Rotterdam Film Festival, Part 2

Hey! My first report of my brief trip to Rotterdam is up at IFC. I talk a lot about the ubiquitous Carlos Reygadas. He co-produced two films at the fest, has a new feature video Serenghetti (see still above), and brought along his first short, Adulte. I kept seeing him around the city in his camouflage pants, but unfortunately he has a no-interview policy.

I could only swing four days this year, so I missed out on a ton of stuff, including a Jerzy Skolimowski retro and a sidebar on young Turkish filmmakers. However, I did manage to catch up with some auteur stuff making the rounds, including Hirokazu Kore-eda's excellent Still Walking, Albert Serra's Birdsong (opening at Anthology in March, I believe), and Lisandro Alonso's Liverpool. One of the highlights of the fest for me was interviewing Alonso about the film, his working process, and his favorite Clint Eastwood movie (Unforgiven).

I have another dispatch and a couple interviews coming up for IFC, and I'll post the inevitable list of my favorite fest films once I settle back in to life in this time zone.