TIFF09—A History of Israeli Cinema / Historia Shel Hakolnoah Israeli

Raphaël Nadjari’s A History of Israeli Cinema / Historia Shel Hakolnoah Israeli, Pts. 1 & 2, played at the Berlin Film Forum, then screened at this year’s San Francisco Jewish Film Festival (SFJFF), where Janis Plotkin wrote in her program capsule: “Israel as a nation is far younger than motion pictures; in fact, its modern identity has been formed in parallel with the medium of film. Israeli films, when seen unfolding over time as they do in this engrossing retrospective documentary, reveal a cinematic national identity that encapsulates the emotional reality of a country often torn by ethnic, religious and political conflicts.”

A methodical albeit sprawling three and a half-hour inventory, I was at first put off by this documentary’s somewhat nationalistic intensity, though—upon a second viewing—I could more easily digest its voluminous information, and came to appreciate—as Plotin has contextualized—how the history of Israel and the history of cinema have, in effect, grown up alongside each other. That being said, however, an appetite is required for this feast. This is one of the few instances where I will admit that watching a film on screener proved advantageous, allowing me the opportunity to take a break now and then when oversatiated. As an in-cinema experience, I’m not quite sure how comfortably this will play (which is not to say that a film’s efficacy should be determined by its comfort). At Variety, Alissa Simon found it “fascinating and frustrating” and complained the film was “structured using a dialectical method that denies a satisfying synthesis of ideas.” At the San Francisco Bay Guardian, Dennis Harvey compliments that the “hazy” narrative of how the Israeli cinema industry got to where it is today “clears up quite a bit after three and a half hours.” “Its epic length,” Thom Powers writes succinctly in his TIFF capsule, “is earned by having a lot to say.” As Powers further attests: “The documentary's two halves are as distinct from each other as the historical periods they represent. Each part can be viewed independently, but a taste of one will surely give you the appetite for the other.” If I had to play Solomon, however, I’d probably recommend the second portion over the first, simply because the profiled films are more current if not relevant and reflect my own vested participation in SFJFF’s programming of the last decade.

I’m definitely glad I caught A History of Israeli Cinema at SFJFF because—in solidarity with John Greyson’s boycott of TIFF’s CTC (City to City) program—I doubt I would have caught it in Toronto. In fact, were it not for the boycott and schedule conflicts, I would have likewise been interested in Assi Dayan’s Life According to Agfa (1992), highlighted in the documentary. Hopefully, along with several of the other referenced films, these will become available through revival screenings here and there in less contentious atmospheres. Cameron Bailey’s official response to John Greyson’s open letter of protest suggests that—by Greyson’s reasoning—“no films programmed within this series would have met his approval, no matter what they contained.” Greyson had complained: “Why are only Jewish Israeli filmmakers included? Why are there no voices from the refugee camps and Gaza (or Toronto for that matter), where Tel Aviv's displaced Palestinians now live?”

Bailey has made a respectable effort to defuse Greyson’s insinuation that exclusion of the Palestinian perspective implicates TIFF in Israeli propaganda. He points to other programs at TIFF that feature Palestinian, Egyptian and Lebanese filmmakers; but, again, these are not the programs to which Greyson objects. As the programmer of CTC, Bailey defends his focus on Tel Aviv: “I was attracted to Tel Aviv as our inaugural city because the films being made there explore and critique the city from many different perspectives. Furthermore, the City to City series was conceived and curated entirely independently. There was no pressure from any outside source. Contrary to rumors or mistaken media reports, this focus is a product only of TIFF’s programming decisions. We value that independence and would never compromise it.”

Despite Bailey’s assertion of the independent conception and curation of TIFF’s Spotlight on Tel Aviv, he does not substantively address Greyson’s concern that Israeli Consul General Amir Gissin openly expressed in an interview with the Canadian Jewish News that TIFF’s Spotlight is the culmination of his year-long Brand Israel campaign, which has included bus/radio/TV ads and an exhibition of the Dead Sea Scrolls at the Royal Ontario Museum. Gissen said Toronto was chosen as a test-city for Brand Israel by Israel's Foreign Ministry, and thanked Astral, MIJO and Canwest for donating the million-dollar budget. Greyson reminded that Astral is a long-time TIFF sponsor, and Canwest owners' Asper Foundation donated $500,000 to TIFF. Gissin boasted in the Canadian Jewish News article: "We've got a real product to sell to Canadians... The lessons learned from Toronto will inform the worldwide launch of Brand Israel in the coming years.”

“[M]any questions remain for me about its origins, its funding, its programming, its sponsors,” Greyson stated to the TIFF heads of programming. “You say it was initiated in November 2008 ... but then why would Gissen seem to be claiming it as part of his campaign four months earlier? You've told me that TIFF isn't officially a part of Brand Israel—okay—but why haven't you clarified this publicly? …Why is TIFF accepting and/or encouraging the support of the Israeli government and consulate, a direct flaunting of the boycott, with filmmaker plane tickets, receptions, parties and evidently the Mayor of Tel Aviv opening the spotlight? Why does this feel like a propaganda campaign?”

As cogent as Greyson’s critcisms might be, in all fairness to the CTC program and A History of Israeli Cinema specifically, its second volume poignantly references Palestinian concerns as inflected through cinema. In fact, I would say the documentary accurately informs how these concerns have been ongoing and evolving for some time, often with films guiding government policy and public opinion. Cultural boycotts within the cinematic community itself might merely be a next stage.

