By

Monteque Pope-Le Beau

and

Austin Winter-Chase

As The Art Of Monteque says goodbye to the 2014 AFI Film Festival, we would like to touch on a few festival highlights. Yes, there were a few hiccups, misunderstandings, a few people getting a bit too rowdy, and the long lines to see the films were way too long, but the festival volunteers were always there being helpful and supportive. With gentle smiles and wonderful advice of what films to see; rushing from one venue to another to put out small situation fires and to solve disputes. Without complaining nor making a fuss the volunteers did what needed to be done in service to others; they are truly the backbone of the AFI Film Festival. They are the festival heroes that very few acknowledge. The Art Of Monteque would like to take this moment to thank the AFI volunteers for helping to make the AFI Film Festival a pleasant experience.

With all the great talent, world premiere movies and breakout hits for  us this year the festival most powerful and interesting films were foreign. These are the AFI film picks from our colleagues of The Art Of Monteque. Please watch for these films as they come to a theater or arthouse near you. We are sure you will not be disappointed.

BREATHE (RESPIRE) 91 mins

Director: Mélanie Laurent

At 17, Charlie is the perfect well-behaved high school student and daughter until she befriends the outspoken and rebellious new girl, Sarah. The two teenagers girls become inseparable. With Charlie falling more and more in love with Sarah everyday. So much so, she is will to put up with the day to day mental abuse Sarah put her though, but when Sarah’s interest eventually wanes, Charlie becomes devastated. Charlie behavior spirals out of control as she tries to win Sarah back, but her attempt in the end changes both the girls lives and futures with a shocking ending.

BREATHE (RESPIRE) is an emotionally intense film. Showing the cost of obsession and emotional manipulation. Mélanie Laurent’s film is a work of art with the bitter sweet feeling of what is to be young; lost in a world of love and rejection. Based on the French bestseller “Respire” (written by author Anne-Sophie Brasme when she herself was 17)

 

 

LEVIATHAN min 141

Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev

Kolya a father and husband who runs an auto repair shop in a small coastal town; becomes embroiled in a property feud with the local corrupt mayor. As he digs in for a fight his lack of attention at home creates a situation and crisis in which Kolya is ill equipped to handle; causing his wife and son to suffer. Leviathan is a tale in which greed, corruption, abuse, betrayal religion and family are carefully woven together in an artistic why up against the breathtaking costal landscape. Resulting in a tale which is both devastating and seductive giving nothing away in the wake of the masterful storytelling of Director Andrey Zvyagintsev.

TIMBUKTU 97 mins

Director: Abderrahmane Sissako

When militant Islamic rebels occupy Timbuktu a deeply textured story begins to unfold. Everything from music to soccer is illegal as the jihadist group takes over northern Mali. When Kidane, a cattle herder who accidentally kills a local fisherman in a dispute; finds himself at the mercy of the rebel. Kidane who is a kind and gentle man is left fearing for the future of his family, but within the strife around him there is still a glimmers of hope in his heart for his daughter. There is such a deeper meaning in Timbuktu with an ensemble of characters affected by the jihadi presence trying to bring the community under their control only to find you can not control the spirit and will of another. Abderrahmane Sissako creates a wonderfully deeply moving story about love and freedom. Timbuktu is Mauritania’s official entry for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar®.

 

Viktoria 155 min

Director: Maya Vitkova

Victoria is a heartbreaking tale of an unwanted child born into a world where there is no love or compassion. Victoria is a child who was born astonishingly without a naval. An unwanted child by her mother who tried to abort her but failed. Victoria later becomes Communist Party’s “Child of the Future,” and raised by the party as a privileged spoiled child. As the Communist Party starts to crumble Victoria’s world is torn apart. Unsure of her place in the new world of freedom Victoria struggles to find the very thing that she has craved, acceptance and love in the face of her uncertain future. Victoria finds that between the wisdom of her grandmother and the love of her childhood friend, she must finally end the cycle of hatred and resentment that has plagued her family for such a long time.