29th Annual Philadelphia Film Festival Coverage

by Le Anne Lindsay, Editor (Originally Completed October 23, 2020)

Philadelphia Film Festival 2020
will be held
October 23 -November 2, 2020

#MiniMovieReviews and Q&A’s – Jump to: 40 Years A Prisoner | Beethovan in Beijing | BeeGees doc | Filmadelphia Shorts | I’m Your Woman |JUMBO | Little Fish | Marionette Land | Miracle Fishing | Preparations to Be Together |Some Kind of Heaven | Survival Skills | Sylvie’s Love | The Perfect Candidate | Two of Us | The Witmans

Just like I said about Virtual Black Star Film Festival this summer,  I really enjoy so much about an online film festival. Yes, I do still miss seeing films as they were intended for the big screen, but these platforms for viewing films as a festival are pretty sweet.  With BlackStar, you had to tune in when the film was being shown, or you missed it. But what I love about PFF29, once the film had it’s first showing, then it was just available for the rest of the run of the fest. And I could watch them via my Roku. 

As usual, there was a wonderful mix of genres to chose from. Very well curated, but manageable enough that I’m sure some attendees may have seen all the films or close to it. There were probably more docs than usual this year. And not a lot of lighthearted films, but these are not lighthearted times we’re living in.  On the whole, it felt well-received. I never got to the Drive-In movies for any of the Free PFS on Us screenings. Every time I talked myself into going, the tickets would be sold out, so I take that as a sign of the festival’s success!  

Check out the reviews I’ve written below.  I’m still working on Pink Skies Ahead, Black Bear, The House of Us, Come True, My Zoe and Ema, we’ll see how many I still have time to write.

PFF29 AWARD WINNERS

Audience Award 

• Narrative (Tie) 

  • PG (PSYCHO GOREMAN) | Director Steven Kostanski | Canada

  • THERE IS NO EVIL | Director Mohammad Rasoulof | Czech Republic, Germany, Iran

• Documentary

  • THE BEE GEES: HOW CAN YOU MEND A BROKEN HEART | Director Frank Marshall | USA

• Best Documentary Feature 

  • SOME KIND OF HEAVEN | Director Lance Oppenheim | USA 

• Honorable Mention 

  • MAYOR | Director David Osit | UK, USA

Narrative

• Best Narrative Feature

  • PREPARATIONS TO BE TOGETHER FOR AN UNKNOWN PERIOD OF TIME | Director Lili Horvát | Hungary

• Honorable Mention for Best Direction

  • Christos Nikou, APPLES

• Honorable Mention for Performance

  • Casey Rohl in WHITE LIE

• Honorable Mention for Creative Originality

  • SURVIVAL SKILLS | Director Quinn Armstrong | USA

Local

• Pinkenson Award for Best Local Feature

  • 40 YEARS A PRISONER | Director Tommy Oliver | USA

• Honorable Mention

  • BEETHOVEN IN BEIJING | Directors Jennifer R. Lin, Sharon Mullally | USA

First Feature

• Best First Feature

  • FAREWELL AMOR | Director Ekwa Msangi | USA 

Shorts

• Best Short Film

  • MIZUKO | Directors Kira Dane, Katelyn Rebelo | USA

• Honorable Mention

  • HUNTSVILLE STATION | Directors Chris Filippone, Jamie Meltzer | USA

#PFF29 DAY 10 Highlights happening today (Sunday 11/1) during the Philadelphia Film Festival (Oct 23 – Nov 2, 2020) I’…

Posted by Tinsel & Tine on Sunday, November 1, 2020

#MiniMovieReview PREPARATIONS TO BE TOGETHER FOR AN UNKNOWN PERIOD OF TIME Filmmaker: LILI HORVÁT | HUNGARY | HUNGARIAN | 2020 | 95 MIN

