Sydney Film Festival

The 45th Sydney Festival ran for two weeks in June and was notable for its international scope and humanist-themed filmmaking. Recent releases from the U.S. and Europe were interspersed with features and documentaries from 32 countries, including Mali, Tunisia, Madagascar, Vietnam, South Korea, Wales, and Ireland.

The program reflected director Paul Byrne’s belief that "immersing ourselves in film can make us more human, more tolerant, somehow bigger." This was particularly evident in the Cinema Africa programs, presented by Cameron Bailey, founder of the Toronto Festival’s Planet Africa section.

Nadia Fares' Honey and Ashes

An intriguing example was When the Stars Meet the Sea, (France/Madagascar), by Raymond Rajaonarivelo. It uses only indigenous Madagascans as actors, and, because there is no local film industry, involved flying in six tons of equipment. The story, based on a local myth, concerns a boy who, because he was born at the time of an eclipse, must endure a night alone among the cattle. He survives, and later searches for an explanation for his uncanny powers to control natural forces. The atmosphere and intense beauty of the images as we move between city and country are overawing.

Honey & Ashes (Switzerland/Tunisia) directed by Nadia Fares is strikingly feminist, particularly considering its Arab origin. It concerns three women in contemporary Tunisia whose lives intermingle as they attempt to resist traditional family restrictions and physical abuse. Like several of the African films, Honey & Ashes deals convincingly with the impact of Western culture on more conservative societies.

Equally challenging, from the point of view of working under almost impossible conditions, is The Perfect Circle, (Bosnia/France) shot in Sarajevo by Ademir Kenovic, just after the killing stopped. The story concerns a poet, Hamza, who, like many others in the besieged city, has lost his desire to live. Consequently, he refuses his chance to escape to Western Europe with his wife and daughter. However, his indifference is jolted alive when two orphaned boys take refuge in his apartment and he decides to help them find their aunt. The film, in fact, is largely about random acts of kindness taking place under conditions of near starvation, freezing cold and imminent death.

In Free Fall and The Maelstrom, filmmaker Peter Forgacs recreates the life of two middle class Jewish families, one in Hungary and the other in Holland, in the years before World War Two. In each we share intimate joyous moments, like birthdays and weddings, while superimposed are displayed the sinister texts of savage anti-Jewish laws. The effect is extraordinarily moving, for we know what is coming. Forgacs calls his work "an archaeological map of human fate streams".

No less stirring, though in extreme contrast stylistically, is The André Show by Beverly Peterson. This unsentimental study follows Andre, aged 10, and his mother, Vilma, both of whom are dying from AIDS. When Vilma becomes too ill to cope, Beverly adopts the boy and encourages him and his friends to use the camera. Although the result is like a rough cut with jump cuts, it successfully holds together through the logic of emotion.

In summary, Sydney is a festival for the everyday enthusiast who wants to keep up and catch up. In this it greatly benefits from its calm non-competitive atmosphere, and absence of distributors entitled to all the best seats. Moreover, since a ticket may be shared by any number of friends, no session need ever be wasted.

Chicago Underground Film Festival by Ray Pride
ResFest ’98 by Eugene Hernandez
Nantucket Film Festival by Mark Rabinowitz
Newport International Film Festival by Mary Glucksman
Sydney Film Festival by Henry Lewes
Hudson Valley Film Festival by Holly Willis