siff, final Tuesday

during the first week of the festival, there was a screwup at the Uptown, and i saw the opening of Fruit Fly before they realized they were running the wrong film. i'm glad - because of it i made sure that i saw a full screening.

it's a musical about a young Filipino-American woman arriving in San Francisco and creating a home. the opening (after charming animated credits) is a lead-and-chorus number about riding public transit, shot on the public transit in question. (the director spoke before the film; he had to catch a flight home. i'm sorry that there was no opportunity for discussion...but he said guerrilla film in the intro, so i'm assuming all of those great locations happened without permits or the streets being cleared.) i'll search for the music online when i get time - there are songs about being a fag hag, about hooking up in a gay bar, about not knowing what you want, about life being a work in progress. the composer does incredible work with lo-fi instruments like a commodore 64 synthesizer, and the earworm melodies were being hummed by audience members as they left. charming, recommended.

ETA: Fruit Fly Soundtrack on Rhapsody. (sorry furriners. i think it's on iTunes, but then you only get the cruddy samples.) check out "Public Transit" "Gay Gay Gay Gay Gay" and "We Have So Much in Common" (lyrics NSFW).

i thought Defamation was a great documentary. an Israeli filmmaker explores modern anti-semitism, through interviews and observation. i think that's as much as i can say. there were walkouts. there was spontaneous applause. it was thought provoking and i'm dying to talk with others who have seen it. there's still a showing left. highly recommended.

siff, final Tuesday

during the first week of the festival, there was a screwup at the Uptown, and i saw the opening of Fruit Fly before they realized they were running the wrong film. i'm glad - because of it i made sure that i saw a full screening.

it's a musical about a young Filipino-American woman arriving in San Francisco and creating a home. the opening (after charming animated credits) is a lead-and-chorus number about riding public transit, shot on the public transit in question. (the director spoke before the film; he had to catch a flight home. i'm sorry that there was no opportunity for discussion...but he said guerrilla film in the intro, so i'm assuming all of those great locations happened without permits or the streets being cleared.) i'll search for the music online when i get time - there are songs about being a fag hag, about hooking up in a gay bar, about not knowing what you want, about life being a work in progress. the composer does incredible work with lo-fi instruments like a commodore 64 synthesizer, and the earworm melodies were being hummed by audience members as they left. charming, recommended.

ETA: Fruit Fly Soundtrack on Rhapsody. (sorry furriners. i think it's on iTunes, but then you only get the cruddy samples.) check out "Public Transit" "Gay Gay Gay Gay Gay" and "We Have So Much in Common" (lyrics NSFW).

i thought Defamation was a great documentary. an Israeli filmmaker explores modern anti-semitism, through interviews and observation. i think that's as much as i can say. there were walkouts. there was spontaneous applause. it was thought provoking and i'm dying to talk with others who have seen it. there's still a showing left. highly recommended.