Tribeca Film Festival

spent almost all day yesterday in theaters
the battery park uber-plex has been the home
for a ton of tribeca festival film premieres

yesterday i saw: The Devil's Miner, a documentary
about the silver miners in Bolivia -
specifically this 14 year old boy named Basilio Vargas
the miners believe they are leaving the realm of God
and entering the realm of Satan, (when they enter the mines)
so they carve his image inside the mine.
UNreal stuff. fantastic film

then i saw: El Perro Negro: Stories From The Spanish Civil War
(another documentary) this was a cool film because the director,
Peter Forgács, has taken amateur filming of home movies, by all
different people, and turned them into a time-spanning look at
not only these peoples' lives, but the changing political times
spread out over decades.
this one is a Catalan family, starting in the 1920's. captivating work.

the last one i saw was: Slippin' - Ten Years With The Bloods
the movie tracks 5 gang members (starting in 1993) for 10 years.
yeesh, a hard movie to watch is alls i can say. but compelling, nevertheless
or alwaysthemore (which i like waaay better - less negative)

today, i'm off to see a few more:
Favela Rising, a film about the slums & poverty & violence
of Rio de Janiero - (not to be compared to City of God)
it's about one incredible guy who emerged from the favelas to
create the nonviolent Afro-Brazilian culture known as Afro-reggae

then: To the Other Side - a film about this aspiring corrido composer
(the film is told using 200 year old mexican traditional corrido music)
who has to choose between drug trafficking and crossing
the US border illegally and the (obvious) dangers of both.

whoo-wee i'm excited!

Article Author: Sonja Valentine

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