I had a mostly successful festival this year. Except for late-night films, and not because they weren't good. I'm getting to an age where late-night films should be the exception rather than the rule. I missed a lot of the films I'd planned to see at that hour (or early films the next day after seeing a late movie).
Notes for next year: More fresh fruits and veggies for snacks, reconsider late films (or early films after a late film), and SMACK ME IF I SAY I WANT TO SEE FRENCH FILMS. Generally, I don't like them. There are exceptions, but really. Smack me. Say YOU DON'T LIKE FRENCH FILMS. I did like a couple of them this year, but I disliked more than I liked.
Here is my BEST-OF-FEST list, in no particular order. I do call out my top four films. My notes, if there are any, are in italics after the description, which are all from
MSPIFF 2015.
El Critico
A playful yet heartfelt take on the rom-com genre, El Critico follows Victor Tellez, a world-weary Buenos Aires film critic who prefers to think in French and eschews romantic clichés...until he finds himself living one. Tellez drifts from screening to screening in search of cinematic perfection, casting judgment on filmmakers and their films with scathing incisiveness. But when a chance meeting throws him into the jarring world of gorgeous thrill-seeker Sofia, he starts to question his meticulous, intellectual routine and realizes there’s more to his story than he ever dreamed.
Trailer. Runtime: 98mins
Seeing this has ruined all rom-coms for me forever. In a good way.
Dukhtar
Pakistan's Official Submission for Best Foreign Language Film, Dukhtar carefully combines an emotional story with a thrilling adventure. Allah’s 10-year-old daughter has been promised to an old tribal leader to settle a blood feud. Determined to protect her daughter at all costs, Allah enlist the help of a reluctant truck driver and changes the course of her simple life forever. Afia Nathaniel’s assured debut, based on a true story and shot entirely on location in Pakistan, makes her a filmmaker to watch.
Website with trailer. Runtime: 93mins
The only MSPIFF film I heard that sold out all of its early showings. Looking forward to more from this director.
Speed Walking
From the Scandinavian director of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, here’s a very funny and authentic coming-of-age tale that manages to hit the perfect note between tragedy and comedy. In a small town where everyone knows everyone else’s business, 14-year-old Martin is getting ready for one of Denmark’s most formal transitions from boyhood to manhood: his confirmation. It is 1976, music is in the air and hormones are blossoming. But in the middle of it all, Martin’s beloved mother suddenly passes away and her tragic death triggers a series of events that not only change Martin’s life forever, but also affect everyone else in the local community. Martin seeks comfort with friend Kim and girlfriend Kristine.
Trailer. Runtime: 108mins
This is one of my top four films. It should have been in the LGBT section of the festival but wasn't. Honestly, the film festival had me at "From the director of the Swedish film Girl With the Dragon Tattoo..."
Out in the Night
Out in the Night is a documentary that tells the story of a group of young friends, African American lesbians who are out, one hot August night in 2006 in a gay friendly neighborhood of New York City. As the women, all in their late teens and early twenties, walk under neon lights of tattoo parlors in the West Village, an older man sexually and violently confronts them. He says to Patreese “let me get some of that” as he points below her waist. When she says that they are gay, the man becomes violent and threatens to “fuck them straight”. He spits and throws a lit cigarette. Renata and Venice defend the group and a fight begins, captured by security cameras nearby. The man yanks out hair from Venice’s head and chokes Renata. Then, Patreese pulls a knife from her purse and swings at him. Strangers jump in to defend the women and the fight escalates. As the fight comes to an end, all get up and walk away. But 911 has been called and the man involved has been stabbed. Police swarm to the scene as their radios blast out warning of a gang attack. The women are rounded up and charged with gang assault, assault and attempted murder. Three of the women plead guilty. But Renata, Patreese, Venice and friend Terrain claim their innocence. They are called a “Gang of Killer Lesbians” by the media. In activist circles they become known as The New Jersey 4.
Website and trailer. Runtime: 75mins
Another of my top four films. #AllBlackLivesMatter
Ciudad Delerio
Nothing raises your spirits (or romantic inclinations) like a little salsa music and dancing. Chus Gutierrez’s Ciudad Delirio taps into the undeniable joy of salsa, coming alive with vibrant music and eye-popping choreography. Sparks fly when salsa dancer Angie meets charming doctor Javier who is visiting Cali for a conference, but how will it effect her current relationship with her dancing partner and their dance competition aspirations? Easily winning hearts worldwide, Ciudad Delirio is a box office hit in Colombia.
