The Seattle International Film Festival will be showing movies at the Kirkland Performance Center at 350 Kirkland Ave. Kirkland, WA 98033. For more information visit www.siff.net.
The following is a list and description of all the movies playing in Kirkland.
All movie showings are at the Kirkland Performance Center unless noted:
Monday, June 1
4:30 p.m.
Trimpin: The Sound of Invention
* Country: USA
* Year: 2008
* Running time: 79 Minutes
* Genres: Documentary, Music
* Programs: Face the Music, Northwest Connections
* Language: German and English
* Sub-Titles: English Sub-Titles
Eccentric artist/inventor/engineer/composer Trimpin (he only uses his surname) shuns the hype and hyperbole of the commercial art world, doesn’t have a cell phone or a website, and has never been represented by a gallery, dealer, or manager—yet his freewheeling sculptures and outrageous musical experiments are cherished by museums all over the planet. A Seattle resident since 1980—he moved here from Europe for the area’s greater access to used technological components—his work integrates sculpture and music in ingenious ways, often using computers to create compositions that are unrestricted by any human physical limitations. Filmed over two years, this documentary follows the artist-inventor as he devises a perpetual-motion machine, builds a 20-meter tower of automatic, self-tuning, electric guitars for the EMP Guitar Gallery, and collaborates with the Kronos Quartet on an outrageous world premiere. An amazing investigation of an extraordinary creative genius whose self-made world resembles both Santa’s workshop and Frankenstein’s lab, Trimpin: The Sound of Invention will delight anyone interested in the mysteries, pitfalls, and sheer joys of creative experiment.
7 p.m.
Like Dandelion Dust
* Country: USA
* Year: 2009
* Running time: 100 Minutes
* Genre: Drama
* Program: Contemporary World Cinema
What if you could disappear from a difficult situation as quickly as if you’ve blown the seeds from a dandelion puff? That’s one couple’s predicament in this moving adaptation of Karen Kingsbury’s 2008 novel, “Like Dandelion Dust.” Floridians Jack and Molly Campbell live peacefully with their adopted son, Joey, but their world is upended when Joey’s biological father is released from prison. Rip Porter decides to get his life with estranged, long-suffering wife Wendy back on track. First, Rip seeks a visit with Joey, and then he seeks much more. The ensuing battle between disadvantaged birth parents and wealthier adoptive parents is an examination of the socioeconomic factors that shape families. Kingsbury’s best-selling novel makes for equally volatile cinema. Like Dandelion Dust has been an emotional experience for audiences at this year’s Vail, Sedona, and Sonoma Film Festivals. It simply and effectively taps into parents’ most primal feelings of love and fear for their young.
9:30 p.m.
Ball Don’t Lie
* Country: USA
* Year: 2008
* Running time: 102 Minutes
* Genres: Drama, Teen Flick
* Programs: Contemporary World Cinema, FutureWave
Based on Matt de la Peña’s popular novel, Ball Don’t Lie follows Sticky, a skinny high school junior with enormous basketball talent, but also an equally daunting number of challenges. Abandoned to the foster care system, and suffering from an obsessive-compulsive disorder that only vanishes when he’s on the court, he finds his home at a community gym and becomes a star on the basketball court. Incorporating multiple timelines, the film covers a single day in Sticky’s life, as he plays ball at the volatile Lincoln Rec, the legendary Venice Beach court where he is the only white player. Though committed to his schedule of daily games, he’s trying to save up to buy his girlfriend a birthday present. With little money to get a gift that will impress her, he makes a choice that will have a lasting impact on the rest of their lives. In his debut feature, director Brin Hill uses flashbacks and his all-star ensemble—including ESPN’s Grayson “The Professor” Boucher as Sticky—to create a genuine basketball film that mixes rough-and-tumble human drama with the humor, energy, and ego of the streetball scene to tell the story of a young man learning to make the right moves. Recommended for ages 13+
Tuesday, June 2
4 p.m.
