Day Five - Monday, August 25

Two films with animals figuring prominently. Aside from a dead fish (caught in a commercial net), no animals appear to have been harmed in the making of either film).

Note: The FFM links might be refreshed with new tags daily and therefore not work after day they were pulled - we're going to check with the FFM webmaster if this is a problem or just the way they set their site up...Jonathan remembers the same thing happening last year.

Les Williams
Alban Mench - France - 15 min.
French, eng. sub.
FFM website
Two old friends, a wedding, and a big favour about one small, nasty dog. One of the funniest, twisted little tales brilliantly executed with blinding speed. Mix a bit of My Dinner with Andre with childhood bullying and the resultant trauma, using psychobabble as a crutch, and revenge, served up many, many years later, but white hot. My favourite short so far…

Back Soon
Sólveig Anspach - Iceland-France - 92 min.
French, eng. sub.
FFM website
Official film website in French
One of those loopy, rollicking, hilarious films that have no problems breaking the fourth wall at times, Back Soon celebrates the larger than life. Anna is a free spirit, a middle-aged woman, mother of several children by men who are more sperm donors than fathers. She’s a poet, talks to crows, and isn't below throwing fish at her brother's truck, but mostly, for money, sells the best marijuana in Reykjavik to a huge cross-section of Icelandic society. Tired of the whole dreary, dark life of Iceland (the grass is greener on the other side of the fence? ;) and wanting to get away to somewhere warm, she’s decided to sell her cellular phone with its directory of clients to the highest bidder. Only that she gets waylaid for a weekend, involved in a road trip with an assortment of oddball characters, and one very hungry fowl. Who’ll get the proverbial goose that lays the golden egg, even if it’s a gander?

Urtiin Duu (Long Tune)
Hasichaolu - China - 117 min.
Mongolian, eng sub.
Jonathan said most of what I want to, so here’s his review:
Planet Earth has a great segment on Bactrian camels, , and if you’ve seen the male’s mating ritual, you’ll know why we snickered at the baby camel's tail slapping.