Hale County This Morning, This Evening
This was the first film I saw and one of the most abstract. The editing was vastly different than any other film I had seen before. For example, there were a few shots that lasted 4 or 5 minutes long with no cuts. Often times, the subject would just be repeating a task during the long shots. What I have found is when a shot is held on longer than I would normally expect, there is often times more going on that is not as obvious as what is seen in the initial few seconds of the shot. This increased attention to detail created more meaning from footage that otherwise would have gone unanalyzed. The filmmaker was there for a post viewing q&a. He did most of the filming by himself with his friends as the subjects. Filming took around 2 years and he ended with 1300 hours of footage. My rating: 4/5
RBG
This was the opening night film. First of many I saw with Sam. RBG is a hilarious documentary on the history and current life of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She has recently become very popular among youth for her liberal beliefs and strong personality. This was the funniest doc of all I saw at the festival. She is currently 85 years old so she does not use the computer or tv. There was an SNL skit done on her a while back that she never had seen before. They filmed her reaction during the interview. This film was very well done. It also used 3D text animation motion tracked to footage of an empty courtroom with audio overlay of clips from the cases (because they could not film during the real events). This was a clever way to work around that limitation while keeping it interesting. Rating: 5/5
Rebuilding in Miniature
This short film was paired with the following. While this only lasted 10 minutes, we got an in depth look at a Muslim-American miniature sculptor. This was beautifully shot focusing mostly on extreme macro shots of his creations. Rating: 4/5
Bending Lines
This was on the shorter end of a feature length film. It started kind of slow with background info on an artist who only uses lines to create large seemingly abstract shapes. I was unsure where this film was going until it got to the part where he (the artist) explained how different twists and bends of a line can work together to created different mathematical shapes. Although he had no formal mathematical degree or really worked with math at all, he recreated many shapes through art. Rating: 4.5/5
The Square
This doc is about the protests in Tahrir Square, Egypt. The Egyptian government has been corrupt for many decades and the people have started to fight back by protesting in this square. This very graphic film showed the true cost of these protests and corruption of the government. During the post viewing q&a, a question was asked about the safety of the filmmakers because many shots are right in the action. One filmmaker was actually nicked by a bullet shot by government police. This reminded me of how physically demanding this job can be. The filmmaker, Jehane Noujaim, mentioned later that creating a film is like child birth; it's really painful during the process, but you soon forget about it because of all the joy it brings. Rating: 4/5
Control Room
This film was also made by Jehane Noujaim. This focused on the US involvement in Iraq after 9/11. This told a side of the story new to me that did not make the US look great. It followed the news organization Al Jazeera which the US claimed to be spread propagandist beliefs. Rating: 3.5/5
Cielo
This was a much simpler film than the others with the focus being on beautiful timelapses of the night sky in Argentina. It allowed time to appreciate the magnitude of our universe. This film had a nice balance between scientific discoveries and the beliefs of locals. Since I took Astronomy first semester this year, I already knew a majority of the technical info so this was not the most intriguing film to me. Rating: 3/5
Minding the Gap
This was by far my favorite film at the festival. I had a real emotion connection. This film followed a group of skateboarders in Illinois who have a history of domestic abuse. I really enjoyed the editing and way this film was shot. It dealt with very real topics and emotions that can only be found in documentary filmmaking. This film also used music in a creative way which supplemented the footage nicely. This was the only doc that received a standing ovation. I spoke briefly with the filmmaker, Bing Liu, after the film and gave him my business card. Rating: 5/5
The Good Struggle
This was a short film that followed a few Monks of a Greek Orthodox monastery in Lebanon through their daily routines. While it was beautifully shot and offered an insight into a very secluded area of the world, it was not my favorite. The story did not really go anywhere in depth nor did I find the interviews fascinating. Rating: 3/5
Maj Doris
This film followed an elderly woman who lived alone in Northern Sweden. It really well documented her life in one of the most unforgiving parts of the world. She has a deep connection with a local reindeer population. They are her family. I thought the edit seemed to drag on a bit in the beginning but the filmmakers later said in the q&a that they wanted to depict how long and boring her life was in this small town. Most film takes place in and around her house, but in the last few minutes of the credits, she travels the world going to many countries and ending in Puerto Rico. Rating: 4.5/5
Overall, I really enjoyed the festival and hope to go again next year. I have reached out to Ms. Haj about meeting and discussing the films I saw and my future. I have yet to hear back; I know she will still be busy wrapping up the festival in the next few weeks.