A Sea Change
* Country: Norway
* Year: 2008
* Running time: 85 Minutes
* Genres: Documentary, Teen Flick
* Programs: Documentary Films, Planet Cinema, Talking Pictures
* Other Countries: USA
Can you imagine a world without fish? It’s a frightening, cataclysmic premise, and worst of all, it’s happening right now. A Sea Change follows the journey of retired history teacher Sven Huseby on his quest to discover what is happening to the world’s oceans. After reading Elizabeth Kolbert’s “The Darkening Sea,” Sven becomes obsessed with the rising acidity of the oceans and what this “sea change” bodes for mankind. His quest takes him to Alaska, California, Australia, and Norway as he uncovers a worldwide crisis that most people are unaware of. Speaking with oceanographers, marine biologists, climatologists, and artists, Sven eventually discovers that global warming is only half the story of the environmental catastrophe that awaits us. A Sea Change is also a touching portrait of Sven’s relationship with his grandchild Elias. As Sven keeps a correspondence with the little boy, he mulls over the world that he is leaving for future generations. A disturbing and essential companion piece to An Inconvient Truth, A Sea Change brings home the indisputable fact that our lifestyle is changing the earth, despite our rhetoric or wishful thinking.
6:30 p.m.
Passing Strange
* Country: USA
* Year: 2009
* Running time: 135 Minutes
* Genres: Documentary, Music, Musical
* Program: A Tribute to Spike Lee
Part rock concert, part memoir, part Broadway musical, Spike Lee’s new documentary Passing Strange breaks conventions to tell its story of a young L.A. songwriter’s international journey to self-discovery. A profound autobiographical treatise on black identity, told in both past and present time, it places itself more in line with the works of James Baldwin and Ralph Ellison than with traditional film. An amazing cinematic translation of “Passing Strange,” the Tony-award winning musical by singer-songwriter Stew (leader of L.A. band The Negro Problem), the film tells the story of the adult Stew and his younger self, the teenaged “Youth.” An aspiring musician, Youth strains against the complacency and bourgeois aspirations of his mother’s middle-class life, eventually leaving Los Angeles for Europe in his quest for something he calls “the real.” Alternately melancholy and amazed, Stew watches and narrates as Youth fumbles his way to maturity on a European voyage that takes him to the liberations of Amsterdam and the post-punk cabarets of Berlin. One-upping the Broadway show, Lee doesn’t just break down the “fourth wall,” he uses 14 cameras to place you into the onstage performance and immerse you in the backstage creative energy of the live show. Passing Strange is an amazing testimonial to two iconoclastic artists working at the top of their game.
9:30 p.m.
Fear Me Not
* Country: Denmark
* Year: 2008
* Running time: 95 Minutes
* Genre: Drama
* Program: Contemporary World Cinema
* Language: Danish
* Sub-Titles: English Sub-Titles
Is evil inherent in all of us, suppressed by our egos, surfacing when induced, or is it an acquired trait? Written by Anders Thomas Jensen, the director of Adam’s Apples and The Green Butchers, this psychological thriller chronicles the transformation of Michael, a workaholic, middle-aged family man who takes a sabbatical from his job and signs up for the clinical trials of a new antidepressant. When the pills turn out to have serious side effects, the trials are abandoned. But Michael refuses to give up the newfound sense of calm, self control, and life perspective the pills provide. So he continues the experiment on his own. Much like James Mason in Nicholas Ray’s Bigger Than Life, Michael finds himself playing disturbing mind games with his wife, Sigrid, and teen daughter, Selma. Further ratcheting up the tension, director Kristian Levring locates the action in orderly, sterile settings and underplays its moments of violence.
Wednesday, June 3
4:30 p.m.
Gotta Dance
* Country: USA
* Year: 2008
* Running time: 91 Minutes
* Genres: Family Friendly, Music
* Program: Documentary Films
Director and Broadway producer Dori Berinstein’s exuberant and warm-hearted documentary opens with a quote from Florenz Zeigfeld (by way of wife Billie Burke), Age is of no importance unless you are a cheese. While her previous effort, Gotta DanceSome Assembly Required, revolved around kids, Gotta Dance focuses on folks 60 and above. Not the kind who putter around the house in slippers all day, but the kind who like to hoof it. In this case, as members of the NETSationals Senior Dance Team, part of the New Jersey Nets entertainment package. The Nets Dancers hold the auditions, which attract hopefuls from all walks of life (including a few dancer grandparents), select 13, and begin rehearsals. As Joe Bianco explains, The only way that a chubby guy like me would be able to pick up girls is not because of my looks, it’s because of my feet. The other participants, like 80-year-old grandmother Fanny Militar, have equally compelling stories, and Berinstein delves into their diverse backgrounds while capturing their crowd-pleasing hip-hop performances and the media stardom that follows their first season. As Berinstein says in her director’s statement, I’ve witnessed ageism and it stinks.” Her inspiring film offers a welcome corrective.
