Winter Film Awards 2020
Well it's been a while since I wrote and now after a sabbatical I decided to go back to what I love: write about movies. As we know this is festival season not just in New York but all over the country. As we get warnings about the latest pandemic and precautions I took it upon myself to get back into the film festival experience. After having a brilliant experience at Tribeca last year I decided to throw my hat back into the ring with documenting these festivals. I got the pass to chronicle this year's Winter Film Awards and look forward to seeing some under the radar gems or films that need attention. First off it was the opening night of the festival and I was impressed by the environment as I was near Times Square. The drinks flowed and the people conversed throughout the night. For someone like me who is finally coming out more it was a great sight to see.
Now let's talk about what I seen, the second screening I attended was for The 600 a documentary about 600 soldiers who had to fight their way back to a safe haven during the Rwandan genocide while protecting their fellow tribesman and women. This was heartbreaking, disturbing and happy all at once. I usually avoiding watching documentaries on Rwanda because I get upset but this time I made a exception. I am glad that I did because the documentary was crafting brilliantly as the focus was mainly on the soldiers and how the plights affecting them mentally and physically along with the uncertainty of not knowing whether their families was still alive. Some of the soldiers cried on front of the camera while discussing the fate of their families and that was a poignant moment in the documentary. The filmmakers made sure that you will have so much emotion while watching these men and the people that they help survive talk about their journey. I watched this film with a open mind and after watching it I was blown away by the animalistic way people behaved towards their own. The documentary to me was put together and crafting so well the details was precise and stuck to the subject in hand. The short films before the 600 set the tone for the evening as each one discusses the struggle of minority populations trying to survive. Even the music videos in between have some type of consistency towards the theme. Now let's talk about the first screening.