Six hours of nonstop film watching

Dear diary, I have a confession to make. I’m not coming home. To have only food, film and blog on your daily schedule is something the human body can quickly come to appreciate. And forget that daily planner because let’s face it, how many times do you want to write the word film? I’m soon up to a hundred.

Yesterday was a great film day. I might have said this before but it really was. The overall quality was much higher than any other day so far. Sad to say that none of them were Swedish (no Swedish films were shown), but keep in mind, my favorite film of the festival is still Swedish.

I have a new personal record on most films on one location. I arrived at the Castle theatre (Slottsbiografen) at 1 and didn’t move from the area until after 7. That is 6 hours of shorts, nonstop. My friend however has me beat. She sat in that theatre from 11 to 7 so she’s got 8 hours under her belt, and she’s pregnant! Damn her.

I won’t mention all the films I saw because, quite frankly, that would be boring for all of us. I will mention the ones that stuck with me most and for you frequent readers that are still waiting for the interview your wait is over. The conversation with the filmmakers went so well and I have so much material that it has become a separate piece that will surface soon.

Yesterday started great. My first dose of film was a short from the UK called Leaving, directed by Richard Penfold. The film is about a woman trying to leave her violent boyfriend. Every night he gets worse and worse and the film focuses on a day when she tries to build up strength to leave. This film is a powerhouse of the festival. The acting took the film to a higher level where very few films this festival has reached.  It’s painful to watch and that’s a good thing.

I also got to experience a first yesterday. A musical by the name La Chaîne Du Froid (The Cold Chain). It follows a man into a store and well, nothing more exciting then that happens. I later saw another musical short but once again, not worth talking about. It’s too bad because seeing contributions from genres like that aren’t often highlighted. I kind of see why.

Big news for blood and gore fans is that a German zombie film, Full Employment (Arbeit Für Alle) is competing for the best international film award but without spoiling too much, it won’t win.

Ending the night were two very interesting films. The first one from is from France. Dix is about a man that can’t walk on the cracks between bricks on the sidewalk, just like Jack Nicholson’s character in As Good As It Gets. As soon as he walks on a crack whatever part of his body that stepped over gets chopped off. It’s well made and it made everybody laugh. I talked to a girl that works at the festival and the inside scoop is that this one is a very strong candidate for the Audience award.

And finally, the film we’ve all been waiting for. The one I heard Spielberg is doing a remake of. A little British film called Feeder. This entire 4 minute film is shot from the INSIDE of a person’s mouth. We get to see everything from drinking beer, coke, smoking cigarettes, eating chips and making out from the inside, yummy! To top it all off it end with the person throwing up. It sounds and looks absolutely repulsive but honestly it was a great experimental piece. Damn, I actually said that.
Dear diary, help!