7 p.m.
I’m No Dummy
* Country: USA
* Year: 2009
* Running time: 86 Minutes
* Genres: Comedy, Documentary, Teen Flick
* Premiere: World Premiere
* Program: Documentary Films
Informative, engaging, and funny, this whimsical documentary explores the world of ventriloquism, allowing a rare glimpse into the humorous delights and complex creative invention involved in how ventriloquists (or “vents”) do what they do. Featuring performances from established current ventriloquists—such as 2007 Tony Award winner Jay Johnson (of sitcom “Soap” fame), two-time Comedian of the Year Jeff Dunham, and Lynn Trefzger—the film demonstrates how the current vent world is not only creating new, topical, and insightful humor, but may well be in the midst of a rebirth of mainstream popularity. Additionally, director Bryan W. Simon has unearthed a trove of rare performance footage of legendary ventriloquists Edgar Bergen, Jimmy Nelson, Señor Wences and Paul Winchell—much of which hasn’t been seen in 40 to 50 years. Mixing this performance footage with photos and interviews of legendary vents past and present, the film examines the artistic complexity of venting, the art form’s evolution since it came into national prominence in the 1930s, and the influence of the innovations of those earlier artists on the current generation of performers—all while making you laugh.
9:30 p.m.
White Night Wedding
* Country: Iceland
* Year: 2008
* Running time: 96 Minutes
* Genres: Black Comedy, Drama, Romance
* Program: Contemporary World Cinema
* Language: Icelandic
* Sub-Titles: English Sub-Titles
An irreverent, uprooting, and updated interpretation of Anton Chekhov’s play “Ivanov” (which director Baltasar Kormákur concurrently produced for the stage as a period piece), White Night Wedding tells the story of Jon, a university literature lecturer who tries to figure out his life and himself during one bright summer night on the island of Flatey, off the coast of west Iceland. The plot unfolds on two parallel lines, both concerning Jon. Once married to a mentally ill artist, Anna, he’s about to become the uneasy bridegroom of a former student, Thora, his junior by at least 18 years. To complicate matters, he owes the bride’s parents a small fortune for renting a piece of land he never used, and his future mother-in-law threatens to call off the wedding if he doesn’t settle the debt. Throw in the bride’s father, who once dreamed of becoming an opera star, a bald priest who is allergic to himself, an insatiable overweight musician who is the groom’s closest friend, and a self-styled local entrepreneur full of loopy ideas, and you see why this bittersweet dramatic comedy set box office records in Iceland last year.
Thursday, June 4
4:30 p.m.
The Yes Men Fix the World
* Country: USA
* Year: 2009
* Running time: 85 Minutes
* Genres: Comedy, Documentary, Political
* Programs: Documentary Films, Talking Pictures
Gonzo political activists The Yes Men return to the silver screen with their most recent slew of corporate hoaxes and political stunts that target our cynical political and financial overlords. Impersonating corporate luminaries around the globe, Yes Men Mike Bonanno and Andy Bichlbaum skewer the greed and corruption behind global free trade. 2003’s The Yes Men showcased outrageously innovative concepts like a scheme to alleviate world hunger by repeatedly “recycling” hamburgers, and the skintight golden leotard—equipped with a three-foot-long inflatable phallus—that allows sweatshop owners to control their workers from afar. This year’s The Yes Men Fix the World takes things a step further, with the team unveiling “SurvivaBall,” an inflatable prophylactic suit (think a blown-up Violet in Wonka’s chocolate factory) that insulates wearers against man-made ecological disasters, and introducing a groundbreaking new biofuel synthesized from the bodies of climate-change victims. A carnivalesque comedy in the face of corporate and political greed, The Yes Men Fix the World is serious in its criticism of capitalism, free trade, and the destruction of our planet. It’s wild entertainment with a pointed purpose.
