IFC Picks Up New Film from Bier and Von Trier ()

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IFC Picks Up New Film from Bier and Von Trier

IFC Films picked up two Danish films of potential interest to Chlotrudis members at Cannes last month. Susanne Bier is currently enjoying a stateside release with her sophmore film BROTHERS while her foloow-up is currently in production in Denmark and India. IFC Films has purchased U.S. rights to that film entitled AFTER THE WEDDING. The film stars Danish star Mads Mikkelsen (TORREMOLINOS 73, GREEN BUTCHERS) as an idealistic manager of an orphanage whose life is changed by a family secret when he travels to Copenhagen. IFC Films is distributing BROTHERS in the States.

Lars von Trier’s latest film is entitled MANDERLAY, and is the second installment of his “USA – Land of Opportunities” series. In MANDERLAY, Grace (now played by Bryce Dallas Howard who takes over the role from Nicole Kidman) leaves Dogville and heads to Alabama where she encounters a group of slaves on the Manderlay Plantation who should have been emancipated 70 years earlier. Naturally, von Trier’s film has had a controversial ride. DOGVILLE was a devisive film for Chlotrudis members.

In addition to these two acquisitions, IFC Films will be releasing Miranda July’s ME YOU AND EVERYONE WE KNOW, which shared the Camera d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, this month.l

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Remembering Anne Bancroft ()

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Anne BancroftThe film and theatre communities lost an award-winning actress when Anne Bancroft died Monday, June 5 in New York of uterine cancer. Born in the Bronx in 1931, Bancroft’s acting career spanned 50 years. Ms. Bancroft won two Tony Awards and an Oscar during her hard-working and varied career on stage and screen. After a decade in supporting roles, Bancroft became a star in the film THE MIRACLE WORKER, for which she won the Academy Award. She did some of her best work in the Sixties, capped by the role she may be best remembered for, Mrs. Robinson in Mike Nichols THE GRADUATE.

Bancroft continued to work in film until just a few years ago. Some of the other notable films she has appeared in include GARBO TALKS, AGNES OF GOD, ‘NIGHT MOTHER, 84 CHARING CROSS ROAD, and TORCH SONG TRILOGY during the 80’s; HONEYMOON IN VEGAS, HOW TO MAKE AN AMERICAN QUILT, HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS, G.I. JANE and ANTZ during the 90’s; and UP AT THE VILLA and KEEPING THE FAITH in 2000.

Here’s to you, Ms. Bancroft.

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Chlotrudis Award Winner Wiebke von Carolsfeld is Keeping Busy ()

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Wiebke von CarolsfeldWiebke von Carolsfeld won the Chlotrudis “Someone-to-Watch” Award in 2004, as well as picking up the Buried Treasure Award for her debut feature, MARION BRIDGE. Now after spending a couple of years working BRIDGE, the director is involved with several new projects. Her next film project will be an adaptation of Aislinn Hunter’s award-winning novel, Stay for the screen. Set in Spiddal, a small Irish town in the midst of transformation, Wiebke says that STAY will be a film about history and obligation. Her screenplay cuts between the stories of five characters as they struggle to find a place to stay, a place to call home.

In addition to the adaptation, Wiebke is working on an original screenplay. It is a tale of loss and healing, centered on nine-year-old Tom, entitled ADRIFT. Wiebke was recently in Garmany shooting a documentary about Canadian artists Janet Cardiff and George Miller called WALK WITH ME. Our Chlotrudis “Someone to Watch” is certainly working on a lot of projects for us to watch out for!

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Chlotrudis Monday Night at the Movies & Indie Film Round-Up, June 3 – 9 ()

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Chlotrudis Monday Night at the Movies & Indie Film Round-Up, June 3 – 9

Hey there Everyone!

