A newcomer and a veteran director entertain us this week on Rialto Channel. Girlscreator Lena Dunham’s debut feature film Tiny Furniture screens in our new seriesRialto New Wave, and Robert Redford’s latest directorial effort, the political dramaThe Company You Keep screens in Rialto Official Selection this Saturday. Along with the story of the irrepressible Diana Vreeland, they make up my highlights of the week.
A newcomer and a veteran director entertain us this week on Rialto Channel. Girls creator Lena Dunham’s debut feature film Tiny Furniture screens in our new series Rialto New Wave, and Robert Redford’s latest directorial effort, the political drama The Company You Keep screens in Rialto Official Selection this Saturday. Along with the story of the irrepressible Diana Vreeland, they make up my highlights of the week.
Starring: Diana Vreeland, Anjelica Houston, Manolo Blahnik, Calvin Klein
Directed by: Lisa Immordino Vreeland
Screening: Rialto Documentary, Thursday 24th April, 8.30pm
Diana Vreeland (1903-1989) was an extraordinary woman. A witty and articulate Parisian who made New York her home and, with no formal tertiary education, rose to the top of the fashion publishing industry as the fashion editor for Harper’s BAZAAR and then as editor at US Vogue. This documentary, directed by her granddaughter-in-law, is filled with conversations and archive footage of Vreeland at her colourful best and explores how she became one of the most respected women in fashion thanks to her unique understanding of fashion and how it should be photographed. An innovator and one of a kind, Vreeland makes a charismatic subject with her sharp quips and opinionated views. This is another, not-to-be-missed documentary.
Starring: Susan Sarandon, Nick Nolte, Chris Cooper, Stanley Tucci, Richard Jenkins, Brendon Gleeson & Robert Redford.
Directed by: Robert Redford
Screening: Official Selection, Saturday 26th April, 8.30pm
Based on the novel by Neil Gordon, The Company You Keep is a restrained, old school political drama filled with the best cast I’ve seen in ages, and is directed by Mr Sundance, Robert Redford. Redford stars as a small town lawyer, widower and father to an 11 year old girl, who is revealed by a young, ambitious journalist as a former member of a 60s revolutionary militant group the Weather Underground. When his identity is revealed, he goes on the run from the FBI, looking for the one woman, played by the fabulous Julie Christie, who can clear his name. A well written, thoughtful, well-acted drama, Redford delivers this story filled with relevant issues at his own pace. How the media operates, the question of how far do you go for your beliefs, and the place of idealism in the real world and all debated here.
Starring: Lena Dunham, Laurie Simmons, Grace Dunham and Jemima Kirke
Directed by: Lena Dunham
Screening: Rialto New Wave, Sunday 27th April, 8.30pm
Written and directed by and staring Lena Dunham, Tiny Furniture is the semi-autobiographical story of an eccentric New York family, played by Dunham’s real-life family. Tiny Furniture premiered at Austin's SXSW Film Festival in 2010 where it was named Best Narrative Feature, and critics began hailing Dunham as the next Woody Allen. Tiny Furniture follows college graduate Aura (Dunham) who ends up living back at home with her successful photo-artist mother (Laurie Simmons, Dunham’s real-life artist mother) and her younger sister Nadine (Grace Dunham) as she tries to work out what to do with her life. Girls fan will love it!