French Film Fest: Comme Ci, Comme Ca

I love foreign films more than most. I don’t mind the subtitles. I can get over slow-moving plots. And I definitely don’t need a star, action sequence or CGI to get sucked in. I’m looking for escapism at the movies and what better way to get it than by looking through the lens of another culture.

So, one of my favorite weekends in Richmond is when the VCU French Film Festival takes over The Byrd Theatre, the gorgeous old movie palace that’s just two blocks from our house. French natives and Francophiles come from all over (this year from Oregon and Washington state and elsewhere), the streets were filled with buses from area lycees, or French schools, and Can Can Brasserie was brimming all weekend with espresso-sippers (including us). But the French Film Festival let us down this year.

It did everything right, as it always does. Festival directors Francoise and Peter Kirkpatrick went to Cannes and elsewhere to scout for current French films, many that hadn’t gained distribution yet and premiered at the festival. Top French actors and directors flew over to introduce their films and answer questions in stilted English afterwards. The crowds flocked (reportedly 10,000) filling seats all the way to the last row of the balcony.

We just chose wrong. The first film we saw “L’après-midi de Monsieur Andesmas” or “The Afternoon of Mr. Andesmas” (above) was incredible. No American would have ever made that movie — and many refused to sit through it. This is a movie about an old man waiting for his daughter at the top of a valley, who — spoiler alert — never shows up! Two hours later we’ve heard the wind gush, we’ve seen him adjust himself in his rickety chair but we never get the satisfaction of seeing the daughter he (and we) patiently wait for all damn movie long. How rude.

Our second film, however, was a winner. ”Cliente” was a lighthearted glance the at the complicated life of a male gigolo. He goes into it for the money and all is fine until his wife finds out. Desperate for money, she begs him to continue but it tears them apart. It reminded me of “Requiem for a Dream” in that way. It’s all over once you ask your loved one to do something horrible for you. “Cliente” is both heavy and humorous. A thoughtful look at sacrifice and trust.

Two films we missed but that got rave reviews from others at the festival were the documentary “Tabarly“ and the father-daughter comedy “15 Ans et Demi.”

Enough About Art, Lets Talk About Me

I interrupt your regularly scheduled blog post to make a small announcement:

I won some stuff!

This past weekend I was presented with three awards for my writing in R.Home from the past year at the Virginia Press Association Awards. No, unfortunately the awards were far, far less weighty than the above trophy, but hey, a piece of paper with a gold-ribbon sticker is cool, too. I mean, I’ll take it.

So what did I win? 

Glad you asked. Well, first there was a 2nd Place in Arts Writing for “Ones to Watch,” a story about emerging Richmond artists to collect before they hit it big, which appeared in R.Home’s Art At Home issue. Looking to start a collection? Check it out. Really. (Richmond’s turned out THREE MacArthur Geniuses in the last five years.)

Then there was a 2nd Place in Leisure, Lifestyle or Home Writing for “Sail Away,” a story I wrote about Stove Point, a close-knit sailing community on the Chesapeake Bay where some lucky Richmonders vacation. 

And last but not least, a 1st Place in Headline Writing for an entry that included five headlines I wrote during 2008. Maybe I can thank my creative-director Dad for inheriting his snappy-header gene. Two of my favorites were: “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree: Kim Vincze’s glamorous style revs up clients’ homes each holiday season.” and “Couture Digs: Enter the world of fashion and stay for a while at these designer-decorated hotels.”

O.K. I’m done patting myself on the back. Thanks for indulging me.

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Originally uploaded by carrienculpepper

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Recession-Friendly Artist: Adam Juresko

Richmond collage artist Adam Juresko captures childlike images from magazines, books, catalogues, frees them from context and reimagines them in new settings. His works have a rough, DIY appeal. Although animals and guns can give them a violent undertone, they’re often liberated by birds in flight exiting a corner of the work. Juresko has work at J Fergeson Gallery in Farmville, Va. through November 2008 with most work around $200, check it.Here’s a video of Adam talking about his work, produced by RVA magazine

NY Times Likes Pumpkin Pie

Richmond native Clay McLeod Chapman is a creepy, creepy guy. His short stories start out normal enough - a school kid, a housewife, a nurse, talking in the first person - but they always twist into a macabre O’Henry ending. The kid jerks off in class, the housewife has a crush on a death row inmate, the nurse marries dying soldiers. Chapman and his troupe of actors perform these short story/monologues, often with equally eerie songs, in what he calls “The Pumpkin Pie Show.” I wrote a profile of him in Style Weekly in 2005 when one of his stories was turned into a short film that went to Sundance. Today he got a glowing review in The New York Times. The current show runs through Nov. 1 at Under St. Marks, 94 St. Marks Place, East Village, (212) 868-4444. Check him out.  pumpkinpieshow.com