Madonna on festivals, Bordwell on cinephile signaling.

2008-08-04 20:00:02

Over the weekend, Madonna brought her documentary on Malawian orphans, "I Am Because We Are," to Michael Moore's Traverse City Film Festival. While there, the pop icon offered her unique take on the film festival circuit. From the AP: " 'It's great bringing my movie to a place that I feel familiar,' Madonna told the audience. 'Not like the Cannes Film Festival, where nobody's speaking English, or the Tribeca Film Festival, where no one sits down.' " I've been a sometimes reluctant attendant of Tribeca for a few years now, and never noticed anything along the lines of that enigmatic observation, but it makes a sort of sense -- does the mere logline of a Malawian orphan documentary narrated by Madonna tell you all you need to know about the film, rendering an actual screening unnecessary, or at least less important than glad-handing with other audience members? Is that what...

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