I found this film to be irritatingly intriguing.  A Neurosurgeon, Márta (Natasa Stork) was born and raised in Budapest, Hungary, but went to school in The US and stayed to create a successful career in New Jersey, of all places, but still, she’s highly respected in her field in America.  She attends a conference and meets a new colleague Drexler János (Viktor Bodó ) also from Budapest, only he still lives there and is only in the States for the conference.  They hit it off and decide to do a Carey Grant/Deborah Kerr type meeting in “An Affair To Remember”. They plan to meet at a particular spot on Márta’s favorite Bridge in Budapest. She, willing to give up everything for a chance to start a life with this man she barely knows. Which in reality, is never as romantic as it sounds.

The audience bears no witness to their brief affair, we see flashes of it as she talks about their meeting to her therapist; but the movie starts with her in Budapest having been stood up on the bridge. She goes to find Drexler at the hospital where he works and he looks right through her.  Polite, but shows absolutely no signs of recognition.  Now, is this a case of mistaken identity? Amnesia? Did she imagine the whole thing?  Is he lying? Is he in trouble and afraid he’ll get her in trouble if he acts as if he knows her? Is he a doppelganger?  I don’t like to give things away, but the truth is a complete nothing burger.  And you keep asking yourself, why doesn’t she just go back to the US?  She’s treated like a “female” doctor at this second rate hospital (not unlike “The Perfect Candidate” see review below) She has an annoying first year resident mooning over her, and she’s getting no where trying to figure out what’s Drexler’s deal? Her best friend, her bosses wife from NJ, tells her she can easily have her job back. So you just want to shake her. And say, this chubby, weird doctor is not worth your time!

Sometime later that night thinking back on it, I realized, I don’t believe the film was about him or her desperately looking for love at 40. I think the movie was about Patriotism. Love of Country.  I think Marta wanted a reason to move back to her home town and bring her skills with her, but she didn’t have the courage to do it without an excuse. I still found the movie to be maddening, but liked it a bit better with this explanation. Others, liked it a bit more, as it won a PFF29 jury prize.

#PFF29 DAY 9 Highlights happening today (Saturday 10/31) during the Philadelphia Film Festival (Oct 23 – Nov 2,…

Posted by Tinsel & Tine on Saturday, October 31, 2020

#MiniMovieReview MARIONETTE LAND Filmmaker ALEXANDER MONELLI | USA | English | 2020 | 87 MIN

I feel like the only way to describe this film is to do it in the voice of Stefon, Bill Hader’s nightlife corespondent on SNL – This doc’s got everything, Judy Garland, puppets, lights, smoke, family dynamics, location, genius, gaiety, tap dancing, flip flops, muslin & COVID-19.

Robert Brock has been putting on performances and living above the Lancaster Marionette Theater for 30 years.  I’m so impressed with the fact that he’s a self-taught Marionette creator and master.  He says it takes him about 50 – 60 hours to make each one, but when you see the process and results, you’d imagine it taking much longer.  But I digress, because the Marionette’s are so completely secondary to this story. Brock is the story. He is a true character in every sense of the word! And the reason why this documentary is riveting; along with his mother and business partner Mary Lou.  He’s a gregarious old Queen, kinda reminds me of Robert Preston in Victor/Victoria only crankier and with more pizzazz.  And the Mom, Mary Lou looks like a typical, older, middle class white woman, but she fools you, she’s got this perfected dry sense of humor and will hit you with a spot on zinger. Could it be attributed to her customary 4pm cocktail hour?

My favorite parts of the doc are scenes of Brock putting together and rehearsing for the “grown up show” Divas & Dames: Kiss The Heels Goodbye  where he performs a drag show impersonating: Liza Minnelli, Carol Channing, Judy Garland, Bette Midler & Mae West. I wish we got to see more of the show and especially wanna know how long are the costume changes? Is there an intermission in between each act?

