Opening Night News From CineKink and Harlem International Film Festival

For those of you who are NYFF-ed out even before tonight's first celebrity leg steps out of its limousine, here's a reprieve courtesy of another pair of festivals not far in the offing. First up, the Harlem International Film Festival launches next Thursday, Oct. 5, with a full day's slate including the world premiere of the noir-ish thriller El Cortez, starring Lou Diamond Phillips. A few more debuts follow in the days afterward, including the world premiere of Mario Van Peebles' Hard Luck (world premiere), and the US premieres of James Marquand's Dead Man's Cards and Sandra Krampelhuber's reggae doc Queens of Sound (above). The programmers have assembled a nice cross-section of shorts as well, with almost four dozen films in nine different programs (including the Adrian Grenier-starrer Across the Hall). The festival will honor Van Peebles Oct. 7 during its Renaissance Awards reception; you can pick up tickets here.

Meanwhile, the twisted gang at CineKink is at it again with a gala blast Oct. 17 and the perfectly rational tandem of The Notorious Bettie Page and Torture Garden TGX taking opening-night honors the next evening at Anthology Film Archives. Other selections include the Sydney S/M tour Tears Before Bedtime, the self-explanatory doc Webcam Girls and perhaps the event I am most looking forward to, the Oct. 21 filmmakers' panel discussion, The State of Smut: NYC. I know I always say I can hardly wait, but really, I don't know if I can. At any rate, advance tickets are $8; buy them here.

Posted at September 29, 2006 5:43 PM