The film I observed was called "Ezra". It was a coming of age story of a young boy, kidnapped and made into a revolutionary soldier. As Ezra is confined to a harsh enviornment of murder, deception and political strife, he is subject to the brainwashing of rebel forces. Upon being kidnapped Ezra is separated from his family and experiences the loss of innocence at a very young age. As a youth turned soldier Ezra finds himself in a moral dilemma, as he is sent on a mission to burn down his own families village were his parents were murdered. It is this incident that conflicts Ezra and causes him to flee the revolution, in a desperate race for personal freedom. Upon leaving the revolution Ezra pregnates a young, fellow female soldier, who is later killed, sending Ezra into an emotional break down. He is then captured by authorities and questioned in front of the civil law. Though Ezra is not found guilty of his war crimes, he reveals the harsh realities of the war and gives direct insight into his journey.
I also observed the program "Drum" the story of a sports journalist, turned activist named Henry. As henry sees the corruption and suffering of 1950's South Africa, he confronted with the political strongholds of the government. After consulting with a woman who's son has been missing, he is inspired by his wife to write about South Africa's turmoil in the magazine called "Drum". Henry is assisted by his comrade, a photographer on his project, but Henry is later killed by the government, because he was about to expose the governments corruption.
1 comment:
Hi Bryan,
It sounds like you had a great time at the festival and in addition to seeing two great films, took advantage of the entire experience. I too did some interacting with several of the vendors, but was unable to even ‘walk’ through and see all that was there. I enjoyed the reviews you wrote about both films – both I had seen in the program and both were of interest to me, but did not quite fit into a schedule I could manage. Although both films sound like they dealt with difficult subject matter, your review of Ezra in particular got a reaction out of me as I remember seeing the face of that young boy on the trailer and thinking to myself, he is only a small boy, and yet, because of the strife in his country, he is not a child at all, but rather a ‘killing machine’ of sorts – tragic. I also wanted to mention that your review of the film “Drum’ reminded me of a true story in which several African American writers (Langston Hughes being one of them) exiled himself to Paris so that he could write more freely about what he believed was happening in the US. There were four out spoken black writers that left the US and two died . . . somewhat suspiciously.
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