April 19, 2009

• part three

  Doing some volunteer work for the Belfast Film Festival was great. I got a free pass to see as many films as I liked but saw very few in the end. I was chosen for some reason to work in the office rather than in the cinemas and this really was a good thing as I was working with the judges of the documentary contest and through that I got to see some pretty interesting films that I would have missed. As I type this I am trying to see if I can find anything online about them to share with you.

  Hair India was fascinating, it tells the story of what happens to the hair of the devoted which is shaved off in the temples. It is sold by auction to the highest bidder and ends up glued into the heads of the wealthy. What I liked about the film was that they didn't make an obvious East v West tale; the poor Indians being exploited by the First World nations - it showed how India itself is a powerful mix of contradictions. Yeah, I know that many of us know this already but with so many strands (no pun intended!) it was a very interesting film indeed. Have a look at the trailer below - it will give you a good sense of the film.

  Yodok Stories was an especially shocking film. I found myself shedding tears at some of the stories as they emerged. The documentary follows a group of refugees from North Korean death camps who find a way to tell their stories - through the medium of the stage musical! Sounds camp/crazy but I tell you that at the end of the film I just sat there feeling such anger and such hopelessness as well. I've tracked down a trailer in Youtube - the voice over wasn't on the documentary and it spoils it a little but the main message still gets through.

   

  The other film that really stuck with me was Presumed Guilty and this turned out to be the film that the judges at the film festival chose as their winner. They said:

  "In Belfast, we saw many excellent films, gripping and well-crafted.
  Yet, PRESUMED GUILTY stood out, with all the right ingredients a
  documentary could possibly have.
  
  With astonishing access to a prison in Mexico, we get to follow Tono,
  a young man who has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for a murder
  he most likely did not commit. There are unbelievably revealing moments with the judge, the prosecutor, and police officers, which make us question
  their concepts of justice. The documentary takes us on an emotional rollercoaster. Very well shot and edited, the film literally had us on the edge of
  our seats.
  
  This documentary competition honours direct cinema in the tradition of
  the Maysles brothers. Almost 90 minutes into this film, it suddenly switches from verité to intervention, and unusually for documentary it seemed rightfully so. The filmmakers were forced into being involved and start a final rescue attempt, using their very own powers of observation. Never have we been
  more thankful to a documentary maker for interfering with his subject.
  
  PRESUMED GUILTY saved more than 17 years of a young man's life." Sadly I couldn't find a trailer for it but here is a link to the BFF page describing the film: http://www.belfastfilmfestival.org/2009/programme/films/307

  After the festival I was a little flat. I'm still looking for work and still not getting anywhere. I am not getting too paranoid just yet but I really would like to be doing something and soon! In the meantime I volunteered for another festival - The Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival which starts at the beginning of May and should be great fun.

  Last weekend I had Hitler, Che, Ms Pankhurst & Martin Luther King over for dinner. It was a fun night though I spent a day or two preparing for it as I wanted it to be a really good dinner! I made lemon posset and also shortbread - both went well though I have to say that the lemon posset was probably the triumph of the night... nothing like ending up on a high! I made houmous and guacamole for when they arrived and then gazpacho for starters, I got a recipe out that my mom gave me last year for a spicy lentil stew and jazzed it up with sweet potato and chickpeas - it was served with enough rice to stuff a medium sized animal - oh and I made Sag Aloo as well. It was just easier to prepare a vegetarian meal as half the assembled cast - sorry - guests were veggies.

  Though it is tricky getting set up here and into employment there are so many reasons to be thankful for being here - not least of all is being with Patrick of course, but having such interesting people around, getting to the theatre and so many other things make life here so much better than the last two years in Birmingham with all that sadness and at times despair.

  Almost up to date... more later.

    

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