Himalaya Film & Cultural Festival

Sometimes you just want to see a film that takes you away. To somewhere hot if it's cold, somewhere fascinating if you're bored, somewhere unfamiliar if your world feels too small.

Himalaya, Where the Wind Dwells is one such film. Evocative and beautifully shot, it follows a depressed Korean businessman (played by Choi Min-sik) who travels to Nepal on a whim to visit the family of an illegal immigrant killed in an accident in Korea. What follows is a rare insight into a family's routines and rituals in a remote part of Nepal.

It may be fiction but it's one of those films that makes you feel that you're almost there. The fluttering of colourful prayer flags, the tinkling of horse bells, the low grunts of farm animals and the jaw-dropping Himalayan backdrop. In fact, heading out of Rich Mix on a Friday night into a Shoreditch in full party mode was a bit of shock. I wanted to turn round and be back in Nepal.

Himalaya, Where the Wind Dwells was the opening film of the Himalaya Film & Cultural Festival. Thankfully we can escape from a rainy London to the Himalayas for the next few days, courtesy of this festival, the first of its kind in the UK. Films (and accompanying talks) from Afghanistan, Bhutan, Burma, China, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Tibet will be shown at Rich Mix throughout the week.

“People in the UK have heard of the Himalaya but a lot of the region’s coverage is based on a few well-worn stories like Mount Everest and the Gurkhas. While these are important, the Himalaya are much more diverse than that, " says Taran Wilkhu, Director of Projects, who helped set up the festival.

"With large communities from Afghanistan, Kashmir, Nepal and other parts of the Himalaya living in the UK, we wanted to raise awareness of life and culture in the region beyond the usual stereotypes. This includes the exposure of film and other art and media, and the direct, grassroots educational initiatives we are also involved in.”

Some films will be UK premieres while others like the Kite Runner are well known. Live music from traditional and modern musicians can be heard at the Nehru Centre,  Mayfair and Passing Clouds, Dalston while art and photography exhibitions from international artists will be shown at The Sweet Tea House, Bethnal Green and the Nehru Centre.

The Himalaya film and cultural festival runs until Friday 12th February. See the website for the full programme of events.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Just seen the trailer for The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo film adaptation on Film 2010. It looks brilliant. Thank god the Swedes have filmed it before Hollywood does. The U.S. version is in pre-production apparently. What's the betting it'll be Nikita all over again? ie. take an amazing European psychological thriller (Luc Besson's Nikita) and remake it into an insubstantial action flick (like Point of No Return starring Bridget Fonda).

But I digress. Here's a longer version of the one just shown.

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I've got a feeling it might not be the official trailer because "definitely" is spelt "definately" (pet hate...grrr).

If you haven't yet read Stieg Larsson's Millenium trilogy of books which begins with The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo then, as well as being in for a treat, you have until 12th March when the film opens in the UK.

Mugabe and the White African

Admiration, indignation, shocked, sad, upset. Just some of the feelings I  experienced on the bus on the way home from the ICA this evening. Mugabe and the White African is a feature length documentary about the ousting of white farmers from Zimabwe by President Robert Mugabe, shot over nine months. Yet it's so much more than that. It's an emotional and gripping story of a courageous man's fight to defend his farm, his family and the livelihood of 500 black workers and their families.

For eight years, elderly white farmer Mike Campbell, helped by his son-in-law Ben Freeth, has been battling  Mugabe's Land Reform programme. Mugabe has said this programme will give the land back to the "black peasants" but as the film shows, the farms are being reclaimed by corrupt officials, asset-stripped and left to go to waste. Mike Campbell doesn't want this to happen to his farm. In an unprecedented move he takes the President to an international court hearing in Namibia on charges of racism and violation of human rights. It's David versus a corrupt Goliath.

Much of the filming was done covertly with the crew sneaking equipment into a country in which they weren't allowed. We get a sense of the brutal violence and intimidation tactics wrought by the farm invaders in the name of Mugabe's government. It isn't pretty viewing.

Although filming was risky, it is beautifully shot and very cleverly edited to create suspense and tension. The dramatic original score emphasises the emotional impact on the family. You never feel that Mike and Ben are in any way pandering to the camera either. They just seem amazingly determined, passionate and genuine. It's no surprise that the film has received rave reviews in Empire and Time Out.

"It seems extraordinary in this day and age that as a global community we still have no means to stand up to a dictator who brutalizes and subjugates his people, both black and white, " say the film's directors Lucy Bailey and Andrew Thompson. "Concerning ourselves with such a situation, and informing ourselves about it, is the first crucial step towards ultimately seeing it addressed."

I really hope Mugabe and the White African gets a wider distribution. It's a heavyweight film concerning a serious issue but is never dry or boring. It is accessible, enthralling and hopeful of change. Of course the ones who would benefit most from seeing this remarkable documentary, can't. If only ordinary Zimbabwean people were able to feel empowered enough by this film to overthrow Mugabe, the world would be a less scary place.

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The run has completely sold out at the ICA but is screening at the Empire Leicester Square, Odeon Panton Street and The Tricycle Kilburn until Thursday 28th January. Followed by various venues around the UK and Ireland until it returns to London for one night only at Riverside Studios on 3rd March. Check the website for the screening schedule.

Capitalism: A Love Story

I do like a nice surprise. I don't like not-nice surprises, or shocks to be more exact. I got both last night. When I arrived at the BFI Southbank I was told that their surprise film screening that evening, as part of the BFI Film Festival, was showing uptown in Leicester Square. I was at the wrong venue with a minute to go before the start. Gulp. So I hot-footed it there in high heels and missed the start of the film which was...drum roll...Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story.

Moore sometimes has a tendency to labour his point but not here. This is an engaging, insightful film which explores how capitalism has taken over from democracy in the US and the historical corruption which lies behind the recently engineered crash (yes, I said engineered-the film explains all). I mean, we all know banks have been pulling sheep loads of wool over our eyes but I never realised just how much American banks have been pulling the strings of Presidential puppets. It's really scary.

CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY: Film trailer

Of course Moore has touched on capitalism in previous films but never in-depth, with a global recession as his reference point. He has some great scoops. He talks to a guy who used to be known as the "VIP man" at a big bank. This meant he sorted out special deals for friends of the boss (congress members, captains of industry etc) often saving them millions in fees and interest on loans while ordinary people were losing their homes.

He also talks to distressed people affected by the downturn. Including families who found out that the death of their late husband or wife had earned their former employer (eg Bank of America, Wal-Mart) thousands from secret life insurance policies. A corporate practice known as "Dead Peasant" insurance. As ever he uses humour and inventive use of archive footage to demonise Bush or remark on Reagan's ridiculousness.

I'm not spoiling it by telling you any of this because they're just a fraction of what Moore unearths. And his door stepping pranks are (as you'd expect) brilliant. But I was surprised that the big man himself didn't make an appearance given the surprise film's billing as "the hottest ticket in the entire festival". I think I was slightly short changed - Micky Rourke and director Darren Aronofsky gave a talk after The Wrestler last year - but maybe the budget has been cut.... 

The film had a limited release in the US a month ago and is released here in February. It's an eye-popping must-see. Especially if you're a banker as you'll need to have a defence at the ready for your next dinner party.