The Film Festivals of 2011

Its still early January and already the Film Festivals have started to come into view. How many of the festivals Unseen attends is open to discussion but already it looks like its going to be a full dance card through the early part of the year.

First up the Korean Cultural Service starts up their free screenings at the Tribeca Cinema. These are good Korean films that are unavailable and unreleased in the the US. First up is there entry in the Oscar sweepstakes A Barefoot Dream which is about the Korean National Soccer team. Its screening with the director in attendance. After that the series goes every other Tuesday, with the first four films being sports films. I'm planning on attending, depending upon the weather.

Also depending upon the weather (NYC is facing a large scale snow storm Tuesday in to Wednesday) will be my attendance of the New York Jewish Film Festival. I have a ticket for Stalin Thought of You, which is a documentary on a political cartoonist in the former Soviet Union who survived the wrath of Stalin. I delayed too long and missed getting tickets for the opening film Mahler on the Couch. I've heard the film isn't all that good but I'm curious because of a song by Tom Lehrer (both have to do with Alma, Mahler's wife)


After that Randi, Bully, John and myself will be attending the BAMKids Fest the first weekend in February to see a Moomins film.

Then things get crazy as the following list of events for the first half of the year will show:


Film Comment Selects 2/18-3/2 at Lincoln Center.

The New York International Children's Film Festival all through March.

Rendezvous With French Film at Lincoln Center 3/3- 3/13

New Directors New Films at Lincoln Center and the Museum of Modern Art 3/23-4/3

Tribeca Film Festival (what can I say I'm a glutton for punishment- and this years selections actually mattered in retrospect) is 4/20 to 5/1


The Brooklyn Film Festival is 6/3 to 12


Then there is Seattle's Film festival, which I'm hoping to get reports from.

The Washington DC Film Festival in April.


There is a Korean Festival in Washington not to mention an anime festival as well.


After that is The New York International Film Festival in August, the New York Film Festival and New York City Horror Film Festival in the fall and one or two other festivals as well.

For a non-paying gig my real world cash flow is going to be in serious jeopardy in the quest to find a whole bunch of films you you should be watching out for.

Its going to be a crazy time and you may want to keep an eye) on this blog to see what happens.


(By the way yours truly can be seen fleetingly on the DVD for the film Micmacs which I saw at Tribeca last year. the Q&A with the director was filmed and you can see me in the opening shot of the line outside- if you know where to look. I'm going to post a screen shot if I can manage to get actually to capture the fleeting image.)