'Artistic Director's Introduction '

Welcome to the 18th Chichester International Film Festival. Of the 75+ films to be screened over the 18 days of the Festival, more than 40 preview films will have their first exposure in Chichester, and many of them will be UK or South Coast premieres.

Direct from Cannes comes our Opening Gala - Pedro Almodóvar’s Broken Embraces starring the delicious Penelope Cruz, and our Closing Gala will be the UK Premiere of the eagerly awaited new production of Dorian Gray, starring Ben Barnes and Colin Firth. We are proud to be presenting many new films that will be having their first screenings following their Cannes or Edinburgh premieres, including Fish Tank, Sam Mendes’ Away We Go, The September Issue, Katalin Varga, The Crimson Wing: Mystery of the Flamingos, I Am From Titov Veles, and The Callingintroduced by the director Jan Dunn.

We are indeed fortunate in being able once again to welcome a number of distinguished film-makers and guests to introduce their films and engage in Q&A’s after the screenings: Marek Losey (grandson of Joseph Losey) will be on hand to discuss his remarkable debut film, The Hide; Tony Palmer returns to introduce his latest controversial documentary on composer Carl Orff and Carmina Burana, O’ Fortuna;  Peter Duffell returns to Chichester following last year’s screening of his Caught on a Train, to discuss a rare showing of his 1972 Graham Greene adaptation England Made Me; the legendary Ken Russell will be introducing his film Gothic, as part of our 5 film tribute to the late Natasha Richardson, in which she had her first film role in 1986: and David Hare will introduce his film Licking Hitler (1978) during the writer retrospective.

The 3 retrospectives this year cover 3 different but equally important creative aspects of the film making process - the writer, the actor, and the director. The 11 film retrospective on Meryl Streep, reflects the amazing variety of roles (and accents!), and is supported by an illustrated talk given by Phillip Kemp. If you feel there are too many challenging or serious films during the 18 days, then the antidote must be with our director retrospective - the wonderful unique comedic world of Jacques Tati, which covers all of his (sadly small) feature output, plus documentaries on his work.

An important development this year is with forging partnerships at the local level and adding a more vital community based programme. With the Chichester Festival Theatre we are complementing their programme, and are pleased to welcome Jonathan Church, director of the current Chichester Festival Theatre production of The Grapes of Wrath to introduce the classic 1940 John Ford film, and discuss the different approaches of both play and film adaptations. Another tie-in will be our free open air screening of Oklahoma! on the Cathedral Green in another partnership with Chichester Cathedral, following last year’s first and very successful open air show - lets hope the weather is kind to us again! If you want to be chilled and thrilled, then we must be grateful to Cineworld, who once again will be giving us a screen in their Multiplex to present 4 horror films.

A new venture with Pallant House Gallery pairs the Outside In exhibition with the opportunity to explore the work of the contemporary outsider and marginalised artists through the medium of film, and includes a specially commissioned 20 minute documentary by Pallant House, Partners In Art: Telling A Story, and a first public screening of the TV documentary Journeys Into the Outside with Jarvis Cocker. Our final partnership this year is with one of our biggest supporters (and fans!) Screen South. They have been instrumental in helping young film makers in the area creating their first short films, several of whom have gone on to make highly successful feature films, including 2 previews to be screened in our festival – Andrea Arnold’s Fish Tank, which was selected for competition at Cannes and highly praised, and Jan Dunn’s 3rd Screen South supported feature The Calling. In programming the Screen South Shorts, so impressed was I with the standard that I was compelled to schedule 2 programmes, instead of the planned one.

The festival has always attempted to screen independent UK films of worth, especially with local connections. We are delighted to be premiering 31 North, 62 East by a Horsham film company, filmed in West Sussex (and Jordan), and Tristan Loraine (writer-director) will attend the screening with other members of the production team. Another special event to highlight is a rare screening of a virtually lost film. Originally called St Joan (1972), the film was considered too controversial in the USA, and was rarely seen after its initial release, despite its impressive cast (Liv Ulman, Trevor Howard, Olivia De Haviland, Maximillian Schell). Now fully restored we are presenting the UK premiere re-titled She… Who Would Be Pope, with father and son producers Kurt and Danny Unger, and Billy Williams (D.O.P.).

This is not a festival with a competition, but we do value your judgement, and therefore ask you to complete a voting form for each new preview film. This becomes the Audience Award for Best film which is announced at the end of the Festival, and is valuable feedback for all the distributors who supply their films. With over 75 films to choose from within the 18 days you may have a problem in selecting what to see. With this in mind we have suggested a number of recommendations, some maybe more adventurous or challenging, from the 42 New Previews or some that are less likely to return to New Park, with the sign NOT TO MISS icon (check the Brochure). Please note that as I write this (near the end of the Karlovy-Vary Film Festival in the Czech Republic) there are a number of unconfirmed films or unresolved negotiations. Please check with the box office and website for any changes, cancellations or additions (except for the Surprise film of course!).

No festival can exist without the people behind the scenes and I would like to fully extend my thanks in advance to the volunteers, the Projection and Box Office Staff and the New Park Community Centre. The ambitions of this festival could not survive without the full support of our sponsors: Screen South, Chichester City Council, Chichester District Council, West Sussex County Council and The Chichester Observer.

Happy and stimulating viewing!
Roger Gibson
Artistic Director. July 2009

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SURPRISE FILM

For the first time the Festival has decided to put on a surprise film, enabling me to chase up any last minute unreleased gems that were unavailable at time of going to print. I am crossing my fingers that one of the titles on my wish list becomes ready, willing and able. But in all likelihood, even I won't know what the Surprise Film is until we're almost due to go on screen. A great way of ensuring the title is kept secret, but doesn’t help my stress levels!  So here is the opportunity to gamble by booking in advance for hopefully a very worthwhile surprise! RG

Sat 5 Sep 20.45
Tickets : £7

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