08/04/2006

Cinema Paradiso

My week at the Film Festival

By Beth Milligan
Local columnist &
Film Festival blogger

Beth Milligan continues her blog about attending events daily at the Traverse City Film Festival at blogs.record-eagle.com. Here's a recent excerpt from "Cinema Paradiso: My Week at the Film Festival":

If there has been a theme in the films I've seen so far at TCFF, it is the exposing of outrageous injustices or hypocrisy, and inspiring (either directly or indirectly) the audience to do something about it ... Up until that point (seeing "Viva Zapatero!"), I could pinpoint just one specific film that had inspired me to be a writer and journalist: "All The President's Men."

I must now add "Viva Zapatero!" to that list. It is a bracing and intimate look at what happens when free expression is restricted by the government.

The audience at the screening gave the film a standing ovation. We kept clapping for three or four minutes, waiting for Sabina Guzzanti (the film's director) to appear on stage, but she had been held up, so the crowd took a brief break until she finally arrived for the Q&A.

Ironically, even with her heavy Italian accent, Guzzanti has been one of the most articulate and insightful guests at the festival.