"Before the Rains" Comes to California!

• Before the Rains will be shown at the 19th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival next month! According to the Hollywood Reporter:

  The 19th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival announced its complete 2008 lineup Tuesday, with a screening of the Audrey Tautou starrer "Priceless" set as the event's closing film. In all, the Jan. 3-14 festival will screen 222 feature films from more than 66 countries, with 69 premieres and 55 screenings of official Oscar submissions for foreign-language film. The U.S. premiere of "Before the Rains" (USA/India) will be spotlighted during its World Cinema Now Gala. [...]

  Here is the official site for the film festival, which says that the full line-up of films and events will be announced on December 23rd. Perhaps the schedule will also be released then. We'll keep you informed. (I know we have fans in the California area, so if anyone is able to go, please consider sending us a review.)



• Indiafm has an article about Jennifer Ehle's Before the Rains co-star, Rahul Bose, who talks about filming in Kashmir:

  [...] Shooting with Santosh Sivan for the second time was an exhilarating experience for Rahul. "Last year we shot Before The Rains in Kerala which was cold enough. Now Kashmir got so much colder that Kerala seems warm in comparison. I've told Santosh our next movie together better be in a warm 7-star hotel."

• Well, it's that time of year again. The New York Daily News looks back at the 2007 theater scene and decides what was hot and what was not. First on the list:

  Hot: CASTS THAT CLICK Extraordinary ensembles enlivened Broadway in three productions that opened during one week in December, "August: Osage County" (the best and my favorite show of 2007), "The Seafarer" and "Is He Dead?" Earlier in the year "The Coast of Utopia" crackled with its group dynamics.

  As if there was any doubt that the cast of Utopia was hot!



• Speaking of Utopia, the Moscow Times has an article about Alexander Herzen, which also mentions Tom Stoppard and the Russian production of The Coast of Utopia.



• Our lovely Abi just informed me that Michael Caine was on the British talk show Parkinson earlier this week, and he discussed his latest movie Is There Anybody There, which also stars Rosemary Harris. Here is what Mr. Caine had to say about the film:

  [...] It's about a little boy who's ten years old and his parents own an old people's home, and of course all he ever knows is old people. Every time he gets to know and like someone, they drop dead. So he gets a camera, a tape recorder and a flashlight, goes looking for the ghosts of his friends and obviously can't find them. Then an old magician turns up to die - which is me - and he helps him to find his friends. It's one of the funniest scripts I've ever read and one of the most touching. David Hayman is making it...I said I've read this script five times and I'm not reading it again because I'm always in tears at the end. [...]

  There is more quotage about the movie from Michael Caine at Michaelcaine.com:

  At present I am filming “Is There Anybody There” a small British Film with a wonderful script and a great new Director John Crowley. Set in an old people’s home with some of our best character actors; Leslie Philips, Peter Vaughan, Rosemary Harris, Thelma Barlow, Sylvia Syms plus David Morissey, Ann Marie Duff who has just played Joan of Arc. In this film she plays the lady who owns the Old Folks Home. It is the story of a little boy of 10 who keeps making friends with the old people, and of course, they keep dying so he sets out to find their Ghosts without success, until Clarence the magician turns up, played by me and helps him find his lost friends. Its one of the funniest and most touching scripts I have ever read. I am half way through, I love the Actors I am working with, the Director and my friend Producer David Hayman so I am having a wonderful time. We finish just before Christmas. I shall then go on a long holiday. I will keep you informed but in the meantime I wish you a Very Happy Christmas and New Year.

• This is not exactly newsworthy, but I thought I would let you know that someone recently posted a trailer for Paradise Road on Youtube.