Director John Gallagher's eyes are smiling even more than usual--and why not? His fifth film, Blue Moon, starring Rita Moreno and Ben Gazzara, awarded the prestigious Roger Award at Avignon/New York as the Best American Feature. As a veteran of over 60 international festivals, John appreciates that this festival, "achieves what a lot of festivals can only attempt--it establishes a creative environment with overwhelming hospitality for the filmmakers."
Avignon/New York is the sister festival to the more leisurely event held in Avignon, France every year in June. In New York, nightly cocktail hours entice the bon vivant with free-flowing Grand Marnier, Jacob's Creek wines, Perrier and Grey Goose vodka. Light fare is provided by some of the city's finest restaurants-Chameleon, Le Colonial, Provence, Coco Cafe, Le Pescadou, and So. Earth--with nightly parties at The Roger Smith Hotel following screenings.
But true to the character of its hosting city, this year's Avignon/NY packed into one week over 12,000 attendees to seminars, panels, screenings of rarities and World or New York premieres. Special appearances abounded: actor/director Peter Fonda (with his 1979 film, Wanda Nevada, starring a barely post-pubescent Brooke Shields); master filmmakers, Jean-Charles Tacchella (Cousin,Cousine), and Claude Lelouch (A Man and A Woman); master composer Howard Shore (Silence of the Lambs, Ed Wood, Crash); the world premiere of an invigorating new score to the silent film classic Metropolis by composer Kevin Hayes; and panels moderated by representatives from The Shooting Gallery, The Sundance Channel, and Columbia University film professor Annette Insdorf.
So how did anybody find time to eat? That's what the French call joie de vivre. In this spirit, Fonda, Tacchella and Lelouch were seen throughout the week chatting casually with attendees and fellow filmmakers. The week heralded the New York premieres of Tacchella's People Who Love Each Other and Lelouch's One for All. Lelouch also hosted a rare screening of his funny and compelling Itinerary of a Spoiled Child (starring Jean-Paul Belmondo as a wealthy societal drop-out).
Jerome Rudes founded the festival to support 'cultural exchanges of two of the world's most influential independent film movements,' encouraging audience members 'to play an integral part' by engaging in open dialogues with filmmakers. As all of the competition films come without distributors, this festival may provide their only big-screen showing before a fan-audience-especially with the French and American shorts. This audience interaction (it includes audience Q & A's after screenings of shorts and features) is part of the encouragement the festival offers filmmakers, which is particularly unusual for directors of short films.
Audience members vote on the films in competition, selecting four winners: Best French and American Feature and Short Film. The four filmmakers share with a cinematographer and screenwriter over $80,000 in prizes awarded by sponsors such as Kodak, Delta Air Lines, Panavision, LVT subtitling, Tribeca Film, Cineric, Post Perfect, Prime Time Post and Separate Star. While Rudes reiterates that all the films selected for the festival are already winners, the prizes provide incentive to encourage filmmakers to keep on working.
Supporting the joy of the work itself embodies the spirit of this festival. In the morning interview sessions conducted by Rudes his famous guests are often quite expressive in their candor. They reveal the frustrations encountered trying to create profitable films that are still true to their vision. As Monsieur Tacchella noted, "working on the set with my cast and crew making the picture a reality---those are the happiest moments." Such rare moments are regular fare at Avignon/New York.
For info on this year's festival, the one in Avignon in June, or dates of next year's festival contact:
Avignon/New York Film Festival c/o French Institute/Alliance Francaise, 22 East 60th Street, New York, NY 10022 (212)355-6100 ext. 245, or www.fiaf.org.
--Leslie Anne Weishaar
