A MILESTONE OF FABULOUS DIGITALISATION - LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING by John Downie. 2 READ ONLINE

ALICE IN YONDERLAND: SNAKESKIN'S UNEASY RIDE DOWN THE TWO-LANE BLACKTOP by Lawrence McDonald. 6

RAIN AND THE TRADITION OF ART CINEMA IN NEW ZEALAND by Lynette Read. 11

31 Wellington Film Festival/ 34 Auckland Film Festival

The 31st Welington Film Festival runs from July 19 to August 4.
The 34th Auckland Film Festival runs from July 12 to July 26.

In this special section three writers preview a total of 12 films from this year's Festivals. John Downie looks at four documentaries and a feature: two documenataries devoted to individual thinkers - the French philosopher Jacques Derrida, and the countercultural guru Baba Ram Dass (Richard Alpert); a documentary on the city of Oporto and a new feature from 92 year old Portugese director, Manoel de Oliviera; and finally Heddy Honigmann's portrait of a Bosnian village depleted by Chetniks of most of its male population. Li Tao contextualises three new Chinese films, one from an established practitioner (Hou Hsiao-hsien) and two from a younger generation(Wang Chao and Tsai Ming-liang). And finally, Campbell Walker discusses new films by Catherine Breillat, Laurent Cantet, and Damien Odoul; and applauds the presence of a Jean Eustache retrospective in the Festivals. 16

Theatre

ROBERT LEPAGE AND FAR SIDE OF THE MOON IN CONTEXT by Bronwyn Tweddle. 28

THE BALD PRIMA BALLERINA AND THE 'REAL THING': A DISCUSSION OF MATS EK'S SWAN LAKE by Keren Smith. 34

Shorter Reviews

Wendy Vaigro on Fetus Reproductions at ARTSPACE, Auckland. 38

Lawrence McDonald on CL Bob/Len Lye's Scratch at Shed 11, Wellington. 39

Lyubomir Michele on Stuart Hoar's The Facemaker at Circa Theatre, Wellington. 41

Simon Ingram on Jim Speers's Friday Night Social at the Jensen Gallery, Auckland. 42

Books

FAKING IT: MOCK-DOCUMENTARY AND THE SUBVERSION OF FACTUALITY (Jane Roscoe and Craig Hight) reviewed by Russell Campbell. 44

THE NAVIGATOR: A MEDIEVAL ODYSSEY (John Downie) reviewed by Laurence Simmons. 46