dropped into the extraordinary popular delusions & madness of crowds that is the Berlinale last night to see sexed up snail Isabella Rossellini's Green Porno open for Guy Maddin's hometown remembrance My Winnipeg. Rossellini's sexy shorts, commissioned by a sundance project for the "small screen", recounted the erotic intrigues of flies, snails and spiders - while further episodes take on bees and dragonflies. As it wasn't actually the premiere (that was two days earlier) I was pleasantly surprised when both Rossellini and Maddin came out to introduce their films and later engage in a post coital Q & A. While i had no doubts that the directress would prove scintillating and seductive i was happily surprised by how charming and playful she turned out to be. Maddin was engaging and witty as well - reinforcing my opinion of him as one of the most creative and visually arresting filmmakers working today. His homage to Winnipeg, his hometown of sleepwalkers and snow, is one of the finest examples of a love letters written to a place that i've had the pleasure of watching. His trademark black and white, dimly focussed camerawork (and additional antique film stock) proved just the ticket to summon up memories of retreating childhood and youth, flickering across the silver screen and disappearing like fading family photos in the sun.
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