MOVIES - March 19, 1996

Radford Signed: Miramax Films isn’t waiting around to see who wins the Oscar for best director or best film. On Monday, a week before the awards presentations, the film company announced it had signed Michael Radford, Academy Award nominee for “The Postman (Il Postino),” to direct “B. Monkey,” a contemporary drama set in London about a teacher who falls in love with a street girl. The film will begin shooting in London in mid-June. “The Postman,” the first Italian film to be nominated for best picture, received five Academy Award nominations in all, including Radford’s best director nomination.

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Winners: Director Sam Fuller (“Pickup on South Street,” “I Shot Jesse James,” “China Gate,” “White Dog”) will become the first individual to receive the special distinction award at the 11th annual Independent Spirit Awards, which will be handed out on Saturday in Santa Monica. Previous awards have gone to films. Fuller, known as “the bad boy of Hollywood,” displayed a rare independence as writer, producer and director in the 1950s when most filmmakers worked for studios. . . . More honors from the 11th annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival, which closed Sunday: Best documentary feature, “Salvaged Lives,” directed by Barbara Leibovitz; best documentary short, “Alchemy in Light,” directed and produced by Kenneth Grimes; best live action short, “Very Good at Smiling,” directed by Susan Eisner; best Santa Barbara filmmaker, director/producer Jung S. Ha for his color short, “Mr. Kim.”