7 p.m.
Kabei—Our Mother
* Country: Japan
* Year: 2008
* Running time: 132 Minutes
* Genre: Drama
* Program: Contemporary World Cinema
* Language: Japanese
* Sub-Titles: English Sub-Titles
A father’s sudden absence occupies the center of Yoji Yamada’s intricate family drama, adapted from Teruyo Nogami’s bestselling memoir. In prewar Tokyo, after Shigeru “Tobei” Nogami is imprisoned for espousing progressive political views, his wife, known by his daughters as “Kabei,” is left alone to support their family. Helped by the sweet, bumbling student Yamazaki and some of her more anti-authoritarian neighbors, Kabei ekes out a living for her family and struggles through the consequences of Tobei’s anti-Imperialist “thought crime.” Director Yamada, a beloved veteran of Japanese cinema, builds upon the quiet artistry of his recent trilogy of samurai films (The Twilight Samurai, The Hidden Blade, and Love and Honor) and the touching comedy of his epic 48-part Tora San series. Unashamedly emotional without lapsing into sentimentality, Kabei—Our Mother is lightened by a subtle undercurrent of humor and exceptional performances. The film’s meditative approach and impeccable formal construction make it a rewarding exploration of a family’s resilience in the face of distress.
10 p.m.
ZMD: Zombies of Mass Destruction
* Country: USA
* Year: 2009
* Running time: 88 Minutes
* Genres: Black Comedy, Cult, Gay/Lesbian, Horror, Political
* Program: Northwest Connections
It’s September 2003, and for the residents of the small, idyllic island town of Port Gamble, Washington, the times they are a-changin’. The fishing boats and tourists have all but gone. The town’s mayoral race is heating up as Mayor Burton faces a challenge from Cheryl Banks. Reverend Haggis continues to preach his Sunday morning fire-and-brimstone sermons, but only to a half-filled church. Former resident Tom returns home, with his new boyfriend Lance in tow, for a dinner at his mother’s place, where he has plans to come out. Meanwhile Frida, a Princeton student of Middle Eastern descent, has also returned home to help in her father’s restaurant. And then, of course, there’s the small matter of a zombie virus outbreak. Now the residents of Port Gamble—well, those who don’t desire human flesh—must set aside their differences and start smashing the undead if they hope to make it through the night. Set during the most ultra-patriotic, ultra-paranoid era in recent memory, ZMD: Zombies of Mass Destruction uses its setting’s isolated time and place to generate as much political and social satire as bloodshed.
Friday, June 5
11 a.m.
Pop Star On Ice
* Country: USA
* Year: 2009
* Running time: 85 Minutes
* Genres: Documentary, Gay/Lesbian
* Premiere: World Premiere
* Program: Documentary Films
* Other Countries: Canada/Russia/Japan
Johnny Weir is the most compelling athlete you’ve never heard of. In figure skating circles, Weir is as known for his artistry and skill as he is for his controversial and sometimes baffling behavior. Notorious for his joyfully inappropriate conduct at press conferences and his uncompromising personality and sense of style, Weir’s antics both on and off the ice are hard to ignore. Pop Star On Ice follows a season of Weir’s uneven trajectory toward top skating honors as he ricochets between flawless performances and absolute failures. The filmmakers effortlessly provide an immediate and comic portrait of the self-assured, chronically inconsistent skater as he struggles to overcome the hangups that keep him from finishing in first place. From his rocky relationship with the trainer who knows him too well, to his inability to fully commit to his talent, this tightly constructed documentary showcases Weir as a fierce competitor who could one day take the gold.
1:30 p.m.
