The Washington, DC International Film Festival has been around for twenty-two years now, but this is the first time I’ve actually attended. Usually I’m too swamped by end-of-the-semester grading. This was true of this year too, but my wife wasn’t accepting that excuse, and I’m glad. We managed to see four films this week: “Egg” [Yumurta] (Semih Kaplanoglu, Turkey/Greece, 2007), “Tricks” [Sztuczki] (Andrzej Jakimowski, Poland, 2007), “The Edge of Heaven” [Auf der anderen Seite] (Fatih Akin, Germany/Turkey, 2007), and “With Your Permission” [Til Doden os Skiller] (Paprika Steen, Sweden/Denmark, 2007).

Our favorite movies were “Egg” and “Tricks,” both of which contained not only humor, but a certain magical quality, where time and stress were suspended. As much happened in the people’s faces and as in their words. In “Egg” the looks passed between a man who returned to his hometown to bury his mother and the young woman who had taken care of his mother. In “Tricks” the looks passed between a young boy and his teenage sister, as well as between the boy and the man he was sure was his father. There was also a lot of movement in “Tricks” as the boy explored and played around the train station and town, though most of these actions were part of everyday life, not a dramatic sequence of events. I enjoyed getting lost in the worlds these two films offered.

We wanted to see “The Edge of Heaven”, because we had enjoyed an extremely funny movie by the same directory called “Kebab Connection.” We knew this movie wasn’t going to be funny, but I was surprised by the unpleasant turns of fate mixed with occasional joy and life’s refusal to stop moving on. It could have been an excellent, if sometimes confusing movie, had not the distributors sent the film to the theater with the reels in the wrong order. Instead of seeing the movie’s three parts in the correct order, we saw the middle, then the beginning, then the end. If it had to happen, I suppose this was the movie where it would do the least damage, but it was still disappointing. As it was, I got the story and simple slices of life from Germany and Turkey, but much of the overarching story was lost on me. Afterwards I ended up focusing my attention not on the message, but on trying to re-imagine the film in the correct order. Still not there yet.

“With Your Permission” is a worthwhile dark comedy with an operatic emotional high point. I’m glad I saw it, but it was not in the same league with the first two magical films I saw. Nor was it intended to be, I think. It begins with a man who has a black eye from his wife. She beats him more than once and he acts increasingly strange. His boss on the ferry makes him seek help. Unusual twists in the plot with some hilarious characters follow on the way to an emotionally satisfying result.

I would also like to mention one of the many films we wanted to see but couldn’t. We had time to see “Jazz in the Diamond District” (Lindsey Christian, USA, 2007), but it was sold out and shown only once. Oh well. I hope it gets more play here in DC. It’s not in the same league as the other films I saw this week, but it is about real people who live in my city, not the politicians. It even includes a school my son once attended, the Duke Ellington School ofDC Film Fest

The Washington, DC International Film Festival has been around for twenty-two years now, but this is the first time I’ve actually attended. Usually I’m too swamped by end-of-the-semester grading. This was true of this year too, but my wife wasn’t accepting that excuse, and I’m glad. We managed to see four films this week: “Egg” [Yumurta] (Semih Kaplanoglu, Turkey/Greece, 2007), “Tricks” [Sztuczki] (Andrzej Jakimowski, Poland, 2007), “The Edge of Heaven” [Auf der anderen Seite] (Fatih Akin, Germany/Turkey, 2007), and “With Your Permission” [Til Doden os Skiller] (Paprika Steen, Sweden/Denmark, 2007).

Our favorite movies were “Egg” and “Tricks,” both of which contained not only humor, but a certain magical quality, where time and stress were suspended. As much happened in the people’s faces and as in their words. In “Egg” the looks passed between a man who returned to his hometown to bury his mother and the young woman who had taken care of his mother. In “Tricks” the looks passed between a young boy and his teenage sister, as well as between the boy and the man he was sure was his father. There was also a lot of movement in “Tricks” as the boy explored and played around the train station and town, though most of these actions were part of everyday life, not a dramatic sequence of events. I enjoyed getting lost in the worlds these two films offered.

We wanted to see “The Edge of Heaven”, because we had enjoyed an extremely funny movie by the same directory called “Kebab Connection.” We knew this movie wasn’t going to be funny, but I was surprised by the unpleasant turns of fate mixed with occasional joy and life’s refusal to stop moving on. It could have been an excellent, if sometimes confusing movie, had not the distributors sent the film to the theater with the reels in the wrong order. Instead of seeing the movie’s three parts in the correct order, we saw the middle, then the beginning, then the end. If it had to happen, I suppose this was the movie where it would do the least damage, but it was still disappointing. As it was, I got the story and simple slices of life from Germany and Turkey, but much of the overarching story was lost on me. Afterwards I ended up focusing my attention not on the message, but on trying to re-imagine the film in the correct order. Still not there yet.

“With Your Permission” is a worthwhile dark comedy with an operatic emotional high point. I’m glad I saw it, but it was not in the same league with the first two magical films I saw. Nor was it intended to be, I think. It begins with a man who has a black eye from his wife. She beats him more than once and he acts increasingly strange. His boss on the ferry makes him seek help. Unusual twists in the plot with some hilarious characters follow on the way to an emotionally satisfying result.

I would also like to mention one of the many films we wanted to see but couldn’t. We had time to see “Jazz in the Diamond District” (Lindsey Christian, USA, 2007), but it was sold out and shown only once. Oh well. I hope it gets more play here in DC. It’s not in the same league as the other films I saw this week, but it is about real people who live in my city, not the politicians. It even includes a school my son once attended, the Duke Ellington School of the Arts. the Arts.