Cambridge's Brattle Theatre stays true to its reputation as a hub for the best in classic, independent, and foreign films this weekend with the ninth annual Boston International Festival of Women's Cinema. This year's festival will include screenings at the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline, marking an expansion both audience and exposure.
The festival begins tonight with a sneak preview of Academy Award-winning director Marleen Gorris' film, The Luzhin Defence. Starring John Turturro and Emily Watson, this tragedy about love and insanity is based on Vladimir Nabokov's novel The Defense. It is scheduled to be released by Sony Pictures Classics later this spring.
In addition to the United States, other countries represented at the festival include Canada, France, Australia, England, Russia, and Japan. The Chinese film Shadow Magic, directed by Ann Hu, portrays the turbulent introduction of the motion picture to Chinese society.
This year, France is represented by two films. Director Anne-Sophie Birot makes her festival debut with Girls Can't Swim, a story about two teenage girls growing up in France and struggling to fit in. The Gleaners and I, directed by film veteran Agnes Varda, is a socio-political documentary that was recently awarded the Melies Prize for best French film of the year. Like Varda, many of the filmmakers participating in this year's festival are well-recognized in international film circles. Australia's Samantha Lang presents her latest film, The Monkey's Mask, a murder mystery based on the novel by Dorothy Porter. The Man Who Cried, directed by prominent independent filmmaker Sally Porter, stars such recognizable actors as Johnny Depp, Cristina Ricci, Cate Blanchett, and Turturro. The film, set in interwar Europe, details a young girl's plight to find her exiled father.
The closing night feature selection will be My First Mister, Christine Lahti's directorial debut. Starring Albert Brooks, Leelee Sobieski, Carol Kane, Mary Kay Place, and John Goodman, the film tells the story of an unlikely friendship between a teenage punkster and a middle-aged store owner.
With the addition of the Coolidge Corner as a festival venue, a number of video programs will be screened throughout the weekend using the theatre's new state-of-the-art Video Screening Room. On Hostile Ground profiles three abortion providers and the difficulties they face as a result of their profession. A Boy Named Sue is a documentary that chronicles the transformation of a transsexual from a man to a woman. Nobody Knows My Name is a portrait of women in hip-hop. Early Projections is a collection of short films by distinguished women filmmakers including Lynn Ramsay and Lisa Cholodenko.
Panel discussions have become a tradition at the festival. This year's discussion, Roles for Women: Indie and Beyond, will take place on the event's final day. Panelists will include Christine Lahti, DeMane Davis, and Adrienne Shelly. The discussion will be moderated by director/producer Yvonne Welbon.
The Boston International Festival of Women's Cinema was founded in 1993 by Marianne Lampke and Connie White, co-directors of the Brattle Theatre. The festival won the "Best Festival Award" from the Boston Society of Film Critics after its first year and again in 1997. Over the course of the past nine years, the festival has developed as one of the premier showcases for films by and about women. It solicits films not only worldwide but from Boston-area filmmakers as well.
The festival is an excellent opportunity to grab a sneak peek at what could become some of the most critically acclaimed films of the near future. It's a chance to see film from a different perspective. Take a walk on the wild side and steer clear of Sony Theatres this weekend -- chances are, you'll find something at the Brattle that you'll never forget.
