"LA NUIT ETOILEE" ("STARRY NIGHT")

In the lineup of the 23rd World Film Festival of Montreal World Premiere, Monday, August 30th, 1999 Second showing: Tuesday, August 31st at the Cinema Parisien 5 at 3:40 This film is produced and directed by PAUL DAVIDS (also produced by Hollace Davids). Starring Abbott Alexander, Lisa Waltz, Sally Kirkland (who is also associate producer), Lou Wagner, Brian Drillinger, Lesley Woods and Joseph Benti. The music of the film is composed by Brad Warnaar and the theme song (Starry Starry Night) is by Don McLean. 1999 Yellow Hat Productions Inc. This international co-production, written and directed by Paul Davids, pays homage to Vincent van Gogh, the tormented Dutch painter who created more than 900 paintings before his suicide at the age of 37 years. Imagine then, Vincent van Gogh, during all of his life as an artist, only sold one single painting, and that, for a sum of around 100 francs. Today, one of his paintings is worth 78 million dollars U.S. Also, after his death, the paintings were sold in bundles of ten for the values of the wood of the canvasses, as kindling. The passion of Paul Davids for painting, especially for this great artist and genius who was Vincent van Gogh, led him naturally to write a script which was tucked away in a drawer until the day when people believed in Paul Davids as well as his scenario. The film is filled with romance, innocence, paintings, flowers and humor. It's a wink at all artists who have suffered and still suffer today from the lack of understanding of their work by artistic world, but above all, from extreme judgments that are often fatal to the immediate prospects of the artist, that is to say, from family and friends. And all the more, this talent is seldom recognized while the artist is living, and the artist often suffers both physically and morally during his life. And what do the specialists say, that we refer to as art critics? STARRY NIGHT corrects the situation of anonymity by a return in the future of Vincent van Gogh. For only 100 days, he has a last chance to correct the errors of the past, to love, to obtain the recognition that is his due, to realize a dream that he has in his heart before the hundredth day. The story begins at the Tournament of Roses Parade in the middle of the colorful festival on New Years Day in Pasadena. 102 minutes that mix fantasy, humor, panoramas of splendid canvasses that attest to the genius of the Dutch painter, Vincent van Gogh. A film full of tenderness for the entire family, and especially those with a passion for flowers and painting. This fantastic story appeals to the imagination, to dreams, to beauty and simplicity. This story of a man alone, faced with the skepticism of the rest of the world. Will he succeed? I invite the young as well as adults who are young at heart to discover the world of painting through the eyes of Paul Davids. I had the pleasure of meeting and speaking with Paul Davids. A transcription of the interview as well as behind the scenes photos of the production will be the subject of another report soon. Until thenÉ Happy Festival Francine Charette Club-Culture 414 McGill, suite 203 Montreal, Quebec H2Y 2G1 tel: 514-876-1788 FAX 514-876-1744 email: plazzart@club-culture.com

THE GUIDE TO BRITISH FILM 1999 NBX - NEW BRITISH EXPOS EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL STARRY NIGHT

Taking its title from the classic song by Don McLean, STARRY NIGHT is a contemporary fable about the artist Vincent van Gogh (newcomer Abbott Alexander) who returns to today's cynical world for 100 days. The irony of his predicament is not lost on him - his paintings, which were worthless in his own lifetime, now sell for millions - and he sets out to get them back and claim the money to donate to struggling artists. Aided by a lawyer and an art student who falls for him, he then goes in search of several paintings hidden in his former home in Arles. "The film is a little bit of counter-programming against the wave of edgy movies that are being made now," says writer-director Paul Davids. "It's very intentionally a family film about love, second chances, hope, optimism and faith, but it does have a strong undercurrent of irony. We wanted to celebrate van Gogh's genius and to give youngsters an impression of the life of an artist." The film marks the feature debut of Davids, whose previous credits include the Golden Globe nominee ROSWELL about the alleged military coverup of the UFO crash in New Mexico in 1947, and TIMOTHY LEARY'S DEAD, about the counter-culture movement guru. Davids decided to shoot STARRY NIGHT on digital video. "It was partly practical and partly to prove a point - that you can use it to create beautiful photography and be able to shoot a lot of footage without the enormous expense of 35mm," he says. STARRY NIGHT, which unites Davids' Yellow Hat Productions and Edinburgh-based Digital Facilities and Felicity Films, will premiere at the Montreal Film Festival in September. Director: Paul Davids 1999 35mm 100 minutes YELLOW HAT PRODUCTIONS 435 Holland Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90042 USA Tel (1) 323-254-4416 FAX (1) 323-254-2547 DIGITAL FACILITIES / FELICITY FILMS 16a York Place Edinburgh EH1 3EP Tel: (44) 131 557 8833 FAX: (44) 131 556 4448 Exec producers: Anil Urmil, Felicity Newman Producers: Paul Davids, Hollace Davids Screenplay: Paul Davids Director of Photography: David W. Smith Production Design: Eva Fried, Robert Rotstan, Jr. Editor: Eileen Mulvey Music: Brad Warnaar Main cast: Abbott Alexander, Lisa Waltz, Sally Kirkland, Lou Wagner, Brian Drillinger Budget: $1.3 m. Funding: Private sources: International Sales Artist View Entertainment: (1) 818 752-2480

STARRY NIGHT - THE SCOTLAND HERALD, 9-8-99

Scotland is stealing a march on Hollywood when it comes to post-production technology, reports BRIAN PENDREIGH

It is not just our mountains, mists and heather that Hollywood wants these days. For the first time, a Hollywood producer has come to Scotland not for our scenic backdrops and colourful history, but for our hi-tech editing facilities. STARRY NIGHT is a romantic fantasy in which Vincent van Gogh comes back to life for 100 days in contemporary Los Angeles.

