The first feature from writer/director Lance Edmands (who previously served as editor on Tiny Furniture, among other movies), Bluebird is quiet, brooding, and visually stunning. The film’s slowly unfolding narrative tracks the reverberations of an accident on a small Maine logging town and its working-class inhabitants. Meditative and highly atmospheric, it’s as much a portrayal of a harsh, bleak environment as it is of the individuals who live there.

Courtesy of Factory 25

Amy Morton plays Lesley, a longtime school bus driver who becomes distracted at the end of her shift one day and fails to notice a sleeping boy in one of the rear seats. Her husband Richard (John Slattery), a logger, is largely preoccupied by news of an impending mill shutdown and probable layoffs while the couple’s sensitive teen Paula (Emily Meade) is engrossed in negotiating the beginnings of a new romance.

In the accident’s aftermath, the affected parties react in various ways: the boy’s young, irresponsible mother (Louisa Krause) hires a lawyer against the wishes of her own mother (Margo Martindale); the devastated Paula lashes out at her father and seeks comfort in her budding relationship. Though seemingly impervious and a bit distant, Richard shows clear signs of stress and the outwardly stoical Lesley herself eventually and quietly breaks down. These are not demonstrative people; though there are outbursts of emotion, much is kept under wraps.

Courtesy of Factory 25

The gradual unraveling of these characters is shown amid the snowy chill of Maine in winter, shot with painterly eye by cinematographer Jody Lee Lipes (who directed the recent documentary Ballet 422 with similar unfussy stillness). The tone of the movie owes a lot to Lipes, whose extended establishing shots resemble beautifully framed photographs with small moving details. Also effective is the pensive music by Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans. Though grim, Bluebird is not entirely tragic; hopeful notes temper the bleakness as characters share their vulnerability and loss. Overall, it’s a strong debut from a filmmaker with a distinctive point of view.

Bluebird opens this Friday at Cinema Village, 22 East 12th St., Manhattan.

Film Fests Around Town

The World of Kanako

The Film Society of Lincoln Center is currently hosting its annual Film Comment Selects festival (through Mar. 5), which showcases “the coming soon and the never-coming-back, the rare and the rediscovered, the unclassifiable and the underrated.” In other words, it’s a highly eclectic assortment of cool and/or unusual films gathered by the venerable magazine’s editorial team. Opening night featured Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films, Mark Hartley’s no-holds-barred documentary about the studio founded by notorious schlock purveyors Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus, whose movies have become ‘80s cult classics. Plenty of interesting stuff is still to be screened: Mike Nichols’ underrated 1975 film The Fortune, starring Jack Nicholson, Stockard Channing and Warren Beatty; Anarchy, Michael Almereyda’s remake of Shakespeare’s Cymbeline; a six-film retrospective of Danish director Nils Malmros, and Tetsuya Nakashima’s revenge thriller The World of Kanako), to name just a few.

Walter Reade Theater, 165 West 65th St., and Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center, 144 West 65th St., Manhattan.

When Marnie Was There

Starting this week is the impressively diverse and discerning New York International Children’s Film Festival (Feb. 27 through Mar. 22), North America’s largest film fest for kids ages 3 to 18. With a jury including Susan Sarandon, Gus Van Sant and Bill Plympton, and a remarkable roster of movies, it’s obvious that this is a serious enterprise. Many of these films  are obviously not just for youngsters. Opening and closing nights are heavy on animation, but it’s very solid fare including Aardman Studio’s latest, Shawn the Sheep; the beautiful Japanese coming-of-age film When Marnie Was There; and the multinational effort Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet, with various “chapters” helmed by different directors. The festival’s live action movies are no less intriguing, with documentaries such as Norway’s Ballet Boys and USA’s Landfillharmonic, and features including Netherlands’ Secrets of War and France’s Lou! Journal infime.

NYICFF screenings take place at various theaters throughout Manhattan.

—Marina Zogbi