“Hunt” is as about as dark and despondent as imaginable. Shot in late autumn in sombre hues and occasional in and out focus camerawork it weighs the viewer down with depressive weight and there is nowhere to go but down. Yiannis (Giannis Belis) is a hunter of fowl and he smokes as if in aContinue reading “RKS 2024 Film: The 65th International Thessaloniki Film Festival: “Hunt””
Author Archives: Robert K Stephen (CSW)
RKS 2024 Film: The 65th Annual Thessaloniki International Film Festival: “The Sock”
Kyros is a struggling filmmaker injured by a collapsing wall during some bizarre if not inane dance movement performance. His leg is fractured and two ligaments are torn. On crutches he has become temporarily disabled. Kyros proposes producing a film about his temporary disability and how that effects the relationships around him. It will alsoContinue reading “RKS 2024 Film: The 65th Annual Thessaloniki International Film Festival: “The Sock””
RKS 2024 Film: The 65th Annual Thessaloniki International Film Festival: “Café 404”
“Café 404” is for you if like a group of decent people who discover a bag of loot and four dead bodies in a restaurant on the skids who then fight over the loot the dead bodies left behind and fight even more when 5 kilos of cocaine are also found. As one of theContinue reading “RKS 2024 Film: The 65th Annual Thessaloniki International Film Festival: “Café 404””
RKS 2024 Film: The 65th Thessaloniki International Film Festival: “Brando with a Glass Eye”
45 minutes of conventional film making is followed by diffuse and scattered imagery desperately clinging to a wandering plot. Call it boring at that point or be generous and artsy or experimental which loses much of the audience. An audience does not necessarily want to be spoon fed but may wander lost in imagery andContinue reading “RKS 2024 Film: The 65th Thessaloniki International Film Festival: “Brando with a Glass Eye””
RKS Mindfulness: My Earthquake Experience Today
I am in Thessaloniki, Greece covering the 65th Thessaloniki International Film Festival. I was in the midst of an online watch of a featured film at the festival and a swaying started. I initially thought it was my chair wobbling a bit but after a millisecond I knew it was an earthquake tremor. It wasContinue reading “RKS Mindfulness: My Earthquake Experience Today”
RKS 2024 Film: The 65th Thessaloniki International Film Festival: “The Philosopher: I Have Something to Say”
Greek cinema is multi faceted, but with a strong satirical tradition frequently directed against the traditional pillars of Greek society; the church, politicians, the military and the bureaucracy. In “The Philosopher” the satirical sword cuts a swath through intellectuals, philosophy, religion, television, academia, book publishers and film production. It is a movie about movie production.Continue reading “RKS 2024 Film: The 65th Thessaloniki International Film Festival: “The Philosopher: I Have Something to Say””
RKS 2024 Film: The Toronto International Reel Asian Film Festival: “Song For No One”
Gene (Giullian Yao Gioiello) hosts an independent radio show in Brooklyn. Who knows who is listening but for certain there are two Asian women pedalling a stationary bike in the forest listening to him sing a song about grieving and about how he is not ready to grieve. We watch Gene on the telephone applyingContinue reading “RKS 2024 Film: The Toronto International Reel Asian Film Festival: “Song For No One””
RKS 2024 Film: The 65th Thessaloniki International Film Festival: “Utopolis”: An Extreme Case of Migrant Bashing
Under international law Greece and all other countries having “asylum seekers” land on their shores must offer basic assistance until asylum proceedings have been completed. The cost simply can’t be deported away as deportation is not a legal option. The numbers are so staggering that Italy has outsourced migrant housing and administration to Albania! AreContinue reading “RKS 2024 Film: The 65th Thessaloniki International Film Festival: “Utopolis”: An Extreme Case of Migrant Bashing”
RKS 2024 Film: The 65th Thessaloniki International Film Festival: “The River”: A Sloppy Effort!
“The River” is a co Italian, Greek and Kosovian production showcasing the endless talent of Makis Papadimitriou fittingly playing the character of Makis. Makis is a contractor for a German firm Sky Autobahn building a segment of a showcase highway in Greece. For safety reasons Makis posts bird figures on soundproof panels lining the highway.Continue reading “RKS 2024 Film: The 65th Thessaloniki International Film Festival: “The River”: A Sloppy Effort!”
RKS Travel: Checked Baggage Fees and Passenger Snickers
When the worst of COVID was over I took an Air Canada flight from Toronto’s Pearson Airport to Athens. While waiting at the gate an Air Canada passenger agent made an announcement that due to so much unchecked luggage on this sold out flight please volunteer to have your bags checked in. A roar ofContinue reading “RKS Travel: Checked Baggage Fees and Passenger Snickers”
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