Yesterday at Hot Docs was a pretty straight-up festival day. Got up, went to a screening, sat in a coffee shop and blogged, had dinner with a friend, went to another screening, came home, kissed husband, blogged. SO much fun. I saw Koren Wedding Chest and Action Boys yesterday, neither of which were what I expected, but in a good way. Korean Wedding Chest was interesting because it was a straight-up documentary without a narrator and only observational which really stands out in a sea of docs with a thesis. The crowd was pretty great too, but I was sad to see that The Bloor wasn’t even half full. It’s a beautiful movie about a specific ritual in a culture which, incidentally, doesn’t differ that much from the very same ritual in our own culture. Action Boys was very interesting. I thought I was going to see something very different, but what I got instead what a look at the *people* behind the stuntmen, not so much stunts themselves. Pretty cool stuff. The director was there from Korea and he was so mild and meek it was almost impossible to imagine that he had once been a stuntman himself.
Reviews are on their way today. Off to see About Face: The Story of Gwendellin Bradshaw. I expect it to be very emotional, but I’m determined to see it. It’s made by Mary Rosanne Katzke, whose work is very sensitively political and, in my opinion, very important. More on her tomorrow.
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Sounds like another great day at the festival! I wish Korean Wedding Chest fit into my schedule but I just couldn’t get it in.
Thrilled to hear that Action Boys was interesting and awesome news that the director was there – I hope he’s at the next screening as well!
I hope so too. He's very sweet. I do hope that you get a better Q&A though. I haven't posted it, but it seemed that the language barrier became and actual barrier. Thank the various Gods for the Hot Docs staffer who asked a totally relevant question that gave a very enlightening answer. I'll be posting the Q&A along with the review tonight.