Shorts, whales, and krishna.
The last batch of films I saw was a bit of an exhausting experience. I rushed to the theater after school to meet Mike for a quick lunch/dinner before our first film. Then it was on to the next. I left home in the morning at 6am and didn’t make it back until well after 9pm. Long day. I needed to rest up for our last film the following day… a 3+ hour endeavor.
5. Shorts Program 1
Directed by many many people
Premise: This showing was a selection of a variety of short films from around the world. To be honest, about half of them weren’t that interesting. One in particular was long, slow, and strange. I took a nap, I couldn’t help it. I enjoyed these three in particular.
a. Luminaris: Impressive stop-motion and unusual subject matter.
b. Bear: Very funny. Very dark. (No trailer available, this is the best I could find.)
c. Short Memory: Shocking and very, very sad.
Directed by Trish Dolman
Premise: Paul Watson was an early member of Greenpeace. It didn’t take long for it to become apparent that Watson was a bit too radical for the group. Differences regarding Greenpeace’s strict non-violence policy resulted in Watson founding his own organization, Sea Shepherd. Sea Shepherd’s goal is to prevent whale hunting, and the group will go to the extent of putting themselves in danger to do so. Oh man, this film did a number on me. If it was socially acceptable to full body heave sob in a packed movie theater, I would have done it. It’s difficult to explain why. Obviously, whaling (and seal clubbing) is a very brutal thing. The images in this documentary are very graphic. But in addition to the images, I found elements of Paul Watson very sad. Let’s just say that his opinion of humans is not very flattering. All that being said, this film is excellent and despite being very sad (for me), it was also inspiring.
Directed by Martin Scorsese
Premise: A documentary on the Beatle who was always a bit more mysterious than the rest. If you are already familiar with the life of George Harrison, this film won’t teach you much. I knew a rough outline of Geroge’s life (Beatles’ rise, travels in India, solo career, died of cancer), so the film filled in a few holes. It’s always fun to see old photographs and video clips, and to hear what people’s friends have to say. The film is in two parts. Part one ends as the Beatles break up. Part two finishes the story. I personally preferred Scorsese’s documentary on Bob Dylan, but that could be just because I knew less about Dylan beforehand.
That’s a wrap!
xo, jill
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