Sweet 16 was the theme of this year’s Bermuda International Film Festival, though the vibe seemed more smooth continuation than a coming of age. Like its March 2012 edition, this April BIFF screened an international selection of prestige flicks (that those of us who don’t live on an enchanted island in the middle of the Atlantic had mostly seen by Oscar time). In addition to opening night’s Ginger & Rosa, Bermudians could catch everything from The Act of Killing and West of Memphis, to Rust and Bone and Amour. Not to mention Laurence Anyways, Beyond the Hills, Chicken with Plums, […]
by Lauren Wissot on Apr 24, 2013The day started off with a nice boost to my ego: another filmmaker and fellow blogger had recognized the masterful wit in my first blog entry and approached me about it. He noted that he was normally the funny one, and would now step up his game. I am competitive by nature so this was music to my ears: bring it! Only now I have to be funny again, which may be easier said than done. We began the day with the standard fare – introductions with a filmmakers’ twist: we were tasked to name our craziest venture as a […]
by Lanre Olabisi on Oct 4, 2011With The Loneliest Planet, the follow-up to her acclaimed feature Day Night Day Night, writer/director Julia Loktev builds a piercing drama around the contrast between a beautiful wide-open landscape and the ugliness of a momentary, possibly reflexive, moment of human behavior. In the film, an adventuring couple (Gael Garcia Bernal and Hani Furstenberg) trek through the Georgian mountains with a for-hire guide (Bidzina Gujabidze). A violent encounter changes everything. But in Loktev’s world, the hurt comes not from gunplay or kidnappings but from something more subtle. We asked Loktev about the relationship of landscape to story, about silence, and about […]
by Scott Macaulay on Sep 12, 2011