Fests and events, 5/6.

By David Hudson on 05/06/2009

"Malaysian-Chinese director Liew Seng Tat's feature debut, 'Flower in the Pocket,' has arrived at the perfect moment, offering a kind of companion piece to So Young Kim's 'Treeless Mountain,' which has received much praise for its unsentimental portrayal of children amidst economic uncertainty." Andrew Chan in Reverse Shot: "Like Kim's film, 'Flower' treats the preciousness of its two young protagonists as a given, and accepts with grace and dignity the fact that they (along with all the rest of us) will have to learn how to navigate an imperfect world." For Neil Genzlinger, writing in the New York Times, this is "a delicious, quirky example of what the camera can do just by being an unhurried observer," but for Nick Pinkerton, writing in the Voice, "the film can stake some journalistic claim to social relevance, but you'd have to have an NPR tote for a brain to call this art." Currently at MoMA through Monday.

"Gary Lockwood, best known to legions of sci-fi and Stanley Kubrick fans as spaceman Frank Poole in '2001,' will be appearing this Saturday and Sunday at the Music Box to both introduce the film and participate in a post-screening Q&A." Dan Mucha talks with him for Facets.

The Sundance Film Festival has appointed Trevor Groth, "a 16-year veteran with the festival," as its new director of programming," reports Michael Cieply for the New York Times. "Groth succeeds John Cooper, another veteran, who moved up to the director's spot, after Geoff Gilmore, yet another veteran, departed for a position with the growing TriBeCa film enterprise."

"With 200 features, shorts and music videos from 30 countries, Film Independent unveiled details for the 15th Los Angeles Film Festival, taking place June 18 - 28." At indieWIRE, Brian Brooks has the Centerpiece and Competition lineups. Doug Cummings picks out several highlights he's looking forward to catching.

Acquarello carries on previewing "Clandestí: Forbidden Catalan Cinema Under Franco," a series running at the Walter Reade in New York from Friday through Tuesday: "52 Sundays," "Long Journey to the Rage" and "Field for Men."

"It is only fitting that the French Institute would choose to open its 'World Nomads: Haiti film series with Jonathan Demme's 'The Agronomist' (2004), a documentary about Jean Dominique, who (among other things) happened to found Haiti's first Cine Club at the French Institute in Port-au-Prince in 1961." An overview from Cullen Gallagher in the L Magazine. Through May 26.

"This Friday, the Museum of Modern Art in NYC will launch its two-week retrospective on the great British filmmaker Kim Longinotto, whose 'Rough Aunties' won the International Grand Jury Award at this year's Sundance Film Festival." So AJ Schnack, who, like Longinotto, is at Hot Docs at the moment, decides to interview her. But - bravo, AJ! - he doesn't want to trot out all the usual snooze-inducing questions. He experiments. "The result is an interview that will long remain one of our favorites." Also, in another matter he's been thinking about while up there in Toronto: "Which Came First, the Book Deal, the Blog or the Doc?"

"Warm-weather good vibrations threaten New York City," warns Nick Pinkerton: "as an antidote, every Monday for the next five weeks, the Film Forum is offering Tod Browning double features."

Also in the Voice, J Hoberman: "Andy Warhol, Man of the West - why not? The 11 Warhol productions showing through June at the Museum of Modern Art, in conjunction with the current photography show 'Into the Sunset,' demonstrate that even New York City's quintessential society artist made a few camping trips to the far side of the Hudson." Sarah Boxer has more on "Into the Sunset: Photography's Image of the American West" at Slate.

D.I.Y. Group Exhibition: Works on paper, film, posters, diagrams, maps, charts and documents at the Maya Stendhal Gallery from Thursday through July 25.

"Chantal Akerman: Moving Through Time and Space" is now at the Contemporary Art Museum St Louis from Friday through August 2.

"Chisenhale Gallery premieres a new film and installation by Anja Kirschner and David Panos co-commissioned by Chisenhale Gallery and Centre for Contemporary Arts (CCA), Glasgow. 'The Last Days of Jack Sheppard' is a film based on the inferred prison encounters between the 18th century criminal Jack Sheppard and Daniel Defoe, the ghostwriter of Sheppard's 'autobiography', set in the wake of the South Sea Bubble of 1720 - Britain's first recorded financial crisis." Friday through June 21.

"Friendships form at Ebertfest, and it's not just the love of the movies that does it, it's the magical, almost spiritual atmosphere of the fest, and the deliberate way in which Roger structured it to bring filmmakers and film journalists together in this unique way that makes it different from every other fest." Kim Voynar at Movie City News: "It's about the love of movies, but it's also about the community that forms there for a few days every April."

"A day after he traveled home from the sound of thunderous applause at the Tribeca Film Festival, Thomas Haden Church was driving through the pouring rain outside his ranch in Texas when he called to discuss 'Don McKay,'" writes Stephen Saito. "Church was all smiles at the film's premiere, which as an executive producer on marked his second effort behind the camera in a creative capacity, following his directorial debut on the underseen and underappreciated 2003 pot comedy 'Rolling Kansas.' As he drove through the stormy weather, I asked Church about his time on the festival circuit, as well as working with Charlie Kaufman on his equally underappreciated 90s sitcom 'Ned and Stacey.'"

"What are the most memorable Palme D'Or winners at the Cannes film festival?" Tim Robey picks 'em for the Telegraph.

[Photo: "Flower in the Pocket," Da Huang Pictures, 2007]

Tags: Andy Warhol, Anja Kirschner, David Panos, Ebertfest 2009, Gary Lockwood, Kim Longinotto, Liew Seng Tat, Los Angeles Film Festival, Stanley Kubrick, Sundance Film Festival, Thomas Haden Church, Tod Browning