2014 MSPIFF

My first time through the MSPIFF catalog is usually in search of films directed by women since Hollywood is so hostile to women and Iran and other countries provide more opportunities for women directors. So armed with the online catalog and Google images, I search for names that don't indicate a gender to me. Which is a lot of them, since this is an international film festival. Early on this year, I found a director whose photos didn't fit squarely in either end of the gender spectrum, from Concrete Night, Pirjo Honkasalo. She's Finnish, and Scandinavians have a very different social contract about gender roles (which is one of the things I love about Scandinavian film). So now I have a new first preference for films.

Possibilities:

*Directed by people not solidly on the male end of the gender continuum.

*Shosh Shlam: Documentary about internet addiction being an official diagnosis in China.
Above All Else (about trying to stop the XL pipeline)
*The Amazing Catfish: Women meet at a hospital. All about women. By a woman. From Mexico.
American Arab: About that chosen identity and all its conflicts. From the POV of American Arabs.
*The Animal Project: Quirky class where students don animal costumes and live in them to discover themselves. Not documentary.
*Bends: Drama that takes place on the border between Hong Kong and China. Looks like it has themes of social class.
*Dangerous Acts Starring Unstable Elements of Belarus: Documentary about artistic expression and repression. Images of true courage.
*Despite the Gods: Documentary directed by a woman about a white woman in India (Jennifer Lynch, daughter of David Lynch) directing a Bollywood film. What's NOT to like?
*Distance: Woman-directed near future sci-fi? Yes.
*Final Recipe: Woman-directed and the trailer made my mouth water.
*Gabrielle: Love story about two developmentally disabled young adults and their families. I hope this one makes me reconsider my hate of French film.
*Habi, the Foreigner: Spanish girl's coming of age and seeking her own identity through Islam.
Half of a Yellow Sun: based on the book with the same name by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
*Hotell: Erika joins a group to heal from trauma and they find some unique ways to deal with it. Swedish.
*I Thought It Was A Party: Two women go on vacation and a male lover shows up. Drama ensues.
*InRealLife: This documentary asks what the internet is doing to our children.
The Jingle Dress: Local, Native, but directed by a guy who looks white.
*Karaoke Girl: A young Thai woman in Thailand struggles to support her and her family.
*Longing for the Rain: Hong Kong film about a middle class Chinese family. Themes of class and gender roles and sexuality.
*Love and Lemons: "Charming" and Swedish in the description and directed by a woman? I'm there.
*Midsummer Night Tango: Finnish director claims that the Tango was invented in Finland. Three people travel to Finland to investigate.
*Shorts: Stage to Screen has one film directed by a woman.
Nobody's Daughter Haewon: A flawed Korean woman tries to find herself. Funny.
*Out of the Fire: A documentary about wood-fired kiln operations.
*Pine Ridge: Documentary profiles of residents of the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota.
Remembering Nokutela: A documentary about a woman who paved the way for freedom in South Africa.
*Salma: Documentary about a young Muslim girl in India who became a poet.
*Stay Then Go: The story of a mom letting go of her son who she's built her entire life around.
Trapped: One Iranian woman fights for another's freedom.
*Twin Sisters: Two Chinese girls discover that they are twins after they'd been adopted out of the country, far from each other.
We Are the Best!: Girl punk band in Sweden.


Mayyyyyybe:

*Burts Buzz: Documentary about the guy behind Burt's Bees. About a white guy but the trailer had me wanting more. So maybe.
*Concrete Night: One night for two boys. Violent. But the trailer is beautiful and it's Finnish.
*Cyber-Seniors: Looks kinda fun, directed by a woman, but everyone is white. Gah.
*For a Woman: I hate French film and the trailer shows all that I hate about French film (sssshhhh, don't tell Mrs. Bond, my high school French teacher). I'll see this if there's absolutely nothing else to see and I don't need a nap or a run.