There are two new films opening at the Kendall Square Theatre that you shouldn’t miss. One is next week’s Chlotrudis Monday Movie of the Week. ROCK SCHOOL is a hilarious documentary about the Paul Green School of Rock Music in Philadelphia, where a very peculiar and excitable teacher educates the youth of America about the importance of Frank Zappa, Black Sabbath and Metallica. Could this be the true life inspiration for Jack Black’s character in SCHOOL OF ROCK? Join us for the 7:45 p.m. screening at the Kendall Square Theatre on Monday night to find out!

Director Don Argott follows the trials and tribulations of students, ages nine to seventeen, of the Paul Green School of Rock Music’an after-school, Philadelphia institute of rock led by its founder and namesake. As Green takes a rag-tag group of students out of music oblivion, he molds them into a force to be reckoned with on the stage at Zappanale, a five-day music festival in Germany of all things Zappa. Will the kids bring the audience to their knees, or crash and burn the night of the big show to turn into rock school dropouts?

Director: Don Argott

BROTHERSThe other film opening tomorrow I highly recommend. I saw BROTHERS at the Toronto International Film Festival last year and was quietly blown away. This is Danish director Susanne Bier’s follow-up to the masterful OPEN HEARTS. This powerful drama examines how war can have unexpected and dramatic consequences on civillians who have family in combat. The film stars Nikolaj Lie Kaas (RECONSTRUCTION), Ulrich Thomsen (THE INHERITANCE), and Connie Nielsen (DEMONLOVER). This would have been the week’s Monday Movie of the week had I not already seen it.

Hal HartleyMost importantly, coming up tomorrow night there’s a Brattle event that no self-respecting Chlotrudis member will want to miss! Spend an evening with Chlotrudis Award winner Hal Hartley! Hal will be in town to promote the release of his latest film, THE GIRL FROM MONDAY, a science fiction film Hartley-style, about sex and consumerism starring the irrepressible Bill Sage. Since we’re such big fans of Hal at the Brattle, we decided to throw him a reception, and it’s to great an opportunity to pass up! Join Hal at Harvest, Friday, June 3, 5:30 – 7:00 for some delicious food and Harpoon beer, courtesy of our sponsors, Harvest Restaurant and Harpoon Brewery. Your $25.00 ticket will grant you admission to the reception for the free food and beer (along with a chance to say hello to Hal) as well as a ticket to see Hal’s new film and hear his Q&A afterwards! What more do you want? A lot of you got a chance to meet Hal when he was in town a few years ago to accept his Chlotrudis award, and it would be great if you’d stop by to say hello, and congratulate him on his Chlotrudis win. Advance tickets are on sale at the Brattle website, and are available at Harvest starting at 5:30 p.m. We’re limiting this event to 40 people and you really want to be one of them! Help the Brattle sell this event out!

See you at the movies!

Playing this week, June 3 – 9.

Brattle Theatre, Cambridge
Area Theatrical Premiere!
The Girl from Monday (Fri. – Sun.) Hal Hartley in person at Fri. 7:15 screening!
Special Reception for Hal Hartley @ Harvest! (Fri.) Tickets are only $25 and include a ticket to 7:15 screening.
Trouble + Desire: the Films of Hal Hartley
The Unbelievable Truth (Mon.)
Possible Films: Hal Hartley Shorts (Tue.) Double Feature!
Amateur (Tue.) Double Feature!
No Such Thing (Wed.) Double Feature!
The Book of Life (Wed.) Double Feature!
Henry Fool (Thu.)

Coolidge Corner Theatre, Brookline
The Girl from Monday
Ladies in Lavender
Mad Hot Ballroom
Born into Brothels (Sat. & Sun.)
Midnite Madness
Leslie & The Ly’s in concert with guest BJ Snowden (Fri.)
Meet the Feebles (Fri. & Sat.)
Special Screening
F.W. Murnau’s Faust with live musical accompaniment by Cul De Sac (Mon.)
Brookline Booksmith presents Nick Hornby (Tue.)
Sneak Preview Screening and Fundraiser
Stolen Childhoods (Wed.)

