Ulrike Ottinger's Ticket of No Return, Martin Scorsese's New York, New York and Nagisa Oshima's The Ceremony. Vanity Fair's Bill Murray profile. Remembering actor and scriptwriter Colin Welland (Chariots of Fire). Simon Callow on Orson Welles. News of forthcoming films by Shane Carruth, Xavier Dolan, Duncan Jones and Edgar Wright—and more. » - David Hudson...

Cinema’s Hidden Pearls – Part I

By Alex Simon

One of nature’s rarest items, a pearl is produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk. Just like the shell of a clam, a pearl is composed of calcium carbonate in minute crystalline form, which has been deposited in concentric layers. Truly flawless pearls are infrequently produced in nature, and as a result, the pearl has become a metaphor for something rare, fine, admirable and valuable. Hidden pearls exist in the world of movies, as well: films that, in spite of being brilliantly crafted and executed, never got the audience they deserved beyond a cult following.

Here are a few of our favorite hidden pearls in the world of film:

1. Night Moves (1975)

Director Arthur Penn hit three home runs in a row with the trifecta of Bonnie & Clyde, Alice’s Restaurant and Little Big Man,...

While the name Gabriel Figueroa may not be a familiar one to many, even those with a stronger affinity for filmmaking and the art behind it, New York’s own Film Forum is hoping to change that.

On June 5, the theater began a career spanning retrospective surrounding the work of iconic cinematographer and Mexican film industry legend Gabriel Figueroa. Taking a look at 19 of the photographer’s films, the series is running in conjunction with the new exhibition at El Museo del Barrio, entitled Under The Mexican Sky: Gabriel Figueroa – Art And Film.

Best known as a pioneer of Mexican cinema, primarily with his work alongside director Emilio Fernandez, Figueroa’s work was as varied as they come. His work with Fernandez is without a doubt this retrospective’s highlight, particularly films like Wildflower. One of the many times Mexican cinema’s “Big Four” worked together, the film saw the...

Mark Cousins' essay on children and cinema is playful and profound. His frame of reference is vast, stretching from Tom and Jerry to Meet Me in St Louis, from British films such as Kes to Idrissa Ouedraogo's Yaaba, Luis Buñuel's Los Olvidados, Andrei Tarkovsky's Mirror, Spielberg's Et and the recent Dutch classic Kauwboy. Cousins organises his clips thematically, exploring subjects such as "wariness," "destructiveness" and "class," and always looking for parallels between different cultures and periods. He also makes highly inventive use of one of his own home movies, which features his nephew and niece playing marbles and acting up for the camera. Just occasionally, there is a hint of narcissism (early on, Cousins seems to compare himself to Van Gogh) and one or two of his readings of films are reductive. (It seems perverse to see the relationship between Pip and Estella in David Lean's...

We asked a few LatinoBuzz amigos to get their Robinson Crusoe on and pick a film, an album, a book and a companion from the movies to join them in their shenanigans were they to be stuck on a deserted island (and before anyone nitpicks, filmmakers are resourceful, so of course they built solar powered entertainment centers made from bamboos, coconuts and grass to watch movies and listen to baby making slow jams). We figured we'd start with the narrative filmmakers since they probably sit around thinking about this kinda stuff anyway.

Film: Choosing desert island items may mean sacrificing taste and/or reason, thinking about those items that you wouldn’t forgive yourself for not bringing them as your company, it´s like choosing the woman of your life. Here it goes: Hiroshima Mon Amour; there might be others I fancy as much as or more than (La Dolce Vita, Vertigo, M , some Lubitsch or Preminger), but I can think of no other as unique. I wouldn’t be able to choose any other without feeling Hiroshima’s absence - the best love film, the best movie about war, the best motion picture regarding the memory and its consequences. I can spend my whole life learning about film and the world because of Hiroshima...'.

Album: “Los Preludios de Debussy” by Claudio Arrau. These were so important to my life (I'm referring to my childhood of course) and I think no one does it better than Arrau. Same thing: it is endless. I think I could never tire of this and I could still wake up each and every morning amazed by it.

