Twenty Feet from Stardom (dir. Morgan Neville, prods. Gil Friesen, Caitrin Rogers,  Morgzn Neville)

What a way to kick of the festival. This documentary takes a look at background singers, from the 60s and 70s to today. For some it is a quest to make the leap from the group to the spotlight. For others it is the pure joy of collaborating with great musicians. The film includes some amazing voices that you absolutely recognize even if you don’t necessarily know their name or face. The most startling and moving story was that of Darlene Love who started as a background singer and then was contracted by Phil Specter to be a lead singer. But instead of making her own albums, this snake of a producer, would use Love’s voice  but credit it to other singers. I simply couldn’t believe such seminal hits as (Today I met) The Boy I’m Going to Marry and He’s a Rebel were not actually recorded by the Crystals but by Love. Other great artists featured include Mary Clayton, Lisa Fisher, and Judith Hill. I think with about 10 minutes less the film would have reached perfection but nonetheless it came pretty damn close. Yet as great as the film was what stole the show was when Darlene Love came out live on stage and did a breath taking rendition of Lean on Me. Now in her 70′s Loves voice still has unparalleled power and range, and her Tina Turner legs are just as envious. Thanks to the joys of smart phones and the Internets you can see it for yourself (though nothing can compare to hearing her live)! This amazing celebration of art and artists set the perfect tone for the kickoff of the festivals 30th anniversary. 

Una pistola en cada mano/A Gun in Each Hand (dir. Cesc Gay, prod. Marta Esteban)

If you are interested in extremely sexy Spanish men, insightful looks at relationships from a male point of view and subtle stories full of heart and humor then it doesn’t get much better than this film. Personally I love films that are a collection of vignettes tied together more by theme then by story. Though Ricardo Darin steals the show, as is to be expected, the entire ensemble cast does an amazing job. No surprise that the festival jury awarded them all the Grand Jury prize for Best Performance. During the festival I had the great pleasure of meeting one of the stars, Edwardo Noriega, and he could not have been more charming. Both screenings of the film were completely sold out and he gave away the tickets he had to very excited patrons waiting in the Rush line hoping to get in. What a class act!

Viva Cuba Libre: Rap is War (dir. Jesse Acevedo)

This was probably the film I was most curious about during the festival and I was very excited when I was assigned to do the introduction and Q&A. I have followed the career of Los Aldeanos, the rap group that the film profiles, for a long time. They are an amazing duo speaking their mind in Cuba even if doing so means facing dire consequences. Few documentaries on the subject have been able to capture such striking footage of the reality in Cuba today. The incredible courage of not only Los Aldeanos but of the fans who support them, even if doing so lands them in jail as is shown in the film, is incredibly powerful. The film will leave you baffled that this can really be happening, and shocked at the brutality and extreme measures that the regime is able to get away with in their quest to keep the citizenry in check.  Above all it will leave you horrified that so many must live like this. It is my greatest hope that the film will spur people to acknowledge the truth of what life really is in Cuba and that they will want to help change the life that is lead down there.

Todos tenemos un plan/Everybody Has a Plan (dir. Ana Piterbarg, prod. Mariela Besuievski, Gerardo Herrero, Viggo Mortensen, Vanessa Ragone)

I think I fell in love with this film even before I saw it, not simply because of Viggo Mortensen’s stunning eyes, but because the first time director Ana Piterbarg was one of the nicest people I met at the festival. It was a real honor to get to translate for her, her love for her work is incredibly contagious. Nonetheless it is an amazing film. This story of a brother who replaces his twin avoids so many cliches of this type of story. Everyone suspects the scheme but no one is willing to speak up instead of seeing blaring differences and having everyone blindly believe. Don’t just take my work for it, the festival’s Grand Jury awarded Ana as the best director of the festival’s Knight-Ibero Competition. Thankfully the film gets NY/LA release this week and hopefully it will open wider soon.