Filmmaker Alexander Monelli (At the Drive-In) met Robert Brock 6 years ago and decided to make a short about him and the Lancaster Marionette Theater, then later decided to expand the short into this Marionette Land. I think this is why there’s footage in the 3rd act that stretches things and some momentum is lost. I think it should go right from Divas & Dames to the present where the theater is closed due to COVID-19, featuring all the self-shot material from Brock himself. But otherwise, it’s a world you’ve got to visit.  Oh, and don’t forget to Subscribe to Robert & Mary Lou’s YouTube Channel, you know you can’t make money from YouTube without 10k Subscribers, so let’s help get them there!

#PFF29 DAY 8 Highlights happening today (Friday 10/30) during the Philadelphia Film Festival (Oct 23 – Nov 2,…

Posted by Tinsel & Tine on Friday, October 30, 2020

#MiniMovieReview 40 YEARS A PRISONER Filmmaker: TOMMY OLIVER | USA | English | 2020 | 110 MIN

I was a young kid when MOVE happened in Philadelphia in 1978.  I remember the disturbance of it peripherally, but my parents weren’t very political or ones to talk much about current events, so I didn’t really know the ins and outs. As I became an adult, I just never took the time to research this still controversial event in Philly.  Watching the documentary 40 Years A Prisoner featuring Mike Africa Jr., (son of two Move Members, born in prison) stirred me to anger and astonishment as to how relevant the whole matter is today. The reverberations of this time in our history is what protests are about this present moment.   The police brutality, systemic racism and blue wall allowed under Mayor Frank Rizzo was flagrantly criminal. I’d always heard horrible things about Rizzo, but in this doc, he’s shown in his own words to have been an ugly, wanna be dictator, racist, bully.  Now I’m really glad that statue has come down in Center City.

You may think the documentary is skewed towards defending MOVE and their wrongful imprisonment. Perhaps somewhat, but actually, I think filmmaker Tommy Oliver does a good job of interviewing both sides involved during the time leading up to the brutal eviction. He researched the angles and found a lot of footage of MOVE members being interviewed, their philosophy of naturalism and way of life. And yeah, they all looked as if they needed a good bath, their children ran around naked in the yard, but it wasn’t until they started getting harassed by the police that they started showing signs of possibly defending their way of life through violent means if necessary.  The City of Philadelphia, on the other hand, just basically on principal feared having a commune in the city. And I for one, agree MOVE should have set up their community somewhere out towards the Poconos or Lancaster, on a farm somewhere, then hopefully, they wouldn’t have been bothered.

Bothered is an understatement – It’s sickening when you realize how many people knew the police officer that was shot and killed the night of the standoff was almost certainly hit by friendly fire, but covered up – allowing all the MOVE defendants to be railroaded into life imprisonment. 

But Mike Africa, Jr is the bright spot of this superbly paced and revealing documentary.  He’s worked his whole life to free his parents with amazing grace, patience and positivity.

SYLVIE’S LOVE Filmmaker: EUGENE ASHE | USA | English | 2020 | 114 MIN

Synopsis: In Sylvie’s Love, the jazz is smooth and the air sultry in the hot New York summer of 1957. Robert (Nnamdi Asomugha), a saxophonist, spends late nights playing behind a less talented but well-known bandleader, as member of a jazz quartet. Sylvie (Tessa Thompson), who dreams of a career in television, spends her summer days helping around her father’s record store, as she waits for her fiancé to return from war. When Robert takes a part-time job at the record store, the two begin a friendship that sparks a deep passion in each of them unlike anything they have felt before. As the summer winds down, life takes them in different directions, bringing their relationship to an end. Until…

Tessa Thompson is always a very watchable actress and newcomer Nnamdi Asomugha is appropriately charming for this role. The movie is beautifully shot, the coloring pops. It’s great to see black people in this time period or any time period, living life instead of struggling through it. But a good romance needs clear strong reasons as to why the couple must be separated; not the flimsy plot lines that keep this couple apart. The story lags and falls apart by the second half.