FEI Theatres Capitol Theatres, Arlington
The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill
Millions

FEI Theatres Somerville Theatres, Somerville
Born into Brothels (Mon. – Thu.)
Bombay Cinema Presents
Bunti Aur Babli

Harvard Film Archive, Cambridge
Matters of Life and Death: The Films of Bruno Ganz
Downfall (Fri.)
Behind Me (Sat. & Sun.)
Marquise of O (Sat. & Sun.)
The American Friend (Mon. & Tue.)
Knife in the Head (Mon. & Tue.)
The Left-Handed Woman (Wed.)
Nosferatu (Wed.)

Hollywood Hits Theatre, Danvers
Mad Hot Ballroom
Layer Cake
Enron: the Smartest Guys in the Room
Look at Me

Landmark Theatres
Kendall Square, Cambridge
Rock School
Brothers
Eating Out
Layer Cake
The Holy Girl
Kung Fu Hustle (ineligible)
Look at Me
Enron: the Smartest Guys in the Room

Embassy Cinema, Waltham
Rock School
Mad Hot Ballroom
Ladies in Lavender
Enron: the Smartest Guys in the Room
Layer Cake
The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill

Loew’s Harvard Square, Cambridge
Crash (ineligible)
Mad Hot Ballroom
Ladies in Lavender

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Kira Muratova Retrospective
Passions (Fri.)
Chekhov’s Motives (Sat. & Wed.)
The Aesthenic Syndrome (Sun. & Thu.)
Armenian Cinema
Vodka Lemon (Fri. – Sun, Wed. & Thu.)
Birds on Film
The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill (Sat.)
Art of Film
Tall: The American Skyscraper and Louis Sullivan (Sat.)
Boston Jewish Film Festival: Encores and More
Le Grande R’/i> (Sun.)
Paper Snow (Thu.)

The Newburyport Screening Room, Newburyport
Monsieur N

West Newton Cinema, West Newton
Turtles Can Fly
Dear Frankie
Bride & Prejudice
Winter Solstice
Look at Me
Walk on Water
The Chorus
Paper Clips
Melinda and Melinda

COMING SOON!

An Evening with Hal Hartley
Filmmaker Hal Hartley will be appearing at the Brattle Theatre in Harvard Square for the area premier of his latest film: THE GIRL FROM MONDAY.

The Brattle Film Foundation will host an opening night reception in honor of Mr. Hartley on Friday June 3rd from 5:30’7:00PM at Harvest Restaurant around the corner from the Theatre. Tickets to the reception are $25.00 and include admission to the 7:15 screening followed by a Q&A session.

Advance tickets available on the Brattle website (www.brattlefilm.org) or after 5:30PM on the day of the event at the Harvest Restaurant. It is recommended to purchase advance tickets because space is limited for the reception.

The Girl From Monday will screen at the Brattle Theatre, June 3 through the 5th as the kick-off for a week-long restrospective of Mr. Hartley’s films. In addition to the premiere, the series will include such favorites as THE UNBELIEVABLE TRUTH, AMATEUR, BOOK OF LIFE and HENRY FOOL. The retrospective will run from June 6th through June 9th.

If you would like to purchase tickets just for the screening with Mr. Hartley present or other individual screenings in the retrospective, you can do so online at www.brattlefilm.org ‘ tickets for the screening with Mr. Hartley present are $10, all other shows in the series are the normal Brattle Theatre ticket prices.

May Events from The Boston Jewish Film Festival

The Boston Jewish Film Festival Encore and More! at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, June 2 ‘ July 7. See www.bjff.org/events for details

Michael R. Colford
Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film, President

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Arsin’Khanjian Stars in SABAH! ()

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Arsin’Khanjian Stars in SABAH!

Chlotrudis Award winner Arsin’Khanjian has opened a new film in Canada that is NOT directed by Atom Egoyan. SABAH: A LOVE STORY, is the new feature film by Ruba Nadda, an internationally acclaimed writer, director, producer from Toronto. Khanjian plays Sabah, a 40-year-old Muslim Arab woman living a quiet life devoted to her family. Frustrated living under her brother Majid’s patriarchy, Sabah sneaks away on her 40th birthday to enjoy a relaxing and rehabilitating swim. The freedom she finds at the pool draws Sabah back, and it is there she meets Stephen. As the two grow close, and Sabah begins to fall in love, she must face the fact that she has to tell her family that she wants a life with a man from a different culture. Pictured left are Shawn Doyle as Stephen, and Khanjian as Sabah.