Kimjongilia
* Country: France
* Year: 2009
* Running time: 75 Minutes
* Genres: Cult, Documentary, Political
* Programs: Documentary Competition, Documentary Films
* Language: Korean
* Sub-Titles: English Sub-Titles
* Other Countries: USA/South Korea
Artfully melding dignity with indignation, Kimjongilia opens with the triumphant sounds and images that North Korea presents to the world. Life behind the Kim dynasty’s 60-year façade, however, involves censorship, food shortages, prison camps, and public executions, leading to the deaths of millions. Thirteen defectors who escaped between 1992 and 2006 relate their harrowing experiences, as director N.C. Heikin illustrates their words using state-sanctioned propaganda and the expressive moves of modern dancers. Several speakers grew up thinking of Kim Il-sung, the father of General Kim Jong-il, as an exalted member of their own family, like an all-powerful grandfather. Sent to a camp at nine years of age, Kang Chol-hwan took solace in a smuggled copy of “The Count of Monte Cristo,” inspiring him to make his own getaway ten years later. Representing love, peace, wisdom, and justice, the Kimjongilia flower, a red begonia, commemorates the Great Leader’s 46th birthday, but it’s his legacy of injustice that inflames Heikin’s film. As Mrs. Kim (no relation) pleads, The world has to save North Korea. We have to speak of it. With generosity and compassion, Heikin gives these brave refugees that chance.
4 p.m.
The Baby Formula
* Country: Canada
* Year: 2008
* Running time: 81 Minutes
* Genres: Comedy, Gay/Lesbian
* Program: Contemporary World Cinema
The Baby Formula mixes cutting edge science, sexual politics, and a healthy dose of humor to concoct what may be the sleeper hit of the Festival. Lesbian couple Athena and Lilith want a biological child of their own so badly that they convince a scientist in a fertility lab to use an experimental scientific process to impregnate Athena with “female sperm” created from Lilith’s stem cells, but on one condition: the experiment must be kept secret. But when Lilith uses the same method to get pregnant behind Athena’s back, and the parentage of Lilith’s baby is then called into question, the couple is forced to divulge the truth of their experimental conceptions to their families. Full of humor and unexpected twists, the resulting family meeting erupts in a collision of differing views. Shot in an improvisational mockumentary style from the beginning through the final credits, Alison Reid’s film benefits from serendipitous casting (both lead actresses were actually pregnant during shooting) and hilarious improvisational acting. Reid, a veteran stunt coordinator and performer, demonstrates her directing chops with a great ear for family interaction in this film that celebrates love, acceptance, and the gift of life in all its forms.
7 p.m.
Wonderful World
* Country: USA
* Year: 2009
* Running time: 89 Minutes
* Genres: Comedy, Drama
* Program: Contemporary World Cinema
Joshua Goldin’s directorial debut stars Matthew Broderick as Ben Singer, a pot-smoking proofreader, failed children’s singer, lackluster weekend dad, and card-carrying pessimist. His only pleasures in life are regular chess matches and friendly debates about game theory with his Senegalese roommate, Ibou (Michael K. Williams). When Ibou suddenly falls ill and an unfeeling municipal employee exacerbates the situation, Ben’s cynicism seems validated. He channels his frustrations into a lawsuit against the city for depraved indifference. But things change when Ibou’s sister Khadi (Sanaa Lathan) comes to stay. What begins as an awkward living arrangement soon turns into something else entirely. Ben’s usual misanthropy gives way as he realizes that sometimes cynicism is a matter of self-indulgence and that inspiration can be found in the most unlikely places. Goldin’s balance of levity and gravity give texture and depth to this offbeat study of midlife melancholy and its cures.
9:30 p.m.
Deadgirl
* Country: USA
* Year: 2008
* Running time: 101 Minutes
* Genres: Black Comedy, Cult, Erotic, Horror, Thriller
* Program: Midnight Adrenaline
Rickie and JT are high school outsiders, bullied by jocks and despised by the in-crowd. Though both would rather drop out than bear this never-ending misery, Rickie chooses to stay, if only to catch fleeting glimpses of JoAnn, his childhood crush and the current girlfriend to the captain of the football team. Then one afternoon, while cutting class, the pair makes a bizarre discovery in the darkest depths of an abandoned hospital—a beautiful young woman, neither living nor dead, strapped to an operating table. Horrified by their find, Rickie flees, while JT stays behind to satiate his darker appetites. Soon, however, the pair’s secret slips out to the worst person imaginable, and what follows is a series of gory confrontations that test Rickie’s loyalty to both JT and JoAnn. Since its premiere at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival, no horror film has generated more buzz than Deadgirl and deservedly so. Co-directors Marcel Sarmiento and Gadi Harel took a script many in Hollywood felt was “too shocking to produce,” yet the finished product is a chillingly complex and accomplished fright flick that skillfully pushes the limits of explicit violence and sexuality without ever slipping into the exploitative.
