The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies
The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies |
- Kuala Lumpur Eco Film Festival kicks off
- Movies coming soon to Malaysian cinemas
- Affleck film recounts Hollywood role in Iran crisis
| Kuala Lumpur Eco Film Festival kicks off Posted: 12 Oct 2012 07:18 AM PDT Get your fill of films and fun activities with a festival and competition this weekend. The 2012 Kuala Lumpur Eco Film Festival (KLEFF) kicks off today and continues throughout the weekend at the Experimental Theatre of Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur. This is the fifth installation of the three-day event which sees an array of workshops, screenings of award-winning environmental films, exhibitions and a panel discussion with local and international filmmakers. Over 25 films are showcased this year, many of them highlighting issues regarding global warming, climate change, indigenous people and wildlife. These short films, animation features, documentaries and full-length feature films are screened to the public for free. Titles include The Barn Owl: Predator (directed Richard Duckett, Malaysia), Bikpela Bagarap (by David Fedele, Australia), Sacred Stones (Muayad Alayan and Laila Higazi, Palestine), A Pinon (Mattia Trabuccchi, Spain), The Light Bulb Conspiracy (Eva Peris, Spain), Drying For Freedom (Adam J Merrifield, Britain), Traffic In Frenetic HCMC (Rob Whitworth, Vietnam), Up In Smoke (Adam Wakeling, Britain), Balik Pulau: Sustainability Meets Tradition (Govindran Jegatesen, Malaysia), Waking The Green Tiger, A Green Movement Rises In China (Gary Marcuse, Canada), The Seahorsemen (Gillian Marsh, Ireland), Lenyap (Zarina Jan, Malaysia), Beyond Pollution (Harper Robinson, United States), Save The Earth (Calvin Woo Ming Kwan, Malaysia), Little Effort Makes A Change (Nanthini Buballa Singgam, Malaysia) and The Malaysian Culture (Yap Jun Ming, Malaysia). In a press release, Yasmin Rasyid, the festival director said: "We discovered many more fine environment-themed movies than our three-day weekend could include ... (There's) a varied selection of new works by both established filmmakers, many returning to the festival, and first-time directors." Other than films, KLEFF will see exciting workshops, fashion shows, exhibtions and "meet-and-greet" sessions with international and local filmmakers attending the festival to discuss their films with the audience. Some of the international filmmakers making their way here for the event are David Fedele (Big Damage), Olivier Pollet (Canning Paradise), Howard Jackson (Big Dreams, Little Bears) and Rob Whitworth (Traffic In Frenetic). On Saturday, check out the workshop entitled Hijau, that addresses social and environmental issues in Malaysia. This event takes place at the university's Pusat Asasi Sains at 2pm. At the same time there will be a Making Underwater Documentaries and Q&A session hosted by Lina Teoh. Other workshops include two fun ones for children entitled DIY Solar Cooker Workshop and DIY Pinhole Camera Workshop (Sunday, 11am and 2pm, respectively, at Kompleks Perdana Siswa). To register, e-mail: ecocentrictransitions@gmail.com. There will also be an eco-fashion show (Oct 13, 2.30pm) and an exhibition featuring sustainable architecture 3D models by university students. Visit The Kuala Lumpur Eco Film Festival website (www.ecofilmfest.my) for the festival's programme which can be downloaded for free. What else is on The other film-related event that's also happening this week is the 2012 KL 48-Hour Film Project (KL48) in which many aspiring filmmakers are put into separate teams and asked to conceptualise, create, direct, edit and submit a short film in just 48 hours. These films are screened at the TGV Cineplex in Suria KLCC on Oct 13, while the awards are presented on Oct 14 at the KL Tower. It is open to the public; you can purchase tickets from www.kl48hourfilm.com. In a press statement, KL48 producer Shahril Fahazmi Musa urged participants to focus more on the stories rather than emphasise on the technical side of the storytelling. He said: "The software, the cameras and the production methods are just tools to tell their stories, the most important part is the stories themselves." Producer Julia Fraser (who has collaborated with U-Wei on his upcoming film, Hanyut), producer/director Ken S. Yap (Nasi Lemak 2.0 and Phua Chu Kang: The Movie) and Shukor Kadir (Anna And The King) who act as judges advise the participants to strategise how they are going to accomplish their task successfully. The winner of this local round will be awarded a RM30,000 grant from the National Film Development Corporation, as well as a chance to compete against 114 other international winners at Filmapalooza 2013 in Los Angeles, California. The flight tickets to Filmapalooza is also part of the prize. According to the press release, top films from Filmapalooza will then get the opportunity to go to Cannes Film Festival in France for it to be screened in the Short Film Corner. For more information, visit www.kl48hourfilm.com/. |
