nonton JiFFest

I spent most of my evening of last week watching JiFFest films. It was a treat, but I hardly open my eyes during the latest screening of Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. And Mita was such a good friend. I only went out with her this year although I met a few friends at the theatres.

They are, to name a few, Le Grand Voyage, a film about an old Moroccan father who believes that the end of his life is near, and there is nothing he wants more than to make a holy pilgrimage. The Constant Gardener, an intelligent and moving political thriller that should be held right up there with "All The Presidents Men" and "The Killing Fields" as one of the best political thrillers ever made. Taegukgi (The Brotherhood of War) from South Korea with familiar actors of Korean drama series is one of many (anti-)war movies, yet is not only showing the situation from the South Korean view, but also from the "other side". I was very surprised, that the director showed also the crime that his own government committed to their own people at this time. Shouf-Shouf Habibi! (Hush Hush Baby), a film about cultural differences, tradition and change, fighting spirit and deceit, love and hate. It is a universal story of dreamers looking for themselves. Whisky, an Uruguay movie, not really a satire, but a touching drama about a group of people that want nothing more from their lives than the shallowness of routine. Few documentaries i.e. Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism, Big Brother in the Middle East, Comandante a documentary about Fidel Castro by Oliver Stone, A Decent Factory, The Company we Keep, and The Corporation, a bit overwhelming but compelling, fair and even-handed documentaries. And for the last documentary, the director was at the theatre and we had a Q & A session. As a final show, there was The Downfall (Der Untergang) an impressive achievement, realistic and shocking film about Hitler.