Juanita Beach Park
Saturday, June 6
9 p.m.
OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies
* Country: France
* Year: 2006
* Running time: 99 Minutes
* Genres: Action/Adventure, Comedy
* Language: French
* Sub-Titles:English Sub-Titles
Winner of the 2006 Golden Space Needle Award for Best Feature.
Egypt, 1955. French comic favorite Jean Dujardin stars as secret agent Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath, a.k.a. OSS 117—James Bond crossed with Maxwell Smart, Austin Powers and a bit of the The Naked Gun. After a fellow agent is killed, Hubert goes undercover as the head of a Cairo poultry firm while he investigates the murder, monitors the Suez Canal, checks up on the Brits and Soviets, burnishes France’s reputation, quells a fundamentalist rebellion and brokers peace in the Middle East. “No problem,” replies Hubert, whose suave self-importance is topped only by his phenomenal ignorance and dumb luck. He is met at the Cairo airport by fetching and brainy secretary Larmina El Akmar Betouche (Berenice Bejo), and during a drive into town filmed entirely with old-fashioned rear projection, Hubert marvels at the amount of sand in Egypt and pooh-poohs Larmina’s assertion that “millions of people” speak Arabic. If Hubert hasn’t heard of something—like Islam—he dismisses it as a silly notion that’ll never catch on. From its re-visiting of ’60s-style hand-to-hand combat to the double cross-festooned finale, the screenplay pays off in the manner of all self-respecting thrillers in which the bad guys only appear to triumph. With sparkling production design, a jubilantly retro score and a genuine flair for using the film and TV vocabulary of the ’60s to revisit colonial arrogance, OSS 117 is a consistent delight.
Sunday, June 7
11 a.m.
Alisa’s Birthday
* Country: Russia
* Year: 2008
* Running time: 94 Minutes
* Genres: Animation, Family Friendly, Fantasy, Musical
* Premiere:North American Premiere
* Program: Films4Families
* Language: Russian
* Sub-Titles:English Sub-Titles
School is out for summer, but young Alisa is alternatively happy and sad about it. She loves summertime in futuristic Moscow, but she has just failed her history test and will have to do the class over again during summer break. Her space zoologist dad is not going to be happy with her. Upon returning home she is delighted to discover her Uncle Gromozeka, a boisterous blue creature with four arms, has an early birthday present for her–a trip to the planet Koleida. He vows to teach her all about history at the planet. Upon arrival at Koleida, they discover that a virus has devastated the planet’s previous society. Luckily, Gromozeka has a time machine to take Alisa on an adventure back to the 1950s to stop the virus at its source. Based on a series of hugely popular children’s science fiction books by Kir Belchev, Alisa’s Birthday overwhelms with surprising creative characters and incredible energy, while the quality of its central story will captivate all audiences. The outstanding cast is a who’s who of Russian voice actors, grounding the serious side of the tale with regular laughs and affecting musical numbers. English subtitles will be read aloud at the June 7 and the June 14 screenings. Recommended for ages 5+ although a virus scene may be intense for very sensitive youth.
1:30 p.m.
Sweet Crude
* Country: USA
* Year: 2008
* Running time: 90 Minutes
* Genre: Documentary
* Program: Northwest Connections
Seattle filmmaker Sandy Cioffi and her Seattle-based crew made headlines while shooting this documentary about the Nigerian oil industry when they were taken into custody by the Nigerian military. Ten percent of the U.S. oil supply comes from Nigeria. Oil is big business in the Niger Delta in particular, and hundreds of billions of dollars have been generated from that resource. Of course, big money leads to massive corruption, and 80 percent of the revenues go to just 1 percent of the population. Even worse is the environmental devastation that’s happening to the land. Areas that used to be fishing grounds have been fouled by oil spills, oil has contaminated much of the water supply for the 20 million people who live in the Niger Delta, and a large number of residents suffer from oil poisoning. The list goes on. Peaceful protests have been shown to be ineffective in the face of such widespread corruption, and militant groups are starting to form to take action against the powerful oil companies, if only to get attention from the rest of the world. Sweet Crude is an attempt to tell the world what’s really happening in the Niger Delta, because it will affect all of us eventually. Director Sandy Cioffi expected to attend all screenings
4 p.m.
