By Ward Morehouse III

New York, NY – The recent Philip K. Dick International Film Festival of Science Fiction and Fantastic Film was a resounding success. So said Festival Director Dan Abello in an interview with FilmFestivalToday.com and Broadwayafterdark.org. Philip K. Dick was a prolific American novelist, short story writer and philosopher who died in 1982 and was widely-revered as a master of science fiction literature. A number of his works were turned into popular films including “Total Recall” and “Blade Runner.”

“This year, in every sense, the Festival was bigger than last year’s,” Abella said “We had more films, we had more panels, we had more variety, more features, more documentaries.” This year’s Festival was held at the Tribeca Cinemas and The Producers Club. “The films I like to show are those that try to retain their humanity in a world that is becoming more technological. But the key for me is not to reject technology but find a way in which you can balance technology and humanity. And it’s time people went back to Philip K. Dick’s books which have very little to do with the films. The films are good but his books are more introspective in nature, more cerebral. They have everyday characters rather than the ‘Tom Cruise types.’”

Getting back to the Festival, Abella said that “I like to have a panel after showing a documentary or film. It makes it more interactive than just going to see a film. One thing I’d like to do in the next couple of years is to have more interactive experiences.”

“I actually started as a filmmaker,” he continued. “And I did a whole bunch of shorts and features. But I became aware of some of the frustrating aspects of the ‘festival circuit.’ We try and have a lot of variety. Some of the films are relatively high budget. Some are very low budget – so we have something special, different.”

Abella and his colleagues are planning to have a two-day Philip K. Dick Festival in Paris in April, he said. “We are actually going to be showing some of the same films. We may show Christian Carroll’s film, Suicide or Lulu and Me and a World Made for Two. We’re working with the Philip K. Dick Society in Paris on our festival.”

Suicide or Lulu…, was directed by Carroll, and features Carroll, Adeline Thery, Brian Shoop, Mathieu Lagarrigue, Katherine Boynton, Quentin Brussieux and Nicolas Fiolleau. Alexander M. Drecun was the film’s Director of Photography and it includes gorgeous black and white footage of Paris. Its New York Festival showing was followed by a discussion. This film is a black comedy and the story of a young man who has created two inventions: a camera, named Pandora’s Camera, that has the ability to duplicate and preserve reality, and a pair of glasses that can inject memories into the view’s mind.

“Dick himself felt French culture was more open to his ideas” Abella said. “So this if why I felt what better way to continue that tradition than having a festival in his honor in Paris. Last year we did a Festival in a city north of Paris.”

Other films at the New York Philip K. Dick Festival included the world premiere of Montauk Chronicles, directed by Christopher Garetano, a documentary film of three men who claim they were brainwashed and forced against their will to take part in secret experiments, and Painting the Way to the Moon, directed by Jacob Akira Okada.

The post PHILIP K. DICK INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL appeared first on Broadway After Dark.

NO MORE NEED FOR FEAR.

HOLD FAST ONTO YOUR CONVICTIONS,

GIVEN TIME THEY’LL LEAD TO BLESSINGS.

IN TIME THEY WILL LEAD TO BLESSINGS.”

This choir excerpt from the famous Czech operetta, Smetana’s “The Bartered Bride,” comes late in act 2 of Vaclav Havel and Vladimir Moravek’s “Hunt for a Pig,” (also called “The Pig.” at 3LD Art & Technology Center, 80 Greenwich Street in Lower Manhattan. But its message of sweetness and light comes after a dramatic comedy roller coaster ride that leaves the packed audience figuratively dancing in the aisles. For “The Pig” is no ordinary collage of comedy, drama and music. You will be sorry if you don’t see this wildly amusing, excitedly staged and extremely well-acted show.

Havel, of course, was the Czech Republic’s first President, a human rights icon, who was also a critically-acclaimed playwright. He died in 2013. Havel’s final theater piece, set some years before the non-violent “velvet revolution” overthrew communist Czechoslovakia, is phantasmagoric testimony to his famous oft-quoted belief that, “Truth and love must prevail over lies and hatred.” But this is also the only time he appears as a character in one of his plays.