SABAH: A LOVE STORY was an official selection of several film festivals around the world, placing in the Top 10 Audience favorites at both the Rotterdam International Film Festival and the Commonwealth Film Festival. SABAH: A LOVE STORY opened in Canada on May 27. Here’s hoping we get to see it someday!

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Latest Issue of Chlotrudis Mewsings is Available! ()

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Chlotrudis Mewsings vol. 3 issue 4 is available now! The most recent issue of Mewsings if packed with all sorts of cool stuff courtesy of your editors Hilary Nieukirk and Chris Kriofske. Find out all about the 11th Annual Awards Ceremony! Read about Chlotrudis members observations of the 3rd Annual Independent Film Festival of Boston. Chlotrudis member Rich Alleman reports in from the Marrakech Film Festival. A small group of Chlotrudis members took part in a rough cut screening of a film-in-progress and Janet Young reports on how it went. All this a member-profiles of four Chlotrudis members! Just go to the Chlotrudis Newsletter page and select the most recent issue.

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Spend and Evening with Hal Hartley! ()

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Spend and Evening with Hal Hartley!

Filmmaker Hal Hartley will be appearing at the Brattle Theatre in Harvard Square for the area premiere of his latest film: THE GIRL FROM MONDAY. Hal was last honored by Chlotrudis members at the 8th Annual Chlotrudis Awards in 2002. Now he returns with his latest film, a science fiction tale of sex and consumerism.

The Brattle Film Foundation will host an opening night reception in honor of Mr. Hartley on Friday, June 3rd from 5:30’7:00PM at Harvest Restaurant around the corner from the theatre. For just $25.00 you can enjoy delicious complimentary Harvest appetizers and Harpoon beer and say hello to Hal. In addition, your ticket to the reception gains you admission to the 7:15 screening of THE GIRL FROM MONDAY. Hal will hold a Q&A session after this screening. Advance tickets available on the Brattle website THE GIRL FROM MONDAYor after 5:30PM on the day of the event at the Harvest Restaurant. THE GIRL FROM MONDAY will screen at the Brattle Theatre, June 3 through the 5th.

For those of you who can’t get enough of Hal (and that’s a lot of us) the Brattle Theatre will follow up its run of THE GIRL FROM MONDAY with a retrospective of Hal’s films including THE UNBELIEVABLE TRUTH, AMATEUR, BOOK OF LIFE and HENRY FOOL June 6 – 9. Don’t miss this terrific opportunity to see Hal’s earlier films on the big screen at the Brattle Theatre.

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Chlotrudis Monday Night at the Movies & Indie Film Round-Up, May 27 – June 2 ()

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Chlotrudis Monday Night at the Movies & Indie Film Round-Up, May 27 – June 2

Hey there Everyone!

Chlotrudis has a very special Memorial Day Monday Night movie planned for this week. Those lucky few of you who were able to see Pawel Pawlikowski’s sublime film LAST RESORT won’t want to miss his follow-up, MY SUMMER OF LOVE. Monday night, Pawlokowski, along with the two stars of MY SUMMER OF LOVE, Nathalie Press and Emily Blunt, will be on hand at the Museum of Fine Arts to close out the 21st Annual Boston Gay & Lesbian Film Festival. This special pre-release screening starts at 7:00 p.m., but it’s sure to be pretty full, so I will be getting there pretty early. In fact, depending on my weekend, I may just swing by and pick up tickets in advance. If you let me know that you’re coming beforehand, I might be able to snag you a ticket. I will keep you posted via e-mail. Tickets are $12 a piece, so be prepaqred! At any rate, since it’s Memorial Day weekend, and we won’t be working on Monday, I’m sure we’ll be grabbing a bite to eat beforehand… but it will be early! Watch your e-mail, or give me a call to find out the details.

