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Black History Month
February 17, 2016
Strong Start for International Film Fest
C ontinued from p Age 9
all the heavy lifting that keeps the
family in the horse-milk trade,
and her in-laws fear the attention
of a local meteorologist who is
clearly sweet on their daughter-in-
law. Her older son visits on holi-
day from his education in the city
and, though the family way of life
is prized by all, it seems unlikely
to that he will return. This is an
occasion to sink into a beautiful
and unfamiliar world feeling the
encroachment of change. Plays
again on Feb. 20.
“April and the Extraordinary
World,” based on a graphic novel,
is a science iction story set in an
alternative reality, in which human
technological progress is halted
with the steam engine. Its main
character is an orphan who comes
from a long line of scientists who
sought to formulate a serum that
would perpetuate forms of life;
her great grandfather only got so
far as to make animals talk, which
is how she came by a very charm-
ing talking cat. It’s an extraordi-
narily inventive premise rendered
in charming, hand-drawn anima-
tion -- and if the plot bogs down in
over-complication at times, it is in
most ways a real treat. Its Ameri-
can theatrical release will likely be
dubbed in English; I much prefer
seeing ilms in the original lan-
guage, and this subtitled French
version including Marion Cotil-
lard in the title role makes its al-
ternative-Paris setting come alive.
Plays again on Feb. 17.
“Landill Harmonic” isn’t
necessarily a great ilm (though
it’s a perfectly ine one), but it is
deinitely a great story. A gentle
and unassuming environmental
engineer, Favio Chavz, went to
work in a huge landill in the capi-
tal of Paraguay, and was struck by
the thousands of poor families who
eke out a living sorting through
the garbage for recyclable materi-
“Heavenly Nomadic” a dramatic ilm about a horse-herding family
in Kyrgyzstan.
als that they can resell. Children in
these families, he saw, lacked the
means to dream -- and he relected
on the role that music had played
in opening his own soul. Chavez
began teaching music to the local
kids, but lacked suficient instru-
ments -- and in truth, a violin costs
more than a typical house for this
population. Then his genius led
him to another gentle and unas-
suming local man with a talent
for building things, and that man
(also possessed of a dogged de-
termination) found ways to build
quite usable instruments out of
scraps from the landill. Thus was
born a quite talented children’s or-
chestra that eventually caught the
attention of the world media and
the band Megadeth, and gained
opportunities to tour around the
world. A more humbling and in-
spiring story would be hard to
come by. Plays again on Feb. 20
and 21.
“Above and Below” takes as
its premise that there are people
among us who are already, in a
sense, living in a post-apocalyp-
tic world. It follows a handful of
them -- a military vet participating
in an experiment to simulate life
on Mars in a remote part of Utah;
a man who lives alone in an aban-
doned military bunker in Arizona;
and a couple who take shelter in
Las Vegas storm drains, a necessar-
ily temporary existence that lasts
only between rains. The director of
this documentary takes a hands-off
view of his subjects, mostly allow-
ing them to talk about their day-to-
day experience -- and I’m not sure
the ilm adds much in the way of
insight. Still, sitting with some-
one’s story always has a purpose,
and these folks on the fringes don’t
readily ind an audience otherwise.
Plays again on Feb. 24.
Darleen Ortega is a judge on
the Oregon Court of Appeals and
the irst woman of color to serve
in that capacity. Her movie review
column Opinionated Judge ap-
pears regularly in The Portland
Observer. Find her movie blog at
opinionatedjudge.blogspot.com.
Sweet Street Food Cart
on the corner of 15th and Alberta
call 503-995-6150 to place order
Monday - Friday, 11:00am - 7:00pm
Sweet Street Barbecue
for Black History Month
Buy one chicken dinner get 1 free chicken sandwich
(With this coupon -- Expires February 29, 2016)