AFFF log

It's been a week since the 25th Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival / imagine 2009 came to an end. I have seen a record breaking 51 feature films in ten days time. For posterity and/or convenience all my posts can be found on this blog under the label "joost". But which ones stand out? The following films belong to the best I've seen:

1. The clone returns home
   A slow-paced visually strong philosophical contemplation on cloning, the soul, and what makes us human.
   
   
2. Martyrs
   A very violent and gruesome film about physical abuse and how to create victims. A study into the strength and the fathomless depths of the human spirit. Difficult to watch, but hard not to recommend. "Handle with care".
   
   
3. Stingray Sam
   With a sweet spot for The American Astronaut (screened during the 20th AFFF in 2005), it should come as no surprise that I severely enjoyed Stingray Sam. Cory McAbee transports us to a black and white retro sci-fi world with musical interludes.
   
   
4. Let the right one in
   It can be hard to live up to expectation with all the prior buzz and awards. Luckily the film is as good as people say. Great mix of the "coming of teenage" and vampire genres. One of those films where things click - story, cast, cinematography, music.
   
   
5. Fear me not
   Another Scandinavian gem, a psychological portrait of a man in his forties who decides to reassess his life and "change some things". A new untested kind of drug is the catalyst, but not all it what it seems. The "normalness" of the protagonist and how he changes is creepier than other monster and gore films we've seen during this festival.
   
   
6. Not quite Hollywood
   What a pleasant surprise to see a whole documentary on how the Australians added a significant chapter to the exploitation genre. Key players reflect upon their adventures and plenty of clips make the whole industry and their achievements come to live. A must-see for lovers of cult films!
   
   
7. I sell the dead
   A fluent life story of two grave robbers and their encounters with the dead - and undead. In a way not very special, but the acting and ridiculous situations made this film a guilty pleasure to me.
   

A handful of films deserve an honorable mention:

• Edison and Leo - Canada's first stop-motion film, ever, and what a dark treat.
• 11 minutes ago - Ingenious concept to shoot an entire film in just one day, with an interesting mix of the sci-fi and romantic genre.
• Eden Lake - Social horror like only the Brits can pull off.
• Sleep dealer - Imaginative story with realistic glimpses and critical remarks on a near future.
  
• From inside - Bleak but wonderfully animated post-apocalyptic film.
  
• Tamami: The Baby's Curse - A really bad film, but I have the sneaky suspicion this will be one of those films that we will refer to in years to come.
  

All and all a reasonably fine edition of the festival. Less glitzy this year due to budget cuts, no big opening film, no big honorary guest (and no career achievement award), no real Night of Terror. And: the festival of no smooth online pre-sale, no passe-partout (€350 worth of tickets, *ouch*), no decent in-house coffee and no pest control (mice!). Also a bit of a let-down: only one real theme ("Anarchy in the UK"), the other one showing sci-fi ("Brave New Worlds") was good but is basically an integral and annual part of the festival anyway.

On the plus side:
10 out of 10 days bright and sunny weather,
9 short nights causing a nice festival blur,
8 cans of red bull to mix with the vodka to keep our Eyes Wide Open,
7 deadly sins seen in plenty of the films,
6 (,04) average score for a film,
5 films a day,
4 festival freaks who were crazy enough to see practically all films,
3 doors down the street a fantastic coffee place,
2 talk-of-the-day selfmade T-shirts, and
1 magnum size air bed in a spacious apartment.

On that note I'd like to thank my hosts for letting me crash at their new humble abode!

AFFF25 / imagine 2009 - FADE OUT.