Equally, though not specifically referenced in A History of Israeli Cinema, Eytan Fox’s The Bubble—which has been included in the CTC lineup—recontextualizes the naïve “Romeo & Juliet” (i.e., Jewish & Arab) romances popular in Israel during the ‘80s by queering the conflict as a “Romeo & Romeo” romance. Interestingly enough, when The Bubble screened in San Francisco at our 2007 Frameline Festival, I asked director Eytan Fox his thoughts regarding the protests staged against Frameline's acceptance of financial contributions from the Israeli Consulate to secure his attendance at the festival. He answered at that time: “I can understand why people got upset that it was sponsored by the Israeli consulate. I see that happening again and again with people who are upset with Israel, with its policies. They don't like the fact that it's a formal thing, that Israel the country, the state, whatever, is supporting [the film]. It's usually Palestinians or people connected to Palestinian causes or just people who are critical of Israel's policies. I understand where these people are coming from; but, in this case, in a film like The Bubble, they should read what the film is about, and realize it can support their cause.”

Israeli filmmaker Udi Aloni—who supports the Canadian protest and is calling on Israeli artists to take the same steps—addressed a letter to Eytan Fox and Bubble co-creator Gal Uchovsky, asking: “Are Israeli artists [Foreign Minister Avigdor] Lieberman’s new foreign service cadets?” At Haaretz, Tahel Frosh reports: “According to Aloni, Israeli artists need to rethink their participation in the festival. ‘Wherever they appear they must decide if they are representatives of the Foreign Ministry or of an uncompromising opposition to occupation and racism in Israel,’ he said. ‘Israeli directors don’t have to be defensive and ask “Why are they attacking us?” but say to the Canadian directors: “We're with you on this. We don’t represent Lieberman; we represent the opposition.” There are only two options. It’s no longer possible to shoot and cry.’ ”

Eytan Fox’s hope that audiences will focus on the content of his film tracks with Bailey’s defense that—despite the absence of a Palestinian filmmaker in the CTC program—content and form do matter to the TIFF programmers. He encouraged audiences to see the films before passing judgment; to not denounce the series before seeing the films. Timing, however, seems to be trumping content in this particular instance. Bemoaning the fate of the films with their festival audiences does not sufficiently distract from what feels like ill-conceived and mistimed programming. The films will survive and be seen elsewhere but—at the 2009 Toronto International—they might have to weather diluted enthusiasm.

Cross-published on Twitch.

TIFF09—Covered

There are 56 definitions offered for the word “cover” in the Random House Unabridged Dictionary (2nd edition, 1993), with the 13th definition applied to journalism (where a journalist is assigned to “cover” a story) and the 51st definition applied to music (where a musician is said to “cover” another’s song). Immediately following the musical definition, is one for mathematics wherein a “cover” refers to “a collection of sets having the property that a given set is contained in the union of the sets in the collection.” That 52nd definition—along with its journalistic and musical variants—could equally apply to John Greyson’s experimental short Covered, which is at once intricately journalistic, musical and mathematic.

Originally slated in TIFF’s Short Cuts Canada program and billed as “an inspired experimental documentary on the violent closing of the first Queer Sarajevo Festival”, Greyson has pulled Covered from the official selection at TIFF in protest against their inaugural City-to-City Spotlight on Tel Aviv and in solidarity with the Palestinian call for a boycott against the Israeli government. Greyson has, instead, made Covered available online at Vimeo for the duration of the festival (until September 19th, 2009). Greyson likewise pulled his film Fig Trees from this year’s Tel Aviv GLBT Festival.
Greyson’s principled protest has been laid out in his letter to festival heads Piers Handling, Noah Cowan and Cameron Bailey. His concern that TIFF’s cooperation with the Brand Israel campaign (launched in Toronto) ignores such socio-political realities as “the devastating Gaza massacre of eight months ago, resulting in over 1000 civilian deaths; the election of a Prime Minister accused of war crimes; the aggressive extension of illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian lands; the accelerated destruction of Palestinian homes and orchards; the viral growth of the totalitarian security wall, and the further enshrining of the check-point system” leads to his criticism that “this isn't the right year to celebrate Brand Israel, or to demonstrate an ostrich-like indifference to the realities (cinematic and otherwise) of the region, or to pointedly ignore the international economic boycott campaign against Israel.” Greyson questions whether “such an uncritical celebration of Tel Aviv right now [isn’t] akin to celebrating Montgomery buses in 1963, California grapes in 1969, Chilean wines in 1973, Nestles infant formula in 1984, or South African fruit in 1991?”; boycott campaigns that “were specific and strategic to their historic moments, and certainly complex.”

Covered itself is a complex intertext that combines split screen imagery and multiple visual and aural registers to examine the brutal homophobic violence levied against the first Queer Sarajevo Festival. Greyson situates his examination through avian folklore, covers of popular songs that feature bird imagery, and his own “cover” of Susan Sontag’s cultural criticism. This last element—excerpts from an essay by Susan Sontag about cultural responses to war, entitled “Covered: the Sound of Solidarity”—is perhaps the film’s most intriguing critique and edges the film towards an alterity that nears sheer poetry. Greyson’s self-reflexive and appropriative homage to Sontag is encapsulated perfectly in his poised quote: “Covers must walk a line between tribute and treachery, paying heartfelt homage even as they betray the author with a musical kiss.”

Though it’s unfortunate that I’m not able to see Covered on a large screen, and though I appreciate being able to view the film on Vimeo, I respect Greyson’s commitment to use a cultural boycott to address his protest against cultural propaganda. If—as has been suggested in Raphaël Nadjari’s A History of Israeli Cinema—cinema anticipates (or should anticipate) awareness of the need for socio-political change, then current controversies such as Greyson’s withdrawl of Covered from TIFF09, and the recent uproar over Rachel at this year’s San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, belie changes anxious to unfold.

