The Jerusalem Film Festival will open tonight, after being repeatedly postponed due to the Corona • The festival, which will be held online, will run until December 20 • Get five viewing recommendations
A Serbian journey film that will conquer your heart.
"Father of the family"
Photography:
Jerusalem Film Festival
After repeated postponements due to the corona, the Jerusalem Film Festival will finally open tonight in an online format, and will last until December 20.
This year you do not have to go up to the capital to enjoy the festival films, and with one click you can watch the films.
Get recommendations for five films from the rich international program (which can be found on the festival website), which are worth paying attention to.
"Father of the family"
The best feature film I have seen so far from the festival's international offering is a Serbian journey film about a desperate and destitute father who crosses the country on foot to persuade the welfare authorities in Belgrade to return his children to him.
Based on a real case, director Sardan Golubovich unfolds a human and effective tale that manages to shock, anger and excite.
The road is not boring for a moment, Goran Bogdan does a commendable job as the devoted father, and the clever script is educated to leave viewers with hope without sacrificing credibility.
It's not hard to see why "Father of the Family" won the Audience Favorite Award at the recent Berlin Film Festival.
The chances that he will not conquer your heart, strive for zero.
"Zappa"
The genius musician Frank Zappa, who died in 1993 at the age of only 52, is given a flattering and serious documentary portrait in Alex Winter's film (best known as Cable from "Bill and Ted" ").
The rare materials extracted from the vast archive left behind by Zappa, and the interviews with the people who have collaborated with him over the years, provide a spectacular and dizzying glimpse into the life of an obsessive, distant and not particularly nice person who spent every moment on earth writing, playing and recording.
But somehow, even though the film is certainly fascinating, it fails to be entirely satisfying.
It probably takes more than two hours to crack the personality and work of this one-time type.
Still highly recommended for anyone who loves their music, of course.
"She's going to die tomorrow"
This impressive little science-fiction drama, which traces an invisible virus that causes people to lose their lust for life and be convinced that they are about to die in a few hours, hit screens in the US in early 2020, and became particularly relevant with the outbreak of the Corona epidemic. And mesmerizingly not afraid to slip into surreal and nightmarish realms (somewhat reminiscent of David Lynch's 'Inland Empire'). But in the same breath, Kate Lynn Shale, who stars in the lead role, delivers a sad and touching performance, making sure the drama and anxiety she experiences remain within the realm of the real world. . As a result, "she'll die tomorrow" is something you do not see often: a horror film that manages to be both scary and arouses sympathy. I will not forget it quickly. Amy Siimtz wrote and directed.
"about William Friedkin, the Exorcist"
Although I'm not a big fan of the classic horror film "Exorcism," this documentary, in which director William Friedkin presents one long monologue about his best-known film, just stuck me in a chair.
Anecdotes, professional secrets, artistic analysis, sources of inspiration, inclusions, gossip - 85-year-old Friedkin starts talking and does not stop.
While he does not spare himself compliments (while demonstrably ignoring less flattering details in his biography), but thanks to the immense passion with which he speaks of creation, cinema and art in general, it is worth absorbing it.
As an amusing bonus, Friedkin's tone and style of speech are also very reminiscent of those of US President Donald Trump, so one can close one's eyes for a moment and imagine how the leader of the free world chatters about a - tonal music and Claude's brush talks for a change. Definitely interesting.
"Kubrick by Kubrick"
Unlike the film about Friedkin, the aforementioned documentary - which is based on some old interviews Stanley Kubrick gave to a French journalist - is far less essential. Of course it's always fun to dive back into the wondrous and solitary director's wondrous world and revisit unforgettable scenes from his great films. But although I enjoyed watching, director Gregory Monroe does not offer a particularly interesting, original, or in-depth perspective on the man or his work, and the materials revealed here do not really teach us something we did not know. Bottom line, docu weighs a feather. So much so that even the film about Friedkin renewed me more about Kubrick than the movie about Kubrick.