Trailer. Runtime: 99mins
Think Hollywood in Colombia. Just for fun.
Girlhood
Oppressed by her family setting, dead-end school prospects and the boys law in the neighborhood, Marieme starts a new life after meeting a group of 3 free-spirited girls. She changes her name, her dress code, and quits school to be accepted in the gang, hoping that this will be a way to a new life. Director Céline Sciamma (Water Lilies, Tomboy) cements her cinematic expertise in exploring the many facets of young female identity with her most powerful film yet.
Trailer. Runtime: 112mins
A bit perplexing but stunning in its portrayal. I don't like French films in general but this is from the same director as Tomboy, which I loved.
All of Me
Every day since 1995, a group of women stand at the tracks near the Mexican town of La Patrona waiting for La Bestia — the train used by thousands of migrants from Mexico and beyond to get to the US border. Deemed “Las Patronas,” the women toss water and homemade food to the weary travelers.
Trailer Runtime: 90mins
A little too long (could have been 45 minutes), but relevant. I heard a story today about how unsanctioned border crossings from Mexico into the US has gone down significantly mostly because Mexico is enforcing their own migration laws. The majority of people coming into the US south of the border are from other central and south American countries, and they travel, undocumented, through Mexico. And they meet these women.
Clouds of Sils Maria
At the peak of her international career, Maria Enders is asked to perform in a revival of the play that made her famous twenty years ago, only this time she will take the role of the older woman. Seeking refuge in Sils Maria, a remote region of the Alps, to rehearse the play, she takes stock in her career and her unknown future with her young assistant. Director Olivier Assayas takes pleasure in being coy by with his two stars—Juliette Binoche and Kristen Stewart—as he knowingly layers references to their own lives and roller coaster careers.
Trailer. Runtime: 124mins
Another perplexing but beautiful French film. See it at your nearest independent film theater soon. Or right now. Who knew that Kristen Stewart could act? Without glitter.
1000 Rupee Note
Independent film producer Shrihari Sathe (co-producer of Dukhtar, also playing MSPIFF 2015) makes his directorial debut with feature that explores the power and corruption of money. During a political rally in a small village in Maharashtra, Budhi, a poor old woman receives a few one thousand rupee notes from a politician. Excited about the prospect of having more money than she ever imagined, she goes shopping in the nearby market town with her neighbor. Fate, however, has other plans.
Trailer. Runtime: 89mins
Unlikely Heroes
Sabine, a housewife who has recently has recently separated from her husband, suddenly finds herself alone over the Christmas season. In order to gain recognition from her family and friends, she decides to stage the story of William Tell with a group of asylum seekers. An endeavour for which she is hardly prepared, in many respects. When news of the performance hits the media, Sabine goes to her limits – and beyond – to ensure the success of the play. Only then does she realise that what really counts is quite another matter.
Trailer. Runtime: 94mins
Despite the temptation, the director made sure the white woman isn't a hero or savior in this film.
Difret
On her way home from school, Hirut, a 14-year-old girl, is kidnapped with the intent of forcing her into an arranged marriage—a tradition in Ethiopia that many girls face. Hirut fights to escape, forcing a chain of events that leads her to an empowered young lawyer willing to fight for Hirut’s rights and putting her between tradition and modernity. Shot entirely on location in Ethiopia, Difret, which means “courage,” is a powerful feature from first-time director Zeresenay Berhane Mehari.
Website and trailer. Runtime: 99mins
I wish the film had told you what Difret means. I thought it would be the girl's name. But it's not. After you see the film (no spoilers on my page), you can find out here. It's clever.
Papusza
Bronislawa Wajs, also known as Papusza, was the first Roma woman to put her poems into writing and publish them, confronting the traditional female image in the gypsy community. Joanna Kos-Krauze and Krzysztof Krauzefollows’ beautifully shot biopic follows Papusza’s life from birth to old age. Her meeting with the Polish poet Jerzy Ficowski, who discovered her great talent for poetry and revealed her work to the world, led to a tragic paradox in which her own community rejected her for betraying their secrets. Trailer.
