Category The Art of the Cinema

BY ANDRE SOARES. LOS ANGELES (CINEMA MINIMA) — The American Cinematheque and the Santa Monica Puppetry Center pay homage to Leslie Caron this weekend in Santa Monica, California.

2008 October 11 Saturday 7:30 PM at the Aero Theater, Ms Caron will be the guest of honor at the inaugural Santa Monica Puppetry Festival with “A Celebration of Puppetry,” starring Mallory Lewis — daughter of the late ventriloquist Shari Lewis — with puppet Lambchop.

2008 October 12 Sunday 7:30 PM at the Aero, Leslie Caron will return for a screening of her 1953 classic LILI. Film historian Leonard Maltin will chat with Caron after the movie.

BY ANDRE SOARES. LOS ANGELES (CINEMA MINIMA) — From 2008 October 7–November 25, the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts‘ will present the series, Bob Hope: Thanks for the Memories, programmed by Joseph Yranski.

Among the screening films in the series are several of Bob Hope’s hard-to-find television appearances of the 1950s and 1960s, and half a dozen or so of little-seen Hope vehicles, including THE IRON PETTICOAT, with Katharine Hepburn, and THE CAT AND THE CANARY, with Paulette Goddard. Admission is free.

BY ANDRE SOARES, LOS ANGELES, USA (CINEMA MINIMA)

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will present a weekend of public events and exhibitions focusing on the art and science of animation: "The Sound behind the Image II: Now Hear This!," "Normand Roger on The Animation Soundtrack," and "Frederic Back: A Life’s Drawings." The events will be held from Friday–Sunday, August 8–10, in Beverly Hills and Hollywood.

On August 8, "Now Hear This!," presented by the Academy’s Science and Technology Council, will examine the evolution of sound in animation throughout the decades. The program, hosted by Mark Mangini, will begin at 7:30 p.m. at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.

On August 10, the Academy will present "Normand Roger on The Animation Soundtrack" at 7:30 p.m. at the Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood. The program will be moderated by Academy Award-nominated composer Michael Giacchino.

Also on August 10, the Academy will open a new exhibition, "Frederic Back: A Life’s Drawings" in the lobby of the Linwood Dunn Theater. The exhibition will showcase drawings, illustrations, and sketches by Frederic Back, who won Academy Awards for CRAC and THE MAN WHO PLANTED TREES.

"Frederic Back: A Life’s Drawings" will have special viewing hours on August 10, from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. The exhibition will be open to the public through November 1 on Saturdays from noon to 6 p.m., and whenever Academy public programs are hosted at the Dunn Theater. Admission is free.

See also the Academy’s ongoing summer exhibition, "Ink & Paint: The Art of Hand-Drawn Animation."

Now Hear This!, Normand Roger, and Frederic Back images

BY ANDRE SOARES, LOS ANGELES, USA (CINEMA MINIMA)

A screening of a digitally restored 35mm print of Charles Chaplin’s MODERN TIMES (1936) and an examination at rare behind-the-scenes photographs revealing the techniques used in creating the film’s special effects will be the focus of "Techno Chaplin," an Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences‘ program hosted by visual effects supervisor Craig Barron and silent-film author John Bengtson on Thursday, July 24, at 8 p.m. at the Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood.

As per the Academy’s press release, the program will "examine Chaplin’s significant use of technical effects such as matte shots, process shots, miniatures and rear projection to complement real-life industrial settings. The presentation also will include a multimedia tour of 1930s Los Angeles, offering a visual journey of the city that served as a backdrop in Chaplin’s work."

Tickets to "Techno Chaplin" are $5 for the general public and $3 for Academy members and students with a valid ID. Tickets are available for purchase by mail, at the Academy box office, or online at www.oscars.org. Doors open at 7 p.m. All seating is unreserved.