JUMBO Filmmaker: ZOÉ WITTOCK | Belgium, France, LUXEMBOURG | French | 2020 | 93 MIN

Tinsel & Tine super #MiniMovieReview JUMBO filmmaker Zoé Wittock starring Noémie Merlant’s. I think a better written movie of this type with a childlike protagonist bent toward fantasy is HORSE GIRL

But I like this review – https://t.co/nIRibq2xQW pic.twitter.com/SCUOO6vgkh

— Tinsel & Tine (@tinseltine) November 28, 2020

#MiniMovieReview I’M YOUR WOMAN Filmmaker: JULIA HART | USA | English | 2020 | 120 MIN

70’s era young, bored housewife, Jean (Rachel Brosnahan) is sitting beneath the trees in her backyard in a sexy caftan, trying to figure out what to do with herself. Suddenly, finding a pair of scissors to cut out the tag in the caftan becomes her mission, when in walks her husband, Eddie (Bill Heck) with a baby about 4 or 5 months old.  She asks, “Who’s that?” he replies, “It’s your kid”. And off we go. Jean is married to a criminal, not small time, connected, but on the lower end of the totem pole.  Jean knows this, and yet she doesn’t. She seems to genuinely love this inch above a thug Eddie, she’s well taken care of, and doesn’t seem to have had any experience doing anything else. So she’s dutiful, doesn’t ask a lot of questions, and accepts what he says at his word. He tells her, it was a teenage girl who didn’t want to keep the baby, but you can just tell he was on a job where he killed the parents and thought, the kid’s cute, may as well take him, like you would a watch or maybe a meal about to go to waste. 

Before you know it, Eddie’s in trouble and Jean and the baby, Harry, are in danger and sent packing with 200K in cash, and told to get in the car with a black man, Carl (Arinzé Kene) who she’s never seen before, and to do as he says.

The movie is meant to be about a woman who learns how to fend for herself and her child, while discovering more about the life her husband’s lead.  It’s a decent action movie towards the end.  It’s rather slow in the middle, but it helps that baby Harry has the most expressive, little old man face, you just want to pick him up through the screen, and play with him, when he’s not crying, which he does do a lot of throughout the movie. 

I’m not sure it’s a fitting role for Brosnahan, but I like her so much from watching ” The Marvelous Mrs Maisel” that I enjoyed “I’m Your Woman” (hate the title) more than it probably deserves.

#PFF29 DAY 7 Highlights happening today (Thurs. 10/29) during the Philadelphia Film Festival (Oct 23 – Nov 2,…

Posted by Tinsel & Tine on Thursday, October 29, 2020

#MiniMovieReview LITTLE FISH Filmmaker: CHAD HARTIGAN | USA | English | 2020 | 101 MIN

I really like the idea of getting matching tattoos as another symbol of the bonds of matrimony.  The couple in this story, Emma (Olivia Cooke) & Jude (Jack O’Connell) get them as a reminder of how and where Jude proposes to Emma, a precious memory.  But all memories become precious in this timely tale of a global virus that robs people of their memory; some all at once, where they just stop what ever they’re doing at the moment, even if it’s flying a plane, because suddenly they don’t remember how to do it or why they are where they are.   For others, it happens slowly over weeks or months, more like Alzheimer’s, but affecting people of any age. 

In this scenario, a mask isn’t going to help, nor social distancing. No one seems to know how or why it’s happening. Some doctors feel a needle to the roof of the mouth to the brain helps arrest it, but then, the “how to” of this procedure gets put on Youtube and it’s worse than Trump’s Hydroxychloroquine Corona Virus remedy.  These elements, and the Christopher Nolan-esque ending, give the film a sci-fi thriller/drama tone. Yet actually, at the heart of Little Fish is a romance.  Emma & Jude are really good together – neither one of them is annoying, they’re a couple you want to see win and their dog Blue is a great third character.  The coloring of the film is mostly dark, but it works as both rich hues to frame the love story and at other times somber, representing the fear and loss being felt not only by Emma & Jude but by everyone around them. 

