Wow, two days over are officially over in the 27th New Orleans film festival and already we have seen so many amazing films. With six days to go, I can’t imagine what we still have in store for us. Since we saw 5 films today, I won’t go into a ton of detail, but I’ll give you some of the highlights of the day.
BODY (cialo)
This feature had won great acclaim in its native Poland before having its US premiere at the flim fest. Focusing on a grieving homicide detective, his bulimic daughter, and her psychiatrist, the movie is an exploration of how we as individuals deal with life and death, love and loss, and familial relationships. Throughout the narrative, the film explores many facets of the term “body.” How do we view our own bodies? The meaning of “body” to a homicide detective. What life means without a body. It is a complex film that is driven by immense, yet subtle emotional drama between the three main characters. It was a beautiful and somewhat disquieting way to open our first day at the festival.
New Orleans Shorts #1
This first group of New Orleans made shorts was comprised of 6 very different short films. While I could go on and on about all of them, I will focus only on my favorite entitled BIXBY. Opening on a domestic dispute, teenager Bixby turns all his rage and frustration at his home situation on fixing neighborhood issues with the help of his trusty baseball bat. Action-packed, heart wrenching, hilarious, and unbelievably complex, this was an amazing film. Though it told a brilliant story in just eleven short minutes, I would be the first in line if the writer ever decided to give us a feature length film of this amazing thug.
This film featuring the talents of Dev Patel and Nicole Kidman focuses on a young Indian boy, who gets separated from his family, adopted by an Australian couple, and longs to find his way back to his birth mother when he reaches maturity. The only problem is that since he had gotten lost and rode a train for nearly three days, it is a nearly impossible task to find his home. With only the memories of a five year old and Google maps, 20 year old Saroo begins a desperate hunt to trace the train lines back home. I expected to enjoy this film, but was shocked at how much I loved it. It is a story of survival, impossible odds, and the quest for what it means to be family. Based on a true story, this is certainly a movie not to be missed.
Well, those are the highlights of day 2. If today is any indication, we are in for a whirlwind of amazing movies still to come in the next week. Keep watching CrimeSpree and we will keep sending updates from the front lines!
