25 Films, 10 Days and 1 Boy

1. Carlos, dir: Olivier Assayas
2. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, dir: Apichatpong Weerasethakul
3. The Human Resources Manager, dir: Eran Riklis
4. Kosmos, dir: Reha Erdem
5. Leap Year, dir: Michael Rowe
6. Heartbeats, dir: Xavier Dolan
7. The Illusionist, dir: Sylvain Chomet
8. The White Meadows, dir: Mohammad Rasoulof
9. Lebanon, dir: Samuel Maoz
10. Strange Birds in Paradise: A West Papuan Story, dir: Charlie Hill-Smith
11. Marwencol, dir: Jeff Malmberg
12. We Are What We Are, dir: Jorge Michel Grau
13. Medal of Honor, dir: Calin Peter Netzer
14. Monsters, dir: Gareth Edwards
15. Caterpillar, dir: Koji Wakamatsu
16. Blue Valentine, dir: Derek Cianfrance
17. International Shorts
18. Kaboom, dir: Gregg Araki
19. A Town Called Panic, dir: Stephane Aubier and Vincent Patar
20. Lourdes, dir: Jessica Hausner
21. Restrepo, dir: Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington
22. I Killed My Mother, dir: Xavier Dolan
23. Certified Copy, dir: Abbas Kiarostami
24. To Be Decided
25. Reign of Assassins, dir: Chao-Bin Su


Notes: The first question on my mind is, "Will Carlos have an interval?" If not I think I might need a wheelchair to get to the next screening. That said, if the direction is as a smooth and assured as it was in Clean I'll probably have little trouble sitting through it. 


I was originally going to see The Red Shoes but due to a schedule schnafu on my part that isn't going to happen. However said schnafu did force me to delve into titles that I didn't immediately recognise and The White Meadows in particular looks right up my alley (fantastical plot, sly political undertones and a gorgeous location - see also; Kosmos, and from last year; The Milk of Sorrow).


My anticipation for Certified Copy and Boonmee was at fever pitch about four months ago and is at ridiculous levels now. Here's to hoping that they can match their rapturous receptions. Lourdes is in my list because there really aren't enough subtle, considered films about religion, probably owing to the fact that fervent proselytizers and angry atheists tend to dominate the discourse. Monsters and We Are What We Are are there because I have a hankering for non-traditional genre stories (hence my 2000 or so words for Code 46). Caterpillar, on the other hand, is probably the only film on the list which is triggering trepidation instead of anticipation. It's there because of an intriguing handful of positive reviews and because film festivals are the places to try different things.


I have an Achilles' heel of trying to pick awards and being absolutely hopeless at doing so. So I'm going to pick The Illusionist as being the recipient of the audience choice award. Other films with outside chances are Jucy and Copacabana. Both enjoy gala screenings and plots involving friends and family coming to warm understandings (the former has sold out and is locally produced).