Ave Maria (Palestine/France/Germany)
– Taking place on Palestine’s West Bank, a Israeli family’s car runs off the
road and crashes into a convent where five nuns who have taken a vow of silence
reside. What with the Sabbath having
just come into effect, the members of the family are unable to use the phone to
call for aid, while the silent nuns’ refusal to speak prevents them from
helping. This comedy of errors is an effective and gentle approach in looking
at clashing ideologies and the sort of compromises that must be made when
ancient customs conflict with the modern world.
Day One (United
States) – Taking place in Afghanistan, an interpreter for the U.S. Army is
forced to come to terms not only with her own shortcomings but the difficulties
that ensue when the customs of the natives prove incompatible with the mission
of the occupying American forces. Things
reach a head when she’s forced to deliver a child, whose father may be a
terrorist her unit is looking for. Tense
and unflinching, unlike “Ave Maria,” this film takes a more sobering look at
the way opposing cultures are forced to adapt to each other, often reluctantly
and with great animosity, all of which leads to further enmity.
Everything Will Be
Okay (Germany/Austria) – When 8 year-old Lea (Julia Pointner) is picked up
by her father (Simon Schwarz), she doesn’t realize that this will not be like
their usual bi-weekly visit, as he is going to attempt to take her out of the
country and away from her mother and stepfather. Director Patrick Vollrath subtly shifts tones
as the film goes from lighthearted to tragedy as an ever-escalating sense of
dread descends upon the story. Pointner
is exceptional here, showing Lea slowly coming to the conclusion that her
father is not the man she thought he was.
Shok –
(Kosovo/United Kingdom) – The most sobering entry in either category, this
story of two boyhood friends – Petrit (Lum Veseli) and Oki (Andi Bajgora) –
takes place in Kosovo in 1998 where a native family is forced to leave the
country by Serbian soldiers. The trials
the two boys undergo before this occurs shows that an unshakable bond exists
between them as they’ve been forced to forsake their childhoods in order to
survive. The sacrifice one of them is forced to suffer for the safety of the
other will leave you shaken.
Stutterer (United Kingdom/Ireland) – While Greenwood
(Matthew Needham) suffers from a debilitating stutter, his inner thoughts
reveal him to be an articulate, imaginative young man who’s betrayed by his
self-doubt and impediment. This prevents
him from meeting a young woman he’s been chatting with on-line for six months.
While the trials Greenwood undergoes are shown with the proper amount of
pathos, the trite, far too convenient ending prevents this film from having any
real impact.
This article appears in Feb 18-24, 2016.
