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Mehra’s film in Venice Film Fest

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In Venice, India’s Mehra tackles outdated mindset
Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra takes on India’s “1,000-year-old mindset” in the black comedy “Delhi-6″ screened Thursday at the Venice film festival.
“On the face of it, we’re all very tolerant people, people with a straight face who teach our children to love and care,” Mehra said.
But India’s “very old value systems are not relevant today. The mindset remains 1,000 years old.”
In the film Roshan (Abhishek Bachchan), a second-generation Indian living in the United States, accompanies his ailing grandmother back to the homeland to die.
“The fish wants to return to the water,” Mehra said.
Roshan at first finds assimilating easy, surrounded by love and tolerance, but he gradually becomes aware of underlying conflicts.
This is where Kala Bandar, or the Monkey Man, comes in.
Kala Bandar was the subject of an urban myth that captured the imagination in New Delhi in 2001, when police went so far as to offer a 50,000 rupee reward for the capture of a simian creature said to have attacked several people.
“Wherever the two stories intersect there’s a spark… and they merge towards the end of the film,” Mehra said.
Kala Bandar “became a metaphor for the demon within,” he said.
“In the world we all live in today we pretend to actually love each other, but there’s something inside us that makes us hate. …The only person you need to change is the person you look at in the mirror,” Mehra said.
The action is set in the teeming old quarter of New Delhi, known as Delhi 6, its postal code, where Mehra grew up.
“It is like a microcosm of India,” he said. “If you were to shrink India it would fit into that city.”
The ancient walled city is among the most densely populated in the world. “It’s like there’s a big tap somewhere, and instead of water there are people coming out of it,” Mehra said. But amid the chaos, “there is so much calm, so much peace.”
The 66th Mostra runs until Saturday.
by: AFP

In Venice, India’s Mehra tackles outdated mindset

delhi_6Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra takes on India’s “1,000-year-old mindset” in the black comedy “Delhi-6″ screened Thursday at the Venice film festival.

“On the face of it, we’re all very tolerant people, people with a straight face who teach our children to love and care,” Mehra said.

But India’s “very old value systems are not relevant today. The mindset remains 1,000 years old.”

In the film Roshan (Abhishek Bachchan), a second-generation Indian living in the United States, accompanies his ailing grandmother back to the homeland to die.

“The fish wants to return to the water,” Mehra said.

Roshan at first finds assimilating easy, surrounded by love and tolerance, but he gradually becomes aware of underlying conflicts.

This is where Kala Bandar, or the Monkey Man, comes in.

Kala Bandar was the subject of an urban myth that captured the imagination in New Delhi in 2001, when police went so far as to offer a 50,000 rupee reward for the capture of a simian creature said to have attacked several people.

“Wherever the two stories intersect there’s a spark… and they merge towards the end of the film,” Mehra said.

Kala Bandar “became a metaphor for the demon within,” he said.

“In the world we all live in today we pretend to actually love each other, but there’s something inside us that makes us hate. …The only person you need to change is the person you look at in the mirror,” Mehra said.

The action is set in the teeming old quarter of New Delhi, known as Delhi 6, its postal code, where Mehra grew up.

“It is like a microcosm of India,” he said. “If you were to shrink India it would fit into that city.”

The ancient walled city is among the most densely populated in the world. “It’s like there’s a big tap somewhere, and instead of water there are people coming out of it,” Mehra said. But amid the chaos, “there is so much calm, so much peace.”

The 66th Mostra runs until Saturday.

by: AFP

Sparks fly in Venice

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Sparks fly at Venice filmfest over ’68 anti-war pic+
Sparks flew at the Venice film festival Wednesday when Italian director Michele Placido was asked why conservative Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s media group had produced his film on the 1968 anti-war movement.
“I don’t know who Berlusconi is, and I don’t vote for him, I vote for the other side entirely,” he said at the start of a news conference on his film “Il Grande Sogno” (The Great Dream), produced by Mediaset.
Then, mistakenly thinking his Spanish questioner was American, Placido’s voice rose to a shout: “You invade other countries, send people to die and then make films on it to say how good you are” — in an apparent reference to Grant Heslov’s dark comedy “The Men Who Stare at Goats,” set in Iraq.
“Get out of that country,” Placido said.
Placido’s autobiographical film recalls his “conversion” from police officer to anti-war activist in the late 1960s.
by: AFP

Sparks fly at Venice filmfest over ’68 anti-war pic

placidoSparks flew at the Venice film festival Wednesday when Italian director Michele Placido was asked why conservative Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s media group had produced his film on the 1968 anti-war movement.

