LIAF 2009 - International Programme 3

We came back from Vienna just in time for some of LIAF. Last night I went to International Programme 3 at the Renoir with Shelly. What a strong programme of works, it was almost relentlessly masterful, I kept hoping for a low key or plain rubbish film to have a zzzzz. Of all of them Bill Porter's film On Time Off was the most striking. Many poseurs on a beach in various shades of puce morphed into the hundreds and thousands on an ice cream, but rather than just being snazzy animation, the film was about just that, hundreds and thousands of people on a beach melting like ice cream until there's a fire and everyone goes home. A tiny shot of some aeroplanes sets the broader agenda without being heavy handed and then a not so puce male arrives for the evening. Maybe a local person, or Jesus, Al Gore or Leonardo di Caprio. My favourite part was a man trying to get into his little trunks, just a couple of frames repeated three times, what a good film.

Black Dog's Progress by Stephen Irwin stood out for me too, hundreds of flip books tell the story of an unwanted pet forced to find his way in a dark world. It deserves a second or third viewing, it was very clever. The Bedwetter by I. Schiller and S.F Mueller seemed like a singular student work at first but turned into a deftly executed pixellation film with many unexpected turns. I had my mouth open for the whole 5 minutes.
The Gallic Black Tea by Serge Elissade was really popular with the audience as was This Way Up by Smith & Foulkes.