Yama Rahimi

The 2007 AFI Fest ended with the screening of Love in the Time of Cholera and the announcement of this year's winners with the politically correct choice of Munyurangabo, an uneven drama set in Rwanda by a Korean-American director was a surprise given the strong line up this year. The tie between Operation Filmmaker and Afghan Muscles was justified, both were evocative and timely, dealing with an Iraqi film student and the other about Afghan body builders.

An accurate and honest documentary from Danish filmmaker Andreas Mol Dalsgaard, Afghan Muscles looks at the body building culture in Afghanistan and follows a group of hopeful body builders from Kabul to Mr. Asia Competition in Dubai.

This outrageously funny-bone friendly film from Norway is served best, black and with drugs. A triumph for writer and director Bård Breien on his feature film debut, The Art of Negative Thinking is an original and fresh comedy about a group of happy handicapped people who travel to convert another potential member, the depressed Geirr who has drowned himself in drugs, alcohol and the music of Johnny Cash. However the group and Geirr's wife underestimate him when demonstrates his art of negative thinking that unravels each of them and changes their lives.

Not only a great portrayal of a great band but also their country (population under half a million), the enigmatic Iceland, Heima this documentary one of the best of its kind. It comes together in the hands of Canadian director Dean DeBlois. The film merges on several levels as music, film and art comes together to give us a profound experience which raises a new standard and blurs the lines for documentaries and videos. The film is a must see, specially for fans of the group and the for those ho enjoy the splendors of such an isolated and community-friendly Nordic landscape.

Here is another batch of posters from Cannes - including the controversial short film collection found in Destricted, Giuseppe Tornatore's (Cinema Paradiso) upcoming project,...