Strains of Confinement

THE DAY HE ARRIVES
Egyptian-Spielberg, 11/7/2011, 4:15 PM
Egyptian-Spielberg, 11/8/2011, 7:15 PM

THREE AND A HALF
Egyptian-Spielberg, 11/5/2011, 1:00 PM
Chinese 1, 11/8/2011, 4:15 PM 

By Katie Datko

A reoccurring motif in this year’s programming lineup is confinement. Sometimes it’s figurative like in Cristián Jiménez’s BONSÁI where Julio, the main character lives in self-imposed isolation. Other times it’s more literal, as with Luc Besson’s gala film, THE LADY, about Burma’s intrepid champion for democracy Aung San Suu Kyi or Jafar Panahi who managed to smuggle THIS IS NOT A FILM out of the country in a cake while awaiting the verdict of his trial in Iran. Two other films where this theme plays out is Hong Song-soo’s THE DAY HE ARRIVES and Naghi Nemati’s THREE AND A HALF.

In Hong’s film, the main character, Sungjoon (Jun-sang Yu) is trapped within the origami-like folds of a recurring plot. A former film director-turned-professor who comes back from the countryside to visit Seoul, he is part of a repetitive narrative that consists of banal conversations, chance encounters and uneasy relationships. Its black-and-white imagery at first seem dynamic, infusing energy into the storyline. But as each piece of the story unfolds, the relationship between the various parts become tenuous—the plot turns back on itself, almost but not quite to the point of being monotonous. Sungjoon is held captive by his inability to move forward, essentially swathed in an unending cycle of critical junctures that never meet any resolutions.

THREE AND A HALF is a stirringly claustrophobic film: three women on furlough from prison try to escape Iran. In interviews, director Nemati claims the women are convicts, but in the film itself, it’s never clear what their prison is—for one of the women, it’s a relationship, another, social constraints. Shot mostly in close-ups with a few mid-shots, the camera mirrors the suffocating space the main character, Hanieh, pregnant and sick, inhabits. She’s constricted not only by her actions, but by those of the men in her life. As the movie opens with a blurred close-up of Hanieh crying and gun shots in the background, it’s also the ambient sound that smothers us, louder than usual, reminding us of Hanieh’s instability.

In both films not much backstory is provided, yet in each film we get a sense of how the main characters’ pasts inform their present. Neither character is truly sympathetic—there is something unhinged about both Sungjoon and Hanieh. Each is a victim, captive by their own misdeeds. Watching them navigate their restrictions and limitations causes us to wonder if freedom is a possible or if it is an untenable illusion.

Katie Datko is an LA-based writer who has written for the L.A. Weekly, DailyOm.com and the LohDown on Science.

AFI FEST 2011 - WORLD CINEMA, BREAKTHROUGH, MIDNIGHT AND SHORTS SELECTIONS

We are thrilled to announce the films screening in the World Cinema, Breakthrough, Midnight and Short Film Categories of this year’s AFI FEST 2011 presented by Audi.

World Cinema showcases the most anticipated and prize-winning international films of the year, Breakthroughhighlights works discovered only through the submissions process and Midnight’s eclectic selection presents films with provocative and unexpected ideas. Both World Cinema and Breakthrough feature a number of films making their U.S. premieres, including ALMAYER’S FOLLY, CAFÉ DU FLORE, FAUST and WITH EVERY HEARTBEAT(World Premiere).

Three of the 35 shorts in competition are from AFI Conservatory’s recent classes of 2010 and 2011 – Julian Higgins’THIEF, which won the top prize in narrative filmmaking at the 38th Annual Student Academy Awards and top honors at the 32nd College Television Awards earlier this year, Lindsay MacKay’s CLEAR BLUE, which placed second at the 32nd College Television Awards and Casey Cooper Johnson’s UNMANNED, which was finished just in time for festival submission. Rick Rosenthal’s (AFI Directing Class of 1973) BLINK is also in competition. The AFI Conservatory was rated the #1 film school in the world by The Hollywood Reporter for the quality of its instructors and speakers, and its “glittering parade of alumni.”

WORLD CINEMA SELECTIONS A showcase of modern masters and emerging filmmakers from across the globe, this year’s World Cinema program showcases some of the most anticipated and prize-winning international films of the year.

ALMAYER’S FOLLY: DIR/SCR Chantal Akerman. Belgium/France. U.S. Premiere.

ALPS: DIR Yorgos Lanthimos. SCR Yorgos Lanthimos, Efthimis Filippou. Greece/France. U.S. Premiere.

ARIRANG: DIR Kim Ki-duk. South Korea.

CAFÉ DU FLORE: DIR/SCR Jean-Marc Vallée. Canada. U.S. Premiere.

CARRÉ BLANC: DIR/SCR Jean-Baptiste Léonetti. France/Luxembourg/Russia/Belgium/Switzerland. U.S. Premiere.

THE DAY HE ARRIVES: DIR/SCR Hong Sang-Soo. South Korea.

EXTRATERRESTRIAL: DIR/SCR Nacho Vigalondo. Spain.

FAUST: DIR Alexander Sokurov. SCR Alexander Sokurov, Marina Koreneva. Russia. U.S. Premiere.

FOOTNOTE: DIR/SCR Joseph Cedar. Israel. Israel’s official foreign-language Oscar submission.

THE FORGIVENESS OF BLOOD: DIR Joshua Marston. SCR Joshua Marston, Andamion Murataj. USA/Albania/Denmark/Italy.

THE INVADER: DIR Nicolas Provost. SCR Nicolas Provost, Giordano Gederlini, François Pirot. Belgium. U.S Premiere.

