The British Documentary Film Festival & Film: Les Roseaux Sauvages (The Wild Reeds)

Ah, the end of the blog backlog is nigh.. So! After the film list coming in late - and me spending an inordinate amount of time on it, in case I wanted to use it as a reference for this week's films - I didn't use it at all! despite spending the entire weekend actually going to films. With Movie Roadhouse London, who picked rather well for me.

Last night, the choice was the British Documentary Film Festival, at the Close-Up Cinema - tickets with Eventbrite. Now, the last time I was there was for last year's American Horror Film Festival.. this year's was on Friday, but of course I was otherwise occupied. And last time I was here, I ate in Cinnamon - booked there again this time, and remembered to bring a bottle, as they don't have wine in-house.

..Except, when I got there, it was closed. Now, I remember this from before, and that they have joined with an adjoining restaurant - I just couldn't remember which! Well, wouldn't you know it, I picked the wrong one - I should have gone with Aladin.. instead, I ended up in Sheba!

I have to say, it was a lucky choice, and I'll be back here in preference, in future.. I had spicy samosas to start, followed by my regular butter chicken. I had to tell the waiter (with the startlingly blue eyes) specifically not to include rice with it - it's always too much for me. Instead, I had garlic mushrooms - I love them in general, and was curious - and, of course, a peshawari naan.

And OMG it was gorgeous - particularly the mushrooms! I did have some trouble with the naan, which had a habit of spilling the filling as I tore it - but the whole meal was undoubtedly the best Indian meal I've eaten in years. Wine was nondescript - I should have asked them to get a cooler for mine! They do allow BYOB, I think. But I left well-fed.

I got to the cinema early, got a drink, got a seat in the bar before they filled up. Nary a sign of anyone from the group, so when it was time I just went in and got a seat in the cinema. Shortly, I saw a message in the group chat from one, wanting to know whether anyone was around - he turned out to be sat right behind me! So then he came and sat with me..

The program started with a silent film. Five minutes or so in, it stopped, the lights came on, and an organiser apologised, explaining that yes, there was supposed to be sound, and they were going to re-show it after the others, by which time they'd hopefully have sorted the issue.

So, we started with Alice in Sakartvelo, about life in Georgia during the Russo-Ukraine war, with Russians teeming over the border to Georgia and confusing the issue of Georgia lobbying for independence. Shot entirely in black and white, it's a very interesting view into Georgian opinions about Russia, and won Best UK Documentary.

Rescue the Roots is about the transformative power of music on the lives of young people - features some moving interviews with young people who describe the positive effect it's had on them. This won the Heritage Award.

Sculpting with Fire is a fascinating look into the world of glass-blowing, and won the student award for its maker, who completed it as a Master's project.

Water Ways is a short documentary about a man who derived great mental health benefits from surfing, and won the Social Impact Award.

More than Milk is a fascinating documentary about a project to supply rural Indian families with a cow each, providing the women with a source of income. Won the Wild Animal Award (?), which the filmmaker's granny accepted on her behalf.

Eating the Future, the longest film of the night (we guessed an hour, but it's slightly less), is a journey into the world of food production. Starting (and ending) in battery farms, co-producers Four Paws asked the filmmaker (as she told us, accepting her award) not to make it too depressing. So she did a round of sustainable, and of vegan, food producers, and we learned some fascinating things. Like how Switzerland seems to be the only country in Europe that allows animals to be killed on the farm - so we had the surreal sight of a guy driving up with a rifle and climbing into a kind of watchtower, to pick off a member of the herd.. and there was a vegan farmer who never had to use insecticides, because he gave over a section of his field to wild plants, on which beetles and such lived, which ate the pests! On a more downbeat note, lab scientists who analyzed samples from the battery farms found bacteria that were resistant to three of the four major antibiotics.. This film was a worthy winner of the Environmental Award.

And so to the final film, which had been supposed to be the first film of the night - How the World is Going to End, in which a number of people are posed that same question. The filmmaker explained how he'd spent a fortune on film. The result of his efforts won Best Short Documentary.

And so back out to the bar, where we got a drink - and finally found the organiser, and had a most convivial chat before heading our separate ways. On the bus home, we were all entertained by a conversation at the back, where a young man was continually proposing to his girlfriend - perhaps seriously, perhaps not, but her reaction was adamant that if there's no ring, it's not a proposal! By the time they got off, almost everyone around was offering an opinion - and as someone near me remarked to his companion after they got off, "This is why I love taking buses.." (For my part, as an Irish person, I can testify that it has never been a thing in Ireland to buy the ring in advance - the lady who has to wear it has to have a hand in choosing it. Unless it's an heirloom, of course.) As you'll have seen if you read yesterday's delayed post, I started to blog last night, but it ran far too late to finish..

