VTIFF Program-Guide 2023 - Flipbook - Page 10
FILMS A TO Z
ABOUT DRY GRASSES
(KURU OTLAR ÜSTÜNE)
Directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Turkey/France/Germany/Sweden | 2023 | Fiction | 197 min
| Turkish w/subtitles
Film Source: Sideshow
Sponsored by: VTIFF Programming Committee
SHOWTIMES
SATURDAY, OCT 21 | 2:45 | BB
About Dry Grasses is a tense, engrossing film, full of ideas
and contradictions, with subtle writing and performances
that fully justify its length. Director Nuri Bilge Ceylan
(Winter Sleep, Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, The Wild Pear
Tree) may be the most important Turkish director of the
past few decades and in About Dry Grasses he proves this
once again. Ceylan has created a talkative and often
discomforting tale of a small-town art teacher, his 12-yearold female student, and an accusation of impropriety that
might be false on its surface, but is rooted in truths the
camera sees. A ravishingly cinematic piece of work
revolving around a complex central character, a cynical,
manipulative monster of a high-school art teacher whose
spiritual and moral void is revealed gradually in a series of
masterful brushstrokes. ~OY
VENUES
10
AFIRE (ROTER HIMMEL)
ALL DIRT ROADS TASTE OF SALT
Directed by Christian Petzold
Germany | 2023 | Fiction | 102 min | German w/subtitles
Directed by Raven Jackson
USA | 2023 | Fiction | 97 min | English
Film Source: Janus
Film Source: A24
SHOWTIMES
TUESDAY, OCT 24 | 4:15 PM | BB
WEDNESDAY, OCT 25 | 7:15 PM | BB
SHOWTIMES
MONDAY, OCT 23 | 2 PM | FH
In Christian Petzold’s (Phoenix, Transit) newest romance,
fires ravage the countryside while passions amongst a
group of young people smolder at a vacation hideaway.
Over a hot, dry summer, two friends decamp to the
seaside: one to finish his novel, and the other to complete
his photography portfolio. An initially elusive houseguest
awaits them there, Nadja (Paula Beer), who makes love
noisily in the night and leaves a messy kitchen in the
morning. The close quarters of the three ignites feelings of
insecurity, lust, joy, and even love. In the distance, forest
fires burn, encroaching ever closer on their summer
getaway. The scorching second installment to Petzold’s
“Elements Trilogy,” after his watery Undine (2021), is a
humorous, biting send-up of artistic self-involvement and
intellectual pretensions, set within the loose and sultry
atmosphere of a summer holiday but throbbing with the
urgency of impending annihilation. ~TW
FH: FILM HOUSE
BB: BLACK BOX THEATER
UVM RECITAL HALL
AT REDSTONE CAMPUS
All at Main Street Landing
Performing Arts Center, Burlington
384 South Prospect Street
Burlington
Mud between the fingers. The murmur of locusts, frogs and
crickets. The pregnant air of an oncoming storm. The
warmth of summer sun. The caress of a lover’s hand. Rain
on the skin. Raven Jackson’s staggering feature debut
evokes the texture of memories, as she lyrically yet vividly
tells the story of Mack, a woman in rural Mississippi dealing
with life’s struggles, joys and secrets over several decades.
Eschewing standard chronology, this poetic and beautifully
crafted portrait heralds the arrival of an artist with a deeply
assured vision. Aided by Jomo Fray’s gorgeous
cinematography and a number of subtle, powerful and
largely wordless performances, Jackson creates a universe
that you can see, feel, touch, smell. It’s both an immersive
experience and a remarkable film. ~SM
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VTIFF.ORG | VERMONT INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2023
