" bkkiff 2006: day three "

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when attending a film festival, one has to always remember to enjoy oneself:

it's not enough that you have the opportunity to see great movies, possible celebrity interviews, and super exhibitions, you have to remember to eat properly (or at least as well as possible), schedule the films you want to see with restroom and reflection breaks in mind, and also know when too many movies is enough.

one of the fun things, that sort of has turned into a minor annoyance after the fact, has been the filling out of the response sheets. these five page questionnaires are fun the first few times (also because they have these odd flower-candles in shot glasses for a thank-you-for-filling-out-our-form complimentary gift), but after the 7th time, isn't there the possibility that you might be rendering their chance at honing on a key demographic useless? i guess i'll just have to restrain myself tomorrow.

knowing myself, too many films in one day is usually never too many, but eating well and all of these other concerns should always be a consideration when attending with a friend or a group of friends.

not having to pee halfway through a film is great. having the proper snack items at your disposal, whether popcorn, cookies, chips, or liquid refreshment is all worth it and can be taken care of with a slight planning of ahead of time.

also key is knowing that modern theatres these days are colder and dryer than the inside of an airplane, so eye drops (for contact lens wearers) and sweatshirts can become very important items, following of course money, cheaper ticket film festival coupons, an updated festival schedule marked with a loose plan of films to watch, at least four hours of sleep, and a sense of adventure.

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mini reviews:

08. february 20th - crossing the bridge: the sound of istanbul, germany/turkey, 11:30am ****

excellent excellent strange documentary about the diverse musical atmosphere in istanbul, turkey. great insight into the different types of music thriving within this ancient city.

i am always interested in things about this world that i have yet to experience. the great thing about this documentary is that it took the audience through so many different types of people and neighborhoods within istanbul, and brought out a great variety of music that i had never knew existed.

these musical forms were both familiar in a sense and also alien, including romany traditional, gypsy musical forms, rock and grunge, psychedelic experimental, a form called sez, traditional turkish music, kurdish tunes, street musicianry, hip-hop/rap, and a smattering of other beautiful practices.

a nice piece touching upon some of the more cultural backgrounds of the music and the peoples that they originated from. this is a good doc to check out if you are a world music nerd with out the pretense and audio-snobbery.

09. february 20th - before the flood, china, 2:00pm, ***

it was hard to sum up what exactly was going on in this documentary. i know that people were being forced to locate from their homes en masse. i know that the government is not supporting the people enough financially. i know that everyone is out to get their rightful compensation for being displaced. and i know that this documentary is banned in china.

it's still a great piece that evokes a fly-on-the-wall mentality. the only thing i felt that it lacked was an adequate set-up for the main point.

yes i understand that there is a great injustice going on, but the problem of being a complete outsider and confused about the intricacies of such a plight of humanity, isn't helped by the fact that the shots linger upon conversations that don't necessarily evolve with a sense of storytelling or structure.

it is definitely something to check out, but at the same time, i wish the point felt much more solid, and the sense of humanity more developed. perhaps better editing could hone down the main point and it's satellite issues into a context where i could feel like i could sympathize more as a fellow human, rather than simply empathize as a viewer.

i guess i wasn't as receptive to the situation as much as the material suggests is key. the blurb probably explains it much better than i:

The dam of Three Gorges, the largest dam that humans have ever built on earth, is under construction in China. The water-reserving began in 2003, and is expected to be completed in 2009. Until then, hundreds of counties, thousands of towns, and millions of local residents, including countless natural and historic spots along the area of Three Gorges, will be under the water level of the reservoir, including Fengjie, the town which became famous because of Li Bai, one of the most significant poets in the Chinese history. This film is a genuine overall record of the relocation of Fengjie town in 2002, just before the first water-reserving. An old man, who used to make a living out of a small inn for the cargo-movers in the front, was losing all of his assets. The priests of one local Christian church found it difficult to keep their faiths while bargaining for the breakdown of their church. Many life stories happened there, not without struggles and tears.

10. february 20th - sisters(hermanas), argentina/brazil/spain, 6:00pm, ****

this film is probably the best drama i have seen yet in the festival. it is powerful and clear in its sense of confidence. the acting great and well motivated.

it is a nice period-piece set in the mid 1980's in texas, concerning sisters that have drifted apart after a political upheaval in argentina sets their paths in different directions.

the characters are all well-developed and have just as much flesh and blood as they have convictions and determination. it's a great piece that actually utilizes the flashback sequences with a touch of foresight.

this helps to set up the eventual learning of information in such a way that isn't too oooh-i-figured-that-one-out, and also is nice to see a kind of artistic balance being shared instead of forced.

if you don't go for a great drama pertaining to political histories of movements and the social repercussions in the aftermath(s), you can at least appreciate a film set in the 80's which doesn't hold back on the fashions of the time, but uses them more as a mood and time placement attribute, rather than as trendy filmmaking shock-value fodder-filler like more "throwback" fluff-dramedies.

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