The Band's Visit is of course the much talked about non-entry into the Best foreign film category for this year's Oscars - but more importantly is the festival charming, deadpan styled comedy that softly tickles the funny bone and that I caught at post-Cannes film festival in Toronto.
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.