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I am exploring

the lyrical
the realistic (and at times surrealist)
and the intimate

I have a different set of criteria of choosing films to watch this year.

The description for La Fortaleza says it well:

By turns lyrical and raw, realistic and intimate, feverish visions also reflect the inner state of the protagonist

Selections

intense, deliberate aesthetics

The films:

Vitalina Varela, dir. Pedro Costa
La Fortaleza, dir. Jorge Thielen Armand
Panquiaco, dir. Ana Elena Tejera
Jallikattu, dir. Lijo Jose Pellissery
This is not a burial, it's a resurrection, dir. Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese

They seem to share these qualities:

primal, shamanistic
extreme close-ups
the protagonist in the center, almost otherworldly, iconographic

animals (interesting coincidences)

Last year I was drawn to films set in remote places, esp. mountains. This year, a few films that I choose share that thread, but also the relationship with animals.

L'île aux oiseaux, dir. Maya Kosa , Sérgio da Costa
Kala azar, dir. Janis Rafa
Birds (Or How to Be One), dir. Babis Makridis
Cemetery, dir. Carlos Casas

They seem to share these qualities:

an unlikely story
taking care of animals + wanting to be animals as metaphor
commitment to the metaphor — living reality in imagination

intimacy

I am paying attention to films with a strong portrayal of intimacy (emotional and otherwise). Other than some of the above mentioned, these films feature relationships: between humans, between one devout geographer and the environment.

Vendrá la muerte y tendrá tus ojos, dir. José Luis Torres Leiva
Suzanne Daveau, dir. Luísa Homem

how to tell a story quietly

From the trailers I also recognized a certain slow pace that I use in my own film. I want to see these films to see how they tell a story quietly.

For the Time Being, dir. Salka Tiziana
Phases of Matter, dir. Deniz Tortum
Together Apart, dir. Qu Youjia

I am not quite sure how quiet this film will be. But I do recognize the trait of telling stories through the protagonist's own speech. (A story within a story. Or the film as a story that the protagonists tell AND live.) It's something I want to achieve in my film, so hopefully I can learn something from them.

The Fever, dir. Maya Da-Rin

habitat and home

There are two short programs focused on habitat and home, which relates to my grad film project.

Heartland (diaspora)
Natural Habitat (home)

others

I also included some films that will probably show me something new.

Short programs:

Circuit Bending
DINAMO (video art/experimental)
True Identity (I am going to a talk by an artist who made one of these films)

Feature:

Blanco en blanco, dir. Théo Court
Si yo fuera el invierno mismo, dir. Jazmín López
Nafi's Father, dir. Mamadou Dia
Desterro, dir. Maria Clara Escobar
The Science of Fictions, dir. Yosep Anggi Noen

Jujube/2020-iffr

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