We are so lucky to have the
Festival de cinéma des trois Amériques in Quebec City. I wish I could have seen more movies during the weekend. Here's a list of what I saw;
Thursday, March 29th
A selection of Short films that won prizes in the last two years at the
Expresion en Corto festival.
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Su Radito by
Celso Garcia (Mexico)
Very funny and beautiful, but my spanish knowledge prevented me to fully understand. The audience was laughing out loud.
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Who I Am and What I Want by
Chris Shepherd and
David Shrigley (England)
One of the best short I saw in a very long time, very funny and sincere.
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Los Elefantes Nunca Olvidan by
Lorenzo Vigas Castes (Mexico)
The photo was amazing, I liked the acidic/washed look. The suspense killed me.
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Empire by
Edouard Salier (France)
The soundtrack was very good and I found the idea of superposing transparent millitary vehicules over scenes of the american dream very clever.
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Cristiana Sepultura by
Victor Audiffred Bazaldua (Mexico)
A very touching story.
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Cousin Cousine by
Maria Mohr (Germany)
I have to confess that my brain decided to shut down and take a little nap.
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Un Viaje by
Gabriela Monroy (Mexico)
A poor father that intentionally loses his autistic kid in the metro. A very honest look at what the parents with kids who have disabilities must feel like from time to time. I liked that short very much, everything in that short was top notch.
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Le Régulateur by
Philippe Grammaticopoulos (France)
It reminded me of the communist era propaganda imagery and some bits of
Brazil. The 3d effect was stunning. The director created a very special world and he has a very good sense of humor.
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M by
Everardo Valerio Gout (Mexico - USA)
The editing was very sharp and nervous. I liked the mix of Manga imagery with live actors. The actress was very beautiful.
Friday, March 30th
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Taxidermia by
György Palfi (Hungary)
I wanted to see that movie for a long time, I first heard about it because the soundtrack is by
Amon Tobin. It's definitely not for weak hearted peoples, very graphic and disturbing but very beautiful at the same time. It's definitely the kind of movie that you have to watch a few time to fully absorb.
Saturday, March 31st
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Steamboat Bill,JR by
Buster Keaton and
Charles F. Reisner (USA 1928)
Philippe Vienne (guitar), Stéphane Caron (drum) and Frédéric Desroches (keyboard) were improvising live during the movie. Buster Keaton's movies are so amazing, I don't think we could be able to make movies like that today. The musicians did such a great job that I completely forgot about them ! Silent movies should come back, the combination of movie and live music is amazing.
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Le silence nous fera écho by
Mathieu L. Denis (QC, Canada)
It felt like an exert from a longer movie. A very original story that I didn't fully understood or could interpret in different ways. I will have to discuss it with someone who saw it too. The actors were really good.
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Petit dimanche by
Nicolas Roy (QC, Canada)
I liked the fact that not a word is pronounced for the whole duration of the short. The story bring us from total joy to complete sadness.
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Le petit oiseau va sortir by
Samer Najari (QC, Canada)
Very funny and I liked the photo-taking effect. Three suicide-warriors, one from Japan during WW II, one from Lebanon in the 80's and one from Palestine today. We humans are all the same and nothing really changes.
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À l'ombre by
Simon Lavoie (QC, Canada)
It made me think about the parent-children relation when prison gets in the mix. Simon Lavoie should make a documentary about the subject.
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Musica de ambulancia by
Paula Markovitch (Mexico)
A very touching story about a girl and her sick mother. Beautiful, sad and funny.
Sunday, April 1st
-La lacheté by Marc Bisaillon (QC, Canada)
By far not a bad movie, I found it uneven though. The re-creation of the 60's was really well done, the images beautiful, the soundtrack so-so (I liked the band in the bar). I don't know what's missing for me to give it a thumbs-up.
