One more day in darkened auditoriums and one more night of blue haze before you can proudly conclude that “I have survived the 8th annual international film festival Fresh Film Fest”. What is a must for the last day filled with the freshest films in town? See our tips for 28th August, the fifth and final day of the festival.
Rare Exports Inc. (2010, director: Jalmari Helander)
At 2 pm Cinema 35 in the French Institute screens a forgotten jewel of Czech film history, the film Conscience, directed by one of the most defiant filmmakers in the history of Czechoslovakian film, Jiří Krejčík. The film was made in 1948 when the Communist party seized power in Czechoslovakia. It was the time when film was supposed to serve to ideological purposes and as Krejčík’s psychological drama was no use as propaganda, it remained out of the spotlight. The story of a bank clerk who kills a boy in a car cash and leaves the site of the accident was highly acclaimed worldwide and at the time offered the audience a completely different and unusual film experience. Despite its doubtless numerous qualities, the film was severely criticized by the communist press and therefore never became more widely known.
In the same cinema at 6:30 pm you have a second chance of catching the opening film of the 8th annual Fresh Film Fest, Blue Valentine. The film includes two interwoven story lines and two different forms of expression. It all starts with an innocent romantic encounter of two young people. The film shows their falling in love and their dreamy romantic visions of the future, which are contrasted with the present state of their marriage that lacks everything except tension and desperate attempts to recover the lost passion. The American director Derek Cianfrance presents a very intimate yet unobtrusive account of a human relationship dominated by complex and real-life main characters. The performance of the two main protagonists ranks among the freshest and liveliest acting we have seen in the last two years.
At 8 pm make a stop at the Ponec Theatre for the only Czech film featured in the competition at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. And this is how the director, Petr Marek, who also teaches at the FAMU Prague film school and performs as a member of MIDI LIDI electro formation, characterized his film Nothing Against Nothing in the Czech magazine Respekt: “I do not flatter myself that my film is going to attract tones of people. The title is not catchy, it is about founding a non-governmental organization… It is true that there is a fake pedophile in the story, but there are no known actors in the film, so I don’t really expect a breakthrough.” Wow, have you ever heard better advertising? It really sounds like something, doesn’t it?
At 8:30 pm the open-air cinema at Riegrovy sady starts screening the winning films of the 8th annual Fresh Film Fest. Do not miss your chance to see for free what the jury deemed the best at this year’s festival.
After the award ceremony at the Svetozor cinema, where the best of this year’s festival will receive their prizes, stick around a bit longer for the screening of Rare Exports at 10 pm. In his film the Finnish director Jalmari Helander, a sought-after Scandinavian director of advertisements and music videos, is about to show us that while today Santa Clause belongs to the realm of children fairy tales, he used to be a dreaded figure of old legends. Forget the sweet stories about white-bearded jolly fellow with his team of reindeers. The story of a little boy living with his father north of the Arctic Circle and an American corporation which discovers real Santa’s dwelling near the boy’s house is a fanciful grotesque charmer and an original interpretation of the Christmas myth, which, if you will, can be compared to the infamous Gremlins. Helander also made a short film focusing on the same topic – look below.
Simultaneously with Rare Exports the Ponec Theatre features Machotaildrop by the duo Corey Adams and Alex Craig, whom even the Atlantic Ocean couldn’t prevent from having fun and making a movie together. Craig is Scottish and Adams is Canadian, but what they have in common is their favourite pastime activity – filmmaking. They funded the latest film Machotaildrop from what they earned on their surreal skate comedy Harvey Spannos from 2006, with which they entered the competition of sports videos called Fuel Experiment. Also their latest film revolves around skateboarding. It is an original farce, slightly reminiscent of the poetics of Wes Anderson’s work, which sparkles with Adams and Craig’s fresh ideas. They for example compare skateboarding community to exclusive clubs for gentlemen and adventurers. Machotaildrop poses key skateboarding questions, such as “What is the downside of a life-long professional contract and riding for a big company?”, while still floating on the waves of both jolly extravagancy and existential melancholy.
Enjoy the last day of the festival and see you next year!
