NUMEROUS FESTIVALS are being held around the world annually. Sundance (US) in the early part of the year; Cannes (Paris) in May; the British Short Film (London); Toronto International (Canada) in September; Cinemagic and the Belfast Festival in Northern Ireland to mention a few from more than 2000 festivals celebrated worldwide.

For being here in Northern Ireland, the enthusiasm to watch these film festivals is still there. This is the reason why I took extra effort to attend some of the major programmes of the 44th Belfast Festival at Queen's (University) held between 19 Oct and 04 Nov 2006.

The last two mentioned programmes will be the focused of my review since I watched them in the Opera House and at the Waterfront Hall, respectively.

The Taxi Driver and Psycho were on my top list and decided to watch it. It is because I want to see the electrifying performance of de Niro in the lead role, aside from being one of the works of Scorsese. On the other hand, Psycho is quite an intriguing thrilling American film having been made in black and white, and was re-make in 1998 starring Anne Heche, including the sequels: Psycho II (1983), Psycho III (1986), and Psycho IV (1990) which give me the reason not to fail watching it. But unluckily, due to unavoidable circumstances relating to my current work and the timetable of screening, it did not allow me to watch these films showcasing the scoring works of the composer, Bernard Hermann - provided the most distinguished scores ever written in the film industry. Nevertheless, the festival was my source of information about these timeless classical films and hopefully be able to grab those on DVDs.

At the last minute (1.5 hours before the show on 20 Oct), I was lucky to grab a £15 ticket to witness Cura's fine performance. I am not really an operatic fan, but for curiosity's sake and my support to the festival, I did not hesitate to spare my time to watch the show. It was a chilly Friday night but it did not hinder people to be there. There were significant number of empty seats but the show must go on and it did not make any big difference in the excellent and powerful voice that can really raise the Waterfront Hall roof!

The first performance of the evening was the Prelude from Mascagni's 'Cavalleria Rusticana' where Cura was off¬stage (behind the stage), and next was his powerful on-stage rendition of the 'Sia Gloria ai canti … cielo a mar from Ponchielli's 'Gioconda'. I was really surprised to realise that he already conducting the Orchestra during the performance of Giordano's Prelude to Act 2 from 'Siberia'. Again, for the succeeding performances as he rendered Giordano's 'Come un bel di maggio from Andrea Chenier', the 'Amor ti vieta from Fedora, Leo Cavallo 'Intermezzo' from Pagliacci and 'Aria di Canio' proved Cura's superb and charismatic ability which the audience gave him a standing ovation.

Being a conductor, Cura is quite different from the rest of the conductors that I have seen on TV and other live performances. As part of the audience, I could feel the emotion, dynamic, masculinity, and energy for every move of his hands to guide every musician for making the encore done perfectly. And for every performance, Cura will always acknowledge the musicians that bring the encore into life! It was a good gesture from a humble performer by sharing the praises from the audience to the rest of the accompaniment.

**Theatre/Play**
The other main feature of the festival was the premier presentation of must-see and critically acclaimed Best Play, The History Boys. Being held in the new refurbished Grand Opera House, this 2 hour 45 minutes production was sold-out during its 5 days limited engagement in Belfast. Again, being a non-British citizen, I don't know why this play (turned into a film of the same title being shown now in Belfast) was so popular not only in West End but also in Broadway. A story of 8 boys in an English Grammar School groomed to be future students of Oxford or Cambridge. I will not dwell on the details of the play because I will write a separate review on this particular production. Briefly, Alan Bennett's stage play was perfectly done with full of humor, wits, and emotions that able to receive 7 international awards. It was absolute viewing for me - a glimpse of my present work as a 'tutor' and 'research student'.