Appleseed Ex Machina + A Jihad for Love
Appleseed Ex Machina is an anime action movie that is set in the future where the pacific city-state of Olympus is suddenly beset by mysterious terrorist attacks that seem to have no other purpose but to cause chaos. And this in the eve of a major summit that would place all the world's satellite systems under Olympus's control.
I will not tell more of the plot, but will just say that in comparison with the previous anime I saw at this festival, this was so much better. It's produced by John Woo and it was easy to spot some of his trademark elements in it: fast-paced action interspersed with slow motion sequences, falling bullet casings, pigeons flying around and so on.
I liked the characters and their interaction, the plot as okay, and there was never a dull moment. The music was also really good (thinking of buying the OST...). And have I mentioned that I like good action movies? :).
The animation was similar to Vexille, but this movie managed to give it's characters much more epression. Even Briareos who is a cyborg with no real "face" managed to portray more emotion than any of the characters in Vexille :P...
Two random observations: 1) the mind-controlled humans looked just like extras from some zombie movie, and 2) why the heck do those huge strongholds that stand as the headuarters for the baddies always start falling apart minutes after the good guys manage to vanquish the bad guys?!
A Jihad for Love is a documentary about gay and lesbian Muslims from various countries, who are trying find a way to reconcile their faith with their sexuality. Like writer-director Parvez Sharma comments on it's IMDB page:
The international chorus of gay and lesbian Muslims brought together by A Jihad for Love doesn't seek to vilify or reject Islam, but rather negotiate a new relationship to it. In doing so, the film's extraordinary characters point the way for all Muslims to move beyond the hostile, war-torn present, toward a more hopeful future. As one can imagine, it was a difficult decision for the subjects to participate in the film due to the violence they could face. However, those who have come forward to tell their stories feel this film is too important for 1.4 billion Muslims and non-Muslims around the world for them to say no. They are willing to take the risk in their quest to lay equal claim to their profoundly held faith.
Some of these people have been married and might even have children, but in the end decided not to live the lie any more. Some have been persecuted in their on country and have fled to other countries, like the four Irani guys who fled to Turkey.
The documentary shows a couple of people consulting their imams about their feelings. There are passages in Koran that condemn male homosexuality, and most of the religious scholars say it's completely wrong. BUT, some of the people consulted also say that Allah is a merciful god. And Allah is a god of love. You can always pray for his forgiveness...
All of the people who appear on the documentary, whether they be Irani, Turkish, Egyptian or Pakistani are devout Muslims who are trying to find a way to be both Muslims and gay at the same time. I guess it was really fitting (when you look at the lyrics) that a segment filmed in India had "Pyar Kiya to Darna Kya" playing during a gay party.
I seem to have picked pretty interesting and thought-provoking documentaries for this year's festival and am really happy about it.
I will not tell more of the plot, but will just say that in comparison with the previous anime I saw at this festival, this was so much better. It's produced by John Woo and it was easy to spot some of his trademark elements in it: fast-paced action interspersed with slow motion sequences, falling bullet casings, pigeons flying around and so on.
I liked the characters and their interaction, the plot as okay, and there was never a dull moment. The music was also really good (thinking of buying the OST...). And have I mentioned that I like good action movies? :).
The animation was similar to Vexille, but this movie managed to give it's characters much more epression. Even Briareos who is a cyborg with no real "face" managed to portray more emotion than any of the characters in Vexille :P...
Two random observations: 1) the mind-controlled humans looked just like extras from some zombie movie, and 2) why the heck do those huge strongholds that stand as the headuarters for the baddies always start falling apart minutes after the good guys manage to vanquish the bad guys?!
A Jihad for Love is a documentary about gay and lesbian Muslims from various countries, who are trying find a way to reconcile their faith with their sexuality. Like writer-director Parvez Sharma comments on it's IMDB page:
The international chorus of gay and lesbian Muslims brought together by A Jihad for Love doesn't seek to vilify or reject Islam, but rather negotiate a new relationship to it. In doing so, the film's extraordinary characters point the way for all Muslims to move beyond the hostile, war-torn present, toward a more hopeful future. As one can imagine, it was a difficult decision for the subjects to participate in the film due to the violence they could face. However, those who have come forward to tell their stories feel this film is too important for 1.4 billion Muslims and non-Muslims around the world for them to say no. They are willing to take the risk in their quest to lay equal claim to their profoundly held faith.
Some of these people have been married and might even have children, but in the end decided not to live the lie any more. Some have been persecuted in their on country and have fled to other countries, like the four Irani guys who fled to Turkey.
The documentary shows a couple of people consulting their imams about their feelings. There are passages in Koran that condemn male homosexuality, and most of the religious scholars say it's completely wrong. BUT, some of the people consulted also say that Allah is a merciful god. And Allah is a god of love. You can always pray for his forgiveness...
All of the people who appear on the documentary, whether they be Irani, Turkish, Egyptian or Pakistani are devout Muslims who are trying to find a way to be both Muslims and gay at the same time. I guess it was really fitting (when you look at the lyrics) that a segment filmed in India had "Pyar Kiya to Darna Kya" playing during a gay party.
I seem to have picked pretty interesting and thought-provoking documentaries for this year's festival and am really happy about it.