PLAYERS IN THE NEW YORK FILM FESTIVAL: A 12-YEAR-OLD WANNABE MOM, A PREDATORY PRIEST, AND A DANGEROUS BLIND BEAUTY

Here are a few of the movies New Yorkers and visitors to Gotham will be viewing--and probably debating about--between October 1 and 17. For more information about the festival and other Lincoln Center events, click here.

BAD EDUCATION: (Spain) Gael Garcia Bernal, Fele Martinez, Daniel Gimenez, Lluis Homar, Javier, Camara, Petra Martinez, Nacho Perez, Raul Forneiro (Written and directed by Pedro Almodovar; Sony Pictures Classics) Warmly received at Cannes, where it played out of competition, the latest film from the profoundly playful Almodovar is said to be based on his intimate friendship with a Catholic classmate, as well as the boys’ relationship with a highly influential priest during the Franco regime. We hope and pray the priest was charismatic but not predatory (though in an Almodovar movie, anything can happen—and usually does). For Variety's review, click here. Opens 11/19

HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS: (Hong Kong/China) Takeshi Kaneshiro, Andy Lau, Zhang Ziyi, Song Dandan (Directed by Zhang Yimou; Written by Li Feng, Wang Bin and Zhang Yimou; Sony Pictures Classics) A lovely blind woman (Zhang Ziyi, at left) who entertains in a ninth-century house of pleasure is suspected of being a member of a radical anti-Tang Dynasty group. So two clever cops scheme to have her lead them to her rebel leader. Making what might well be a serious mistake, at least one of the lawmen falls in love with the mysterious, high-kicking, dagger-wielding beauty. For Variety’s review, click here. Opens 12/3/04

LOOK AT ME: (France) Marilou Berry, Agnes Jaoui, Jean-Pierre Bacri, Laurent Grevill, Virginie Desarnauts, Keine Bouhiza (Directed by Agnes Jaoui; Written by Agnes Jaoui and Jean-Pierre Bacri; Sony Pictures Classics) A bunch of bright, neurotic Parisians compete and connive to get what they think they want out of life. Among the more prominent schemers are Sylvia (Agnes Jaoui, in floral print), a voice teacher, and her pupil, Lolita (Marilou Berry), the painfully insecure daughter of an intensely selfish but famous author. A sensation at Cannes, “Look at Me” is said to top writer/director/actress Jaoui’s impressive debut film, “The Taste of Others.” For A.O. Scott's review in The New York Times, click here. Opens in February

MOOLAADE: (Senegal/France) Fatoumata Coulibaly, Maimouna Helene Diarra, Salimata Traore, Dominique T. Zeida, Mah Compaore, Aminata Dao (Written and directed by Ousmane Sembene; New Yorker Films) The courageous wife of a village tribesman gives shelter to four girls who have escaped from a female circumcision ceremony. “Moolaade” (Protection) is said to be a remarkable triumph for 81-year-old Senegalese director Ousmane Sembene. To read A. O. Scott's rave review in The New York Times, click here. For Guy Flatley’s interview with the filmmaker, conducted shortly after his “Mandabi” was shown at the 1969 New York Film Festival, click here. Opens 10/15

NOTRE MUSIQUE: (France-Switzerland) Sarah Adler, Nade Dieu, Jean-Luc Godard, Rony Kramer, Georges Aguilar, Leticia Gutierrez, Ferlyn Brass, Simon Eine, Jean-Christophe Bouvet (Written and directed by Jean-Luc Godard) Mellowing perhaps a wee bit, peerless provocateur Jean-Luc Godard reflects on the imbecility of war in this three-part, fact—and-fiction film starring Sarah Adler, at left, and set primarily in Sarajevo. To read a review by Manohla Dargis in The New York Times, click here; for a 1970 interview with the unsinkable, not-excessively-friendly New Wave auteur by Guy Flatley, click here.

PALINDROMES: (USA) Shayna Levine, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Chris Penn, Ellen Barkin, Stephen Singer, Richard Masur, Debra Monk, Stephen Adly-Guirgis (Written and directed by Todd Solondz; Extra Large Pictures) Her name is Aviva, she’s 12 years old, and she’s frantic to have sex. Not for the fun of it, mind you—the kid just wants in the worst way to become a mom. Her own mom—not to mention her quick-tempered dad—have their own very different ideas about what’s good for Aviva. Does this sound crazy and sort of sick to you? Not if you, like me, are a fan of writer-director Todd Solondz, the wonderful weirdo responsible for “Welcome to the Dollhouse” and “Happiness.” "Palindromes" was enthusiastically received at the recent Venice and Toronto Film Festivals.

SIDEWAYS: Paul Giamatti, Thomas Haden Church, Sandra Oh, Virginia Madsen, Alysia Reiner, M. C. Gainey, Patrick Gallagher, Missy Doty, Joe Marinelli (Directed by Alexander Payne; Written by Jim Taylor and Alexander Payne; Fox Searchlight) Two losers—Miles, who once dreamed of writing the great American novel, and Jack, who once dreamed of being a Hollywood superstar—travel to California’s wine country together for what turns out to be an unexpectedly raunchy time. So raunchy that Jack wonders if he should cancel his wedding plans with the girl he left behind. Directed by the man who gave us “Citizen Ruth,” “Election” and “About Schmidt,” this sounds like a winner. Maybe it will bring Paul Giamatti (as Miles) the Oscar nomination he deserved for “American Splendor.” Opens on 10/20

TARNATION: (USA) Jonathan Caouette, Renee LeBlanc, Rosemary Davis, Adolph Davis, David Sanin Paz, Michael Cox (Written and directed by Jonathan Caouette; Wellspring) When 31-year-old Jonathan Caouette was only 11, he was given a super-8 camera. From that time on, he obsessively photographed every odd, intimate thing he saw taking place in his epically dysfunctional family and in the stifling Texas suburb they more or less called home. Nor did he leave himself out of the picture (see photo above). “Tarnation” is a meticulously structured montage of those images, narrated with unflinching candor by Caouette, and it left audiences at the Sundance Festival shattered but grateful. To read Guy Flatley's review, click here. Opens 10/6

VERA DRAKE: (UK/France) Imelda Staunton, Phil Davis, Peter Wright, Adrian Scarborough, Heather Craney, Daniel Mays, Alex Kelly, Sally Hawkins, Eddie Marsan, Ruth Sheen, Helen Coker, Jim Broadbent (Written and directed by Mike Leigh; Fine Line Features) Who is Vera Drake? She’s a married woman with two grown but needy children who cleans houses in order to survive in dreary postwar England. She also performs abortions, but not for money. It seems that Vera Drake is uncommonly compassionate and just can’t turn a deaf ear to young women in deep trouble. Bear in mind, however, that we’re in fifties Britain, and the authorities view abortion as a serious crime. The movie won the Golden Lion at the Venice Festival, and Imelda Staunton was named Best Actress for her powerful portrait of Vera Drake. Opens 10/8 For other October openings, click here.