Ironically, Little Fish went into production March 2019, exactly a year before all our lives changed forever.  And, it was scheduled to have a World Premiere at Tribeca Film Festival, which as we know, was postponed due to  COVID-19.

#PFF29 DAY 6 Highlights happening today (Wed. 10/28) during the Philadelphia Film Festival (Oct 23 – Nov 2,…

Posted by Tinsel & Tine on Wednesday, October 28, 2020

#MiniMovieReview THE WITMANS Filmmaker: David Petersen | USA | English | 2020 | 88 MIN

This story just wrings your heart, what a tragedy and what a mystery. One brother, Zachary, 15 years-old, is home sick from school. The other brother, Gregory, 13 years-old, comes home from school and in less than 15 minutes from the time he enters his home is stabbed to death, something crazy like 60 stab wounds and his head is hanging on by a thread.  The older brother comes down finds him in the laundry room like this and calls 911.  911 of course not able to see the condition of the body instructs Zach to examine the extent of the injuries.  The police arrive, it’s a small town, this department’s not used to crime scenes of brutal homicides, so they don’t follow proper procedures to preserve the scene for investigation.  They find a knife and a glove buried in the backyard, mud on Zach’s socks and the blood spurt pattern on his shirt, even though there was no blood on his face or hair and no traces anywhere of blood having been washed off in any of the sinks in the house. Still, they arrest this 15 year-old child for 1st degree murder. He’s tried and convicted as an adult, life in prison, no parole.  Ron and Sue Witman lose two children in the most unbelievable of circumstances.  Just a regular family living in a regular middle class neighborhood – now lives destroyed.

It turns out The United States is the country with the highest number of juveniles tried as adults, and if convicted, sentenced to life.  I would imagine, no offense, but a country like China or Russian would be stricter than we are. And Pennsylvania! is the worst when it comes to this flawed justice system. There’s a moment when you think perhaps Zachary did it, but it’s fleeting, there’s really no motive and flimsy evidence, a good lawyer should have been able to get him off. But say for a moment, he did kill his little brother out of the blue like that, he would need psychiatric help, not prison. 

The whole doc is gripping and unbelievably sad. But an important message in terms of Judicial Reform. Kudos to David Petersen and his Producing team: Shannon Sun-Higginson, Nikolas Diener, Gregory Timmons for sticking with the Witman’s all the years it’s taken to tell their story.  And God please send healing Grace to these parents, Sue & Ron. (See Q&A above video).

P.S. An Advocate for Zachary, just happened to be last year’s PFF28 Humanitarian Award Recipient – Bryan Stevenson the inspiration for the film Just Mercy

#PFF29 DAY 5 Highlights happening today (Tues. 10/27) during the Philadelphia Film Festival (Oct 23 – Nov 2,…

Posted by Tinsel & Tine on Tuesday, October 27, 2020

#MiniMovieReview THE BEE-GEES: HOW CAN YOU MEND A BROKEN HEART Filmmaker: FRANK MARSHALL | USA | 2020

This was everything I needed as a Big Bee Gees fan! I’m a fool for a music biopic anyway, documentary like this or narrative. I can’t really critique them because I’m just a fan of the genre. Even when they feature musicians I don’t really know, there’s just something about following the trajectory of the highs and lows of a band or singer that represents life in such an uncomplicated linear fashion. It’s both comforting for me in the way a child likes the same bedtime story. And exciting, because I want to be taken on that wild ride with them – the dream and the struggle, that first taste of success, the backstory on how certain songs came about, the drinking & drugs, the in-fighting, the breakup, the romances, the tours, the comeback tours.  I just love living it all vicariously!  But of course the music biopic is made all the sweeter when you are a fan of the music. And the Bee Gees (Barry, Maurice, Robin and even Andy Gibb) where just incredibly, phenomenally gifted song writers and singers. Not to mention, Barry was smokin 🔥 in his day.  Really, I never tire of hearing their catalog of music. In fact, I would say, if I were forced to rank my very favorite 10 songs in all the songs I’ve ever heard “How Deep Is Your Love” would probably be my #2 or #3.

