Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times and NPR film critic, has traveled the world to watch movies at film festivals so that the viewing public can learn about new, upcoming films and the stars and artists that make them. Along the way, he has seen it all, from the upstart come mega-festival Sundance to little known venues in war zones like Sarajevo, Bosnia and Burkina Faso in Africa.
Now, Turan has written a delightful travelogue of his experiences, focusing on 12 of the more than 400 film festivals each year. The festivals he spotlights are divided into four sections: Festivals with Business Agendas (Cannes, Sundance, ShoWest), Festivals with Geopolitical Agendas (Burkina Faso, Havana, Sarajevo, Midnight Sun), Festivals with Aesthetic Agendas (Pordenone, Lone Pine, Telluride), and some failures under the section of the Politics of Festivals.
From the food to the people to the landscape to the cities to the films, Turan feeds us the flavors of each festival; but, that is not all as we get all the juice and details from behind the scenes of these festivals, and we really learn how they tick.
If you are a successful filmmaker, you will enjoy the nostalgic ride; if you are an inspiring filmmaker, there is much to learn before you visit your first festival as an insider; and, if you are a film buff, then you will enjoy the ride with Turan as he visits the festivals in ways we can't. Come along and visit the place where big Hollywoodland meets the independent spirit of film.
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A Guide to my Book Rating System:
1 star = The wood pulp would have been better utilized as toilet paper.
2 stars = Don't bother, clean your bathroom instead.
3 stars = Wasn't a waste of time, but it was time wasted.
4 stars = Good book, but not life altering.
5 stars = This book changed my world in at least some small way.
