This documentary holds special interest for me, because I took a trip to Ghana in the fall of 2008 for a charity project. (It was the subject of my own documentary "Hope, Ghana.") That was about one month before the election depicted in this film, and I witnessed some of the pre-election excitement. It was during the same trip that Obama was elected in the U.S., adding another level of intrigue to the experience. Ghana, the first sub-Saharan nation to gain independence in 1957, holds their presidential election every four years (same year as the U.S. election) and has two major parties that have dominated. So the comparison with the U.S. is inevitable. When the election in December 2008 ended in a virtual tie between two major candidates, what happened next was in sharp contrast with the Bush-Gore debacle in 2000. "An African Election," benefitting from an unprecedented level of access and trust that director Jarreth Merz was able to obtain, tells a remarkable story of a country that displayed passion, hospitality and civility under intense situations.
Director Jarreth Merz answering questions at Harvard Exit Theater
The funniest moment came during the post-screening Q&A, when a woman (she sounded like a well-educated white woman) asked the director how he "miraculously" found a farmer who was so articulate and thoughtful about politics. I don't know where this lady received her knowledge about Africa, but based on my personal experience in Ghana, I was not surprised at all by the comments made by the farmer. Most Ghanaians I met, in both cities and villages, were bright, aware, and passionate about their country. Perhaps the real significance of this documentary is to allow the audience a glimpse into the Ghanaian culture and personality.
ShortsFest
Short film is a great format that offers a big variety of cinema bites at a fast pace. Some of these bites are quite tasty or even super-brilliant. The short film sub-festival of SIFF runs for three and half days at SIFF Cinema, with 16 different packages and over 100 short films. I plan to catch over half of them - and that's still a lot - so my review will only mention the highlights from each package.
At SIFF Cinema (L-R): Dustin Kaspar and Dan Doody of SIFF,
Geoff Klein and Mo Fine of the Tumbleweed Film Festival
ShortsFest Opening Night - B+
The opening night package, supposedly the best of the best, felt uneven to me. My absolute favorite was "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore," a stunning, imaginative, and poetic ode to books, originally inspired by the scene of paper-covered streets of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. The visuals were so refined and smooth that I didn't even realize it was stop-motion, which made the library scenes all the more incredible. Check out the trailer and iPad app(!) at Moonbot! Two short-short comedies, "We Are What We Drink" and "Careful With That Crossbow," achieved hilarious results with simple premises. I found "The Abyss Boys" a little too bleak and fatalistic, but I'm sure a lot of people loved it.
Packed house for ShortsFest Opening; post-screening Q&A;
me with "We Are What We Drink" director Marc Hardman (UK);
me with Calvin O'Neal Jr. from Moonbot
Thrilling Tales of Astonishment - C+
Horror is not a genre I generally enjoy, so I took a chance in sitting through this horror-heavy package. The thing is, even in the most gory horror films, I can appreciate clever plots and strong characters. Not a lot of those in this package, except for the mischievous opener "Moving Day" a.k.a. "fairies behaving badly". "The Dungeon Master," "Chum" and "BlinkyTM" were moderately successful, but the rest of the package were head-scratchers.
Sat May 28, great sunny day, FolkLife festival in full swing...
Alas, I am going indoors for more cinematic samplings.
The Family Picture Show - A-
Hamster, babies, bunnies. Awww. Even the snow rodent is adorable. But beyond the cuteness factor, there are great artistry, innovative storytelling, and important messages to be found in this mostly animated package of 13. "New Digs" is the cutest of the bunch, followed closely by "Amazonia." "Walkin' on Snow Grass," a quiet piece from Japan, is hypnotically beautiful. Also memorable are "The Yellow Balloon" (pencil sketch animation), "The Sasquatch and the Girl" (shadow puppet style, made in Flash), "Precise Peter" (German humor), and the seemingly "Coraline"-inspired "Temple Rider."
"The Sasquatch and the Girl" director Trevor Knapp Jones
Between The Silences - B
"Howl of a Fish," a 20-minute French short about a poet working at a phone survey center, looks and tastes like a full meal instead of an appetizer. "Sign Language" is a great example of how a short can succeed with a simply yet beautiful story. "Project Silence" makes me take notice of the director's visual poetry, though not necessarily his story-telling.
Directors Tess Martin, Matt Kazman, and Bruno Caticha (Brazil)
Boy Meets Boy - D/B-
Fair disclosure here: I submitted a short film to SIFF 2011, which would've fit perfectly in this package. It was rejected. So I couldn't help carrying a sense of awkwardness as I went into this show. I liken it to being dumped by someone and then attending their big fancy wedding... That said, I can assure you that my score for this package is not an act of revenge. Indeed, after being repeatedly disappointed by the gay short packages in previous years, I would much rather see a great collection that blows me away. That didn't happen. The best two, "Requited" and "Cappuccino," are authentic and heart-felt. The other selections suffer from a range of issues including laziness, messiness, and lack of depth. And then there is "I Want Your Love," a pornographic short film. Not glorified porn, but 100% real porn, produced by a commercial porn website nonetheless. Call me a prude if you want, but I consider it absolutely inappropriate for a general-audience festival (without any warning, even). If my short film had been played alongside it, I would have been deeply offended and insulted. The fact that SIFF considers the gay short package an appropriate venue for commercial porn is a major disservice to the gay community, and a slap in the face for gay independent filmmakers. And I also feel offended on behalf of the word "Love", because the title should have been "I Want Your Sex." I give this package a score of D, or B- if the porn piece is excluded.
"Boy Meets Boy" Q&A; me with "Requited" director Sal Bardo;
me with "Cappuccino" director Tamer Ruggli (Switzerland);
me with Seattle filmmaker Rolito Mojica
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