Looking forward to the 40th Haifa International Film Festival which will open on December 31, 2024, I’m already enthusiastic about several films I’ve had the opportunity to preview:
Vermiglio
Opening in the sleep of winter, director Maura Delpero invites viewers to experience 1944 in the remote mountain village of Vermiglio, where the life of a family is attentively observed, in its simplicity and intricacies, over the course of four seasons. Father and head of the family Cesare Graziadei (Tomasso Ragno) is the respected village schoolteacher, and an appreciator of beauty in its many forms. Yet despite his stature in the village, money is scarce, especially when there are so many mouths to feed. The eldest daughter Lucia (Martina Scrinzi) has had her opportunity for an education derailed by the war; Ada (Rachele Potrich) is dedicated, seeking out the erotic photos in her father’s desk drawer, and inventively punishing her own sinful behavior; Flavia (Anna Thaler) the youngest daughter shows promise, and will be the one sent on to complete her education beyond the village. As for the boys – Dino (Patrick Gardner), the eldest, is a disappointment to his father, and the several little ones are so similar, and so many. Their mother Adele (Roberta Rovelli) stoically endures one pregnancy after another, as well as Cesare’s stern authoritarian rule, yet does not hesitate to voice her opinions, chiding him for spending money on music when they have children to feed.
Everyone has secrets – Ada who hides behind the cupboard to find some privacy, her friend Virginia (Carlotta Gamba) who smokes in the barn, Cesare and his illicit album, even Flavia, who likes to hide under the table and observe the others. The family harbors another secret, one that is shared by the entire village – they are hiding Sicilian deserter Pietro (Guiseppe de Domenico). Delpero guides the narrative with an unsentimental and restrained hand, slowly revealing characters in their desires, strengths, jealousies, weakness and compassion. The film is visually enthralling, as the composition of each scene and frame, and the quality of light imbue the film with an incandescent beauty.
Vermiglio premiered at the 81st Venice International Film Festival and was awarded the Grand Jury Prize. It will be screened in the Carmel Competition at the Haifa International Film Festival.
Second Chance
Loss and trauma lead Nia (Dheera Johnson) to retreat to the family summer home she has not visited in years, in the remote Himalayan mountains. The house is kept up by a caretaker, Raju (Rajesh Kumar), who lives with his mother-in-law Bhemi (Thakra Devi) and his young son Sunny (Kanav Thakur). The deliberate minimalism of the monochrome palette and the limited dialogue lets writer and director Subhadra Mahajan and DP Swapil Suhas Sonawane invite the viewer to experience place and people, past and present, and the enduring presence and power of the Himalayan landscape along with Nia, as her inner landscape is slowly revealed, and slowly changes.
Depressed and troubled, Nia withdraws into herself. There is a sharp contrast between Nia and her surroundings, she is very much a contemporary urban person, and the summer home is fitted with all modern conveniences, while Raju’s family makes do with washing outdoors. Hoping perhaps for a phone call, desperate for a signal in this remote area, Nia rigs a tower of books on the windowsill to increase her chances of connecting. When Raju needs to leave on business, Nia is uneasy about staying alone with the elderly Bhemi and 8-year-old Sunny. Surrounded by memories and artifacts of her childhood and early youth – including a former boyfriend, and the painful circumstances of the present, introspection leads Nia to discover her inner strengths and desires, to look beyond herself to connect to others, and connect to the rhythms of life once more. Second Chance will be screened in the Panorama section of the Haifa International Film Festival.
Foreign Tongue (Langue Étrangère)
Director Claire Burger, who made her debut with Party Girl, a film that depicted a woman entering the third act of her life, turns her focus on youth and the challenges confronting young people today. Fanny (Lilith Grasmug) arrives in Leipzig to stay with the family of her penpal Lena (Josefa Heinsius), in a student exchange program. Welcomed by the mother, Susanne (Nina Hoss), Lena’s conspicuous absence and subsequent hostility when she finally appears, accentuates Fanny’s shyness and discomfort, as well as the underlying tensions in Lena’s home. Disarmingly open, Fanny confides that she has been bullied at school, and although their issues are different, the beginnings of a tentative empathy for one another emerge.
Burger situates the girls’ personal stories within the context of history and current concerns, referencing the 1989 Monday demonstrations in Leipzig which started the Peaceful Revolution and culminated in the fall of the Berlin wall and the reunification of the GDR, and issues of discrimination and the climate crisis. The political is intertwined with the personal, through the interaction of two very different young women, and their different family situations, with an emphasis on the mother-daughter relationship. When the exchange program shifts to Strasbourg, Fanny’s home life with her mother Antonia (Chiara Mastroianni) and father Anthar (Jalal Antawil) is revealed, and the perspective shifts as well, leading the viewer, as well as Lena, to question what we think we know. The film speaks to contemporary issues, marked by very strong performances from Grasmug, Heinsius, Hoss and Mastroianni. Foreign Tongue will be screened in the Panorama section of the Haifa International Film Festival.
Haifa’s Wildest Nights
Looking for something different, extreme, provocative? The Haifa International Film Festival presents Haifa’s Wildest Nights, late night screenings of films that break boundaries, challenge expectations, and offer an alternative viewing experience.
Sew Torn is a quirky thriller directed by Freddy Macdonald, and starring Eve Connolly as Barbara, who is struggling and failing to keep her late mother’s seamstress business alive. Broke and alone, despite the childhood promise to her mother to “be a happy girl,” Barbara is anything but happy as she packs up the store. Then things get worse. A small and seemingly insignificant choice leads her into a drug deal gone bad and the dilemma of a more critical choice, and then the film veers into fantastic territory, depicting the outcomes of Barbara’s possible choices.
Barbara’s mother has not only bequeathed her business to her daughter, but gave her the gift of extraordinary sewing skills, which Barbara puts to outrageously creative use throughout her adventures. Macdonald’s directorial feature debut is a lively, bizarre film that explores issues of destiny, legacy, loss, and choices.
Night Call, Michiel Blanchart’s directorial feature debut, stars Jonathan Feltre as Mady, a student who works as a locksmith by night. Careful and cautious, Mady’s compassion and perhaps also susceptibility to beauty, lead him to breach protocol and trust Claire (Natacha Krief), which turns out to be a huge mistake. The heart-pounding action takes place over the course of a single night, as Black Lives Matter protests rage on the streets of Brussels. Petula Clark’s crystalline pop vocals lend the film its title in French – La nuit se traîne, and a frisson of dissonance to the ominous, tight, action of the film.
The Haifa International Film Festival will take place from December 31, 2024 – January 11, 2025. The full program and ticket information is available on the festival website.
