This was the first time at MIFF 68.5 that I really missed being in a cinema. Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson directs his only feature, bringing together three distinct and disparate components to create an emotional experience that cries out for sensory immersion.
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Mixing just the right notes of folklore, social realism, tragedy and horror, Jayro Bustamante deftly weaves a compelling and emotional story about the genocide of the indigenous Mayan-Ixil people in 1980s Guatemala.
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I couldn’t look away from this gripping documentary about the awful abuse and murder of LGBT+ people in Chechnya. What at first seems a story about gay people, becomes something much more universal where we can see the awful ripple effects of persecution, the terrible cost and how easy it is to become a refugee.
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On the surface, this may seem like a standard arthouse movie about 1950s Soviet life. As it is, this small but intense story of two canteen workers in a secret Soviet research institute is hard to look away from but, when you learn more about the DAU project, it becomes remarkable.
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Director Visar Morina perfectly captures the uneasy dislocation of being a foreigner in a structured and comfortable society, using every frame to push us into a growing paranoia.
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There are probably many people like Dr Jess Ting in the world, just going about their work but, because of their empathy and dedication to making a difference, they change people’s lives.
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Kuessipan sneaks up on you. For awhile it feels like a familiar story of race and class and wanting freedom from the confines of family and community as you teeter on the precipice of adulthood.
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Having just watched Black Bear (2020), which explores gender roles in its arty maelstrom of a story, The Killing of Two Lovers shows how to nail it. Robert Machoian immerses us in the head and heart of husband and dad David as his marriages crumbles.
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This quite astounding docudrama by brothers Bill and Turner Ross seems to coalesce all that is precious and precarious about the US on the brink of the 2016 election that saw Trump come to power and the lives of the powerless crumble.
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Image via http://www.peninsulacinemas.com.au
I left Stan Grant’s measured and important exploration of Australian racism feeling somewhat shattered and profoundly moved. It is a narrative made personal by the journey of AFL star, Adam Goodes. Continue reading
