Cities on film – five travel writers share their favorites

My favorite movie of all time is City of God, a violent but highly-stylized drama about the slums of 1960’s-era Rio de Janeiro. As much as I like the film’s plot and characters, what stands out most is the way director Fernando Meirelles imbues the film with a distinctly Brazilian “feeling” in its style and narrative construction. I feel literally transported to Rio every time I watch it, swept up in the city’s percussive rhythms, bright, sunwashed colors and dense humid jungle air.

The film buffs over at Film in Focus share similar opinions on the way certain movies can immortalize a place. They recently asked some well-known travel writers, including Rolf Potts, Pico Iyer and Tony Wheeler to discuss this very question, sharing five of their favorite city-specific films. There were some clear winners, with certain movies shining through on several lists, including Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation (Tokyo) and the Ethan Hawke/Julie Delpy romance Before Sunset (Paris). Aside from Tokyo and Paris, the writers called out several films set in New York among their favorites including Saturday Night Fever (Brooklyn) and Do the Right Thing.

What are some of your favorite movies that immortalize a destination? Leave a comment below to discuss.

Human Rights Watch International Film Festival

Last week or so I made a promise to start posting on more film festivals and I will live up to that promise as best as possible starting with today’s find. The Human Rights Watch International Festival is a traveling film festival running from September 2006 to May 2007 which showcases feature films and documentary that stimulates heated and passionate conversation about human rights. In other words, if you’re seeking mind-numbing movies head towards your local AMC. The films being showcased are about hardships faced by Ethiopia’s coffee farmers, conversations with South African people & refugees, touring former German concentration camps and living near them. Spanning from almost every continent there is plenty of food for thought at this fest. See all the film descriptions here.

As of right now the Human Rights Watch International Festival is showing in Fresno, CA and Claremont, CA and will begin showing on Oct. 19th in Portland, OR and Nov. 14th in Troy, NY all until November 2006. Check for exact dates and venue information on their website: http://hrw.org/iff/

Festival du Nouveau Cinéma – Montreal

With so many film festivals to check out on the planet Earth, I don’t know how I even go about picking one to mention here on Gadling. You’d think I’d just live the festival selection to our good friends at our sister-site Cinematical, but with the weather cooling down and snow flurries appearing somewhere in the U.S. or maybe even Canada at this time why not fly in to screen a flick or four? Unless of course you’re looking to snowboard or ski you’re better off staying warm from the glow off the silver-screen. So why the Festival du Nouveau Cinéma in Montréal this October? Because Montréal’s a happening spot from what I hear and the bigger question is why not? The festival takes place October 18-28, 2006. Head to the website for additional details.