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TIFF 2010: Oliver Schmitz’s Life, Above All
The following vid dates back to last Sunday, it was the first public screening to Oliver Schmitz’s Life, Above All, a film that played well at Cannes, was subsequently picked up Sony Pictures Classics, was just named as South Africa’s Best Foreign film entry, and judging from the reaction from the crowd on this particular night, will play extremely well for a certain type of demo. I didn’t think this demo would include me.
Pardon me for the lack of TIFF updates — I packed the schedule tightly and left next to no breathing space for daily updates, which means the occasional tweet was all I could muster. I still have a diet of minimum four films until this Sunday, but the good news is: there is tons of items on the way including video coverage of several screenings and interviews.
The following vid dates back to last Sunday, it was the first public screening to Oliver Schmitz’s Life, Above All, a film that played well at Cannes, was subsequently picked up Sony Pictures Classics, was just named as South Africa’s Best Foreign film entry, and judging from the reaction from the crowd on this particular night, will play extremely well for a certain type of demo. I didn’t think this demo would include me.
I would normally be weary of such a film — the tone is usually off and is weighed down by contrived button pushing unnecessary dramatic elements. I wasn’t won over like I was with Whale Rider (also featuring a young heroine who appears to have huge burdens on their shoulders) but I learned an important lesson – to not judge this book, especially “Chanda’s Secrets” by its cover.
I think the more interesting part of the post screening convo with Schmitz, scribe Dennis Foon, and novelist Allan Stratton, is how they essentially took a character and modified her for the screen….and how they each fought hard in the process.
