💾 Archived View for tilde.club › ~hammie › lff-2023.gmi captured on 2024-12-17 at 11:09:35. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content
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Writing these notes in November 2024, I'm surprised that I only saw five films at the festival last year. As always, this is merely intended as a personal record of what I watched ✿
Director: Shujun Wei
Prolific writer-director Shujun Wei skilfully constructs an unusual slow-burn noir, drawing us inexorably into its mysterious psychological journey.
This was a bit of a departure from the director's previous couple of films (less humorous) but very absorbing and beautifully shot. I was happy to see this get a mainstream cinema release in 2024 so hopefully more people will get to see it.
Director: Amanda Nell Eu
Nothing is quite as scary as puberty in this exuberant feminist pre-teen body horror from first time Malaysian director Amanda Nell Eu. 12-year-old Zaffan is the school rebel. But her strict teachers have more than illicit TikToks to worry about when Zaffan’s body starts changing in unexpected ways.
This was funny, bold, and haunting. One of the great things about the film festival is being able to see work from less-represented countries.
Director: Pablo Chea
Emi longs for his parents to be normal. Instead, they’re magicians who film a TV show in their basement. But when their special effects equipment malfunctions and sends them into the multiverse, Emi realises just how important his weird family actually is.
I really enjoyed this one. It's less zany than the trailer and descriptions make out and, in fact, is quite melancholy and strange.
Director: Pascal Plante
Ludovic Chevalier stands accused of murdering three teenage girls and broadcasting their deaths across the dark web. Amongst the ravenous press and bereft family members attending the trial, a lone woman watches the case unfold with an obsessive vigilance.
An intense, claustrophobic thriller with a twist. Juliette Gariépy is totally compelling as the young woman obsessed with the case.
Director: Neo Sora
Shot in immaculate black and white, and within the confines of a sparse recording studio, this film delivers a tangible sense of being present at Sakamoto’s last performance.
A truly beautiful, austere experience. It was wonderful to see this in a cinema screen with fantastic sound and be completely immersed in Sakamoto's performance without distraction. Interestingly, a few people walked out of the film early on – perhaps they had expected a documentary-style film and were not up for sitting in total silence with only the piano.
I was lucky enough to see Ryuichi Sakamoto in person at a screening and Q&A for *Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda* back in 2018. He was thoughtful and so generous in his responses (and funny). On the same weekend he and Yukihiro Takahashi briefly played on stage with Haruomi Hosono, making it a one-song YMO reunion gig!