Fests and events, 6/11.

By David Hudson on 06/11/2009

"NewFest is presenting the US premiere of 'Raging Sun, Raging Sky,' the latest film by Julián Hernández" today, notes Armond White in the New York Press. "It should be the summer's major film culture event."

Meanwhile, Michael Tully at Hammer to Nail: "The closing night film of this year's edition of NewFest, David Barba and James Pellerito's 'Pop Star On Ice' is an absolute winner." Also tonight.

"For its 20th edition, the 2009 Human Rights Watch International Film Festival delivers not only a strong message about the abuses to human decency endemic around the globe - from anti-Semitism to cluster munitions to female genital mutilation - but also a glance at the recent past of issue-oriented documentaries." Chris Barsanti at Filmcritic.com: "New nonfiction films make up the bulk of this year's slate of 21 features and 11 shorts from 17 countries, showing in New York" from today through June 25.

The Brooklyn International Film Festival does live up to its name, but for the Guardian, Ben Walters focuses on the New York narratives. Through Sunday.

For Filmmaker, Pamela Cohn previews Silverdocs, opening Monday and running through June 22.

"Giuseppe Tornatore's Sicilian epic 'Baaria' will become the first Italian film in twenty years to open the Venice Film Festival," reports Peter Knegt at indieWIRE. "It will open the festival's 66th edition on September 2nd with a gala screening, and will screen in competition." September 2 through 12.

"Film festivals have been proliferating in these parts like greenhead flies in July," writes Peter Keough, introducing a guide to several spotted all over New England's summer calendar. "So how do they do it against competition from 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince' and 'GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra?' Not too shabby, it turns out. 'Festivals thrive during this time because they are an alternative to blockbusters,' suggests Adam Roffman, program director of one of the area's most successful such venues, the Independent Film Festival of Boston, which wrapped up April 28 (summer, in the movie world, starts around April Fools Day). He ought to know, because since it began in 2002 the IFFB has increased attendance from 10,000 to 25,000 admissions."

In Edmonton this summer? Vue Weekly's got your guide. Meantime, "The Films of Miklós Jancsó" runs at Edmonton's Metro Cinema today through Tuesday. Luke De Smet has an overview in SEE, where Paul Matwychuk recommends Lucio Fulci's "Zombie," even if only for its shark scene, screening at the Metro on Saturday.

The Siffblog carries on doing what it does; the Seattle International Film Festival runs on through Sunday.

"Kunst des Documents: Architektur" is a series of films on, yes, architecture screening at the Zeughauskino on Thursdays through July. Via Architecture in Berlin.

"During the Q&A for the screening of 'Animated Passions: The Films of Ursula Ferrara,' Ferrara commented that her body of work reflects the conventional progression of her formal art school training, graduating from monochrome to color, simple sketches to more complex forms." Acquarello on Saturday's collection. "Open Roads: New Italian Cinema" wraps today.

"Brian Quinn and Eric Caidin, the dedicated programmers of the twice-monthly New Beverly Grindhouse Film Festival, broke format for their Tuesday night series [night before last] with pleasing results," reports Dennis Cozzalio. "Rather than sticking with the loosely demarcated time frame of mid 60s to mid 80s, from whence most of the programming for the popular Grindhouse Night comes, they chose to highlight a relatively new film which itself harkens back to the spirit of the grimy, grainy, 'realistic' films that made up the aesthetic of the films most typically highlighted. What's most immediately captivating about 'Plague Town' (2008) is the confidence with which first-time feature filmmaker David Gregory, directing from a script he wrote with John Cregan, take the low-budget independent horror film back to a set of pre-postmodern roots much more entangled with the Wes Craven of 'The Hills Have Eyes' than he of 'Scream.'"

Gary M Kramer and Michael Miller look back on the Tribeca Film Festival for Film International.

Online listening tip. The Observer's Jason Solomons anticipates this year's Edinburgh International Film Festival. June 17 through 28.

Online viewing tip. The Chicago Reader's Ed M Koziarski has the trailer for "The Force Among Us," a doc about "Star Wars" fans screening at the Gene Siskel Film Center tomorrow.

This poster on the right, by the way, designed by Henrik Haase (blog), is not for a film but for a stage production. "Virgin Queen" opens on Saturday at the Volksbühne im Prater in Berlin and stars Sandra Hüller ("Requiem," "Madonnas") and a whole lotta puppets. There'll be a total of five performances every couple of days or so through June 24.

[Photo: "Raging Sun, Raging Sky," TLA Releasing, 2008]

Tags: Edinburgh 2009, HRWIFF 2009, Julián Hernández, Lucio Fulci, Miklós Jancsó, NewFest 2009, Seattle 2009, Silverdocs 2009, Star Wars, Tribeca 2009, Venice 2009