Book: “Sentimental Education”, by Flaubert. Similar to “Hiroshima”, a book that changed my outlook on literature and the world and I am certain it will keep transforming it forever.

Companion: Susie Diamond (Michelle Pfeiffer in 'The fabulous Baker Boys'). Since I saw the film (which I liked very much!) in the provincial movie theater of my childhood, I felt as Jack Baker´s relative and I loved Susie. If we had a piano, it would all be all be perfect. - Santiago Palavecino (Algunas chicas/Some Girls)

Film: This is a tricky question. I've always said that on a deserted island you should bring some porn. You could use that more than regular movies. But since I've got to pick a film I guess it'd be Jaws. Why? Because it's one of my favorites (I could also go with The Good, the Bad and the Ugly). But being on a deserted island, Jaws will remind me all the time what'll happen to me for sure if I try to get away!

Album: “ Appetite for Destruction” (Guns N' Roses). Hey, I was 13 when this came out. I listen to it every day while I work, anyways. My favorite, by far.

A Book: I'm going to cheat on this one: 'The Complete Works' by Jorge Luis Borges. The best writer, and enough labyrinths to get lost on endless nights.

Companion: Sherlock Holmes. He's always been my favorite, and also, since my guess is he'll be pretty useless in a deserted island, every time we fail to get out because of him I can get to tell him "Is that the best you can do, Sherlock? - Alejandro Brugués (Juan of the Dead)

Film: Los Olvidados- this is punk rock and Pachuco. Mexico City style before the bombed out bunkers of Sid & Nancy. Bunuel is a hero and I wanna buy Jaibo a beer and milk for the old poetic man!

Album: The Blade Runner album. I can play it over and over, get cranked up or mellow with Blade Runner Blues and the constant rain.

Book: '20 years of Joda' - poems of Jose Montoya, my pop. Epic stuff! 'Ran with Miguel Pinero in the Lower Eastside!”

Companion: Michael Corleone cause he's Mack in my book! Jaibo gets an honorable mention. - Richard Montoya (Water & Power )

Film: I´d choose Misery because a year can go by and I can watch it again eagerly. It's simple and the director (Rob Reiner) and Stephen King are both masters of suspense.

Album: I know this may be considered cheating but it would have to be 'The Best of David Bowie'. That way I have 2 CD's with nearly 40 songs!

Companion: There's many great people who I would to live with but on a deserted Island? It would have to be Mary Poppins for obvious reasons.

Book: And finally the book would be 'Blood Meridian' by Cormac McCarthy because it's one I haven't read yet. Analeine Cal y Mayor - (The Boy Who Smells Like Fish)

Film: I would say White Chicks. I’m going to need some humor! White Chicks is the movie that I put on when I need a good laugh. It does it for me every time. I grew up with characters like that; and admittedly, I can regress back to a few of them myself when no one is looking.

Album: ' Songs From the Capeman' - Paul Simon. I can’t get enough of that album. It instantly takes me to that world and electrifies that side of me that’s determined to make a change for Latinos. I want to keep that feeling with me alive eternally…wherever I’m at.”

Book: There are many but 'Anatomy of the Spirit' by Caroline Myss has been my compass. It taught me how to take control of my destiny by listening to my intuition and body. I stand by her quote: “Your biography becomes your biology.

Companion: The first person that came to mind when I read the question was silly Clarence from “It’s a Wonderful Life”. I guess I’m going to need an angel with me, and he’s perfect. He has a pure childlike spirit that would help me find gratitude in the most unlikely moments… even on a deserted island! That right there is the meaning of life. - Carmen Marron (Endgame)

Film: There are so many brilliant, groundbreaking favorite films that have influenced me (The 400 Blows; Jules and Jim ; Law of Desire; et al) but I wouldn't bring any of them. If I'm stuck on a deserted island, I'm bringing Neil Simon's Murder by Death so I can laugh my ass off. Not a great film at all, it's true, but it's a classic comedy.

