Monday, November 26, 2018

BERNARDO BERTOLUCCI ICONIC DIRECTOR OF WORLD CINEMA DIES AT 77

By José Alberto Hermosillo
Bernardo Bertolucci, Roosevelt Hotel. Photo Jose A. Hermosillo ©2018 Festival in LA

Academy® Award winner director Bernardo Bertolucci died in his house in Rome this Monday, November 26th, 2018 - victim of cancer at the age of 77.
Bernardo Bertolucci and Pier Paolo Pasolini, Italy.

Named one of our time's most influential film directors, Bertolucci started his career as an assistant director of another of the greatest Italian directors, Pier Paolo Pasolini, in the film “Accattone” in 1961.


His film debut as a director was with the critically acclaimed “La Commare Secca.” At 22, the Italian director went into the international arena with his elegant style of filmmaking with the film “Before the Revolution.” A movie that granted global outreach.

In 1970, the Italian auteur started his long-standing collaboration with cinematographer Vittorio Storaro in the visually arresting “Il conformista/The Conformist.” Together they made “The Last Tango in Paris,” “1900,” and many more.

With “The Last Emperor,” Bertolucci won two Oscars, one for Best Director and another for Best Screenplay Adaptation. The stylish, time-period film, made in China, won nine statuettes, including Best Picture, in 1987.

In 2011, he was recognized with an honorary Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Also, in France, he was nominated for the Cesar Award for Best Director for “The Last Tango in Paris,” winning with “The Last Emperor.”

In his home country, Bertolucci was nominated for the David di Donatello Award for his last narrative feature, “Io e te/Me and you,” in 2013. In 2003, he made “Dreamers,” where he continued addressing his favorite subjects: “sex and politics.”


“Besieged,” “Stealing Beauty,” and “Little Buddha” were three relevant works he made in Hollywood during the 1990s.


In 2013 he was honored with a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
 The AFI FEST (American Film Institute) presented a new print of “The Last Emperor” in 3 the same year. He introduced the film at the legendary Chinese Theater in Hollywood. Before the event, we had a very brief conversation. A fabulous memory that lasts a lifetime for a movie fan like me.
Bernardo Bertolucci, film critic Jose Alberto Hermosillo. ©2018 Festival in LA

Rest in Peace, Maestro Bernardo Bertolucci. Your departure leaves a profound emptiness in our hearts. But your enormous work of art is an invaluable treasure for future generations.


FILMOGRAPHY:
2012 – Me and You
2003 – The Dreamers
2001 – The Triumph of Love
1998 – Besieged
1996 – Stealing Beauty
1994 – Little Buddha
1990 – The Sheltering Sky
1987 – The Last Emperor
1981 – Tragedy of a Ridiculous Man
1979 – Luna
1976 – 1900
1972 – The Last Tango in Paris
1970 – The Conformist
1970 – The Spider’s Stratagem
1968 – Once Upon a Time in the West (writer)
1964 – Before the Revolution
1962 – La Commare Secca 
1962 – Accattone (assistant director).

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Festival in LA ©2018

Friday, November 16, 2018

COLCOA FRENCH FILM FESTIVAL 2019 MOVES TO THE FALL

By José Alberto Hermosillo
COLCOA NEW DATES - SEP 23-28 2019. Photo Copyright © 2018 COLCOA
COLCOA (City of Lights - City of Angeles), the French Film Festival of Los Angeles announces its new dates for the Week of Film & Series Premieres in Hollywood 2019.

For those film lovers and French movie fans, COLCOA moves from its regular program late April to September.

The change of schedule is due to the DGA Theater Complex renovation. Also, COLCOA wants to get closer and more influential during the Award Season in Hollywood 2019-2020.

The new dates for the COLCOA 23er Edition are from September 23 to September 28 of 2019.

For more information visit: