Last screening at 3:45pm Thurs
Starring Robert DuVall, Sissy Spacek and Bill Murray
For advance tickets visit www.movietickets.com
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First performance Live from Royal Opera House
Cosi Fan Tutte
Friday September 10th 2:00PM
Sunday September 12th 11:00AM prerecorded
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Sept 9th 8:30pm
See new release Leonard Cohen on our screen before the dvd is available for sale. SONGS FROM THE ROAD, a dozen of Cohen’s most famous songs from that world tour, the best of Cohen’s performances at auditoriums, arenas, and stadiums from Tel Aviv to London
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Special screenings of
BEHIND THE HEDGEROW
a look inside the private world of aristocratic Newport
September 7th-September 16th limited showtimes
HELD OVER FOR ANOTHER WEEK UNTIL SEPTEMBER 16TH. Filmmaker David Bettencourt will be at the theater for q and a on September 8th.
Admission $10, members $6
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FESTIVAL SHINES SPOTLIGHT ON DIRECTOR
By James J. Gillis/Daily News staff
NEWPORT - Some directors get comfortable making either Hollywood films or independent art house fare, but Phillip Noyce has worked successfully in both forms.
The Australian-born director turned a Tom Clancy novel, "Patriot Games," into a smash, while earning critical raves with "Rabbit-Proof Fence," a tale of a young Aborigine girl's fight for freedom in the 1930s.
"Phillip likes to experiment," said actor Billy Zane. "He's not afraid to try something different."
The Newport International Film Festival honored Noyce Saturday night with a ceremony at the Jane Pickens Theater, followed by a party at the Gray Craig mansion in Middletown.
The festival presented Noyce with its Claiborne Pell Award for Lifetime Achievement in Filmmaking, named for the retired U.S. senator and Newport resident. Pell and his wife, Nuala, attended, and the Pells' grandson Clay presented Noyce with the award.
Also on hand were Zane, who appeared in Noyce's "Dead Calm," Kenneth Allen, the Australian consulate general, and Boston Phoenix film critic Gerald Perry, who headed up a question-and-answer segment.
Noyce screened his rarely seen 1978 film "Newsfront," the tale of a man who makes news reel films with a post-World War II setting, a time of great changes in Australia and in the lives of the movie's characters.
During his remarks, Noyce, 54, told the audience that Hollywood films dominated the Australia of his youth. "My parents would have put me in an asylum if I declared at 18 that I wanted to become a film director," he said.
He said he and other young Australian filmmakers were inspired by the independent American underground film scene. Noyce talked about the days of making a movie on the backs of his friends' donations.
One friend provided $400. "He was a dreadful actor, but for $400 I had to give him the lead."
Those days are long gone, and Noyce now splits his time between Australia and California. He filmed a pilot for the Showtime cable television network in Providence this past summer, which is how he met festival executive director Laurie Kirby.
Noyce talked about the relationship between Newport and Sydney, alluding to Australia's capture of the 1983 America's Cup in Newport. Consul Allen jokingly said, "You can clap or boo if you like."
About 80 people attended the screening and more were on hand for the party, which featured large boomerangs suspended from the mansion's ceiling, courtesy of local designer Chad Detwiler.
Zane, who has appeared in "The Phantom" and "Titanic," said Noyce makes actors feel at ease. And he likes to involve everyone, even seeking opinions from the boom-mike operator
"I've been friends with the guy for 20 years," Zane said. "The only other director I've had that kind of relationship with is ("Titanic" director James) Cameron. So it's something special."
At the end of the night, Kirby said she was unsure how much the event brought in for the film festival. But, she said, bringing in high-profile people like Noyce and Peter Gabriel, who performed at a fund-raiser in April, gives the festival, created in 1998, increasing clout.
"To bring an A-list director like Phillip Noyce and a talent like Billy Zane to the film festival is a wonderful testament to the festival's reputation, absolutely," Kirby said.
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