At the beginning of this month, Catherine Liu and Desha Dauchan hosted student trips to the Palm Springs International Film Festival (https://www.psfilmfest.org/) over the course of two weekends. Going to film festivals with FMS faculty is going to become a new perk for FMS majors: look out for announcements from Eva Yonas for spring events.
Over January 7-8, Desha Dauchan and five students (Andrea Gomez, Khaila Hall, Iris Ruvalcaba, Dempsey Thomas, and Tracey Tran) saw four exceptional films from various genres, pulled from student requests.
They started out Saturday morning with The Red Turtle, an animated fantasy film directed and co-written by Dutch-British animator Michaël Dudok de Wit and is a co-production between Wild Bunch and Studio Ghibli. The Red Turtle is currently a nominee for the Best Animated Feature Film for the 89th Academy Awards.
Through the story of a man shipwrecked on a tropical island inhabited by turtles, crabs, and birds, The Red Turtle recounts the milestones in the life of a human being.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sw7BggqBpTk
The group separated to explore the festival and some came back together to see The Untamed (La region salvaje), a 2016 Mexican drama film directed by Amat Escalante. It was selected to compete for the Golden Lion at the 73rd Venice International Film Festival, with Escalante winning the Silver Lion for his direction.
A couple in a troubled marriage locate a meteorite, initiating an encounter with a mysterious creature. Their lives are turned upside down by the discovery of the creature, which is a source of both pleasure and destruction.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnYob3llb_o
Late Saturday night, the entire group convened to see The Girl With All the Gifts, a dystopian futuristic zombie film that poses interesting social questions and has a dynamic cast. This one you'll find in theaters soon and is probably the most commercial of the films this group watched together.
In the future, a strange fungus has changed nearly everyone into a thoughtless, flesh-eating monster. When a scientist and a teacher find a girl who seems to be immune to the fungus, they all begin a journey to save humanity.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjGkB_oWTe0
Desha’s group ended their time together with our final film on Sunday morning, a documentary film by veteran filmmaker Steven James, Abacus: Small Enough to Jail. A portrait of a Chinese community bank charged with malfeasance, this film explores issues of immigration, prejudice, and trust.
A small financial institution called Abacus becomes the only company criminally indicted in the wake of the United States' 2008 mortgage crisis.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lX87ASYhQk
“Every last film was thought provoking, and each moved us in different ways,” reported Desha. “It was great to hear our students discussing and debating the impact and merit of the works.”
The next weekend, over January 13-14, Catherine Liu and five students (Leatrice Ching, Vanessa Diaz, Victoria Lee, Savannah Peykani, and Nicky Wan) saw four outstanding films within twenty four hours.
The first screening they attended was the heartbreaking film You’ll Never Be Alone (Nunca vas a estar solo). After the screening, director Álex Anwandter and star Sergio Hernandez hosted a Q&A with the audience. Anwandter was eloquent and inspring as he discussed homophobia and how he uses media and filmmaking to deal with political complexity, personal suffering, and social violence.
When his cross-dressing teenage son suffers a brutally violent attack, a mannequin-factory manager desperately seeks help and, when none can be found, is forced to take matters into his own hands. Based on a true story.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2EBeshuzgs
On Friday night, Catherine’s group watched Babak Anvari's acclaimed debut horror film, Under the Shadow, an Iranian-UK production about life in Tehran during the Iraq-Iran war.
As a mother and daughter struggle to cope with the terrors of the post-revolution, war-torn Tehran of the 1980s, a mysterious evil begins to haunt their home.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHVFP80Upxw
On Saturday, they watched the film Wùlu, Daouda Coulibaly's astonishing debut about the cocaine trade in Mali.
A young man begins trafficking cocaine and quickly becomes embroiled in the Malian drug ring.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rMqpjs5iNw
The group favorite was Hirozaku Koreeda’s moving and subtle drama, After the Storm. Everyone in the group agreed that they want to see every film Koreeda has ever made.
After the death of his father, a private detective struggles to find child support money and reconnect with his son and ex-wife.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPW8QJ4N5PE
We are thrilled that so many students had this opportunity to attend the Palm Springs International Film Festival, and we look forward to taking more students on similar trips in the near future!