Album: Oh, this is easy: Madonna's "Ray of Light." I am no Madonna fanatic, but "deserted island, " means beach + summer weather + Fire Island-like atmosphere. So somewhere nearby there's got to be gay guys partying and I will use Madonna to lure them to me so I can be rescued.

One Book: Varga Llosa's "Feast of the Goat" ("La Fiesta del Chivo") -- it's action-packed historical fiction. It will keep me occupied. One of my favorite novels.

Companion: Huckleberry Finn. He will be a great companion: not only will he tell great stories, but undoubtedly, the ever-resourceful Huck Finn will figure out how to build a raft and get us out off that island! - Terracino (Elliot Loves )

Film: Whenever anyone asks me this I always think of what use these items would serve practically on a deserted island, so I answered this in that respect. Tokyo Story - Yasujiro Ozu. This would be a great film to take on a deserted island because it's really about the unavoidable suffering of the cycle of life, which I'm sure you'd relate to if you were stuck on an island. I really could watch this film a million times over and notice something new every time. Watching most Ozu films is not unlike participating in a Zen meditation practice. It's patience and slowness and trying to empty your mind of thought until your left with the basics of existence. Kind of like sitting on a deserted island alone. I can watch the scene where Kyoto says “Life is disappointing, isn't it?” and Noriko smiles and says “Yes it is.” I can watch that endlessly and cry every time. It's so true.

Album: ' Tusk' - Fleetwood Mac. I could also deal with 'Rumours' but I picked 'Tusk' because it's longer and denser; probably better for an island. 'Sara' is maybe my favorite song in the world and so it would be nice to have that with me. I think channeling the powerful witchy energy of Stevie Nicks would be a real asset on an island. This album has so much strange material on - you wouldn't get bored too easily with it. It's also got a range of emotions so if you get too depressed on the island you can just put on 'Never Forget' and feel better. And 'Sisters of the Moon' would be good around a fire at night. Even though you're stuck on an island, it's good to create an ambiance to remind you that life is worth living.

Book: ' In Search of Lost Time' - Marcel Proust. I've only read 'Swann's Way' which is first part of this. My analyst recommend it to me when I was totally heartbroken after someone broke up with me. It really did the trick. This would be a good long epic read that has enough complex ideas in it to keep you occupied for a life time. Probably a good book (or set of books) to get back to nature with.

Companion: I'll say Terry Malloy from “On the Waterfront”. He'd be strong and good to have around to cut down trees and hunt and stuff. He's also easy on the eyes and someone that could do with a little lonely contemplation away from the loading docks. That doesn't sound half bad...stuck on like a tropical island with a young, cute Marlon Brando, watching Ozu, reading Proust and listening to Fleetwood Mac all day. Sign me up! - Joshua Sanchez (Four)

Film: My film would have to be Luis Buñuel's Los Olvidados. I have been a movie watcher since I was a child. Raised on mainstream American films and Wuxia flicks, it wasn't until I was a late teen that I took my first film class and was introduced to the work of Buñuel. Los Olvidados literally changed my perception of the world, both socially and visually. It was also the gateway for me to progress from movie watcher to film student.

Album: Music is my religion and I belong to the church of Robert Nesta Marley. I would prefer the whole anthology, but if I had to choose one album it would be “Exodus”. When on an island listen to island music.

Book: Right around the time I discovered the work of Buñuel, I was gifted Jose Montoya's 'In Formation: 20 years of Joda'. The book is a treasure of epic poems, sketches, and corridos. All testaments to the beauty and strength of Chicana/o culture. 20 years later I pay homage to both of these Maestros in my debut feature film, “Cry Now”. The film's protagonist is nicknamed 'Ojitos' during the course of the narrative, a reference to one of the characters in Los Olvidados. The late great Lupe Ontiveros playing the role of a sage loosely recites Montoya's mantra 'La Locura Cura' (In madness you find truth) while she councils our protagonist.

