When we first arrived in Dallas way back in March 2007 we were so excited about the Dallas AFI International Film Festival and as regular movie watchers, we have committed to the festival every year since then, you can read about our 2008 festival attendances here
For the sake of completeness; I was involved in the 2009 Dallas AFI International Film Festival. My only excuse is that maybe due to, "general busyness" I failed to blog about it. My fellow committed volunteer and friend and I, joined the Festival Committee Members and so we became involved with various fun events. We loved the bringing together of artists, film buffs, various communites in the Dallas Fort Worth area and beyond. We also attended a few movie screenings and loved the after show discussions. We saw Food Inc. at the 2009 Dallas AFI International Film Festival. This challenging and graphic film encouraged my interest in food production, distribution and consumption. I have recently read the inspiring "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver. Ms Kingsolver inspired me to add to my Amazon wish list "Home Cheese Making" by Ricki Carroll. My aunt and fellow local food enthusiast fulfilled that particular wish. I am currently working on finding the time and courage to make cheese. I also intend to read Michael Pollan's "Omnivores Dilemma" it is on the book group list of books for this year. For another book group we just finished "Salt: A World History" by Mark Kurlansky. This very interesting historical read is not specifically about this subject but it does discuss the changes in food preservation, distribution and consumption as it relates to Salt. We just discussed this book with my group and we all agreed it is a great book for amazing historical anecdotes, which your friends and family will be really impressed with
I digress, but isn't that what is great about inspiring movies they can challenge and encourage you to take an interest and find out more. But going back to the film festival, for various reasons, scheduling and other commitments, sadly, we were unable to volunteer with the film festival this year, which has been re-branded as the "Dallas International Film Festival". This was also so that we could make the time to actually see more movies. Our favourites were:
1. My Tehran for Sale: An atmospheric and moving film, actually filmed undercover in Tehran. The soundtrack is brilliant as are the actors, a real insight into how people live in a part of the world many of us will probably never visit.
2. Documentary Shorts:
6: Two six-man football teams from some of the smallest towns in Texas are in Lubbock to compete for the state title.
A.45 at 50th: Actor and Activist James Cromwell relives his experience with Elbert 'Big Man' Howard, a key member of the Black Panther Party, during 1968.
Dig Deep: Artist Frank Campagna laments the destruction of an artistic landmark in Dallas' historic Deep Ellum neighborhood
Quadrangle: In the early ‘70s, two couples swap partners and live in a group marriage, hoping to pioneer an alternative to divorce.
The Shutdown: Alan Bissett recalls growing up next to one of Europe's largest petrochemical plants and the explosion that deformed his father.
I loved the documentary shorts selection this year, they were all brilliant in their own right. It was great to see a local short, "Dig Deep" about the mural artist, Frank Campagna The documentary inspired us to commit to attending both the Deep Ellum Arts and music festival which was a gorgeous sunny day, great art and music and introducing friends to the usefulness of the, Dallas Area Rapid Transit Service, DART. Here is the link to our photos. We also attended the Deep Ellum Art Walk, despite the rainy evening. Inspiring urban and contemporary art, including, an artist who produces great art on reclaimed billboards. Here is the link to our photos.
Photo courtesy of http://www.istockphoto.com/index.php
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