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| Cinematic
gems in first ever Colombo Film Festival The film festival which began on July 20, was inaugurated by veteran filmmaker Lester James Peries and would go on till July 26. There will be three screenings each day at 10.30 am, 3.00 pm and at 7.00 pm and entrance is free of charge. The fourth day of the festival, July 24 (today) CIFF will screen three Iranian films Dakhil, Cinderella and White Nights. On each day, the ambassadors of the respective countries would inaugurate the festival. Famous for emotional, humane and touching stories, the Iranian films will begin with the debut film of Dariush Yari 'Dakhil' (75 Mts). Every year in Muharram the Shiah mourn the martyrdom of their third Imam and ask God for salvation and recovery illness and the fulfillment of people needs. There occurs a miracle in the village when Akbar sacrifices his most beloved possession for another human being's recovery. Love means sacrifice of one's most beloved things for someone else. And occurrence of a miracle is possible, when love appears in the horizon. Imam Hussein was a martyr or he was a true incarnation of love. And only lovers are able to see these signs. In 'Cinderella' (3.00pm) (in search for the meaning of life) directed by Bijan Birang and Masoud Rasam, the two protagonists, Goli and Razi, come from the most humble origins of Iranian society. In their search for happiness, they play the roles of Cinderella and the Prince. This tragicomic film, in a setting of satire and fantasy, relates the story of two youngsters who fall prey to passiveness as result of living in a rigid society, with all the limitations and strictness it imposes on them. The story covers the eternal question of youth's search for the meaning of life. Directed by Farzad Motamen, 'White Night' (107 Mts), is tale about a man, a woman, a city and love. It casts a different glance at Iranian literature through free adaptation of Dostoyevsky's romantic novels. Filling his quiet and lonely life with reading and teaching literature, a young professor is gradually losing his faith in the subject when he meets a young girl who has made a life changing decision for her beloved's sake. The girl has promised to meet her lover for four consecutive nights, one year after their last get-together. The professor's encounter with this feisty girl during these four nights, spurts dramatic changes in the lives and beliefs of both, while notions such as love, literature and expectation take in new meanings for them. July 25, Monday the fifth day is for Korean films and two films "The Last Present" (10.30 am and 3pm) and "I Wish I had a Wife" (7.00 pm) will be screened. Directed by Kim Min-kyeong, Last Present (113 Mts) is a pathetic tale revolving around a couple who are striving to find the best present they could give to each other. On their way to choose the present they come across many dramatic events. Unknown comedian, Yong-ki, and his wife, Jung-yun who is terminally ill have been married for about three years. Their marriage has had its ups and downs with a failed pregnancy and financial hardships but Yong-ki is positive that things will be better. Yong-ki's dream is to debut on the "King of Comedy," currently the most popular program. One day, in an effort to give her the best present of her life, Yong-ki begins looking for her high school friends. Jung-yun also privately begins to prepare something for the husband, who will be left all alone. 'I wish I had a Wife' (106 Mts) is woven around a manager, Kim Bong- soo who has been working at a mall bank in an apartment complex for three years. For three years there, or for 23 years if you count his school days, he has never been absent or late. However, he purposely decides to skip work one day. There is only one reason. Inside a subway train that has suddenly stopped on his way to work everyone around him reaches for their cell phones to make a call. At that moment he realizes that he does not have a single person to call. But he does not know that there is someone looking over him. The last day of CIFF on July 26, will be screening German films 'The Miracle of Bern' (2002) 'Good Bye, Lenin' (2003) and 'Run Lola Run' (1998) at 10.30 am, 3.00pm and 7.00pm. Directed by Sonke Wortmann 'The Miracle of Bern' (118 Mts) (10.30 am) is set in the summer of 1954. The Soviet Union is sending its' prisoners of war home. Among them is football loving 11 year old Matthias, who lives in a West-German mining town. The boy has long found a surrogate father in the local football player Helmet Rahn. Broken by years of captivity, Richard, the boy's father, has trouble adapting to life in post war Germany and alienates his family through his severity. Through his passion for the game and his fighting spirit, Matthias rekindles a love of life in his dad's heart. And so the final match of the Soccer World Cup begins in Bern. A little love and generosity leaps across borders to help another miracle occur -the victory of Helmet Rahn and the German team, the miracle of Bern. 'Good Bye, Lenin' (121 Mts) (3.00pm) directed by Wolfgang Becker is set in East Germany in the year 1989. A young man protests against the regime. His mother watches the police arresting him and suffers a heart attack and lapses into a trauma. Some months later, the GDR does not exist anymore and the mother awakes. Since she has to avoid every excitement, the son tries to set up the GDR again for her in their flat. But the world has changed… Run Lola Run (81 Mts) is a love story told by the young Berlin director Tom Tykwer in three versions, each with a different ending. This is a film that plays with the means available to the cinema, but also documents style of life and was one of the most successful German films to be produced. This world-wide success led to Franka Potente'.s international breakthrough in Hollywood. |
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