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Here are the films that I am seeing this year, in screening order:

1. Friday, Sept 7, 7:15pm
Le chansons d’amour (Love Songs) (France, Christophe Honoré)

2. Saturday, Sept 8, 9:00am
Control (UK/USA, Anton Corbijn)

3. Sunday, Sept 9:15am
Boy A (UK, John Crowley)

4. Monday, Sept 10, 2:00pm
Silent Resident (Weisse Lilien) (Austria/Germany/Luxembourg/Hungary, Christian Frosch)

5. Monday, Sept 10, 9:45pm
El Pasado (The Past) (Argentina, Hector Babenco)

6. Tuesday, Sept 11, noon
Vexille (Japan, Fumihiko Sori)

7. Tuesday, Sept 11, midnight
Sukiyaki Western Django (Japan, Takashi Miike)

8. Wednesday, Sept 12, 9:45pm
Import/Export (Austria, Ulrich Seidl)

9. Thursday, Sept 13, midnight
Flash Point (Dao huo xian) (Hong Kong, Wilson Yip)

10. Friday, Sept 14, 12:15pm
Déficit (Mexico, Gael García Bernal)

11. Friday, Sept 14, 5:00pm
Hengbok (Happiness) (South Korea, Jin-ho Hur)

12. Friday, Sept 14, 9:30pm
Chrysalis (France, Matteo Botrugno, Daniele Coluccini, Julien Leclercq)

13. Saturday, Sept 15, 6:30pm
Shadows (Koski) (Republic of Macdeonia, Milcho Manchevski)

14. Saturday, Sept 15, 10:00pm
Ex Drummer (Belgium, Koen Mortier)

The only film that I didn’t get tickets for yet is Jar City (Mýrin). I’ll be checking the box office but may need to rush it on Thursday afternoon.

My boss is kind enough to allow me to make up time for daytime weekday screenings. I can’t see anything in the afternoon or evening of this weekend (Sept 8 and 9) because of my comp tickets to Virgin Fest. Regardless, I’m seeing at least 14 films this year and Seana and I are going to have a blast!

Documenting the band Acrassicauda in Heavy Metal in Baghdad (Eddy Moretti and Suroosh Alvi) was a “risky, dangerous, and really fucking stupid” undertaking, according to journalist Suroosh Alvi, and those words are certainly descriptive enough for this film. I was expecting a relatively light-hearted, fun and even novel documentary on the only heavy metal band in Baghdad. And yes, there are more than a few “light” moments, but this is a sober and emotional blow to the head of the reality of what is happening in Iraq as seen through the eyes of people just like me: regular, working class guys who are also passionate about music. And it’s nothing like you’ve ever seen on the news.

The filmakers’ involvement with Acrassicauda began in 2003, when VICE Magazine ran a short piece on them. What followed was a gig set up by VICE two years later, which marked the band’s final performance in Baghdad. After that gig, the band members weren’t heard from again, until a year later when Alvi and Moretti traveled to Baghdad to “see if they were still alive”. This is where the film takes a turn from an already atypical band bio to a “meeting the band” that you have never experienced before (thankfully without the airplane nosedive). Firas, the band’s bassist, plays tour guide for a few days as Alvi and Moretti document both a country and a band that war has torn apart. What follows is a journey through the streets of Iraq, with bulletproof SUVs and a slew of armed bodyguards as company.

As they talk, we learn a lot about these men – about their fears, hopes and dreams. They want to have families. They want to wear their Metallica and Slipknot t-shirts, grow their hair long and have goatees, but any of these things could get them shot, even if they are walking outside before the 9pm curfew. They want to headbang without the fear of being mistaken as Jews in prayer, and killed. They want to flee Baghdad and live in freedom, but they don’t want leave their families behind or be alienated elsewhere. They want to, as the band’s friend Mike puts it, “fly and be free.” But most of all, they want to rock – but how can you do that in a country with a government legislature banning “music filled parties and all kinds of singing”?

With songs like “Massacre”, “Between The Ashes” and “Under World”, Acrassicauda’s song titles seem to be typical of many a metal band’s; the sad truth, however, is that these titles are completely literal, and their lyrics describe the reality of their world. After seeing things through the eyes of these men (both the filmmakers and the band members), who are really not so unlike me and my friends, I feel much closer to understanding what is really going on over there. I am a music lover, and this angle (for lack of a better word) was extremely effective and emotionally stirring. It was a very sobering experience, watching this film, and it will surely stick with me for a long time.

I was able to see this film at a pre-festival press screening at Bovine Sex Club.