Booking recommended for film festival

Press, 16 July 1987, Page 18

Booking recommended for film festival

Bookings begin tomorrow at the Regent for the Eleventh Christchurch International Film Festival, which promises to be the most heavily-at-tended ever. The two-week festival will start at the Regent on July 31, with only one screening, of the 9-hour, 26-minute film, “Shoah,” about the World War II extermination of the Jews, to be presented at the Westend.

The manager of the Regent, Mr Mark Smith, says that bookings at this year’s Auckland and Wellington festivals have been particularly heavy, with many screenings being sold out beforehand.

“Bookings have been heavy to the extent that last week-end in Wellington, at least six sessions. were completely pre-sold,” Mr Smith said.

The films which proved to be particularly popular in Wellington included Bertrand Tavernier’s “Round Midnight,” about the black saxophonist in 1950 s Paris; “Prick Up Your Ears,” about the British playwright, Joe Orton; “Ngati,” set in the tiny Maori community of Kapua, on the East Cape,

in 1948; “Rosa Luxemburg,” about the leading figure of the European Left early this century; and “Summer,” which won Eric Rohmer the Golden Lion award at the 1986 Venice Film Festival. Other films which are bound to arouse interest include “Sid and Nancy,” about the self-destructive Sid Vicious; “El Amor Brujo,” a flamenco ballet drama by Carlos Saura; “Dim Sum — A Little Bit of Heart,’’ a sweet and sour comedy about the American Chinese; “Betty Blue,” by Jean-Jacques Beineix, the director of “Diva;” “A Zed and Two Noughts,” a perversely original film from Great Britain: The booking office at the Regent will be open from 12.30 p.m. to 8.30 p.m. daily, except Sundays. The normal admission price is $5.50. Children’s and senior citizens’ admissions will cost $2.75. The special concession price of $4.75 applies to bona fide members of the Canterbury Film Society. Copies of the programme are available at all Kerridge Odeon and Amalgamated cinemas, as well as. the Christchurch Public Library.