As most movie-lovers will admit, there's nothing quite like a film festival. Since not everyone has the time, budget, and inclination to fly to Toronto, Park City, or Cannes every year, local festivals have become hot events, springing up all over the country. In 1998, I would venture to say that virtually every major American city will offer at least one film festival. The most important aspects of such an event -- watching good (and often unusual) movies, talking about cinema, and communing with other like-minded individuals -- are the same from festival-to-festival, whether it's in the rarefied air of the Rockies or the bustle of New York City.

The seventh annual Philadelphia Festival of World Cinema runs from April 29 through May10, 1998. During the course of twelve days, the festival will present some 50 features (give or take a few), several dozen shorts, and special events including film critic Roger Ebert's "Democracy in the Dark," a tribute to Renaissance man Paul Robeson, a spotlight on the production company, Good Machine, and an homage to Canadian writer/director Robert Lepage.

When discussing film festivals, it's helpful to divide them into categories. On the upper tier are the highly-competitive, market-driven festivals: Sundance, Cannes, and Toronto. These festivals are gathering grounds for critics and other members of the press, representatives of distribution companies eager to buy the rights to the hottest film properties, and celebrities showing off their latest performances. The level below contains venerable, but not as commercial, locales: New York, Berlin, Montreal, Telluride, etc. Then there are the smaller, local festivals that bring a taste of international festival flavor to those who might otherwise be unable to sample it.

According to Kate Maxwell, the Vice President for Marketing and Public Relations of International House (the organization that runs the Philadelphia Festival of World Cinema), this festival is designated as "non- competitive and curated," which means that all of the entries are invited and there are no awards given out by juries or audiences (although a poll is taken to determine trends in audience preference). Philadelphia carefully programs its twelve days, drawing on films from across the globe that have previously screened at other festivals. Programmers are at their job for the better part of a year, attending nearly every significant festival across the globe, looking for candidates that will fit into the next year's program. Nearly one-quarter of the 1998 entries showed at Sundance, while others bowed at Toronto and have been making their way around the festival circuit for the past seven months.

The Philadelphia Festival of World Cinema is part of an ongoing year-long motion picture program designed to promote film and film-makers and to gather people together. Maxwell remarks that, in her opinion, the two most important functions filled by the festival are to "bring diverse audiences together" and to "lead to a good outcome for the film maker." Since the festival is non-competitive, directors and producers aren't under any pressure to win trophies. There's no popularity contest involved (although, obviously, everyone wants their film to be well-received). As a result, film makers can sit back and enjoy hobnobbing with cineastes, attending parties, and participating in post-screening Q&A sessions.

For six years, the PFWC was presided over by Founding Director Linda Blackaby, who has since moved on (the exact reason for her departure is somewhat unclear; it is rumored that a drop in last year's attendance prompted Blackaby's demotion, which led to her eventual resignation). This year's director is New York-based Phyllis Kaufman, who has been involved with the Festival in an advisory capacity since its inception. Kaufman's changes to the structure of the Festival relate more to logistics than programming.

Nevertheless, this year's program appears to be less ambitious than that of recent years. There are fewer films (about 10 less than last year), most afternoon screenings have been eliminated, the unique "Cine Cafés" have been amputated, and the number of truly obscure features is more limited. On the positive side, an attempt has been made to create a festival hub in the heart of Philadelphia's historical district (not any easy task considering the lack of screens in the city). Three major participating theaters (the Ritz 5, the Ritz at the Bourse, and the AMC Olde City) are within easy walking distance of each other, and the unofficial festival "rest stop," Xando, is across the street from the Ritz at the Bourse.

As is true of most other festivals, an effort is made to bring in as many film makers as possible to share the experience of having their film screened. The first weekend (May 1-3) is packed, with dozens of guests on hand. The second weekend (May 8-10) has a lighter roster, due in part to its conflict with Cannes. It's also worth noting that many of the better films are screened early in the festival. Movies shown during the second weekend have the feeling of being leftovers.

One of this year's Festival highlights is a spotlight on the production company of Good Machine. Founded in 1991 by James Schamus and Ted Hope, Good Machine has been instrumental in bringing a variety of independent features to the screen, including The Ice Storm, Eat Drink Man Woman, Safe, Simple Men, The Brothers McMullen, and The Myth of Fingerprints. Both Hope and Schamus will be on hand during the Festival's first weekend. In addition to participating in a panel moderated by Roger Ebert, they will attend the Philadelphia area premieres of three Good Machine films: Arresting Gena, Love God, and The Sticky Fingers of Time. (The directors, Hannah Weyer, Hilary Brougher, and Frank Grow, will also be there.) Good Machine VP of Production, Anthony Bregman, will lead a three-hour seminar entitled "Low Budget Film Making: Like a Well-Oiled Machine."

