SFIFF52 Round Up

Here's a quick round-up on the movies I saw at the 52nd San Francisco International Film Festival.

Statistics:

• Film breakdown: 33 features, 7 shorts, 1 skipped (Z32)
• More film breakdown: 13 documentaries (3 doc shorts), 7 features completely in English
• Languages in which 'Happy Birthday to You' was sung: Arabic (Laila's Birthday), Chinese (Speaking in Tongues), Portuguese (Our Beloved Month of August)
• Number of scuffles at Q&A: 2 (I Swear, It's Not Me! and A Day Late in Oakland)
• Longest Day: 12:30pm to 12:05am
• Films where audience didn't applaud at the end: The Other One and Troubled Water
• Number of times I filled out my personal info on the audience ballots: 0 (there's no time nor place to write them)

Favorites (Best?), in no particular order:

• It's not Me, I Swear! (C'est pas moi, je jure!)(2008)
  
• Art & Copy (2009)
• Artemisia (艾草)(2008)
• Wild Field (Дикое Поле)(2008)
• The Conscience of Nhem En (2008)
• Next Floor (2008)
• Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country (2008)
• Unmistaken Child (2008)
• The Other One (L'autre)(2008)
• 35 Shots of Rum (35 rhums)(2008)

Duds, also in no particular order:

• Confessional (2007)
• Our Beloved Month of August (Aquele Querido Mês de Agosto)(2008)
• Home (2008)

Discoveries:

• Nomad's Land (2008)
• Laila's Birthday (عيد ميلاد ليلى)
• Oblivion (El olvido)(2008)
• Go Go 70's (고고70)(2008)
• The Window (La ventana)(2008)

Films I wished I was able to catch:

• Unmade Beds (2008)
• Once Upon the Time in the West (1968) Restored Print!
• Can Go Through Skin (Kan Door Hui Heen)(2008)
• Gasoline (Gasolina)(2008)
• Son of a Lion (2008)
• A Week Alone (Una Semana Solos)(2008)

Films I saw before the festival:

• The Reckoning: The Battle for the International Criminal Court (2009)
• Kimjongilia (2009)
• Still Walking (歩いても　歩いても)(2008)
• Zift (ДЗИФТ)(2008)
• Lake Tahoe (2008)