Ari Folman

During the four years it took to make the Israeli-animated documentary "Waltz With Bashir," writer-director-producer Ari Folman never had time to consider whether his uniquely stylized film would play outside his country. "When we completed the film, we were totally clueless about how far it would go," admits Folman. "We were -- especially me -- pretty much obsessed with just completing it." Produced on a lean budget of $1.

You can't see "Waltz With Bashir" legally in Lebanon but you can buy copies of the Oscar-nominated Israeli antiwar film in Beirut's Hamra district, where director Ari Folman saw his life change 26 years ago. "It's one of the greatest films I've ever seen," said Lokman Slim, an activist with Lebanon's UMAM organization, which aims to preserve the country's memories of war by screening movies related to its decades of bloodshed.

"Waltz With Bashir" is one of Israel's first animated features, and it's going to be a hard act to follow. Provocative, hallucinatory, incendiary, this devastating animated documentary is unlike any Israeli film you've seen. More than that, in its seamless mixing of the real and the surreal, the personal and the political, animation and live action, it's unlike any film you've seen, period. "Bashir" was written and directed by Ari Folman, one of Israel's top documentary filmmakers and one of the writers on the Israeli TV show that became HBO's "In Treatment.

During the four years it took to make the Israeli-animated documentary "Waltz With Bashir," writer-director-producer Ari Folman never had time to consider whether his uniquely stylized film would play outside his country. "When we completed the film, we were totally clueless about how far it would go," admits Folman. "We were -- especially me -- pretty much obsessed with just completing it." Produced on a lean budget of $1.

Ari FOLMAN'S "Waltz With Bashir," which screens tonight at the Toronto International Film Festival, straddles many boundaries: between memory and dream, history and memoir, fact and fiction. Using animation to shift fluidly between frames, the movie investigates the Sept. 16, 1982, massacre of Palestinian refugees at the Sabra and Shatila camps in Beirut. Lebanese militiamen belonging to the Falangist Party, their passions inflamed by the assassination of the country's president-elect, Bashir Gemayel, slaughtered hundreds and possibly thousands of men, women and children, stacking their bodies in the narrow alleys between houses.

You can't see "Waltz With Bashir" legally in Lebanon but you can buy copies of the Oscar-nominated Israeli antiwar film in Beirut's Hamra district, where director Ari Folman saw his life change 26 years ago. "It's one of the greatest films I've ever seen," said Lokman Slim, an activist with Lebanon's UMAM organization, which aims to preserve the country's memories of war by screening movies related to its decades of bloodshed.

The Directors Guild of America announced its nominees Friday for achievement in television, documentaries and commercials for 2008. The winners will be announced Jan. 31 at the 61st annual DGA Awards dinner. Nominees for the TV movie and miniseries category are Bob Balaban for "Bernard and Doris," Tom Hooper for "John Adams," Kenny Leon for "A Raisin in the Sun," Jay Roach for "Recount" and Mikael Solomon for "The Andromeda Strain." Dramatic series nominees are Dan Attias for "The Wire" ("Transitions" episode)

The Directors Guild of America named Danny Boyle the best director of 2008 for "Slumdog Millionaire" on Saturday night. It's the first guild win for the 52-year-old British director. Boyle has won critics' groups honors, as well as the Golden Globe, Critics Choice and the British Independent Film Award for "Slumdog Millionaire."

The five foreign-language film nominees are an eclectic group that includes the first animated movie to compete in the category. Israel's "Waltz With Bashir," which won a Golden Globe, centers on filmmaker Ari Folman's coming to terms with his experiences as a young Israeli soldier during the 1982 invasion of Lebanon. "I am at my studio in Jaffa and we are drinking a glass of Champagne," Folman said Thursday. "Although [the film] is a very personal, autobiographical thing . . .

Documentarian Brigitte Cornand first met the now 97-year-old artist Louise Bourgeois in 1994 and over the next dozen years collaborated on a trio of videos. Now, Film at REDCAT will screen "Chere Louise," the first installment in the trilogy, on Monday with Cornand attending this L.A. premiere. www.redcatorg Film Forum opener The Los Angeles Film Forum opens its 2009 season Sunday at the Egyptian with "Brakhage With Brakhage: Marilyn Brakhage Introducing Films by Stan Brakhage." Among the avant-garde great's films to be shown are 1970's "The Machine of Eden" and 1974's "He was born.

"Waltz With Bashir" is one of Israel's first animated features, and it's going to be a hard act to follow. Provocative, hallucinatory, incendiary, this devastating animated documentary is unlike any Israeli film you've seen. More than that, in its seamless mixing of the real and the surreal, the personal and the political, animation and live action, it's unlike any film you've seen, period. "Bashir" was written and directed by Ari Folman, one of Israel's top documentary filmmakers and one of the writers on the Israeli TV show that became HBO's "In Treatment.

Ari FOLMAN'S "Waltz With Bashir," which screens tonight at the Toronto International Film Festival, straddles many boundaries: between memory and dream, history and memoir, fact and fiction. Using animation to shift fluidly between frames, the movie investigates the Sept. 16, 1982, massacre of Palestinian refugees at the Sabra and Shatila camps in Beirut. Lebanese militiamen belonging to the Falangist Party, their passions inflamed by the assassination of the country's president-elect, Bashir Gemayel, slaughtered hundreds and possibly thousands of men, women and children, stacking their bodies in the narrow alleys between houses.

Woody Allen received his 19th screenplay nomination from the Writers Guild of America on Wednesday, when he was named for his romantic comedy "Vicky Cristina Barcelona." Allen, 73, has previously won the WGA award for original screenplay for "Annie Hall," "Broadway Danny Rose," "Hannah and Her Sisters" and "Crimes and Misdemeanors."