| Movies coming soon to Malaysian cinemas Posted: 12 Oct 2012 01:18 AM PDT Sinister – Ethan Hawke headlines the cast in this "found-footage" horror flick from writer/director Scott Derrickson (The Exorcism Of Emily Rose). He plays a true-crime novelist who investigates a murder that took place in the house he is currently occupying. His curiosity, however, may just end up killing more than the house cat. Ted – Co-written and directed by Seth MacFarlane (the same guy responsible for the funny TV series, Family Guy), Ted revolves around a man-child (Mark Wahlberg) whose best friend is a talking and walking teddy bear (voiced by MacFarlane). However, his long-suffering girlfriend (Mila Kunis) is not happy about their living arrangement. Also, she wants more in the relationship than their current status. |
| Affleck film recounts Hollywood role in Iran crisis Posted: 11 Oct 2012 11:27 PM PDT LOS ANGELES: Actor-director Ben Affleck's latest movie tells the incredible story of Hollywood's role in an attempt to get a group of US diplomats out of Iran during the 1979 hostage crisis. "Argo," Affleck's third film behind the camera, is set against the backdrop of the Iranian revolution and the international standoff in which 52 Americans were held in Tehran for more than a year. The subject matter has clear topical resonance: the hostage crisis helped eject Jimmy Carter from the White House, and President Barack Obama, battling for re-election, is now facing pressure over attacks on US missions abroad. But the 40-year-old Hollywood star says it was never his intention for the film - produced by George Clooney and out this weekend in North America, less than four weeks before the November 6 election - to be caught up in politics. "It was always important to us to let the movie not be politicized. We tried to make it very factual, fact-based, because it was coming up before the election in the US, when a lot of things get politicized," he said. The real-life story - which was classified for years, and only became public in 1997 - starts with the US embassy in Tehran being seized by revolutionaries, who went on to hold 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. The Democratic Carter's mishandling of the crisis led to his defeat by Republican Ronald Reagan the following year. As the mission was stormed, a handful of diplomats managed to escape through a secret exit and took refuge in the Canadian embassy. They were out of Iranian hands, but the next question was how to get them out of the country. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer Tony Mendez proposed a solution, which at first seemed far-fetched, but was eventually accepted. The idea was to mount a fictitious Hollywood science fiction movie production, ask Tehran for visas to scout for filming locations - and then get the diplomats out of the country disguised as film crew members. "When I saw the script, I couldn't believe how good it was," Affleck told reporters, presenting the movie in Beverly Hills ahead of its release. "What struck me almost right away was that we had this thriller, and in equal measure this kind of comic Hollywood satire and this really sort of intricate real-life CIA spy story, all based on truth." Affleck plays Mendez, a real-life former spy who was heavily involved in the movie's production and even makes a brief appearance on screen. "It was really inspiring to meet Tony. He was steeped in this movie. It was Tony's story, Tony's point of view," said Affleck. "He wanted to meet me at this old famous CIA bar in (Washington district) Georgetown, and he was telling me that it was where (CIA double agent) Aldrich Ames passed names of the American agents in Russia to his Russian handlers. "When he told me that, it kind of sank in all of a sudden - this was real, this was a real story about a real guy who worked in a real world where real lives were at stake." "Argo" maintains a delicate balance of tone as it depicts the Iranian revolution and the violent embassy scenes while also showing how a Hollywood production is put together. Affleck stressed the importance of historical accuracy. "Naturally we wanted to be careful and judicious about presenting the facts and also stand firmly behind that, and say that this is an examination of this part of the world," he said. "Just because this part of the world is undergoing tumult, doesn't mean you stop examining it or talking about it. I think that would be a bad thing." - AFP |
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