Biffes 2009 - Movies to remember

A very late post however i just wanted to to make sure it is published. Back in Jan P & i made it a point not to miss the Bangalore International Film Festival (BIFFES 2009). We had been to the second edition in 2008 and had loved it and so we were there for this third edition in 2009 as well. The venue at Vision Cinemas had not changed from 2008 however the crowds were certainly larger this time around. I did not get to watch as many movies as i did in 2008. The movies that i got to watch this year were

Yellow House (Algerian)
The story of a man trying to bring back to normal, his wife who is mourning the loss of their son who is serving in the army. A very touching story told very well. What struck me how after the initial shocl & sorrow the man quickly recovers from that to single mindedly pursue the objective of making his wife happy once again. Will never forget the dialogue between the man and a doctore he goes to. The man tells the doctor that his wife is grief striken and does not talk or move about and asks the doctor for a cure. The doctor replies that there is no medication for this and maybe he should consider moving to the country side for some time to which the masn says, "I live in the country side". Thereafter he tries do to everything he things can make his wife happy once again. I will not spoil the movie for you by saying how he manages it finally, watch the movie, you will love it.

Bellissima(Polish)
A rather grim movie i thought. The story revolves around a mother & daughter, the mother (a hair stylist) desperately trying to get her daughter pushed into the high flying and well paying world of fashion & modeling. Found the movie to be rather slow as well.

The Choir (English)
One of those movies that make you cry. It is the story of a teacher who joins a school for delinquents and introduces them to music. He ultimately forms a choir out of the ruffien boys in the class and identifies a key talent in one of the boys who later goes on to become a big musician.

Tied Hands (Israeli)
I loved this movie. This heartwarming story of a mother going in search for some marijuana for her son, a homosexual who is dying of AIDS. As she goes about all night she learns more about her son and his life. Director Dan Wolman was there in person to answer questions about the movie. Someone in the audience asked him a question that went something like, "Is the disability (refering to the character's sexual orientation) of the character responsible for his taking to drugs?". An astonished Dan Wolman corrected how sexual orientation was not considered a "disability" at least in his country.

By the way the 2009 film festival has not dislodged the film that still occupies the top slot on my favorite foreign language film list, Huckle which i got to watch during Biffes 2008.