Sounds Like Teen Spirit: A Popumentary
* Country: United Kingdom
* Year: 2008
* Running time: 93 Minutes
* Genres: Comedy, Coming of Age, Documentary, Family Friendly, Music, Musical
* Programs: Face the Music, FutureWave
* Language: English, Flemish, Bulgarian, Georgian, and Cypriot
* Sub-Titles: English Sub-Titles
Having penned their own songs, bright-eyed European kids ages ten to 15 compete for the top prize at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in this warmly comic “popumentary.” There’s ten-year-old Giorgos from Cyprus, who admires George Michael and is bullied at school for his dreams of stardom. Mariam from Georgia has an abundance of national pride and multiple pigtails. Bulgarian Marina, lead singer of girl group Bon-Bon, only wants to know that her estranged father will watch her performance on TV. And then there’s Belgian group Trust, whose 15-year-old members are almost too old for the contest. In his first feature documentary, British director Jamie Jay Johnson follows these kids from their national finals to the big night: a live televised production with extravagant and garishly colorful sets. “I’m wetting myself with excitement!” screams one of the contest’s over-the-top hosts. At times nerve-wracking to watch as these innocent, earnest children bear the anxiety of competition, the film is a tender message of hope and perseverance that is sure to leave a smile on your face and catchy Europop songs in your head. Recommended for ages 13+.
6:30 p.m.
Be Calm and Count to Seven
* Country: Iran
* Year: 2008
* Running time: 89 Minutes
* Genre: Drama
* Premiere:US Premiere
* Program: New Directors Showcase
* Language: Farsi
* Sub-Titles:English Sub-Titles
This lyrical debut feature from Iran was a deserving recipient of one of the Tiger Awards at this year’s Rotterdam International Film Festival. Set in little-known but spectacularly beautiful islands in the Persian Gulf, the story revolves around Motu, who belongs to a gang of reckless youth. After receiving contraband goods brought in by smugglers in boats, the gang has to forward the shipments to distant inland destinations. Motu’s father has gone missing while transporting illegal human cargo, leaving his pregnant wife and daughter in the boy’s care. Motu is fearless, and dreams of becoming as rich and famous as his football hero, the Brazilian player Ronaldinho. He befriends the leader of the smugglers, eventually proposing a serious business arrangement. when it finally dawns on Motu that his father is not coming back. Naturally the police are always one step behind and a constant menace. Director Ramtin Lavafipour shot the film in a pure, ultra-realistic style redolent of earlier Iranian films, such as Amir Naderi’s The Runner, and has skillfully fashioned a portrait of a society that is edging toward today’s fast-moving consumer society, leaving behind the ancient traditions of an isolated fishing village.
9 p.m.
Rain
* Country: Bahamas
* Year: 2008
* Running time: 93 Minutes
* Genre: Drama
* Program: New Directors Showcase
Director Maria Govan’s powerful debut, one of the first films produced indigenously in the Bahamas, shows a darker side of the country that tourists rarely see. A teenager named Rain has lived her entire life with her grandmother on a tiny rural island in the Bahamas. When her grandmother dies, Rain goes to Nassau to find her mother, Glory, whom she has never met. When she arrives, Rain is devastated to discover that Glory lives in a desperately poor, AIDS-ravaged neighborhood called “The Graveyard,” and that she turns tricks to support her drug habit. With no strong maternal role model in her life, Rain must look within for strength and discovers she has a gift for running. Rain receives guidance from her school’s track coach, Ms. Adams, but Rain’s living situation threatens to spoil her dream. Rain displays a striking visual sense that reflects the contrast between the idyllic setting and the harsh realities of Bahamian life. Luxury resorts hover over the blighted neighborhood, tantalizing the residents with a lifestyle they cannot hope to achieve. The film illuminates the beauty in the everyday, and speaks to the experiences of marginalized Bahamians.
