PIFF Schedule

The Portland International Film Festival is upon us, and it gives us such an embarrassment of riches so that if one cannot find something of interest, they probably haven’t even taken a look yet. PIFF goes on for most of the month of February, and our local Moreland Theater is showing films, so nearly anyone, from thesis-crazed seniors to freshmen newly discovering the joys and terrors of a full class load, should be able to find time to see at least one film. I’m personally excited for The Duke of Burgundy, a sexy S&M tale with an all-female cast by Berberian Sound Studio director Peter Strickland (who also promises a follow up about a male-on-male S&M relationship, for, ya know, balance and whatnot). This promises to be better than 50 Shades of Grey, not that it would be difficult to top that. The other movie I’m excited for is totally-not-sexy The Look of Silence, Joshua Oppenheimer’s follow-up to his devastating and amazing documentary The Act of Killing. The Look of Silence shifts attention from the perpetrators of Indonesia’s awful massacres to the victims and the families of victims. If it’s even half as good as The Act of Killing, it’ll still be one of the best documentaries in recent memory.