February 14, 2018
Page 11
Mississippi
Alberta
North Portland
Vancouver
East County
Beaverton
The two-week Portland International Film Festival opens Thursday, Feb. 15 with two showings of ‘The Death of Stalin,’ a satiric depiction of the frantic power struggle that
ensued when Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin died. The opening night screenings will be held at the Portland Art Museum and Regal Fox Tower.
Getting immersed
into an array of
cultures at PIFF
d arleen o rtega
My favorite time of year is about to be-
gin! Two weeks of world cinema will be
scattered all over the city as the Portland
International Film Festival begins Thurs-
day, Feb. 16 and continues until March 1.
It’s a refreshing change from the overly
art-directed recycled stories that dominate
so much Hollywood fare, and a chance to
see stories from all over the world and dip
into an array of cultures. 57 countries are
represented in 90 feature-length films and a
variety of short films as well.
The opening night film, playing in two
venues, is “The Death of Stalin,” from the
United Kingdom. Written and directed by
Armando Iannucci, who also wrote and di-
rected the hilarious “In the Loop,” the film
is a satiric depiction of the frantic power
struggle that ensued when Joseph Stalin
dropped dead. Like “In the Loop,” it prom-
ises a fiercely funny, rapid-fire takedown of
by
to
A Lens
the
World
bureaucratic dysfunction.
From then on, each weekday evening
and full weekend days until March 1 offer
a dazzling array of options. Among them:
“Hochelaga, Land of Souls” is my ear-
ly favorite; it was Canada’s submission for
the Academy Awards, and should have but
didn’t secure a nomination for best foreign
language film. It’s a complex and mov-
ing exploration of the various generations
of people who have lived in the land that
we now know as Montreal, but centers the
perspectives of indigenous people in a way
that we basically never see on film. The first
scenes are set in 1267 after a battle deci-
mates an Iroquois community and a shaman
intones prayers over the lost warriors. The
film returns often to those prayers, which
set the tone for a view of the land itself and
of successive generations that resets our
perspective on whose influence on North
American land runs deepest.
The film’s central story involves a pres-
ent-day archaeological dig headed by a grad-
uate student of Mohawk descent, moving
back to various periods of Quebec history
reflected in the findings of the dig. At each
historical moment, indigenous perspectives
are honored and, in most, are prominent and
even central, and the film constructs a sense
of reverence for ancestors and of connected-
ness across various generations and cultures
that I can’t recall ever seeing attempted in
a studio release. All of the 300 indigenous
characters and extras are played by indig-
enous people, and the film paves a way to
disconnect from centering white/European
perspectives and to respect our connections
to prior generations that moved me deeply. It
plays on Feb. 19 and 21 and is worth priori-
tizing, since a U.S. release may not happen;
critics appear to miss its significance beyond
its depiction of Canadian history.
“Lean on Pete” is a British production
that tells an American story set and shot
in Oregon. It centers on Charlie, a gentle
15-year-old boy living an increasingly pre-
carious existence. He lives on the edge of
poverty with his father, whom he loves but
who offers him little in the way of guidance,
C ontinued on P age 14