2008 Program guide - Victoria Film Festival

DOCUMENTARY
44
ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS THE MOSQUITO PROBLEM
DIRECTORS: APRIL MULLEN, TIM DOIRON AND OTHER STORIES
ONTARIO
2007 85 MINUTES DIGIBETA
PRODUCER: APRIL MULLEN
WRITER: TIM DOIRON
Toronto’s Walker brothers have elevated one of the world’s simplest
playground games to the realm of internationally recognized
competitive sporting events. With thousands of members worldwide,
and an annual World Championship event that routinely sells out,
the Rock Paper Scissors Society boasts an organizational structure on
par with most major sports, yet it is run out of the Toronto home of
the Walker brothers. As one would expect from a sport that is more
closely associated with childhood dispute resolution than high-stakes
competition, there is a certain degree of playfulness amongst the
competitors, bordering on a reversion to childhood competitiveness,
fuelled by alcohol and the spotlight.
Shot with the dramatic tension typical of any sporting fi lm, Rock
Paper Scissors fi nally gives the game also known as Rochambeau the
attention it deserves. From the Walker brothers yin-and-yang dynamic
to the profi les of past and current champions and competitors,
this mighty little fi lm is hopefully just the fi rst step in a multi-media
campaign to bring Rock Paper Scissors to the masses. Everyone has
played the game; this fi lm proves that it’s not just for children.
Wednesday • February 6 • Capitol 6 - 1 • 9:30 PM
DIRECTOR: ANDREY PAOUNOV
BULGARIA
2007 100 MINUTES 35MM
PRODUCER: MARTICHKA BOZHILOVA
WRITER: LILIA TOPOUZOVA
The small town of Belene is nestled on the banks of the gorgeous
Danube River deep in modern Bulgaria. Its hopeful citizens are about
to embark on a bright new journey. Massive rusty cranes, foreign
investors, and the joyful chants of cheerleaders carry the dream of a
great nuclear future. It’s a future 25 years in the making and disturbed
only by gigantic stinging mosquitoes.
Ostensibly a genial look at the town of Belene, director Andrey
Paounov’s delicious eye for absurdity and puckish delight in the
eccentric as well as a terrifi c understanding of how to frame the
unexpected never bests his deep respect for the entire range of the
human experience. Everyone talks about the mosquito problem.
For one couple, shot like a Bulgarian version of American Gothic,
some relief comes from sucking up the air with a large vacuum tube,
demonstrated with amused aplomb.
But amidst the apparent atomic prosperity lies a past that no one
wants to remember. Just outside serene Belene is an island holding
secrets. Stories of shocking and horrible crimes loom over the city just
like the dark clouds of mosquitoes descending on its citizens. How
to introduce this element to the fi lm and not crush its witty appeal
isn’t easy. It’s clear Paounov has spent a long time editing to achieve a
balance that poses questions while leaving the psychologizing to others.
Saturday • February 2 • Capitol 6 - 6 • 2:15 PM
Tuesday • February 5 • Capitol 6 - 6 • 6:45 PM