Phil Spector as seen in the film. Photos in this article are stills from The Agony and the Ecstasy of Phil Spector.

Interviews with the music producer were originally shot in Spector’s home for the BBC’s Arena and originally aired on BBC Two in October of 2008.

Spector is a huge subject – from his ‘wall of sound’ to his wall of ego, his self aggrandizement seems to know no bounds. Spector harbors hatred for Tony Bennett, contradicts himself without seeming to notice or care, and his impersonations of John Lennon sound like Rocky Balboa. When asked about the sadness inherent in art, Spector’s answer is about the pain of critique and devastation in lack of adoration.

Spector (right) with The Teddy Bears

Interspersed with the interview is performance film of The Crystals, The Righteous Brothers and Tina Turner while gushing praise runs at the bottom of the screen like subtitles. When the footage stops, the songs go on over trial footage of bullet trajectories, surveillance video, testifying ex-girlfriends and repeated close ups of Spector and his ever-changing hair.

The interview was shot while Spector’s first trial for the murder of Lana Clarkson (that ended in a mistrial) began. He looks limp and bedraggled and talks with the slurring speech of a stroke victim over subjects as diverse as his high school years, his father’s suicide, and his process in producing some of the best known records of the 20th Century.

He compares himself to DaVinci, Modigliani, and Duke Ellington and bitches that he was never given knighthood (I think you have to be British for that) like McCartney or an honorary degree like Bill Cosby.

It is an unsettling film as we delve into the thoughts of a man who believes he has been wronged by society. He says on more than one occasion that the press surrounding the trial is the result of negative public perception, creating several analogies he seems ill equipped to analyze and puts himself into the category of other ‘maligned’ stars such as Miles Davis and Woody Allen.

I don’t know how exactly the film reaches the crescendo that had me wriggling to get away, but The Agony and the Ecstasy is a captivating portrait of an incredibly isolated person who fails to see that there is a pinnacle of fame for a record producer – a job that is inherently behind the scenes – and a depressed and desperate old man in hot water.

If Spector isn’t laid bare in this film, let’s hope that some things will forever remain private. Seeing this on the big screen is a revelation.

Community Connection

Want to know how to make your own travel documentary? If you need motivation, have a look at Julie Schwietert’s MatadorTravel blog about God Grew Tired of Us.

If you’re a fan of the documentary genre, you’re likely to be delighted by The Recess Ends, available in its entirety on MatadorTV.

You can see the site in English. (This and all photos are directly from the BAFICI website)

A lineup of the films can be viewed at the BAFICI website (that link will take you to the English Language version).

Make things easy on yourself by planning for venues that are
close together.

If you think you can waltz up to the ticket counter on any given day to see a film, you will probably be very disappointed. Buenos Aires has a huge population of cinema lovers. The ten peso tickets (eight for students) are in demand and these showings fill up quickly. In its twelfth year, the festival has an enormous following.

If you plan to go, do yourself a favor and buy in advance. You can pick up a schedule and buy in person at Casa de la Cultura (Av. de Mayo 575 Downtown, it will be closed April 2-4) and at Hoyts Abasto (Av. Corrientes 3247), and they’re on sale now. That, or you can buy them online with a credit card. They day of, it’s still often possible to buy tickets if you get there when the venue opens.

Once you select a movie, you can see more about it by clicking
the link.

Showings are all over the city. Some showings are minutes apart in time, but kilometers apart in distance. If you’re planning on seeing movies back to back, make sure you will be close enough to make it to the next screening location.

While the paper copy of the schedule lists locations and times by title (along with plot summaries in Spanish), the website may make planning two weeks of movie heaven a little easier, especially for an English speaker. Get a paper copy of the schedule anyway – they’re all over the place and can help you with last minute planning.

The movie page has a summary and links to the director’s page.

Just for fun, here’s an example of films being shown on just the 8th of April at Abasto. If you clicked that link, and you’re planning on hitting the festival, perhaps you’re overwhelmed.

On the director’s page, you can see alternate times for
the movie they have in the festival.

Roll over the titles for a little more info, and if you click them, you get a full plot summary in English along with other choices playing at the same time with clickable links to the directors’ bios. Not too shabby, eh? And if you click the director’s bio, you’ll see all other showtimes for that movie in case you need to plan it for a different time.

Many films are subtitled in English first and the Spanish subtitles are superimposed above with a magical green laser, so even if your Spanish needs some help, you are likely to understand the majority of films.

Community Connection

Need more info on Buenos Aires? Matador’s got you covered. From slices of life in this enormous city to where to eat, party and what to listen to, MatadorNetwork’s Focus Page on Buenos Aires centralizes many articles in one place.

Looking for more information on film festivals? Check out 10 Great Film Festivals and One Stinkarooni.

Got some tips or recommendations for BAFICI? We’d love to hear from you in the comment field below.

