One of the great things about film festivals is running from screening to screening (literally) and being able to fill the day with wondrous cinematic discoveries. Typically, after a day or two my life kicks into what I like to call "festival mode" -- no sleep, no food. Unfortunately, this often also means precious little time to blog. Such was the case today, the second full day of screenings here at the 2009 Los Angeles Film Festival.

This whirlwind Saturday began with an 18-film shorts program at 10:30 AM. This was followed by my first documentary of the festival, a quick Dim Sum lunch (or is that redundant), another Narrative Competition selection, and a trip to the heart of Hollywood for the Young Playwrights Festival.


My schedule started with the High School Shorts Program 1, featured in the appropriately named Future Filmmaker Showcase section. I don't normally see shorts except for the ones which precede features. Last year, however, I had a couple of hours free on the last day of the festival and the only event on the schedule was a High School Shorts Program. It turned out to be one of the best decisions I made. So I didn't hesitate to attend this program at the beautiful Italian Cultural Institute. Ranging in length from one-minute public service announcements to 10-minute narratives, from animated films to experimental forms to documentaries, the teenage filmmakers whose works were selected will surely be among those with features in future festivals. A dozen of the student directors were on hand afterward for a Q&A.

UPDATE 4:00 PM:

This is the first year that the festival is allowing foreign films in the Documentary Competition, and Mexico's Those Who Remain (Los Que Se Quedan) happens to be the only one. The Mann Festival Theater was packed for this screening, which was free to the community. This is a brilliant, poignant examination of "those who remain" after family members leave Mexico for the promise of riches and a better life in the US. The audience was filled with immigrants, including some of the family members featured in the film. The director pointed out afterward that as he was filming, he envisioned that "one day they'd be here watching this movie." I can't recall a more tear-filled Q&A.

UPDATE 11:00 PM:

Next it was on to Zero Bridge, the second feature I've seen so far in the Narrative Competition. Shot on location in Kashmir, this touching love story centers around a young punk trying to turn his life around and make things right in the eyes of his stern father. A chance meeting with a professional woman trying to free herself from a stifling religious family environment may be the ticket out for both. Using handheld camera almost exclusively, with long takes and extreme closeups, Zero Bridge is a true character study. Writer/director Tariq Tapa pointed out in the Q&A that most of the dialogue was improvised. For such a simple film to work, the audience must identify with the characters, and this couple is truly endearing.

Taking a quick count shows that I've now attended six screenings, including the shorts program. The five full-length features were all foreign language films. Sometimes it just works out that way. These international selections represented Algeria, France, Chile, Brazil and Mexico. Zero Bridge is actually a US production but was shot in Kashmir and subtitled like the rest. I've yet to see an English-speaking film here, and that's just fine by me.

As Saturday turns into Sunday, just a reminder that once the festival has concluded I'll select my Top Picks and post full-length reviews along with pictures of the cast and filmmakers, whenever possible, from the Q&As following screenings.