Michael Sicinski's review of Covered can be found here (scroll to the bottom). “Using split-screen and juxtaposing taxidermy exhibits with amateur YouTube performances of favorite songs, Greyson enacts a dialectic between official, institutional culture and the way actual individuals make things matter on a visceral level. ...Greyson demonstrates the awkward power of amateur cover-versions of these songs, since they both pay homage to fame and shadow it with rank normalcy.”

Cross-published on Twitch.

TIFF09—Latinbeat

After thoroughly familiarizing myself with the Masters and Discovery programs—from which I’ll select most of the films I’ll see at the Toronto International—I then apply myself to thematic preoccupations: namely, coverage of cinema from the Global South, starting with Latin America, which is easier said than done, especially these days with funding angling in from multiple sources, many not Latin American. How then to determine exactly what is a Latin American film? Location trumps over language so I am going to immediately disqualify films that are exclusively from Spain and Portugal; but that’s not to dismiss diasporic narratives played out in either of those countries. Films are alphabetically arranged by title, rather than country of origin.

Backyard / El Traspatio (Carlos Carrera, Mexico). Official website (Spanish). Sometime in 1996, a terrifying phenomenon surfaced in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. In this now-infamous city, young women were regularly murdered. Most often, no arrests were made nor charges laid for the killings. This ongoing tragedy remains a painful stain on Mexican history and has been the subject of numerous films, articles and books, including Lourdes Portillo’s 2001 documentary Señorita extraviada (Missing Young Woman), in which Portillo sought to give voice to the many victims and to understand how these awful crimes could take place. In her recent onstage interview with Variety critic John Anderson at the 52nd San Francisco International Film Festival, Portillo detailed the death threats she received after making Señorita extraviada and the effect it had on her. Similar threats were levied at the cast and crew of Backyard, as outlined in Guy Adam’s report to The Independent: "Last year, the makers of … El Traspatio (The Backyard) reported that an actress from Ciudad Juarez, where they were shooting, had found a slaughtered lamb on her doorstep, with a death threat pinned to it. She was replaced, for her own safety. Several other crew members on the film, about local drug murders, reported receiving sinister anonymous phone calls." Director/screenwriter Carrera is perhaps best known for El crimen del Padre Amaro (2002), which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. IMDb. YouTube trailer. CWC.

Crab Trap [see Discovery entry].

The Dirty Saints / Los Santos Sucios (Luis Ortega, Argentina). Luis Ortega’s apocalyptic third feature follows a group of five survivors as they embark on a journey that will force them to face their fears, dreams and longings in their quest for salvation across the Fijman River. As Diana Sanchez writes in her program capsule: "Ortega's approach is anarchic and unexpected. Incorporating influences from Tarkovsky's Stalker, the film likewise transcends science fiction, working as a commentary on humankind's deepest anxieties and questions about our very existence. Ultimately, though, The Dirty Saints is a film about spiritual and physical exodus. Our five travellers decide to cross to the other side of the river, preferring to discover the unknown rather than wait on Earth, in a Godot-like stasis, for nothing to happen and no one to arrive." IMDb. VAN. World Premiere.

Gigante [see Discovery entry].

Hiroshima (Pablo Stoll, Uruguay/Colombia/ Argentina/Spain). Juan sings in a rock band, but he doesn’t talk much. He also works at a bakery during the night and sleeps most of the day. This is the story of one of his days and what happens when he wakes up. Hiroshima is a silent musical, based on real facts. As Diana Sanchez historicizes in her program capsule: "Hiroshima is Uruguayan director Pablo Stoll's first solo feature. Critically acclaimed for his debut film, 25 Watts, which he followed with the sublime hit Whisky (both co-directed with the late Juan Pablo Rebella), Stoll now returns to filmmaking with a completely different piece: a (mostly) silent musical. …The film displays the talents of an emerging group of filmmakers working in Uruguay today. A number of these artists have cameos in Stoll's film: Adrián Biniez, who presents his debut, Gigante, at the Festival this year; Federico Veiroj, whose film Acné screened here last year; and Manuel Nieto Zas, director of The Dog Pound, which screened two years prior in 2006. These filmmakers gained their early experiences in cinema working on Stoll and Rebella's initial two features, and it's inspiring to see them all participating in Stoll's first independent effort. Stoll is an important name in the flourishing Uruguayan film industry, and his latest film is both a testament to his national cinema's success and a poignant tribute to the late Rebella." VIS. World Premiere.

Hotel Atlantico [see Discovery entry].

Huacho (Alejandro Fernández Almendras, Chile). On a long day at the end of summer, four members of a southern Chilean peasant family struggle to adapt to the changing world in which they live in, a world where a video game or a new dress can be as precious as a liter of milk or a glass of wine. A new, global world where boundaries between tradition and modernity are fading and values are quickly changing. As Diana Sanchez details in her program capsule: "An apt title for the film, huacho means 'bastard' or 'having no father' but can also mean 'abandoned.' The family members are left behind by a modern way of life that does not include them. Faced with problems like electrical shortages, low wages and discrimination, they work hard just to stay afloat. Rather than intertwine the narratives, Almendras follows the characters one by one throughout their day, showing us the adversity each faces. …Following in the tradition of much of the recent neo-realist cinema from Latin America by directors like Lisandro Alonso and Adrián Caetano, Almendras offers an original and affecting quasi-documentary look at these lives, never falling into sentimentality. The humanity and respect he affords his characters is evident throughout the film, and he gives a voice to so many of those who keep old traditions alive." As reported earlier on The Evening Class, Huacho received completion funds from the Global Film Initiative. Dave Hudson has gathered the Cannes reviews at The Daily @ IFC. IMDb. YouTube trailer. CWC. North American Premiere.