“I don’t know who Berlusconi is, and I don’t vote for him, I vote for the other side entirely,” he said at the start of a news conference on his film “Il Grande Sogno” (The Great Dream), produced by Mediaset.

Then, mistakenly thinking his Spanish questioner was American, Placido’s voice rose to a shout: “You invade other countries, send people to die and then make films on it to say how good you are” — in an apparent reference to Grant Heslov’s dark comedy “The Men Who Stare at Goats,” set in Iraq.

“Get out of that country,” Placido said.

Placido’s autobiographical film recalls his “conversion” from police officer to anti-war activist in the late 1960s.

by: AFP

Golden Lion for Lasseter and Disney*Pixar

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Venice Film Festival awards John Lasseter and Disney*Pixar Golden Lion for Lifetime Achiement
La Biennale di Venezia /
66th Venice International Film Festival
The 2009 Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement to be awarded to
John Lasseter and the directors of Disney•Pixar
The Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement of the 66th Venice International Film Festival (2nd-12th September 2009) is to be awarded to the American director and producer, John Lasseter – one of the protagonists of the innovation in contemporary animated cinema – and to the directors of Disney*Pixar. Exceptionally in the history of the Venice Film Festival, the award celebrates not only a single filmmaker, but also the contribution of all the directors of this visionary studio.
The Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement – assigned by the Board of Directors of the Venice Biennale, chaired by Paolo Baratta, following the proposal from the Festival Director, Marco Müller – will be presented to John Lasseter at a special ceremony in the Sala Grande of the Palazzo del Cinema at Venice Lido, during the 66th Venice International Film Festival (2009), in the presence of some of his oldest and closest Disney•Pixar colleagues, Brad Bird, Pete Docter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich.
“John Lasseter is the protagonist of ‘Western’ contemporary animation cinema,” declared Marco Müller. “Always on the lookout for that point at which the avant-garde (whether artistic, technological or formal) meets the blockbuster and the director of magnificent films – such as Toy Story (1995), A Bug’s Life (1998), Toy Story 2 (1999) and Cars (2006), Lasseter has not only contributed in a fundamental manner to bringing animation cinema to new heights as one of the great expressive forces of the new millennium, but has also become one of the symbols of the most precious, vital and inventive tradition of the great Hollywood cinema.”
“We are particularly pleased to award this Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement to one of the great innovators and experimenters of Hollywood,” declared the President of the Venice Biennale, Paolo Baratta. “We believe that the presence of John Lasseter in Venice, with his fellow Disney•Pixar directors, will represent an extraordinary opportunity for them to meet young Italian and European animation filmmakers as part of a workshop organised with the Biennale.”
John Lasseter – Biographical Notes
John Lasseter is chief creative officer of Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios and principal creative advisor, Walt Disney Imagineering.  He is a two-time Academy Award®-winning director (Toy Story, 1995; Tin Toy, 1988) and oversees all Pixar and Disney films and associated projects. Lasseter directed the groundbreaking and critically acclaimed films Toy Story (1995), A Bug’s Life (1998) and Toy Story 2 (1999).  Additionally, he executive produced Monsters, Inc. (2001, Pete Docter), Finding Nemo (2003, Andrew Stanton, Lee Unkrich), The Incredibles (2004, Brad Bird), Ratatouille (2007, Brad Bird) and WALL-E (2008, Andrew Stanton). Lasseter returned to the director’s chair in 2006 with the release of Disney/Pixar film, Cars.
In 2004, Lasseter was honored by the Art Directors Guild with its prestigious “Outstanding Contribution To Cinematic Imagery” award, and received an honorary degree from the American Film Institute.
Under Lasseter’s supervision, Pixar’s animated feature and short films have received a multitude of critical accolades and film industry honors.  He received a Special Achievement Oscar® in 1995 for his inspired leadership of the Toy Story team.  His work on Toy Story also resulted in an Academy Award®-nomination for “Best Original Screenplay,” the first time an animated feature had been recognized in that category.  Finding Nemo, released spring 2003, became the highest grossing animated feature of all time, and won the Oscar® for “Best Animated Feature Film.”
As creative director of Pixar, Lasseter enjoyed the critical acclaim and box office success of The Incredibles in 2004.  The film was recognized with a record-breaking 16 Annie Award nominations and several “Best Of” awards by The Wall Street Journal, American Film Institute, National Board of Review and many others.
Lasseter also has written, directed and animated a number of highly renowned short films and television commercials for Pixar, including Luxo Jr. (1986 Academy Award® nominee); Red’s Dream (1987); Tin Toy (1988 Academy Award® winner); and Knickknack (1989), which was produced as a 3D stereoscopic film.  Pixar’s Tin Toy became the first computer animated film to win an Oscar® when it received the 1988 Academy Award® for Best Animated Short Film.
Prior to the formation of Pixar in 1986, Lasseter was a member of the Computer Division of Lucasfilm Ltd., where he designed and animated the computer-generated Stained Glass Knight character in the 1985 Steven Spielberg-produced film Young Sherlock Holmes.
Lasseter attended the inaugural year of the Character Animation program at California Institute of the Arts and received his B.F.A. in film there in 1979.  While attending California Institute of the Arts, Lasseter produced two animated films, both winners of the Student Academy Award® for Animation; Lady and the Lamp in 1979 and Nitemare in 1980.  His very first award came at the age of five when he won $15.00 from the Model Grocery Market in Whittier, California, for a crayon drawing of the Headless Horseman.
Pixar Animation Studios
Pixar Animation Studios, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, is an Academy Award®-winning film studio with world-renowned technical, creative and production capabilities in the art of computer animation.  Creator of some of the most successful and beloved animated films of all time, including Toy Story, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars, Ratatouille, and most recently, WALL•E. The Northern California studio has won 21 Academy Awards® and its nine films have grossed more than $5 billion at the worldwide box office to date.  The next film release from Disney•Pixar is Up (May 29, 2009).
by: www.examiner.com

