“You have to have an awful lot of energy and passion to make films with no funding and no prospect of having them seen in public in your home country except under the radar and off the grid,” said Sally Berger, the curator of the festival, who visited China last fall.

Nobody grub-stakes me, was the answer. I stake myself, and when I make a killing it's sure all mine. …

There’s no dearth of two-step and zydeco rhythm on “Alligator Purse” (Yep Roc), an upbeat new release by BeauSoleil, the pacesetting Cajun-revivalist band.

The General said he has 2,000 mounts.