Jean Charles (Henrique Goldman, Brazil/United Kingdom). This is the tragic true story of Jean Charles de Menezes, the innocent Brazilian shot dead by British police in 2005 at the height of the London terrorist alerts. As Diana Sanchez writes in her program capsule: "Goldman quietly captures the struggles and small victories of this vibrant transplanted community. Jean Charles is at once a powerful portrait of tragedy and a celebration of one family's quest to persevere in his memory." IMDb. YouTube trailer. CWC.

Northless [see Discovery entry].

Presumed Guilty / Presunto culpable (Roberto Hernández & Geoffrey Smith, Mexico). Presumed Guilty narrates the story of José Antonio Zúñiga Rodriguez, nicknamed Toño, who was mistakenly accused of murder and condemned to 20 years in jail for being poor and in the wrong place at the wrong time. His case would have been one of many unfortunate stories, but lawyers Roberto Hernández and Layda Negrete decided to get involved and publicize the injustice. As Diana Sanchez explains in her program notes: "Turning the lens on a dysfunctional legal system, Hernández and Smith show just how difficult it is to achieve any sort of justice. At a time when there is a strong push for the death penalty in Mexico, Presumed Guilty is important not only as a document of the system's flaws but as a vehicle for change." IMDb. RTR.

Rabia (Sebastián Cordero, Spain/Colombia). Rabia is a romantic thriller about a construction worker on the run for killing his foreman who hides in the mansion where his girlfriend works as a housekeeper. As Diana Sanchez writes in her program capsule: "Rabia is an incisive commentary on the frustration of Latin Americans living in Spain. Victims of racism and paternalism, they must endure humiliation in order to keep their jobs, send money home and attain a better future. Often robbed of dignity, many are forced to live like José María—hidden, the unwanted other in Spanish daily life." Cordero adapted his script for Rabia from the eponymous novel by Argentine writer Sergio Bizzio, whose short story "Cinismo" was the basis for XXY (2007). IMDb. CWC. World Premiere.

The Secret in Their Eyes / El Secreto de sus ojos (Juan José Campanella, Argentina/Spain). Official website (Spanish); includes trailer. Benjamín Espósito, a secretary of a court in Buenos Aires, is about to retire and decides to write a novel based on a case that deeply affected him 30 years ago. Espósito’s tale crosses Argentina’s turbulent years during the 1970s, when nothing was necessarily what it seemed to be. As Diana Sanchez writes in her program capsule: "Campanella's tightly paced feature pairs smart dialogue with powerful, moving performances. [Ricardo] Darín and [Soledad] Villamil, two of Argentina's best actors, bring an electric sense of unspoken longing to their scenes together, an intimacy of mutual suppression." IMDb. SP. International Premiere.

La Soga [see Discovery entry].

To the Sea / Alamar (Pedro González-Rubio, Mexico). Before their inevitable farewell, a young Mexican man and his half Italian son, Natan, embark on an epic journey to the second-largest coral reef on the planet. VIS. World Premiere.

The Wind Journeys / Los viajes del viento (Ciro Guerra, Colombia). Official website synopsis: "Ignacio Carrillo traveled all his life throughout the villages and regions of northern Colombia, carrying music and traditional songs on his accordion, a legendary instrument that is said to be cursed, because it once belonged to the devil. As he became older, he got married and settled with his wife in a small town, leaving his nomadic life behind. When she suddenly dies, he decides to make one last journey to the Northern edge of the country, to return the accordion to the man who gave it to him, his teacher and mentor, so he will never play it again. On the way, he is joined by Fermín, a teenager who dreams of becoming a juglar like Ignacio, and to travel all around playing the accordion like he did. Tired of his loneliness, Ignacio accepts to be accompanied, and together they start the journey from Majagual, Sucre, to Taroa, beyond the Guajira desert, finding on the way the enormous diversity of the Caribbean culture and surviving all kinds of adventures. Ignacio will try to convince Fermín to take a different path in his life, having learned that his only led to solitude and sadness, but he will have to face the fact that destiny has different plans for him and his pupil." As Diana Sanchez writes in her program capsule: "This road movie, viewed from atop a donkey's back, is a story of passion. …Heartfelt without ever becoming sentimental, The Wind Journeys has a pure and honest simplicity that makes it wonderfully compelling." At The Daily @ IFC, David Hudson has monitored the critical wake from Cannes, where The Wind Journeys participated in the Un Certain Regard section. Wikipedia. IMDb. YouTube trailer. CWC. North American Premiere.

08/24/09 UPDATE: At indieWIRE, Eugene Hernandez has dispatched from Montevideo regarding the current status of Uruguayan film and the distribution of Latin American film in general. It's a sobering read, which has bolstered my decision to focus on Latin American fare at Toronto even more.

TIFF09—DISCOVERY

I balance my satisfaction with the tried and true by exploring the up-and-coming auteurs in TIFF's Discovery Program. Feedback encouraged.

The Angel / Engelen (Margreth Olin, Norway/Sweden/Finland). NFI website. A young mother (played brilliantly by Maria Bonnevie) struggles with a history of drug abuse in this exquisitely rendered and deeply compassionate piece, the first fiction film from one of Norway's most respected documentary filmmakers. IMDb. YouTube trailer. World Premiere.

