IFF 2013 – the third edition of the Inspiring Films Festival took place on Friday 27th, Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th September 2013 at the University of Bradford, Student Central Building, Lecture Theatre SC0.51. The festival was organised by the Inspiring Films Society (IFS )in cooperation with Bradford Student Cinema (BSC). There was a short introduction before and a discussion after each film. The public has voted "The Double Life of Veronique" by Krzysztof Kieślowski as the Best Film of the Festival!
Programme:
- Friday 27th September (Opening Gala)
- 8pm – 'In Bruges' by Martin McDonagh (UK)
- Saturday 28th September (European Films)
- 11am - 'My Best Fiend' by Werner Herzog (Germany)
- 2pm – 'The Double Life of Veronique' by Krzysztof Kieślowski (Poland)
- 5pm – 'Festen' by Thomas Vinterberg (Denmark)
- 8pm – 'Tango' by Carlos Saura (Spain)
- 11pm – 'Delicatessen' by Marc Caro & Jean-Pierre Jeaunet (France)
- Sunday 29th September (World Cinema)
- 11am – 'Jesus of Montreal' by Denys Arcand (Canada)
- 2pm – 'Zatoichi' by Takeshi Kitano (Japan)
- 5pm – 'Chungking Express' by Kar Wai Wong (China)
- 8pm – 'Donnie Darko' by Richard Kelly (USA)
Inspiring Films 2013:
In Bruges (UK/USA 2008)
Director: Martin McDonagh, cast: Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson and Ralph Fiennes
Black comedy about two Irish hitmen in hiding, and their gangster boss. During his first job, rookie hitman Ray accidentally kills a young boy. He and his partner Ken are sent abroad by their employer. The film takes place and was filmed within the Belgian city of Bruges.
My Best Friend (Germany/UK/Finland/USA 1999)
Director: Werner Herzog, cast: Werner Herzog, Klaus Kinski and Claudia Cardinale
A documentary film about the tumultuous yet productive relationship between the director and German actor Klaus Kinski. Herzog recounts the heated and sometimes violent altercations between them while shooting all of the five films that the two made together.
The Double Life of Véronique (Poland 1991)
Director: Krzysztof Kieślowski, cast: Irène Jacob, Philippe Volter and Jerzy Gudejko
The film explores the themes of identity, love, and human intuition through the characters of a Polish choir soprano, and her double, a French music teacher. They do not know each other but share a mysterious and emotional bond that transcends language or geography.
Festen (Denmark/Sweden 1998)
Director: Thomas Vinterberg, cast: Ulrich Thomsen, Trine Dyrholm and Paprika Steen
The first film created under Dogme 95 rules. It tells the story of a family gathering to celebrate their father's 60th birthday. At the dinner, the eldest son publicly accuses his father of sexually abusing both him and his twin sister who had recently committed suicide.
Tango (Spain/Argentina 1998)
Director: Carlos Saura, cast: Miguel Ángel Solá, Miá Maestro and Cecilia Narova
A middle-aged theatre director is left holed up in his apartment licking his wounds when his girlfriend and principal dancer leaves him. Seeking distraction, he throws himself into his next project – a musical about the tango. The lines between fact and fiction begin to blur.
Delicatessen (France 1991)
Director: Marc Caro & Jean-Pierre Jeaunet, cast: Dominique Pinon and Marie-Laure Dougnac
French black comedy set in an apartment building in a post-apocalyptic France of an ambiguous time period. The story focuses on the tenants of the building and the newly arrived Louison, who arrives to replace a tenant whose reason for departure is unclear.
Jesus of Montreal (Canada/France 1989)
Director: Denys Arcand, cast: Lothaire Bluteau, Catherine Wilkening and Rémy Girard
The film centres on a group of actors in Montreal who are gathered by Daniel, an actor hired by a Roman Catholic site of pilgrimage to present a Passion play in its gardens. The higher authorities of the religious order forcefully stop this unconventional performance.
Zatoichi (Japan 2003)
Director: Takeshi Kitano, cast: Takeshi Kitano, Tadanobu Asano and Gadarukanaru Taka
A revival of the classic Zatoichi series of samurai film and television dramas. Zatoichi is a blind swordsman who is coming to the defence of townspeople, caught up in a local Yakuza gang war and being forced to pay excessive amounts of protection money.
Chungking Express (Hong Kong 1994)
Director: Kar Wai Wong, cast: Tony Leung, Takeshi Kaneshiro and Faye Wong
Two different stories told one after the other, each about a romance involving a policeman. Except for a moment when the first story ends and the second begins, the two stories do not interconnect. However, the main characters from the second story appear in the first.
Donnie Darko (USA 2001)
Director: Richard Kelly, cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone and James Duval
Cult film that depicts the adventures of the title character as he seeks the meaning and significance behind his Doomsday-related visions. He begins dating a student who has moved to town with her mother under a new identity to escape her violent stepfather.