I am so glad I went to the film fest! The same day rush line is really long. Everyone waiting for a movie, regardless of which one- has to wait in the same line. Then staff come and ask which you want. The length of the line messes with you psychologically. Makes you think you’ll never make it. So wasn’t it great when after lining up for 2 hours before the first movie…but didn’t have to wait the whole time b/c a woman sold me her ticket….for half price!
The great part about the fest is that you can see obscure movies you probably won’t be able to see otherwise, because they won’t be in theatres…And the main actor and director were there to talk about it. They did a Q and A after the show and tell you things you normally wouldn’t know about the film. For Kanchivaram, the star told us the whole thing was done with no script and was shot in just 30 days!! But the result was amazing. The movie was about a guy obsessed with making a silk wedding dress for his daughter..but he’s so poor he can’t afford the silk so steals thread from the silk factory where he works. Amazing twists and turns in the story. I won’t give it away, but the story moved me to tears. I love the movies that DON’T have happy endings. There’s too many of the ones with happy endings, you need a change, Movie with sad endings reflect reality too.
The second movie was called Slumdog Millionaire. It won the people’s choice award. It’s about a poor kid who grew up in the garbage dumps in India and wins who wants to be a millionaire. But they don’t believe that a kid who didn’t go to school would know the answers. So the story is a cop interrogating him about how he knew the answers…and the kid explaining all the horrible things in his life that led him to know the answers.
Despite the long lines, at least the weather was acceptable. For the first movie it was sunny and for the second it was raining just a little bit so wasn’t so bad. And we didn’t have to wait long even though the line twisted around 3 blocks. So great time all around. I really recommend it. I will definitely go back next year.