Applause / Applaus (Martin Pieter Zandvliet, Denmark). Official website. Paprika Steen delivers a tour-de-force performance in this devastating drama about an alcoholic actress trying to put her life back together. At Twitch, Todd Brown notes the film's acclaim at the 44th edition of the Karlov Vary International (where Applause won the non-statutory Europa Cinemas Label) and observes that—despite the film's "somewhat standard plot line"—it is fully redeemed by Paprika Steen's performance (which won her Karlov Vary's Best Actress award). He offers the Danish trailer. Dispatching to Screen Daily, Dan Fainaru concurs: "Steen has just the right kind of mature intensity needed for the part, fearlessly plunging into its darker corners and successfully invoking both sympathy but also mistrust in her audience. Though the script isn't always challenging enough for the actress, she is nonetheless Applause's main asset. …Steen gives the character all she has, making her abrasive, manipulative, fiercely egocentric, but at the same time highly vulnerable. Constantly in need of reassurance, she is terrified to deal with her age and face up to herself in the mirror or in other people's eyes." Unfortunately, Fainaru adds that Applause tends to "lag and soften" in the film's second half. IMDb. YouTube excerpt. North American Premiere.

Bare Essence of Life / Urutora mirakuru rabu sutôrî (Satoko Yokohama, Japan). In this original fusion of black comedy, surreal fantasy and feel-good drama about a mentally challenged hero, Japanese heartthrob Kenichi Matsuyama plays a strange farmer who finds an unexpected path to the miracle of love. An unheard-of romance, it is the story of the explosive, reckless love of an eccentric young farmer and a nursery teacher from Tokyo who is unable to overcome the trauma of losing her boyfriend in a car accident. Giovanna Fulvi writes in her program capsule that Bare Essence of Life is "filmed with true empathy" and that it "renders a vivid portrait of rural Japan." IMDb. International Premiere.

Beautiful Kate (Rachel Ward, Australia). Official website. In order to make peace with his combative, dying father, a writer must return to his childhood home and confront long-suppressed memories of the mysterious deaths of his brother and twin sister. Wikipedia notes: "Rachel Ward adapted the script from a 1982 novel of the same name by Newton Thornburg; this was the first novel by Thornburg used for a movie since Cutter's Way (1981)." The film was shot on location in the Flinders Ranges and premiered in June 2009 at the Sydney Film Festival, where Frank Hatherly dispatched to Screen Daily: "Actress Rachel Ward's debut feature is a handsome and intense love story, a gothic tale of buried guilt and family dysfunction set in Australia's outback. With lashings of sex played out amidst long-buried secrets, Beautiful Kate is awash with Ward's own spiky, brittle dialogue, delivered with relish by her cast." IMDb. YouTube trailer. International Premiere.

A Brand New Life / Ye Haeng Ja / Une Vie Toute Neuve (Ounie Lecomte, South Korea/ France). An impressive debut by French-Korean filmmaker Ounie Lecomte who, inspired by her childhood, recounts the emotional journey of a little girl abandoned by her father in an orphanage. Cannes synopsis: "Seoul, 1975. Jinhee is 9. Her father has placed her in an orphanage run by Catholic nuns. The little girl has to deal with the ordeal of separation and the long wait for a new family. As the seasons pass, the departures of adopted children allow her to glimpse the dream that awaits her but shatter the friendships that she has just formed. Jinhee resists because she knows that the promise of a brand-new life will separate her for good from those she loves." Complaining that the film's imperfect DV-to-35mm transfer minimizes the film's impact, Variety's Rob Nelson nonetheless commends the film as "an admirably un-manipulative drama about the impermanence of relationships and the resilience of kids in the face of it." Nelson adds: "Excruciatingly sad at points, Lecomte's film is nonetheless possessed of a pleasingly light touch that suits her tale of a buoyant girl's survival. It proceeds at an agreeably slow pace, adhering to emotional details at every turn." At Screen Daily, Jonathan Romney writes: "A heart-tugger rather than a full-on tearjerker, A Brand New Life is a sure-footed story of a childhood abandoned, and a striking debut by Korean-born French director Ounie Lecomte." AsianMediaWiki. IMDb. North American Premiere.

Crab Trap / El Vuelco del Cangrejo (Oscar Ruiz Navia, Colombia/France). Treading a fine line between documentary and fiction, Crab Trap is a meditative look at daily life in a remote village on the Pacific coast of Colombia that explores the nuances of social and racial relations in one of the most isolated areas of the country. As Diana Sanchez writes in her program capsule: "Oscar Ruiz Navia's debut feature captures a part of Colombia rarely seen on film, the black communities of its Pacific coast. …Elegantly enhancing the distance between the locals and the foreigners, Ruiz Navia uses non-professional actors from the area to contrast with the two outsider characters, who are played by professionals. Crab Trap registers the languid pace of these remote villages while alerting us to the oncoming clash with modernity and how it is beginning to disastrously affect the lives of local peoples." As I reported earlier on The Evening Class, Crab Trap was provided completion funding by the Global Film Initiative in 2007. World Premiere.

The Day God Walked Away (aka Rwanda April 7, 1994) / Le Jour où Dieu est parti en voyage (Philippe van Leeuw, Belgium). Offering a new take on the Rwandan genocide, acclaimed cinematographer van Leeuw's directorial debut recreates the first-person experience of one woman as the horror descends. IMDb. World Premiere.

The Day Will Come / Es kommt der Tag (Susanne Schneider, Germany/France). Thirty years after giving her daughter up for adoption to join the terrorist underground in Germany, Judith is tracked down by her now adult daughter Alice to a vineyard in the Alsace where she is living with a new family and a new identity. IMDb. International Premiere.

The Disappearance of Alice Creed (J Blakeson, United Kingdom). Two ex-cons kidnap a woman, but the tables turn and turn again in this tight, smart tale. This film is a terrific little thriller starring Eddie Marsan, Martin Compston and Gemma Arterton. IMDb. World Premiere.

