Abstract The paper examines how film festivals work, their history, and their growth. It looks at the differentiation between them with respect to niche markets, genres, or constituencies. The paper focuses on the Cannes Film Festival.
From the Paper "An Overview of the History of Film Festivals
In the film industry, festivals at which films are screened, judged, and evaluated and their producers, directors, and casts acknowledged with prestigious awards, have become increasingly commonplace in recent..."
Abstract This paper examines the climatic, geographic, cultural, and social attraction of the French Riviera to artists. The paper traces the appeal of the Riviera to artists, beginning with prehistoric times and the rock engravings of that era and concluding in the early 20th century, with a look at the film, "And God Made Women".
From the Paper "It is not difficult to understand the physical allure, and doubtless that is part of what drew the artists, beginning in earnest with the Impressionists. The Impressionists, it must be noted, were the rebellious artists of their day, the avant-garde. They overthrew the classical expectations of realistic art to, as their collective appellation implies, paint their impressions of things. Most of them were devoted to painting in ?plein air,? or outside. That was, needless to say, more easily accomplished where the air was warm and full of sea breezes so that in winter it was at least possible to be outside in the sun, in spring and fall it was extremely pleasant, and even in midsummer it was not too oppressive."
Abstract This paper explains that, although Steven Soderbergh has had prize-winning commercial film successes such as "Traffic", "Erin Brockovich", "Ocean's Eleven", "Ocean's Twelve", "Syriana" and "Sex, Lies and Videotape", he also is known for his art house films such as "The Limey". The author relates that, born in 1963, Soderbergh, who began filmmaking when he was only 13, was the youngest producer or director to win the Palme d'Or award at the Cannes Film Festival, which he was awarded in 1989 for "Sex, Lies and Videotape". The paper relates that Soderbergh's seminal filmmaking techniques include the use of non-linear narratives to show different perspectives, a docudrama filming style that creates an aura of reality and the use of pastoral scenery.
From the Paper "In the new millennium, Soderbergh has hit it big with success such as "Erin Brockovich", "Traffic" and "Syriana". "Erin Brockovich", a movie that portrays the real-life Erin Brockovich, only through a sexier Julia Roberts, tells of an assertive woman who, without a legal education, managed to sue and claim victory over Pacific Gas & Electric Corporation. The lawsuit was the largest civil penalty ever awarded at that time in 1996, and the film went on to be nominated for Best Picture."
Tags: brockovich, syriana, traffic, art-house, oscar
Abstract This paper explains that Y. Nasrullah's films typically address some aspect of contemporary Egypt or the Middle East, including issues of leftism and Islamic militancy, and illustrate dimensions of political events and society, which are lesser known or not known to outsiders.
The author points out that "Summer Thefts", set in the summer of 1961, is most worthwhile for its depiction of an Egypt left behind with the arrival of President Nasser's radical agrarian reform agenda that could affect harshly landowning Egyptians and the Westernized bourgeoisie. The paper relates that, above all, this film gives the viewer access to a most varied Egyptian population in keeping with other Middle Eastern powers of which little tends to be known.
From the Paper "Between June and September of 1961, Nasser nationalized the major heavy and medium industries, banks, insurance, shipping and public transport industries. Agrarian real estate, domestic trade and small industry were left in the hands of a bourgeoisie whose members would often opt to go elsewhere, much of their capital lost overnight to nationalization of commercial and industrial ventures and without confidence in the Egyptian economy to produce new opportunities or demand. The reader comes to see that families such as Nasrullah's in "Summer Thefts" were not just divided by politics."
Abstract The paper discusses the movie "The Ballad of Narayama" (Narayama Bushiko), directed by Shohei Imamura, which portrays both an image of rural 19th century Japanese life and values, and the forces that began to change and shape this society. The paper comments that the movie is based on the book of the same name by novelist Fukasawa, which in turn was derived from an ancient folktale about a society in which the members traditionally abandon their elderly to die of exposure on a mountain top. The paper notes that from this evidence, we can then assume that Imamura brought this fictional legend to screen in order to present, perhaps even to the point of embellishment, the historical Japanese tradition of individual sacrifice for the good of the whole. This paper analyzes first Imamura's practice of appropriating natural images in order to explain the values and lives of the villagers, and secondly, his meticulous portrayal of the intricate relationships and attitudes present in both the family and village of traditional 19th century Japan.
From the Paper "This internal conflict between the more modern humanism and historical Japanese personal sacrifice for the group as personified in Tatsuhei must have resonated with the 1930's audience of Japan, who were, at the time, in the midst of a war, and performing many personal sacrifices of their own on behalf of their country. It raised enough of a response in Europe also, who were then declaring the death of capitalism, and making a move to socialism, to win the grand prize at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival in France."
Tags: grudgingly, naturalistic, prestigious, Cannes, film, festival
