Monday, August 20---------Next to the United States, France (a country about 25% the population) has the world's most prolific and dynamic film industry. And luckily, the interest in French cinema has remained consistently strong, with a new crop of directors, writers and actors making impressions on ever-increasing audiences. For those of us who proudly call themselves "francophones" (like myself),  this is very good news. Still, the number of French feature films and documen...

Thursday, February 8----Two legends collided in one city tonight as the Berlin International Film Festival began this evening. For one night only, Edith Piaf waltzed with Marlene Dietrich on the steps of the Berlinale Palast, in the heart of the "new Berlin" Potsdamer Platz. Of course, the two, most deceased, were not dancing in the flesh. But when the music of Edith Piaf, as captured in the Berlinale Opening Night Film LA VIE EN ROSE, spilled onto the streets of Marlene Dietrich Platz, two l...

Thursday, February 1-----The 57th Berlin International Film Festival opens with a musical treat….the world premiere of LA VIE EN ROSE, a sumptuous film from French director Olivier Dahan that chronicles the colorful and passionate life of French chanteuse Edith Piaf. The film and its stars will receive the full red carpet treatment at the Berlinale Palast on the evening of February 8th. Known as “the little sparrow”, Piaf has become a singer for the ages, a full-throated songbird who n...