Eamon (Margaret Corkery, Ireland). Zanita Films website. A family holiday brings to a head the destructive love triangle between Eamon, a little boy with behavioral problems, his selfish mother Grace and his sexually frustrated father Daniel. Eamon won the Independent Camera Award in the Forum of Independents section at the 44th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. As reported at the Irish Film Board, Ivana Novotna, Festival Programmer at Karlovy-Vary commented: "Margaret Corkery is a very talented and promising Irish filmmaker and we were very happy to screen her first author debut in the competitive section Forum of Independents. In her film she managed to unfold the story of three disparate characters in an unhurried tempo with minimal essential dialogue; everything important happens under the surface or inside the protagonists. The director leaves room for the viewer to ponder their motivations. Unostentatious and impressionistic, the film's original outcome makes it worth watching to the very end." At the Karlovy-Vary website, Corkery conducts a video interview. IMDb. North American Premiere.

Every Day Is a Holiday / Chaque jour est une fête (Dima El-Horr, France/ Germany/Lebanon). From Lebanon, this is a striking debut about three women, strangers to each other and each with very different motivations, on the same bus headed for Marmal Prison to visit their imprisoned men. Mixing real politics and stark absurdity, El-Horr announces herself as a major new voice in Middle Eastern cinema. As I reported earlier on The Evening Class, Every Day Is A Holiday received completion funding from the Global Film Initiative. As reported at Limitless Cinema in Broken English, Dima El-Horr was interviewed by her friend Apichatpong Weerasethakul in the published volume FilmVirus after he saw her earlier film The Street, which he liked. TIFF capsule forthcoming. IMDb. YouTube trailer. North American Premiere.

Five Hours from Paris / Chamesh Shaot MeParis (Leon Prudovsky, Israel). In a suburb of Tel Aviv, an Israeli cab driver who longs to fly and a Russian music teacher who is soon to board a plane find out that romance is only a cab ride away. In her program notes, Jane Schoettle assures the film delivers a sweet, thoughtful romance "in spades." IMDb. World Premiere.

Gigante (Adrián Biniez, Uruguay/ Germany/Argentina/ The Netherlands). Security guard Jara falls in love as he supervises staff through the closed-circuit cameras at a supermarket. First voyeur, then guardian angel, he protects and pursues the cleaning woman who has unknowingly captured his heart. Hailing from the same creative ensemble that produced 25 Watts (2001), Whisky (2004), The Dog Pound (2006) and Acné (2008), Gigante is a "fresh, laugh-out-loud funny" romantic comedy that "combines sublime moments of tenderness and vulnerability with evocative reflections on dull jobs" and "reflects on the possibility of change and hope despite modern-day tedium." Winner of the Grand Jury Prize Silver Bear, Best First Feature Film, and the Alfred Bauer Prize at the 2009 Berlinale, Gigante has been picked up for distribution by Film Movement. David Hudson gathered the surprisingly lukewarm Berlinale reviews for The Daily @ IFC. At The Hollywood Reporter, however, Deborah Young claimed the film was "impeccable … [with] inherent charm." And at Undercurrent, Borislav Andjelic states: "[T]his slow paced and subtle story, which counts on audiences to fill in the gaps, [is] a warm-hearted elegy of solitude. Biniez shows a great sense of a visual style and color contrasts with the help of the camera of Arauco Hernández-Holz, and with careful framing, has created another striking image of a lonely man in a gallery of such personalities presented lately by new Latin American films." IMDb. YouTube excerpt. North American Premiere.

The Happiest Girl in the World / Cea mai fericita fata din lume (Radu Jude, Romania/The Netherlands). Cineuropa synopsis: "Eighteen-year-old Delia Fratila comes from a poor family in a small Romanian town. She has won an expensive car in a promotional competition by mailing in three labels from juice bottles. To prove that the beverage company really is handing over the prize, a video is to be shot showing Delia and the car. Delia and her parents make the long trip to Bucharest for the video shoot, but what seemed at first to be a lucky event becomes for Delia an extreme and emotionally painful situation, in which she has to rethink and question her relationships with her family." As Dimitri Eipides writes in his program capsule: "There's a big obstacle on the way to auto-fulfillment: your parents. They've taken the wheel before you even had a chance to figure out where you wanted to go. …Drawing uncomfortable parallels between real life and a not-so-unreal movie universe, The Happiest Girl in the World is a gleaming jewel in Romanian cinema's no-nonsense crown."

Dispatching to the Jigsaw Lounge from the Berlinale, Neil Young noted that—though The Happiest Girl in the World "is sensitively accurate on the family's internal dynamics, their snipings: each line pulls its weight in a notably economic script that unfolds bit by bit"—he complains that the film bogs down after about an hour and "ultimately becomes disappointingly tiresome." He concludes: "Momentum gets lost in repetition." Peter Brunette concurs at The Hollywood Reporter: "The Happiest Girl in the World works the well-worn territory of the Corneliu Porumboiu's worldwide festival hit 12:08 East of Bucharest, but much less successfully. Drenched in the de rigueur ironies of contemporary Romanian cinema, it simply isn't as funny as the earlier film and the satire isn't nearly as biting." At Film Comment, Nicolas Rapold adds: "The scenario of interminable re-shoots suggests that not every Romanian film can pull off absurdity and pathos through reiteration and real-time drama."

The project won the prestigious NHK Sundance Award in 2008, was selected for the Forum at the Berlinale 2009, and also won the FIPRESCI award at the 2009 Sofia International Film Festival. Tonci Valentic wrote that win up for Undercurrent: "One of the most touching elements in this movie rests precisely in its straightforwardness. The simple and ostensibly unexciting story about the making of a promotional video unexpectedly reveals many different layers of the post-socialist reality and its myriad of problems. For example, the family arrives in Bucharest in their old Dacia, while the trophy car, made by the same company, symbolizes the shift to a new era of affluence. Radu Jude uses the brief conversations during the recesses between the takes also as discrete and subtle commentaries on the differences between the new and the old times. The objective shots from a still camera position seem to always portray the main characters from a certain distance. Thus, construed as a neutral observer, the viewer is purposefully denied any emotional engagement even with the most intense scenes of the heated family quarrel." IMDb. YouTube trailer. North American Premiere.

