Nyff 2009

[oscar jubis]

I really hope you can attend the festival again this year!!!
Given the size of the venue and the number of selections, I understand why the festival has to be conservative. However, I am sure Pena and others involved in selecting films in years past wish they hadn't "missed the boat" by failing to feature Pedro Costa and Bela Tarr, to metion two prominent names. Toronto had a Tarr retrospective in '95. It's the kind of event that gives a festival a certain cache. Five years later, NY failed to include Tarr's masterful Werckmeister Harmonies. They should have known better. The subsequent Man From London was not so great. It felt like the NYFF's selection committee was trying to make up for the previous omission. The Costa doc at this year's fest reads as minor Costa (if there is such a thing). I have the impression they are again making up (for failing to show Vanda's Room and Juventud em Marcha).

On the other hand, Jia Zhang-Ke is the filmmaker of the decade and the NYFF certainly recognized his greatness from the beginning. Same goes for Lucrecia Martel (a subject of devotion and adoration for Kent Jones and yours truly).

As far as I am concerned, the best NYFF in recent years was 2007, not 2008. And 2009 looks highly promising with three new films by Masters like Resnais, Oliveira and Rivette. That may never happen again!!!