By David Poland poland@moviecitynews.com
New Directors/New Films Looks Inward (Sort of) For '06
A press release fluttered out of Lincoln Center this morning detailing the films chosen for next month’s New Directors/New Films series. New York filmmakers enjoyed a typically strong showing, with Ryan Fleck’s Half Nelson, Michael Cuesta’s Twelve and Holding, Ramin Bahrani’s Man Push Cart and a few others settling in among the 25 feature selections.
Screening at the Walter Reade Theater and MoMA’s Titus Theater from March 22 through April 2, the program also features Sundance Grand Jury and Audience Prize winner Quinceanera as well as the Berlinale’s Teddy Award-winning The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros. The festival’s five short-film selections include another Sundance hardware claimant, Adam Parrish King’s The Wraith of Cobble Hill.
The Reeler caught up with Bahrani (above, with Cart star Ahmed Razvi) a little while ago to chat about Man Push Cart‘s selection. “Look, it’s a huge honor,” he said. “The two festivals that I had always been going to since I’ve been in New York–and really the only festivals I went to without a film–were the New York Film Festival and New Directors. So it’s great, after going to those festivals for 10 years, to actually be in one of them.”
Bahrani also re-emphasized the film’s local flava. “We shot our main location a block away from the MoMA,” he told me. “The pushcart corner is 54th and Madison. We were actually driving past the opening nght of the MoMA when they reopoened (in 2004) to go shoot at 11 at night while everybody was leaving. So this is amazing.”