Heliopolis / Masr el gedida (Ahmad Abdalla, Egypt). Official website. An Egyptian art film with some major stars, Heliopolis weaves together portraits from one of Cairo's most storied neighborhoods. IMDb synopsis: "The events of one day in the lives of a number of Cairo residents is a portrayal of unfulfilled dreams and frustrating details of life in the overpopulated Metropolis. Their paths cross and their stories overlap but they are caught up in their struggle and are oblivious to one another against the background of what used to be one of Cairo's most glamorous neighborhoods. The City's vanishing glory and fading history is documented through the characters strife to make it through one day in Heliopolis. The one thing they all share is the knowledge that they will probably have to confront the City again and again over the following days." Jay Weissberg dispatched to Variety from Cannes: "A labor of love for all concerned, helmer Ahmad Abdalla's Heliopolis reps a respectable debut feature that focuses a sharp critique of Egyptian society matched by a nostalgia-drenched longing for life before the 1952 Revolution. Far more influenced by the Euro arthouse reflections of Yousry Nasrallah than the meller styling of popular Egyptian pics, Abdalla adheres to his roots as a film editor with nice montages and a generally skillful handling of the story's choral nature, affectingly exposing the malaise of Cairo's middle class." Weissberg concludes: "While most perfs are solid—special nods go to Yousef, Soliman and Abol Naga—thesping styles aren't unified. Likewise, sections are not without a certain clumsiness, and though Abdalla's editing background comes to the fore, he occasionally cuts off shots sooner than warranted; the final scene however is especially strong. He's also good at capturing the physical sense of Heliopolis, with its turn-of-the-century splendor just about holding out against recent shoddy architecture." IMDb. YouTube teaser. World Premiere.

Kelin (Ermek Tursunov, Kazakhstan). A love story among the ragged steppes of ancient Kazakhstan is told in beautiful and poetic images, as a young love struggles to survive in the face of uncontrollable external factors. A woman is led by her family to her new husband's home, to live with, presumably, his elderly mother and younger brother. Despite being forced into the marriage, she discovers that he is not such a bad catch after all but domestic bliss does not last long. IMDb. North American Premiere.

Last Ride (Glendyn Ivin, Australia). Official website. A desperate father and his 10-year-old son flee into the wilderness of the desert and the human heart in an effort to avoid the law, battling the elements, the past and each other. In 2003, Glendyn Ivin's first short film Cracker Bag took home the Palme d'Or from Cannes. According to Matt Riviera at Last Night With Riviera, Last Ride confirms Ivin's promise and establishes Ivin as a talent to watch. At Screen Daily, Frank Hatherly writes: "A gritty father-son road movie, Last Ride goes down some of the bumpiest, least-traveled roads in Australia. With Hugo Weaving on top form as the aggressive, unpredictable father, and impressive 10-year old newcomer Tom Russell as his at-risk son, Last Ride delivers considerable dramatic tension amidst some amazing locations. …Mining an Australian mythology of nomadic masculinity, exemplified by such classics as The Sundowners and The Shiralee, Last Ride depends greatly on the powder-keg force of Weaving's mean, troubled Kev, and the actor delivers." IMDb. International Premiere.

Mall Girls / Galerianki (Katarzyna Roslaniec, Poland). When a 14-year-old girl arrives at a new high school, she is typecast as an outsider from the sticks. Survival means working things out with a clique of girls who troll the local malls and score the latest in consumer toys and clothes by trading sexual favors for cash with the men they find there. This appears to be a fleshed-out version of her earlier short of the same title, which won both a Special Jury Prize at the 2007 Polish Film Festival and a Special Mention at the 2008 Aubagne International Film Festival. IMDb. International Premiere.

The Man Beyond the Bridge / Paltadacho Munis (Laxmikant Shetgaonkar, India). A lonely man finds a companion in a mad woman in a dense forest in the Western Ghats of India. When she becomes pregnant, a conflict arises between a society that refuses to take responsibility for one of its members and one man's endeavor to integrate her in his life. World Premiere.

My Dog Tulip (Paul Fierlinger and Sandra Fierlinger, USA). Official website. Christopher Plummer and Isabella Rossellini voice this vividly animated, touching tale of friendship between an elderly bachelor and his German Shepherd. As Colin Geddes writes in his program capsule, My Dog Tulip is based on J.R. Ackerley's celebrated 1956 novel and is "at once a portrait of the dog lover and a provocative meditation on the wonders of nature" and "a playful and moving ode to man's best friend." The film premiered at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival earlier this year. The Fierlingers have created the first animated feature to be entirely hand drawn and painted using a paperless computer technology TVPaint, at whose website Asaf Agranat interviews Paul Fierlinger. Wikipedia. IMDb. North American Premiere.

My Tehran for Sale (Granaz Moussavi, Australia/Iran). Shot underground on location in Tehran, the film tells the story of modern-day Iranian youth struggling for cultural freedom. Marzieh is a young female actress living in Tehran. The authorities ban her theatre work and—like all young people in Iran—she is forced to lead a secret life in order to express herself artistically. At an underground rave, she meets Iranian born Saman, now an Australian citizen, who offers her a way out of her country and the possibility of living without fear. IMDb. International Premiere.