Venice Film Festival awards John Lasseter and Disney*Pixar Golden Lion for Lifetime Achiement

La Biennale di Venezia /

66th Venice International Film Festival

The 2009 Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement to be awarded to

John Lasseter and the directors of Disney•Pixar

lasseterThe Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement of the 66th Venice International Film Festival (2nd-12th September 2009) is to be awarded to the American director and producer, John Lasseter – one of the protagonists of the innovation in contemporary animated cinema – and to the directors of Disney*Pixar. Exceptionally in the history of the Venice Film Festival, the award celebrates not only a single filmmaker, but also the contribution of all the directors of this visionary studio.

The Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement – assigned by the Board of Directors of the Venice Biennale, chaired by Paolo Baratta, following the proposal from the Festival Director, Marco Müller – will be presented to John Lasseter at a special ceremony in the Sala Grande of the Palazzo del Cinema at Venice Lido, during the 66th Venice International Film Festival (2009), in the presence of some of his oldest and closest Disney•Pixar colleagues, Brad Bird, Pete Docter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich.

“John Lasseter is the protagonist of ‘Western’ contemporary animation cinema,” declared Marco Müller. “Always on the lookout for that point at which the avant-garde (whether artistic, technological or formal) meets the blockbuster and the director of magnificent films – such as Toy Story (1995), A Bug’s Life (1998), Toy Story 2 (1999) and Cars (2006), Lasseter has not only contributed in a fundamental manner to bringing animation cinema to new heights as one of the great expressive forces of the new millennium, but has also become one of the symbols of the most precious, vital and inventive tradition of the great Hollywood cinema.”

“We are particularly pleased to award this Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement to one of the great innovators and experimenters of Hollywood,” declared the President of the Venice Biennale, Paolo Baratta. “We believe that the presence of John Lasseter in Venice, with his fellow Disney•Pixar directors, will represent an extraordinary opportunity for them to meet young Italian and European animation filmmakers as part of a workshop organised with the Biennale.”

John Lasseter – Biographical Notes

John Lasseter is chief creative officer of Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios and principal creative advisor, Walt Disney Imagineering.  He is a two-time Academy Award®-winning director (Toy Story, 1995; Tin Toy, 1988) and oversees all Pixar and Disney films and associated projects. Lasseter directed the groundbreaking and critically acclaimed films Toy Story (1995), A Bug’s Life (1998) and Toy Story 2 (1999).  Additionally, he executive produced Monsters, Inc. (2001, Pete Docter), Finding Nemo (2003, Andrew Stanton, Lee Unkrich), The Incredibles (2004, Brad Bird), Ratatouille (2007, Brad Bird) and WALL-E (2008, Andrew Stanton). Lasseter returned to the director’s chair in 2006 with the release of Disney/Pixar film, Cars.