MODERN TIMES Images

BY OGOVA ONDEGO. NAIROBI, KENYA (CINEMA MINIMA) — Eastern Africas premier annual international audiovisual media platform for children and youth, Lola Kenya Screen, has announced the films to compete for its 3rd Golden Mboni Award. Some 24 films out of the more than 389 submitted shall seek to outdo one another during the festival that runs August 11-16, 2008 in Nairobi, Kenya. This award has been won by Ukraine and Israel in 2006 and 2007, respectively.

For a film to make it to the official Lola Kenya Screen competition, its content must be creative, demonstrate artistic and technical mastery, speak positively to children of diverse backgrounds and cultures and should provide strong role models for both boys and girls. Additionally, the action of such a film should be child-driven, with the stories being culturally authentic, timely, and of universal appeal. Above everything else, such films should be made by, with and for children and youth rather than about children and youth.

The films competing for the 3rd Lola Kenya Screen Golden Mboni Award are:

• SUBIRA by Ravneet Chadha, Kenya
• MANPASAND/The Perfect Match by Dhvani Desai, India
• I AM ZEINAB FROM LEBANON by Salwa Saab, Lebanon
• HELLO SPRING by Masoone Jafari, Iran
• THE MAGIC TREE: DEVOURERS OF BOOKS by Andrzeej Magescka, Poland
• WORMHEAD by Manauvaskar Kublall, USA
• STI SKIA/In the Shadows by Dimitris Apostolou, Greece
• MAX’S WORDS by Galen Fott and Jerry Hunt, USA
• MIT MEINEM VATER LEBTE ICH AM MEER by Anke Lanzon and Jan Stutz, Germany
• JOURNEY OF A RED FRIDGE by Lucian Muntean and Natasa Stankovic, Serbia
• SIRI RAJA SIRI/King Siri by Somaratne Dissanayake, Sri Lanka
• GAROTO COSMICO/Cosmic Boy by Ale Abreu, Brazil
• QUAMAR/Working to Live by Preeya Nair, India
• HOPPET/Leaps and Bounds by Petter Nss, Sweden
• FORORTSUNGAR/Kids in da Hood by Ylva Gustavsson and Catti Edfeldt, Sweden
• SUDEN ARVOITUS/Mystery of the Wolf by Raimo O Niemi, Finland
• CYKELMYGGEN OG DANSEMYGGEN/A Tale of Two Mozzies by Jannik Hastrup and Flemming Quist Moller, Denmark
• ONNI VON SOPANEN by Johanna Vuoksenmaa, Finland
• STANDING ALONE by Gholam-Reza Ramezani, Iran
• KARLAS KABALE/Karla’s World by Charlotte Sachs Bostrup, Denmark
• PORQUE HAYCOASA QUE NUNCA SE OLVIDAN/ Because There Are Things You Never Forget, by Lucas Figueroa, Spain

Besides the official competition, Lola Kenya Screen 2008 plans to shows films in seven other categories: Films by Children, Kids for Kids Africa Competition, The Prix Jeunesse Window on the World, Eastern Africa Prism, Shorts of Africa, World Panorama, and La Matatena Associa De Cine Ninas Y Ninos. The full list of selected films is online.

All the films submitted to Lola Kenya Screen 2008, even those that did not make it to any of the eight official sections, will be available for private viewing during the festival.

The film submission to Lola Kenya Screen has for the third time demonstrated that Africa has a long way to go in the making of and promotion of films for children and youth. Only a handful of films came from Africa out of which only one made it to the 24-film official competition.

The countries continuing to register their interest in Lola Kenya Screen have increased from 39 and 46 in 2006 and 2007 to 53 in 2008.

The 2008 film submission came in from Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Britain, Burkina Faso, China, Colombia, Congo-Kinshasa, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, Hong Kong, India, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Lebanon, Mexico, Mongolia, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Scotland, Senegal, Serbia, Spain, South Africa, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Tanzania, Uganda, USA, and Zimbabwe. [Artmatters.info]