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Choice art >> Shylock, Wilder and bathing suits at the Festival of Films on Art by MATTHEW HAYS For those tired of A&E's rather shallow profile series Biography, or for those fatigued by all the fuss over Barbara's interview with Monica, relief can be found at the 17th annual Festival of Films on Art. As well as films on specific art forms and questions surrounding art philosophy itself, this year's line-up includes an excellent anthology of thoughtful profiles of artistic figures who've left their mark. André Prévin is an engaging look at the Oscar-winning composer's most recent project: an opera based on Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire. Yes, it sounds like an episode of The Simpsons gone wrong, but the show, which premiered in San Francisco, garnered some favourable reviews and this film captures Prévin in the midst of a rather hectic creative process. As part of a tribute to the late experimental Canadian filmmaker Joyce Wieland, the fest will screen Artist on Fire: The Work of Joyce Wieland. Kay Armatage examines Wieland's life lovingly here, examining the ways in which the artist's running themes (Canadian nationalism and feminism among them) found their way into her work, which included painting, sculpture and film. The fest also presents a special section of films about filmmaking itself, titled Artificial Paradise: Behind the Camera. In Billy Wilder: The Human Comedy, director Mel Stuart gathers rare footage of the legendary director, whose mastering of umpteen different genres--from Some Like it Hot to The Lost Weekend to Double Indemnity--led to six Oscars. The film interweaves footage of Wilder's numerous films with his personal story, including his flight from Nazi Germany in 1933. Other subjects of doc profiles at the fest include Frank Capra, Gary Cooper, Peter Greenaway, Hitchcock and cinematographer Sven Nykvist. A point of contention among literary scholars can be found in Shylock, the NFB doc about the evil Jewish figure in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice. Was the Bard's famous depiction of Shylock anti-Semitic? A series of Shakespearean experts discuss the quandary, while actors convey their varying interpretations of the role. In an entirely unrelated vein is Beauty and the Beach, a film about the cultural significance of the women's bathing suit. What, if anything, have changing fashions in swimwear said about women's changing roles in society? Fashion designers and historians sound off amid cool clips of retro bathing suits. The 17th Annual Festival of Films on Art runs March 914 at the Goethe Institut, NFB, Cinémathèque québécoise and various museums. Info: 874-1637 or www.maniacom.com/fifa.html
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