JIRO DREAMS OF SUSHI: DIR David Gelb. USA.

KINYARWANDA: DIR/SCR Alrick Brown. USA.

MAMA AFRICA: DIR Mika Kaurismäki. Germany/South Africa/Finland.

ONCE UPON A TIME IN ANATOLIA: DIR Nuri Bilge Ceylan. SCR Ercan Kesal, Ebru Ceylan, Nuri Bilge Ceylan. Turkey/Bosnia/Herzegovina. Turkey’s official foreign-language Oscar submission.

PLAY: DIR/SCR Ruben Östlund. Sweden/France/Denmark.

A SEPARATION: DIR/SCR Asghar Farhadi. Iran. Iran’s official foreign-language Oscar submission.

THE SILVER CLIFF: DIR Karim Aïnouz. SCR Beatriz Brachner, Karim Aïnouz. Brazil.

TARGET: DIR Alexander Zeldovich. SCR Vladimir Sorokin, Alexander Zeldovich. Russia.

THIS IS NOT A FILM: DIR/SCR Mojtaba Mirtahmasb, Jafar Panahi. Iran.

THE TURIN HORSE: DIR Béla Tarr. SCR Béla Tarr, László Krasznahorkai. Hungary. Hungary’s official foreign-language Oscar submission.

BREAKTHROUGH SELECTIONS The Breakthrough films are true discoveries – films that come straight from the submissions process.

EXPECTING: DIR/SCR Francisca Fuenzalida. Chile. U.S. Premiere.

LIGHT OF MINE: DIR Brett Eichenberger. SCR Jill Remensnyder. USA.

THREE AND A HALF: DIR/SCR Naghi Nemati. Iran. U.S. Premiere.

WITH EVERY HEARTBEAT: DIR/SCR Alexandra-Therese Keining. Sweden. World Premiere.

MIDNIGHT SELECTIONS The Midnight section showcases an eclectic group of films across the globe from fearless proponents of provocative, jarring and unexpected ideas.

BEYOND THE BLACK RAINBOW: DIR/SCR Panos Cosmatos. USA.

HEADHUNTERS: DIR Morten Tyldum. SCR Lars Gudmestad, Ulf Ryberg. Norway.

KILL LIST: DIR Ben Wheatley. SCR Ben Wheatley, Amy Jump. UK.

SHORT FILM SELECTIONS (In Competition) The films in this section are in competition for the Grand Jury Prize for Live Action Short Film and Animated Short Film. Both award categories are recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as qualifiers for the annual Academy Awards®.

30,000 DAYS: DIR Stephanie Barber. USA.

ALL FLOWERS IN TIME: DIR Jonathan Caouette. USA.

ALL IN ALL: DIR Charlie Reff, Jacki Sextro. USA.

ANOTHER BULLET DODGED: DIR Landon Zakheim. USA.

BABYLAND: DIR Marc Fratello. USA.

BLINK: DIR Rick Rosenthal. AFI Conservatory Directing Class of 1973. Canada.

BROKEN NIGHT: DIR Yang Hyo-Joo. Korea.

CLEAR BLUE: DIR Lindsay MacKay. AFI Conservatory Thesis Film/AFI Directing Class of 2010. USA.

DR. BREAKFAST: DIR Stephen Neary. USA.

THE EAGLEMAN STAG: DIR Michael Please. UK.

EX-SEX: DIR Michael Mohan. USA.

FROZEN STORIES: DIR Grzegorz Jaroszuk. Poland.

INFINITE MINUTES: DIR Cecilia Felmeri. Hungary/Romania.

JUAN Y LA BORREGA: DIR J. Xavier Velasco. Mexico.

LIBERTAS: DIR Kan Lume, Megan Wonowidjoyo. Australia/Singapore.

LITTLE KITTEN: DIR Stephanie Barber. USA.

MASKA: DIR Stephen Quay, Timothy Quay. USA.

MEXICAN CUISINE: DIR Francisco Guijarro. USA.

NEGATIVIPEG: DIR Matthew Rankin. Canada.

NIGHT HUNTER: DIR Stacy Steers. USA.

ONCE IT STARTED IT COULD NOT END OTHERWISE: DIR Kelly Sears. USA.

ONE MINUTE PUBERTY: DIR Alexander Gellner. USA.

PIONEER: DIR David Lowery. USA.

PROTOPARTICLES: DIR Chema García Ibarra. Spain.

THE RUNAWAY: DIR Victor Carrey. Spain.

SATAN SINCE 2003: DIR Carlos Puga. USA.

SLEEP STUDY: DIR Kerri Lendo, John Merriman. USA.

TATUM’S GHOST: DIR Stephanie Barber. USA.

THIEF: DIR Julian Higgins. AFI Conservatory Thesis Film/AFI Directing Class of 2010. USA.

TO DIE BY YOUR SIDE: Dir Simon Cahn, Spike Jonze. France.

UNMANNED: DIR Casey Cooper Johnson. AFI Conservatory Thesis Film/AFI Directing Class of 2011. USA.

THE VOYAGERS: DIR Penny Lane. USA.

WE’RE LEAVING: DIR Zachary Treitz. USA.

YEARBOOK: DIR Carter Smith. USA.

ZERGUT: DIR Natasha Subramaniam, Alisa Lapidus. USA.

SHORT FILM SELECTIONS (Out of Competition)

AANTENI: DIR Todd Cole. USA.

I SAW YOUR SISTER YESTERDAY: DIR Mina Park. USA.

MENS SANA IN CORPORE SANO: DIR Juliano Dornelles. Brazil.

MY BOW BREATHING: DIR Enrico Maria Artale. Italy.