CINEMA WITHOUT BORDERS AFI FEST'S COMMITMENT TO GREAT FOREIGN FILMS HAS BECOME SERIOUS BUSINESS.

Byline: Bob Strauss Film Critic

The 18th annual American Film Institute's Los Angeles International Film Festival kicks off tonight with a gala screening of Kevin Spacey's Bobby Darin biopic ``Beyond the Sea.''

For the next 10 days, AFI Fest 2004 presented by Audi - as it's now officially called - will unspool 135 films from 42 countries. Some 24 films will have their world premieres and 28 U.S. premieres. Most of the festival will take place at the ArcLight Hollywood cinema complex (6360 W. Sunset Blvd.), where there will be more access to filmmakers and stars, and more opportunities for those folks to connect with movie industry businesspeople, than ever before.

Not that wheeling and dealing will grab the spotlight from the festival's main mission.

``One of the things that really helps establish and grow a film festival, especially in a place like Los Angeles, is to be consistent in your programmatic focus,'' says Christian Gaines, now in his fifth year as director of AFI Fest. ``Ours, obviously, is to be a festival of record for the best of international film here in the film capital of the world.''

On the commerce side of things, this year marks not only AFI Fest's first presenting sponsor deal with the German automaker, but also a strategic alliance with the American Film Market. Attendees of the Santa Monica-based international trade show (running today through Nov. 10), will have a chance to show their wares and schmooze at many AFI venues as well. This latter development, according to Gaines, is modeled on the successful Cannes and Berlin film festival/market alliances, and is the first of its kind in North America.

But why should film fans care about all this business?

``Ultimately, it enables us to bring them a better festival in terms of our film lineup,'' says director of programming Nancy Collet. ``The sales agents are more interested in giving us those films because of the increased awareness from that alliance, so that ends up benefiting the average consumer.''

This does seem to be the case, at least going by the smattering of AFI Fest offerings that this critic has seen. Among the gala screenings of soon-to-be-released art films, Zhang Yimou's martial arts romance ``House of Flying Daggers,'' Pedro Almodovar's inventive gay noir ``Bad Education'' and Alejandro Amenabar's death-with-dignity drama ``The Sea Inside'' are all among the best foreign movies of the year.

I can also recommend the true-life African holocaust drama ``Hotel Rwanda''; the edgy Hong Kong cop thriller ``Infernal Affairs'' (appearing at the fest with both its sequels, neither of which I've seen); ``Omagh,'' a docudrama recounting the emotional aftermath of a Northern Ireland terror bombing; ``Head On,'' the Berlin Film Festival winner about hedonistic young Turkish-Germans; and the eye-opening movie documentary ``Imaginary Witness: Hollywood and the Holocaust.''

The festival will, as usual, be divided into multiple sections, including international feature, documentary and short film competitions.

Some presumed highlights: The Latin Cinema Series showcases political films from Mexico's Luis Mandoki (``Innocent Voices'') and Chile's Andres Woods (``Machuca''); New Asian Cinema brings us first looks at ``Bride and Prejudice: The Bollywood Musical'' and ``Ong Bak: Thai Warrior''; European Showcase includes such heralded works as the Scottish ``Ae Fond Kiss,'' Hungary's ``Kontroll'' and the latest from Jean-Luc Godard, ``Notre Musique''; and there are, as usual, a generous helping of American independent features.

Also on tap are a retrospective tribute to Almodovar, gala premieres of ``Amelie'' director Jean Pierre-Jeunet's ``A Very Long Engagement,'' the Al Pacino-starring ``Merchant of Venice'' and a wide selection of films that were made in Germany.

And of course, much, much more. Mostly handpicked for quality, too, despite the appearance of growing corporate influence.

``Filmmakers call me up all the time asking what, specifically, we're looking for,'' programming director Collet says. ``Ultimately, (the films chosen) just stand apart so easily from the rest of them. We're certainly looking for filmmakers that have a vision, that tell a story in a new way, in an interesting way, that are able to bring me to tears or make me laugh or make me feel like they're a new talent to watch.''

Perhaps that, as much as any other factor, is what makes the AFI Fest the most trustworthy in a city that boasts dozens of film festivals predicated on varying degrees of self-interest and hype.

``L.A. is a big, sprawling metropolis, and being the film capital of the world, there really is no other city that could support as many festivals as L.A.,'' festival director Gaines concludes. ``But I don't feel the other L.A. festivals really affect us one way or the other. We're very focused on what we do. And we really think of ourselves as a global event that could only happen in a city like Los Angeles. And that the people of L.A. are the beneficiaries of it.''

For AFI Fest 2004 information and ticket sales, call [phone] or go to www.AFI.com on the Web.

Bob Strauss, [phone]

bob.strauss(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

4 photos

Photo:

(1) ``THE MERCHANT OF VENICE'' (Italy/Luxembourg)

(2) ``AFTERMATH'' (Denmark)

(3) ``SECONDHAND CHILD'' (Germany)

(4) ``FAR SIDE OF THE MOON'' (Canada)