By Gina Lanaux

Last weekend, The 10th annual Fairhope Film Festival was held in Fairhope. I worked as a volunteer for the event for the first 4 or 5 years and still feel connected to it. Walking to venues throughout the town with stops for drinks and meals in between showings is my version of a perfect weekend!  4 Days, 40 films, is the tagline of the festival, so it's often hard to choose what to screen.  I opted for six movies, four that  I loved and two not so much…. I also attended the Red Carpet Party  Saturday night which is always fun. 

I missed the opening night film, held at the Halstead Amphitheatre, an outdoor walk-in movie called Loren and Rose. My friends said it was a great show followed by a question and answer with the director, Russell Brown. You learn so much more about a film when you hear the director talk about his creative process.  Many of the films will be viewable on streaming services soon, and this one will be at the top of my list. 

Friday, I walked from my home on Bayview Street to my first film in the USA, Baldwin County theater. I must say, it gave me great joy to walk to a movie in my hometown! I saw a hysterically clever and funny film called The Weasel’s Tale. It was Spanish with subtitles about four aged motion picture veterans, who share a country estate, and are visited by real estate developers who want to buy the villa. This was by far my favorite film of the entire festival. It was full of great dialogue, crazy characters, and a delightful plot.  I was in a wonderful mood after seeing it, wishing I could remember all of the acerbic one-liners that were slung around.

Next up, Juniper, starring Charlotte Rampling, at the Fairhope Library. This one was more serious but still entertaining and it was in English. A young self-destructive teenager is suspended from school and is asked to look out for his feisty alcoholic grandmother as punishment. The crazy time they spend together turns his life around. It was a poignant character study and I teared up at the ending. My friend and I then went for drinks and dinner downtown at Locals on the Alley and processed what we had seen that day. I am enriched!

 Saturday morning, I saw Haute Couture, a French film with subtitles about Esther who is at the end of her career as Head Seamstress at Dior Fashion house. One day, she gets her handbag stolen in the metro by a 20-year-old woman, Jade. Instead of calling the police, she decides to take care of Jade. She sees in her the opportunity to pass on her skills, the craft of dressmaking. The scenes of Paris and the beautiful clothes from Dior, made this movie magical for me and the characters were very interesting and complex. The relationship between Esther and Jade was enlightening.    

Saturday Afternoon, I go to the theater at Coastal Alabama Community College to see another French Film, called Both Sides of the Blade. It was a love triangle story about a woman who was caught between two men, her long-time partner, and his best friend, her former lover. Passion with a capital  P, was slow, intense, and full of longing as some French films can be. Juliet Binoche was the woman, and she is a great actress.  After this screening, I was ready for a party!

The Red Carpet Party was Saturday night, and it was held on Summit Street in front of the Film Festival Office. There was a great band, “Journey to Mars' ', delicious fried oysters from Clifton Morrisette Catering, and a great crowd of movie lovers celebrating the fantastic weekend. Mary Riser, who is the founder and director of the festival, was in attendance to conduct the awards ceremony with prizes for Best Film, Best Short Film, Audience Award for Best  Documentary and Best Narrative, Volunteer of the Year, and many others.  I could have danced all night!

Sunday morning, back to Coastal to see Balloon, a German film set in 1979 that was based on a true story about a family that makes a hot air balloon to escape East Germany, all while the East German State police are chasing them. It was so exciting and suspenseful, it kept me on the edge of my seat. It may have been my second favorite of the weekend, a tie with Juniper.  

Lastly, I saw the winner of the Palme D’or at the Cannes Film Festival, The Triangle of Sadness. I had high expectations and was speechless when it was over, and it will take me days to process and understand it. A satire on rich people, it was full of chaos and uneasiness that made it hard to watch but I think this was the director’s intent. Art should elicit emotions and this work did. After it was over, I was exhausted.  

Whew!  Too much to tell you but if nothing else, put the Fairhope Film Festival on your calendar for next year. It is always the second weekend in November. You will be entertained, educated, and enriched in your own hometown!

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