2008 Program guide - Victoria Film Festival

BEYOND BELIEF A SONG TO SING-O
DIRECTOR: BETH MURPHY
USA
2007 97 MINUTES DVCAM
PRODUCER: BETH MURPHY
The lives of Boston soccer moms Patti Quigley and Susan Retik are
shattered on 9/11 when their husbands die in the attack. After grieving
their losses, they set out on an inspiring journey to help widows from
another world – Afghanistan. With 23 years of virtually uninterrupted
war, including the current NATO-led war on the Taliban and the
unrelenting insurgency, there are an estimated 500,000 Afghan war
widows. Patti and Susan see those women as kindred souls: families
destroyed by often misdirected attacks. They set out on a three-day
bike trip from New York, departing from Ground Zero, to Boston, to
raise funds and awareness for these Afghan war widows, but they
have little interest in one-off instances of helping – they want to create
sustainable methods to better their lives. In May 2005, Patti and Susan
went to Kabul to see fi rsthand what was needed, and how their funds
could best be used.
A human element is brought to the story of the war in Afghanistan
through this terrifi c documentary as Patti and Susan work to help the
widows and recover their own lives. With the second half of the fi lm
being shot mostly in Kabul, we see a human side to the confl ict that is
rarely shown on the television news. A stunning document.
DIRECTOR: DON SHEBIB
ONTARIO
2007 70 MINUTES DIGIBETA
PRODUCER: BARBARA ALLINSON
WRITER: DON SHEBIB
World Premiere
Don Shebib’s documentary examination of amateur theatre in Toronto,
specifi cally St. Anne’s Gilbert and Sullivan productions, is the real-life
sister fi lm to Waiting for Guffman, with characters and storylines as
compelling, and engaging, as those in Christopher Guest’s classic
mockumentary. From the aging couple who founded the theatre
company, to the daughter who now runs the yearly productions, the
fi lm examines the obsessive, and dedicated, people who make up
amateur theatre troupes. On a pilgrimage to England’s annual G&S
festival, the fi lm goes deeply into G&S, including a focus on certain of
the eccentric characters who make up this world.
What is most satisfying about Shebib’s fi lm is the respect with which
he treats his subject. To an outsider, these people might just seem like
obsessed dilettantes, but Shebib reveals a serious passion, and one that
participants work as hard on as any professional company. Yet Shebib
never loses sight that it is after all Gilbert and Sullivan and a lighthearted
attitude is always required.
Screened with
FRACAS
Eduardo Menz Quebec 5 minutes
The image of the smiling child resting under the heading ‘MISSING’ is
an uncomfortable and awkward contradiction.
GLIMPSE
Dustin Grella USA 9 minutes
A fi lmic stop-motion study on the life of painter Willem de Kooning
and a stream of consciousness play on the impermanence of all things.
PRESENTED BY
Tuesday • February 5 • Capitol 6 - 1 • 9:30 PM Saturday • February 2 • Odeon • 7:00 PM 43
DOCUMENTARY