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It's that time of year again, when the days darken early and Dutch parents still don't put hats or gloves on their kids.
It's also time once again for the International Documentary Film Festival, the best 10 days for movie geeks to sneak some peeks at the world's best un-Hollywood films.
I'm now on my third year of this cinematic feast, and as a seasoned vet I am all over this like Herman Cain on an assistant.
Want to make the most of the festival? Here's the lowdown:
- Get on the mailing list for the festival; they are not spammy, with only a few emails sent throughout the year, and you will get ample warned well in advance of the ticket sales and the overall program.
- On Day 1 of the kaartverkoop, go online and buy tickets for all your favourites. I bought 5 tickets this year, and it wasn't easy whittling down the choices. But waiting until the day before or day is risky. Although last-minute no-shows do happen; if you really want to see something, head to the cinema about 30 minutes before the show and talk to a ticket-taker or wait for a seller to start hawking.
- Bring your smartphone to the show - no need to line up to pick up pre-bought tickets this year, as the organizers have gone all smartphone-friendly.
- If you have any questions, be patient. The volunteers range widely from friendly and on the ball to friendly and way off the ball. It happens every year - some of them seem genuinely surprised to be there.
The lineup for each annual version is much the same - many films with a very strong social message, some with serious stomach-churning violence and sadness; some with beauty as their main feature; and others that are light and a bit wacky. Virtually all of them look great.
This year, I've got tickets for:
Cave of Forgotten Dreams
Just came back from this; it's a fascinating movie about the discovery of cave drawings in France dating back 32,000 years, directed and narrated by Werner Herzog - in 3D no less. This movie expands your brain, largely (I think) by making us realize how short a time we're really here and how close we are to messing it up.
Desert Riders
The very sad story of camel jockeys (yes, actual camel jockeys) in the UAE.
Happiness... a Promised Land
A look at a simple question posed to various people on a hike: What makes you happy? (These days? An awesome fiancee, dogs, Guinness, playing squash, and movie festivals. I suspect this movie will delve a little deeper).
POM Wonderful presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold
Morgan Spurlock, the guy from Super-Size Me, casts a light on the prevalence and absurdity of advertising and insidious product placement. Which seems like a good time to mention that this blog is currently sponsored by Lithuanian garlic, Simon Levelt Indian Chai tea, Etos cough syrup and Hema's Ultra Soft nose tissues.
The Last Dogs of Winter
The Canadian Eskimo Dog is the only dog that can survive a temperature of minus-60 degrees. Only a few hundred are left. We'll see if it's chilling or heart-warming.
So a full agenda of movie-viewing is on tap, and I am overly, geekily, excited about it all. Some other ones that I may even try to see are Four Horsemen ("What is created by humans, can be changed by humans" - check out the trailer) and G Spotting: A Story of Pleasure and Promise (oddly, the identical working title of the first movie listed above). Just hope I find the damn place.
www.idfa.nl/industry.aspx
* Jeff is our Been there local for Amsterdam. You can read his profile here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/articles/amsterdam-local-jeff-funnekotter.jsp and follow his tips here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/travellers/jefffunnekotter
The perfect safe haven in the hot summer months or rainy winter weekends (yes it does rain!!). The cinema is old-style, with good choice of refreshments and pop corn and several screens. All films are in their original versions with subtitles in Spanish.
Avenida Marques de Paradas, 16
www.hoycinema.com/cartelera/cines/Avenida-5-Cines-VO-UCC.htm
+34 954 29 30 25
Google map: bit.ly/rov2jh
* BecomingSevillana is our Been there local for Seville. You can read her profile here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/articles/seville-local-kim.jsp and follow her tips here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/travellers/BecomingSevillana.jsp
She also has her own blog: becomingsevillana.blogspot.com/
An outdoor cinema (most films are in Spanish though). The hot days are here, and nothing beats being outside in the evenings when the temperatures have dropped. The film list is quite complete with some of the biggies in this year's Oscars. Entry is €3, and there is a bar with cheap drinks and snacks (bottle of beer €1, and big bag of crisps €1).