Runtime: 131mins
Stunning all around. Another one of my top four. I had not a single moment when I wasn't totally engulfed in the story, sound, and visuals of this beautiful film. Seriously, check out the trailer.
Next to Her
In this strikingly shot, intensely performed film, Chelli is a pretty security guard who is raising her mentally disabled younger sister Gabby on her own. Although Chelli hates the idea of putting Gabby in any kind of institution, she has no qualms about locking her in the flat and leaving her alone while she’s at work. Her attitude is that Gabby is hers, and that she knows what’s best for her. While Gabby’s problems are plain to see, it slowly becomes clear that Chelli has major co-dependency issues. The two twenty-something women dwell in an intimate, feral state with no personal boundaries, until Chelli’s co-worker Zohar literally comes between them.
Trailer. Runtime: 90mins
52 Tuesdays
16-year-old Billie’s reluctant path to independence is accelerated when her mother reveals plans for gender reassignment and their time together becomes limited to Tuesday afternoons. Filmed over the course of a year, once a week, every week—only on Tuesdays—these unique filmmaking rules bring a rare authenticity to this emotionally charged story of desire, responsibility and transformation. Sophie Hyde’s debut narrative feature is an incredibly compassionate and honest look at Billie’s mom’s transition, as well as Billie’s exploratory path as an invincible teenager.
Trailer. Runtime: 114 mins
One of the things I love about MSPIFF is the places that international film can go that no American filmmaker can. This is just one of several examples of what I call the Star Trek phenomenon. You know, going places no one has ever gone before…
The Mask You Live In
Few documentaries are as timely as The Mask You Live In, tackling the tough issues of how we raise boys and the violence in American male culture. Director Jennifer Siebel Newsom follows boys and young men as they struggle to stay true to themselves while negotiating America’s narrow definition of masculinity. Experts in neuroscience, psychology, sociology, sports, education, and media also weigh in, offering empirical evidence of the “boy crisis” and tactics to combat it. The Mask You Live In ultimately illustrates how we, as a society, can raise a healthier generation of boys and young men.
Website and trailer. Runtime: 97mins
Margarita With a Straw
A rebellious young woman with cerebral palsy leaves her home in India to study in New York, unexpectedly falls in love, and embarks on an exhilarating journey of self-discovery.
Trailer. Runtime: 100mins
Marshland
True Detective, Spainsh-style! A series of brutal murders of adolescent girls in a remote and forgotten town bring together two disparate characters—both detectives in the homicide division—to investigate the cases. With deep divisions in their ideology, detectives Juan and Pedro must put aside their differences if they are to successfully hunt down a killer who for years has terrorized a community in the shadow of a general disregard for women rooted in a misogynistic past.
Trailer. Runtime: 105mins
This one is ripe for a sequel. I hope that happens.
Hello! Jun’ichi
Katsuhito Ishii turns his attention toward the everyday failures and successes of being 9 years old. Junichi is a painfully shy third grader who can’t find the courage to return an eraser he borrowed from his secret crush. But the arrival of an unorthodox assistant teacher named Anna pushes Junichi and his friends to find the confidence to face their fears and turn them into something amazing. Hello! Junichi embraces the familiar yet magical essence of childhood with surprising humor and generous compassion.
Trailer. Runtime: 91mins
The narrative is a bit disorganized and frenetic, but it's fun and silly. “Live Action Anime,” a friend described it.
Nena
It is the summer of 1989 and half of Europe is in tumult. Sixteen-year-old Nena’s life takes a dramatic turn when her paraplegic father’s suicide attempt shatters her own bliss. Angry and despondent, Nena is nonetheless obliged to face up to the fact that her father can no longer bear his own life. Torn between her love for her father and coming to terms with his death wish, Nena begins to ask herself some tough questions and tries to overcome her fears of losing him. Writer-director Saskia Diesing uses her own personal experiences to contemplate an individual’s right to determine their own life.
Trailer. Runtime: 95mins
I had a film immediately following this one but couldn't go. I needed time to absorb this story and the profound ending. Not a date movie.