But that meant that yesterday's and today's activities ran into the same post - which is handy, because they were with the same group! (A different subset, mind.) Today, I joined another bunch for Les Roseaux Sauvages (The Wild Reeds), in the Cinema Museum - one of its "French Sundaes". After seeing the trailer, I couldn't resist. We were meeting beforehand in the Toulouse Lautrec, appropriately French..

I was first to arrive - wasn't sure there was an actual booking, but it turned out there was, and I took a seat, had a glass of wine, and waited for the others. They were serving brunch, which most of us had - one classic breakfast, one avocado on toast, and French toast (again, appropriately) - which I had with a little jug of maple syrup - a wee bit expensive at £2 for the amount I got, but hey, it was delicious. And we chatted - there was a lot of interest in the film from the night before, Eating the Future - until it was time to head to the museum.

Today's film was prefaced with a number of clips from the same director, André Téchiné, highlighting his sensitive portrayal of character - a few with Catherine Deneuve. They then had an issue with the emergency lighting behind the screen - so the film started a bit late. But wow, was it worth it.. a coming-of-age story with a difference, set in the south of France in 1962, at the end of the Algerian war of independence, in which four young people, on the threshold of adulthood, discover what life, love, sex, and politics really mean.

We start with a very jaundiced view of traditional relationships, as a young soldier, back on leave to get married, while dancing with a guest at his wedding, freely admits that he only got married to get the leave - he proposed to three girls, and, as he says, thankfully one accepted. No wonder the young woman who is one of the four we're mainly concerned with describes being in a relationship with a man as "being branded". For her part, she's sort of going out with Francois, who himself discovers he is interested in Serge, who doesn't really reciprocate, but would be interested in her, but she tells him she's more interested in politics - and then there's Henri, who is a French Algerian, and completely opposed to her politics and disparaging of Francois and his burgeoning homosexuality. And somehow, the four of them remain friends..

I spent much of the film, to be fair, seriously distracted by Frédéric Gorny, who plays Henri, and was the absolute spitting image of an ex of mine.. but the entire story is so lovingly told - no judgement, no real melodrama - as these four young people get to live out their lives as they want, with no apparent restrictions apart from having to attend class and study for their exams. We don't know what direction their lives will go in, any more than they do - but we are so keen to find out. The title - as we discover in a poetry class - refers to a fable called The Oak and the Reed, in which the oak is so proud of its strength, as opposed to the reed, which bends under the slightest pressure - but when a huge storm comes, the oak is uprooted, whereas the reed bends, and survives. Similarly, our protagonists learn to bend to unfolding events and realities, as the film progresses. And the whole film is compelling, from beginning to end, gorgeously shot, and with a terrific soundtrack. One of those memorable ones..

Afterwards, we headed to Mercato Metropolitano, where I had my usual, and we had a nice chat again. So it turned into quite a long day, in the end - and a most enjoyable one. Thanks to the group for making this a great weekend!

Tomorrow, heading to Shake It Up - the Improvised Shakespeare Show (always good) at the Hen & Chickens.

On Tuesday, back with Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) for Mrs. Warren's Profession, by George Bernard Shaw, starring Imelda Staunton, at the Garrick - with plenty of ticket deals available, I got mine from Seatplan, which will give me bonus points with them. Eating beforehand at Bella Italia Irving Street - oh, it'll be nice to get back to Bella Italia.

On Wednesday, we have our work summer party, at the Rotunda in King's Place, of all places! Gee, I only just made that connection..

On Thursday, back with UITCS for Lovestuck, a comedy musical at the Theatre Royal, Stratford East.

On Friday - I'm off on holiday! to the classical music festival in Aix-en-Provence, in the company of my companion for the Swiss trip. We're flying to Marseille. Now, the region is home to a number of historic towns, which I'm keen to see.. hopefully the weather won't be so hot as to prevent travel. Or sleep. Anyway, our first two nights are at the Grand Théatre de Provence - that night, we're attending a concert by Jakub Józef Orlinski.

On Saturday, we're at the opera Don Giovanni. 

On the 15th, we're at La Calisto, at the Théatre de l' Archeveché (open-air).

On the 17th, we're at a concert by the Orchestre des Jeunes de la Méditeranée, at the Théatre Antique d' Orange (also open-air) - getting a shuttle bus to that. And then she's flying home - I'm flying to Ireland for the weekend, a trip that was booked months ago. Finally back to London on the 20th.

And on the 21st, back with UITCS for Noughts & Crosses, at Regent's Park Open-Air Theatre.