Jimmy Carter may not have gotten a lot of respect when he was president -- maybe the fact that he was called "Jimmy" had something to do with it -- but he's enjoyed a resurgence in recent years as his humanitarian efforts have reminded Americans what they liked about him in the first place. He's not a great politician, but he's an honest, good-hearted man with noble intentions.

And now filmmaker Jonathan Demme (Talking Heads: Stop Making Sense, Neil Young: Heart of Gold) has scored with a documentary about him, called Man from Plains. Now playing at the Toronto International Film Festival, it was at the Venice fest, too, where it picked up three prizes last weekend.

The international critics' jury give the film its top award, while the Human Rights Film Network gave it a prize for best feature film. It also received the Collateral Award for Best Biography, which is presented by the Bologna Film Festival in conjunction with the Venice fest.

Sony Pictures Classics is releasing the film theatrically in October. It follows Carter on his recent tour for his book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, which caused a stir with its controversial subject matter.

Demme is perhaps best known as a director of fictional films, including Philadelphia and The Silence of the Lambs (for which he won an Oscar). But his documentaries have been widely acclaimed, too. Many people consider his Talking Heads and Neil Young movies to be among the best concert films ever made. So his portrait of Jimmy Carter promises to be interesting -- and apparently the people in Venice think so, too.

There's more than just a tantalizing list of films brewing for this year's Venice Film Festival. They've finally succumbed to their inner pun and created a new award, which has been 4 years in the making. After a lot of negotiating, Venice 2007 will offer the first Queer Lion award. This will go to the best full-length film, selected by a small, international jury, that features either a gay character or theme. And just what will this gay lion look like? I'm sure you can imagine. The lucky winner will get a gold plaque with the Venice Lion's winged logo, with, of course, the rainbow coloring on the wings to symbolize gay pride. Lions AND pride, it goes so well together that I can't believe it has taken this long. Gotta love a good pun.

Competition director Daniel Casagrande says: "We aren't looking for the next Brokeback Mountain. We are just looking for films that accurately portray gay characters or themes." He expects that 10-12 films will be candidates for the award in this first year, a prize which is eligible to any main competition contender. This isn't the first film fest to create such an award. Berlin has had a Teddy Award for over two decades. Well, Germany was way ahead of the times, but Venice has trumped with a better name. Who wants a teddy? It just brings to mind fat presidents and women's lingerie -- not a pair I think any of us want to think of at the same time.

Hard as it is to believe in this lull of summer hallmarked by the usual hot-weather popcorn fare, we're edging ever closer to fall and the major fall film festivals, and Cinematical Indie will be bringing you heaps of coverage this year. Labor Day weekend, as always, means Telluride. Last year was our first year to cover the Telluride Film Festival; the fest is unique in that it doesn't announce its lineup until it actually starts, but that doesn't stop them from selling out passes well in advance of the fest every year, as film lovers converge on the small mountain town and triple its population for the weekend.

If you want to hit Telluride this year and haven't bought your passes yet, be prepared to pony up the big bucks; the Acme and Festival passes are sold out already, so you'll have to score yourself a $3500 patron pass if you want to attend. And good luck finding lodging in town at this point, unless you also want to dig deep and rent a spendy luxury vacation home -- but hey, if you that, drop me a line so I can come hang out -- we can talk movies while soaking in your jacuzzi overlooking the scenic San Juan mountains.

To be honest, the summer crop of movies hasn't had me lining up at the box office like I thought it would. Instead, my attention has been firmly fixed on fall and winter. So you can imagine my glee when a promotional clip from the Paul Thomas Anderson film There Will Be Blood, courtesy of Al Rose Promotions fell into my lap. The movie is Anderson's return to directing since Punch Drunk Love way back in 2002 -- that is if you don't count his presence on the set of Robert Altman's A Prairie Home Companion. Based on the Upton Sinclair book Oil!, Blood stars Daniel Day-Lewis as a misanthropic oil-man who makes his fortune alongside a charismatic preacher (Paul Dano) who's making a name for himself by winning over the townsfolk. The film has been described as "a story about family, greed, religion, and oil, centered around a turn-of-the-century Texas prospector in the early days of the business" and none of Anderson's usual suspects like Philip Baker Hall, Luis Guzmán, or Philip Seymour Hoffman are known to be making an appearance. Instead, it looks like the cast has been chosen for a very specific period look.

The film was shot in New Mexico and Marfa, Texas back in 2006, and it's expected to make its world debut at the Venice Film Festival this August. Until now, there have only been a couple of photos released, and some positive news on the script, but this teaser gives us the first real glimpse at what to expect. I'm a big fan of Anderson so I could be a little biased, but from what I just saw, I'll be marking November 21st on my calendar, when There Will Be Blood hits theaters.