Companion: To bring it all full circle my fictitious character would have to be a Wuxia hero. As a child I was awe inspired by these bigger than life martial artists. As an adult, Ang Lee's “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” did the same. I know all would be as it should if Yu Shu Lien was on that island with me. - Alberto Barboza (Cry Now )

Film: Nothing But a Man (1964) It's a film that does an incredible job balancing a character-driven story within a politically charged context. It's a film I'm finding myself inspired by as I continue to write Los Valientes.

Album: I'm not a fan of albums, but if I had to choose one I guess I would have to go with any of Prince's albums. His music always puts me in a trance.

Book: My dream journal so I can look back look for signs of what is to become of my future.

Companion: Who better than TV's MacGyver. I'd put his ass to work on getting me off the island! -Aurora Guerrero (Mosquita y Mari)

Film: Hell in the Pacific so that I can be reminded that even in paradise there is a duality.

Album: “La Scala: Concert” by Ludovico Einaudi – I've listened to it a thousand times and each time I feel or discover something new.

Book: “ Voces Reunidas” by Antonio Porchia. Each time I read one of his poems I learn something new and I'm deeply moved.

Companion: Barbarella, so I could never be lonely and I could enjoy this planet-island – Diego Quemada-Díez (La jaula de oro/The Golden Dream)

Written by Juan Caceres . LatinoBuzz is a weekly feature on SydneysBuzz that highlights Latino indie talent and upcoming trends in Latino film with the specific objective of presenting a broad range of Latino voices. Follow [At]LatinoBuzz on Twitter and Facebook...

Beginning September 22 and running through February of 2014, Lacma will host "Under the Mexican Sky," an exhibition co-presented by the Academy highlighting the prolific and award-winning Mexican cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa. His career spanned 50 years and over 200 films. Clips below. Recognized as one of the most important cinematographers of the 20th century, Figueroa collaborated with artists such as Diego Rivera and Jose Clemente Orozco, and filmmakers like Emilio Fernandez and John Ford. Nominated for an Oscar for John Huston's "The Night of the Iguana" (1964), Figueroa won awards at Cannes, a Golden Globe and won best cinematography each year at the Mexican Ariel Awards from 1947 to 1951. He worked on seven films by Luis Bunuel including "Los Olvidados" (1950) and "The Exterminating Angel" (1962). The exhibition features film clips, paintings, photographs, posters and documents drawn from Figueroa’s archive, now owned by the Televisa Foundation. In addition, the...

There was plenty of discussion across the movie blogosphere following last week's announcement that Vertigo had dethroned Citizen Kane as the greatest film of all time according to Sight & Sound's decennial poll. In addition to revealing the top 50 as determined by critics, they also provided a top 10 based on a separate poll for directors only. In the print version of the magazine, they have taken it a step further by reprinting some of the individual top 10 lists from the filmmakers who participated, and we now have some of them here for your perusal. Among them, we have lists from legends like Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola and Quentin Tarantino, but there are also some unexpected newcomers who took part including Richard Ayoade (Submarine), Miranda July (Me and You and Everyone We Know) and Sean Durkin (Martha Marcy May Marlene). Some of these lists aren't all that surprising (both Quentin Tarantino...

Last week, the recent Sight & Sound list of the top 50 movies of all-time (find it here) was released. The poll is conducted every ten years and this year's edition was made by polling 846 critics, programmers, academics and distributors. In addition to that list, however, Sight & Sound polled 358 film directors, which included Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, Francis Ford Coppola, Woody Allen and Mike Leigh. Tallying the results the directors' top ten looked like this: Tokyo Story (dir. Yasujiro Ozu) 2001: A Space Odyssey (dir. Stanley Kubrick) Citizen Kane (dir. Orson Welles) 8 1/2 (dir. Federico Fellini) Taxi Driver (dir. Martin Scorsese) Apocalypse Now (dir. Francis Ford Coppola) The Godfather (dir. Francis Ford Coppola) Vertigo (dir. AAlfred Hitchcock) Mirror (dir. Andrei Tarkovsky) Bicycle Thieves (dir. Vittoria De Sica) The problem, for me at least, is that doesn't really tell us much. Just like the Sight & Sound list we're looking at something that simply lists...

