Need I even say? Yes, I woke up again for the opening shift at Kaldi's... And yes, the day mimicked the others. When I got off, I went home to shower, eat lunch and relax a bit.
Since this was the last day of the festival and Steve didn't have to work, we decided to make the most of it. So, we rushed to Ragtag(one of the film venues) to get a Q and then we thought, what the hell, we might as well walk next door and get a Q for that film as well. Which, luckily we did because we never made it into the film at Ragtag and we were the last ones into the other film! Prettty awesome/lucky.
The film was ¡Vivan las Antipodas!
The film was absolutely stunning. The filmmakers took a doc journey to four sets of earth's antipodes- the places you'd end up if you drilled directly through earths planet to the other side- pretty awesome concept. The cinematography of these places were beautiful. Additionally, the filmmakers used some amazing filming tricks, such as filming upside down and using twists and turns. This sounds like a headache, however, it wasn't. It was done very smoothly and calming. These two parts of the film were my favorite. However, with that said, looking at beautiful places got a bit boring. Honestly, I did not like what story line there was, which to me, wasn't much. Additionally, I often got really confused. There is a Q & A with the director following the screening. Which I would have loved to stay for, because I am sure the director could have explained his reasoning for doing the things he did. Which would have allowed me to more fully understand and appreciate the film. However, Steve and I had to grab some dinner before the next film.
Our second film for the night was The Ambassador.
In this film, Danish filmmaker, Mads Brügger takes us on a satirical journey through Africa to-- in my mind-- expose the corrupt government and international affairs. Throughout the film, Brügger passes himself as a Liberian diplomat, traveling to the Central African Republic to investigate the trade in blood diamonds. He buddied up to sketchy conspirators (secretly taping their conversations), assisted by a local fixer and European secretary. Brügger considers this film "journalism at its best." He believes that journalism is the foundation of his work as a filmmaker. Steve loved this film, and I think most people do. However, maybe I was really tired because I understood the general concept of the film. However, I was often confused by what he was doing or why. I think this all goes back to his emphasis on wit and satire-- which I often have a hard time understanding. Hah. But, overall, I liked it.
& that was sadly the end of T/F.
Bitter Sweet.
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