Atlantic Film Festival 2008
Another year, another Atlantic Film Festival, with this one being the 28th. This time I think that I got the balance just right and ended up seeing more films and socializing just the right amount. Overall the lineup this year was more consistent with the films being all generally good without a wide range between great and not so great. If I count the short films, I was able to see 68 films in total (with 15 of the films being features).A few weeks after the festival, these are the films that stick out in my mind:
Visioneers
The feature debut of director Jared Drake with a script written by Brandon Drake, the odd, funny, melancholy and beautiful Visioneers is set in a future dystopia where people explode, people have stopped dreaming and George Washington Winsterhammerman tries to get through each day even though it seems as something is missing. If the film wasn’t set in an off-kilter, but never completely explained world, it wouldn’t be as interesting, but with strong performances by Zach Galifianakis and Judy Greer, it works in a strange and wonderful way.
Growing Op
A clever inversion of the slacker comedy, Michael Melski‘s feature debut, Growing Op is set in the suburbs where a home-schooled teenage boy rebels against his pot-growing parents by secretly attending high-school in order to be closer to the girl next door. It was funny with a great chemistry in the cast in a locally-produced film that played with the conventions of the genre and had a great soundtrack too. At the centre of the cast is Steven Yaffee as the teenage boy and the scene-stealing Katie Boland as his sister along with Rachel Blanchard as the girl next door. Wallace Langham and Rosanna Arquette turn in solid performances as his parents. It’s nice to see home-grown talent doing well.
September
A short film from England by Esther May Campbell, “September” is a poetic look at growing up with a young man who works at a fast food restaurant located beside a highway. Beautifully shot in an enigmatic and poetic style, it’s subtle and magical. It’s a perfect example of how a short film can create a world that takes us away and provides perspective on how people are. It was definitely my favourite short film of the festival and I kept thinking about it for days.
The Strangest Dream
I’m embarrassed to admit that while I knew about the Pugwash Conferences for peace, I didn’t know that they were founded by Joseph Rotblat until I saw Eric Bednarski‘s documentary, The Strangest Dream (produced by the National Film Board). Weaving together the story of Rotblat along with the development of the atomic bomb and his peaceful response to the most devastating weapons that humankind has created, it’s a beautiful and touching look at history that also serves as a call to action. I learned a great deal from the film and the amazing people who have made such a difference in the world.
Man on Wire
The documentary that will probably make a lot of top ten lists at the end of the year is James Marsh‘s Man on Wire, which is about the quite remarkable high-risk feat of stringing a wire between the World Trade Center towers and walking across it. Mixing interviews, photographs, archival footage and recreations in a seamless and thrilling way. Much of the film feels like a thriller as all of the elaborate planning and research that went into an amazing event that I hadn’t ever heard of. It’s surprising, entertaining and has a lighter touch than I expected.
Un Conte de Noël
The highlight of the festival and the first definite addition to my top ten films list for 2008 is Arnaud Desplechin‘s Un conte de Noël (A Christmas Tale). The film is stylistically bold and features a large cast and a dense and captivating novelistic structure that is built around the reuniting of a family at Christmas after the matriarch of the family (Catherine Deneuve) is diagnosed with cancer. The film moves almost effortlessly between the characters as parts of the story and the family dynamic (and secrets) are revealed in a messy and breathtaking fashion that made me want to see it again almost immediately. Driving home after the film I felt a chill as some of the pieces of the story slid into place as I thought about it. I’m still thinking about that film.
