DOCUMENTARY SHORT PROGRAMME
6/10
A set of shorts, so hard to review as a whole. As can be expected, some were good, some weren’t. Highlights were ‘Transformers: The Art of Circuit Bending’ and ‘Spitfire 944’ about an American pilot who crash landed a spitfire during WW2. Lowlight was ‘Sleep City’ which was several 5-10 shots of empty streets in a town somewhere in Spain (I think – there was no narrative/interview/vocal/textual element to this ‘documentary’ by which to tell).

LINDA LINDA LINDA
7/10
Cute Japanese film about some girls in high school who suddenly need to find a new singer for the band before their big premiere show at a school fair. The film is named after song they sing, and let me tell you, the chorus is still stuck in my head nearly 24 hours later.

THE WILD BLUE YONDER
7/10
I had my doubt about this, but after having short naps in the previous two sessions followed by dinner and a coffee, I decided at the last minute to get one more film in. It was actually pretty good! The film consists of an ‘alien’ (who looks like one of us, and is played by the same actor who plays the doctor in the c*cks*ckingly great tv show Deadwood interspersed with stock footage. The alien guy would describe the state of the story for us, and then portions of stock footage with music would demonstrate the story (sometimes well, sometimes requiring a bit of imagination). Makes for a cheap sci fi flick, eh? It was mostly pretty interesting though and had a good few humourous moments. It dragged a bit towards the end, at which point I was getting a bit tired and hoping that the underwater (err, I mean liquid helium atmosphere) shots would move along a bit.

DARKON
7/10
Every year the festival seems to have a documentary that features some freaks of nature who are passionate about something unusual. In previous years we’ve had the opportunity to laugh at people who enter eating competitions or build stock cars for racing on weekends. This year the eye is turned on some residents of Maryland who every second weekend gather in fields or forests to do live representations of role playing games. Predictably enough, the participants are those that seem socially awkward in real life, who were probably loners at school. The interesting thing is how much they get out of their shells when they’re playing this game. Ultimately the message here is that in their real lives they’re not getting what they crave (power, confidence, adventure), so they use this fantasy world as a substitute. Hopefully they will begin to learn that they can function in the real world more if they give it a try – especially as the game increasingly simulates the real world as some characters strive for acceptance or power. The documentary wasn’t bad and was entertaining enough – however, it would have been nice if the filmmakers had spent a bit more time on the background and history of how this thing started.

GRBAVICA
8/10
This is a Bosnian film about a single mother’s trials and tribulations trying to collect 200 euros in order to send her daughter on a school trip. I almost didn’t catch this as I’ve seen a couple of Bosnian films at previous festivals which I didn’t like, but this one was highly regarded by a friend. And it will possibly will be my surprise hit for the festival. While it’s a drama there are many touching moments and a degree of humour which is used to show that even in dark times, there’s humanity that continues to shine through. This was the last session of this film for the festival, but I recommend trying to see if it you get the chance.