Miguel San Miguel (dir. Matías Cruz, prod. Bruno Bettati and Matías Cruz)

This was another great surprise of the festival. A film based on the real life creation of the Spanish language super group Los Prisioneros. I am ashamed to say that I did not grow up listening to this amazing band and given its outspoken lyrics I was a little surprised but then again they are a little before my time.  The film is very well put together and the black and white fits the story perfectly, and not just because it is a nostalgia piece. The bleak reality and lack of hope lives in the shades of grey and makes the lyrics stand out even more. There is a color version of the film but I highly suggest avoiding it and sticking with the B&W.

Matrimonio/Marriage (dir. Carlos Jaureguialzo, prod. Marcela Silva Y Nauste) 

This is probably my favorite film of the festival and my greatest regret is that I did not get a chance to present it. Told in two parts, from the husbands point of view and then from the wife’s  the film takes a look at a marriage that has seen better days. But like many other films of the festival it skillfully avoids cliches and predictable outcomes. Directed and written by a husband and wife team the film has a level of authenticity very rarely seen.

Cinco de Mayo: The Battle (dir. Rafa Lara, prod. Rafa Lara, Paco Gallástegui, Emilio Azcárraga Jean, Bernando Gómez)

After years of avoiding the drinking holidays I have been turned around on both St. Patrick’s Day, thanks to an amazing trip to Ireland, and now Cinco de Mayo thanks to this film. It is a film important not only for Mexicans in understanding their own history but for the U.S. Turns out Cinco de Mayo is as American as Mexican since this battle helped stop the onslaught of the French trying to make their way to take Texas. Shot mostly handheld the film does an striking job of placing the viewer inside the war, with the dead and injured falling almost on top of the camera. Finally a reason to clink your margarita glass next May and you don’t have to take my word for it, the film actually signed their distribution deal hours before the world premiere at MIFF.

Amazon Gold (dir. Reuben Aaronson, prod. Sarah duPont, James Cavello, Reuben Aaronson)

Few films about how the world is going to hell in a hand-basket succeed in being as compassionate as this one. Most know the Amazon is being devastated but many blame it on large corporations. This film focuses on the damage being done by the very citizens being hurt by it. By taking this focus it is hard to be angry with people just trying to make ends meat for their families. When needs are so imminent and education is so low it is hard to convince rural families that what they are doing is hurting not only the world but their families in the long run. Though heart breaking the film shows hope. There are those fighting to make a difference both on the local and international level, like the filmmakers themselves and there is technology that can help slow and reverse what has been going on. Lets hope the film helps get the ball rolling faster.

Boa sorte, meu amor /Good Luck, Sweetheart (dir. Daniel Aragão, prod. Pedro Severien) 

By the time I got to this film we were more than halfway through the festival and I was probably 12 hrs into my day. I spent the entire film in a bit of a daze thinking “I would really love this film if I was awake enough to concentrate.” Yet it was clear that something interesting was going on. This non linear look at relationships and personal discovery takes some interesting though satisfying turns. By the end there are more questions unanswered then answered but there is enough to leave you thinking for days, which to me is the ultimate success for a film. I am looking forward to seeing it again with more of my faculties in tack.

Solo (dir. Guillermo Rocamora, prod. Javier Palleiro and Guillermo Rocamora)

This is the kind of film festivals are made for.  A character driven film where the plot is secondary to the internal journey of the protagonist. No wonder it walked away with the Grand Jury Prize for best film, tied with La Picina. Do you really have to choose between career and passion when the two are separate? Is fame and fortune always the more desirable outcome? Those are the questions at the heart of this moving film and Guillermo Rocamora answers it in a surprising simple yet incredibly meaningful way.

Venus and Serena (dirs. and prods. Maiken Baird and Michelle Major)

That brings us to closing night. To open and close the festival with documentaries is a risky endeavor. The opening was spot on but the closing fell a little short of the mark in my opinion. Which is not to say that the film wasn’t good, it was excellent. To see theses mega stars fighting their way to continue to live out their dreams is inspiring. Equally refreshing is the fact that the film does not sugar coat the women or the family that helped them get where they are. The good, bad and breath taking is all wrapped into one. I just feel it did not set the celebratory tone you look for with a closing night film. It might also have something to do with the fact that I don’t like relying on celebrity for celebrities sake and though the story of Venus and Serena is beyond impressive, celebrity or not, ending with their life story seemed like the festival wanted the marquee more than the substance. But when the marquee is heartfelt and entertaining can you really blame them?

