BIFF
Last night was the viewing of my first two movies at the Brisbane International Film Festival (otherwise known as BIFF). The first was a Korean film called Samaritan Girl (Samaria) directed by Kim Ki-duk who is infamous for his controversial films. I was literally lost for words at the end of the movie because I had not prepared myself for the depressing and graphic nature of this film. Perhaps it would have helped if I had read more about the plot summary) or had read more about other films Kim Ki-duk has directed.

The other movie I saw (starting at 11pm!) was produced by the famous Japanese anime company Studio Ghibli called Pom Poko. Centred on the story told by the Tanuki (Japanese for Raccoon), it continues the studio’s common ‘human-vs-nature’ theme in the light-hearted and quirky style that is only Studio Ghibli. Having seen two other films produced by this company (Spirited Away and Princess Monoke), I can only whole-heartly recommend any of their movies. UQ’s Schonell Theatre is still showing a special showcase finishing on Ekka Day (Wed Aug 11) featuring some of Hayao Miyazaki’s films.

Anarchy
To top off the night (or shall we say morning?) we headed to Rockafellas to support my mate Aaron Blishen (AKA Anarchy) at his debut DJ gig, Resonate. Anarchy’s entire set was extremely well received by a decent sized crowd (especially considering that it was at a time when the taxi queues were at their peak – i.e. 3:30am) . An awesome selection of tracks was enjoyed by all for another hour and a half as the laser show went off in sync with all of the music. Unfortunately the misty haze created by the smoke machine for all the lasers meant that none of my photos I took turned out. Can’t wait for the next gig!