Film

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie is a landmark film, truly one of the greatest ever made and perhaps filmmaker Luis Buñuel’s finest (it’s certainly my favorite of his). It’s also so much fun. Buñuel’s anger at institutions was long and storied, and his films were frequently calls for outright anarchy, but Discreet Charm was a turn away from the bitterness and meanness of films like The Exterminating Angel or Los Olvidados towards a genial bemusement at the absurdity of upper-class life. Telling the story of a group of friends whose attempts to get together for dinner are thwarted first by simple misunderstandings, and later by more elaborate, surreal interventions, you get the sense that he’s somewhere, just offscreen, laughing at the whole endeavor, and inviting us to do likewise.

So for those of the opinion that a filmmaker must love or sympathize with his characters,...

In the latest of our writers' favourite film series, Leo Hickman is bowled over by the elemental force of Godfrey Reggio and Philip Glass's 1982 environmental masterpiece

Want to set the world to rights? Have your say in the comments section below – or write your own review

It's a film without any characters, plot or narrative structure. And its title is notoriously hard to pronounce. What's not to love about Koyaanisqatsi?

I came to Godfrey Reggio's 1982 masterpiece very late. It was actually during a Google search a few years back when looking for timelapse footage of urban traffic (for work rather than pleasure!) that I came across a "cult film", as some online reviewers were calling it. This meant I first watched it as all its loyal fans say not to: on DVD, on a small screen. If ever a film was destined for watching in a cinema, this is it.

Although the French screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrière has collaborated with Tati, Buñuel and Schlöndorff, he is the invisible man of film

To read the newly published This Is Not the End of the Book, a conversation between Umberto Eco and Jean-Claude Carrière, is to eavesdrop on two highly erudite minds. Digressive, anecdotal and humorous, they reflect on their love of the printed word and where the destiny of the book might lie, ranging from neglected French poetry of the 16th century to a forthcoming first edition of Waiting for Godot in the revived Nahuatl language of the Aztecs. But while Eco is internationally famous for his bestselling historical novels, Carrière has a relatively low profile even in his native France. Low, that is, for someone whose career as a dramatist has encompassed collaborations with an unparalleled array of directorial talent from film and theatre, and 50 books, in addition to the 80 screenplays,...

Pixote: a Lei do Mais Fraco (Original Release Date: 5 May 1981)

Hector Babenco's Pixote is a movie about kids trying to survive in a world that doesn't seem to want to let them.  Outside of a documentary short like Ciro Durán's Gamín, my guess is that era reviews didn't have much to compare Pixote to beyond Luis Buñuel's Los Olvidados or Charles Dickens's Oliver Twist. I'd also guess that not all of these comparisons were flattering. Babenco's direction here lacks the visual punch of Buñuel's, and his characters are nowhere near as well-formed as Dickens's. With any Buñuel comparison, one must contend a sophistication that, to this day, leads people to argue over how much of the work is earnest, and how much of it is ironic or parodic. (This excludes film students.  I'd say film students still love to debate whether Las Hurdes is a...

(Luis Buñuel, 1951; 1952, 12, Mr Bongo)

After his two avant- garde collaborations with fellow surrealist Salvador Dali – Un Chien Andalou (1929) and L'Age d'Or (1930) – Luis Buñuel disappeared below the radar in Mexico until reappearing at Cannes with Los Olvidados in 1951. He continued working there until re-establishing himself in Europe in the 1960s as one of the great directors. His mostly little-known Mexican films – rough-hewn, low-budget melodramas for the most part – are always interesting, and these two early ones complement each other as they explore characteristic themes of lust, cruelty, class, hypocrisy and corruption. In Susana, a satanic femme fatale offers up successful prayers for escape from her hellhole of a reform school and proceeds to ingratiate herself into a wealthy bourgeois family where she proceeds to destroy everyone around her. In El Bruto, a violent, ox-like abattoir worker (the great Pedro Armendáriz) is hired to do a slum landlord's dirty work and is...

