:: FRIDAY 11 APRIL

And so the Festival ended on a high note. After a week's worth of cinema, over 300 films in all, the curtain came down at the Radisson Hotel on Friday night. Guests were treated to cocktails and a feast from local restaurants before the award ceremony began.

:: WEDNESDAY 09 APRIL

Tonight's spotlight was How Harry Became a Tree, Serbian director Goran Paskaljevic's (Someone Else's America, Cabaret Balkan) telling of a Chinese folktale set in 1924 Ireland. Harry (Colm Meany of The Van) is slowly convinced that he is becoming a tree as he rebels against his small village. Instead of loving his neighbor he decides to hate and destroy, using his son and new daughter-in-law as pawns in his absurd, tyrannical plan. A comedy with tragic undertones, obsession is personified in Colm Meany's excellent performance. Meany was on hand after the film for an engaging Q & A session.

A post party took place at Muldoon's, a charming Irish pub near Fashion Island. Crowds gobbled up Irish cheddar and corned beef sandwiches in between sips of Guinness and Absolut.

:: TUESDAY 08 APRIL

The British Spotlight was the tragic, violent My Kingdom, starring Richard Harris (in his last film role) and Vanessa Redgrave. Directed by Don Boyd, the film's violence seemed to shock some in the audience, quite surprising considering it is based on Shakespeare's King Lear. Harris is Sandeman, the head of a crime family in Liverpool who loses his wife unexpectedly. When his favorite daughter abandons him, he throws his empire to his other two daughters, who have a go at it like starving wild dogs. It's Shakespeare, so you know how it ends, but the downward spiral is fascinating to watch with such a captivating actor.

The film screened at the Art Deco Lido theater and was followed by yummy dessert from the 1940's style Lido Diner that has recently opened next door to the theater.

:: SATURDAY 05 APRIL

The Hong Kong Spottlight was on Red Trousers - The Life of the Hong Kong Stuntmen. Kicking off the night before the film was an exuberant Wushu Martial Arts exhibition and Lion Dance outside the theater. A party at the Hard Rock Cafe followed the screening.

:: FRIDAY 04 APRIL

Friday's selection of films and documentaries ranged from the offbeat and charming (The Cheese Nun: Sister Noella's Voyage of Discovery) to the emotionally compelling (Julie Walking Home) to the frankly-awful-except-for-the-cinematography (South Korean/Japanese entry Through the Night (Yoru O Kakete). The Latino Spotlight was on Mexican entry A Beautiful Secret by director Leopoldo Laborde. Starring former cinema siren Katy Jurado in her final film role, the film is a tender look at the friendship that blossoms between an adolescent boy ignorant of his Mexican patrimony and a mysterious recluse in 1984 Mexico City.

:: THURSDAY 03 APRIL

The Festival opened with Miranda, a darkly comic, quirky British love story directed by Marc Munden and starring Christina Ricci, John Simms and Kyle MacLachlan. The librarian-boy-meets-very-dangerous-girl-but-loves-her-anyway story line was probably a little edgy for some in the O.C. crowd but a brilliant choice to kick off the festival. The gala afterwards took place at the Radisson Hotel. Several restaurants set up shop and the crowds swarmed from one station to the next, gorging on BBQ, vodka, pasta, and dessert while a DJ spun tunes.

Say what you will about Orange County, CA but don't mess with the Newport Beach Film Festival! What was once a sleepy suburbia with Disneyland and spectacular coast has exploded in size and refuses to have anything to do with its rival, Los Angeles. Alas, O.C. wants to be a big boy but refuses to have big boy stuff, like an international airport or an Office of Protocol (just eliminated by the board of supervisors) to properly introduce foreign dignitaries and government officials at high profile events like the Festival. So the Festival is a good start. But enough about local politics! On with the show!