Travellingman’s Weblog

Leeds International Film Festival in back again from 7th – 18th Movember 2007.

This year looks like the best ever, especially for anyone who loves, comics, horror and weird Japanesse cinema. You can view the full programme at http://www.leedsfilm.com/ or pick up a brochure at Travelling Man Leeds.

This year the Film Festival are not just hosting one Horror all-nighter but TWO! We are especially excited about the all-night at The City Varieties, a perfect place in our minds for spookiness, and this one is psychological horror, even scarier! One of the films to be screened that night is the Guillermo del Toro produced The Orphanage. You should really not attend this unless you are rock hard! It is soooo scarey! Oouuhhh!

Here are some reviews of the films we are super excited about, we can’t wait! Don’t miss out!

Moebius Redux: A Life In Pictures – Documentary

French artist and author Jean Giraud is one of the most famous and
influential comic strip illustrators and authors of all time. He achieved his greatest fame as Moebius – not so much a pseudonym as an alter ego. This documentary looks into the life of Europe’s
most influencial comic artist with insights by his peers and friends
Enki Bilal, Alejandro Jodorowsky and Philippe Druillet. This documentary will be screened with Jeffrey Brown: Drawing Between the lines. Carriageworks Studio: 2.45pm Sunday 11th November.

Will Eisner: Portrait Of A Sequential Artist – Documentary

“Before Crumb…Before American Splendor…” In his remarkable 60-year career Eisner arguably did more than any to advance the medium. His egalitarian approach drove comics forward, from weekly strip (The Spirit, 1940) to the development of the graphic novel (A Contract With God, 1978). Made in collaboration with Eisner and his wife Ann, commentary on the great man comes from luminaries such as Art Spiegelman, Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, Neil Gaiman, Frank Miller, and novelists Michael Chabon and Kurt Vonnegut. Carriageworks Main Auditorium: 4.45pm Sunday 11th November.

Persepolis – Animation

Get your tickets before they go for exclusive Leeds screenings of Persepolis!
One of the most talked-about, most acclaimed and most important films of the year, the Jury prize-winner at Cannes and the Closing Gala of the New York Film Festival, Persepolis is now the Opening Gala of the 21st Leeds International Film Festival. Including voice acting from the legendary Catherine Deneuve, Persepolis is a highly-entertaining, unique black and white animation about the coming-of-age of an inquisitive and outspoken young Iranian girl during the Islamic Revolution. Persepolis is based on the autobiographical graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi who also co-directs the film. Funny and fascinating, moving and uplifting, Persepolis is one of the films of 2007.
‘Persepolis is superb’ – BBC Online
‘This autobiographical tour de force is completely accessible and art of a very high order’ – Variety
‘Persepolis never loses its momentum, its sustaining sense of fun or its rapturous hold on the viewer’ – TIME. Carriageworks Main Auditroium 8pm Wednesday 7th. Leeds Town Hall 3pm Saturday 10th November.

Tekkon kinkreet – Anime

Credited as a visual effects artist on a host of films including The Abyss and Princess Mononoke, Michael Arias has created a stunning visual masterpiece with his first feature film. Tekkon kinkreet is exquisitely realized, minutely detailed Japanese anime with an added and unusual fluidity that immerses the audience into the lives of the characters populating Treasure Town. Based on the cult comic Black and White by Matsumoto Taiyo the film follows two young street urchins with the power to fly as they battle Yakuza gang members and alien assasins in a series of breathtaking,
heart-stopping action sequences for the control and survival of the city they hold dear. Vue Cinema: 3.30pm and 8.30pm Friday 9th. 6pm Saturday 10th November.

Dai Nipponjin

What happens when a has-been superhero becomes a victim of stronger baddies and falling TV news ratings? Dai Sato’s days seem over, his special power bulging in purple pants no longer a match for the new breed of bad or the harsh demands of modern viewers, and the cover of his normal self blown away, exposed to society’s scorn. Directed by and starring Japanese comedy legend Hitosi Matumoto, as famous at home as Takeshi Kitano, Dai Nipponjin is a sublimely hilarious and ultimately moving spoof on hero culture. Screening with Doron (Japan, 16 mins) It is always essential to do something unique to impress the judges at an audition. Vue Cinema, The Light, 12.30pm Saturday 10th November.

The Tracey Fragments – Feature

A breathtakingly original new feature from Canada uses daring split screen effects to dramatise the story of Tracey Berkowitz, an emotionally confused 15 year old. She narrates the story of the search for her little brother Sonny, a troubled family life, the brutality of high school and dreams of her rock’n'roll saviour boyfriend Billy Zero. Truth and lies intertwine using the big screen potential to blend action and fantasy in a completely new way, more familiar to the innovations of indie comics and graphic novels. Download the comic by Andy B at the offical website by clicking the title. HydePark Picture House: 9pm Sunday11th November.

Death Note – Live Action/Anime

Based on the cult Manga series, Death Note is one of the hottest franchises to come out of Japan in recent years. Ryuk, a bored death demon from a parallel dimension, drops his Death Note on earth to see what happens. Light, a bright law student, finds the book and discovers that anyone whose name he writes in it dies shortly after. With criminals dying inexplicably, the police bring in the mysterious detective L and a deadly cat-and-mouse game begins. Hyde Park Picture House: 9pm Saturday 10th November.

Jeffrey Brown: Drawing between the lines – Documentary

This short documentary explores the work and world of alternative comics creator and ‘one man cottage industry’ Jeffrey Brown. In a series of short observations publishers, friends, fans and Jeff himself reveal why books like Clumsy, Unlikely and the (tellingly-titled) Every Girl Is The End Of The World For Me strike a chord with so many people. The film reveals the essence of Jeffrey Brown’s comics – ‘not all happy, not all sad’ – but capturing ’something more’ between the lines. This documentary will be screened with Moebius Redux. Carriageworks Studio: 2.45pm Sunday 11th November.