Every time I work a festival the experience is exhausting and exhilarating. There are always issues working for a non profit with more ambition then finances or staff but at the end of the day the heart of the staff wins out over their exhaustion and you can see it not only in the programming but in the atmosphere of the festival. And it doesn’t get better then fun and sun and movies, even if most the festival was with 50° F weather,

In hindsight, I may have been little more than a side story to him at this time (or even know) but to me, there at that moment, I was happy as a sandboy.

From being on the fringes here, I’m taking a little group of Wandsworth arrivals on a tour around the nick. They update me in the meantime on what’s been going on back behind London’s filthy chamber of secrets.

Daz has been shifted off the wing over the discovery of  a mobile in the laundry of his cellmate. But he’s now landed the plum job of gym orderly and I’m sure is content to keep himself fit and keep his mind healthy.

The two lay preachers who tried to pitch me ‘G’d’ on a handful of occasions are now working on the drugs counselling wing, helping others overcome social and mental issues.

George updates me on his own circumstances since I’d left. After refusing to leave the wing, the Governor was called and rather than issue a diktat on George, he is instead lectured at and after a surprising about-turn of events, issues George an apology and returns him to normal regime.

Assured of his D Cat status, he leaves the meeting thinking his ordeal is almost over – at least in Wandsworth.

Days later they move in a remand prisoner, awaiting extradition to Uganda. A convicted rapist charged with attempted murder. Nice bit of cell management, or something a little more cynical perhaps?

An argument over the tv escalates quickly the second day into their pairing. George wanting it off at 3 in the morning and the remandee, Brian wanting to channel hop until he sleeps.

“I’ll kill you” the rapist spits at him.

“Oh and FAIL again?” comes the reply, as the ex serviceman prepares for some vocal jousting.

George demands to move cells for his own safety or see his partner be ejected. The story that you’re housed with people of a similar criminal persuasion is only a myth. There is always the very real prospect of this type of situation occurring and it’s why cell changes always fill you with a sense of foreboding. The plastic gangster awaiting a death penalty in Africa may not have had it quite so easy with my silver haired buddy.

Well spoken, well-educated and white-collar, yes. A push-over, no way.

I chuckle as I remember a story he told me once of a property owner’s right of reasonable force to defend themself. George has tested the rigidity of :

a. The law surrounding this

b. a car door slammed in it’s frame repeatedly (A stress test if you will)

c. an area of thick calcified tissue: Bone

In conclusion, don’t get caught hanging out a car door in Luton, midway through stealing his car-stereo.

Fortunately when I hear this story I was by then aware of the index offence that led him to being in prison. Had I not known his crime, I possibly would have still thought he was a Wifer.

My Ford life has seen an uptick, I hit the gym/visit’s hall, then catch up with him again. We share a coffee, sat on a wooden bench around the cricket pitch, people watching as the evening draws in.

It’s not Provence and he aint my lover

but today’s a good day.

Illegal water blasting deep in the mining pit

Until recently, the state of Madre de Dios at the base of the Andes in Peru was one of the most pristine and diverse regions in the world. New, illegal gold mining operations however are changing that. Impoverished miners first tear down massive trees, some hundreds of years old, displacing birds and other animals. They then use massive gasoline pumps to siphon river water and waterblast the rain forest floor. Once holes have been created, miners climb down and tear away at walls with water jets in search of gold flakes. During the gold extraction process, mercury is used, and then washed into river and streams, ultimately affecting the food chain. It has been reported that over 64,000 acres have been affected. Once a hole has been created, miners burn away more forest to continue digging.

Written By: Bryan Fusfield

Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/The-Devastating-Costs-of-the-Amazon-Gold-Rush.html#ixzz1kO01oksi

Also keep checking out: http://www.reddit.com/r/environment