Filmfest DC is an annual event that showcases a wide range of extraordinary new films from around the world. The 2009 Filmfest DC program includes a global range of cultures, music, and politics, representing cinema from over 30 countries. There are opening and closing night events, discussions with directors, movie premieres and free programs for children and senior citizens.
Each year, the festival focuses on cinema from a particular region in addition to presenting strands of films with a similar theme. This year Filmfest DC’s areas of geographical focus include Eastern Europe, with its long-standing and emerging talents, and Japan, a culture of endless gentle beauty and social complexity.
Highlights of Filmfest DC 2009
- New Japanese Cinema, The six movies in this
series show that Japanese filmmaking's sensitivity endures. Most of these films are, like DEPARTURES, concerned foremost with family. Kiyoshi Kurosawa earned his reputation with apocalyptic thrillers like Pulse, but his new film, TOKYO SONATA, depicts the un-supernatural breakdown of a Tokyo household. A family struggles without its jailed patriarch in KABEI, by 77-year-old Yoji Yamada, one studio veteran who's still active. And Shunichi Nagasaki,
who's known for his raw super-8 films, reveals a gentler touch with THE WITCH OF THE WEST IS DEAD, the tale of a defiant teenager who's mellowed by her grandmother.
- World View, a selection of recent cinema from around the globe including Venice FF '08, and Toronto FF '08, 35 SHOTS OF
RUM from France’s Claire Denis (Chocolat); ELDORADO, the 2009 Oscar Selection from Belgium by the multi-award winning director, Bouli Lanners; Canada’s NECESSITIES OF LIFE, their 2009 Oscar submission by acclaimed documentarian Benoit Pilon; and Palestine’s 2009 Oscar submission, SALT OF THE SEA from Annemarie Jacir.
- Global Rhythms, the Festival's popular music-on-film series, with features and documentaries from Singapore, Brazil, Senegal, Argentina, Hong-Kong/Taiwan, Spain and the USA. CAFÉ DE LOS MAESTROS where twenty-two "maestros," singers, musicians, and composers from tango's glory days are brought back for a grand performance and recording session; CELIA THE QUEEN, a loving tribute to the great Celia Cruz featuring everyone from Gloria Estefan to Wyclef Jean; YOUSSOU NDOUR: I BRING WHAT I LOVE, chronicling the difficult journey Ndour undertakes to assume his true calling; and THE
DRUMMER, a beautifully shot, multi-award winning audience favorite featuring a compelling storyline and Chinese Zen drumming.
- Views from the News, includes I.O.U.S.A. which boldly examines the rapidly growing national debt and its consequences for the United States; from Pakistan, RAMCHAND PAKISTANI, derived from a true story about the accidental crossing of the Pakistan-Indian border during a period of war-like tension; A WEDNESDAY, a taut thriller focused around a retired Mumbai police commissioner Rathod as he recounts his most memorable case; and BEDFORD: THE TOWN THEY LEFT BEHIND, an incredible documentary recalling the solemn place in history given to this small town after WW II with a contemporary context: the directors connect Bedford’s bravest soldiers from WWII to those who serve in Iraq and Afghanistan today.
Festival Locations
Avalon Theatre - 5612 Connecticut Avenue, NWBorders Books - 1801 K Street, NW
Goethe-Institut Washington - 812 Seventh Street, NW
Embassy of Canada - 501 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Embassy of France - 4101 Reservoir Road NW
Harman Center for the Arts - 610 F Street, NW
Landmark's E Street Cinema - 555 11th Street, NW
National Gallery of Art - East Building Auditorium, 4 th St. & Constitution Ave., NW.
Regal Cinemas Gallery Place - 701 7th Street, NW
