Michal Kozlowski's Blog

Back at the Yukon Arts Centre for day three of the festival, and the theatre was much warmer than on opening night.

Necessities of Life (Ce qu'il faut pour vivre), by director Benoit Pilon, kicked off the morning. The story begins on Baffin Island in 1951 and then moves to a sanatorium in Quebec City. It's really a beautiful film, starring Natar Ungalaaq (of Atanarjuat, The Fast Runner and The Journals of Knud Rasmussen). Ungalaaq may be Canada's most captivating (or whatever the word is for "hard-to-look-away-from") actor. 

The next film shown: Nurse.Fighter.Boy, by Charles Officer from Toronto. Of all the movies I've seen here so far, this one falls into the hand-held shooting or shaky camera category. It's not too shaky, but after watching so many ALFF movies filmed by cameras on tripods, you really notice the difference. I've been told numerous times this shaking technique is used to make the movie feel more like a documentary, more like you are there. There's one problem: few people shake so much, especially when sitting or standing in one place. In fact, to get that shaky camera effect in real life, you've really got to move your head. Just try it.