Its world premiere at the prestigious Montreal Film Festival - which concluded earlier this week - marked the end of a journey which took Paul Davids, the film's writer, director and producer, from North America to Scotland and back. Davids shot the 2 million pound film in Los Angeles last year, but he simply could not find the state-of-the-art post-production equipment he wanted in Hollywood, so he and his editor came to Scotland and put the film together at the Digital Facilities company in Edinburgh's York Place. STARRY NIGHT is one of a growing number of low-budget features to shoot on video, which is cheaper than film and has taken great leaps in quality in recent years.

Davids wanted to use the European video system PAL, which is widely recognized as being superior to the American system NTSC. "Hollywood in terms of film is, as we know, pretty state of the art," says David Smith, the Englishman behind Digital Facilities. "But when it comes to shooting feature films on tape, it's a backwater." Smith studied cinematography years ago at the American Film Institute, where he first met Davids. Other contemporaries included David Lynch and Terrence Malick. While they made names for themselves with ERASERHEAD and BADLANDS, Smith dropped out of film and came to Scotland 15 years ago to pursue his second career in social work before returning to the industry as a freelance cameraman on projects as diverse as BROOKSIDE and Mark Cousins's Auschwitz documentary ANOTHER JOURNEY BY TRAIN. As well as working as a cinematographer, Smith set up companies hiring out cameras and lighting and tracking equipment for the growing Scottish market and he sold his house a few years ago to get Digital Facilities started. Smith was recruited by Davids as STARRY NIGHT's director of photography, and this early involvement was instrumental in persuading Davids to use European video technology and to edit at Smith's own company, which previously supplied editing facilities for Gillies MacKinnon's First World War film REGENERATION.

"Their video system in America is inferior to ours," says Smith. "And the equipment we used to shoot this film - widescreen, digital, beta PAL - is not available in Hollywood." Digital Facilities has the latest non-linear editing equipment. Previously, video editing operated in much the same way as someone copying selected tracks from one music cassette to another, using a traditional double cassette deck - laboriously going through the cassette until you found the desired track.

With non-linear, digital editing, the film or video is transferred to computer which will locate the desired scene as readily as a compact disc locates a selected music track. During post-production, STARRY NIGHT went from video to computer back to video and finally on to 35mm film for cinema exhibition. Another state-of-the-art post-production house, The Pictures, opened last year in Glasgow, with support from Scottish Enterprise and other public bodies, part of a growing film infrastructure north of the Border. Smith hopes that more films will edit in Scotland.

"We were seeing jobs going to London because we didn't have the technology... We're now pioneering technology." Davids, who wrote several of the official STAR WARS novels, and ROSWELL, the 1994 TV movie about the supposed alien landing cover-up, says: "What is different here is not only is it PAL, but it's digital PAL shot in a widescreen format. And the availability of the widescreen format is new throughout the world... We could be blazing a whole new way for low-budget independent film-makers to make their pictures."

It is not just the technology in Scotland that has impressed Davids. "I can't think of any more pleasant and fun way to make a film than to bridge between Hollywood and Scotland and have the best of each of these worlds," he says. He is now considering coming back to shoot a feature film here.

But what is STARRY NIGHT actually like? Van Gogh comes back to life, complete with floppy yellow hat and bandaged ear, in the middle of a big American parade on the theme of his paintings. He retrieves one of his self-portraits and finishes it with the addition of the floppy hat, prompting debate on whether this is a political statement or simple vandalism. He then starts on a new HOLLYWOOD COLLECTION, including portraits of Hell's Angels. Lisa Waltz, from THE ODD COUPLE II, is the art student who falls for his honest charm and Sally Kirkland is the detective determined to nail him as a fraud and thief. Newcomer Abbott Alexander's Dutch accent takes a little getting used to it, but STARRY NIGHT is a charming romantic drama, with numerous clever twists and an art history lesson thrown in. And, yes, they do use the Don McLean song, which is probably as famous as the original STARRY NIGHT painting.

STARRY NIGHT TV NEWS

"STARRY NIGHT" was featured on TV news in Canada: (1) CFCF TV prime time news spotlighted only two films from the Montreal Film Festival on opening night: the opening night gala ("MANSFIELD PARK") and"STARRY NIGHT." The "STARRY NIGHT" spot featured sound bites from the star of the film, Abbott Alexander, who plays Vincent van Gogh, and writer / director Paul Davids. Almost a minute of clips from the film were shown. (2) GLOBAL TV CANADA featured a four-minute interview with "STARRY NIGHT" writer / director Paul Davids during the morning show, including clips from the film. Both of these TV news excerpts about "STARRY NIGHT" are available upon request for review and promotion purposes. Please contact us at Starrynightmovie@aol.com