The Reykjavik International Film Festival is on it‘s way – bigger and better than ever. 44 films have now been confirmed on the festival‘s program which starts on September 23.
Among confirmed films is an American documentary, When The Dragon Swallowed The Sun. Why hasn't Tibet been freed? Who is keeping the movement from going forward? From director Dirk Simon, the film is a groundbreaking documentary that examines these questions in a quest to understand why the world is still dealing with unsettled issues like the Tibetan cause and what can really be done to eradicate them.
The film features Richard Gere, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the 14th Dalai Lama, some of the most prominent Chinese contemporary artists, and all the key figures of the exiled Tibetan freedom movement and their followers. Also, the film features an original soundtrack by Philip Glass, Thom Yorke, Damien Rice and a song by our own Björk from Iceland.
Another very interesting documentary on the program is Which Way Home, a 2010 Oscar Nominee for Best Feature Documentary. The film follows several unaccompanied child migrants as they journey through Mexico en route to the U.S. on a freight train they call The Beast. Director Rebecca Cammisa tracks the stories of children like Olga and Freddy, nine-year old Hondurans who are desperately trying to reach their families in Minnesota, and Jose, a ten-year-old El Salvadoran who has been abandoned by smugglers and ends up alone in a Mexican detention center, and focuses on Kevin, a canny, streetwise 14-year-old Honduran, whose mother hopes that he will reach New York City and send money back to his family. These are stories of hope and courage, disappointment and sorrow. They are the ones you never hear about - the invisible ones.
Soul Kitchen is a German comedy which opened the 17th Filmfest Hamburg, celebrating its German premiere. For Festival Director Albert Wiederspiel, Soul Kitchen signifies “a declaration of love for the metropolis of Hamburg. This good-humoured film about the city's different cultures and subcultures makes you proud to live in Hamburg. Filmfest Hamburg could not have hoped for a better opening film,” says the festival director.
The film was screened simultaneously in 3 fully packed cinemas, to an enthusiastic audience with lots of scene applauses and collective laughter.
The film received the Special Prize of the Jury at the 2009 Venice Film Festival.
See you at RIFF!