Photo and Feature Photo: seier+seier+seier

From Variety’s Ali Jafar:

While Iranian cinema was preoccupied for much of the 1980s and 1990s with symbolism and allegorically cherubic children, the Iranian pics at Venice this year deal directly with the social upheaval in the country both preceding and following June’s presidential elections.

There are at least two women directors out of Iran this year at the festival,Hana Makhmalbaf and Shirin Neshat. Shirin Neshat’s debut “Women Without Men” is set in the early ’50’s during an American government sponsored upheaval and traces the lives of four women seeking personal peace in the time leading up to the revolution of 1979.

In the Variety article, Neshat says of the film and her work:

It’s important for Western audiences to know about the events of 1953 and how that led to the 1979 revolution and the events we saw in June.

We are seeing history repeating itself, only the players have changed. Instead of the shah we now have supreme leader Ali Khamenei and Mahmoud Ahmedinejad.

What is the same is seeing the Iranian people trying to free themselves from attempts to take away their liberty.

Hana Makhmalbaf’s docudrama “Green Days” mixes actual and staged footage to create a portrait of a woman in the aftermath of Iran’s most recent elections. The director is just 21 years old.

The other film mentioned in the article is Nader Takmil Homayoun’s “Tehroun.” Homayoun splits his time between France and Iran and his film exposes a seedy underbelly in a statement about the disenfranchised youth of the country.

These films were created very quickly, but if these selections are any indication, we should be seeing some strong films coming out of Iran in years to come with a new perspective of world politics informing filmmakers’ sensibilities.

Community Connection

Interested in what else is going on in Iran? Check in with Matador expert Jason Rezaian in this Matador Trips article.

Looking for one or two more reasons to go to Iran to seal the deal in your head? See Jason’s article 7 Reasons To Travel To Iran NOW.

Photo from Cannes: zoethustra

Looking for something other than fiction? The IDFA is the largest documentary film festival in the world. In 2008 the festival sold over 150,000 tickets and screened over 309 documentaries. In addition to this there are master classes, debates and two film markets for filmmakers. All this in one of the most beautiful cities on earth.

Photo: the author

Each year more than 19,000 film industry professionals from 120 countries around the world converge on Berlin as it hosts the largest audience of any festival in the world. 4,000 journalists are accredited and more than 20,000 tickets are sold. This festival is truly a first class event that every cineaste should attend at least once in their lives (just be prepared to get up early to buy tickets for screenings).

Photo: MK Media Productions

This is the international film festival, full stop. A glitzy, grade A cinematic celebration. The only problem is that unless you’re a filmmaker or you happen to have some seriously good connections, you won’t see any films. Screenings are closed to the public, meaning that the best you can hope for is a glimpse of the stars as they walk the red carpet. Still, no film festival list is complete without a mention of Cannes.

Photo: the author

I had the displeasure of attending the 2007 IFFI and was astounded at the disrespect of the audiences and organizers toward the screenings and filmmakers. Constant disorganization mars this festival at every turn, as it strives to capture the exoticism of Cannes, yet fails to supply any of the professionalism or substance that makes a world class festival a world class festival.

My experience was of petty arguments in place of professional announcements, faulty equipment, mobile phone conversations during screenings and blatant disrespect toward invited filmmakers and dignitaries alike by members of the viewing public. This festival is a definite miss. Avoid.

Photo: Nicholas Babaian

Dealing exclusively in feature length films, the Locarno festival has established itself as an important event for auteur filmmaking. Locarno displays a wide range of films, giving the world a taste of new and influential international film work to come.

Photo: Driusha

Latin America’s finest film festival, it was first held in 1954 but because of political and social unrest, the festival did not resume on an annual schedule until 1996. A competition and a stellar line up of Latin American films are always on the menu.

This is the longest running film festival in the southern hemisphere as well as the most important film festival in Australia. Over 400 films are screened and MIFF is regularly increasing the size and notoriety of its film market.

Showcasing a wide array of Asian films and over 300 screenings from sixty-plus countries around the world, this is Asia’s largest film festival. You’ll want to devote some serious time here, particularly if you’re a fan of Asian cinema.

Photo: mockstar

Sundance is widely regarded as the place to be for independent, up and coming cinema. Many films from America and around the world make their debut here and are quickly snapped up by big and small distributors alike. This little mountain town becomes a frenzy of activity during January, despite the snow and cold. Films are screened, parties are thrown and careers are made.

Photo: jeffrey95112

Slamdance is the Sundance festival’s younger, more experimental sister. A festival run by filmmakers for filmmakers, Slamdance highlights the efforts of first time writers and directors who manage to create on very modest budgets.

Though tickets to screenings are expensive and often hard to come by, throngs of people attend TIFF each September, making it the largest public film festival in the world. Last year the festival screened 312 films from 64 countries around the world. This year looks to be even bigger now that the Canadian government has dumped $3million into the festival’s coffers.

Photo: skunks

A luxurious locale for a film festival, VIFF provides historical retrospectives, films, art, parties and everything spectacular that you’d expect from a city as unique as Venice.