Accused of the approvals reached in Cannes, he arrives with force at the Bén trong vo ken vang Festival (or Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell or Oskol inside the yellow valva). It takes three hours and takes the slow label slow cinema very seriously. The first feature film by Vietnamese An Pham Thien has been compared to the film Weerasethakul or Bi Gans, a great piece to know patiently.

Thien must return to his hometown due to the death of his sister-in-law in a motorcycle accident to bury the body and find accommodation for his solitary nephew. In the village you will have to face a crack open by your youth lover and your missing brother. In the slow dance that braids dreams and reality, it invites us to delve into the delightful search for the meaning and faith of life.

Although the first third of the film has seemed to me the best work I have seen so far at Zinemaldia, the last hour is abrupt. As one strives in the depth of his statements, he gradually empties the interest of the viewer, although visually it does not cease to be shocking. Although the search for transcendence begins as spectacular, it is finally lost in the grandeur of the forms, blurring the initial brightness.

I recognize that the choice of night play to see Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell was not a very smart choice. In spite of everything, I have left the room with the interest of knowing what will be offered to us in the future by An Pham Thien, a newcomer of the valva.

The Zabaltegi-Tabakalera section is a showcase of films of all durations, so it is common to see several tapes in a single pass. That is why I have seen three works in the same performance: We Are the Hollow Men, Single Light and Camping du Lac.

Firstly, the We Are the Hollow Men shorts by Georgian Rati Oneli and the Israeli Shaylee Atary's Single Light have been shown in Tabakalera. The first explores the intricacies of the man who has to return home from the Tyrant father; the second, a young man who does not want to turn his back on what happened the day after a rape. In both cases the work of staging and photography is abundant, but they fail in the treatment of the deep themes they want to address: beyond the careful images they cannot build anything else.

 

 

 

 

 

 

No wonder my cousin Camping du Lac smiles at me. The warm solar rays that open the film, the rebel music and the voice-over of the protagonist that makes as an innocent narrator define from the beginning a nice light melody. Éléonore Saintagnan is the director, screenwriter and protagonist of the film.

The protagonist ends up in the campsite of a boiled lake due to car breakdown. What seemed to be a short stay gradually elongated, as our protagonist is stuck to both the legends of the lake and the eccentric neighbors of the campsite. They are the ones who accompany us as the film enters the fantasy plane, that is, to the extent that the search for the mythical monster of the lake gains centrality. (On the subject of water monsters, let me take this parenthesis to recommend the unforgettable Trenque Lauquen that was presented last year in the department of Zabaltegi-Tabakalera).

Although at times it has a great lack of structure and direction, Camping du Lac is an enjoyable film. Its original proposal and the tender gestures and collateral stories that present fun things. On the sixth day of the festival, will brevity and humility not be the keys to the transcendence that we all seek?