Toasting Noel Coward At Lincoln Center

by Sandy Mandelberger, North American Editor

Theater and film bon vivant Noel Coward would have loved his gilt-edged tribute at the Film Society of Lincoln Center in New York this weekend. COWARD ON FILM, which ran May 11 to 13, will run in conjunction with the ongoing citywide festival STAR QUALITY: THE WORLD OF NOËL COWARD, honoring the British playwright, actor, director and composer. The series will trace the breadth of his film work, which ranges from British silent and sound adaptations of his early plays to the later prestige productions of his works made in Hollywood. “I’m not very keen on Hollywood”, the great wit once quipped. “I’d rather have a nice cup of cocoa.” Among the highlights of the series are his two masterworks: IN WHICH WE SERVE (1942), one of the greatest war films ever made, which was written, scored and co-directed (with David Lean) by Coward, who also starred in the film; and BRIEF ENCOUNTER (1946), one of the great screen romances. “Noël Coward’s enormous gifts were spread across an extraordinary range of activities and media–from theater to film to acting to composing to singing”, FSLC Program Director Richard Peña commented. “We’re delighted to be part of this long-deserved tribute to this “one-man Lincoln Center,” presenting the best of his cinematic achievements.” For a complete schedule of films and events, visit: www.filmlinc.com

Sony Pacts With Haneke

by Sandy Mandelberger, North American Editor

Sony Pictures Classics has acquired all North American rights to the latest film from Oscar nominee Michael Haneke. The Austrian director’s latest film AMOUR stars Jean-Louis Trintignant (Z, THE CONFORMIST), Emmanuelle Riva (HIROSHIMA MON AMOUR), and Isabelle Huppert (THE PIANO TEACHER, 8 WOMEN).  In the film, Georges (Trintignant) and Anne (Riva) are in their eighties. They are cultivated, retired music teachers. Their daughter (Huppert), who is also a musician, lives abroad with her family.  One day, Anne has an attack. The couple’s bond of love is severely tested. AMOUR will mark the third film between Haneke and Sony Pictures Classics.  The previous titles include CACHÉ and 2009 Palme d’Or winner THE WHITE RIBBON. “AMOUR once again confirms Michael Haneke’s place as one of the world’s finest filmmakers. American audiences are in for a moving experience”, the company announced in a statement.

Hommage To Werner Schroeter

by Sandy Mandelberger, North American Editor

The Museum of Modern Art in New York, in association with the Munich Film Museum and the Goethe-Institut New York, will present the first comprehensive North American retrospective of German film, theater, and opera director Werner Schroeter. The program, which runs from May 11 to June 11, includes 40 feature films and rare early experimental shorts, very few of which have had theatrical releases in the United States. Schroeter's filmic approach was extremely influential on his German contemporaries Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Rosa von Praunheim, Hans-Jurgen Syberberg, Daniel Schmid, Ulrike Ottinger, Wim Wenders, and Werner Herzog. He also worked with an eclectic group of acting talents including Isabelle Huppert, Bulle Ogier, Candy Darling, and his muse and superstar Magdalena Montezuma, from whom he drew some of their greatest performances. Inspired by the divas of silent-era cinema, Schroeter strove for an authenticity of feeling through extreme emotions, reaching a point, he said, of "musical and gestural excess." Mixing kitsch with high art, his visual exercises were intoxicating to the eye, ear and the imagination of the audience. For more information on the series, visit: www.moma.org