Nora (Alla Kovgan and David Hinton, USA/United Kingdom/ Mozambique). Official website. Zimbabwean dancer Nora Chipaumire stars in this beautiful and rigorously choreographed fable based on her own life and shot on location in Southern Africa. Winner of multiple awards, including the Eileen Maitland Award from the 2009 Ann Arbor Film Festival, the Grand Prize at the 2009 Black Maria Film and Video Festival, the Prize for Creativity at the 2009 Montréal International Festival of Films on Art, the Jury Award and Special Prize at the 2009 Newport Beach Film Festival and an Honorable Mention at the 2009 Oberhausen International Short Film Festival, Nora will be screened with Saint Louis Blues. IMDb. Toronto Premiere.

Northless / Norteado (Rigoberto Perezcano, Mexico/Spain). Andrés reaches the Mexican border to cross into the United States. As he waits between crossing attempts, he discovers the complicated border world of Tijuana. As he waits there, Andres is not only confronted with his feelings and what he left behind, but also with those he meets. IMDb. World Premiere.

La Pivellina / The Little One (Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel, Austria/Italy). A small abandoned girl is sheltered by a circus woman in this tale of courage, loss and togetherness. La Pivellina won the Label Europa Cinemas Award at Cannes. Boyd van Hoeij reviews the film for Variety; Lee Marshall for Screen Daily. IMDb. YouTube trailer. North American Premiere.

Samson & Delilah (Warwick Thornton, Australia). Official website. Teenagers Samson and Delilah live in an isolated Aboriginal community in the Central Australian desert. Their outsider status draws them closer together and they come to depend on each other when tragedy strikes. Samson & Delilah won the Audience Award for Best Feature at the 2009 BigPond Adelaide Film Festival, associated with the film through its Investment Fund. Des Partridge wrote up the film's hometown premiere in Alice Springs, Australia for The Courier Mail. After its screening to a standing ovation in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes and a warm reception by international critics, Thornton won the Camera d'Or for Best First Feature. An emotional Warwick was on hand at the ceremony to collect the award from French actress Isabelle Adjani. The President of the Camera D'Or Jury, Roshdy Zem, said, "...probably the best love story that we have seen in many years. An immensely memorable film." In late June, Warwick won the Blue Angel Award for Best Director in the Feature Competition at the 17th Art Film Fest Trenčianske Teplice–Trenčín. S&D's production designer, Daran Fulham, accepted the award in Bratislava while Warwick was busy filming in Arnhem Land's Maningrida at the top of Australia. The film's official website has been gathering reviews and offers several "behind the scenes" YouTube videos, as well as the pressbook in PDF format. The soundtrack is available at ABC. Wikipedia. IMDb. YouTube trailer. North American Premiere.

Shirley Adams (Oliver Hermanus, South Africa/USA). Official website. This intimate, precise portrait focuses on a mother in Cape Town, South Africa, whose son is disabled in a neighborhood shooting. Dispatching to The Hollywood Reporter from the Locarno Film Festival, Ray Bennett opines that veteran South African actress Denise Newman's extraordinary performance "will set the bar for best actress awards this year." Bennett adds that—though deliberate—Shirley Adams is neither slow, melancholy nor depressing, but rather "a penetrating study in fortitude and optimism in the face of desperate odds." IMDb. YouTube trailer. North American Premiere.

Should I Really Do It? / Bunu gerçekten yapmali miyim? (Ismail Necmi, Turkey). Official website. The concepts of real life and fiction, documentary and drama, are explored in this real-life feature which follows the unbelievable life of Petra, a German woman living in Turkey. IMDb. YouTube trailer. North American Premiere.

La Soga (Josh Crook, Dominican Republic/USA). Official website. This gritty and gripping drama explores political intrigue, love, death and the power of memory, set in the Dominican Republic. Wikipedia. IMDb. YouTube trailer. World Premiere.

Saint Louis Blues / Un Transport en commun (Dyana Gaye, France/Senegal). In this sparkling and surprising Senegalese musical, Dyana Gaye turns a shared taxi ride from Dakar to Saint Louis into a confection that could have been made by Jacques Demy. (This film will be screened with Nora.) IMDb. North American Premiere.

Toad's Oil / Gama no Abura (Koji Yakusho, Japan). Official site (Japanese). The story of Takuro Yazawa, a day-trader who claims he can earn hundreds of millions of yen in one day, and those around him as they attempt to cope with the death of his son and somehow find a way to benefit spiritually from the experience. Giovanna Fulvi describes Koji Yakusho's "original and fascinating debut" as "an affectionate portrait of ordinary lives during difficult times" with "a contemporary fantastical aspect and novel visual appeal that mark the solid beginning of a new career path for Yakusho." At Twitch, Todd Brown writes: "The simple fact that Gama No Abura is the directorial debut of Japanese leading man Koji Yakusho—westerners know him from Babel, Japanophiles from most of Kiyoshi Kurosawa's films and a slew of others—would be enough to generate a whole lot of notice. That it actually looks really damn good doesn't hurt, either." Mark Schilling talks to Koji Yakusho for The Japan Times. IMDb. YouTube trailer. International Premiere.

Together / Sammen (Matias Armand Jordal, Norway). The tragic death of a mother causes her family to shatter when they struggle to cope with the loss. In his program notes, Dimitri Eipedes characterizes the film as a "tumultuous tragicomic adventure" that explores what happens when people are torn apart. Wikipedia. IMDb. YouTube trailer. International Premiere.

The Unloved (Samantha Morton, United Kingdom). Official website. Morton shifts from actor to director in this stark portrait of a young British girl plucked from an abusive family and thrown into the hands of government care. The Unloved was produced for Channel 4 and shown in May 2009 as part of its "Britain's Forgotten Children" series. It provides a child's eye view of the U.K.'s government-run care system for orphans and children in danger. Wikipedia. IMDb. International Premiere.