The Boston Popcorn team is attending a whopping NINE films at the 2011 Independent Film Festival of Boston, and we’ll bring you coverage right here! Don’t forget to check out our parent site Popcorn N Roses’ weekly podcast Subject:CINEMA on May 8 for a complete wrap up of the Boston Festivals scene this spring!
Day Five, Film #1 – The City Dark
A fascinating look at how lights used by humanity are growing brighter and brighter, making it more and more difficult to see the night sky from cities. Filmmaker Ian Cheney explains how it is necessary to be able for everyone to see the stars, how the lights in the cities are causing problems with health, and how hard it is to see the heavens even miles from the nearest city because of the glow of the thousands of lights. As someone who grew up in rural Washington state able to lay in a friend’s back yard and watch the annual Perseid meteor showers, I know what he’s talking about…and I also know what many people are missing. Award winning score by the Fishermen Three and Ben Fries is one of the best scores in years!
On The Web: http://thecitydark.com
Day Five, Film #2 – Project NIM
In the early 1970’s, a researcher from Columbia University wanted to see if we could teach a chimpanzee to communicate with humans. In order to do this, they removed two-week old Nim from his mother and raised him as a human baby. This is Nim’s story, and the reality of this insane experiment will wrench you to your soul. One of this years’ biggest hits from Sundance, it is a fascinating look at what humans do for “progress” and what happens when the experiment ends and you just forget about the animal involved. Funny, charming, uplifting, and gut-wrenching, this movie left me (and Kim) with our hearts in our mouths.
On the web: http://sundance.bside.com/2011/films/projectnim_sundance2011
Day Five, film #3 – 13 Assassins
A samurai epic that has already swept Japan, this film opened in limited release in the US last Friday, goes wider this coming Friday, and is an epic tale of war in a peacetime 1880’s Japan when one Japanese Lord, related to the current Shogun, is targeted by people within the government for his cruelty and murderous plans. An all-star Japanese cast does some amazing work in this film, directed by Takashe Mikke (“Audition”). Also showing on Magnolia OnDemand around the country right now, this is one MOTHER of a movie!
On The Web: http://www.13assassins.com/
And with that, our time at the Independent Film Festival of Boston comes to a close, but the festival does not – it runs through this Wednesday with more original films, several rescreenings, and the closing night film Conan O’Brian Can’t Stop at the Coolidge Corner on Wednesday.
Thank you to the wonderful crew of volunteers for making the last five days the most fun I think we’ve ever had as filmgoers, with all our viewing experiences being absolutely fantastic! And thanks to the filmmakers for bringing your films here for us to see! We hope to review more films from the IFFB in weeks ahead, so stay tuned, and don’t forget to check out our Boston Festivals wrap up show this Sunday, May 8, on PNR’s premier podcast, Subject:CINEMA!
