AFTER THE WEDDING
8/10
Danish film - it starts showing the main character working in an orphanage in India, but in his pursuit to gain funding to keep the project going, is told that he will need to meet a potential donor in Denmark. Without the funds, the place'll close so his hands are tied and off he goes. He meets with the investor, gets invited to his daughter's wedding, and lo and behold finds his ex-girlfriend there with a couple more surprises in tow. I really liked this film which was pretty hard to pin down, as you suspect initially that it's going to be about the man's pursuit of funds for his charitable work, yet it twists into something entirely different 'after the wedding'. Great exploration of relationships, families and how change can affect them.

4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS, 2 DAYS
5/10
This film won multiple awards, sold out this session and was getting a good buzz around the festival. I don't know why. It's about a college girl in Romania who's pregnant and wants to get an abortion. Whether you're for or against abortion, you probably won't be able to help feeling a little ill at ease with the circumstances of this decision - especially because she's so infuriatingly stupid and useless. It felt over-dramatized and unnecessarily long scenes were hard to watch - particularly the family visit by the girl's friend to her boyfriend's place. I figure the filmmaker could have given us indications that the family dinner was long and uninteresting without making us have to sit through the whole thing. Was very glad that this wasn't my last film of the festival.

THIS IS ENGLAND
8.5/10
Wonderful film to end the festival. This was the closing night film and was set in the UK in 1983. It's about a young boy who's father died fighting in the Falkland War. He's without a father figure and is being picked on at school. One day on his way home he's taken under the wing by the leader of a local gang of skinheads - but, not one of the racist ones - this collection of kids is more about the culture/music/style and not the politics commonly associated with the skinheads (nazi/racist/etc). The first half of the film does a great job at showing comradery amongst the friends and the fun they have in their summer holidays. The film shifts into more of a drama in the latter half on the re-arrival of the just-out-of-jail skinhead who starts injecting the negative politics into the group and dividing them. It's a fantastic period piece and does a good job at providing a spectrum of the skinhead movement of the time from the good to the bad. Must see.