In 2004, Lasseter was honored by the Art Directors Guild with its prestigious “Outstanding Contribution To Cinematic Imagery” award, and received an honorary degree from the American Film Institute.

Under Lasseter’s supervision, Pixar’s animated feature and short films have received a multitude of critical accolades and film industry honors.  He received a Special Achievement Oscar® in 1995 for his inspired leadership of the Toy Story team.  His work on Toy Story also resulted in an Academy Award®-nomination for “Best Original Screenplay,” the first time an animated feature had been recognized in that category.  Finding Nemo, released spring 2003, became the highest grossing animated feature of all time, and won the Oscar® for “Best Animated Feature Film.”

As creative director of Pixar, Lasseter enjoyed the critical acclaim and box office success of The Incredibles in 2004.  The film was recognized with a record-breaking 16 Annie Award nominations and several “Best Of” awards by The Wall Street Journal, American Film Institute, National Board of Review and many others.

Lasseter also has written, directed and animated a number of highly renowned short films and television commercials for Pixar, including Luxo Jr. (1986 Academy Award® nominee); Red’s Dream (1987); Tin Toy (1988 Academy Award® winner); and Knickknack (1989), which was produced as a 3D stereoscopic film.  Pixar’s Tin Toy became the first computer animated film to win an Oscar® when it received the 1988 Academy Award® for Best Animated Short Film.

Prior to the formation of Pixar in 1986, Lasseter was a member of the Computer Division of Lucasfilm Ltd., where he designed and animated the computer-generated Stained Glass Knight character in the 1985 Steven Spielberg-produced film Young Sherlock Holmes.

Lasseter attended the inaugural year of the Character Animation program at California Institute of the Arts and received his B.F.A. in film there in 1979.  While attending California Institute of the Arts, Lasseter produced two animated films, both winners of the Student Academy Award® for Animation; Lady and the Lamp in 1979 and Nitemare in 1980.  His very first award came at the age of five when he won $15.00 from the Model Grocery Market in Whittier, California, for a crayon drawing of the Headless Horseman.

Pixar Animation Studios

Pixar Animation Studios, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, is an Academy Award®-winning film studio with world-renowned technical, creative and production capabilities in the art of computer animation.  Creator of some of the most successful and beloved animated films of all time, including Toy Story, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars, Ratatouille, and most recently, WALL•E. The Northern California studio has won 21 Academy Awards® and its nine films have grossed more than $5 billion at the worldwide box office to date.  The next film release from Disney•Pixar is Up (May 29, 2009).

by: www.examiner.com

Herzog film at Biennale

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Werner Herzog’s My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done? premiered at the 2009 Venice Film Festival on Friday, September 4, starring Wisconsin native Willem Dafoe along with Michael Shannon and Chloe Sevigny. The screening of the 87-minute film was unexpected as Herzog already had one film entered in the feature film competition for feature films, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans. My Son, My Son appeared on Friday’s schedule as a surprise entry in the competition for the Golden Lion, the top prize of the festival.

