No, you're not going crazy. I am intentionally not writing about my first session at MIFF because, well, for a start, it wasn't technically my first session (I missed that due to me being exhausted from the film shoot) and secondly, I couldn't sit through it long enough to draw any logical conclusions about the films and then write about them (it was the experimental shorts category)
Today's sessions however were a little more interesting and engaging. We began with the Accelerator shorts which showcases the latest up and coming talent from young filmmakers around the world. This particular session (I'm not sure if this was deliberate or not) contained only 2 other films which weren't Australian. The rest were all from NSW, VIC and South Australia with varying degrees of amazement. In order of preference, here are the films screened in the session today:
1. The Palace
2. At The Formal
3. Attach Boat to Motor
4. The Stranger
5. The Father
(I missed the last two films unfortunately so I apologize to those filmmakers for not being able to include them in this list)
The Palace was an epic, tragic movie which combined all the suspenseful elements skillfully within the confinements dictated by the short film genre. I was amazed by how well the filmmakers were able to draw the reader straight into the narrative and thus, the character's predicaments. I believe it was the subject matter which aided this as the story is set in Cyprus, 1970's and shows a family literally running for cover in the middle of a battle. They hide in an abandoned house with a few other Cyprians? and await their fate. What happens next is so shocking for a short film, I do remember being speechless at points. I believe the success of this film had a lot to do with the editing, particularly with the sound, and the cinematography. Acting was half-helped by the fact that the actors spoke with their native tongue (for non-native speaking audiences, this means we already believe half the performance) but it really was the technical brilliance of the film and the way it was laid out that impressed.
The second session for the day was the Australian Shorts category, 2 films of which I have already seen which was great as I could focus more on attempting to place those films I had once seen within some order amongst the others. Here is my list in order of preference for the films of this cateogory:
1. The Missing Key
2. PeekaBoo
3. Mooncake and Crab
4. Its Him...Terry Lim
5. Air
The Missing Key easily outshone all of the other participants within this screening and I didn't even need to watch it again to know that. The images from this film are still firmly planted on the retina of my eye whilst the notes of its beautiful film score still float within my inner ear. The film is masterpiece and without having seen The Lost Thing yet, I'm surprised it didn't receive an Oscar (maybe next year). The film, whilst an animation, draws the audience in by setting up that classic me against the world narrative, something I feel many individuals are grappling with today. This dilemma we all face in trying to forge a mark for ourselves amongst the constraints of this tainted society can be seen in the main character of The Missing Key and it is for this reason, I warm to the film so greatly.
I have many many more session coming up to chat with you all about so make sure you keep your eyes peeled for more posts.
0 comments:
Post a Comment