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Premiere!
LOOSE ENDS at 1:30pm (Germany, 1997) directed by Sandra Nettelbeck w/Nettlebeck, Regula Grauwiller, Jasmin Tagatabai Print Source: Frameline Distribution This hit of the 1997 San Francisco Lesbian and Gay Film Festival had a few rare U.S. screenings and sadly went back to Germany without a distribution deal in this country. Only recently (within the past few weeks) it was picked up by Frameline Distribution and is back for much-awaited screenings in America. That being said, check out this erotic and complex portrait of straight and lesbian love (both funny and dramatic), and an all-too-familiar farewell to innocence. The story centers on three women friends in their late twenties who all share a quest for happiness. Sara is in the midst of making plans for her wedding to popular radio DJ Robert when she stumbles into a passionate affair. Nina is a playgirl who hardly ever wakes up with the same woman twice - until she takes a ride in Ella’s (played by director Nettelbeck) taxi cab. She finally meets her match and surrenders to love, but not without putting up a fight. And, having been single for several years, Katherine falls for her ex-boyfriend, Nick, who walked out on her and his friends four years ago. In the end they all, in their own way, face the same feeling: that they are too young to be old and too old to be young. LOOSE ENDS is at once passionate and sexy, sometimes funny, sometimes sad, complex and always engaging. SANDRA NETTELBECK was born in Hamburg, Germany in 1966. Her short film, A Certain Grace, won an audience award at the San Francisco International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival in 1992. LOOSE ENDS is her feature debut. Shows with
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Premiere!
Director Tish Streeten will introduce JULIETTE OF THE HERBS at 3:45pm (U.S./Switzerland, 1998) directed by Tish Streeten Print Source: Tish Streeten JULIETTE OF THE HERBS is a delightful portrait of the life and work of Juliette de Bairacli Levy: world renowned herbalist, author, breeder of Afghan hounds, friend of the Gypsies, traveler in search of herbal wisdom and pioneer of holistic veterinary medicine. Juliette’s well-loved and now classic herbals for animals, children and everyone have done much to inspire the present day herbal renaissance. For more than 60 years Juliette has lived with the Gypsies, nomads and peasants of the world, learning the healing arts from these peoples who live close to nature, and learning from nature herself. Now 85 years of age, Juliette’s extraordinary life story is as colorful and as exciting as her tremendous wealth of herbal knowledge. The film was shot on location with Juliette and her Afghan hound in Greece, Spain, France, Portugal, Switzerland, England and America. Interwoven with insightful and fascinating stories from Juliette herself are a vast collection of archival photographs, scenes of Gypsies dancing, and Bedouins with their herds. JULIETTE OF THE HERBS is an inspiring portrait of a remarkable woman and a feast for the soul of anyone who cares about animals, gardening, health and the environment, and alternative medicine. TISH STREETEN was born and grew up in Oxford, England. She studied agricultural botany and worked throughout Europe and America as an organic farmer, gardener and fruit picker. In 1982 she came to New York to make documentary films and has since worked as producer, editor, researcher, post-production supervisor, sound editor and recordist for independent cable and television. She is currently producing a five-part series, Green Witches, on women herbalists and traditional healers. JULIETTE OF THE HERBS is part one of this series and her first feature length documentary.
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Sneak Preview!
THE APPLE at 5:30pm (Iran, 1998) directed by Samira Makhmalbaf w/ Massoumeh Naderi, Zahra Naderi, Ghorbanali Naderi, Azizeh Mohamadi, Zahra Saghrisaz Print Source: New Yorker Films This remarkable feature debut from 18 year-old Makhmalbaf shines as an imaginative combination of narrative storytelling and documentary structure. THE APPLE is the newest gem from an emerging body of Iranian cinema, whose focus on the endearing spirit of children (Children of Heaven, The White Balloon, The Mirror) has drawn worldwide attention. The idea for this film came from a real-life news story about two eleven-year-old twin girls who have rarely left their family’s Tehran apartment. When the news item broke, Makhmalbaf set out to film their story. What follows is an amazing tale of the struggle between traditional and contemporary values - told with sensitivity, a keen attention to the details of human complexities, and with a refreshing twist of irony and humor. The film begins as the young girls are taken by social workers after complaints by the neighbors. In the interest of safety, their parents have kept them locked in the apartment their entire lives with practically no exposure to the outside world. When the girls’ father comes to retrieve them, he is firmly warned by the social worker (a woman) that he must allow them to live normal lives. After explaining that “My daughters are like flowers - expose them to the sun, and they will wither away,” he begrudgingly accepts the challenge. In the meantime, the young girls (though clearly impaired by the experience) show a remarkable warmhearted curiosity about the world. As they ultimately embrace the streets, their freedom comes to represent something much greater than their personal liberation. In the words of Kay Armatage of the Toronto International Film Festival, “...their situation becomes a fable for the new spirit of emancipation that is energizing Iranian women in their fight against political, cultural and religious authoritarianism.” SAMIRA MAKHMALBAF was born in Tehran in 1979 and has previously directed two short films, Desert and Art Schools. She is the daughter of one of Iran’s leading film director’s, Mohsen Makhmalbaf (The Cyclist, Gabbeh), who also wrote the screenplay for THE APPLE.