MY SUMMER OF LOVE

by Pawel Pawlikowski (UK, 2004, 86 min.).
Pawel Pawlikowski follows his award-winning LAST RESORT with this sublime, intoxicating study of an intense summer friendship. Mona is sixteen and restless. Tamsin is rich, educated, and self absorbed. When the two girls meet, they’re mutually fascinated, and soon they’re revelling in an obsessive and seductive closeness. Frame by frame, the mesmerisingly beautiful composition and cinematography works in perfect tandem with the unfolding drama, giving it a slightly timeless, off-kilter feel. Pawlikowski has claimed he’s interested in creating a mythic British realism. In My Summer of Love, he’s achieved it. ‘Refreshing, original, and not to be missed’ (Harpers & Queen). Description adapted from the London Film Festival. Tickets: $12. The director and stars, Nathalie Press and Emily Blunt, will be present for this special pre-release screening.

What do you do on a rainy Memorial Day weekend? You go see a bunch of movies! For the few of you who haven’t had a chance to see KINGS AND QUEEN at the Brattle Theatre yet, I invite you to join me for the 2:00 p.m. screening. It’s gotten great reviews from Hilary and Chris, as well as good word of mouth from a couple of other members. If you are interested in joining me, drop me an e-mail. There are lots of other terrific indie films available for viewing this weekend. At the Coolidge, check out LADIES IN LAVENDER in honor of the passing of famed producer Ismail Merchant. Why, you ask? What did he have to do with the film? Why nothing, in fact, but it stars a pair of Dames, Maggie Smith and Judy Dench, who both figured prominently in one of Merchant’s most famed films, A ROOM WITH A VIEW. Also at the Coolidge, and expanding to the Kendall and the Harvard Square Theatre is MAD HOT BALLROOM, ballroom dancing’s answer to SPELLBOUND. I’d love to hear how this is, so let me know if you catch it! DOUBLE DARE is also still playing at the Coolidge, and it’s one fabulous documentary, so catch it while you can! EATING OUT is the latest gay/straight comedy to open at the Kendall. It could be really bad, but it could also be a lot of fun! Held over for a second week is the perplexing, but fascinating THE HOLY GIRL. And still hanging around is one of my underdogs for the year, LOOK AT ME. This one’s also playing at Hollywood Hits in Danvers, and the West Newton Cinema, and I highly recommend it.

Hal HartleyLet’s do a little advance planning for next week, because there’s a Brattle event coming up that no self-respecting Chlotrudis member will want to miss! Spend an evening with Chlotrudis Award winner Hal Hartley! Hal will be in town to promote the release of his latest film, THE GIRL FROM MONDAY, a science fiction film Hartley-style, about sex and consumerism starring the irrepressible Bill Sage. Since we’re such big fans of Hal at the Brattle, we decided to throw him a reception, and it’s to great an opportunity to pass up! Join Hal at Harvest, Friday, June 3, 5:30 – 7:00 for some delicious food and Harpoon beer, courtesy of our sponsors, Harvest Restaurant and Harpoon Brewery. Your $25.00 ticket will grant you admission to the reception for the free food and beer (along with a chance to say hello to Hal) as well as a ticket to see Hal’s new film and hear his Q&A afterwards! What more do you want? A lot of you got a chance to meet Hal when he was in town a few years ago to accept his Chlotrudis award, and it would be great if you’d stop by to say hello, and congratulate him on his Chlotrudis win. Advance tickets are on sale at the Brattle website, but don’t wait too long. We’re limiting this event to 40 people and you really want to be one of them! Help the Brattle sell this event out!

See you at the movies!

Playing this week, May 27 – June 2.

Brattle Theatre, Cambridge
Area Theatrical Premiere
Kings & Queen (Fri. – Sun.)
Asian CineVisions Film Festival
Maya (Mon.)
Arisan! (Tue.)
Long Life, Happiness and Prosperity (Wed.)
Keka (Thu.)
Joint Security Area (Thu.)

