Every year around this time the MIFF (Melbourne International Film Festival) bandwagon comes to town, hell it’s been coming every year for 60 years now (more than double the time I’ve been alive, for all those counting at home). I must admit in my earlier years I didn’t get to see much at the festival, but in the last few I’ve steadily increased my booked sessions with each festival and last year I saw 8 films, so this year to continue the trend I had to book more. And to continue the other trend of blogging and sharing your film choices with anyone that will read it, I have listed my choices below.
Now, my idea is to get a balanced set of films to view, with a little bit of everything. That doesn’t always go to plan because hey, I still have a job and a life during the festival (although for the next two weeks the life part is severely limited to a dark cinema and drinking copious amounts of coffee and/or alcohol).
The list below is in order of what I’ll be seeing and why. Also, its worth noting that at this time I am now taking coffee donations so if you see me slumped over a cinema seat, you know what to do.
Pool Party (USA)
A doco about an abandoned public pool that is converted into a music venue featuring artists such as the Beastie Boys and the Black Lips. A pretty cool idea, and I think a great fun way to start the festival.
El Velador (Mexico/USA)
Since 2007 nearly 35,000 people have been killed in Mexico’s drug war (which is insane), this is a story that is visually told and apparently has very little dialogue, following one of the narco-cemetery’s night-watchman as he makes his rounds over one night. I love anything Mexican, so I’m in. I’ll trade my coffee for a bottle of Sol for this screening.
Submarine (UK)
I knew this film would make MIFF (rather, I hoped), and it was at the top of my must-see list. It’s described as an offbeat coming-of-age comedy film and there’s been a lot of buzz surrounding this film for quite a while now. Can’t wait for this!
The Innkeepers (USA)
This session at 11pm is really going to test me, but is probably the right time for an old-school style of horror film that MIFF describes as ‘Clerks’ meets ‘The Shining’. The film is about two hotel staff that decide to investigate the rumours that their workplace may be haunted. Of course, being a horror film my bets are that the place actually is. Who needs sleep anyway right?
Norwegian Wood (Japan)
This film was included in MIFF’s early teaser called ‘First Glance’, and I was keen from the get go. Director Tran Anh Hung, a Vietnamese man who moved to France when he was young, and has won prizes at Cannes and been nominated for an Oscar in his career, has created a dark and haunting film about love and loss set in 1960′s Japan. Another one near the top of my must-see list.
Life In A Day (USA)
It says USA but really should read global, a film that is produced using uploaded YouTube clips from people all around the world that captured something they did on the 24th of July 2010. A great concept, and just watching the trailer gives you an idea of the scope and variety of work that was submitted. It looks not only incredibly interesting, but also really moving too.
Cold Fish (Japan)
Director Sion Sono has two feature films playing at MIFF, this is one of them, and is described as an unrelenting gore-drenched pitch-black comedy. That description alone got me buying the ticket, my crazy pick for the festival.
Accelerator Shorts 1 (Australia/New Zealand)
You can’t attend a film festival without including a short film session. The variety and quality of short films is amazing, and this year I’m sure it’ll be no different to the great choices of last year. Filmmakers who have films playing in the Accelerator sessions are all guests of the festival and go through a special program while attending. I can’t make the second session but I’m really looking forward to seeing some Aussie talent on display here.
She Monkeys (Sweden)
The winner of this year’s Tribeca Film Festival award for Best Film, She Monkeys is the debut feature from Lisa Aschan and is described as a ‘nuanced and provocative study of young female desire’. Tribeca usually has good taste so I’m keen to check this one out.
Wendall Thomas Talks Scripts Series – Making A Scene: The Magic & Mechanics of Scene Structure
As someone who loves to write, and one day hopes to have a few films under my belt, this is a must. Unfortunately due to work I can’t attend the whole series but I think a session about scene structure is probably what I need most right now, so I have my notepad ready.
X (Australia)
The other film at the top of my must-see list is X, Jon Hewitt’s new one, and he is one filmmaker I really like. I can’t wait for this, it’s first Australian screening. A gritty dark film that is described as explicit, raw, and relentless. Hanna Mangan-Lawrence (in her most mature role yet) plays a callgirl who finds herself and another callgirl in the wrong room at the wrong time, and this one night suddenly takes a deadly turn. Bring it on.
Attenberg (Greece)
It’s not all negative economy talk in the Olympic homeland, and this film (named after a reference to Sir David Attenborough), is said to be an absurd offbeat exploration of sex and death. And who can argue with that?
Another Earth (USA)
I love the story of this film production, the 12 crew go away to shoot at some country town in the states where they had no mobile reception for 15 days and their associate producer cooked breakfast every morning for the cast and crew -that is indie filmmaking at its best, and it’s these stories I find really inspiring for my own ideas. Featuring at Sundance Film Festival this year, the film is about the discovery of ‘another Earth’ orbiting our own that appears to be an exact mirror image of everything and everyone here. At the same time, astrophysics student Rhonda drives into an oncoming vehicle killing the family inside. After she’s released from prison, she seeks out the surviving father, determined to find some sort of penance, and maybe use this new world above her as a way to escape her past. I love the idea of ‘what if there is an exact replica of you’ in the universe and what that would change. It’s the perfect film to finish my MIFF 2011 on.
What are your choices? Are you going? Check out the program at www.miff.com.au
