Whatever it would be, that’s how many Mastidon saw, and it sounds like some really eclectic stuff in there. I have to see the Isabella Rossellini shorts. Have to.
Take it away, Mastidon, and thanks for all the good stuff you’ve sent in from the festival so far!
Hi Guys,
Berlinale every year features some incredible documentaries. Last year's winner, A WALK INTO THE SEA is finally starting to get some traction in Art museums. I saw it at the London Film Fest and feel its well worth your time. For a list of where its playing, check here.
So far I have screened 5 documentaries, 4 feature length and one short. Here is hoping it doesn't take a year for you to see some of them.
GREEN PORNO
Directed by & Starring Isabella Rossellini
4 1/2 Stars out of 5
GREEN PORNO is the first thing I saw at the festival and still stands as one of the best. It is a collection of 3 one minute shorts. Each short deals with the sex life of a particular insect, houseflies, spiders, and fireflies. But these are no ordinary nature films. Imagine Isabella dressed up as these various bugs playing the part of the male insects! Each one is a crazy costume like something a kid would wear for a school play. The female insects are portrayed by models. Isabella then explains as the bug what he is thinking this moment and then proceeds to have sex with these various models. Its hilarious. The shorts were produced by The Sundance Channel so hopefully you can catch them there in the near future.
MY WINNIPEG
Directed by Guy Maddin
1 1/2 stars out of 5
MY WINNIPEG was the feature that followed GREEN PORNO. From such a high to such a low in a blink of an eye. MY WINNIPEG is an art house documentary on Guy Maddin describing the city of Winnipeg, Canada. Its filmed almost entirely in Black & White. The concept is that Winnipeg is a very sleepy town so the film is done as if you are listening to his thoughts of his dreams. Hence the Black & White. I must have looked at my watch 5 times while watching this 80 minute film. It almost put me to sleep. I'm sure that is the kind of mood he was going for but in the end, it just left me bored. Do I really care that Winnipeg lost its old Ice Hockey stadium? I doubt you do either. But if you do, this one's for you.
CORRIDOR #8
Directed by Boris Despodov
Bulgarian and English with English Subtitles
4 stars out of 5
CORRIDOR #8 is such a new film that I can not even find an IMDB listing for it. The best way to describe this film is like a Bulgarian Michael Palin travel episode. I can never get enough of travel stories to see the local people and exotic places that I never heard of until that moment . This film is no exception. It follows the route of the planned highway from Bulgaria at the Black Sea through Macedonia and ending in Albania at the Adriatic Sea. It even has its own website - http://www.corridor8.org/. The idea behind the highway is that it will help the economy of the Balklands to have better connections to the west.
The film starts out at the Black Sea and begins asking questions of people along the way, "What do you think of Macedonians? Well, they are just Bulgarians. What do you think of Albanians? They are thieves." Everywhere they went in Bulgaria along the planned route, they got pretty much the same answer. At the border for Macedonia, they are shown the planned tunnel to connect the two countries. Construction on the tunnel started in 1942 and it hasn't been completed yet. The locals use it as a place to grow mushrooms. At the train stop, the locals talk about many government delegates have visited them over the years promising this time the highway will really start but in the end, nadda. Across the border in Macedonia, you see the infrastructure slowly get worse. The people are asked the same question, "I have family in Bulgaria. They are like us. Albanians are all thieves. There are more Mercedes cars there than in Germany with 50% of them stolen." Ironically enough, once the crew gets to Albania, there are more Mercedes there than in Germany. When they ask an Albanian the same question, "They are both very nice people." The film does a great job at showing how far apart these countries really are in infrastructure and people's attitudes even if they are geographically the distance from Atlanta to D.C. This one is well worth your valuable time and cash if it ever makes it outside of Europe.
A JIHAD FOR LOVE
Directed by Parvez Sharma
Arabic, French, English with English Subtitles
3 1/2 Stars out of 5
A JIHAD FOR LOVE follows what it is like to be a homosexual in a Muslim world. Falling into the category of completely obvious, its not the thing you want to be. Gay Muslims in Egypt and Iran are impressioned, beaten, or even executed by stoning. There is a zero tolerance policy for it. A gay man in India is told by his cleric that he should see a psychiatrist because he has a disease and it can be cured. In more western countries like Turkey, its tolerated and is not illegal. Although I'm not sure how much of that is Turkey's desire to be in the EU versus an actual acceptance. Lesbians are shown to have it much easier than the gay men. There is no actual punishment for being one even if it is though of as immoral because there is no penetration involved.
Part of the story follows 4 men who fled to Turkey. However Turkey will not grant them residency so they must try to get UN approval for Canadian asylum. The film also covers South Africa where a Muslim man has openly come out on the radio. It shows the tendency that things are changing slowly in South Africa. No real description is given on how Muslims are treated in the EU which is something I would have really liked to have seen. The one common point throughout the film is that even though the person may be a homosexual, they feel that they are a devote Muslim and will ask for God's forgiveness when they die. Is this an important movie? Yes, if nothing more than proof of how devoted Muslims are even if it means their religion can not accept who they are as a person.
WITH GILBERT & GEORGE
Directed by Julian Cole
3 1/2 Stars out of 5
This film follows the careers of Gilbert Prousch and George Passmore who have worked together for the past 40 years to change the definition of art. Their first breakthrough was as "The Singing Sculpture" which became the basis for artists around the world to become human statues. The film gives a nice look into their private lives and how they work together. Covering their early history right up until their exhibit at the Tate Modern last year. If you are a fan of their work, you will love the insight this film gives you such as they don't have their own kitchen and eat every meal out. Kitchens are too much of a distraction. A fun movie if you are a fan of their work.
Out of the above, find your way to CORRIDOR #8 and send emails begging The Sundance Channel to air GREEN PORNO.
Ciao from Berlin,
-Mastidon
