TIFF 2016 - Reviews Part 2
Oct. 4th, 2016 09:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
przedI've managed to write up the documentaries I saw at the fest.
The Eagle Huntress, dir. Otto Bell
This was Ros' very first film fest screening. (She's always been an easier sell on documentaries than fiction films.) It follows Aisholpan, a young Mongolian nomad girl, as her father teaches her to raise and train a golden eagle to hunt. Complicating things is the fact that eagle hunting has always been passed down father to son, and many experienced eagle hunters don't think a girl should be doing it. But Aisholpan shows an affinity for hunting with her eagle, enters the Eagle Hunting festival, and even goes on a gruelling fox hunt in the steppes, showing she's a true eagle huntress all the way. Aisholpan is an engaging subject, and the film is beautifully shot. It got the Ros seal of approval, though it also led to this conversation:
Ros: You didn't tell me it was subtitled!
Me: I didn't know it was. Did you have any trouble reading the subtitles?
Ros: No.
Me: Then we can take you to subtitled films now!
Ros: ::silently fumes::
Gaza Surf Club, dir. Philip Gnadt & Mickey Yamine
I have a huge affection for surfing docs, so I couldn't resist this one. It follows a group of young men and one girl in the Gaza Strip who have gotten into surfing. One of the young men, Ibrahim, is desperate to get a visa to go to Hawaii to study how to make surf boards. And the girl, Sabah, has mostly given up surfing because it's viewed as not a fit activity for girls, though she gets in one last triumphant ride at the film's end. (Dismayingly, when asked, the other surfers agree that girls shouldn't be allowed to surf.) More than anything, it's a fascinating look at day-to-day life in a place most of us in the West see only in news reports of fighting.
Mali Blues, dir. Lutz Gregor
I really love African guitar, and this film is full of great guitar music and more. It focuses on a number of Malian musicians, looking both at their music and the way they've defied the Islamist rebels who've taken over the north of the country and banned all music. At the centre of the film is Fatoumata Diawara, a singer/songwriter who fled the country to avoid an arranged marriage, and returns to play a triumphant concert and visit the village she's from.
J: Beyond Flamenco, dir. Carlos Saura
In his long career, Saura has made many dance films, documentary and fiction. This one takes him back to his native Aragon to look at the jota, a dance that's close to flamenco. The film starts with a children's dance class that shows the basic moves of the jota, progresses to some traditional dances and history of the form, and then ends with some more experimental dances. It's not a ground-breaking film, but it is beautifully done.
Politics, Instructions Manual, dir. Fernando Leon de Aranoa
This film is about the founding of Podemos, the Spanish political party that arose from the anti-austerity protests led by students and academics. We get to watch as they meet to create the party and a platform, have their own internal battles, and finally run in the national election. It doesn't have the most dynamic filmmaking—essentially, it's a series of scenes of people sitting in rooms talking—but it's really enlightening seeing what truly goes into making a political party. And the ending is great, watching the newly elected, jeans-clad Podemos members take their seats in the Spanish parliament amongst the suit-wearing old-school politicians.
Documentaries
The Eagle Huntress, dir. Otto Bell
This was Ros' very first film fest screening. (She's always been an easier sell on documentaries than fiction films.) It follows Aisholpan, a young Mongolian nomad girl, as her father teaches her to raise and train a golden eagle to hunt. Complicating things is the fact that eagle hunting has always been passed down father to son, and many experienced eagle hunters don't think a girl should be doing it. But Aisholpan shows an affinity for hunting with her eagle, enters the Eagle Hunting festival, and even goes on a gruelling fox hunt in the steppes, showing she's a true eagle huntress all the way. Aisholpan is an engaging subject, and the film is beautifully shot. It got the Ros seal of approval, though it also led to this conversation:
Ros: You didn't tell me it was subtitled!
Me: I didn't know it was. Did you have any trouble reading the subtitles?
Ros: No.
Me: Then we can take you to subtitled films now!
Ros: ::silently fumes::
Gaza Surf Club, dir. Philip Gnadt & Mickey Yamine
I have a huge affection for surfing docs, so I couldn't resist this one. It follows a group of young men and one girl in the Gaza Strip who have gotten into surfing. One of the young men, Ibrahim, is desperate to get a visa to go to Hawaii to study how to make surf boards. And the girl, Sabah, has mostly given up surfing because it's viewed as not a fit activity for girls, though she gets in one last triumphant ride at the film's end. (Dismayingly, when asked, the other surfers agree that girls shouldn't be allowed to surf.) More than anything, it's a fascinating look at day-to-day life in a place most of us in the West see only in news reports of fighting.
Mali Blues, dir. Lutz Gregor
I really love African guitar, and this film is full of great guitar music and more. It focuses on a number of Malian musicians, looking both at their music and the way they've defied the Islamist rebels who've taken over the north of the country and banned all music. At the centre of the film is Fatoumata Diawara, a singer/songwriter who fled the country to avoid an arranged marriage, and returns to play a triumphant concert and visit the village she's from.
J: Beyond Flamenco, dir. Carlos Saura
In his long career, Saura has made many dance films, documentary and fiction. This one takes him back to his native Aragon to look at the jota, a dance that's close to flamenco. The film starts with a children's dance class that shows the basic moves of the jota, progresses to some traditional dances and history of the form, and then ends with some more experimental dances. It's not a ground-breaking film, but it is beautifully done.
Politics, Instructions Manual, dir. Fernando Leon de Aranoa
This film is about the founding of Podemos, the Spanish political party that arose from the anti-austerity protests led by students and academics. We get to watch as they meet to create the party and a platform, have their own internal battles, and finally run in the national election. It doesn't have the most dynamic filmmaking—essentially, it's a series of scenes of people sitting in rooms talking—but it's really enlightening seeing what truly goes into making a political party. And the ending is great, watching the newly elected, jeans-clad Podemos members take their seats in the Spanish parliament amongst the suit-wearing old-school politicians.
