The 35th Film Festival is less than 5 days away and I am ready for the count. On Friday, March 25, I may not see the light of day but that is okay with me as I know that spring is truly here when the films come to town.
As a regular attendee, the only rule in selecting films is there are no rules. That said,
- I avoid movies that will probably come to the Cedar Lee. If the film contains an American cast of well known actors, pass on it. If for some reason it never shows up again, then the movie was not that good.
- I aim for foreign language films. The rest of the world is brimming with ideas and Hollywood sticks us with Police Academy 8. I often like coming of age movies, perhaps because the kids are so much more real than little Fockers.
- Try to pick a film where the director is attending or that there is a film forum. There is something about hearing the writer tell his or her story around the movie’s story. The Danny Greene documentary is already on Standby.
- Everyone’s tastes are different. Don’t get too caught up in trying to see the ultimate film because it isn’t the same for everyone. Sometimes I will ask two people who came out of the same film their opinion and they are polar opposites.
Here are some films that have caught my attention playing the first few days of the festival.
- Elisa K. – France. It is autumn 1994 and Elisa K. will be 11-years-old in four months. On the same day Elisa visits the amusement park with her father and her father’s friend, she experiences a horrific trauma that will scar her for the rest of her life. A dark, sobering drama about the prolonged consequences of childhood sexual abuse.
Friday, March 25 
11:50 AM
Saturday, March 26 3:55 PM
Monday, March 28 9:30 PM
- The Colors of the Mountain – Columbia. How’s a kid supposed to play soccer in peace, with guerrillas encroaching upon the beautiful Colombian hills where he lives? Manuel has just turned nine, and his main concerns are his new soccer ball and tending his father’s cows. He’s a polite little fellow with two buddies named Julian and Poca Luz, and he has a tiny crush on a blonde girl who lends him a colored pencil in school. A kind-hearted new teacher comes to the village and gets the children to paint a mural over some partisan graffiti. But scattered gunfire can be heard more frequently, and strange men keep showing up, asking Manuel’s beloved papa why he doesn’t come to the guerrilla meetings.
Friday, March 25 2:30 PMSaturday, March 26 7:10 PMMonday, March 28 8:15 PM
- Here Comes Lola – Germany. NOT RUN LOLA RUN, another German movie. Lola is a cool nine-year-old with corkscrew curls who dreams of being a famous singer. She has a homemade stage in her bedroom and a rocket ship she sometimes sits in when she wants to fly to the stars. Some people in Lola’s village are saying terrible things about her daddy Papai who’s from Brazil and has dark skin, so Lola’s family moves to the big city of Hamburg. In Hamburg kids come in all colors and Lola soon gets used to her new class.
| Friday, March 25 | 5:00 PM |
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| Saturday, March 26 | 1:25 PM |
- Copacabana – France again. Babou is a woman impossible to forget. Vibrant and eccentric, she refuses to apologize for the way she is. To be sheltered and settled is what she fears most, having traveled the majority of her life, spontaneously moving from place to place. So when her serious and rational daughter Esmerelda announces that she is getting married and that Babou is not invited to the wedding, Babou must decide whether or not it is time to grow up. In her efforts to change, she finds a job as a solicitor for timeshares in Ostende, Belgium.
| Friday, March 25 | 7:20 PM |
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| Saturday, March 26 | 11:25 AM |
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| Sunday, March 27 | 5:30 PM |
- The Piano in the Factory – China. For such a big country, mainland Chinese films are a bit of a rarity. Northeast China, the early 1990s. Facing the end of their planned economy, laid-off workers are looking for ways to repurpose their crumbling former work places—and their lives. THE PIANO IN A FACTORY is the enormously entertaining tale of a quirky band of brothers who unites one last time to pursue a common goal. Chen is an ex-steel factory worker with twin passions for his young daughter and music. He makes great sacrifices and goes to hilarious lengths to keep the girl taking piano lessons. Chen’s absent wife suddenly appears, demanding custody of the child. A product of the new mercenary China, the girl says she’ll go with whichever parent can provide her with a piano. Now the hustle is on!
| Friday, March 25 | 6:45 PM |
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| Saturday, March 26 | 3:45 PM |
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| Sunday, March 27 | 9:20 AM |
- Undertow – Peru. This was nominated for an academy award, so that is your first clue it is worth seeing. Plus how many films have you ever seen from Peru? Does love survive after death? Anchored in the Latin American tradition of magic realism, UNDERTOW dives into this question in an unusually moving way. Miguel and Mariela live in a candy-colored fishing village in northern Peru and happily anticipate the birth of a son. One day an outsider appears on the margins of the village. It’s Santiago, a handsome painter who lives in a house by the sea. The villagers are suspicious; he doesn’t attend church. Under the pretense of mending his fishing nets, Miguel sneaks off repeatedly to make passionate love with Santiago. But there’s a curse on their happiness: Santiago is caught in a current and swept out to sea. He returns to appear before Miguel, who initially tries to shoo him away. But nobody except Miguel can see the ghost of Santiago.
| Friday, March 25 | 9:30 PM |
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| Saturday, March 26 | 6:05 PM |
- This Beautiful City – Canada. You can’t go attend a film festival without at least one dysfunctional relationship. A gritty urban drama about two couples whose lives are spiraling out of control, THIS BEAUTIFUL CITY is a black valentine to Toronto. It explores what people find when they hit emotional and physical rock bottom. Carol and Harry are beautiful people and condo owners in the rapidly gentrifying West Queen West district. He’s a passive-aggressive architect; her nerves are fragile. In the midst of a wine party, Carol goes outside and falls—or jumps—off the balcony to the street, several floors below. She lands right in the trash bins next to Johnny and Pretty, a pair of drug-addled hustlers working the street, who scuttle off in horror.
| Saturday, March 26 | 9:40 PM |
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| Sunday, March 27 | 11:40 AM |
What are your thoughts on the festival? I would love to hear your comments.
PS. If you haven’t caught it already, check out two excellent articles on Cleveland Film Festival trivia in Sunday’s Plain dealer and about how lucky we are to have Jonathon Forman here in our city.
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