Coolidge Corner Theatre, Brookline
Ladies in Lavendar
Mad Hot Ballroom
Born into Brothels
Funny Ha Ha!
Double Dare
Midnite Madness
Buffy the Vampire Sing-Along! (Fri.)
Dirty Found
Special Screening
Anya: In and Out of Focus with director Marian Marzynski (Tue.)

FEI Theatres Capitol Theatres, Arlington
Born into Brothels
The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill
Millions

FEI Theatres Somerville Theatres, Somerville
Born into Brothels
Bombay Cinema Presents
Bunti Aur Babli

Harvard Film Archive, Cambridge
All Together Now: The Cinematerpsichorean World Of Busby Berkeley
Babes in Arms (Fri.)
Babes on Broadway (Fri.)
In Caliente (Sat.)
For Me and My Gal (Sat.)
Ziegfeld Girl (Sun.)
Girl Crazy (Sun.)
The Gang’s All Here (Mon.)
Small Town Girl (Mon.)
Million Dollar Mermaid (Tue.)
Easy to Love (Tue.)
An Evening with Neco Celik
Urban Guerillas (Wed.) Director in Person!

Hollywood Hits Theatre, Danvers
Enron: the Smartest Guys in the Room
Look at Me
Kung Fu Hustle (ineligible)

Landmark Theatres
Kendall Square, Cambridge
Eating Out
Layer Cake
The Holy Girl
The Other Side of the Street
Turtles Can Fly
Kung Fu Hustle (ineligible)
Look at Me
Enron: the Smartest Guys in the Room
Torremolinos 73

Embassy Cinema, Waltham
Mad Hot Ballroom
Ladies in Lavendar
Enron: the Smartest Guys in the Room
Layer Cake
The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill
Born into Brothels
Kung Fu Hustle (ineligible)

Loew’s Harvard Square, Cambridge
Crash (ineligible)
Mad Hot Ballroom
Ladies in Lavendar

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Cinema Tropical
Beyond the Sea (Fri. – Sun.)
Kira Muratova Retrospective
The Aethenic Syndrome (Fri.)
Brief Encounters (Sat.)
Long Farewells (Sun.)
Passions (Sun.)
Getting to Know the Big Wide World (Thu.)
Buddhist Cinema
Travelers & Magicians (Sat. & Thu.)
Art on Film
(Sun. & Tue.)
The 21st Annual Boston Gay & Lesbian Film/Video Festival
My Summer of Love (Mon.) Director and two stars present!
Birds on Film
The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill (Thu.)
Boston Jewish Film Festival: Encores and More
Le Grande R’/i> (Thu.)

The Newburyport Screening Room, Newburyport
Dust to Glory

West Newton Cinema, West Newton
Turtles Can Fly
Dear Frankie
Bride & Prejudice
Winter Solstice
Look at Me
Walk on Water
The Chorus
Paper Clips
Melinda and Melinda

COMING SOON!

An Evening with Hal Hartley
Filmmaker Hal Hartley will be appearing at the Brattle Theatre in Harvard Square for the area premier of his latest film: THE GIRL FROM MONDAY.

The Brattle Film Foundation will host an opening night reception in honor of Mr. Hartley on Friday June 3rd from 5:30’7:00PM at Harvest Restaurant around the corner from the Theatre. Tickets to the reception are $25.00 and include admission to the 7:15 screening followed by a Q&A session.

Advance tickets available on the Brattle website (www.brattlefilm.org) or after 5:30PM on the day of the event at the Harvest Restaurant. It is recommended to purchase advance tickets because space is limited for the reception.

The Girl From Monday will screen at the Brattle Theatre, June 3 through the 5th as the kick-off for a week-long restrospective of Mr. Hartley’s films. In addition to the premiere, the series will include such favorites as THE UNBELIEVABLE TRUTH, AMATEUR, BOOK OF LIFE and HENRY FOOL. The retrospective will run from June 6th through June 9th.

