Candy House: A family-oriented film, about an 11 year old poor village girl in India, who is sent to the city to work as a maid for a wealthy and insensitive family. The story has intentional parallels with that of the fairy tale “Hansel & Gretel”. An eye-opening film for Western audiences, about child labor in India, that can be heart-breaking to watch. The village scenes at the beginning go on longer than necessary, and are far less interesting than when Ganga eventually gets to the city. An overall good film, which had only one showing - though there will be other children‘s films during the festival.
Knee Deep: A documentary made in Farmington, Maine, about a young man who hatches a plan to kill his estranged mother - and almost sees it carried to fruition - because of the growing likelihood she will sell the family’s third generation dairy farm out from under him. The fact that this film has a strong sense of the ironic and a darkly humorous streak, makes it all the more compelling to watch. My favorite documentary I saw at the festival, which will be re-shown on Friday, July 20th at 9:30pm.
The Rocket: A feature film from Canada, about a French-Canadian hockey star named Maurice Richard. He was a superstar of hockey in the ‘40s and ‘50s, when the sport was even more brutal than it is today. A wonderfully compelling story about a man who overcomes poverty, health problems, and discrimination to become one of the best hockey players in NHL history. As good - if not better - than the best American sport bio-pics, and well worthy of being seen at its re-showing on Saturday, July 21st at 3:30pm.
Unearthed: A B-movie horror film, about a western town that has a monster unleashed upon it, terrorizing local inhabitants and out-of-town visitors alike. With a science-fiction story that doesn’t quite come off as believable, and third tier Hollywood character actors, this film is only mildly entertaining and rarely scary. A re-showing on Saturday, July 21st at 9:45pm, for the die-hard low-budget horror fan.
War/Dance: A documentary that profiles three children who have lived through overwhelming adversity in their war torn country of Uganda. They and their tribe prepare for a national music competition, where singing and dancing may help raise their spirits. The sad stories of the children were focused on almost exclusively early in the film, creating a disjointed feeling when the second-half of the movie was entirely made up of the competition. A decent film that though heartfelt, felt unpolished, it is re-showing on Friday, July 20th at 3:00pm.
Girls Rock!: A documentary that follows several girls aged 8 to 18, as they go to a rock n roll camp in Portland, Oregon. The film highlights the personal issues each girl brings with her to the camp as well as the broader issues of the pressures adolescents feel in our society. A fun, invigorating, and educational movie, that shows girls they can do anything they put their minds to - including learning to play an instrument, create a band, and write a song in under a week. The film is flashy and well-edited and will hold the attention of kids and adults of many different ages. Re-shown on Friday, July 20th at 6:30pm.