Day 8:
Das Herz ist ein dunkler Wald: A modern Medea, with a good cast (Nina Hoss) but a tad slow. Although the end was to be expected, it was catchy enough to stay till the end.

Chouga: A modern Tolstoy classic. Again, the story progresses slow and is pretty predictive. Not much more to tell about, other then to see for yourself if it’s any o your liking. It’s wasn’t my favorite.

PARTY
The day ended in the EXIT, with an exclusive IFFR Volunteers Only party. It took some time to have a decent crowd inside, since there was a competing (public) party with SpeedyJ at the same time, but it ended with a very nice atmosphere that promised a tough waking up the next morning.

DAY 9:

Due to last nights party, I couldn’t get myself to get up in time to see my first movie that I had planned (Una novia errante). Arriving at the cinema I found out that I hadn’t missed a blockbuster.

Come back Africa: A black and white restored classic from 1960. Some probably loved it, I hated it. Acting was terrible and unprofessional and sound quality was poor. And no, this hasn’t any to do with last nights party.

Les amours d’Astree et de Celadon: It looked like the actors were on stage in a theater acting out a classic play. Well, the story of the movie is happening around the 5th century. Terrible acting, truly horrific. The only thing I liked in the movie were the nymphs .

Stellet licht: The slowest of all time. Although the photography is beautiful, the story that can be told in under a minute and the camera shots take ages. The audiences verdict was mixed. From worst till best, it couldn’t contrast more. I had a hard time staying awake, while others didn’t dare to blink. A full 127 minutes of slow moving camera shots and real music to carry it. I was glad it had ended.

Alice’s House: The prior movies of today (and last nights party) took all my energy and I only helped checking the tickets when the cinema opened and watched the last 30 minutes from the stairs, while collecting the Public Award valets from people that left the movie before the end.

A beer at the schouwburg was to make up for the day that is till now, the least successful one. I don’t have to work tomorrow, but got some movies planned. I wonder if I’m gonna make any of them or that I will have some quiet time to prepare for the final weekend, that includes two parties and hopefully 5 or 6 good movies.

Related posts

• IFFR Day 7: Moby Dick, sister love and marijuana
• IFFR Day 4, 5 and 6: 11 movies later
• IFFR Day 3: The world premiere of TBS (and more)
• IFFR Day 2: Import Export, Wonderfull Town
• IFFR Day 1: Opening night feat. Juno and Appleseed:Ex Machina

Captein Ahab: A French story about a young orphan that grows up to become a Whale Hunting Captain. Loosing his leg in a fight with a giant white whale and destined to take revenge. Ring a bell? Sounds corny, but it isn’t. It’s very nicely done and I was bound to see the whole movie till the end, wondering how it would evolve.

3 days to forever: An endless looking journey of two rich kids that decided to drive to Jogjakarta themselves instead of having the driver take them. As the director told us after the movie, it’s hard to get lost when driving due to the 1 main road leading to the main city unless you really want to. Well, they wanted to. Brother and sister get to know each other, with highs and lows and there’s a sexual tension between them that is bound to be released at some point.

Help me eros: A dramatic story about a Taiwanese investor that has crashed and loses himself to drugs. Mixed with pretty explicit sex scenes. Despite the humerus opening telephone call, I wasn’t intrigued by it and soon lost interest. When the director held a Q&A after the movie he obviously had some explaining to do. He wend on and on about drugs and why he had chosen for certain elements in the film. The Q&A ended with a question from the audience that dazzled everyone…. “Why didn’t you make a different movie…”. My god, what kind of answer do you expect when asking such a question….

So far for the films, the atmosphere in the theater and at the employers area was great as usual!
I ended the day with a great diner at LOFT (Westelijk Handels Terrein) with my good friend Rob. Is was for the first time in the past 7 days that work actually came up again….

Related posts

• IFFR Day 8 & 9: Slow, slower , slowest
• IFFR Day 4, 5 and 6: 11 movies later
• IFFR Day 3: The world premiere of TBS (and more)
• IFFR Day 2: Import Export, Wonderfull Town
• IFFR Day 1: Opening night feat. Juno and Appleseed:Ex Machina

DAY 4:

Centochiodi: A beautiful Italian movie of which the opening reminded me of “The Da Vinci Code”. A must see!

Secret Sunshine: This movie took a while to settle in my thoughts. The drama is very well put to screen and it was certainly one that took the rest of the day to evaluate.

Alexandra: Russian granny that visits her grandson at an army base. Not bad, but certainly not a highlight of my day.

You, the living: A publics favorite, but not mine. A story based on sketches with a typical form of humor. (almost Monty Python like). I loved the moments where dreams are visualized most.

DAY 5:

Four Women: Four separate stories about the live of women in the Indian culture. I had enough after three, but the beautiful photography kept me watching the whole thing.

Mio Fratello e figlio unico: They predicted it would be great and it was. A very good picture by Daniele Luchetti. Go see it as it will come to a cinema near you!

Persepolis: An animated feature, with famous voice overs. An amazing piece that depicts the Iranian culture very well and at times lets you forget you are looking at an animation.

Mythia: It’s NOT a bollywood movie. A minimal audience enjoyed this great picture. Although the low number of seats taken could have something to do with the fact that it was the last movie on Sunday night, I think the choice of words in description of the movie didn’t do the movie any good.

DAY 6:

Cargo 200: You gotta have a strong stomach (especially at the end) to see this movie at the start of the day. Gruesome and sickening story (although visually not explicit). Not bad though.

