NoA Speaks: Cinequest 2010 Preview
By Elliot V. Kotek
(February 2010)
Celebrating its 20th anniversary, Cinequest (Feb. 23-March 7) has never been shy about moving forward. The first festival to project digitally on all screens and to present a contemporaneous selection of films online, it has also been at the forefront of fulfillment, offering many of its films for HD download and providing filmmakers with opportunities afforded by its own distribution arm.
Although the festival at one time held a place as one of the best in the country, competition now forces it to consistently reinvent the wheel to keep an edge on its California counterparts. One of the new introductions at Cinequest 20, Cinequest Mavericks Studio, is being launched to not only distribute but to market and produce product for the media marketplace, lessening the need for industry people to attend this festival in order for its filmmakers to find a future home for their flicks.
This year’s Maverick tributes are being held in honor of actor Benjamin Bratt and alternative medicine maestro Deepak Chopra. While Chopra’s link to cinema might seem tenuous, he is in development (along with his son and actor/director Shekhar Kapur) on a number of narrative projects involving his written words and ideas. At $15 a ticket, the tribute is a great deal for attendees to catch one of the leading speakers on the circuit and will surely further benefit Cinequest’s strong relationship with the East Indian community present in the San Jose area.
Panels at Cinequest this year range from discussions on distribution methods to the art of comedy writing, and on to the current obsession with 3-D cinema. As “Avatar” will pass the $700 million mark in domestic gross during Cinequest 20, there’s surely no better time to be exploring the third dimension.
Of course, film festivals are primarily about bringing a wide range of cinematic product to a local audience. Curated by all-around festival nice guy Michael Rabehl, the program this year is split into five categories: Astound (“thought-provoking films that will amaze”), Electrify (“moments that will give you chills and stir your emotions”), Inspire (“a call-to-action for empowerment and growth”), Laugh (“comedies that will tickle your soul”) and Pioneer (“an in-depth look at the groundbreakers and history-makers of our times”).
With a solid program declaring 76 U.S., North American and World Premieres from forty-five countries, you’ll want to keep a look out for some of the following:
- “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”: While I’m excited by the prospect of seeing the English-language version being produced by Scott Rudin, this Scandinavian adaptation of the best-selling Millennium trilogy’s first novel has taken Europe by storm, smashing box-office records and is a must-see for anyone who has read the book.
- “Passenger Side”: A fantastic road-trip movie by Matt Bissonnette,
this film has won the hearts of audiences in Canada and the U.S. For
those who’ve also seen the director’s previous film, “Who Loves the
Sun?,” the likelihood is you’ll be leaving the cinema already waiting
for the helmer’s next project.
- “Undertow”: A powerful and provocative love story set amidst the
striking vistas and traditions of Peru, “Undertow” won the highly competitive San Sebastian International Film Festival and took home the Audience Award in the World Cinema section of this year’s Sundance Film Festival.
- “The Square”: From the Blue Tongue Films clan that’s won a wide range
of awards over the past few years (and are set for stardom with this year’s Sundance winner, “Animal Kingdom”), both “The Square” and the short film that precedes it, “Spider,” are directed by Nash Edgerton, one of Australia’s leading acting and directing talents.
If you’re searching for films featuring the area and its area of expertise you’ll want to check out “The Real Revolutionaries,” a documentary about the innovative men who built Silicon Valley, which receives its world premiere at the fest; and “The Pit,” a film about how technology and electronic trading has quickly decimated the floor of the New York Board of Trade and possibly soon the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
Also of interest to Silicon Valley technophiles, SanDisk has partnered with Cinequest to challenge filmmakers to create films on cell phones and store them on memory cards in the type of sponsorship deal that makes absolute sense for a film festival in this location. Likewise, Intel presents nightly soirees at Cinequest 20, so get your tech on, warm up your cell phones for some alternative movie-viewing, and we’ll see you in San Jose!
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