A qFLIX Foreign Film Showdown - Romance vs. Religion

The documentary 'A Sinner in Mecca,' directed by Parvez Sharma is playing Saturday 5pm at the qFLIX Film Festival.Going to film festivals is like speed dating. There usually comes a time when you must choose between at least two equally promising love interests. It's a fun problem to solve and one that I'm not surprised to be facing at the qFLIX film festival taking place this week in Philly, now through Sunday, July 12th.

Ever since Joseph Graham's romantic drama Beautiful Something set this summer attraction in motion, the 2015 qFlix program lineup has remained so strong that I have yet to come across a movie I didn't enjoy watching. For those of you who like foreign films, there are some tough choices to make as the festival schedule gets busier by the hour, complete with parties at nearby taverns and Q&A sessions with filmmakers.

Among the candidates are Parvez Sharma's documentary A Sinner in Mecca playing at The Prince Theater while husband-wife directors Israel Cardenas and Laura Amelia Guman's romantic drama Sand Dollars lights up the screen at The University of the Arts' Caplan Theater. Both East Coast Premieres, these Centerpiece Films are showing at 5pm on Saturday. So, which one gets the dinner date? This is a tough call since each movie looks like it has a lot to offer audiences. Shot in the U.S., India and Saudi Arabia, A Sinner in Mecca follows Sharma as he embarks on his Hajj pilgrimage, the greatest accomplishment and aspiration within Islam.

Israel Cardenas and Laura Amelia Guman's romantic drama 'Sand Dollars' is playing Saturday 5pm at the qFLIX Film Festival. The journey for Sharma, a gay muslim, is risky because filming is forbidden in Saudi Arabia and homosexuality is punishable by death. This documentary is described by Sharma as telling the story of Islam "like it has never been told before, having endured the biggest jihad there is -- the struggle with the self."

Shot in the Dominican Republic, Argentina and Mexico, Sand Dollars is about an older wealthy European woman's enchantment with a young Dominican girl trying to escape poverty. qFlix describes this unconventional story as involving "turmoil and entanglements over issues of class, money, control, power, jealousy, possessiveness, inequality and exploitation."

To me, the appeal of A Sinner in Mecca comes in part from it being a dangerous Middle Eastern documentary that a man risked his life to make. One the flip side, I find Sand Dollars  to also be worth watching, not just because of it being a Latin American narrative about a complex relationship rarely told on the big screen, but also because it is among a very limited selection of lesbian films playing at this year's qFlix festival. Still, much like finding a romantic partner, everyone has their own preferences in movies.

WATCH the movie trailers here and decide: 

Which of these two qFlix selections is the best match for YOU?

Tickets are available online at qflixphilly.com and at the Box Office!

Monday Movie Meme - Lost in Translation

Have you’ve ever watched a foreign film with subtitles so puzzling that you feel like you’d be better off seeing this movie in its native language? If so, the theme of this week’s Monday Movie Meme is for you and those of us who have had to find our own way -- through the actions and moving lips in films from other lands: Lost in Translation.

Share on your blog or in the comments section, movies you’ve watched that contain frustrating subtitles. They might even be so bad that you felt a headache coming on, just trying to follow long in the story playing out on screen. Some subtitles are incomplete or do not make any sense. Others are displayed in an ineligible font or color that causes strain on the eyes. Whatever the case, you wished more attention to detail was put toward this seemingly minor, yet oh-so-important, aspect of a movie.

Here are my selections for this week’s Lost in Translation theme.

The Girl who played with Fire

I developed a headache while trying to watch this movie due to the faulty subtitles. Solution – turn on the English dub track! That was easy enough, except for the fact that I could not seem to turn the subtitles off, so I had two choices – watch “The Girl who played with Fire” with subtitles only, even though they disappear mid-sentence while the characters are visibly still talking on screen. Or, I can activate this movie’s English dub track and then sit back and watch while the English that I’m hearing on screen doesn’t match up to the subtitles. What the heck?! Did they outsource both versions to two completely different companies, or what?

What I found most interesting, however, is that after I returned this confusing piece of junk back to the library where I borrowed it from, the DVD rental that I picked up from Blockbuster was just fine – so fine that I didn’t even need to watch it with an English dub. I was able to watch it with fully completed subtitles. The lesson in this viewing experience: Be weary of getting foreign films from libraries.

Bliss (Mutluluk)

Yeah, this movie has been on my radar a lot lately and is the (loosely) inspiration for this week’s meme. The subtitles are thin, yellow and too damn small. I had to get up and stand in front of the television several times throughout this movie, just so I could read what the characters were saying.

Good thing that “Bliss” was otherwise a well-made film and had a tight story going for it. Although this is one of few foreign films that I would watch again, it is highly unlikely that I will do so, given the fact that its subtitling size needs to be bumped up a notch or two – or three!

Oldboy

After learning about this popular South Korean mystery drama, I rented the DVD, only to learn that its subtitles do not match up to the action and verbal communication being displayed on screen.

So, I refused to continue to watch “Oldboy” at that time and today it remains among the films I hit the “stop” button on, turning off after only just a few scenes in. Considering what happened with “The Girl who played with Fire” where I had to obtain the same movie twice from different services, I’m now wondering of this “Oldboy” subtitle mix-up was a case of a shoddy DVD source. As the November 27^th release of the “Oldboy” remake approaches, I also wonder if I should even bother watching the Korean one; why bother playing subtitle roulette when I can watch an all-English version without all this native/foreign translation drama?!

What foreign films have YOU watched that contained faulty subtitles, making it difficult for you to interpret, or enjoy, the movie?

Monday Movie Meme - The Chase

I wonder if we give car chases in movies too much credit. They clearly are not the only game in town that can provoke action-packed, heart pounding thrills on screen. So, the theme of this week’s Monday Movie Meme is dedicated to the characters involved in getaways or heavy pursuits, on foot:  The Chase.

Share on your blog or in the comments section, movies featuring an on-foot chase involving one or more of the main characters. They can be trying to run away from someone or something. They can be chasing other people or inanimate objects. So long as these on-screen chases are done without any form of transportation – be that a plane, train or automobile, you’re good to go. Here are my selections for this week’s The Chase theme.

Takers

Jesse is nimble, Jesse is quick, and Jesse cannot only jump over a candle stick, he can survive being hit by a car – multiple times, in this action thriller starring Chris Brown and Matt Dillon.

As a member of a sophisticated bank robbing team, Jesse remains unstoppable after leaping through glass windows and tumbling over fences, among other adventures, to get away from Detective Welles. Had I watched “Takers” just a year earlier, this movie character would have been fitting for my previous list of movies featuring Olympic runners.

The Bourne Ultimatum

A contract killer chases Nicky Parsons through the crowded streets and buildings of a Moroccan city when she tries to help Bourne, in this action thriller starring Matt Damon and Julia Stiles.

Bliss (Mutluluk)

As planned for my participation in the global discussion on human rights, for Blog Action Day 2013, this foreign film is partly why I chose the “chasing” theme.

There is a scene in “Bliss” where a girl who was scheduled to die in an honor killing, is chased through a field, by henchmen from her village.

What movies have YOU seen featuring a chase that takes place on foot?