Last week of the Festival

After hemming a bit due to the lateness of the screening, I went to the Uptown for an earlier screening of "Saved from the Flames" a collection of short films that were saved from destruction by archivists and preservationists.  Most were pre-1920's, included the films "A Trip to the Moon" (1902), Buster Keaton's "The Love Nest" (1923), the animated "Balloon Land" (1936), and a ten-minute ride on the front of a trolley down Market St. in San Franscisco, shot a few days before the 1906 earthquake, followed by footage from the same area after the quake, among others.  Presented by Serge Bromberg who provided commentary regarding each film and live piano to score them.  Very entertaining and informative, but ran late, so the other film, "Don't Think I've Forgotten," then started about 40 minutes late.  Went out to wait in a surprisingly long line to get back in, two full houses on a Tuesday night.  The line wrapped around the side of the building and more than half-way again through the alley.  Fading light.  Spitting rain.  Smoke from the Mexican kitchen.  The smell of dumpsters.  Graffiti'd walls.  Spent the first half of the film wondering how I would get home, and if I should leave early, but I was in a middle seat and the film was engaging, so I stayed.  In the end it got out at 11:30 pm, so was able to catch a bus, without too long of a wait, and there were plenty of people at the Downtown stop.  Got home at close to 1 am.

"Don't Think I've Forgotten" was the movie I'd most wanted to see during the festival.  It's the history of Cambodia from the time the French left to the fall of Pol Pot, told through the lens of youth culture/artists/musicians of the time, and more importantly, a history mostly told from the point-of-view of Cambodians who lived through it (many did not.)  It's something we should know.  Eye-opening and heartbreaking (and remorse-inducing.)  Worth staying up for.

Playing again in July.  Worth seeing.