Seeing this doc, put me in mind of #PFF27 when the Studio 54 Doc (click for T&T #MiniMovieReview) screened

#MiniMovieReview BEETHOVEN IN BEIJING Fimmakers: JENNIFER R. LIN, SHARON MULLALLY 
USA | CHINESE, English | 2020 | 90 MIN

I’ve lived in Philly all my life (well, suburbs to start) and have been involved in the arts since 1991, yet I never heard before that our Philadelphia Orchestra played such a pivotal role in bringing Western classical music to China. And in large part, eased the political frost that had developed between our two countries post World War II.  The documentary gives us footage of the first historic Philly Orchestra trip to China in 1973 under the conductor Eugene Ormandy. And we get present day interviews with some of the members of the orchestra from that time period.

We move into the present, where not only is the Philadelphia Orchestra still highly regarded and highly welcomed in China, but many times blending Chinese musicians into the mix.  I love the present conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin, he’s so animated and, yet he also looks like he could play a thug in a Scorsese movie. 

So, all of this Philly pride and new knowledge and music and Chinese history lessons are very good and interesting, for a 40 – 50 min doc.  However, it’s nearly feature length, and in my opinion, there’s just A LOT of filler.  My eye lids were drooping through much of the second half.  Still, it’s an important story to tell and Beethoven, whether it be his 5th or 6th or 125th 😉 symphony, played by a renowned orchestra like ours, is still music to the ears.
See More Beethoven in Beijing Website

#PFF29 DAY 4 Highlights happening today (Mon. 10/26) during the Philadelphia Film Festival (Oct 23 – Nov 2, 2020) https://tinseltine.com/29th-annual-philadelphia-film-festival-coverage/

Posted by Tinsel & Tine on Monday, October 26, 2020

#MiniMovieReview TWO OF US Filmmaker: FILIPPO MENEGHETTI | Belgium, France, LUXEMBOURG | French | 2019 | 95 MIN

Madeleine (Martine Chevallier) and Nina (Barbara Sukowa) live across the hall from one another in the same building. For all intense of purposes they look like two women in their mid-to-late 60’s who go from being neighbors to best friends, kinda like the iconic duo Mary and Rhoda.  But in truth, Madeleline and Nina are lovers and life partners, and have been for many years. It’s not exactly clear on the time line of just how long, they show two little girls playing together in the same park the women frequent, at the beginning of the film, so you assume that’s them as children, but then through photographs, it’s mentioned they met in Rome, while Madeleine was still married. Regardless, they seem happy now with keys to each others places, seeming to spend more time at Madeleine’s cause it’s far cozier and nicely decorated.  

But they’re not truly happy. They want to move to Rome and live out in the open as a couple for their remaining years. Only, Madeleine’s not ready to upset her daughter, son and grandson with this revelation.  She hesitates too long and circumstances drastically change which makes their plans impossible.  

Much of the film is beautifully French (subtitles) burnish film coloring and warmly romantic, but it also keeps the viewer on edge full of anxiety over the circumstances and feeling hopeless for them both. 

