LUZZU – ★★★★

It’s odd how there seem to be themes that occur during MIFF. This year fishing seems to be one of them, with this being the third film featuring it (the others being ‘CODA’ and ‘Gaza Mon Amour’. Luzzu is a beautiful Maltese film with plenty of heart. It tells the story of a fisherman whose lineage goes back generations, finishing from the same boat. He’s faced with several challenges, from his infant son needing medical care, to the challenges of modern fishing, shady dealings by others for out of season fish, and natural decline of fish in the sea due to global warming. A pleasant surprise.

SISTERS WITH TRANSISTORS – ★★☆

Documentary about women and their place in the history of electronic music. It was narrated by Laurie Anderson, and I was pretty excited to watch this. It wasn’t a terrible film, but I felt it was a little bit dry, and generally found the most interesting parts were relating to Suzanne Ciani. There was a previous documentary about her at MIFF in 2017 (‘A Life in Waves’) though. So, this was worth checking out, but I preferred A Life in Waves.