Had a back-and-forth today with @DirectedbyWomen on Twitter about Deepa Mehta coming to the Twin Cities for the first time for MSPIFF's 35th anniversary. Her most recent film Beeba Boys was at TIFF in September 2015 and I chose not to see it there because I knew it'd come here eventually. I just didn't know she'd be bringing it! Can't. Wait.
Directed by Women has a database for films by women so that people can see many films directed by women. I'll add the MSPIFF films to their database because Directed by Women uses Facebook events to import events, but it'll be easy for me to add them. MSPIFF won't do FB events, thankfully (because I'm not there anymore). So excited to be contributing them!
(Have I used up all my exclamation points yet?)
MSPIFF promised the schedule would be coming very soon. We'll see. Last year it came in late March according to my 2015 post about it. But here's photographic social media proof that the film society said the schedule is coming VERY SOON.
Where to Invade Next. Michael Moore's "happy film," according to his production team. They said the film is all solutions, no problems. I'd agree.
My Skinny Sister. The view of a young woman with an eating disorder from the view of her fat sister. Interesting POV. My guess is this one is coming to MSPIFF.
On my list and I liked:
Angry Indian Goddesses. I hope you get to see this somewhere and sometime. The acting and pace were top-notch. The film was beautiful too, and not just because of the beautiful actresses. The script was largely improvised but you wouldn't know it.
Into the Forest. Directed by Patricia Rozema, the woman who directed I've Heard the Mermaids Singing, one of my favorite movies of all time, this post-apocalyptic film about two women in the woods didn't disappoint. Can't wait to see it again.
Girls Lost
Three outcast teenage girls get a new perspective on high-school life when they are mysteriously transformed into boys, in this skillfully crafted tale of sexual confusion with a supernatural twist. Not as intriguing as the description, but this film is well-worth seeking out.
Ninth Floor. Director Mina Shum sheds light on the Sir George Williams University riot of February 1969 against institutional racism at the university. I hope Americans get to see this Canadian film about an incident few of us know about. Lest you think Canada is a better place about race relations.
Miss Sharon Jones!. I really like Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, and really liked this film. It was great fun, including the Q&A afterward where she broke into song right there on the stage.
Five Nights in Maine. Loved this film with David Oyelowo (Selma) and Dianne Wiest (Bullets Over Broadway in this intimate drama about a grieving widower who sets out to fulfill his wife’s last wish that he finally meet her irascible mother.
The Pearl Button. I was surprised by this gentle meditation on healing and genocide.
Mustang. This has played in some art theaters already, I think. A lovely film about sisterhood in the face of the patriarchy.
Summertime. I usually hate French films. Not this one. A lesbian coming of age story, beautifully shot and written.
Dark Horse: An underdog story about outsiders winning the hearts of many. And a literal horse. This film has lots of heart.
Room: You know about this one. I'm shocked the boy, Jacob Tremblay, didn't get any award nominations. His performance was a revelation. Keep on the lookout for him in the future because he's got quite a lot of talent.
Fire Song. Another queer film, but this one from a First Nations director. Important. Well-written and directed, but the acting is mostly from amateurs and it shows a little.
25 April. Director Leanne Pooley (The Topp Twins) fuses documentary, fiction, and state-of-the-art digital animation in this astonishing film. Filmmaking like I've not seen before. An animated documentary of the 1915 Gallipoli campaign, one of the bloodiest and costliest blunders of the First World War.
Granny's Dancing on the Table: I just love Scandinavian film. This one centers on a girl living under the thumb of her abusive father and never sways from her POV.
I don't usually do a worst-of list but I came away thinking about what I dislike in some films. Here you go.
The Whispering Star. I came away wanting warnings on movies that says there were fewer than 200 words in this film or no real narrative arc or horrible special effects like wind sounds in space.
Disorder. I hate it when women direct films that fail the Bechdel Test miserably. Most people won't notice how the only female character is never a person in her own right.
Sky. See Disorder. The first hour of the film could have been deleted and the back story it provided could have been realized with the MC's friendship with her Native American coworker. Plus this has the added bonus of the racist use of Native American characters in full service to the white characters stead of fully realized human beings.
Campo Grande just wasn't the film described in the description.
Go to TIFF sometime if you like film! I'd love to go again.