Lola on the Pea
Nine-year-old Lola and her free-spirited mom live on a houseboat called ‘The Pea’ in a small German town. Ever since her father split, Lola has vowed not to cut her hair and wants nothing to change until he returns. Frustrated, losing friends, driving her mother (who is ready to move on!) crazy, finally Lola meets an intriguing new friend named Rebin, who sometimes disappears. Checking into Rebin’s mysterious behavior, Lola discovers his Kurdish family is struggling to get by as undocumented workers. Together, Lola and Rebin navigate their colliding cultural worlds with humor and learn to trust in their future in spite of it all.
Trailer. Runtime: 90mins
Fun family film addressing fear of "other."
Shana: The Wolf’s Music
Since the loss of her mother, 13 year-old Shana has hoped for a sign. Shana hangs daily letters to her mother upon an ancestor tree, watched by a white wolf. When her grieving father loses himself in alcohol, Shana quits school and stops playing violin, the gift she shared with her mother. A new teacher discovers Shana’s vulnerability and talent, and takes her in as her protégé. But it’s not until Shana makes an unexpected quest that she is able to reconnect with her ancestors and find herself as she lets her mother go. Filmed by a Swiss director with the Salish People of the Creeks, Lower Nicola Indian Band near British Columbia.
Trailer. Runtime: 80mins
I love movies about American (north American in this case, Canadian) directed by people who are not from this continent. Beautifully shot, well acted by Shana, but most of the supporting actors are novices and it shows. Worth seeing, though.
Bread and Butter
Thirty year old Amelia Karinsky, obsessed with her virginity, struggles to take control of her life when two emotionally arrested men fall for her. Bread and Butter chronicles how she learns that independence is more important than a mismatched romance.
Trailer. Runtime: 90mins
The director spoke after the film and said this film is her answer to her belief that all rom-coms are harmful to women. I agree with her opinion and affirm her answer.
Letter to the King
Five peoples meeting in Norway outside the refugee camp are given permission to leave the snowy no-man’s-land and travel to Oslo, a welcome change in an otherwise monotonous life. But we soon realize that all of them have a purpose with this trip. All five will be confronted by their destinies as they discover happiness, suffer humiliation, find love and seek revenge. Their five stories are bound together by a letter, written by eighty-three year old Mirza who wants to personally hand the letter to the King of Norway.
Trailer. Runtime: 75mins
Starts out slowly and it's a little confusing. But everything comes together by the end. Beautiful and moving.
The Grump
A stubborn 80-year-old farmer from rural Finland is forced to spend some time in the capital where he rants about the modern world. Director Dome Karukoski creates an entertaining comedy of bad behavior. The Grump is both an old-school Everyman and an extreme force of nature—politically incorrect and guilty of recounting the good ol’ days when “children weren’t spoiled and people didn’t spend money on useless things.”
Trailer. Runtime: 104mins
Black Panthers: Vanguards of the Revolution
Whether they were right or wrong, good or bad, more than 40 years after the Black Panther Party was founded in Oakland, California, the group, & its leadership, remain powerful and enduring figures in our imagination. The Black Panthers weaves voices from varied perspectives who lived this story—police, FBI informants, journalists, white supporters, and detractors, those who remained loyal to the party & those who left it.
Website and trailer. Runtime: 116mins
We have so much to learn from history. They're fundraising for a fall theatrical release (and are close to their goal as of this writing so give if you can), and will be on PBS next February for the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Black Panther Party. Don't miss this one. And don't wait for next February to see it.
Marie’s Story
At the turn of the 19th century, a humble artisan and his wife have a daughter, Marie, who is born deaf & blind, is unable to communicate. Desperate to find a connection to their daughter and avoid an asylum, the Heurtins send 14-year-old Marie to the Larnay Institute, a school for deaf girls. Sister Marguerite sees in Marie potential, and despite her Mother Superior’s skepticism, vows to bring the her out of the darkness into which she was born. Marie’s Story recounts the courageous journey of a young nun and the lives she would change forever.
Trailer Runtime: 95mins
Lovely film. ASL is directly related to French Sign Language, much more so than to British Sign Language. So not only could I understand most of the French in the film, I could understand a lot of the signing. Coming to theaters May 1.
They Are All Dead
Lupe (Elena Anaya) is a former punk rock star who now lives in a valium induced agoraphobic state, slowly losing her touch with her teenage son. Lupe’s mother (Angélica Aragón) sees little option but to solicit the help of Diego—Lupe’s deceased brother and bandmate—by way of a Day of the Dead ritual.
