Song Without a Name is a tragedy on many levels. Most immediately, there’s Georgina’s personal tragedy. Then there’s the tragedy of Peru in the 1980’s – oppressed by a military state. And in the background, there’s the tragedy of Peru’s indigenous population, that is being left behind. Song Without A Name is a brilliantly made black and white drama of one indigenous woman’s experience in a turbulent 1980’s Peru.
Los Angeles has a lot of film festivals. Most have a focus: PAFF focuses on Pan African films, Outfest focuses on LGBTQ+ films, and LA Shorts Fest focuses on short films. AFI Fest stands out as the city’s biggest general film festival. Like a TIFF, Berlinale, or London Film Festival, AFI Fest screens exemplary movies from around the world in addition to showcase galas and premieres. AFI Fest 2020 was no exception.
However, 2020 has not been a normal year and because of it, AFI Fest’s 2020 edition was not a normal festival. Instead of taking place in Hollywood, AFI Fest 2020, like many other 2020 film festivals, took place virtually online with the TV and computer screens replacing the big screen. So whilst we can’t give you an overview of the audiences and location like we’ve previously done for the Santa Barbara International Film Festival and Pan African Film Festival, we can give you an overview of the experience and the films from AFI Fest 2020.
The Experience
One immediate plus of the virtual film festival format was that there was no waiting. Instead of queuing up before each screening and running between theaters to cram in as much as possible, all you had to do was click a few buttons from your couch. You could have watched 5 films a day and still have had enough time to make breakfast, lunch, and dinner, before an early night. The only gripe I had was that the staggered release of the movies over the course of the festival, which meant you still had to create a film schedule to make sure you didn’t miss anything. AFI Fest 2020 could have fully embraced the virtual format by making everything available throughout the festival to fully cater to the audience. That being said, although it was shame these films couldn’t be seen on the big screen, the overall transition to virtual worked perfectly.
The Films
AFI Fest 2020 championed its diversity from the first press release. Of the 124 films included in the festval, 53% were directed by women, 39% by BIPOC, and 17% by LGBTQ+. There was a decent representation of most of the world too. The Americas and Europe were strongly represented, and there was also a good representation from Asia. However, like SBIFF 2020, AFI Fest 2020 contained little from Africa and Australasia, with just 2 feature films and 1 short from Sub-Saharan Africa, and none from Australasia outside of Australia and New Zealand. It’s not that these parts of the world aren’t making films, as the Pan African Film Festival demonstrated. It’s that they’re often overlooked.
The quality of the films at AFI Fest 2020 was high. There weren’t too many premieres, but there were a lot of great films picked from the year’s biggest festivals. I can happily say that all of the 17 films I saw were worth a watch. Here’s how they stacked up.
After seeing Mohammad Rasoulof’s A Man of Integrityfor the first time earlier this year and seeing him win the Golden Bear, I had high expectations for There is No Evil. Safe to say my expectations weren’t disappointed.
The Runner Up: 2
In a very close second is the immaculate Nasir. It’s a humble day in the life story that is beautifully written, shot, and acted.
The Multiple Perspectives: 3-8
All of these films are very good. 5 out of the 6 follow multiple protagonists to give the movies a more rounded perspective. The only one that doesn’t is The Intruder and it’s much more intriguing and uncertain as a result. I Carry You With Me, Farewell Amor, and Eyimofe are all relationship dramas that center on visa and immigration issues. My Little Sister and Downstream to Kinshasa both focus on grief and trauma – the former a family drama, the latter a protest documentary.
The Originals: 9-10
Both these films are framed around unique concepts which provide a lot of room for analysis. Tragic Jungle uses a Mayan myth whilst Apples uses an epidemic of memory loss.
The Foreigner’s Transformation: 11-12
Should the Wind Dropand Luxor are two warm films that I really liked. Whilst the foreigner’s transformation isn’t my favorite topic, they both worked very well. They both create location well too with one representing Nagorno-Karabakh and the other the ancient Egyptian city of Luxor.
The Artistic: 13-14
Notturno and Piedra Sola are amazingly shot. Between them they probably contain the best images of all the films I saw. The only problem was that these incredible images didn’t necessarily translate into a complete story.
The Rest: 15-17
Rival and She Paradise were both good movies. Rival was just a bit too bleak for me, and She Paradise didn’t hit the expectations I had from the short. New Order also opened well before descending into nihilistic chaos. I’m sure it will have it’s fans just like Todd Phillip’s Joker.
Conclusion
As Los Angeles’ premiere film festival, AFI Fest is unmissable if you’re a film fan living in the city. Whilst other festivals in the city choose a focus, AFI fest screens everything. This means you’ll get to see the best films from around the world, hand selected from the festival circuit. Every film offers something that makes it worth taking the time to watch.
My Little Sister starts with two protagonists: Lisa and Sven. They’re twins, and evidently very close. Even when they’re shot apart, as in the opening scene, they’re still connected – it’s a shot of Lisa giving blood followed by a shot of Sven sleeping alone in a sanitized hospital room. She’s giving her blood to help him fight cancer.
Over the first half of the movie, the camera follows Lisa and Sven equally. However, the narrative balance between them becomes more lopsided as the film progresses. Coinciding with Sven’s deteriorating health, Lisa takes up more and more screen time. The movie becomes less about how Sven copes with cancer and more about how Lisa deals with it. Whilst it confirms his physical end, her assumption of the film’s focus also represents her inheriting Sven’s spirit. She takes on Sven’s stage presence (he was known for being a charismatic stage actor) and assumes some of his characteristics. She becomes more independent and creative than she appears at the beginning of the film.
One example of Lisa’s change is in her marital relationship. After she takes Sven abroad to her home in Switzerland, she starts questioning her life with her husband Martin. He’s a symbol of the soft patriarchy that has frozen her in a place she doesn’t want to be. She has compromised her creative career to move to a remote Swiss town for his advancement, but got no support in return. Instead of considering a return to Berlin with Lisa, Martin mansplains that living as a housewife abroad is in Lisa’s best interests. Her role for him is to fulfill his ‘happy family’ image at work functions. Lisa’s revolt against his soft patriarchy is triggered by the arrival of Sven. He’s a reminder of her previous ambitions that have been forgotten in her nuclear family life abroad.
There’s no doubt that My Little Sister is a sad family drama. The only respite seems to come from the classical opera music that replaces diegetic sound in and following the most hopeless scenes. However, looking at it positively, we follow a character that inherits the freedom to become a more independent character. So if you can brave a film featuring an intimate relationship with a relative fighting cancer, you’ll be able to appreciate My Little Sister.
Head to our AFI Fest Hub for more reviews and short films from AFI Fest 2020.
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