Happy Cinco de Mayo, fellow Americans! This holiday has nothing to do with us, and yet we love to celebrate it anyway. And that's cool; there's nothing wrong with using a holiday as an excuse to learn more about a particular culture. Just make sure you take the time to find out what the day means before you engage in any drunken revelry.

The holiday extends back to the Battle of Puebla, on May 5, 1862. Outnumber Mexican armed forces beat back French invaders who were trying to lay claim to the state of Puebla. You can learn more about the holiday and its significance on MTV.com in Josh Wigler's full report. This is MTV Movies Blog though, and I'd be remiss if I didn't take some time today to shout out some of the brilliant Mexican filmmakers and films that can be found out there.

Alejandro González Iñárritu

Alejandro González Iñárritu...

First the history, then the list:

In 1969, Jerome Hill, P. Adams Sitney, Peter Kubelka, Stan Brakhage, and Jonas Mekas decided to open the world’s first museum devoted to film. Of course, a typical museum hangs its collections of artwork on the wall for visitors to walk up to and study. However, a film museum needs special considerations on how — and what, of course — to present its collection to the public.

Thus, for this film museum, first a film selection committee was formed that included James Broughton, Ken Kelman, Peter Kubelka, Jonas Mekas and P. Adams Sitney, plus, for a time, Stan Brakhage. This committee met over the course of several months to decide exactly what films would be collected and how they would be shown. The final selection of films would come to be called the The Essential Cinema Repertory.

The Essential Cinema Collection that the committee came up with consisted of about 330 films.

As we head into the quarter finals, it's Italy, Russian, Germany, India, China, Iran, Africa and Japan... all competing in the Auteurs World Cup 2009. Combining two of the world's favorite spectator sports — soccer and arthouse cinema — the good folks at The Auteurs have come up with a fun competition that focuses attention on regions as well as films. It doesn't cost anything to participate, but you have to have seen the films. So, use this opportunity to see Chantal Akerman's Toute une Nuit, Tarkovsky's The Mirror, Bunuel's Los Olvidados, or Moshen Makhmalbaf's A Moment of Innocence.

Dir: Sam Taylor Wood Cast: Aaron Johnson, Kristen Scott Thomas, Anne Marie Duff, David Morrisey, David Threlfall, Thomas Brodie Sangster It must be said that British cinema did not promote itself especially well at this year’s London Film Festival. ‘Don’t Worry About Me’ and ‘Kicks’ failed to make any positive mark on the critics and audiences that turned out to see them; and while ’44 Inch Chest’ and ‘The Disappearance of Alice Creed’ boasted fantastic casts and gritty aesthetics, they were poorly written and suffered a similar fate. Fortunately, festival organiser Sandra Hebron had one more card up her sleeve for the closing gala… ‘Nowhere Boy’. The film explores the teen years of one of the nation’s most beloved yet mysterious musical figures… John Lennon. The project has been developed by Ecosse (perhaps the most British production company around after a host of period dramas and adaptations of...

Tim Burton invades New York, New Italian Cinema hits Los Angeles, Harold and Kumar spread holiday cheer in Austin and everywhere you look, they're celebrating All Tomorrow's Parties -- just some of the holiday film fun you can have this winter at your local repertory theater.

More Holiday Preview: [Theatrical Calendar]

[Repertory Calendar] [Anywhere But a Movie Theater]

New York

92YTribeca

In November, the 92YTribeca Screening Room will have some special guests in the house when it hosts the already sold out "A Conversation with Wes Anderson and Jason Schwartzman" on November 10th, with the two longtime collaborators discussing their latest film "Fantastic Mr. Fox." But tickets are still available for the night before (Nov. 9th), when actor Ben Foster and director Oren Moverman will screen their acclaimed new post-war drama "The Messenger". Much of the rest of the month is devoted to Cinema Tropical's Ten Years of New Argentine Cinema series with screenings of Adrián Caetano's immigration...

