Coming Down to the Mundane World

Whew! What a whirlwind weekend it has been at the Boulder International Film Festival (BIFF). There were 25,000 attendees over the four days of the festival. There were four venues showing films back to back throughout the days and evenings. There were the parties and the events. There was a whole lot of camaraderie and FUN!

I volunteered for each day, as this was a great way to see many of the films. Unfortunately, I have not mastered the art of bi-location, so there were quite a few that I would have loved to see that I couldn’t. There was such an array of talent presented from around the world.

These are a few that I saw… Sprout from China about an adventurous little girl out and about in her town, was so endearing. Meet the Patels was about an Indian family on a hunt for a Bride for their son. It was a great example of how a home video can morph into a funny and forgiving feature film. A very humorous Dutch short, Pony Place, won the Audience Choice award for shorts. The Invisible Man, another short, was excellent with quite the surprise twist. Imber’s Left Hand is a stunning documentary about a famous painter who is losing his ability to paint due to ALS. He must find other ways to continue with his prolific passion. 5 to 7 gives us a different way of experiencing married affairs in Paris and New York. It included Glen Close and Frank Langella in a very impressive indie movie.

My biggest let down was from DreamWorks Animation with Home. The only big studio movie in the line-up, it fell short of engaging and compelling. The younger kids in the audience loved it, however.

On the other hand Song of the Sea was magnificent and touching. I wish it had won the award for best animation here and at the Oscars.

There were too many amazing films and experiences to write about all in a blog. So…until next time, this is your Boulder critic signing off.