AFI Fest Day 6 – the halfway point…

Day 6 is the halfway point of the festival and I’ve seen 10 films so far.

Tuesday I squeezed in 3 docs. I started with Buckle Brothers. It’s the story of African American Southland cowboys who bullride. It was okay. (Not exactly a review you can put on a poster.) I wanted a little more depth from the film, a more personal story. And I got that in Back to Bosnia.

Back to Bosnia is the director, Sabina Vajraca’s story of returning to a war torn country to see the place she calls her home, Banja Luka, the second largest city in Bosnia. At age 14 Sabina was sent to live with her Aunt, her brother left with a family friend, her Mother eventually joined them and her Father stayed behind and joined a humanitarian effort, helping the displaced until one day the mosque where he worked was blown up. The family relocates to Florida leaving behind their friends, family and home full of their belongings. The film is heartbreaking and thought provoking, using the Vajraca’s family story to tell the story of all the families of Bosnia who lost their homes both physically and emotionally.

If I wasn’t jerked up enough after seeing Back to Bosnia, Factor 8: The Arkansas Prison Blood Scandal was there to upset me further. Natalie McMenemy, documentary programmer for AFI, introduced the film saying, ”this film will make you angry, and that’s a good thing.” From the gasps heard throughout the theater during the film I wasn’t alone in my outrage. Interestingly I was supposed to see Factor 8 at Slamdance in January 2004. But due to a court imposed injunction the film could not be shown. Kelly Duda’s investigative documentary explores the prison blood donor program in Arkansas. How did tainted blood get into a pharmaceutical for hemophiliacs in Canada infecting them with AIDS and Hepatitis C? Duda’s presence throughout the film reminds the viewer that he is just a citizen in his home state asking a few questions. But the roadblocks he hits along the way are truly disturbing. Factor 8 is an impressive work of investigative reporting, an important film and an insane example of what the media chooses to illuminate or ignore.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 9th, 2005 at 3:21 pm and is filed under Film Festival Reports, Originals. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.