Washington City Paper: Contents for Apr. 24

Lights, Camera, Filmfest DC
City Paper's guide to the 12th Annual Washington, D.C., International Film Festival

Cover Story

It's always difficult to judge a film festival by its capsule reviews, so characterizing the 12th Annual Washington, D.C., International Film Festival in advance is a tricky proposition. But Washington City Paper's critics have previewed a higher proportion of films (or film programs) this time than in any previous year—36 of them, prompting a rash conjecture: This may the best Filmfest yet.

To be sure, the selection includes many well-meaning but rather dull films from around the globe, typical second-rate Filmfest fare like the Czech Republic's Dead Beetle, Argentina's Sin Querer, Brazil's Little Book of Love, and Germany's Lea—and that's not a complete list. Indeed, City Paper reviewers Arion Berger, Jessica Barrow Dawson, Mark Jenkins, Dave Nuttycombe, Joel E. Siegel, and Virginia Vitzthum couldn't conjure much enthusiasm for most of the films from Germany, one of this year's two featured countries. The new generation of mainstream German movies is prospering at the box office, but then so does a lot of assembly-line American product. Of the previewed German films, only Wintersleepers is recommended. The most interesting German entry will almost certainly be the one from aging New German Cinema veteran Werner Herzog: The unpreviewed Little Dieter Needs to Fly is a documentary about a German boy who survived American bombings of World War II only to fly for the U.S. (and be shot down) over Southeast Asia during the '60s.... Continued

Issue of Apr. 24 - 30, 1998

News and Features

Lights, Camera, Filmfest DC
City Paper's guide to the 12th Annual Washington, D.C., International Film Festival
Cover Story By Arion BergerJessica Barrow DawsonMark JenkinsDave Nuttycombe, Joel E. Siegel and Virginia Vitzthum
Remaining Silent
Police department whistle-blowers find that everything they say can and will be used against them.
The City By Jason Cherkis
No Parking Zone
North Michigan Park residents play defense against a new recreation center.
The City By Elissa Silverman
Sounding Bored
The Mail By John Harrison
Is the Caller There?
The Mail By Madeline C. Downey
Freud Squared
The Mail By David Stanley
Psychology Recapitulates Physiology
The Mail By D. Gallop
Cannon Bomb
The Mail By Steve Rosenberg
The Katharine Clause
The Mail By Burling Lowrey
X-Phile
The Mail By Sean Corcoran
Racina Fan Chow
The Mail By David Piercy
Absentee'd Off
The Mail By Westy Byrd
Cutter's Way
The Mail By Todd Mosley

Columns

Goodwill Lacking
Cheap Seats By Dave McKenna
Follow the Budget Cuts
City Desk By Paula ParkAmanda Ripley, Elissa Silverman and Jake Tapper
The Lone-Bureaucrat Theory
Loose Lips By Ken Cummins

Eats

Movies

Waiting for My Man
Film Review By Arion Berger
Split Definitive
Film Review By Mark Jenkins
La Femme Natasha
Talking Pictures By Mark Jenkins

Music

Jamie's Dyin'
Music Review By Michael Schaffer

Theater

Gods of a Lesser Child
Theater Review By Bob Mondello

Arts and Events

Curious Georgetown
Artifacts By Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
Life Is Unfair
Artifacts By Louis Jacobson
Your Tired, Your Poor, Your Found Objects
Artifacts By Jessica Barrow Dawson
The Good Liar
Attorney Julie Hilden once abandoned her deranged, dying mother for the Ivy League. Now, with a new memoir, she's trying to acquit herself.
Arts By John DeVault
Enough History
Art Review By Chris Gilbert