This is a seriously funny and very peculiar film about an old man reminiscing about how, from a very young age, all he wanted in life was to become a millionaire. Over four decades, we watch him transform from a cunning hot dog vendor, to a man of great fortune and eventually a hermit, in constant pursuit of money and women. Full of fantastic slapstick comedy, with some dark political and social satire, this is an enthralling and action-packed film about a vertically challenged man’s life. From a technical point of view, the lighting and photography in this film is fantastic – it has a very fairy tale, yet at the same time realistic look about it. The camera work is also very noteworthy – with some great shots of tables spinning to portray time passing. The story is completely engrossing and enchanting, with some fantastic and extremely unique characters. The way it blends history and fiction is also very cleaver. A very funny film that is very colourful, with some of the most amazing set designs I’ve seen. A masterpiece in so many ways…

When you walk into this programme, you know you’re going to witness some pretty abstract and crazy things. This was no exception. From strobing dots to 20 minutes of naked stop frame animation, to random lost film footage, to sped up and reversed footage of wheels rolling down hills – this collection had it all. I won’t describe each film individually, because everything all kind of melted into one horrible nightmare. There was some great stuff in there. I really loved the concept of having multiple layers of paper, and as each layer is ripped off, a different image is revealed. I also loved some of the stop frame animation techniques. However, most of the films had sequences which were incredibly repetitive, and a sound track that made you go a little bit loopy. Everything was very random and obviously had no real purpose or story. There was a lot of storing, but that was bearable compared to the horrible loud sounds coming from some of the films. Most of the films went for too long. You could easily hear the audience getting more and more frustrated and impatient as some of the films just didn’t know when to stop. Seventeen minutes of repeating footage of scary clowns, and other swaying items is really enough to make you sick. It’s worth watching this programme, if only to take away a couple of technical ideas and concepts – but I never (and I really mean never!), want to see any of these films again.

I’m not quite sure if you can call it a documentary, as it seriously pushes the boundaries of the genre, so I’ll just call it a film about suburbs. In documentary style, it examines the attraction and the bleak realities of suburban living. Focussing mainly on a typical suburban family going through their daily life, this film also has many interviews with developers and cultural theorists, all discussing the one thing – suburbs. This film is also all an illusion. It drags you in, claiming to be a doco, only to reveal that the characters you have grown to love and trust and simply actors. But the beautiful thing is, even after you are told that everyone was following a script, you quickly discover that the actors are just as down to earth and lovely as the characters they portrayed. This is subtly funny and incredibly well scripted film. In retrospect, everything was a little bit too perfect at the beginning. All the characters were just too perfect. The kids also didn’t look anything like their parents – and were more a Hollywood family than real life. It’s a film that really makes you think about urban growth and sprawl, but also about the nature of documentary film making. I really enjoyed this film – despite being tricked by the directors. It’s a very cleaver concept, which reveals what it’s really like to like in the suburbs, even though we were only watching actors.

I went into this film, just purely out of luck. I had a space free, and this film seemed the best out of the bunch in that timeslot. Luck was on my side this time, as Cages is a truly fantastic Belgium film, and is up there in my list of favourite films so far at the festival. The film opens by introducing Eve and Damien – two people who are obviously both passionately in love. Eve is a ambulance medic, who spends her work hours saving lives. Damien runs an unusual pub called The Zoo, where they host an annual content for the best animal noise. Their world is turned completely up-side-down when Eve is involved in an accident whilst at work, which results in her loosing her ability to speak. The silence soon becomes too much for Damien, and their relationship is seriously put to the test. He starts secretly seeing someone else. When their relationship is on the verge of suffocation, Eve takes drastic action, and in desperation to hang onto Damien she takes him prisoner – locking him up in his own home. This is an absolute thriller of a film, with some many things that are just completely unexpected. When the film looks as if it’s heading in one direction, it quickly surprises you and heads off somewhere else. From the moment the film starts, I feel in love with Eve. I think it was something about her eyes. She’s an amazing actor; her ability to say so much with no auditable words is truly incredible. The actor who played Damien was also spot on, although you can’t help but to feel strongly against his character as Eve is clearly the “good guy” despite her shady methods. This is also a really bizarre film – the animal mimicking show is seriously out there. The cinematography is fantastic – especially during these scenes. Some of the crane/helicopter shots of Eve and Damien on the hill overlooking the ocean are also breathtaking. The sound design was marvellous and did a great job and manipulating the audience’s perceptions. The blend between musical score, sound effects and live action was also incredible. I really loved the audio in one of the opening scenes, when the music suddenly dissipated, to reveal the sound of Eve performing CPR. The transition was great. I really enjoyed this film but there were some uncomfortable scenes – at one stage Eve pretty much rapes her husband, which seriously pushes her “good guy” status. This film was completely not what I expected – even when I was watching it, I kept thinking I had it all figured out, only to be proven seriously wrong. I find it really hard to fault this film. It’s an incredibly unique film, with a great script, executed perfectly.

This film is a snapshot into a lives of several young people holed up in a small town called Falkenberg. It’s not a traditional narrative – but more a mood piece, trying to capture what it’s like growing up in that seemingly boring environment, and how these people deal with crossing over from adolescence to adulthood. This is a very slow and almost observatory film, with lots of shots of scenery, and people just hanging about. It tries to evoke emotion, not through dialogue, but more beautiful images of mundane things. It does have one tragic scene, which adds some more energy to the film, but for the most part, this is just a very measured and leisurely film about growing up.