As brilliantly directed by Henry Akona from a translation by Edward Einhorn, “The Pig” tells the story of Havel’s near futile attempts to buy a pig for a “zabijacka” or celebratory pig roast which foreshadows the demise of communist rule.  Havel’s very presence in this comic quest is not just buffoonery, I can tell you. It underscores the restrictive nature of the “lies and hatred” of oppression.

Yet it seems that every time he and the villagers are ecstatic about finally finding a pig it slips out of their grasp. Is this a symbol of elusive freedom and peace of mind? I believe so. I understand that Havel himself had an big sense of humor despite four years in prison and constant persecution.

Playing Havel, Robert Honeywell is properly bureaucratic and uproariously funny in his frustrated attempts to buy a pig. And what a commanding voice he has!  Katherine Boynton is perfectly cast as the ditzy American TV journalist interviewing Havel and others on camera. Yet to her immense credit, her movie star good looks and flawless comic timing don’t hide her character’s underlying warmth and humanity which become plainer as the play progresses. Her performance oddly reminded me of Cary Grant’s in the classic movie “Bringing Up Baby,” co-starring Katharine Hepburn.

The entire cast is unusually talented – as actors, singers as well as instrumentalists. Melissa Elledge, John Gallop, Andrew Goldsworth, Jennifer Harder, David Hov, Mateo Moreno, Emily Shankman, Pheobe Silva, Moira Stone, Terence Stone, Michael Whitney, and Sandy York are among the most talented performers you’ll see on any Off-Broadway, or for that matter, Broadway stage. And I especially liked Christopher Yustin as Fanda, who tries to come up with an appropriate pig Havel can buy, and Jenny Lee Mitchell who played the Tapmaster’s wife as well as the clarinet.

As I’ve indicated, “The Pig” is not simple, straightforward fair. But I can truly say that ever since I accompanied my father, the late legendary late drama critic Ward Morehouse to Broadway plays, I’ve seldom ever enjoyed an evening in the theater as much.

First published in BlackTie Magazine – See more at: http://blacktiemagazine.com/arts_theater/Hunt_for_a_Pig.htm#sthash.24wCuEgQ.dpuf

The post The Supreme Novelty On or Off Broadway: “Vaclav Havel’s Hunt for a Pig” appeared first on Broadway After Dark.

So said Louis Savy, SCI-FI-LONDON 2014 Festival Director, in an interview on the fourth night of the Festival at the Stratford Picturehouse. (The Stratford Picturehouse is located next to one of the oldest surviving legitimate theatre playhouses in London.)

SUICIDE OR LULU AND ME IN A WORLD MADE FOR TWO, written, directed, edited and produced by Christian Carroll, a work of great imagination, had just been screened. The Festival, which ran from April 24 – May 4, included many of science fiction’s favorite themes: “space opera,” “parallel worlds” time travel and robots.

“We’re not doing it for the money,”‘ Savy continued in the interview with Black Tie Magazine. “We’re in our 14th year. If it was about the money I would have stopped a long time ago. We don’t have a lot of funding. But we do it because we love the films. It’s about the films. We don’t have the money to fly people in. It’s an honor that people come.”

“SUICIDE OR LULU AND ME IN A WORLD MADE FOR TWO” was loosely inspired by the Argentinean sci-fi novella, “The Invention of Morel” by Adolfo Byo Casare, and is the story of a young man who created two inventions: a camera which can duplicate reality and a pair of glasses which release memories into the viewer’s mind. It was shot in a black and white “Nouvelle Vague” style with homage to silent movie icon Louise Brooks.

New York-based American actress Katherine Boynton plays “the voice” of Louise Brooks.

“I have a lot of respect for Christian,” Ms. Boynton told Black Tie. “I think he’s a young genius and will have a great career. His numerous talents can be seen in all aspects of this film, which include writing, directing, acting, editing, and even the music! Christian was great to work with, too. He’s what I call an ‘actor’s director’ — he understands how an actor works and knows how to communicate to get the desired result. It was a totally positive experience.”

In its history, SCI-FI-LONDON has also held a number of short film competitions, and in 2008 started the “SCI-FI-LONDON 48-hour Film Challenge” to encourage filmmakers to create sci-fi short films in a very short time span. In 2006, the festival became the official home of the Arthur C. Clarke Award, the most prestigious award for science fiction in Great Britain.

First published in the Film Festival Today on May 20, 2014

The post SCI-FI-London Film Festival appeared first on Broadway After Dark.