Palm Springs Film Festival Shows That It’s No Mirage

The ninth annual Nortel Palm Springs International Film Festival will present 105 films representing 38 countries, from Thursday through Jan. 19 at various venues throughout the desert resort city. There will be 41 U.S. premieres, three world premieres and 13 foreign films that have been entered into the Academy Awards. A special highlight of the festival will be “The Wild, Wild East,” a series of 19 films from Eastern Europe.

Director Michelangelo Antonioni will receive a lifetime achievement award and Sylvester Stallone, writer-director Kasi Lemmons and composer Jerry Goldsmith will also be presented with awards at a gala awards banquet Saturday.

“I’m delighted that the festival is 11 days versus last year’s 17,” said Craig Prater, the festival’s executive director, in a phone interview in late December. “This allows us to keep a tighter schedule this year. It means fewer repeat screenings, and it allows us to say that every film in the lineup is a quality film--each one better than the other.”

While admitting that fund-raising is a challenge that never goes away, Prater said that, “After nine years, we’re no longer having to reinvent the wheel each year.”

“We’re in an interesting kind of adolescence,” added the festival’s artistic director, Paola Freccero. “We’re no longer simply a cultural event, but we’re not yet one of the big boys either. How do I satisfy my loyal local audience with my efforts to make the festival world-class and worthy of industry attention? The answer is that the two don’t have to be mutually exclusive. . . .

“I do feel we’ve made enormous progress in a very short time, but we have to keep up the pressure. Every second that goes by another festival crops up, and we’re all vying for the attention of the film industry.”

Freccero added: “People’s changing opinions of Sundance have really affected the opportunities we’ve been given. Sundance is not a kid anymore, nor is it as audience- or industry-friendly as it used to be. People are looking to January alternatives, and they’re giving us a chance. This delights me but also puts me under a lot of pressure. . . .

“I don’t expect any filmmaker or anyone in the film industry to give up Sundance for Palm Springs--Sundance is too important a festival, too much happens there, for that--but we’ve rearranged our schedule so that you can go to Palm Springs first and then on to Sundance. I think we can both share January peacefully. We overlapped last year; now we’re Jan. 8-19 and Sundance is Jan. 16-25.” For the first time, in fact, Palm Springs is sharing a film with Sundance, with animator Bill Plympton presenting in person his first feature-length film, “I Married a Strange Person,” in both venues.

Opening the festival is “The Bride’s Journey,” Sergio Rubini’s romantic period Italian comedy starring him and Giovanna Mezzogiorno. There will be a special tribute to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and films to be presented include “When We Were Kings,” “Angelou on Burns” and “Mandela, Son of Africa, Father of a Nation.”

The L.A. Film Critics Assn. will present a screening of “Law & Disorder” (1974), directed by Czech emigre Ivan Passer and featuring Karen Black, who will be among the participants in a panel discussion launching “The Wild, Wild East” series. There will be screenings of the newly restored prints of Frank Lloyd’s “The Sea Hawk” (1924), and Vincente Minnelli’s “The Pirate” (1948). Key festival sponsors are telecommunications giant Nortel, American Airlines, Turner Classic Movies, DirecTV, Palm Springs Energy Services and the Frederick Loewe Foundation. For information: (760) 778-8979.