Voy! Voy! Voy!

Egyptian comedy about a dude pretending to be blind so that he can get into Europe with a traveling soccer team for the blind.

It's a funny and charming caper film about people desperate to emigrate. It's supposedly based on a true story (but I haven't been able to find English language coverage of the real events). But you have to turn off your brain to not think about how the actual blind players were used and how this certainly screwed up their experience and probably made their lives more difficult and invasive afterward.

Secret #1

SIFF has an unusual tradition of showing a secret film every Sunday morning. How secret? You sign an NDA and if you get caught blabbing they go after you with lawyers.

I had stopped buying a Secret Festival pass - I was disappointed in the quality of the films and it was too much of a schedule penalty for what I was getting. But I decided to go back this year, and what a great call! Might be my favorite of the festival so far and that's pretty much all I can say right now

Got some excellent boba on the way to Sifferama, settling in for a couple of (likely) depressing documentaries

Sugarcane

Title is the name of a reservation in BC - doc about the survivors of St Joseph's residential school. Canadians will be familiar with this - the tribe did ground penetrating radar on the grounds of the school and collected testimony (they have a murder board) tracing the atrocities that happened there. It is not an educational journey as much as an emotional journey, giving elders as much space as they need to speak. Often they are ceremonially cleansed as they speak (smoke, drumming, or sweat). It's a tough watch. The co-director is the son of the only known survivor of the infants born at the school - literally found in an empty container in the garbage destined for incineration. His dad is an artist here in western WA and I'm familiar with his work (will add a link later) so his history was a bit more shocking for me.

It will hit Disney+ in the fall.

Porcelain War

This movie is going to win an Oscar, I'd lay money on it.
Joyful and poignant portrait of a husband-wife ceramics team, their little dog Frodo, their painter best friend, and the husband's special forces unit in Ukraine. He makes slip-cast porcelain animals, she decorates them; they are definitely fine art. He also teaches people to shoot. This is everything I want from a documentary - a compelling human story, beautifully told, with remarkable footage. Their art is amazing, the military action and the beautiful meadows and forests of Ukraine, also amazing. Several of the longer stories they tell are illustrated with animation of the decoration on their porcelain figurines. There is too much, just see it if it comes near you.

The artist couple and the dog were here for Q&A. (For folks who worry about the people in war stories: the Q&A confirmed everyone we meet is alive and unhurt as of today.)