Tendencies

Traps and Tribulations in the Oscar Game. The increase of films in the running for Academy Awards may lead many to believing that Palm Springs has sold out to Hollywood. However, a conspicuous program of excellent foreign films make the festival a selection of opposites to please everyone. Robert Koehler reports.
Innocence - lost or regained? Antonia Kovacheva enjoys the unprejudiced approach to issues, usually deemed to be the twilight zone of human life, in some films from the Tiger Competition at Rotterdam 2006.
Back to Life. Andrea Dittgen reports on two fascinating documentaries about people escaping the death penalty, the people who helped them and the administration of justice in the United States
Of Silence, Globalisation, Greed for Profit and Insanity in Slaughter-Houses. Kirsten Liese assesses how the Thessaloniki festival presented diverse examples of the documentary format that generated enthusiastic responses in light of their subjects, and the talking points that they have raised.
The Terror: Terrorism and film 2006. The events of five years ago have catapulted the civilian world into a new state of insecurity. Julie Rigg looks at films which reflect this new fear and uncertainty and cites other influences which feature in these new works.
The Decline of the American Empire. Two American films were shown on the same day in Venice, by two well-known controversial but liberal directors. Günter H. Jekubzik argues that dramatising an actual event leaves a more distanced impression than documenting a natural disaster that left the U.S. Government a lot to answer for.
The Eye of the Beholder. An essay by Rachael Turk, on "Intimacy in the age of surveillance". She refers to Michel Foucault who noted that "the most powerful form of control over a person was the mere possibility that he might be under surveillance at any given time", and points out that several films reflect this concern.

World cinema

Silence, Candy Colours and Outsiders. "The centre of the present world cinema definitely lies in Asia", writes Rüdiger Suchsland. He adores, in Asian cinema, "an artistic revolution, a rebirth of fantasy, a reinvention of the language of cinema".
Fragments from the Phenomenon Called Thailand Cinema. Andronika Martonova looks into Thai cinema, its traditions and aesthetics.
A Tendency of Korean Film. Kim Seemoo describes the two Korean films in Pusan's New Currents section, Kim Tai-sik's Driving with My Wife's Lover and Park Heung-sik's The Railroad.
Indian Impressions, Indian Visions. Barbara Lorey gives an overview on the Mumbai festival and its problems, and focuses on the section "Indian Visions" presenting 18 non-Bollywood films and showing "India in its stunning diversity of regional languages, cultures and religions".
New Countries, New Cinema. The political changes in Eastern Europe influenced the cinema. Joao Antunes portrays three films coming from countries which earlier did not exist: Gravehopping (Jan Cvitokovic, Slovenia), Kukumi (Isa Qosja, Kosovo) and The Shutka Book of Records (Aleksandar Maniae, Czech Republic).
The Polish Cinema is Changing — But How? Jan Olszewski examines the changes in Polish cinema over the years as reflected by the Warsaw International Film Festival, and considers four Polish films from this year's crop.

Experiences

The Remains of the War. One year after the bombings Haifa, the famous city of peaceful coexistence of Arabs and Jews, still suffers under the war and the presence of police and military in the streets. While some directors were too afraid to come, or even boycotted the festival, others spoke in favor of the festival and the culture of Israel.
Young Film Critics. Belinda van de Graaf introduces the Rotterdam critic trainees. Adam Nayman finds Kelly Reichardt's Old Joy, which can be read in many ways, 'slender and powerful, modest and generous'. Daniel Steinhart presents the Hubert Bals Fund and its role in the promotion of Latin American Cinema.
Men without Women, Collisions without Motives, Questions without Answers. Julia Khomiakova considers what the Athens film festival programme means for the future of European cinema, and Europe.

History

King of Comedy. In the eyes of François Truffaut, he was the "prince of comedy": Ernst Lubitsch (1892-1947). Edouard Waintrop, who followed the integral retrsopective of the German classic offered by the San Sebastian Film Festival, ennobles him to the "King of Comedy".
A Desolate Flute Is Heard. Chris Fujiwara catches up with the history of Korean film at the Korean Retrospective section at the 11th Pusan festival, which featured seven newly discovered Korean films from the Japanese colonial period.
Fragments honouring Joaquín Jordà. Turin dedicated a timely retrospective homage to Joaquín Jordà, who passed away in June 2006 at the age of 70. A passionate and innovative documentary filmmaker, he believed that ideological rigour is more important than beautiful images.
A conversation with Sandip Ray. The son of one of the most renowned directors in film history, Sandip Ray speaks candidly about his father on and off set and how it has affected him being the son of a true cinema master.
Old Films and New Technology. Sergei Lavrentiev laments the passing of old films being seen in their original format as even Thessaloniki retorts to showing most of the classic Greek films of yesteryear in cheaper digital transfers.