Avenida Menéndez Pelayo, 32, 41004 Sevilla
Film times: www.asomatealpatio.es/
Google map: bit.ly/qUzYeE
A store in Hackney that is full of interesting films, posters, projectors, batteries and old cameras - EVERYTHING is Super 8 or Super 16 and you can even get the owner to come round your house and project a film the old fashioned way!
35 Lower Clapton Rd, Lower Clapton, E5
+44(0)20 8985 1766
Google map: bit.ly/iPHf7y
The Bavaria Filmstadt gives guided tours around the Film Studios where movies such as Metropolis and Das Boot were filmed. It is a fun tour where you visit film sets (including the Das Boot submarine), and you will even be able to re-enact short film sequences. A fun day out away from the usual sightseeing and tourist trail.
The Bavaria Film Studios are located in Grünwald, south side of Munich. Take Tram 25 in the direction of Grünwald to station Bavariafilmplatz. From there, it’s about a 10-minute walk.
Bavariafilmplatz 7, 82031 Geiselgasteig bei München
+49 89 6499-2000
www.bavaria-filmtour.de
Google map:
Holy Island, off the north Northumberland coast, is also known as Lindisfarne. My tip is to view Roman Polanski's film Cul-de-Sac before you go, so you can figure how he made the setting for his fascinating movie, starring Donald Pleasence, seem like a castle on a rock with no village, harbour or Priory ruins nearby.
This all adds a wonderful layer of drama to a naturally dramatic setting.
A few miles south of Berwick-upon-Tweed, it's essentially a peninsula, the lower leg and road causeway of which gets covered by the incoming tide (a phenomenon used by Polanski to entrap two criminals on the run). Check your tides to know when you can get on and off. It's nice to spend at least one high tide cut off from the mainland.
Holy Island is a few miles south of Berwick-Upon-Tweed in Northumberland.
Google map: bit.ly/9wPAAn
It's a relatively new shopping centre, with a modern multiplex cinema. It has a great bookshop with a large international section as well as the normal international brands in clothes, etc. Parking is free at the moment (and underground) and it's a good place for a coffee too if you need some air conditioning.
You'll find it in the new Brodarica area of Split, near Hotels Atrium and Art, about a 15 minute walk from the town centre.
Great selection of over 80 Gay and Lesbian Spanish and International films that are shown in cinemas across the city. The films celebrate diversity in all its many forms and the public can vote for their favourite - well worth a visit!
29th Oct - 8th Nov
www.lesgaicinemad.com/
On Location Tours is New York City's only TV & Movie Tour Company. They take you behind the scenes of your favourite TV shows and movies filmed in NYC: Sex & the City, Friends, Gossip Girl, Seinfeld, Ghostbusters, and more. The tours are all led by New York actors and actresses who really know their stuff.
At this fantastic festival you can combine a few days of watching feature films and documentaries on outdoor and indoor screens with sunbathing on the Black Sea beaches or boat trips on the beautiful delta. Watch out for the pelicans and other bird life. Whether in a chalets or camping, insect repellant essential. Previous festivals have been opened by Ken Loach and Peter Greenaway. The Stufstock Rock festival usually happens immediately after and further along the coast so doing two festivals is possible.
The village of Sfantu Gheorghe(Saint George) in the Danube Delta, accessible only by boat.
www.festival-anonimul.ro/festival_info_en
www.stufstock.com
For lovers of vintage film posters and stills going back to the early days of cinema, Cinedoc is the place to head to. Drawers of amazing french vintage film posters vie for your attention competing with scene stills and photographs of the stars of all nationalities. The shop is crammed from floor to ceiling - a treasure trove. Cinedoc is in the Passage Jouffroy, a wonderful almost secret network of covered glazed shopping arcades dating from the nineteenth century. Each of the 30 passages has its own architectural style - some like the Galerie Vero-Dodat are very grand with black marble columns and painted shopfronts. Others such as the Passage des Panoramas are a little run down but contain delightful bric-a-brac shops and stamp dealers. The Passages of Paris are hidden gems well worth discovering away from the traffic clogged boulevards.
Cinedoc
45-53 Passage Jouffroy
7500 Paris
France
T: 01 48 24 71 36
www.cine-doc.fr
Located off Boulevard Montmartre
Metro: Grandes Boulevards
Everyone seems to know that Portland, Oregon is one of the hottest US cities at the moment. Driven out of California by high costs, Portland is full of arty communities, progressive politics, and one of the best public transport systems in the US. However, the McMenamin's hotels and B&Bs are really a huge attraction. Edgefield is a former poorhouse from the 1920s, completely renovated and full of art, murals and photographs celebrating its history. Each room is unique, there is live music (free) each night, and they have a winery, brewery, distillery, movie theater, and now a full spa with soaking pool outdoors. Edgefield is right out of town in Troutdale, surrounded by orchards and 15 minutes from the Columbia River Gorge with access to miles of hikes, waterfalls and woods to explore. Not to mention Hood River as a lovely little town, still feeling like the "old west". This place is simply magical. Oh, and there are several little bars, including a tiny one called "The Little Red Shed" with a fire and about three tables. Go!
www.mcmenamins.com/index.php?loc=3&category=Location%20Homepage
The Northern Lights are pretty fickle, you might take a trip and see nothing.
What you may be able do very inexpensively is see the film "Pictures of Light"
by the Swiss-Canadian film maker Peter Mettler. He travelled to northern Manitoba in winter and used then newly-developed technology to film the aurora borealis.
I'm definitely more of an urban type and enjoy a regular matinee screening at the Barbican cinema followed by noodles in Smithfield.
Sometimes though, I enjoy a trip to Harrow-on-the-Hill, especially in the autumn.
My partner, who lives there, gave me a guided tour one weekend. We strolled upwards about 10 minutes from the tube (Metropolitan Line), past the famous Harrow school, to St Mary's Church on Church Hill. The atmospheric churchyard is where Lord Byron sought inspiration. We cut down a dark passage through the trees leading from the gravestones into an open area which had amazing views across London.
Another short walk back to the church and down the High Street and we were at The Castle Inn pub. We had lunch on the lovely garden terrace, where some windfall apples had fallen on the ground around our feet.
Castle Inn pub on 30 West Street (020 8422 3155)
OK... the famous 1942 movie Casablanca wasn't filmed in Morocco but on a Hollywood set.
However this bar/restaurant was based on the original set designs and really makes you believe you are sitting where Bogart ran his 'gin joint'.
A former US diplomat Kathy Kriger is behind this enterprise.
And yes... the pianist does play 'As Times Goes By'!
248 Boulevard Sour Jdid
North-western edge of medina
www.rickscafe.ma/gallery.htm
Just outside medina walls - easiest way to get to Rick's is to walk the Boulevard des Almohades between the port and the medina walls.
Bill Murray's portrayal of a man navigating through the maze that is Japanese business and etiquette was critically acclaimed. Central to the movie was the hotel bar which is frequented. Why not treat yourself to sky-high views with cocktails to match (including the obligatory 'Lost in Translation' cocktail). Situated off Shinjuku, the bar is at the top of the ever so grand, Grand Hyatt - Tokyo.
Corleone, a small Sicilian city in Palermo province, is a must-see for fans of Mario Puzo's The Godfather. In Corleone there is another place which can be interesting for another group of fans - Soprano Castle, which was the root of the name for the TV series The Sopranos.
For more info please visit
en.sizilien-netz.de/165/palermo-en.html
A state-run arthouse cinema showing a range of different films. All films are shown in original version, with Spanish subtitles if required. Screenings are eclectic - I've seen some gems I'd never have watched otherwise, some bona fide classics and some "I'll go because it's in English and cheap" bilge. Listings can be found in Guia del Ocio, or with film notes at the cinema itself.
Tickets on my last visit cost just under 3€.
The main screen is a fabulous old salon, complete with balcony and boxes. The whole cinema is housed in a fin de siecle building which has starred in at least one Almodovar film.
As with any Spanish museum, morgue or meeting place there is a cafeteria serving coffee and snacks on site.
C/Magdalena.
M.Anton Martin.
Chapter houses the city's only arthouse cinema, a great bar, a cafe (food is good though service can be slow when busy - allow plenty of time if you're eating before a show or film) and a theatre. It's an easy bus journey or a 15-20 minute walk from the centre of Cardiff.
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