Portland International Film Festival 2011: 02/20-02/26 Closing Week Round-Up

How To Die In Oregon

This film does not beat around the bush. Beginning with a terminally-ill cancer patient who dies on camera, How To Die In Oregon explores the sensitive issue of physician-assisted suicide.
Directed by Peter D. Richardson – UNITED STATES

SHOWTIMES
Sun, Feb 20 @ 9:30am (B1)
Mon, Feb 21 @ 7:30 (B1)

7 Days In Slow Motion

Explore the humor and drama of growing up in middle-class Indian household, where education is valued to an extreme, but children will be children.
Directed by Umakanth Thumrugoti – INDIA

SHOWTIMES
Sun, Feb 20 @ 12:15pm (B1)
Sun, Feb 20 @ 3:45pm (B2)

Budrus

Nicholas D. Kristof described this documentary as, “This year’s must-see documentary.” Budrus captures a family man, Ayed Morrar, who was inspired to fight against the powers of injustice on the Israeli-Palestinian border.
Directed by Julia Bacha – UNITED STATES

SHOWTIMES
Sun, Feb 20 @ 2:15 (WH)

Louder Than A Bomb

For those inspired by spoken word and poetry, Louder Than A Bomb is a fascinating replay of a competition involving 600 high school students from 60 schools throughout Chicago.
Directed by Greg Jacobs and Jon Siskel – UNITED STATES

SHOWTIMES
Sun, Feb 20 @ 2:30 (B1)
Mon, Feb 21 @ 5:00pm (WH)

The Four Times

Take a breather with The Four Times (Le Quattro Volte) which follows four different stories in rural Southern Italy.
Directed by Michelangelo Frammartino – ITALY

SHOWTIMES
Sun, Feb 20 @ 2:45 (B3)

My Tehran For Sale

A feature film that was filmed in secret, My Tehran For Sale boldly captures Tehran’s underground art, music, and theater scene. It is Moussavi’s astounding first feature film.
Directed by Granaz Moussavi – IRAN

SHOWTIMES
Sun, Feb 20 @ 5:15 (B3)

My Joy

Simply sold by this quote from Time Out, London: “There are hints of Tarkovsky in the poetic exploration of place and memory… the sense of a Dantean journey and a vision of utter hell are powerfully conveyed.”
Directed by Sergei Loznitsa – UKRAINE

SHOWTIMES
Sun, Feb 20 @ 6:45 (B3)
Mon, Feb 21 @ 2:00pm (CM)

Some Days Are Better Than Others

Four Portlanders with different — yet very Portland, Oregon-esque — lives spend their days trying to find meaningful human connections. The sell here is the acting debut of The Shins’ frontman James Mercer and Sleater-Kinney’s Carrie Brownstein.
Directed by Matt McCormick – UNITED STATES

SHOWTIMES
Sun, Feb 20 @ 7:30pm (WH)

A Somewhat Gentle Man

Yet another black comedy from the great Scandinavian North, featuring a mix of bizarre and fascinating characters. This is either your jam, or it isn’t.
Directed by Hans Petter Moland – NORWAY

SHOWTIMES
Mon, Feb 21 @ 2:15pm (B3)
Tue, Feb 22 @ 6:00pm (B1)
Wed, Feb 23 @ 6:45pm (B2)

Eastern Plays

Eastern Europe post the fall of the Soviet Union is quite a place — full of unemployment, cynicism, and nationalism. Kalev’s feature film was this year’s Bulgarian submission for Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.
Directed by Kamen Kalev – BULGARIA

SHOWTIMES
Mon, Feb 21 @ 6:45pm (B4)
Tue, Feb 22 @ 9:00pm (B3)
Wed, Feb 23 @ 9:00pm (CM)

Honey

This feature by Semih Kaplanoglu follows a child named Yusuf, who is opened up to the natural world through his father, a wild honey collector. As a Turkish film, it explores forests in a way not often seen in that part of the world.
Directed by Semih Kaplanoglu – TURKEY

SHOWTIMES
Tue, Feb 22 @ 6:15pm (B3)
Wed, Feb 23 @ 6:15pm (B3)

Over Your Cities Grass Will Grow

Sophie Fiennes documents the work of Anselm Kiefer’s sculptures and installations, constructed by earth, ash, gold, acid, glass, concrete, and lead.
Directed by Sophie Fiennes – GREAT BRITAIN

SHOWTIMES
Tue, Feb 22 @ 8:15pm (WH)

Circo

Circo is a road movie and documentary about a small traveling circus in Mexico, La Gran Circo De Mexico.
Directed by Aaron Schock – MEXICO

SHOWTIMES
Thu, Feb 24 @ 3:30pm (B1)

The Woods

“This satirical attack on young, modern, globally conscious citizens tells the story of eight grown-up American children creating utopian society as best they can. With gorgeous super-16 footage and an eclectic soundtrack featuring Dirty Projectors, Sun Araw, and Lucky Dragons, filmmaker Matthew Lessner playfully subverts counter-culture films of the ’70s while questioning the shortcomings of his own complacent generation. In a world where new technologies merely distract us from reality, the greatest revolution can only begin by leaving everything behind.”—Sundance Film Festival
Directed by Matthew Lessner – UNITED STATES

SHOWTIMES
Thu, Feb 24 @ 6:30pm (C21)
Sat, Feb 26 @ 5:30pm (C21)

Nostalgia For The Light

This film captures parallels between natural surroundings, memory, and the mysterious by digging through Chilean history and events occuring in the universe.
Directed by Patricio Guzmán – CHILE

SHOWTIMES
Thu, Feb 24 @ 6:30pm (C21)
Sat, Feb 26 @ 12:45pm (WH)

Of Love And Other Demons

A Costa Rican film based off of the novel by Gabriel García Márquez, this film is this year’s Costa Rican submission for Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, and shows what happens when a demonically-possessed girl and a priest are forced into one another’s lives.
Directed by Hilda Hidalgo – COSTA RICA

SHOWTIMES
Fri, Feb 25 @ 9:00pm (C21)
Sat, Feb 26 @ 2:30pm (C21)