Film Recomendations (so far...)

Here are a couple of my personal favorites that have been previewed so far:

In Your Hands
Dir. Annette K. Olesen
Denmark, 2004
May 27, 7:15pm; May 28 5pm, PACIFIC PLACE

Thoroughly engaging Dogme drama about Kate, an inmate in a women's prison who has a mysterious influence over the people she comes in contact with due to her reportedly supernatural gift. The new chaplain, Anna and one of the male guards become facinated with Kate, but end up conflicted when they are drawn into the realities of her tragic past and their relations to her. Warning: The finale of this film is not at all uplifting and I felt a little cheated by that, but the amazing acting jobs by the leads overshadow the emotional brutality of the ending.

Facing Window
Dir. Ferzan Ozpetek
Italy/Great Britain/Turkey/Portugal, 2003
June 4, 7:15pm; June 5, 4:15pm, PACIFIC PLACE

Suprisingly complex story about a husband and wife who become entangled in the life of an eldely anmesiac man. The details of the older man's earlier life begin to leak out while the wife develops an obsession with a man she sees through her window in an adjacent building. There are many themes dealt with in this film and they are all handled deftly. It could've easilly been a longer film, but stands well as it is. It's the kind of film I love. It deals with the very complicated themes of longing, loss and responsibility with a very sophisticated, grown-up mentality (i.e. It's not American). The acting was somewhat uneven, but highly recomended.

more later...