September 11
Matinee with snacks
It's not what you think. Well, it is, but it's not. Eleven short films, each limited in length to exactly eleven minutes, nine seconds and one frame (European calendar 11.09.01 for what we just refer to as 9/11), from directors across the globe. Some are reactions to the events of that day, others to the after-effects, and others to an altogether different level of personal response. It really is a fascinating series of shorts, marred only by the most confusing one, from Japan, being the last one. In order, they come from Iran, France, Egypt, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Burkina Faso, Great Britain, Mexico, Israel, India, the US, and Japan. That alone should perk your interest.
The artistic producer describes this project as a "reflection responding to images with other images." All works were accepted without editorial controls or censorship, all the cultural perspectives and concerns and anxieties and touchstones were welcomed and embraced. As a US citizen and resident, I was stunned and horrified on that day, but would not that be expected as a compatriot of the targets and victims? What is astounding is the level of reaction across the globe and the molding of that day into a different artistic vision than (thankfully) the painful performance art and cheeseball ballads we felt needed to supplement the ubiquitous flags.
As for the American perspective, especially considering it comes from Sean Penn, an outspoken liberal and Hollywood peacenik, you might imagine a very different film from such a source; it's much more personal and even more universal than it seems it would be. I loved his segment.
The most horrible thing was how few people were at the showing we attended. I really think everyone should see this, not just for the international perspective of an incredibly loaded event in our history (and many other event s of which the average American is blissfully ignorant), but for the sheer contrast of styles and filmmaking so succinctly presented. Another interesting thing to notice is that even though you know every film is exactly the same length, the feel and pacing and content of each is so diverse that nothing feels like clockwork. Wisely, the filmmakers' credits follow the last film, instead of breaking tone between each film.
To discuss them all would take pages; and almost every one had a unique moment or taste to it which made it a favorite in a very different way. I urge you to visit www.empirepicturesusa.com and peruse the press kit available on .pdf to read the extremely interesting interviews with all the filmmakers. It is illuminating to see what part of the event actually impacted these far-flung peoples; their reactions are not uniform "oh, poor America" as CNN would have liked us to believe, but also "oh no, what globalization, xenophobia, and destruction will rain upon us as a result of this disaster." Danis Tanovic of Bosnia says that what he "wanted to convey was a deep feeling of sorrow, almost a cry, that events like this should cease, that we should all stop, in order to consider our world and what we are doing to it, because if it is like this, it's because we made it like this. It didn't happen by accidentŠ" Overall, this is the sentiment of all these directors, as well as processing their own microcosm of reaction.
Just like pizza and ice cream can both be favorite foods without supplanting each other, my personal favorites were from Mexico, Britain, the US, and Israel. But I also loved the style and flavor of the one from France, loved the poignancy of the one from Bosnia, and especially the spirit of the one from Burkina Faso (West Africa). I have to say, I really didn't like the Japanese one - and it was about World War II to boot! But the nice thing about a short film festival is that everyone can find something they like on the buffet. But even if you don't adore the short (I was indifferent to Egypt's offering) you must appreciate its temerity and honesty and the skill in which it is presented.
-- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ These reviews (c) 2003 Karina Montgomery. Please feel free to forward but credit the reviewer in the text. Thanks. You can check out previous reviews at: http://www.cinerina.com and http://ofcs.rottentomatoes.com - the Online Film Critics Society http://www.hsbr.net/reviews/karina/listing.hsbr - Hollywood Stock Exchange Brokerage Resource
========== X-RAMR-ID: 36255 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 1217364 X-RT-TitleID: 1124529 X-RT-SourceID: 755 X-RT-AuthorID: 3661 X-RT-RatingText: 4.5/5
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