The Chicago International Film Festival has consistently brought to light cultural gems and this year is no exception. Three of the most interesting films screened at this year’s ICFF include Beyond Ipanema, Girls on the Wall and the Long Night. Each of these films explored an aspect of life that some people may not have understood fully.
Beyond Ipanema was a film directed by Guto Barra and Beca Dranoff. It told the story of Brazilian music. At the beginning of the film you are transported back to the 1940s when Carmen Miranda was heating up the screen with her tropical costumes, her giant headdresses and her high energy Brazilian repertoire of songs and dances. As the film progresses you are escorted on a journey that follows the influence that Brazilian music has had on the popular cultures and music styles of the world over the last 70 years.
Girls on the Wall is an amazing film that really deserves public attention. It will be shown on PBS in January of 2010 and is well worth watching. It is all about a group of female prisoners in a juvenile jail in Warrenville, Illinois. As a part of the recovery and rehabilitation process the girls were asked to put on a musical that told their stories. The girls wrote their own scripts and music and they performed in front of a live audience of their peers and their family members. This was a truly inspirational film that tugs on the heart strings and reminds you how blessed you are not to have lived through what these young women have gone through.
The Long Night is a film out of Syria that traces the journey of three men who are returning home after being imprisoned for 20 years for political acts of conscience. Their return is not without struggle for both the men and their families. Old wounds are reopened as everyone involved has to determine if a balance between duty to family and duty to country can be reached or justified. This was a fantastic film, great acting and an amazing story. However, the subtitles made it a bit difficult to follow. This is a film you need to watch several times in order to truly appreciate it.
