THE DESERT WITHIN, TWO-LEGGED HORSE, Documentary Shorts: AFI FEST 2008

by Andre Soares | | Leave a Comment     

 

Below are a few choices tonight, November 4, at AFI FEST 2008, held at ArcLight Hollywood.

Schedule and synopses from the AFI FEST 2008 website.

Two-Legged Horse by Mohsen Makhmalbaf

7:00pm

Two-Legged Horse

Written and Directed by: Mohsen Makhmalbaf

Cast: Ziya Mirza Mohamad, Haron Ahad, Gol Gotai Karimi, Khojeh Nader

Acclaimed director Samira Makhmalbaf (5 IN THE AFTERNOON, THE BLACKBOARD) returns to AFI FEST with TWO-LEGGED HORSE, an exploration of how two people can test the very limits of a human relationship. Set in Afghanistan, the film introduces us to a subculture of impoverished children who find shelter in a maze of abandoned sewer pipes. A father sets out to hire someone to attend to his severely disabled son, a young boy who is unable to walk. Mirvais, one of the inhabitants of the sewers, successfully competes for the job, which includes carrying the boy around on his back. It is not long, however, before Mirvais’s simple duties are extended by his new young master, in ways that border on the sadomasochistic. The script was written by one of the world’s greatest filmmakers, Makhmalbaf’s father, Mohsen. Samira, initially shocked by the desperateness of the story, asked her father why he wrote it. “What else do you expect me to write when I’m living in such difficult political-social conditions in Iran?” he answered. “How can I describe people’s hidden relationships in a seemingly modern but indeed primitive society?” TWO-LEGGED HORSE is a haunting film that feels as intense as that reality, showcasing the filmmaker’s delicate eye for detail. Urgent, emotive and evocative filmmaking at its finest, the film’s scenario is so infused with dramatic potential that it all but bursts from the screen. Shaz Bennett

Downtown L.A. by Nick Higgins

7:15pm

Short 3 - Documentary

Program Running Time is 100 min

EVERYDAY PEOPLE
Directed By: Enda Hughes
United Kingdom, 2008, 5 min
Ever wondered what it’s really like to be Julia Roberts, Will Smith or Michael Douglas?

DOWNTOWN LA (photo)
Directed By: Nick Higgins
USA, 2008, 2 min
A moving visual poem to the heart of our city.

BUSCO PERSONAS: THE FACES OF COLOMBIA’S WAR
Directed By: Lagan Sebert,
Sandra Sampayo
Colombia, 2008, 21 min
This documentary explores the human costs of Colombia’s war.

IN THE THEME
Directed By: Olga Popova
Russia, 2008, 14 min
A young couple celebrating their first wedding anniversary hold forth on marriage, family and the future in this documentary.

TOMMY
Directed By: Tora Martens
Sweden, 2008, 18 min
Havana, Cuba. The film’s director returns to the island to meet the film’s protagonist, Tommy, a onetime dancer at the Cuban national opera house who is HIV positive. In this film he talks about love and his sense of longing as he shares his life with us.

LOST GIRL
Directed By: Ali Taleb
Iraq, 2008, 5 min
An unexpected look at the life of one young female Iraqi citizen.

MR. MUSTACHE
Directed By: Ørjan Jensen
Norway, 2008, 7 min
Several interviews reveal the disadvantages and positive effects from growing hair beneath one’s nose, including the complexities of kissing and eating ice cream.

THE APOLOGY LINE
Directed By: James Lees
United Kingdom, 2008, 10 min
Feeling guilty? The film is based around the creation of a real-life ‘apology line’ where members of the public can anonymously confess to absolutely anything, over the telephone.

JOLANDA 23
Directed By: Pim Zwier
Netherlands, 2008, 18 min
There is a logical explanation for what these men are doing in this field, just wait and see.

The Desert Within by Rodrigo Pla

7:30 p.m.

The Desert Within

Directed by: Rodrigo Plá. Written by: Laura Santullo, Rodrigo Plá

Rodrigo Plá sets this compelling moral and spiritual fable during one of Mexico’s bloodiest periods. In the late 1920s, the revolutionary socialist government attempted to outlaw the Catholic Church, making the performance of religious rituals illegal and punishable by death. Elias, a devout peasant hoping to help his wife while she suffers through childbirth, demands the attention of a priest, and unwittingly encourages a terrible act of violence to occur in his town of San Isidro. Elias has a vision that his children will die prematurely as punishment for his actions. Driven to near madness by his guilt, he takes his family, including Aureliano, the sickly newborn, far into the desert to seek atonement. His project: to build a church. But only he and his children will ever see it. Like the novels of Graham Greene and the most demanding films of Tarkovsky and Dreyer, THE DESERT WITHIN critiques the cruel and unjust possibilities of severe religious practice. At the same time, Plá brings tremendous spiritual intensity to his work, leaving a visceral sense of the powers of deep faith. This fascinating second feature film by Plá, the winner of a Student Oscar as a short filmmaker, signals the arrival of a major new talent in Mexican cinema.

 

ACHILLES AND THE TORTOISE, THE BROTHERS BLOOM: AFI FEST 2008

POUNDCAKE, WITCHHUNT, KASSIM THE DREAM, OF ALL THE THINGS: AFI FEST 2008

THE BAADER MEINHOF COMPLEX, JOHNNY MAD DOG: bfi London Film Festival 2008

Pittsburg Lesbian & Gay Film Festival 2008

DOUBT to Open AFI FEST 2008

Homo Horror: Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival 2008

AFI FEST 2008 Premieres

UNTIL THE LIGHT TAKES US: Norwegian Black Metal at AFI FEST 2008

THE SOLOIST Cancelled: AFI FEST 2008

Artivist Film Festival 2008

by Andre Soares | November 4, 2008 | Filed Under Film Festivals, Los Angeles Screenings 

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