If you would like to purchase tickets just for the screening with Mr. Hartley present or other individual screenings in the retrospective, you can do so online at www.brattlefilm.org ‘ tickets for the screening with Mr. Hartley present are $10, all other shows in the series are the normal Brattle Theatre ticket prices.

May Events from The Boston Jewish Film Festival

The Boston Jewish Film Festival Encore and More! at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, June 2 ‘ July 7. See www.bjff.org/events for details

Michael R. Colford
Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film, President

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We’ll Miss Him: Ismail Merchant ()

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Famed producer Ismail Merchant died suddenly in London on Wednesday, May 25, 2005 at the age of 68. The Indian-born producer and director was one half of the famed Merchant/Ivory Productions, responsible for the creation of nearly 50 films. Merchant was the producer of a string of international hits that brought the British costume-dramas back to the fore. The Merchant-Ivory Productions company first start getting noticed in the States in the early ’80’s with such films as HEAT AND DUST and THE BOSTONIANS starring Christopher Reeve and Vanessa Redgrave.

It was in 1985 that my movie life was forever changed with the discovery of the international smash hit, A ROOM WITH A VIEW. What followed was a string of films, some successful, some not, some masterpieces, some’not, but Merchant-Ivory Productions kept their presence on the big screen (and often at the Academy Awards) for many of the years that followed. Among their films are MAURICE, SLAVES OF NEW YORK, MR. & MRS. BRIDGE, HOWARDS END, THE REMAINS OF THE DAY and THE GOLDEN BOWL. Merchant also directed a handful of films including 2001’s THE MYSTIC MASSEUR. Before his death, Merchant was putting the finishing touches to his latest film, THE WHITE COUNTESS, for release this year.

As I think back on how A ROOM WITH A VIEW set me on the course of what would eventually become the Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film, I must thank Ismail Merchant for the influence he has brought to my life. We bid him a fond adieu!

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You Lose a Few… ()

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You Lose a Few…

Is it embarassing when a past Chlotrudis Award winner goes the way of the summer blockbuster? Of course not. Actors have to work, and what better way to make some good money and raise their Hollywood profile than by appearing in a mindless summer blockbuster. Just take a look at some of our past “Breakthrough Award” winners.

I’m very excited about Kerry Washington’s upcoming (although I’m sure it’s quite small) role in THE FANTASTIC FOUR. Kerry plays Alicia Master, the blind scluptress who is the Thing’s girlfriend. As we comic book geeks know, it’s cool to be a in a superhero movie… not a sell-out at all. (Apparently she’s also got a small role in MR. & MRS. SMITH – but that’s directed by Doug Liman, so she gets a pass on that one too.) Ms. Washington isn’t slated for anything else after FF, and I suspect she’s working on her co-production with boyfriend David Moscow. Back to her indie roots.

The other Breakthrough Award winner featured prominently in this summer’s slate of films is Scarlett Johanssen. I am a little more concerned about Scarlett’s career trajectory right now. Look for Scarlett opposite Ewan MacGregor in the sci fi/actioner, THE ISLAND (pictured above left). Now this, seems like a serious misstep. We’re not only talking about a big summer action flick… we’re talking about a Michael Bay summer action flick. Michael Bay who was responsible for such dreck as ARMAGEDDON and PEARL HARBOR. Could she have sunk any lower? (Interestingly enough Steve Buscemi also appears in THE ISLAND, of course, he also appeared in ARMAGEDDON so that doesn’t completely excuse him.) I haven’t completely given up on Scarlett, who was becoming such a mature young actress with her star turn in LOST IN TRANSLATION. She’s got a couple of interesting projects in the works: a couple of Woody Allen films (dubious), THE BLACK DAHLIA (James Ellory adaptation directed by Brian dePalma), and a Barry Levinson directed adaptation of an Arthur Miller play. But honestly, Scarlett, Michael Bay? You could have been Sue Storm in THE FANTASTIC FOUR.

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