HOWL – yes, an illustration of ginsberg’s poem.  very well done.  it combined court scenes, a reading scene, and live and animated illustrations of the lines of the poem.  it was funny and beautiful and perfectly done.  i loved every second of it.

DUOLUO TIANSHI (fallen angels) – wong kar wei.  need i say anything more?  it was an older (1995) film.  it was less action than portrait of several young people in broken lives that occasionally crossed paths.  again, loved it.

EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP – a documentary about a failed documentary about street artists, including banksy.  it was BRILLIANT!  if i had only seen this one movie the whole festival i would have left happy.  🙂

SAWAKO DECIDES – a story about losers who accept that they are losers and go on with their lives.  i thought it was really existential.  they didn’t take control of their lives to make them better, per se… they just took control by accepting that they were losers.  it was funny and not touching.  maybe it was touching.  it had a good sense of humor.  afterwards, there was a q&a with the director, during which everyone asked dumb questions like, "in japan, is it such a bad thing to have left your family?"  uh… yes.  anyway, i don’t think this movie will probably get very much acclaim or go anywhere, but i enjoyed it immensely.

so, 4 for 4.  yay!

today we’re seeing 2 more:  Besuoro and Mine Vaganti.  more about them later.

yesterday i had a 5 hour session regarding on how to be a really independent indie producer.  it was fascinating.  many of the things i learned could be applied to bands or entrepreneurs.  i’ll put details up when i get around to writing that one up for my boss.  but i’m thinking i got more out of it for my own purposes than she’ll get out of it for ours.  it was a fantastic presentation!

today:  besides movies, explore!

oh, and i haven’t mentioned the cool places we’ve hung out at… later, later… so much to tell, so little time!  berlin is awesome!