Vanessa: Sunday Film Extravaganza!!

It’s nearing mid afternoon on Monday and I think I’ve finally woken up from my Sunday CIFF marathon coma. I saw three movies back-to-back yesterday spanning the hours of 5PM-12AM. Clearly I am not a seasoned veteran like some I witnessed; still going strong at a time I’m usually in bed. Maybe I go to bed really early. By the time I finally moseyed to my car blurry eyed, tired and with some back pain, Tower City was practically free from any human presence. But, it was definitely worth it. Last film I saw was pretty much THE one movie I was super stoked to check out, The Miracle of Berlin.

I was all about this movie until Saturday night. Why? Saturday night I became somewhat hesitant after I spoke with someone who had seen it and didn’t like it. “It was way too made for TV movie. Not what I was expecting…but I hope this doesn’t change your mind in checking it out.” Great. Then, my mind raced, making up excuses as to why not to see this movie, it’s too late, it will be the third movie of the day, you have work tomorrow, you’re already tired.

Thankfully against whatever judgment and excuses I was throwing around yesterday, I decided that I was already at the theater, if the movie really wasn’t that great, there was no reason I couldn’t just get up and leave whenever. And a part of me was hoping that maybe it wasn’t going to be great so I could go home and catch up on some much needed sleep. Well obviously, it was great, and I didn’t get home until past midnight.

I could be a bit biased about this movie. I think I love all things Berlin. I think it’s a great city with a great culture and if I could, I’d probably move there, but I don’t speak or understand a lick of German.

The Miracle of Berlin was interesting in that it took a very real and heated conflict and narrowed the story down to one family, focusing in on an inner dilemma of one young man, Marco. Marco has a socialist father, a mother and girlfriend who join a citizen’s movement for democratic change during the film and a grandfather who was a Nazi soldier. After getting into some trouble, Marco joins the army and is now fighting against everything he believed in, including his morals, girlfriend, mother and friends.

This movie is based on a true story. I thought it was great because it really made me think how much this conflict not only separated families by distance and barriers but also morals and values and job responsibilities. What would you do if you had to fire into a crowd knowing full well your family and friends are there? It’s not something that I at least ever really needed to consider.

It was a bit made for TV movie-ish but I also believe some of that comes from German cinematography. Overall it was a great story, I enjoyed it and I was glad I stuck around for the whole thing!

The two other movies I saw yesterday included Princess of the Sun, an animated French film about Egyptian history and the documentary The Reckoning.

Princess of the Sun: I liked it, but at times I found it difficult to follow. Maybe I don’t know enough about Egyptian history. But Lauren said it was historically spot on.

The animation was amazing, brightly colored and well done. Each character was designed unique to their role. The movie score was also excellent. Another bonus about this movie, it was kid friendly. Thankfully, the CIFF does offer family friendly movies so everyone can go!

I also saw the documentary, The Reckoning yesterday. This film was complicated yet very interesting. I decided to see this movie really at the last moment, and I was glad I did.
I know there is no real way I will be able to explain this movie and have it make sense so check out the program description:

“Silence has never helped or protected victims. Silence only helps the criminals.” Luis Moreno-Ocampo, chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court, insists that the world must take a stand for justice. Based in The Hague, the ICC is the first permanent international criminal court to try individuals for war crimes and crimes against humanity. THE RECKONING is the extraordinarily powerful story of the Court’s tumultuous first six years. Filmmaker Pamela Yates and her team not only travel to conflict zones in Sudan, Uganda, Colombia, and the Congo, but also show great debates taking place at the United Nations Security Council and in Court offices. In one major success the Court has managed to seek an arrest warrant for the President of Sudan, Omar Al-Bashir, for perpetrating genocide in Darfur. Peter Kinroy’s outstanding editing gives the film an immediacy that emphasizes the vital nature of the Court’s work. THE RECKONING is the flagship film for a campaign intended to get people everywhere involved in international justice. To that end, Skylight Pictures has set up IJCentral.org, a global social network that acts as a powerful tool, allowing activists and victims to bring perpetrators of horrendous crimes to account. (In English, Acholi, French, Spanish, and Swahili with English subtitles) —B.B.

The statistics in this film were staggering. I should have written some stats down to share, but alas, I did not. The film took the viewer to several areas of the world and focused several specific conflicts. There isn’t much I can say about this movie; all the stories were heartbreaking but it was great knowing there are people fighting for social justice. It also showed that there is so much work to be done on a global level.