GFF Reviews

Author: gffreviews

  • Because We Are Girls

    Because We Are Girls follows the story of three Punjabi-Canadian sisters as they try to prosecute their cousin for rape and sexual abuse committed against them at the ages of 10 and 11.

    I did really well with this film, I felt the tears welling up at so many points in the film, and I thought I’d be able to hold it, but as 2 of the 3 sisters came out for the Q&A, I just lost it. I burst into tears. Because this should not happen to any child. And it happens constantly, everywhere, to so many people. And it is so hard to get justice.

    The beating heart of this very raw film is the relationship between the sisters. Because no one believed them, except each other. Their parents slowly grew to accept it, but, both because of their ethnic culture and their generational culture, they didn’t want to encourage any attempts at public prosecution for fear of what it would do to the family name.

    The treatment of their parents was very interesting. Because they are neither castigated with condemnation nor are they absolved. After all, as one of the sisters said in the Q&A, they were groomed too. They were groomed to believe that this person would never do such a thing, they were groomed to believe him and defend him. And yet, there is a confrontation in the family towards the end of the film, where the girls said to their father, you had suspicions about what he was doing, and you did nothing. You had a chance to change things for us, if you had stood up for us, but you didn’t keep us safe. It’s a hard but true fact. And the message going forward is that, to prevent this happening to other kids, we need to equip adults with the ability to have those conversations, take those stands.

    This documentary is so intimate and traces the effects of trauma over generations. This act has impacted on these sisters, damaged their relationship with their parents, impacted on the way they care for their children. Hopefully the prosecution and the documentary changes that narrative, of not inheriting trauma, but being inspired by bravery. I certainly know that’s what I took away from it.

  • Balloon

    A surprisingly funny film about a Tibetan family dealing with the Chinese One Child policy.

    There is such warmth in this happy little family. They are sheep farmers, the grandfather, parents and kids all living under one roof. A lot of the humour comes from the fact this is obviously a very traditionally conservative culture, but the One Child Policy means sex is being talked about far more publicly than before. The weans are blowing up johnnies and trading them as balloons to the neighbours’ weans for their tin whistle. Nobody knows exactly where to look.

    When the kindly old grandfather passes, a lama prophesies that his soul will be reborn into the family. This is a message of great joy. Even though the child will not remember their previous life, the father will be able to care for and look after the grandfather’s soul, keep him safe from harm, and return the years of care he received in a reversal of the parental relationship.

    But the mother must deal with the practicalities of this pregnancy. They cannot afford the fine they will be charged for bringing this child into the world. So conflict enters their happy home.

    A warm family drama with humour to soften the strife.

  • Disco

    This cements for me the opinion that religion should not be forced on children.

    The main character is a disco-dancing champion and lead attraction in the ‘cool church’ run by her stepfather. They clearly know what they have in her as a sales tool – she’s young, she’s beautiful, she’s sexy, she’s fit, and yet she carries with her an air of piety and purity. Good catch-all for getting people through the door. And once they’re there, it’s full on 80s kareoke style hymn singing and show-girl disco dancing. Which makes people feel like they really got something for their money when it comes collection time.

    Of course it’s all bullshit. Her stepfather is an abusive arsehole, gaslighting her mother and creepily sexually predatory around his stepkid.

    The main character develops some mix of anxiety and depression which causes her to start having panic attacks during her disco-dancing championship performances, which then snowballs with the condemnation from her family that this failure indicates a lack of faith and closeness to God.

    Throughout this film, you are just begging for this girl to meet a sane person. Someone who will say you can’t pray away a mental illness. You’re in an abusive, exploitative cult. Your family is bonkers.

    But she’s been very thoroughly isolated and the only people she knows outside her little cult, are other religious extremists who are trying to fish from the same pool of devotees. In the end she only manages to exchange one set of ecstatics for another.

  • Gay Chorus Deep South

    Well, that’ll break your heart.

    Gay Chorus Deep South follows the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus and the Oakland Interfaith Choir as they tour the South in the wake of Trump’s election. They go with the intention of hopefully breaking through some of the homophobic bigotry and hatred that characterised that election, and providing a beacon of hope to the queer communities in those areas.

    They do that but moreover, they are surprised and overwhelmed by the acceptance and warmth they receive there. They too have had bought into the dominant political narrative that the people of these states were in some way their enemy, that they would be hostile and they would have to battle the whole way. The narrative of division which is so lucrative politically bore small resemblance to the diverse, warm, and changing face of the South as it is in reality.

    This film is about so much healing. The chorus members go there to heal divisions in the country but instead find deeply personal healing. Parents who haven’t spoke to their children in years come to hear them sing. The chorus leader, who was kicked out of his 20,000-strong Baptist megachurch where he was the preacher, is invited to sing in a Baptist church for the first time since he came out. This journey doesn’t just provide hope to queer communities in the South, it provides hope to the choir members as well.

    Grab a hankie.

  • Can you spot yourself at the Opening Gala?

  • First week of the festival down

    I have been so happy and also so tired. This would be so much easier if I wasn’t allergic to caffeine

  • Son-Mother

    Son-Mother is the story of a young widow who receives a proposal of marriage.

    What’s good about this movie is no one’s an asshole. The mother just wants what’s best for her son, her son just wants what’s best for his family, the new step-daddy just wants what’s best for everyone. And the new step-dad really is a nice guy, and is totally ok with raising her kids from the previous marriage.

    But this is Iran. And in Iran, there’s always a way your life as a woman can be made that bit more difficult.

    The step-dad has a daughter from a previous marriage, and she can’t share a house with a male she’s not related to. So what’s to become of the mother’s son?

    The first half of the movie is the mother doing everything she can to not accept the proposal, even though she likes the man and thinks well of him. She’s working to keep a roof over their heads, she can’t afford nappies for the baby, she even scabs at her work out of fear of not being able to support her kids. The walls start to close in, her baby gets sick and she has no way to pay for health care, and she finally gets laid off from her job. Her choice is send her son away or the streets.

    Unfortunately she has no family and nowhere to send him. A family friend comes up with a scheme to stow him in a residential school for the deaf. The second half of the film is her son’s sacrifices to keep his family together and better-off, even if he can’t be part of it.

    A great movie that leaves you wanting to collectively slap the social mores of Iran.

  • Marona’s Fantastic Tale

    Marona’s Fantastic Tale is a beautiful animated film about a wee dog telling the story of her life and all the owners she’s had.

    The message is be happy with all you have, instead of always wanting life to change. Love like a dog.

  • Santiago, Italia

    Santiago, Italia is a documentary on the Chilean diaspora in Italy and the work of the Italian embassy in Santiago to protect refugees. Hearing all the first person accounts from the refugees themselves was very moving.

  • Moffie

    What is it about us that we need to make men into monsters?

    Moffie is about a guy joining and fighting in the Aparteid South Africa army. A less sympathetic subject you’d be pressed to find.

    It may make a difference that he’s a 16-year-old conscript who’s secretly gay. That’s what Moffie means, it’s the Afrikaans slur for a gay guy.

    Whether this is enough to gain your sympathy is debatable. The film reminded me of Full Metal Jacket. And all I could hear was a variation on the old Frankie Boyle joke, about joining a racist, homophobic, human rights-abusing army, then making a film about how being in a racist, homophobic, human rights-abusing army made you sad.