Trailer Runtime: 93mins
No spoilers. But this is another film that went to a place no American film would ever go. I had to confirm my understanding of what happened in the film with another moviegoer because I wasn't sure I didn't misconstrue the uncomfortable meaning.
The Second Mother
Val is the kind of live-in housekeeper who takes her work seriously. She wears a crisp maid's uniform while serving perfect canapés; she serves her wealthy São Paulo employers day in and day out while lovingly nannying their teenage son whom she's raised since toddlerhood. Everyone and everything in the elegant house has its place until one day, Val’s ambitious, clever daughter Jessica arrives from Val’s hometown to take the college entrance exams. Jessica’s confident, youthful presence upsets the unspoken yet strict balance of power in the household; Val must decide where her allegiances lie and what she's willing to sacrifice.
Trailer Runtime:114mins
Another of my top four films. I loved this one. And think the English title is a better one than the Portuguese title, which was "Que Horas Ela Volta?" Which roughly translates to "When will she return?"
Pervert Park
In St. Petersburg, Florida there is a trailer park that 120 convicted sex offenders call home. The Florida Justice Transitions, otherwise known as “Pervert Park,” was founded by a mother of a convicted sex offender who couldn't find a place to live after his release. Frida and Lasse Barkfors’ unflinching new film is about the people no one wants as a neighbor. It follows the every day life of the sex offenders as they struggle to reintegrate into society and gives us a chance to understand who they are and how the destructive cycle of sexual abuse can be broken.
Trailer Runtime: 77mins
Film about an American thing (criminal justice and sex offenders) but done by people who are not from here. Just wow. Going where no American would ever go.
Welcome to Leith
White neo-Nazi tries to make Leith, SD into a whites only town.
Trailer Runtime: 95mins.
Also an instructional video on what to do when white supremacists try to take over your small town.
1001 Grams
With the kind of wry humor that we’ve come to expect from Norwegian director Bent Hamer (Home for Christmas, MSPIFF 2011; Kitchen Stories), 1001 Grams offers a minimalist meditation on life’s magical abstractions. At the Norwegian Institute of Weights and Measures, Norway’s kilo, kept under lock and key, must be transported to Paris to be calibrated. Marie is put in charge of traveling with the kilo as she contemplates obtuse scientific quantifications with more personal concepts of love, life, and death.
Trailer Runtime: 93mins
This might be disappointing if you're unfamiliar with Norwegian humor. It's quiet and slow. But I like it.
The Summer of Sangaile
Seventeen-year-old Sangail is fascinated by stunt planes. Afraid of heights, she has never dared to even enter in one of the cockpits at a summer aeronautical show. Nearby her parents’ lakeside villa, she meets Auste, a local girl of her age who, unlike Sangaile, lives her life to the full with creativity and daring. As the two girls become lovers, Sangaile allows Auste to discover her most intimate secret, and finds in her teenage love the only person to truly encourage her interest in flying.
Trailer Runtime: 88mins
This one barely made it onto my list because it's a little bit exploitative. Watch at your own peril.
Accused
Paula van der Oest’s Accused, shortlisted for Best Foreign Film Oscar, turns a compelling true story into an engaging, heart-pounding thriller. Neonatal nurse Lucia has a knack for quieting crying babies but is scorned by her colleagues for being independent and private. After being present at one inexplicable death too many, Lucia gets caught up in hospital politics and a very ugly witch hunt. Ariane Schluter gives a gripping and down-to-earth performance that makes this drama riveting from start to finish.
Trailer Runtime: 97mins
Loved Ariane Schluter's performance.
The Keeping Room
When you hear “home invasion thriller,” you don’t think Civil War period piece. But The Keeping Room willfully bends expectations by mixing genres—-predatory horror, revisionist western, feminist drama, and brutal cat-and-mouse thriller. The story focuses on the violent resilience and dramatic camaraderie of three Southern women as their home is besieged during the purges at the close of the American Civil War. Forced to defend their land and fight for their lives, the women take up arms against oppressors, shattering gender and genre conventions in the process.
Clip (not trailer) Runtime: 95mins
I was on the edge of my seat just about the whole time. Had to close my eyes too.
