Film Festival, Modern catch a ‘New Wave’ in exhibition
August has proved a watershed month for both the Lone Star Film Society and the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, which have prepared two extraordinary moving-picture series calculated to address the often-neglected audiences of children on the one hand and foreign-film enthusiasts on the other.
The centerpiece is a retrospective exhibition, Aug. 13–16 and Aug. 20–23, of acknowledged classics, little-seen in recent years, from the French New Wave filmmaking movement of the last century.
The Lone Star–Modern projects, designed in part to build popular anticipation for November’s Lone Star International Film Festival in downtown Fort Worth, are of course events of consequence in their own right — “some of the most exciting programming of the year,” as the Lone Star Film Society’s Alec Jhangiani puts it.
The ‘Modern Kids’ series
The ‘Modern Kids’ film series runs from Aug. 4–18 in the auditorium of the Modern Art Museum. Admission is free of charge, and the selections — provided by a program called KIDS FIRST!, part of the Coalition for Quality Children’s Media — are grouped by age-appropriate considerations.
The selections for children of ages 3 to 7, for example, include Aug. 11Â’s 10 a.m. showing of The Ballad of Mulan, a short historical fable about a courageous young woman; Monkey King Wreaks Havoc in Heaven, concerning a struggle for equality; and Folk Tales from around the World: Yoshi, a retelling of a Japanese fable about belief in oneself.
Selections for 7 to 12 will include Aug. 11Â’s 1 p.m. showing of several short subjects including Swaying Giants, a documentary account of a Catalonian tradition; Lokum: The Turkish Delight, about imaginary life in a Turkish coffee shop; Folktales from Around the World: The Bear Prince, adapted from a Mexican fable; The Magic Ball, a Â’round-the-world fantasy; The Happy Duckling, an animated gem; and a dreamlike fantasy called La Lune.
Then at 1 p.m. Aug. 12, the featured attraction is the feature-length The Diary of Anne Frank, a chronicle of survival during the Nazi purges of World War II.
The 7-to-12 programming will continue at 1 p.m. Aug. 13 with Going to School in India, a feature-length portmanteau of short films.
For ages 9 to 13, the programming begins at 6 p.m. Aug. 4 with the feature-length Dragon Hunters, a heroic fantasy predicated upon the power of friendship and belief-in-oneself.
At 6 p.m. Aug. 11, the main attraction is a series of juvenile thrillers from the Goosebumps series: The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight, followed by DonÂ’t Go to Sleep and Calling All Creeps.
And at 6 p.m. Aug. 18, the Goosebumps selections will continue with Return of the Mummy, DonÂ’t Wake Mummy and You CanÂ’t Scare Me!
The French New Wave
The formal title is Catch the Wave: A Film Festival Celebrating the Nouvelle Vague. Admission per screening is $8.50, with a $2 markdown for members of the Modern Art Museum and/or the Lone Star Film Society.
The occasion is the 50th Anniversary of the French New Wave, or Nouvelle Vague, a moviemaking revolution that saw the emergence of such influential artists as Francois Truffaut, Louis Malle, Claude Charbol and Jean–Luc Godard.
The opening showing at 7 p.m. Aug. 13 is Alain ResnaisÂ’ Last Year at Marienbad (1961), a defining work of the French New Wave and a feverish exercise in the power of dreams and memory.
The 6 p.m. selection August 14 will be Louis MalleÂ’s Elevator to the Gallows (1957), starring Maurice Ronet and Jeanne Moreau in a cleverly plotted thriller.
At 8 p.m. Aug. 14, Malle’s Zazie in the Metro (1960) will play — an exercise in extravagant comedy, pitting a smart youngster against the rest of the world.
A 5 p.m. showing on Aug. 15 will showcase GodardÂ’s essential film, Breathless (1960), with Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg in the tale of an amoral crook and his unlikely strategy for survival.
Aug. 16, 2 p.m., will see Robert BressonÂ’s Pickpocket (1959), a powerful tale of crime and redemption. A panel discussion, placing the filmmaking realmÂ’s New Wave in context with an art-making works in upheaval, will take place at 3:30 p.m.
The series will resume at 7 p.m. Aug. 20 with Agnes VardaÂ’s Happiness (1965), starring Jean-Claude Drouot in a tale of marriage and conflicted loyalties.
August 21, 6 p.m., will see Claude Chabrol’s The Cousins (1959) — the first New Wave film to find a commercial release in Great Britain, where an atmosphere of decadence amid sophistication accounted for huge box-office revenues.
The 8 p.m. selection on Aug. 21 is Chabrol’s seminal early effort The Good Time Girls (1960), starring Stéphane Audran and Bernadette Lafont.
Aug. 22, 7 p.m., will see Francois TruffautÂ’s semi-autobiographical The 400 Blows (1959), a landmark film of lasting influence.
Aug. 23 will see a 2 p.m. showing of TruffautÂ’s Shoot the Piano Player (1960), adapted from an American roman noir, or crime thriller, by David Goodis called Down There.
Then at 4 p.m. Aug. 23, the series will wrap with Eric RohmerÂ’s My Night at MaudÂ’s (1969), a memorable tale of romantic and ethical conflict starring Jean-Louis Trintignant.
Michael H. PriceÂ’s books of film history and criticism include the
Forgotten Horrors series from Midnight Marquee Press of Baltimore at www.midmar.com. Contact: mprice@bizpress.net.
