February 8, 2017
BLACK
HISTORY
Honoring Black History at PIFF
c ontinued from p age 5
patronizes; these resourceful men
dream, fight, love, and create. You
can see it on Feb. 18 and 20.
“The Happiest Day in the Life
of Olli Mäki” won a major prize at
the Cannes Film Festival and ex-
plores the true story of a Finnish
boxer who vied for the 1962 World
Featherweight title in Helsinki.
It’s a refreshing departure from
the usual underdog story, as this
underdog remained an underdog;
this sensitive retelling in black-
and-white allows us to examine
the pressures on Mäki as he faces
his bout with an American fighter
who no one who was really awake
thought he had any chance of beat-
ing. During the weeks he spent
preparing for the fight, he also fell
in love with a young woman from
his hometown, and their sweet love
story frames this story and invites
audiences to wrestle with the ways
in which this self-effacing young
man actually found happiness in
walking the gauntlet set before him
during that summer of 1962. You
can see it on Feb. 12.
“Lost in Paris” is the quirky
tale of Fiona, an awkward librar-
ian from Canada, who visits Paris
for the first time after receiving
a plea for help from her elderly
Aunt Martha. Star Fiona Gordon
and director Dominque Abel have
paired before (“The Fairy”) to
create a similarly whimsical blend
of slapstick and stylized charm.
Fiona arrives in Paris to find that
Martha has disappeared, and em-
barks on a search that is full of
disasters, prompted and assisted
by her encounters with a home-
less man named Dom who both
thwarts and saves her. Their ad-
venture is full of spectacular danc-
ing and falling, sometimes in the
same moment, and is a peculiar
delight. You can see it on Feb. 10
and Feb. 12.
“Kedi” (the Turkish word for
cats) inquires into the phenome-
non of feral cats in Istanbul, who
reportedly have an exalted sta-
tus in Turkish culture. The film
doesn’t really explain why; instead
it makes use of that connection be-
tween cats and humans in Istanbul
to examine the lives of seven cats
and the humans who feed and ad-
mire them. Artfully conveying the
resourcefulness and uniqueness of
these felines, director Ceyda To-
run often captures a cat’s eye view
of their movements. You don’t
have to be a cat lover to appreci-
ate this film (though it certainly
helps); Torun manages to con-
vey something quite fascinating
about how these animals achieve
a kind of sweet and complex har-
mony with their environment that
beguiles their human neighbors.
This film appears headed for a
theatrical release after the festival
is over, and you can catch its PIFF
showing on Feb. 11.
You can find the full PIFF
schedule at nwfilm.org, and pur-
chase tickets online or at the Port-
land Art Museum.
Darleen Ortega is a judge on
the Oregon Court of Appeals and
the first 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.
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