2005 AFFD Festival Week -- I Love This Stuff

To summarize the 2005 AFFD festival means a lot of gushing: it was a tremendous week of unexpected power, grand entertainment and cinematic joy. And lots of Kirin. Listed below are all of my personal ratings for the films I saw (remember, I'm using the AFFD's 1-4 system...there are a couple of 1s that I would have given no rating*):

20:30:40 -- 3
Imelda -- 2
Days of Being Wild -- 2
Men Suddenly in Black -- 2
Gozu -- 3
Cavite -- 4
Untold Scandal -- 3
Kamikaze Girls -- 3
Dark Water -- 3
The Hero: Love Story of a Spy* -- 1
Godzilla: Final Wars -- 3
Infernal Affairs -- 3
Infernal Affairs II -- 4
Love Battlefield* -- 1
Last Life in the Universe -- 4
Bad Guy -- 2
Dolls -- 2
Throwdown -- 4
State of Mind -- 3
2009: Lost Memories -- 1
Arakimentari -- 3
Save the Green Planet -- 3

And here are the Controlled Burning Special AFFD Awards:

Best Scene in a Film: Throwdown, "the table scene"
Best Documentary Film: Arakimentari
Best Use of Reptiles: TIE, Godzilla: Final Wars and Last Life in the Universe
Most Powerful Film: Cavite
Controlled Burning Personal Favorite: Last Life in the Universe
Best Overall Film: Infernal Affairs II

And a final word: frequently I feel like the 40-year-old gaijin, but I must say that the AFFD has been a very rewarding experience. I have never had a sudden rush of cinematic experience like I did after attending the first annual festival. I saw Nowhere to Hide and suddenly it was four years later and I was compiling a database of Asian film. I don't really know what happened, but I've loved every minute of it.

To the volunteers and organizers of the Asian Film Festival of Dallas, I say: bravo. You should be very proud of this year's accomplishments.

Now, about 2006...