2018 New Horizons IFF Dailies: Weekend Blues | Day 4 of IONCINEMA in Wroclaw
The futsal Wrocław Cup is suddenly over – a group of workers dismantling the pitch and the stands in front of me as I type this – and I’m going to miss the sound of the overly excited announcer while I try to concentrate on writing. The square really came alive through the weekend, making it hard to navigate, with the futsal and the influx of new tourists and the heat, but also very interesting to watch. I waited until sunset to go for a walk, which was a great idea.
The Kino Nowe Horyzonty was also stretched to the maximum capacity on this lovely Sunday, with lines on every floor wrapping around the concrete pillars and the lack of proper air conditioning getting even more punishing.
But the rigorous – inflexible, even – organization of the festival machine held without hesitation. There’s something sobering in seeing the little number next to your name on the website decrease every time you book a screening, and even more existentially dreading when you realize that it decreases faster when you don’t show up for one of them.
I have found myself at other festivals reading the fine prints on the back of my badge; sometimes they state a maximum number of screenings the badge is allowed to be scanned for, and you fantasize about what would it take to max that out. This is the opposite feeling, more akin to glancing at the number of lives your videogame character is left with. In any case, I’ve run the numbers: if I behave, I should be able to make it to the end. Barely.
As for films, Danish thriller (Sundance winner) The Guilty (Gustav Möller) is notable for its sturdy genre chops, well-packaged into a Locke-type chamber piece built on phone conversations. I enjoyed, and also realized it was probably the first film I have seen at the festival not directly about women’s stories and perspectives. Probably a coincidence, but the programme is indeed assembled with that in mind, and those opening-night remarks now ring even stronger in my ears.