#PFF29 DAY 3 Highlights happening today (Sun. 10/25) during the Philadelphia Film Festival (Oct 23 – Nov 2, 2020) https://tinseltine.com/29th-annual-philadelphia-film-festival-coverage/

Posted by Tinsel & Tine on Sunday, October 25, 2020

Check out Tinsel & Tine’s Mini Q&A’s with films made by Philly filmmakers and/or shot in and around Philadelphia under the category “Filmadelphia”

#MiniMovieReview MIRACLE FISHING (documentary) Filmmaker: MILES HARGROVE | USA | English, German, Spanish | 2020 | 107 MIN

Miles Hargrove and his brother are accustomed to living in countries outside the US. Their mother, Susan, lived all over the world growing up. She married a man, Tom Hargrove, who enjoyed the same lifestyle; becoming a humanitarian scientist, helping to provide food sources to under-nourished villages in many countries. In the early 90’s, Tom’s job led the family to Colombia. This is the Colombia many drug related movies depict, even the show Entourage, (Remember when Vince got the role of Pablo Escobar?) it’s a particularly gritty, highly political and dangerous time. However, the Hargrove family felt relatively safe as Americans doing good work. That was a false sense of security, as Tom gets kidnapped during a routine checkpoint by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – Guerilla Army.

Needless to say, this throws the family into panic mode – What do you do? How do you negotiate? How do you go about raising so much money as ransom? Who do you turn to? The questions are endless!  With good forethought, Susan Hargrove tells her son Miles, who’d always been partial to capturing family moments on video, to start documenting everything about the kidnapping, which is why this harrowing tale is able to be told entirely from home movies video footage. 

FYI: The Hargrove story is also the basis for PROOF OF LIFE the Meg Ryan, Russell Crowe movie directed by Taylor Hackford screenplay by Tony Gilroy.

It’s amazing what’s possible when you decide not to give up. The support the Hargrove family finds in neighbors, friends, the FBI (who can’t actually help, but advise) Tom’s brother etc…  I’m impressed by the family’s ability to keep their heads and not be at each other’s throats, or at least not caught on camera, during such a high stakes and stressful time. (See PFF29 Miles Hargrove Q&A above).

DAY 2 #PFF29 Schedule – Philadelphia Film Festival Highlights and be sure to check out the FILMADELPHIA SHORTS at 5:30pm…

Posted by Tinsel & Tine on Saturday, October 24, 2020

#MiniMovieReview THE PERFECT CANDIDATE Filmmaker HAIFAA AL-MANSOUR | Germany, SAUDI ARABIA | Arabic, English | 2019 | 105 MIN

The film deals with the advances, yet major remaining restrictions on Women in Saudi Arabian society. Maryam is one of 3 daughters being raised by a lenient, musician father. The oldest daughter is a wedding photographer, the youngest daughter is still in school, but certainly not docile and Maryam is a doctor, working at a small local clinic – where she does not receive the respect due a medical professional, despite her advanced skill, because of her gender.  Despite this and her desire to move to a bigger city and get a position at a superior hospital, she still cares deeply about the fact that access to the clinic is restricted due to the road being unpaved and often so muddy it’s unsurpassable.

Through an unexpected series of events involving the fact that women can’t travel without written consent from their guardian, Maryam decides to run for something akin to City Council, at first she sees it as a bold means to an end, but eventually as her family and some co-workers start to support her, she does away with niqabs and hijabs and unashamedly goes all in to accomplish this goal.  

There’s a little too much Middle Eastern singing and musical scenes for my taste, but otherwise it’s a joy to root for Maryam as she breaks down barriers in this antiquated world, where conformity and separation of the sexes is adhered to so ridiculously. 

Cast: Mila Al Zahrani, Dhay, Nora Al Awad, Khalid Abdulraheem

#MiniMovieReview SURVIVAL SKILLS Writer/Director QUINN ARMSTRONG | USA | English | 2020 | 84 MIN

A subversive satire of sorts which follows the day to day life of a rookie cop, Jim Williams (Vayu O’Donnell) only he’s kinda not real.  The narrator (Stacy Keach) rather invents him at the beginning of the movie for the purposes of police training videos. Only, similar to AI he becomes more real as the film progresses; especially after encountering a domestic abuse case on his first day, which plagues him to the point of getting over involved.