It’s hard to be nice: The first 30 minutes didn’t convince me and I left for a drink. Only to return (to guide the audience outside and clean up) and hear that the movie got better and better and turned into a good one after all. I should have been more patient, but hey.. I’ve had 17 movies already and there are still 21 to come. Oh well, I’ll see if it pops up on the internet.

Nothing personal: It had some similarities with last years favorite “Das leben der anderen”. About a detective that spies on a girl and starts to feel compassion. Good, solid, but not great.

Oef… that’s it for now. Really? Yes, it’s time for a nice (Mabelle’s Birthday) diner.
Upcoming: A lot of films and some parties. Stay tuned! (I’ll make up my top 10 list at the end of the festival.)

Related posts

• IFFR Day 8 & 9: Slow, slower , slowest
• IFFR Day 7: Moby Dick, sister love and marijuana
• IFFR Day 3: The world premiere of TBS (and more)
• IFFR Day 2: Import Export, Wonderfull Town
• IFFR Day 1: Opening night feat. Juno and Appleseed:Ex Machina

The results:

El otro by Ariel Rotter. A movie that picks you up and slowly takes you on a journey. Beautiful close-ups throughout the film make it a high quality experience.

War, Love, God & Madness by Mohamed Al-Daradji had major impact on me. It grabs you by the throat and makes your eyes water. The deep personal feelings of a director, trying to make a movie in Iraq, the cast and crew, all real life. Although I haven’t seen the film this making-off was all about (Ahlaam), I wonder if it can depict the harshness of trying to rebuild Iraq any better. Funny, how a making-off can become a personal film and can tell a story better then the well-planned, scripted and directed movie they are making in it. A small side note, they only finished this film the day before and saw it themselves for the first time.

Le voyage du ballon rouge by Hou Hsiao-hsien, a French movie directed by a Thai. It explains the somewhat odd clothing in the movie. The movie itself just takes too long to get you into the story and start to feel the characters emotions. A no go for me, and we wend out for diner half way through.

TBS by Pieter Kuijpers. THE movie of today, the long awaited premiere with acte de présence of the cast, Theo Maassen and Lisa Smit. Well, what can I say, go see it in a theater near you. It’s good, solid, dutch and all but a shooter/action movie (as some of the audience I spook expected it to be).

What it left me with? A TBS t-shirt, a FOK! t-shirt that was supposed to be for Theo Maassen, but who left it behind and a ticket for the private Premiere Party. Free drinks and a pleasant (but a bit static) crowd had joined the cast and crew of TBS in the Juriaanszaal.

The day ended in EXIT for a private, IFFR volunteers only, party.
A DJ Contest created a relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere.
At about 4:00 AM, it was time to leave the, mostly intoxicated, colleagues to team up for another great day the next morning (another 4 films to see tomorrow, of which two are in the night shift that I have to work)

Related posts

• IFFR Day 8 & 9: Slow, slower , slowest
• IFFR Day 7: Moby Dick, sister love and marijuana
• IFFR Day 4, 5 and 6: 11 movies later
• IFFR Day 2: Import Export, Wonderfull Town
• IFFR Day 1: Opening night feat. Juno and Appleseed:Ex Machina

Import Export, a slow moving documentary-like movie directed by Ulrich Seidl. Ouch, not my kind of cookie. It set my reality level back a bit and makes me appreciate my personal life more.

Wonderfull Town by Aditya Assarat.
The first Thai movie in my festival days. Another one that didn’t make it to my top 10 list. A well shot movie, creating a nice setting, but again, it just takes too long for the actual story to emerge.
The day ended with a drink in the Schouwburg, where we almost got ripped-off by a bartender that thought a beer is two coupon instead of one.
Can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings, oh, I know…. TBS!!!

Related posts

• IFFR Day 8 & 9: Slow, slower , slowest
• IFFR Day 7: Moby Dick, sister love and marijuana
• IFFR Day 4, 5 and 6: 11 movies later
• IFFR Day 3: The world premiere of TBS (and more)
• IFFR Day 1: Opening night feat. Juno and Appleseed:Ex Machina

Juno
A great story, loaded with humor and a classic ending. I can understand why it is nominated for an Oscar! It fits perfectly in the Rotterdam setting. A must see IMO.

Appleseed: Ex Machina
It’s not my first manga, but I’m not that big a lover of these Japanese anime flicks. It was the opening IFFR Volunteers Movie (private audience) and I think it was a good choice. Although I prefer to see actual human flesh on celluloid, the humanoids in this movie had something going for them, creating the illusion that the feelings and emotions were all but robotic. I haven’t seen the original Appleseed (2004), so no comment on that, maybe you can tell me if I should see the original too? (http://www.exmachina.jp/)

Next up: Import Export by Ulrich Seidl, Wonderfull Town by Aditya Assarat

Related posts

• IFFR Day 8 & 9: Slow, slower , slowest
• IFFR Day 7: Moby Dick, sister love and marijuana
• IFFR Day 4, 5 and 6: 11 movies later
• IFFR Day 3: The world premiere of TBS (and more)
• IFFR Day 2: Import Export, Wonderfull Town

With a lot of international premieres, it is going to be a true spectacle.
My favorite this year? Well, there isn’t really one in particular. I am looking forward to the following though:
- TBS, by Pieter Kuijpers (starring Theo Maassen)
- El asaltante, by Pablo Fendrik
- Four Women, by Ishii Yuya

and many many more!

Keep an eye on my blog to follow my life during the festival!

Related posts

• IFFR Day 8 & 9: Slow, slower , slowest
• IFFR Day 7: Moby Dick, sister love and marijuana
• IFFR Day 4, 5 and 6: 11 movies later
• IFFR Day 3: The world premiere of TBS (and more)
• IFFR Day 2: Import Export, Wonderfull Town