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Saturday Night Spotlight! US Premiere!
Director Deepa Mehta will introduce EARTH at 7:30pm (India, 1998) directed by Deepa Mehta w/Aamir Khan, Nandita Das, Rahul Khanna, Maia Sethna, Kitu Gidwani Print Source: G2 Films/Zeitgeist Films Deepa Mehta returns to the Boston International Festival of Women’s Cinema to introduce the second film of her trilogy, Fire, EARTH and Water. The first in this series, Fire, went on to receive twelve international awards, as well as a much-publicized release in Mehta’s homeland of India, where it incited riots due to its unabashed and unapologetic female perspective. Her new film EARTH just won the Premier du Prix (Grand Prize) at the prestigious Festival du Film, Deauville, France. “EARTH is a beautifully crafted melding of political and personal themes, achieving epic scope while still resonating on an intimate, emotional level. In EARTH societal upheaval and mass violence coexist with the tenderest aspects of human experience, manifested in the film’s passionate and heartrending love story. “EARTH is set in 1947, in Lahore, India, as the country teeters on the brink of self-rule. Lenny, an eight-year old Parse girl [stricken with polio] growing up in a wealthy, nonpartisan family, witnesses the deep divisions that are soon to ravage India, ultimately resulting in vicious bloodshed between Sikhs, Muslims and Hindus ... Somehow, amid the carnage and terror, a love affair blossoms between Shanta [Lenny’s nanny] and one of her many suitors, the peace-advocating Muslin, Hassan ... Shanta and Hassan can’t protect Lenny from the horrible conflict around her forever. She becomes a pawn in a cruel game that may ultimately rob her of her innocence.” - Piers Handling, The Toronto International Film Festival DEEPA MEHTA was born in India in 1949 and emigrated to Canada in 1973. She began her career writing scripts for children’s films, and has worked as an editor, producer and director. Her feature debut, Sam and Me (1991), earned an honorable mention for the Camera d’Or Award at the Cannes Film Festival. Her other films include Camilla (1994) and Fire (1996).
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Sneak Preview!
DRY CLEANING at 10:00pm (France, 1998) directed by Anne Fontaine w/Miou-Miou, Charles Berling, Stanislas Merhar Print Source: Strand Releasing French cinema has long been known for challenging conventional notions of love and sexuality. DRY CLEANING, a bold new feature, tells the story of a married couple of fifteen years who embark on a daring journey which soon transforms their life together. Owners of a dry-cleaning business by day, Nicole and Jean-Marie begin to explore a less conventional night-life as they patronize a local nightclub known as “La Nuit des Temps.” There, a brother and sister perform a provocative strip-tease drag number — which both Nicole and Jean-Marie find increasingly intriguing. Then one day, the young man from the act shows up at their business to have a stain removed from his dress. Gradually their lives intertwine, and what was once simple and routine soon begins to progressively spin out of control. As sexual play and innuendo sparks between the trio, tension and passion builds simultaneously. Their world becomes taken over with new-found desire, homoeroticism, and living on the edge emotionally while still maintaining their “straight” lifestyle. The image of cleanliness and order so prevalent within the business of dry-cleaning soon comes to represent something profoundly ironic in their lives. Ultimately, DRY CLEANING is a fascinating study of character and a uniquely subtle thriller in which passion and sexual ambiguity takes center stage. Featuring extraordinary performances from Miou-Miou (Entre Nous) and Charles Berling, the film was an official selection of the prestigious Venice Film Festival and won “Best Screenplay” and “Best New Actor” (for Stanislas Merhar) at the 1997 Cesar Awards (French Oscars).
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