Herzog, Lynch collaboration a psychological thriller
My Son, My Son, a collaboration between Herzog as director and David Lynch as producer, is a psychological thriller set in San Diego and loosely based on the true story of murderer Mark Yarovsky. Brad Macallam, Yarovsky’s doppelganger in the film (played by Michael Shannon), has confused his role as an amateur actor in a Greek tragedy with reality, slain his mother with a sword, and holed up with two hostages. Herzog’s goal with the film, according to official Venice Film Festival news releases, was to “make a horror film without the blood, chainsaws and gore, but with a strange, anonymous fear creeping up in you.“ Thus, the horror of the film is intended to come through a growing sense of unease with Brad’s alienation from himself and increasing obsession with one of Sophocles’ darker myths. The first reviews out of Venice, from Variety’s Leslie Felperin  and Guy Lodge of In Contention.com, both pan the film, suggesting that Herzog hasn’t quite achieved what he in had in mind.
Dafoe leads investigation of  murder as Detective Havenhurst
Dafoe plays Detective Hank Havenhurst who is charged with unraveling the mystery of this murder while coordinating the rescue of the hostages. Havenhurst provides the centering point for hearing stories from Brad’s friends and the neighbors who witnessed the crime, with flashbacks through Brad’s experiences in Peru, Mexico, and back home in San Diego as pieces of the puzzle.
2009 seems to one for horror films for Dafoe as, in addition to My Son, My Son, he appears in Lars von Trier’s “off-mainstream” Antichrist and the Spierig Brothers Daybreakers, says Brendon Connelly of /Film, as well as in Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant.
Dafoe Born and Raised in Wisconsin
Willem Dafoe (originally William Dafoe) is a native of Appleton, Wisconsin. Kristin Gilpatrick (Famous Wisconsin Film Stars) details how he was born and raised in Appleton, eventually graduating from Appleton East High School in 1973 and attending UW-Milwaukee for two years before heading for New York to test out his acting talents in a larger arena. Dafoe has appeared in more than 80 film roles since his debut in 1980 as well as numerous independent stage productions. He has been nominated twice for Oscars as Best Actor in a Supporting Role: first as Sergeant Elias in Oliver Stone’s Platoon (1986) and then as the eerie Max Schrenk in Merhige’s Shadow of the Vampire (2000) (for which he received a Saturn Award). He also is notable for appearances in the unfairly maligned Scorsese film, The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) and more recently as Norman Osborn (aka Green Goblin) in the three Spider-man movies.

Herzog film at Venice Film Festival stars Wisconsin native Willem Dafoe

herzogWerner Herzog’s My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done? premiered at the 2009 Venice Film Festival on Friday, September 4, starring Wisconsin native Willem Dafoe along with Michael Shannon and Chloe Sevigny. The screening of the 87-minute film was unexpected as Herzog already had one film entered in the feature film competition for feature films, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans. My Son, My Son appeared on Friday’s schedule as a surprise entry in the competition for the Golden Lion, the top prize of the festival.

Herzog, Lynch collaboration a psychological thriller

My Son, My Son, a collaboration between Herzog as director and David Lynch as producer, is a psychological thriller set in San Diego and loosely based on the true story of murderer Mark Yarovsky. Brad Macallam, Yarovsky’s doppelganger in the film (played by Michael Shannon), has confused his role as an amateur actor in a Greek tragedy with reality, slain his mother with a sword, and holed up with two hostages. Herzog’s goal with the film, according to official Venice Film Festival news releases, was to “make a horror film without the blood, chainsaws and gore, but with a strange, anonymous fear creeping up in you.“ Thus, the horror of the film is intended to come through a growing sense of unease with Brad’s alienation from himself and increasing obsession with one of Sophocles’ darker myths. The first reviews out of Venice, from Variety’s Leslie Felperin  and Guy Lodge of In Contention.com, both pan the film, suggesting that Herzog hasn’t quite achieved what he in had in mind.

Dafoe leads investigation of  murder as Detective Havenhurst

Dafoe plays Detective Hank Havenhurst who is charged with unraveling the mystery of this murder while coordinating the rescue of the hostages. Havenhurst provides the centering point for hearing stories from Brad’s friends and the neighbors who witnessed the crime, with flashbacks through Brad’s experiences in Peru, Mexico, and back home in San Diego as pieces of the puzzle.

2009 seems to one for horror films for Dafoe as, in addition to My Son, My Son, he appears in Lars von Trier’s “off-mainstream” Antichrist and the Spierig Brothers Daybreakers, says Brendon Connelly of /Film, as well as in Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant.

Dafoe Born and Raised in Wisconsin

Willem Dafoe (originally William Dafoe) is a native of Appleton, Wisconsin. Kristin Gilpatrick (Famous Wisconsin Film Stars) details how he was born and raised in Appleton, eventually graduating from Appleton East High School in 1973 and attending UW-Milwaukee for two years before heading for New York to test out his acting talents in a larger arena. Dafoe has appeared in more than 80 film roles since his debut in 1980 as well as numerous independent stage productions. He has been nominated twice for Oscars as Best Actor in a Supporting Role: first as Sergeant Elias in Oliver Stone’s Platoon (1986) and then as the eerie Max Schrenk in Merhige’s Shadow of the Vampire (2000) (for which he received a Saturn Award). He also is notable for appearances in the unfairly maligned Scorsese film, The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) and more recently as Norman Osborn (aka Green Goblin) in the three Spider-man movies.

by: www.examiner.com