Thursday 28 January 2016

15. INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL WATCH DOCS (2015)

THE FEAR OF 13

Watchable. It's a monologue full of theatrical expression by a sentenced criminal which highlights how inefficient the American legal system is. So while the form is not exactly to my taste, the legal battle is unsettling.

Tuesday 26 January 2016

15. INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL WATCH DOCS (2015)

A SYRIAN LOVE STORY

Watchable. I expected to learn more about Syrian politics. Instead that part of the film is terribly obscure. What makes viewing bearable is just the story of how the protagonists' relationship developed.

Monday 25 January 2016

15. INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL WATCH DOCS (2015)

PROUD TO BE BRITISH (1973)
BEHIND THE RENT STRIKE (1979)

Watchable. Both are moderately interesting historically - portraying the times when Britain was white. Other than that they're quite skippable.

L'HOMME QUI REPARE LES FEMMES (THE MAN WHO MENDS WOMEN: THE WRATH OF HIPPOCRATES)

Recommended. An insightful film about the plague of rapes in the eastern Congo.

Trivia: Ben Affleck is one of Eastern Congo Initiative donors.

Tuesday 19 January 2016

Another backlog to clear (partially):

LOVE THE COOPERS

Watchable.  Supposedly a comedy but hardly funny, sad rather. Another conflicted family full of people with weird habits. It didn't make me laugh even once.


WARSAW KOREAN FILM FESTIVAL (2015)

SNOWPIERCER

Watchable. It's like "Soylent Green" on Trans-Siberian. Full of class struggle. I was curious of the vision of the future but it's just a class B movie.

CAT FUNERAL

Recommended. A very pleasant drama/rom-com with a cat (dead or alive) in the background. Several funny scenes e.g. the cat's reaction to people eating his food or parents arguing above their baby's pram: "Of course it's all daddy's fault!" "No, it's mummy's fault!" At the meeting after the screening I suggested to the director he should make a sequel about dogs which are easier to film.


15. INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL WATCH DOCS (2015)

NO PLACE TO HIDE: THE REHTAEH PARSONS STORY

THE HUNTING GROUND

Recommended. Both films convey the same message: 95% rape claims are genuine which means 95% presumed victims tell the truth and only 5% rapists do. The thing is it's perpetrators who get authorities' trust! Statistics of false claims are just like for any other crime but no other crime victims are treated that appallingly. 1 out of 4 or 5 women gets raped. They are severely victimized later while the perpetrators are genuinely cared about. No one worries about the impact of the crime on victims' lives but authorities worry about the outcome for the criminal! The same situation in Canada and the US as elsewhere in the world.

"The Hunting Ground" has been nominated for an Oscar for... a song.