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.
Husband and wife team Andrea Nix and Sean Fine’s new documentary, War/Dance, is powerful for what it doesn’t show. The film is not an expose on the atrocious human-rights violations that continue to plague northern Uganda; rather it’s about finding a ray of hope amidst brutal chaos. Uganda, as depicted in the film, is a strikingly beautiful country ripped apart by violence.
We all know it’s difficult to be a teenage girl. Only, there’s adolescent angst and confusion caused by raging hormones and a developing mind and then there’s Tracey Berkowitz. On many levels, Tracey is like all the other girls. She’s waiting for her body to develop; she longs for the new boy in school’s affections; and she transforms her life into a fantastical movie star existence in her head when the dull monotony of reality gets to be too much.