SIFF 2009: A Summary

So, I finally feel like a worthy passholder! I attended a total of 75 screenings during this festival, for an average of 3 per day. Adding the commute and in-between time, it was like having an 8 hours/day, 7 days/week job for those 25 days... If you think that's unbelievable, know that some passholders saw a lot more, especially those who took advantage of the advanced press screenings (which I barely did). Still, 75 is plenty for me, and by far a new personal record. In the six years prior, I only averaged 32.5 per year, with a maximum of 43.

Even though I enjoyed the experience and caught a lot of good movies, I'm not sure I want to do this again in future years. I pretty much had to put my life on hold for 25 days, other than a few things here and there. (I did go out of town for the Portland Dragon Boat Festival. If I hadn't, I could've hit a total of 90...) With a few hundreds of films to choose from, SIFF is always an exercise in letting go and accepting my limits. In the grand scheme of things, a better life balance would serve me well!

Nine of the 75 screenings I attended were short film packages, so I actually saw 66 feature-length films and 70+ short films. Here is a list of my favorites among those 66 features (see previous blog entries for full reviews):

My Top Documentaries
This festival had a great selection of documentaries covering far-ranging topics and styles.

1. We Live In Public (US) - How will the Internet really impact our lives?
2. A Sea Change (Norway/US) - Imagine all the fish disappearing from the oceans...
3. Gotta Dance (US) - Seniors learn to dance hip-hop for an NBA team.
4. Kimjongilia (France/US/South Korea) - An artful and stunning exposé of North Korea.
5. Prodigal Sons (US) - Family stories don't get any more fascinating than this!

My Top Narrative Films

1. The Hurt Locker (US) - An incredibly gripping story of bomb techs in the Iraq war.
2. Paper Heart (US) - This mockumentary about love is sweet, light, and super-charming!
3. La Mission (US) - An outstanding ethnic/social/family/romance/character drama.
4. (500) Days of Summer (US) - An innovative look at the age-old question of love.
5. Moon (UK) - A thoughtful and unexpectedly satisfying sci-fi drama.
6. Welcome (France) - A.k.a. "The Swim Coach & The Illegal Immigrant Boy."
7. Hachiko: A Dog's Story (US) - An unapolegetic tear-jerker that is ultimately uplifting.
8. The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle (US) - A brilliantly bizarre comedy. Seattle-based indie!
9. North Face (Austria) - Intense mountain-climbing drama based on real events.
10. School Days With a Pig (Japan) - Fifth graders have to decide on the fate of their pet pig.

Best Actors
For whatever reason, I saw many strong male performances and no stand-out female performances.

1. Sam Rockwell, for playing a moon worker in isolation, in "Moon."
2. Mark Duplass, for strong performances in two indies, "Humpday" & "True Adolescents."
3. Benjamin Bratt, for playing a conflicted man in "La Mission."
4. Jim Sturgess, for a star-making turn in "Fifty Dead Men Walking."
5. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, for his mature performance in "(500) Days of Summer."

My Wishlist - Movies I Missed & Want To See

1. Departures (Japan) - Oscar Best Foreign Film winner and favorite among passholders.
2. Tetro (US/Argentina) - Francis Ford Coppola's new political drama.
3. Tears of April (Finland) - One of the "hidden gems" as rated by passholders.
4. The Cove (US) - Documentary audience award winner.
5. Sweet Crude (US) - Ambitious documentary by a Seattle filmmaker.
6. Morris: A Life With Bells On (UK) - Spoof comedy on English folk dance!
7. Marcello Marcello (Switzerland) - A charming story set in Italy.
8. Seraphine (France) - Story of a famous painter & house cleaner. Best Actress winner.
9. The Necessities of Life (Canada) - SIFF has a tradition of powerful films about the Inuit culture.
10. Fly Filmmaking Challenge 2009 - Don't know if I'll get a chance to see these very special films now that I missed them during the festival.

Finally, Isn't It Ironic...

that my three least favorite films of the festival are the Opening Night film ("In the Loop"), the Closing Night film ("OSS 117: Lost in Rio"), and a film from mainland China, my home country ("The Shaft").

Oscar: My Final Score

So at the end, it was 15-6 for the 21 categories where I made my predictions. I didn't do the three Short categories (Live Action, Animated, Documentary) because I knew next to nothing about the nominees. My last-minute guesses succeeded for 1 out of the 3.

With "Slumdog" dominating the buzz, it was an easy night for forecasters, so my "score" was only OK. A summary of my downfalls:

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Penelope Cruz won instead of Viola Davis. I underestimated the importance of career track record (for Cruz) and the hold-back from limited screen time (for Davis). This is reminiscent of last year, when Ruby Dee was nominated for a brief and intense role in "American Gangster," and the award went to Tilda Swinton... I also thought this might be the one category where they recognize "Doubt"; that didn't happen and "Doubt" went home empty-handed.

BEST ACTOR: Sean Penn won instead of Mickey Rourke. Very simply, I figured too many people disliked Sean Penn - he even admitted as such in his acceptance speech - though that did not stop his win. A singular spectacular performance, like Mickey Rourke's, can definitely win in some years... Just not this time.

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: "Departures" (Japan) won over "Waltz With Bashir" (Israel). "Waltz" has a winning record and is completely fascinating to me, although I wasn't familiar with the other four nominees so I'll reserve comments until I see "Departures."

BEST FILM EDITING: On a whim I picked "The Dark Knight," and deep down I really knew it would be "Slumdog Millionaire." Duh.

BEST SOUND EDITING & BEST SOUND MIXING: The two forever confusing categories. I predicted "Wall-E" for Editing and "The Dark Knight" for Mixing, and I was only half-half-right. "The Dark Knight" won for Editing and "Slumdog" took Mixing.

Overall, I thought it was a great Oscar year with multiple win-worthy contenders in every major category. Best wishes for 2009!

Oscar: Other predictions

ORIGINAL SCORE: Slumdog Millionaire
ORIGINAL SONG: "Jai Ho," Slumdog Millionaire
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: Waltz with Bashir
ACTOR: Mickey Rourke
ACTRESS: Kate Winslet
DIRECTOR: Danny Boyle, Slumdog
FILM: Slumdog

Oscar: Editing

Although I previously predicted "The Dark Knight," I have to say it's probably gonna be Slumdog again.

Oscar: More technical categories

I hope I remembered the difference between Sound Editing and Sound Mixing correctly...

SOUND EDITING: Wall-E
SOUND MIXING: The Dark Knight
VISUAL EFFECT: Benjamin Button

Oscar: Documentary

Feature: "Man On Wire" is the one with the heat. Unfortunately I haven't seen it. I did watch "Trouble The Water" at SIFF and loved it, so I would be celebrating in the off chance that it wins!

Short: No idea!

Oscar: Best Supporting Actor

If it's not Heath Ledger, I would be falling off my chair.

Oscar: Makeup

It's gonna be Benjamin Button's #2!