18th Palm Springs International Film Festival

USA, January 4 - January 15 2007

The jury

Norman Wilner (Canada), Dave Kehr (US), Howard Feinstein (US), Grégory Valens (France), László Kriston (Hungary)

Awarded films

After the Wedding by Susanne Bier
(Denmark, 2006, 120 mins)
In Bed by Matías Bize
(Chile, 2006, 85 mins)
Pan's Labyrinth by Guillermo Del Toro
(Mexico, 2006, 118 mins)

* Films awarded at Palm Springs receive the Best Foreign Language Film Award.

Reports

Guillermo del Toro's "Pan's Labyrinth" Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil By Norman Wilner by Norman Wilner
Lars von Trier's "The Boss of It All" All Things to Everyone By Dave Kehr by Dave Kehr
Susanne Bier's "After the Wedding" Opposites Attract By Howard Feinstein by Howard Feinstein
"In Bed": Night Moves By Norman Wilner by Norman Wilner
The Labyrinthine Road to the Oscars By Grégory Valens by Grégory Valens
The Verhoeven Case: Fascinating Fascism or Fascinating Fascia? By Laszlo Kriston by László Kriston

For thousands of years, the Coachella Valley was the home of the Agua Caliente Indian tribe. The first non-Indian settlers arrived in 1884 and Palm Springs, situated 170 km East of Los Angeles, soon became a favourite location for Hollywood stars and studios. Its desert provided a fine location, and its calm and placid microclimate made it a perfect residence. Once the home of more than one Hollywood celebrity (Frank Sinatra, who had a superb house there, has now a very own drive named after him, just like Bob Hope or Ginger Rogers), Palm Springs is also the host of a film festival which celebrated its 18th edition in 2007.

The theaters are filled with film lovers who can discover the best of the past year’s international production. And for the glamour, the impressive Gala fills the city with Hollywood stars during the opening weekend: Sydney Pollack, Todd Field, Kate Winslet and the entire cast of Babel were among those who received honorary award this year.

The festival also offers a unique chance to see almost all the national submissions to the Academy Award for the Best Foreign Language Film (55 of the 61 submissions were screened this year). It is from these nominees that FIPRESCI elects its first special award of the year: the Best Official Foreign Language Film. Since last year, our jury also awards a prize to the best actor and the best actress in the whole selection of these Oscar runners.

Palm Springs International Film Festival: www.psfilmfest.org