ARIZONA DREAM
Emir Kusturica’s neglected foray into Hollywood flopped worldwide, yet it has much of the comedy and fantastic imagery of his masterpiece Time of the Gypsies. In it, Johnny Depp is his usual hapless self as a spacey fisherman. He’s summoned by his uncle, Jerry Lewis, to look after a Cadillac dealership.
COLD COMFORT FARM
A return to form for John Schles-inger, with this infectiously wacky and witty comedy set in the rustic England of the Thirties. Spirited and genuinely funny, it stars, among others, Joanna Lumley.
DEAD MAN/DOWN BY LAW AND COFFEE AND CIGARETTES
Cine-hipster Jim Jarmusch breaks his South African virginity with the first ever local screening of his movies. His latest — a laid-back and softly comic western with Johnny Depp (again) and Robert Mitchum, and his engaging prisoners on the chain gang comedy featuring fabulous Italian comedian Roberto Benigno, coupled with a 12-minute short featuring Iggy Pop and Tom Waits discussing the finer points of life.
DISTANT VOICES, STILL LIVES
Painstakingly made in 1988, this is Terence Davies’s masterpiece. A painterly recollection of childhood in Liverpool constructed around people singing old tunes at the pub, paralleled with family melodrama, it’s extraordinarily moving, to the point and yet filled to bursting.
NEWS FROM THE GOOD LORD
Didier Le Pecheur’s first film is everything a debut should be. After the suicide of a leading existentialist author, two of his admirers pop loads of pills and go in search of a personal interview with God himself. It’s cheeky, stylish, clever and funny.
THE 400 BLOWS / SHOOT THE PIANIST / JULES ET JIM
FranCois Truffaut’s first three films, represent a landmark trilogy. One is the tale of a 13-year-old boy; the second is a pastiche of American film noir with Charles Aznavour in tip-top condition and the last a tragi-comic tale of two young men and the woman they both love. Made over 30 years ago, they’re still brisk and entertaining, especially on the big screen.
JUMP THE GUN
(A special screening on September 15 at 5.30pm)
UK-based director Les Blair’s humanistic take on the schizophrenic world of present-day Johannesburg features stand-out performances from locals Lionel Newton, Baby Cele and Michelle Burgers, among many others.
TO LIVE
Zhang Zimou’s epic tale spans three decades of Chinese history, focused around the life of a family. A masterful cinema story-teller, his movies are both remarkably simple and fantastically grand.
THE PILLOW BOOK
Peter Greenaway’s long-awaited next film uses a 10th-century work of Japanese erotica as the base for a heavy revenge drama set in the near-future about a young girl who gets her jollies by writing on her partners’ bodies. Expect huge swathes of sumptuous nudity, amazing images and a bit of a haul.
The festival will be screened at the Mall in Rosebank, Johannesburg and Cavendish Square in Cape Town from September 13 to October 3