Posted on Sun, Jul. 30, 2006
Festival Armed with Big Guns of Small Film

Studios Partner with FilmFest for a Dynamic Lineup.
By ROBERT W. BUTLER
The Kansas City Star


September promises to be an exhausting month for local film freaks, what with three festivals — FilmFest Kansas City, the Kansas International Film Festival and the new American Artists Film Festival — unfolding on three consecutive weeks.

First is FilmFest (Sept. 8-14), now in its 13th year. For the 2006 edition, programmer John Shipp has announced a partnership between the festival and ThinkFilm and Focus Features, two of the most active and interesting of Hollywood’s “boutique” studios. Thanks to this new relationship, local audiences will be among the first in the country to see some major new titles in independent cinema.

Already on tap:

•“Candy”: An art student (newcomer Abbie Cornish) falls for a charismatic poet (Heath Ledger), his bohemian lifestyle and, alas, his heroin habit. With Geoffrey Rush; directed by Neil Armfield.

•“Catch a Fire”: In Apartheid-era South Africa, a white cop (Tim Robbins) forges an unusual relationship with a young black terrorist (Derek Luke). Phillip Noyce (“Rabbit Proof Fence”) directs.

•“F****”: Steve Anderson’s documentary (it made a big splash at South by Southwest this year) examines the etymology, usage and impact of the English language’s most notorious word. With animated sequences by Bill Plympton.

•“Keeping Mum”: In this Brit comedy, Rowan Atkinson (not in Mr. Bean mode) plays a rural vicar so obsessed with writing sermons he doesn’t realize his family is falling apart. That is, until the arrival of a new housekeeper, who becomes his anti-Mary Poppins. With Kristin Scott Thomas, Maggie Smith, Patrick Swayze.

•“Looking for Kitty”: Ed Burns wrote, directs and stars in this story of a high school baseball coach (David Krumholtz) and a private eye (Burns) who scour New York City looking for the coach’s wife, who’s run away with a second-rate rock star. With Connie Britton, Rachel Dratch.

•“Off the Black”: A dying high school baseball umpire (Nick Nolte) hires a troubled young player to pose as his son for his 40th high school reunion. James Ponsoldt wrote and directed this Sundance hit.

•“Tideland”: The latest from the ever-remarkable Terry Gilliam (“Brazil”) is a drama about a grieving girl moved from the city to a rural farmhouse, where she finds herself sinking ever deeper into a fantasy world. With Jeff Bridges, Janet McTeer, Jennifer Tilly and Jodelle Ferland.