Today opened with short film Menged (Ethiopia) about a man and his son and their donkey, and the possible permutations of those three. Charming. Funny. But what it was really about is people giving advice where it's really not needed, which neatly segues into:
Bamako (Mali) - I didn't know where Mali was. Cool film. Mostly about the people of Mali putting the IMF and World Bank on trial for causing the continued povertisation (they may have made that word up.. or just not bothered to translate it from French) of Africa, the film makes a very strong argument. But throughout the trial, which is being held in an open court yard with the residents looking on and carrying on with their lives, there are interruptions from daily life in Mali, all of which are there to illustrate the point, I'm sure. The faux-western shown on the local TV station, which features Danny Glover in the lead role, is hilarious. You'd enjoy this and get angry all at the same time.
Scott Walker - 30 Century Man You would've enjoyed this a lot more than I did. Apart from discovering where the song "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore" came from, I'm not that interested in discovering more about the sounds of N.S. Engel. The Q&A with the film-maker was cool though. I thought Sting felt a bit out of place too.
The Paper Will Be Blue (Romania) The second film covering the ousting of Ceausescu, this time from the inside of a militia tank. The opening scene is unexpected (well... I didn't expect it, but I don't read any of the notes, or even the name of a film, before hand), everything that follows gives that scene even more impact.
Poison Friends (France) This reminded me a bit of Metropolitan. But only a bit.