(MENAFN- Arab Times) LOS ANGELES March 9 (RTRS): A director and a producer in Iraqi Kurdistan battle the odds to make a feature about Saddam Hussein's Al Anfal massacre in 'Memories on Stone' a dark tale of an inescapable past told with expected dollops of absurdist humor. Presumably full of semi-autobiographical touches the film fits snugly into director Shawkat Amin Korki's body of work ('Kick Off' 'Crossing the Dust') and the long line of pics dealing with the social and personal pressures of making a relevant movie. 'Memories' has been picking up awards (Abu Dhabi UNESCO) and while weak on character development it will continue to find hospitable fest berths.
A 'Cinema Paradiso' style prologue shows young Hussein (Birhat Hussein) visiting his projectionist father (Kamiran Betasl) during a screening of 'Yol' (the art department adds a nice cinephile flourish with a 'Mogambo' poster in the booth). Soldiers storm the theater saying the film is forbidden beating Hussein's father in tandem with the violence glimpsed on the screen below. Cut to the present and Hussein (Hussein Hassan) now a helmer with childhood friend Alan (Nazmi Kirik) as producer is preparing to shoot a movie about the Kurdish genocide under Saddam Hussein. Equipment is a challenge but they've secured the ideal location the prison where Iraqi forces rounded up and tortured the local population. They also have a male lead in the extravagantly mustachioed Roj Azad (Suat Usta terrific) a local star with connections to bigwig developers. The main headache now is casting their female lead. As if on cue in walks Sinur (Shima Molaei) a teacher of handicapped children who harbors a desire to act in movies this movie in particular. Entering the set erected in the prison courtyard with a gallows and a giant portrait of Saddam is a jarring experience but she wants the role and Hussein wants to cast her. Complications arise when her uncle Hamid (Salah Sheikh Ahmadi) nixes everything saying it's unseemly for Sinur an unmarried woman to appear onscreen. There's only one thing to do: Hamid's son Hiwa (Bangin Ali) is in love with his first cousin so if she promises to marry him she can be in the movie. Pressures mount for everyone from Hussein and Alan plagued by financial political and personal problems; to Sinur sacrificing rather too much for the sake of a movie; to Hiwa a small-minded man who prefers the codes of his forefathers to the confusion of today. At least shooting has begun and Korki does an excellent job with the film-within-a-film shot in widescreen and given the tonal texture of celluloid. What's lacking is any discernible character development with Sinur who seems to get weaker as the pic unspools. The discovery that her father was a prisoner in the jail they're using is introduced in an almost melodramatic way that's out of keeping with the rest of the film whose undercurrent of lingering tragedy combined with contemporary corruption is more subtly handled. Introducing Hussein's wife and child via Skype also feels forced; less or more is needed. But happily the expansive character of Roj Azad a figure to put Borat to shame can't help but leave a lingering impression in auds' minds. Lensing by Salim Salavati (credited as Salem Salawati in 'Kick Off') is muted subtly almost casually registering the residue of unspeakable horrors in ways that capture their omnipresence without addressing them directly. After turning in one of her less successful fictive seriocomedies in 'Alles Inklusive' aka 'The Whole Shebang' Doris Doerrie is on terra more firma with 'This Lovely Life' a documentary whose protagonists have little time for the kind of neurotic navel gazing that preoccupied those in the previous pic. This portrait of female mariachi musicians in Mexico City doesn't probe too deep but offers a satisfying mix of personality and culture with a moderate feminist slant. While continuing its festival run it should pick up some offshore sales particularly among artscasters. Plaza Garibaldi is ground zero for the myriad mariachi bands of Mexico City and has remained so for decades despite an escalation of crime in the area. They're used to dealing with drug users and hecklers there though it's particularly irksome for women who often have to deal with the chauvinism of male musicians on top of everything else. (It's peculiar that while we frequently hear subjects complain about this Doerrie doesn't tap any male perspectives self-incriminating or otherwise on the matter.) Their lot is also made difficult by the heightened conflict between long irregular hours and childrearing a duty that naturally still falls mostly on the mother's side. A principal figure here is Maria del Carmen a distinctively lusty singer of admittedly hair-trigger temperament. She dislikes leaving the raising of a preadolescent daughter largely to her own mother but has little choice given her chosen profession. Violinist Lupita is lucky to have a husband who understands the logistical demands of her muse and is willing to do more than his traditional share of stay-at-home parenting. Her late mother was part of a pioneering all-female mariachi band whose now-elderly surviving members still perform on occasion. One of them says she doesn't think younger musicians today share the same ethics or love of music that her generation did though from what we see the dedication doesn't seem to have changed. The documentary eventually touches on some larger social issues including the attempts to keep children safe from the pervasive hazards of drugs prostitution and violence. But these are too glancingly addressed to have much impact. Doerrie is more interested in the performance aspects female camaraderie and surrounding local color in her subjects' lives all of which are flavorfully captured by d.p. Daniel Schonauer and other savvy contributors. The result is more diverting than deep but then 'This Lovely Life' aims more to celebrate its protagonists' torch-bearing for a beloved musical form than to do any investigative heavy lifting around their socioeconomic hardships. Also: LOS ANGELES: After producing three Academy Awards shows duo Craig Zadan and Neil Meron may be ending their Oscars streak according to a tweet from Zadan. Saturday night Zadan tweeted what seemed like a cryptic goodbye to Hollywood's biggest night. 'Hoping that whoever produces the #Oscars next year will retain our innovations: #TeamOscar program & reading all 24 nom on Oscar nom morning' he wrote. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences however has not made an official announcement on the matter yet and its publicity office did not immediately respond to request for comments. This year's Neil Patrick Harris-hosted Oscars was down 16 percent in the ratings from last year hitting a six-year low in total viewer count. While much of the dip in ratings has been attributed to the lack of awareness surrounding the contenders 'American Sniper' was the only bonafide hit in the best picture category others also criticized the show itself taking aim at its long run time and certain jokes that didn't stick. The 2014 show however faired well. Hosted by Ellen DeGeneres the show hit a 10-year best with 43.74 million viewers averaging a 27.9 overnight household rating/41 share. Zadan's reps did not immediately respond to request for comment. Zadan and Meron have also recently produced live TV musicals 'The Sound of Music' and 'Peter Pan' together.
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