3/31/2019 Dingle Do Dah (A Pseudo Social Comprehensive report of the 13th Dingle Film Festival)Read NowDingle Festival Report DRAFT (*tips fedora) As apart of the module, we were tasked to attend a film festival and experience what is was like being there as an attendee. This year, a portion of our class went to the 13th Dingle International Film Festival, which was held between the 21st to the 24th March 2019. ‘About Dingle IFF’ The Dingle International Film Festival is an annual film festival held annually in Dingle, Co. Kerry in the Republic of Ireland. The festival was set up by Maurice Galway, a documentarian filmmaker, with the first rendition of the festival occurring in 2007. The festival is known to attract a wide variety of films and filmakers from around the world, with notable contributors to the festival coming from the American and German film sectors. What stood out to me about the Dingle IFF was its setting; a small, coastal town. The whole area has great vibes, the perfect setting. The locals are for the most part, pleasant, and the community present in Dingle. ‘The Dingle Films’ During my escapade at the Dingle Film Festival, I witnessed a grand total of four films, each from different corners of the globe. These films have all been released between 2017 to 2019, with some being more independent than others in terms of budget and storytelling style. My opinions on them range from ‘mediocre‘ to ‘pleasantly entertained’ ‘The Over Side of Everything’ The first film I seen at the festival was a Serbian language documentary film titled The Over Side of Everything, directed by Mila Turajlić. The story centres upon Serbian academic and activist Srbijanka Turajlić; the director’s mother. The film is told by Srbijanka, detailing the evolution of Super-Communist Yugoslavia to Serbia under the authoritarian-esque Milošević regime, to the now modern-day neo-democratic government, and her views on the concurrent political climate. My main reason for viewing this film is my interest in history, and as I am writing a script set in the Bosnian War, I thought it would at least be interesting to hear, even a little, about what it was like living in the neighbouring countries during this conflict. Before heading into the screening of this film, I needed to do a little more research into the director, Mila, who is renowned for her documentarian style of filmmaking. There is relatively few information on the budget of this documentary, however, it is worth to note that it was the first Serbian film to be funded by HBO Europe, so it was not low budget, especially with the filming locations and the various interviews with guests. ‘Styx’ The second film I went to see at the festival was a German drama film titled ‘Styx’ by Wolfgang Fischer. The film focuses on a doctor who decides to take a vacation on her sail-boat to the Darwin Islands, when, out of nowhere she encounters fishing boat filled with refugees, where she must make the moral decision on what to do in this situation. One of the primary reasons as to why I went to see Styx was out of curiosity as to what a modern German language film would be like, as it’s normally a type of film I would neglect (the last known German film I seen was Fritz Lang’s M) I also wanted to see how storytelling through sound, visuals and dialogue differed from mainstream or English language films, and oh boy, is it different. Styx is by no means a low-budget indie film; it is shot very well, and the use of major paramedical props and supplies in the first twenty minutes of the film indicate high budget usage (*There is no information online regarding the budget of Styx) Personally, I am not a fan of Styx, and at times was quite annoyed with it. What the film does multiple times repeatedly is long, uninterrupted shots, where nothing happens that furthers the stories progression. We shots that last twenty or more seconds where the protagonist is walking around her cabin or her staring into the camera which only supplement the film as ‘filler’. Sure, there are many long takes in the film that do serve the story’s purpose, such as when the main characters sail boat suffers an onboard problem, and we see the main character hurryingly try to fix it. The long takes in these instances served well in allowing us, the audience, to feel a sense of tension build up in a dangerous situation. The first seven minutes of the film focuses on two monkeys. Yes, two monkeys, as they jump around the German city in which we are later introduced to the main character. This segment of the film annoys me the most, as it is pointless and again, filler. It doesn’t serve as a full title intro sequence, as the title credits only last thirty seconds into this segment. It first gives the impression of a surrealist vibe, as the monkeys dance on the roof top in slow motion (2001 anybody?) but this expectation is slowly shot down over the course of the film. ‘Dark Lies the Island’ The third film I seen at the Dingle Film Festival was an Irish film titled ‘Dark Lies the Island’ directed by Ian Fitzgibbon. The film focuses on members of a dysfunctional family known as the ‘Mannion’ family, and how the characters interact with their wealthy, pompous father. I seen this film mainly at the recommendation of someone I met at the festival, who said this film was one of more anticipated films of the festival. I decided to do, as usual, research onto the film, and when I found out it was a dark comedy film with surrealist tones, I reckoned I would give it a viewing. I must say, I was pleasantly surprised, and was easily one of the highlights of the festival for me. The films story is almost universal, you could take the same set of characters, plop them in the Middle East, Asia or wherever, and it will still translate well, but what drives this film as unique, and an Irish indie film, is the dialogue. I expected an abundance of absurd Irish slang words when watching this film, and it is exactly what I got. All the actors are known to Ireland, either as comedian (Pat Shortt, Tommy Tiernan), or television actors (Charlie Murphy, Peter Coonan), and each one represents their character tremendously, with funny quips here and there, but also, when it comes to the deliverance of serious tonal moments in the films, the actors do just that. The balance of both absurdism and seriousness was played very well in this film. Le Sources The Over Side of Everything, Directed by Mila Turajlić, Produced by Carine Chichkowsky, HBO Europe, 2017 STYX, Directed by Wolfgang Fischer, Produced by Marcos Kantis, AMOUR FOU Filmproduktion GmbH, 2018 Dark Lies the Island, Directed by Ian Fitzgibbon, Produced by James Atherton, Grand Pictures, 2019 The Sisters Brothers, Directed by Jacques Audiard, Produced by Pascal Caucheteux, Why Not Productions, 2018
0 COMMENTSNo comments posted DETAILS
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
October 2019
Categories |