Goodie Goodie | Festivals Cut Back On American Films

Festivals Cut Back On American Films

by Steven Zeitchik

Wed, Aug 12th '09

Film festivals, that place where Americans used to go

Reposted from Risky Business Blog

American companies cut back on their festival movies, and now festivals are cutting back on their American movies.

It was only a matter of time. Festival films -- also known as, um, high-quality literate movies -- are a dwindling priority for studios (see under, well, this item). And that means, among other things, that those of us in the media, industry and general public who likes going to festivals to discover new talent and keep up with old talent are increasingly going to find Asian, French, Romanian and filmmakers from other countries -- good stuff from pretty much everywhere except the the Lower 48. Even Canada is developing auteurs. Canada!

That non-American trend was already creeping in at Cannes this year, where Quentin Tarantino was one of the few Yanks to get a prime slot. And it's happening again at the New York Film Festival, usually a showcase for a number of American-made and English-language gems.

The fest over the past few years has been a pretty important stop on the fall awards circuit for studio and specialty pics; "Mystic River," "The Wrestler" and "No Country for Old Men" were among the movies that got their U.S. premieres at the festival and were spurred to Oscar and Globe glory. This year, there are exactly two scripted features from American directors (and one of them is Todd Solondz).

Richard Pena, the always articulate and persuasive head of programming at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, says it's just a matter of timing; he says quality U.S. films weren't ready (given the fest's love for Eastwood -- even "Changeling" made the cut -- we're guessing that's a list that includes Dirty Harry's South Africa tale "Invictus." It is, Pena said, simply an in-between year.

Maybe so. But we have a feeling there are going to be a few more in-between years before all is said and done.

You have to give credit to the Gotham festival for sticking to its guns, though, and not bringing in some Americans just for the sake of filling out a slate. Instead it's handing out slots to Haneke, Resnais, Almodovar, Porumboiu (an up-and-coming Romanian who's worth watching) and others who deserve them. And apologies for the Jeffrey Wells-ish turn. You just have to wonder, as studios make toy movies and festival take French movies, if these parallel lines will ever intersect again. Just once in a while, for old time's sake.