AFI Dallas
April 2, 2009
The American Film Institute promotes education and recognition of excellence in film-making. Two years ago, they started a new annual festival series here in Dallas. We weren’t able to attend any screenings the first two years — our son Garrett was born at the same time as the first one, for example — but I finally made it this year to a few screenings at the third annual AFI Dallas:
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St. Nick: This film explored the difficult lives of two children running away from home. The two children actors, siblings on screen and in real life, were excellent. There were definitely some powerful moments, but overall it was painfully slow and left out too many details for us to piece the plot together. Perhaps we are just too dense, but it seemed like it was trying too hard to be “artsy” for no particular reason.
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Lightbulb: I attended a late show of this intriguing film with my friend Brian. It told the story of the invention of a popular novelty gift — I won’t say what it was because that’s part of the fun. (I will say that we have one of them in our house.) The movie combined sympathetic characters, a compelling story, a nice balance of humorous and serious situations, and some thought-provoking insights into the nature of invention.
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Americana: This documentary primarily followed two high school seniors in California preparing to enter the military after graduation. It provided an intriguing lens through which to look at issues related to military recruiting, American foreign policy, and the way America is perceived throughout the rest of the world.
We certainly enjoyed our first experience with the festival, and I think it will inspire us to attend more events in the future.