The 24th Guadalajara Film Festival Awards went to Gerardo Tort's Viaje Redondo (Round Trip) and Peruvian Claudia Llosa's La teta asustada (The Milk of Sorrow) in the Mexican and Latin American feature film sections, respectively. Voy a explotar (I'm Going to Explode) from Canana, directed by Gerardo Naranjo won for first work in the Latin American section, even though it was actually his second work. Naranjo's first work was Drama/Mex. Carlos Enderle's Cronicas Chilanga won for Mexican first work, Mexican screenplay, and best actor award going to Patricio Castillo. Other winners included La passion de Gabriel, Corazon del Tiempo for best director, and Retorno a Hansala also for best director. The special jury prize went to Aquele Querido Mes de Agosto (This Dear Month of August). At the Coproduction Meetings awards went to Sergio Teubal for his project El dedo and to Leandro Fabrizzi of Puerto Rico for Filiberto.

During the days of the festival, The red carpet was unfurled for the world debut of The Perfect Game by William Dear and producers David Salzberg and Christian Tureaud. Encounters with the media were held for the movies Corazón del tiempo, Niño Pez, La Última y nos Vamos, and Amor sin Fin.

Otra Película de Huevos y un Pollo by brothers Rodolfo and Gabriel Riva Palacios surprised many as the film chosen to inaugurate FLCG24.

Encounters with the media were held for the feature films Voy a Explotar, Camino which won six Goya prizes, including best movie, best director and best actress, and Rabioso Sol Rabioso Cielo.

The keynote speech Sunday March 22 under the aegis of IV Digital Space in Guadalajara will be a lecture by Peter Broderick, The New World of Distribution.

Broderick, President of Paradigm Consulting, is known as one of the leading experts in the development of creative strategies for digital distribution. His innovative viewpoints have contributed to both producers and filmmakers multiplying audiences and revenue and successfully taking advantage of the opportunities offered by the digital age.

The first day's activities included Gerardo Tort presenting his movie Viaje Redondo, director and scriptwriter Alicia Scherson and star Diego Noguera presenting the Chilean movie Turistas to the press, a competitor in the Ibero-American Feature-length Fiction category.

The Gala event featured Sólo Quiero Caminar, and afterward the Guadalajara Prize was awarded to Guadalajara's own actor, director and producer Gael Garcia Bernal. Special event Cinelandia began with Manu Chao presenting the films that have touched his life, including Los Olvidados by Luis Buñuel and Princesas by fellow Spaniard Fernando Leon de Aranoa. ...

Pusan International Film Festival

BUSAN, South Korea -- Zhang Miaoyan may belong to the same brood of independent filmmakers such as Ying Liang (Taking Father Home), Wei Tie (Distance) or Zhao Ye (Ma Wujia), who put postreform China's social injustices and grass-roots misery on exhibition for a festival audience. But his Xiaolin Xiaoli also shares camaraderie with Bunuel's Los Olvidados in the way unflinching neo-realism and excoriating social criticism are transcended by aching poetry and surrealism.

Sexual frustration, depicted without moralistic window dressing, is the film's single, unswerving theme. This is directly linked to the protagonists' social disenfranchisement in a corrupt and uncaring state. The audacious assertion is a hurdle for public screening in China, though the blatantly sexual subject matter may attract a diverse audience overseas.

The film's sexual politics are established early on, when a low-angled camera pursues a pair of female legs in high heels strutting along a dusty road. It catches the eye of junkyard worker Xiaolin, the 26-year-old virgin protagonist. Unavailability breeds contempt. "Bitch asshole!" he seethes and runs home to masturbate before a faded calendar. The film provides an inventive masturbator's manual for the really desperate, like boring a hole in a lardy strip of pig's skin.

Xiaolin's sexual deprivation is represented as equally inhumane as not being able to afford education or health care. He is so Low Down the poverty line that he has to starve for a week for one night's paid sex. Zhang conveys a palpable sense of how it's an all-consuming obsession. In fact, Xiaolin's testosterone overdrive is exacerbated by his fellow-laborer Lao Qan, a 40-year-old bachelor addicted to prostitution. There is not much else gratifying in their wretched lives. Pigs are a recurrent motif that evokes their animalistic existence.