I wouldn't be surprised if a Hollywood sign is spotted floating down one of Venice's many canals, as one third of the Italian fest's lineup "is probably going to be American," so says fest chief Marco Muller. What's being touted as one of the "strongest editions ever," this year's Venice Film Festival will most likely host the world premieres for films like Robert Zemeckis' 3-D Beowulf, Todd Haynes' Bob Dylan biopic I'm Not There (remember, that's the one that has six different actors and actresses playing the legendary performer), Ang Lee's Lust, Caution and one of my most anticipated flicks of 2007, Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood. The full 60-pic lineup will be announced on July 26, with the actual fest taking place from August 29 through September 8.

Essentially his most ambitious film to date, There Will Be Blood marks PTA's triumphant return to the big screen following his 2002 love-it-or-hate-it romantic dramedy Punch Drunk Love. Pic, which stars Daniel Day-Lewis, is a turn-of-the-century drama that revolves around a Texan family during the early days of the oil business. Not only is it Anderson's first film based on existing material (in this case it's an Upton Sinclair novel), but it's also the first that doesn't feature his usual cast of regulars (most notably Luis Guzmán and Philip Seymour Hoffman). As it stands right now, both There Will Be Blood and the Coen Bros.' No Country for Old Men are set to hit theaters on November 21, with the former arriving in limited release. Could they make it any more difficult for me to choose which one to see first? For more info on the Venice Film Festival, be sure to hit up their official website.

It's time to celebrate Helen Mirren's win for best actress over at the Venice Film festival for her latest role as the title character in Steven Frears' The Queen. She has long been one my top five favorite actresses for her ingenious work in roles like The Queen and The Madness of King George, for which she was nominated, and overlooked, for the best supporting actress Academy Award. I also loved her playing opposite Fionnula Flannagan in the IRA political drama Some Mother's Son. She flashed her comedy chops (and so much more than that) as Chris Harper in Calendar Girls. Oh, and you best believe I own and revere the entire Prime Suspect library.

But I think my favorite role of hers has to be as Mrs. Wilson in the brilliant, yet underappreciated Robert Altman masterpiece (and utter Britfest) Gosford Park. She plays a very on-task head-servant in this old-fashioned murder mystery, wearing little to no makeup, and facial expressions varying only slightly from determined concentration throughout the entire movie. Also one cannot ignore the mysterious inner depths she manages to channel (and so subtly reveal) while doing so little. Folks, this is what makes an actress great.

After it was introduced late into competition, leaving many critics unable to screen the film, Jia Zhang-Ke's Still Life was awarded Venice's top prize, the Golden Lion. The film, which tells the story of two people searching for loved ones during the controversial Three Gorges Dam project, took a lot of folks by surprise when it won, even after the pic was shown to a packed house following the awards ceremony. Thus, many began to question the jury's decisions, who were originally split four to three over the top prize and had to hold an extra meeting on Saturday in order to make a final decision.

Oh, but the surprises did not stop there: In the Best Actor category, Ben Affleck won for his portrayal of George Reeves in Hollywoodland. Yes, Ben Affleck. With very little buzz surrounding his performance, I think it's safe to say this one came from way out in left field. In fact, the only award folks seemed to be in agreement with was the prize for Best Actress, which went to Helen Mirren for The Queen.

Because both Italian film festivals apparently need all the glitz and glamor they can get, the Venice Fest this year will see the awarding of the first (annual?) Gucci Group Award, created to recognize "personalities outside the movie industry who have made a remarkable artistic contribution to film over the past 18 months." The most prominent among the nominees is Australian singer/songwriter Nick Cave who recently moved into screenwriting; The Proposition, which he scripted, has received world-wide acclaim. In addition to Cave and two others, Helena Christensen (!) is nominated for her acting work in Allegro, as are Douglas Gordon and Philippe Parreno for their direction of the innovative soccer doc Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait.

The winner will be announced on September 8 "during a gala ceremony held in the 14th century Palazzo Ducale on the Piazza San Marco." Ooh la la! Needless to say, all the attendees will be impeccably dressed.

Though the titles revealed yesterday (apart from the festival's opener, The Black Dahlia), were English-free, the just-announced lineup for the 2006 Venice Film Festival includes thirteen American films, many of which are in competition. In addition to The Black Dahlia, other American films competing for the Golden Lion this year include: The Fountain, Bobby, Hollywoodland and Children of Men. Among other notables competing for the top prizes are the legendary Alain Resnais (Private Fears in Public Places), Johnnie To (Fangzhu), Paul Verhoeven (Blackbook) and Steven Frears, whose The Queen will bow at Venice before opening the New York Film Festival.

As expected, David Lynch's Inland Empire will be screening out of competition, along with a diverse group that includes Kenneth Branagh's The Magic Flute, World Trade Center, Tales from Earthsea (the debut from Goro Miyazaki), The Wicker Man, Rob-B-Hood (the Jackie Chan stolen-baby movie), Ethan Hawke's The Hottest State, Benoît Jacquot's L'Intouchable, and When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts, Spike Lee's Katrina doc.

This year's festival runs from August 30 to September 9.