Monday 18 April 2011

Reflections on Borderlines Film Festival 2011

While suffering severe Borderlines withdrawal symptoms, many memories of this year's film festival are still floating about in my mind. The films I saw and the films I missed, (but have made a note to see on DVD) and the comments made by the people I met.

Waiting for My afternoons with Margueritte to begin, I asked my immediate neighbour which films she and her husband had seen. She told me that they had been to six or seven and that they had all been fairly gruelling. Among these were Of Gods and Men and True Grit. She and her partner had also seen Into Eternity and Circo. They had had a very different Borderlines experience from my own and it was interesting that the only film we both had in common was the life affirming and sublime My Afternoons with Margueritte.

Of the films I saw: Animal Kingdom, Chico and Rita, Rabbit Hole and Blue Valentine stand out in my mind. Being able to write about them for the blog also served to crystallise the impressions they made on me. What a wonderful way to celebrate an early Spring - feasting our eyes and feeding our souls.
Looking back on the relaxed, friendly atmosphere of the Borderlines Film Festival, I am left with a picture of the Courtyard theatre filled with sunshine and enthusiastic cinema goers - queuing for drinks, comparing notes with one another, searching the programme and then booking to see yet more films.

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