Movie Mania

It's that time of year again, when the days darken early and Dutch parents still don't put hats or gloves on their kids.

It's also time once again for the International Documentary Film Festival, the best 10 days for movie geeks to sneak some peeks at the world's best un-Hollywood films.

I'm now on my third year of this cinematic feast, and as a seasoned vet I am all over this like Herman Cain on an assistant.

Want to make the most of the festival? Here's the lowdown:

- Get on the mailing list for the festival; they are not spammy, with only a few emails sent throughout the year, and you will get ample warned well in advance of the ticket sales and the overall program.

- On Day 1 of the kaartverkoop, go online and buy tickets for all your favourites. I bought 5 tickets this year, and it wasn't easy whittling down the choices. But waiting until the day before or day is risky. Although last-minute no-shows do happen; if you really want to see something, head to the cinema about 30 minutes before the show and talk to a ticket-taker or wait for a seller to start hawking.

- Bring your smartphone to the show - no need to line up to pick up pre-bought tickets this year, as the organizers have gone all smartphone-friendly.

- If you have any questions, be patient. The volunteers range widely from friendly and on the ball to friendly and way off the ball. It happens every year - some of them seem genuinely surprised to be there.

The lineup for the 2011 version is much the same - many with a very strong social message, some with serious stomach-churning violence and sadness; some with beauty as their main feature; and others that are light and a bit wacky. Virtually all of them look great.

This year, I've got tickets for:

Cave of Forgotten Dreams

Just came back from this; it's a fascinating movie about the discovery of cave drawings in France dating back 32,000 years, directed and narrated by Werner Herzog - in 3D no less. This movie expands your brain, largely (I think) by making us realize how short a time we're really here and how close we are to messing it up.

Desert Riders

The very sad story of camel jockeys (yes, actual camel jockeys) in the UAE.

Happiness... a Promised Land

A look at a simple question posed to various people on a hike: What makes you happy? (These days? An awesome fiancee, dogs, Guinness, playing squash, and movie festivals. I suspect this movie will delve a little deeper).

POM Wonderful presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold

Morgan Spurlock, the guy from Super-Size Me, casts a light on the prevalence and absurdity of advertising and insidious product placement. Which seems like a good time to mention that this blog is currently sponsored by Lithuanian garlic, Simon Levelt Indian Chai tea, Etos cough syrup and Hema's Ultra Soft nose tissues.

The Last Dogs of Winter

The Canadian Eskimo Dog is the only dog that can survive a temperature of minus-60 degrees. Only a few hundred are left. We'll see if it's chilling or heart-warming.

So a full agenda of movie-viewing is on tap, and I am overly, geekily, excited about it all. Some other ones that I may even try to see are Four Horsemen ("What is created by humans, can be changed by humans" - check out the trailer) and G Spotting: A Story of Pleasure and Promise (oddly, the identical working title of the first movie listed above). Just hope I find the damn place.

Film Fest

The purpose of life is to increase the warm heart - Dalai Lama

I love documentaries. I love them the way Dutch people love birthday calendars in their bathrooms. The way Parisians love strikes. I love them the way Dan Brown loves italics.

With that in mind, it seemed fitting to see Love Etc as my first movie at this year's IDFA.

It's year 23 of the International Documentary Film Festival, year two for me at this great 10-day cinematic smorgasbord. The full program is immense - over 250 films, with 10 days and four locations throughout the city. Each film is either done in English or has English subtitles.

So with limited time and only two eyeballs, how does one choose which ones to see? You look for some award winners and some with topics of interest (last year's Rainbow Warriors of Waiheke Island is still clearly in my mind).

Love Etc follows a number of people in various stages of relationships in New York City. An elderly couple with the wife suffering from the early stages of dementia, a young Indian couple getting married, a divorced blue-collar single dad, a gay single man about to adopt baby twins, and a pair of 18-year olds. It's filled with the requisite NYC sights, energy and authenticity, and each profile makes you think about your own relationships. Check out the trailer here.

Herbstgold (Autumn Gold) is about several men and women from parts of Europe (Austria, Germany, Italy, Czech Republic) preparing for and competing in the track and field World Masters Championships in Finland. The catch? The youngest person featured is 84, and the oldest is 100. It follows their lives, their relationships (most of them have lost a husband or wife) and their training. It's an incredible movie - touching, funny, wrinkled, and inspiring. The trailer is here.

If you're looking to get off the couch, think, or just increase the warm heart, catch both movies and see the way Albert and Marion still treat each other after 48 years of marriage, and how a 100-year-old discus thrower spends his training time.

Filmofilia

The ceiling of the Tuchiniski cinema

Last week, I mentioned one of the primary benefits of being in a bigger city - having the added cultural selection.

The International Documentary Film Festival (www.idfa.nl) is the highlight for a lot of the 30+ crowd in the city, and is one of the best choices I've made so far here (aside from the decision to stop mentally converting Euros to Canadian dollars - it deadens the pain) .

It is basically 10 days straight of hundreds of films, from 10am to midnight every day. From bigger-budget Michael Moore fare to small-budget French movies, it's all here, and it really is international. Most films are in English with Dutch subtitles, which is a bonus for A) those who speak English and B) those who want to learn Dutch.

I saw two films this week... and I know what you're thinking - "wow, quite the movie buff there, Jeff. - hundreds of movies and you saw two." But wait. Little did I know - and now you know, so you can prepare for next year - that most of the movies were sold out well ahead of the start of the festival.

Inside the Tuchinski theatre

The Dutch, and the large expat community here it seems, are serious film buffs. And with the ability to purchase multiple screenings online, coupled with the regular amount of dreary November weather, the site read "uitverkocht" for a great number of movies.

Next year, should you be here - check the schedule early and start clicking.

I saw "Male Domination", a scathing look at male aggression and insecurity by a Parisian director. It focuses a lot on the 1989 Ecole Polytechnique massacre in Montreal, and also shows a number of first-hand accounts of domestic violence along with a small group of idiotic "masculinists", a society of troglodytes who think the way people did 200-300 years ago.

I found the movie very moving, but also limited in its scope (and it didn't help that it didn't paint a more global picture of the problem - Quebec comes off as a desolate, wintry, brutal society, and of course it is not; it's one of the more progressive ones, and there are far more severe societies around the globe). It also didn't dig deeper to see what some of the root causes are, nor the solutions.

To be fair, the director (who was there for a Q & A after the film) did say that he really could have made six films with all his footage to cover the scope of the problem.

Onto the second movie, which was "The Rainbow Warriors of Waiheke Island", a beautiful movie about Greenpeace and the story of the Rainbow Warrior which was sunk off the coast of New Zealand back in the 80s as it was protesting French nuclear tests that killed scores of South Pacific islanders and marine life, and left hundreds others disfigured or with birth defects.

It follows the people who were on the ship then, with footage of how they remembered it and of how they live their lives today. It had a particular resonance for me, having been to Waiheke Island in 1996. It's about a 35-minute ferry ride from Auckland, and is just an amazing place.

A stock photo of Waiheke Island

The movie had great scenery, great (real-life) characters, and a story that really has no parallel today. Although I'm way more on the green and the peace side of things in general, myself and millions like me wouldn't have the conviction to do what they did back then. We're too distracted by shiny things, the convenience of modern living, and willful ignorance.

The grey-haired, grizzled vets that they are today seem awfully content and well-adjusted, though - perhaps the by-product of a life lived with real meaning.

We were even lucky enough to have one of them in the audience also doing a Q & A after the movie - a definite perk of the big-city film festival.

Peace out.