Greetings humans, Monki here in the beautiful island nation of Bermuda covering the 10th annual Bermuda International Film Festival.

I was blessed to get the opportunity last year to check out the festival and even more so to be invited back this year to see some truly amazing films in a splendid environment. Everyone here is very friendly and open and the discussions about film range from Citizen Kane to Ghostbusters. BIFF reminds me of what SXSW was a few years ago, it is so much easier to get a chance to talk to filmmakers here in a smaller more intimate environment.

All that and the films that are screening here have been fantastic.

Black Book was another film I saw originally at Butt-Numb-a-Thon that deserved another viewing. At BNAT Harry and Tim teased us with one of Michael J. Fox's masterpieces, Teen Wolf, and then burnt the film and replaced it with Black Book. I enjoyed Black Book on my original viewing, but I wanted to see it again due to the 'geek drunkenness' you get at BNAT and the overall sadness at not getting to see Styles and Boof on the big screen.

It held up. Black Book is the best Paul Verhoeven film I have personally seen. Honestly, I haven't seen his work prior to Robocop, so my view is limited, but seeing this makes me want to peruse his early library to see what other work he has crafted.

For a quick summary, a beautiful Jewish woman makes a run from the Nazis with her family during World War II, they are all slaughtered save for her and she ultimately ends up joining the resistance. She is tasked with seducing a high-ranking official and helping gain knowledge of Nazi movement. Her task takes her on a whirlwind journey through pain and redemption as she tries to help the people she cares for while not hurting the one she loves.

Carice van Houten who plays Rachel Stein, the lead female, is riveting. Her performance grips you and her pain becomes yours. She is beautiful on the screen and I can't imagine she will be unknown for very much longer. Likewise, Sebastian Koch, who plays the Nazi that Rachel is tasked with manipulating, turns in an equally powerful performance. I had never seen or heard of Sebastian before Black Book and after seeing the film at BNAT I then saw him again in the Academy Award winning foreign film The Lives of Others. From not being on my radar at all to being someone I will look forward seeing on screen again in just two months...impressive.

Black Book will be nominated for an Academy Award and it has an honest shot at taking it. (Well, as far as I know, it is only March...) Verhoeven has a woven a beautiful masterpiece of a film, one that you should not overlook. I couldn't have asked for a better opening night film.

As part of the festival, BIFF is honoring the Bermudian Earl Cameron who has starred in many films including more recently The Interpreter. Before a glorious Q&A with the gentleman actor we were treated to a screening of his very first film, Pool of London.

Why aren't films made like they were in 1950? The dialogue snaps off like a machine gun. Characters are fun, plots aren't ridiculous, there aren't a lot of explosions. What we are left with is a great film with a wonderful story. A boat docks in London harbor (the pool of London) and the story takes place over the few days the sailors are on shore. We witness love, pain and a diamond robbery, all in the span of a few days.

The one thing that really impressed me about this film was a plot thread between Earl Cameron's character (a black sailor named Johnny) and a fancy he takes to a woman in London who happens to be white. To think this inter-racial relationship took place in a movie shot in 1950 is pretty damn impressive and well played out.

Earl was there after the screening and delighted the audience with tales of being in London and how he got his career started in acting. He told us all how he would receive letters from people thinking that he truly was the character in the film, people who just wanted to offer him their friendship to the lonely guy wandering the streets of London. Cameron is a great man and a fine actor, I look forward to digging through his library when I get back to a mailbox that Netflix can find me at.

Fresh Air was one of those treats that you usually only find at a festival. It literally was a film that I circled due to location. I'm lazy and don't like walking around so I chose the film that connected the two I wanted to see.

What I found was a Hungarian film about a mother and a daughter who are both incredibly lonely and have no way of really talking to one another. The mother acts as a toilet attendant in a subway restroom and the daughter is going to school for fashion design.

The mother leads a very lonely life and meets men through singles clubs and ads for broken-hearted men. The daughter has few friends and mostly engrosses herself in her fashion designs.

Both women have so much in common but would never express that to each other. They sit in silence and watch classic films together, their only real communication whatsoever.

This sad film drives home the idea of appreciating what you have. The two women portray their unhappy existence to perfection and I believe any mother/daughter film lovers will enjoy this movie. It may even make you pick up the phone and tell someone you love them. Maybe.

I'm not sure if you knew this, but a lot of people in Iraq really don't like Americans. No, seriously.

My Country My Country was just nominated for the Academy Award for best documentary, losing to An Inconvenient Truth. That's all I needed to hear to have this one circled on my schedule.

The film is about the elections that took place in Iraq early January 2005 and the public feelings of those around the election. The main focus of the film is on Dr. Riyadh, an Iraqi medical doctor who is vehemently opposed to U.S. occupation of his country. Dr. Riyadh is the patron of a large family and is running for a position within the new Iraqi government.

The doc also follows a few other threads in the election including an Australian private security force tasked with keeping the elections safe and a few American soldiers who want to stay out of the way of the burgeoning democracy.

I won't get into the politics of democracy in Iraq, but it's needless to says that the issue is dealt with considerably in this film. If you are a die-hard republican, you probably will not like this movie due to the amount of anti-American sentiment from Dr. Riyadh and his family. If you bleed blue you'll probably use this documentary as an example of everything wrong that has gone on with our occupation. Be that as it may, it is an emotionally stirring film that will have you thinking about this world we've only seen on CNN and Fox News.

So, that was the first couple of days in wonderful Bermuda. I've still got a few more films to catch up on. The nights here are packed full of Dark and Stormys (the drink of choice) and good conversation. I think Quint would be happy to know I got dominated in a friendly game of poker with some other attendees while I was here too. My pocket 4s just didn't hold up!

I'm currently halfway through the festival, so stay tuned for a few more updates over the course of the week! So, until next time, back up the tree I go!

-Monki