See a MOvie See the WOrld

So the International Film Fest is back! Yesterday was opening night for the festival and I'm told that it was opened to a packed house. The festival is definitely multiplying in populairty every year. Last year, I got a friend's pass and saw about half a dozen films which were all really excellent. It's an excellent opportunity for all of our Milwaukeeans that are surely sheltered in this midwest tundra to the world of culture outside keggers and thirsty thursdays. The two movies I definitely want to see this year are Blak Gold, about the global movement of fair trade and taking place in the birth place of coffee, Ethiopia, and also Suffer and Smile, which is about the legacy of fantatstic afro-beat jazz music and the legacy of activism attched to the Fela Kuti, his son Fema, and the generations to come. I saw Femi play at a MIlwaukee festival 2 years ago, when they were filming this doc, and it was really cool to see his son on stage with him (could't have been more than 10), playing the sax up front with his dad and with the rest of the horn section. The history of this family and their roots in the movement of music is extremely interesting. Fela Anikulapo ("the man who carries death in a pouch") Kuti once even declared his house and large yard his own state and brought in hundreds of the oppressed around Nigeria. He passed away in his late 40's due to AIDS. REGARDLESS, the international film fest is defintely a great opportunity to get out of the conglomerate box office and see some real films. It is a bit taxed at around 9.00 a showing (which is inflating like summerfest tickets when you look at years past), so try and get a friend's pass or mug a judge for his and make your way to see the world! PEACE.