While I appreciate O’Donnell’s chipper, robotic performance. And the filmmaking style – Armstrong explains in the above Q&A how he had to purchase like 50 VCR’s and use magnets and such to create the 80’s look of the film.  Still, on the whole, “Survival Skills” was a snore for me.  I get what he was going for, but it’s simply not entertaining and too depressing to be a SNL skit kind of comedy.  The PFS programmer likend it to last year’s “Swallow”, which I loved! I understand the comparison, in that both films take a serious subject and use a cock-eyed, whimsical perspective, but Carlo Mirabella-Davis carried it off with aplomb.

#MiniMovieReview SOME KIND OF HEAVEN Filmmaker LANCE OPPENHEIM | USA | English | 2020 | 83 MIN

A documentary about a retirement village in Florida that gets compared to Disney world for old folks. “The Villages” is extensive and offers every kind of playful, self-indulgent activities, clubs (one just for those named Elaine) and amusements imaginable.  It’s truly like being on permanent vacation, which has been my dream since I was 25 years-old and counting.  Residents are allowed to come and go as they please, but everything you need is on site, so most just drive fancy golf carts around the compound to go about their unhurried lives.

Oppenheim however, decided to hone in on 4 seniors in particular whose days at “The Villages” are not so idyllic – a couple married almost 50 years, unfortunately, the husband has become an out-of-touch stoner in his old age and the trouble it causes, puts his wife at her wits ends.  A widow whose makeup looks like her 5 year-old granddaughter applied it, is looking for love again with a swinging Parrothead. And a broke bloke living out of his van pretending to live on the premises to land himself a rich sugar mamma. The whole thing is surreal, sad, and engrossing.

#PFF29 Highlights from DAY 1 (10.23) Philadelphia Film Festival 2020 – http://filmadelphia.org/pff29-program/

Posted by Tinsel & Tine on Friday, October 23, 2020

Be sure to follow Tinsel & Tine’s Social Media during the Festival !

UPDATED: OCTOBER 12, 2020

Attended @PhillyFilmSoc #PFF29 PROGRAMMERS PANEL highlighting exciting line up – Now I really wanna see APPLES, BLACK BEAR, THE HOUSE OF US, MLK/FBI and so much more!

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UPDATED: OCT 8th

ORIGINAL POST: September 15th

Due to COVID-19 part of the festival will be held virtually and part at the Philadelphia Film Society’s Drive-In Theater located at the Navy Yard.

For nearly 30 years, the Philadelphia Film Festival has been the Film Society’s marquee event. At the center of the Film Society’s mission, the Philadelphia Film Festival brings the best in independent and international film to audiences in Philadelphia. PFF gathers filmmakers, industry professionals, and cinephiles from around the world for 11-days, celebrating film as an artform that can not only entertain, but also inspire, educate, and create community.

2020 has been a peculiar year to say the least, but the Film Society’s dedication to bringing diverse and acclaimed titles to Philadelphia audiences has never wavered. This October, the 29th Philadelphia Film Festival will be unique from its predecessors. Instead of taking place in the Film Society’s home, the Philadelphia Film Center, and theaters across the city, PFF29 will be taking place in virtual and Drive-In theaters. Whether on their couch or in their car, PFF is determined to give patrons a full Festival experience, with a thoughtfully curated lineup, filmmaker Q&As, and ways to connect with diverse communities through film – Philadelphia Film Society

The full PFF29 lineup will be unveiled in early October. Individual tickets will be available shortly thereafter, subject to availability. Please check back for updates.

Be sure to Follow Tinsel & Tine’s Social Media during the Fest and then a Wrap Up will ensue like the one below at the end of #PFF29

BADGES NOW ON SALE!
The Philadelphia Film Festival offers 3 badge levels – Streaming Pass, Spotlight All Access Badge, and Premiere All Access Badge – to fit all festival-goers’ needs!  Learn More HERE.

Check out Tinsel & Tine’s Coverage of last year’s Philadelphia Film Festival #PFF28