The Washington, DC International Film Festival

The Washington, DC International Film Festival is upon us. It runs from April 24 to May 4th. Two major festival focuses this year are Politics & Film and New Latin American Cinema.

A couple of films I think might be of interest are below. I pulled directly the info straight from the website and only included the first sentence of the synopsis to keep this post from taking up the whole page-

I Just Didn’t Do It- Soredemo boku wa yattenai

MASAYUKI SUO- Japan, 2007, 143 minutes, Color

It was a surprise that Masayuki Suo made nothing for 10 years after Shall We Dance?, his hit comedy-drama about the closeted world of Japanese ballroom dancing. Even more surprising, he has broken his long silence with this impassioned drama about the structural weaknesses and blatant hypocrisy of Japan's legal system. In Japanese with English subtitles
Tuesday April 29 8:15 PM Landmark's E Street Cinema
Wednesday April 30 8:30 PM Landmark's E Street Cinema

Jade Warrior- Jadesoturi/Yu Zhanshi

ANTTI-JUSSI ANNILA-Finland, The Netherlands, China, Estonia, 2006, 104 minutes, Color

Jade Warrior is an often bizarre, bracing, and wildly successful mixture of a traditional Chinese martial-arts film and laconic Finnish auteur cinema that nails its central conceits so perfectly that it feels entirely natural for a contemporary Finn to be fighting an ancient demon in medieval China. In Finnish and Mandarin with English subtitles
Wednesday April 30 8:00 PM Avalon Theatre
Friday May 02 8:30 PM Landmark's E Street Cinema

Late Bloomers- Die herbstzeitlosen

BETTINA OBERLI- Switzerland, 2006, 90 minutes, Color

In the "determined underdog" tradition of The Full Monty, Calendar Girls, and Chocolat comes this rich Swiss confection about realizing your dreams—no matter what they are, how long it takes, or how much they may offend local sensibilities. In High German with English subtitles
Friday May 02 6:30 PM Avalon Theatre
Saturday May 03 9:00 PM Regal Cinemas Gallery Place

The Pope's Toilet- El bano del papa

CESAR CHARLONE , ENRIQUE FERNANDEZ- Uruguay, Brazil, France, 2007, 97 minutes, Color

The Pope is coming to Melo, a poor Uruguayan village on the Brazilian border, and everyone's getting ready. In Spanish with English subtitles
Visit any Latin Concepts Restaurant including Ceviche or the Chi Cha Lounge for a free appetizer or cocktail with your Latin Cinema ticket stub throughout the Festival, $10 value. www.latinconcepts.com
Saturday April 26 9:30 PM Landmark's E Street Cinema
Sunday April 27 5:30 PM Landmark's E Street Cinema

The Tracey Fragments

BRUCE MCDONALD- Canada, 2007, 77 minutes, Color

"My name is Tracey Berkowitz, just a normal girl who hates herself." The troubled teen, played by white-hot Juno star Ellen Page, is anything but ordinary: she's a runaway in search of her younger brother as a blizzard bears down on the unnamed Canadian urban wasteland.
Friday April 25 6:30 PM Landmark's E Street Cinema
Saturday April 26 7:30 PM Landmark's E Street Cinema



**Actually I’m just going to stop now because I keep finding ones that look interesting. Go here and take a look yourself.