‘Waltz With Bashir’ finds a home

Director ARI FOLMAN’S “Waltz With Bashir” got lots of respect but no outright love from the Cannes Film Festival jury last week. The good news: Sony Pictures Classics’ Michael Barker and Tom Bernard confirmed that they bought Folman’s film, an animated autobiographical documentary about a former Israeli army soldier who tries to recount his long-forgotten mission in the first Lebanon war in the early ‘80s. The soldier travels around the world interviewing old friends and comrades. Using rudimentary Flash animation, Folman unleashes a pastiche of scenes that are as innovative as they are devastating.

“The experience of watching ‘Waltz With Bashir’ reminds me of what it was like when we saw ‘The Battle of Algiers’ for the very first time,” Barker said.

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-- Sheigh Crabtree