The online edition of Whistler Film Festival keeps rolling on, and it’s right about this time that the fact I’m not walking through the village, moderating Q&A screenings, grabbing a poutine at Zog’s and running into filmmakers and movie buffs is really starting to hit me now. That said, I am still happy I am getting new movies in front of my eyes, even from the comfort of my own 65” 4k TV.
It’s a quick update today as well! There is only one feature addition to the WFF lineup today and it’s a very political-style, docu-like narrative. Read on…
American Thief (United States, dir. Miguel Silveira)
No matter what you make of the current US election, this depiction of Americana in the 2016 presidential election is about as crazy, if not more so. That said, pass your own personal politics aside and simply bask in these very interesting characters, mosty hackers of which are hiding behind the scenes and seemingly changing things having to do with the election through their laptops.
Miguel Silverira’s direction here is very visual and pushing on a lot of colors in the dark on the city streets, pushing red and white for obvious reasons. I feel like I haven’t seen NY portrayed in this manner before. AMERICAN THIEF is also broken into a few chapters with very potent title cards, and there’s a strange but effective mix of what appears to be self-shot phone footage, interviews with real people all intercut with high end widescreen cinematography of New York as it follows these troubled characters, one of which is pushing then Black Lives Matter policies into the police that killed his father.
I don’t feel like AMERICAN THIEF has a lot of solutions, but that’s also okay. It ends on a note that is both somewhat harsh but hey, that’s life. These characters are living moment to moment and trying to figure things out as they go along. I think AMERICAN THIEF, in its loose and free-flowing style, is just wishing to make us more aware of what’s really out there.
Rating: *** out of ****
AMERICAN THIEF begins to stream today on the online edition of WFF and will be available until December 31st.
#WFF20 is here! Join in celebrating cinematic excellence with 97 fresh films, including 30 features and 67 shorts, premiering through from December 20th and available to Canadian audiences online until December 31. Once you order a film, you have 24 hours to watch it. (We at Get Reel Movies stand by our Streamer Box of choice, Apple TV through the Eventival app) Plus, WFF has pledged to share net online proceeds on a 50/50 basis directly with the filmmakers or Canadian rights holders.
For more information, visit www.whistlerfilmfestival.com!