Perhaps the most famous face seen around the Festival during its early days will be that of critic Roger Ebert, who will be there from opening night (April 29) through Sunday afternoon (May 3). In addition to attending various parties and screenings, Ebert will moderate "A Conversation with Schamus & Hope" on Saturday morning. But Ebert's primary mission is to present the latest installment of his world-renowned "Democracy in the Dark." His film of choice this time is Raging Bull, and the program is divided into four sections (all of which need not be attended). The first is an uninterrupted theatrical screening of a new 35 mm print of the film. During Sessions 2, 3, and 4, Ebert will host a shot-by-shot deconstruction of the film in which audience participation is not only encouraged, but demanded.

"Democracy in the Dark" began its life under Ebert in the early '70s at the University of Chicago. The approach of doing a shot-by-shot study of a film was recommended to the Pulitzer-prize winning critic by Chicago film teacher John West. The first movies to receive this treatment were Citizen Kane, Notorious, and The Third Man. Over the years, the list of "Democracy in the Dark" movies has expanded to include the likes of Persona, Cries and Whispers, La Dolce Vita, Amarcord, 8 1/2, Vertigo, Foreign Correspondent, Psycho, Rear Window, Frenzy, The Magnificent Ambersons, The Trial, Silence of the Lambs, Pulp Fiction, JFK, The Woman in the Dunes, Ikiru, Bonnie and Clyde, The General, The 400 Blows, Raging Bull, Taxi Driver, Weekend, Nashville, and others. Kane alone has been done 20 times.

When I asked Ebert if there had been any surprising revelations during past "Democracies in the Dark," he had the following to say: "The consistency of the phallic symbolism in Vertigo. The flag symbolism in Silence of the Lambs. Hidden frames in The Exorcist. Hitchcock's use of white frames to signify gunshots. The connection between the 'Killian's Red' beer sign and the 'Z' key ring in Pulp Fiction. The prehistoric flying bird in the background of the picnic scene in Citizen Kane. The fact that Jerry Lundegard gave the kidnappers a key chain with the auto dealership on it in Fargo."

In response to a question about memorable anecdotes, he remarked, "[On one occasion,] We spent half an hour on one frame of Silence of the Lambs, the one where the window is shot out in Buffalo Bill's basement. Half the audience was sure the objects on the windowsill arranged themselves to form the raising of the flag tableau at Iwo Jima. The rest couldn't see it. Sometimes I could, sometimes I couldn't. In the same film, Hannibal Lector gives the clue 'Calumet,' and the FBI raids a house in Calumet City. Meanwhile, Clarisse goes to Buffalo Bill's house. In its yard is a little lawn ornament, an Indian in a canoe. 'Hey,' said a member of the audience in Boulder, 'that's the Indian from the boxes of Calumet Baking Powder!' And so it was, although [director Jonathan] Demme told me he was totally unaware of the connection."

The so-called "festival within a festival," the 13 year-old Festival of Independents, marks the core of the PFWC, and is one of its chief attractions. Its mission is to showcase the work of independent film and video makers from the Philadelphia area. In the past, the Festival of Independents has presented the likes of Two Plus One, Fallout, and The Watermelon Woman. This year's program, described by insiders as one of the strongest ever, highlights two features and a number of narrative and documentary shorts. The full-length films are Edge City, Eugene Martin's coming-of-age story (a genre that the festival as a whole is particularly rich in) and Surrender Dorothy, Kevin DiNovis' gender-bender that won the Grand Jury Prize at January's Slamdance Film Festival. These two films help fill the gap that develops after the first weekend. Both Martin and DiNovis will be present.

Singer/actor/activist Paul Robeson was born in Princeton in 1898 and died in Philadelphia in 1976. This year represents the 100th anniversary of his birth, and, to celebrate it, the PFWC has chosen three of his best-known performances, roles in which he broke away from the stereotypes forced upon most black actors of his day. The movies are Body and Soul (1924), a silent film that marks Robeson's screen debut; The Emperor Jones (1933), based on Eugene O'Neill's play of the same name; and Jericho (1937), an examination of post-World War I race issues. Each of the films will only screen once.

Auteur Robert Lepage is not well-known in this country. The Canadian born playwright, actor, and director is one of the few foreign artists ever to work at the Royal National Theater in London. This year's PFWC is screening four Lepage films: Tectonic Plates, the first motion picture version of a Lepage play; The Confessional, Lepage's directorial debut; The Polygraph, based on Lepage's real-life experience as a murder suspect; and The Seven Streams of the River Ota, a provocative look at the long-range effects of the A-bomb blasts that leveled Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The most mainstream of these films is arguably The Confessional, but none of the four are what I would call "conventional."

Finally, while I have yet to see the bulk of the PFWC's features, I have seen about 25% of what's available, and, out of that group, I have several recommendations for films to be seen and those that should be avoided. Check the "Reviews" page for frequent updates as I see more.

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