A complementary narrative introduces Xiaoli, a woman who moonlights in a barbershop-cum-brothel while her husband works in Shanghai to pay off debts. Her frustration is expressed poetically in letters of longing to her husband but its nature is the same as Xiaolin's unsoothed libido.

Xiaoli's plight tells the prostitute's side of the story, a running list of male abuse. The weak prey on the weaker so the prostitutes just take it out on more destitute clients like Xiaolin and Lao Qan by humiliating and cheating them. With exploitation and hostility at both ends of the business transaction, it is just a matter of time before angst erupts into violence.

The film ends with a dedication to 20 million prostitutes and 150 million farm workers in China. It is punctuated with comments on government campaigns that went to pot and state broadcasts warning the public against all kinds of petty crimes (while graver abuses go unchecked).

Shot digitally on the cheap, using open locations of a shantytown and interiors of pitch-dark squalor where unsavory sex takes place, the cinematography is surprisingly above average, with many beautifully composed shots.

Xiaolin Xiaoli

Rice Production

Credits:

Director/producer/director of photography/editor: Zhang Miaoyan

Screenwriters: Zhang Miaoyan, Wang Lianggui, Mao Danhui

Music: Jiang Hongwei

Cast:

Xiaolin: Mao Danhui

Xiaoli: Liu Yun

Laoqiang: Deng Xiaolong

Agang: Li Chengliang

Running time -- 108 minutes

No MPAA rating...

PARIS -- Organizers of the Festival de Cannes on Thursday unveiled the complete lineup of the Cannes Classics section dedicated to historic films from around the world. Now in its second year, the selection pays tribute to Mexican cinema with screenings of a restored copy of the 1950 film Los Olvidados, directed by Luis Bunuel, and a miniretrospective of the work of Emilio Fernandez, three of whose movies will unspool at Cannes. The British Film Institute has put together a program of restored films by U.K. director Michael Powell to mark the centenary of his birth.

PARIS -- Organizers of the Festival de Cannes on Thursday unveiled the complete lineup of the Cannes Classics section dedicated to historic films from around the world. Now in its second year, the selection pays tribute to Mexican cinema with screenings of a restored copy of the 1950 film Los Olvidados, directed by Luis Bunuel, and a miniretrospective of the work of Emilio Fernandez, three of whose movies will unspool at Cannes. The British Film Institute has put together a program of restored films by U.K. director Michael Powell to mark the centenary of his birth.

PARIS -- Organizers of the Festival de Cannes on Thursday unveiled the complete lineup of the Cannes Classics section dedicated to historic films from around the world. Now in its second year, the selection pays tribute to Mexican cinema with screenings of a restored copy of the 1950 picture Los Olvidados and a mini-retrospective of the work of Emilio Fernandez, three of whose movies will unspool. The British Film Institute has put together a program of restored films by U.K. director Michael Powell to mark the centenary of his birth. Also on the menu are two films restored by the Academy Film Archive under the aegis of the Film Foundation, the movie preservation organization founded in 1990 by Martin Scorsese and seven other leading American directors. Unspooling at Cannes will be Jean Renoir's 1951 The River and Satyajit Ray's 1955 work Pather Panchali.

PARIS -- Organizers of the Festival de Cannes on Thursday unveiled the complete lineup of the Cannes Classics section dedicated to historic films from around the world. Now in its second year, the selection pays tribute to Mexican cinema with screenings of a restored copy of the 1950 picture Los Olvidados and a mini-retrospective of the work of Emilio Fernandez, three of whose movies will unspool. The British Film Institute has put together a program of restored films by U.K. director Michael Powell to mark the centenary of his birth. Also on the menu are two films restored by the Academy Film Archive under the aegis of the Film Foundation, the movie preservation organization founded in 1990 by Martin Scorsese and seven other leading American directors. Unspooling at Cannes will be Jean Renoir's 1951 The River and Satyajit Ray's 1955 work Pather Panchali.