siff day 10

Secret Festival #2
i've wanted to see this ever since i first heard of it. woo! i also got to have one of megameow's sweet rolls :)

i made great time down to the Uptown, and snagged a burger from Dick's to eat while i waited for the next film. the passholder and ticketed lines are parallel at this location, with the ticket line closest to the street. a passing panhandler looked past all of the people in front of him and addressed me directly. i declined to give him my change and he moved on. the ticket holder across from me asked what was up - and i noted that he could see that i had bought something with cash a few minutes ago. (for nonlocals, Dick's is a cash-only business.)

Fighter
loved it. a gritty high-stakes version of Bend It Like Beckham, where a Turkish immigrant girl in Copenhagen wants to do competitive kung fu. unlike the soccer film, our heroine genuinely wants to be true to her family's values, and she's doing it all without any allies. good drama, good fight sequences, and more reality than Hollywood in the resolution; more people should see it. there's another showing left.

Ben X
wow wow wow - a Belgian film that takes us inside the mind of a boy with Asperger's syndrome. we first meet him as he plays ArchLord (an MMORPG), and he often uses the video game structure to help get him through the day. the film is tense and suspenseful; one of the reasons is that we have no true idea of how our hero will react. the inevitable bullying at school is intense and difficult to watch (i think it triggered some walkouts). a stunner, and clean enough to watch in the classroom. teens should see it. people should see it.
the director, Nic Balthazar, was in attendance. the film is an adaptation of his YA book. (he can't seem to get it done in English since there is a lot of sex in the book. that's not on screen, which i thought was interesting.) early on he received requests for Hollywood remake rights. he declined in order to prevent changes in the story. Balthazar says he has gotten a lot of positive response from Aspie kids and families.

dinner with C and needed grocery shopping. the excitement, it never ends.

Rare Gems from Pilot Animation Studios
the programmer watched five hours of their shorts to create a 90-minute best of program. gah. mostly not-for-me. i think i needed more Russian culture to fully appreciate the set. i would have walked out on this one after about half an hour if i hadn't sat in the middle of a row. but then i wouldn't have seen the adorable Gagarin or taken the offer of a ride home and had a pleasant conversation.

siff day 10

Secret Festival #2
i've wanted to see this ever since i first heard of it. woo! i also got to have one of megameow's sweet rolls :)

i made great time down to the Uptown, and snagged a burger from Dick's to eat while i waited for the next film. the passholder and ticketed lines are parallel at this location, with the ticket line closest to the street. a passing panhandler looked past all of the people in front of him and addressed me directly. i declined to give him my change and he moved on. the ticket holder across from me asked what was up - and i noted that he could see that i had bought something with cash a few minutes ago. (for nonlocals, Dick's is a cash-only business.)

Fighter
loved it. a gritty high-stakes version of Bend It Like Beckham, where a Turkish immigrant girl in Copenhagen wants to do competitive kung fu. unlike the soccer film, our heroine genuinely wants to be true to her family's values, and she's doing it all without any allies. good drama, good fight sequences, and more reality than Hollywood in the resolution; more people should see it. there's another showing left.

Ben X
wow wow wow - a Belgian film that takes us inside the mind of a boy with Asperger's syndrome. we first meet him as he plays ArchLord (an MMORPG), and he often uses the video game structure to help get him through the day. the film is tense and suspenseful; one of the reasons is that we have no true idea of how our hero will react. the inevitable bullying at school is intense and difficult to watch (i think it triggered some walkouts). a stunner, and clean enough to watch in the classroom. teens should see it. people should see it.
the director, Nic Balthazar, was in attendance. the film is an adaptation of his YA book. (he can't seem to get it done in English since there is a lot of sex in the book. that's not on screen, which i thought was interesting.) early on he received requests for Hollywood remake rights. he declined in order to prevent changes in the story. Balthazar says he has gotten a lot of positive response from Aspie kids and families.

dinner with C and needed grocery shopping. the excitement, it never ends.

Rare Gems from Pilot Animation Studios
the programmer watched five hours of their shorts to create a 90-minute best of program. gah. mostly not-for-me. i think i needed more Russian culture to fully appreciate the set. i would have walked out on this one after about half an hour if i hadn't sat in the middle of a row. but then i wouldn't have seen the adorable Gagarin or taken the offer of a ride home and had a pleasant conversation.