MIFF Notes #1: A Corrective To Distribution Problems & Most Anticipated Films

As a person who is obsessed with films, I'm constantly reading and hearing about new movies that interest me. As my fascination grew, my viewing habits have changed from hoping that films come to DVD to seeking them out at arty cinemas an hour's train ride away from my home. Many films do get released, but many, many others don't. Films about minority groups or for a specialised audience, such as radically queer or feminist cinema, or from lesser represented countries, such as African nations or smaller European countries, are rarely, if ever, released at niche, arthouse cinemas, let alone getting a wide release.
   I've often wondered why there isn't a better distribution model for unique and specialist films. Recently, I've discovered there is a way around the system. Focused film festivals can be seen as a corrective, bringing down niche cinema to its best, most passionate audience. Festivals like the Melbourne Queer Film Festival highlight the fact that cinema is extremely diverse and stories are being told about and for a specific and often underrepresented audience. While this is far from perfect (jamming a year's worth of films into two weeks naturally means that certain films are going to fall by the wayside), it is far better than nothing at all.
   The Melbourne International Film Festival is easily the biggest and most popular cinema showcase in Victoria. This year's selection contains over 250 features and dozens of shorts from every country imaginable. Many of them will not get a wide release. The festival has always been on my radar but it's only this year that I've been able to attend.
   Over the next 17 days, I will be seeing over 50 films at MIFF. It's like nothing I've ever done before and it will surely be exhausting but I am more excited about this than I have been for anything in a fair while. In what has been a difficult year for me, I'm looking forward to spending just over two weeks in crowded cinemas and letting the joy of movies wash over me. And I invite you, the readers, to join me as I will be writing regular dispatches, sharing my thoughts on each of the films. Maybe it will also chronicle my descent into madness, but whatever happens I'll be writing and falling in love with cinema all over again. I cannot wait.
   As preparation, I would like to share with you my top ten most anticipated films. Maybe this will give you a recommendation to follow up on and it will be interesting to see if my best of the fest in two weeks features any of these films. So, without further ado, my top ten!

1. Cold War (Poland, directed by Pawel Pawlikowski)

This was one of my most anticipated films of the year, so I was beyond happy to see it was getting an early release at MIFF. While this film is already set for a boxing day release in Australia, I was too excited not to see it before then. I adored Pawlikowski's previous film, the deeply moving and carefully composed Ida, and this shares that film's gorgeous black-and-white cinematography. The fact that it's a devastatingly bleak musical sounds like Demy's masterpiece The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg and the reviews from its Cannes premiere suggest this may be the best film of 2018.

2. Madeline's Madeline (U.S., directed by Josephine Decker)

An experimental film about "the ethics of telling other people's stories" starring Miranda July (Me And You And Everyone We Know) and Molly Parker (House Of Cards) which Indiewire called "one of the freshest and most exciting films of the 21st Century"? Sign me up. Still not intrigued? Watch the masterful trailer, truly one of the most unique and intriguing teasers I've ever seen.

3. The King (US, directed by Eugene Jarecki)

The King is a documentary about Elvis Presley, and you may be wondering why do we need another one of those? This takes a unique approach, using the singer's life as a wide-ranging examination of the problems in American culture. While that sounds extraordinarily ambitious, Jarecki's earlier film about the drug war, The House I Live In, demonstrates he is more than capable of giving a complicated topic nuance and scope. If it is even a fraction as powerful as that film, this should be fantastic.

4. Climax (France, directed by Gaspar Noe)

Gaspar Noe doesn't make films, he makes provocations, statements, attacks on the senses. While none of his movies I would call my favourite, there's usually a point beyond the strobe lighting and distressing imagery, and I continue to hope that one day, he'll escape his own arse and make a film that let's self-consciously arty for art's sake. That Climax has been given acclaim suggests that maybe this film will be it. Even if it isn't, it will definitely be an... experience.

