Filmfest 2001 Wrap Up
Filmfest 2001 Wrap Up
So it’s all over, and time to summarize.
My favourite films? Two pretty much tie for top honours in my mind:
- LE FABULEUX DESTIN D’AMÉLIE POULAIN, the totally contrived and
wonderfully fun fable about a girl that does her best to improve the lives
of those around her, and - ITALIAN FOR BEGINNERS, the un-Dogme like Dogme film from Denmark, about
six characters who become friends and lovers through an Italian evening
course, totally natural in feel, with a completely winning take on life.
Both of these will show up on screens later this year, and I want to hear
from each and everyone of you when you’ve gone to see them.
Here’s how I rate all the films, with best memories at the top of each
highly subjective categorey, plus a quick comment
Serious Films
- ITALIAN FOR BEGINNERS - Great fun film, serious only in that it felt so natural
- THE SON’S ROOM - Thoughtful, moving
- THE ROAD - Transported me to a foreign land
- MARKOVA: COMFORT GAY - Strong performances by father and sons playing same character at differnet ages
- LOIN - Africa’s poor attempt to cross the sea to Spain
- LA CIENAGA - Argentinian class warfare
- HOTEL - difficult to watch film within a film, unappealing characters
- JE RENTRE À LA MAISON - French actor grieves, too long by half
- HI, TERESKA - Depressing life on Warsaw youths
Fun Films
- LE FABULEUX DESTIN D’AMÉLIE POULAIN - Throughly brilliant, Standing Ovation!
- NOSFERATU - so much fun with the symphony playing live
- MA FEMME ET UNE ACTRICE - well realized take on living with fame
- JOY RIDE - Too far fetched, but Steve Zahn makes thriller a lot of fun
- THE FLUFFER - Surprisingly good film about ingenue in crazy porn business
- THE AMERICAN ASTRONAUT - Crazy retro-future-musical-space western cult flick
- HOW HARRY BECAME A TREE - Colm Meany does great job as crusty Irish madman
- MULHOLLAND DRIVE - Makes no sense, but its a fun ride on a very windy road
- WARM WATER UNDER A RED BRIDGE - Japanese fable about the magic life can bring
- EMIL & THE DETECTIVES - fun movie for kids who can read
- ART OF WOO - fun, but ridiculous coincidences pile up too high
- MAN FROM ELYSIAN FIELDS - Mick Jagger’s good, but suffers from far-fetchedness
- MIRROR IMAGE - a nice intro to the Taipei subway, story otherwise ho-hum
Could have been Fun Films
- MAGONIA - starts nicely, gets a bit wonky, then loses it
- ZUS & ZO - characters are uniformly ghastly
- ABSOLUMENT FABULEUX - French destroy Brit comedy series
Documentaries
- MUCH ADO ABOUT SOMETHING - fun film - it was Marlowe I tell ya!
- MUCH ADO ABOUT SOMETHING - fun film - it was Marlowe I tell ya!
- LOSS IS TO BE EXPECTED - deftly crafted look at two sides of fallen iron curtain
- FACING THE MUSIC - engrossing examination of underfunded university in Australia
- THE FRANK TRUTH - fun but too polite look at muckraking Frank Magazine
- COOL AND CRAZY - charming but occasionally slow look at eccentric men’s choir
- CHOP SUEY - eye candy galore, but too self indulgent on part of Bruce Weber
- ANIMAL LOVE - people who love their pets too much, whom we don’t want to know
Who won what awards? Here they are, copied of the festival’s website:
AGF PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD: LE FABULEUX DESTIN D’AMÉLIE POULAIN Jean-Pierre
Jeunet, France
Runners Up: 2. MAYA Digvijay Singh, USA 3. MONSOON WEDDING Mira Nair, India
VOLKSWAGEN DISCOVERY AWARD: CHICKEN RICE WAR CheeK, Singapore
Voted on by the accredited Press Corps of the Toronto International Film
Festival for a film by a first or second time director.
FIPRESCI AWARD: INCH’ALLAH DIMANCHE Yamina Benguigui, France
For its sensitivity and fresh humour in dealing with the conditions of
Third World women, daily racism, and clashes between cultures, the FIPRESCI
Award goes to INCH’ALLAH DIMANCHE by Yamina Benguigui.
Special Mention: BE MY STAR by Valeska Grisebach (Austria/Germany), because
of the justness of its documentary-like style in observing bittersweet
teenage love.
Special Mention: KHALED by Asghar Massombagi (Canada) because of its skill
in turning a small-scale mother and son story into a poignant human drama.
This year’s FIPRESCI Jury members are: Atilla Dorsay, Sabah, Turkey - Jury
President; Eduardo Antin, el Amante Cine/Tres Puntos, Argentina; Jan Aghed,
Sydsvenska Dagbladet, Sweden; and Réal La Rochelle, 24 Images, Canada.
NFB - JOHN SPOTTON AWARD FOR BEST CANADIAN SHORT FILM: DZAMA deco dawson,
Canada
For its unique artistic vision that pays hommage to a contemporary artist
using the vocabulary of early filmmakers, the NFB John Spotton Award goes
to deco dawson’s FILM(DZAMA).
CITYTV AWARD FOR BEST CANADIAN FIRST FEATURE FILM: INERTIA Sean Garrity, Canada
For its visual flair and comic sensibility which heralds the arrival of a
filmmaker of great promise, the Citytv Award for Best Canadian First
Feature Film goes to Sean Garrity’s INERTIA.
TORONTO - CITY AWARD FOR BEST CANADIAN FEATURE FILM: ATANARJUAT (THE FAST
RUNNER) Zacharias Kunuk, Canada
For its sophisticated telling of a mythic tale that reflects the
complexities of the human spirit, the Toronto-City Award for Best Canadian
Feature Film goes to Zacharias Kunuk for ATANARJUAT (THE FAST RUNNER).
That’s it! I hope this will help you find a couple of good films in the
coming year. Cheers!
Craig James White
Toronto - jacket not required