Fata Morgana

Sunday, September 2--------The Montreal World Film Festival, which ends tomorrow evening with the announcement of its awards, is one of the few major film festivals that has a competition section for debut directors. This year, the quality of the films from first-timers is especially strong and make up some of the most buzzed films at the Festival.

The First Films World Competition is featuring 23 features from 16 countries. Three films are from "local heroes" from Canada: FINN'S GIRL by Dominique Cardona and Laurie Colbert, LA LOGIQUE DU REMORDS by Martin Laroche, and ¿DONDE ESTÁN SUS HISTORIAS? (Where Are Their Stories?) by Nicolas Pereda. Quebec filmmaker François Dompierre's ALL THE DAYS BEFORE TOMORROW, was filmed in the United States and flies that flag. Two other American films are competing: Scott Flynn's THE GRAY MAN and Derrick Warfel's THE FALL OF NIGHT.

Europe is very well well represented in First Works section. There are three Spanish films: BAJO LAS ESTRELLAS (Under the Stars) by Félix Viscarret, EL NIÑO DE BARRO (The Mud Boy) by Jorge Algora (a co-production with Argentina), and LA CAJA (The Wooden Box) by Juan Carlos Falcón (a Portuguese co-production).Two new French films are competing: VENT MAUVAIS (Before the Storm) by Stéphane Allagnon and LES YEUX BANDÉS by Thomas Lilti. Simon Gross' FATA MORGANA from Germany, Michel Finger's BERSTEN (Bursting) from Switzerland, Karin Babinska's PUSINKY (Dolls) from the Czech Republic, and Jan-Willem van Ewijk's NU is from the Netherlands. The new Russian cinema is represented by Khuat Akhmetov's WIND MAN and THE SWALLOWS HAVE ARRIVED by Aslan Galazov.

Asian films also have strong representation. The competition has screened three Chinese films: THE ORCHARD by Hu Ze, TEETH OF LOVE by Zhang Yuxin, and DONG SUN (Bamboo Shoots) by Jian Yi. The South Korean film BEFORE SUMMER PASSES AWAY by Sung Ji-hae, and the Israeli film BITTERSWEET by Doron Benvenisti, are also competing. Rounding out the section (and the only film representing Latin America) is Mexico's entry, Simon Bross' MALOS HABITOS (Bad Habits). This is a banner year for first films. The Festival includes 72 first fiction features in all its sections combined. Winners will be announced tomorrow evening.

Sandy Mandelberger, Montreal World FF Dailies Editor