5. Rafiki (Kenya, directed by Wanuri Kahiu)

Ever since university, I've had a deep appreciation of African cinema, especially for the way its movies tend to serve as a rebuke to white assumptions, carving out a place for people of colour and their stories. That Rafiki is a Kenyan movie about lesbians, another underrepresented group, should prove to be one of the most eye-opening and moving experiences of the festival. Also, RAINBOW DREADS!

6. Good Manners (Brazil, directed by Juliana Rojas & Marco Dutra)

A Brazillian movie that's been described as a lesbian werewolf magical realist love story with shades of Angela Carter and Disney, which tackles issues of class, race, sexuality and motherhood, sounds exactly like my kind of movie. One of the last movies I discovered on the program, I had to move everything around to see it, but it sounds more than worth it.

7. Three Identical Strangers (US, directed by Tim Wardle)

A documentary about three men who realise that they're identical triplets separated at birth which piles on twist after twist. The trailer and the buzz around it's US release made this sound like this year's Tickled. The fact that this was the first film to sell out at MIFF just makes me want to see this more.

8. That Summer (Sweden, directed by Goran Olsson)

Grey Gardens is one of my great cinematic obsessions, so any new material featuring Big and Little Edie's complicated relationship is beyond exciting to me. That this documentary features material from before the Maysles' famous film sealed the deal. Probably one for obsessives only, but for those already in love with the Beales, it will be juicy.

9. Lu Over The Wall (Japan, directed by Masaaki Yuasa)

Masaaki Yuasa is a true anime visionary, responsible for The Tatami Galaxy and Devilman Crybaby, two absolute masterpieces of the form. Lu Over The Wall is aimed at a younger audience than those, so it'll be interesting to see how his kinetic, unique visual style changes with more family friendly material.

10. Spirits Of The Air, Gremlins Of The Clouds (1989, Australia, directed by Alex Proyas)

Something of a cheat here. Alex Proyas' (The Crow, Dark City) first film debuted way back in 1989. It's been recently restored and is showing at MIFF. While it is getting a DVD release later this year, the stark outback imagery and saturated colours make this an absolute must-see on the big screen.

And that's not all! I'm also eagerly anticipating:

• Three Faces: the newest from Iranian director Jafar Panahi, banned from film making in his home country, but still churning out memorable cinema.
• Birds Of Passage: the director of the stunning Embrace of the Serpent returns.
• Burning: South Korean director Lee Chang-dong's buzzy new film starring The Walking Dead's Steven Yeun.
• Ex Libris - The New York Public Library: the newest from master documentarian Frederick Wiseman promises to be another of his masterful, lengthy examinations of a specific section of American culture.
• First Reformed: Paul Schrader's acclaimed new film starring Ethan Hawke, which takes inspiration from Bresson, Bergman and Ozu.
• The Green Fog: Guy Maddin's experimental feature which uses footage from various films and TV shows to recreate Hitchcock's Vertigo.
• Hard Paint: Brazillian film about a cam boy won the Teddy Award at the Berlinale, the most prestigious award for queer cinema.  
• The Image Book: Jean Luc-Godard's collage film will probably be incomprehensible, amazing.
• Island Of The Hungry Ghosts: Unique doco which contrasts Christmas Island's migrating crabs with the plight of asylum seekers.
• Knife + Heart: Weird French queer slasher/giallo thing from the director of the gorgeous You And The Night.
• Mandy: Nick Cage is at his most Nick Cage in Panos Cosmatos' much-anticipated follow-up to the dreamy, dull, likable Beyond The Black Rainbow.
• Mirai: Mamorou Hosoda, director of Wolf Children and Summer Wars', newest. I didn't love The Boy And The Beast, so hoping for a rebound.
• Morocco: Marlene Dietrich in a tux! It's a classic, but I've never seen it.
• Transit: Haven't heard a lot about the newest from Phoenix director Christian Petzold and it doesn't feature his muse, Nina Hoss, so it'll be interesting to see if it is still any good.
• The Wild Pear Tree: Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan's movies are often great, but also something like an endurance test, with three hours of very intense dialogue. If I can stay awake, this should be something to look forward to.

MIFF is like Christmas to cinephiles and I for one cannot wait to get under the tree and open my presents.