Even More Movies -- SLIFF!

S and I did such a good job going to SLIFF movies this year -- for the first half of the week anyway.  Then our collective illnesses got the better of us, and we called off our participation in the second half.  But, here's what we managed before we fell victim to the weather.  Get ready for another barrage of movie titles! (Links are either to trailers or full films, depending on what was available.)

Our first night:
Doc Shorts: Animated Lives: a collection of animated, character-driven shorts, including Bike Trip, Marfa, Lotte That Silhouette Girl, Story of Aishan, My Grandfather's Memory Book, Hoan Alone, Carlotta's Face, Maya Bdeg'a (Pelican Hill), and 5 Years After the War.

Intelligent Lives: a moving documentary about ensuring that people with developmental disabilities have the resources to live meaningful lives.

Mr. Connolly Has ALS: this was an unexpected treat, a short film at the beginning of Intelligent Lives.  It's the story of a high school principal's last year in that role after his diagnosis.  A very sweet story which provides a little bit of faith about kids these days.

I can't remember what we did for dinner this night -- probably just grabbed something in the Loop.

Our second night:
We started out with an early dinner at Yellowbelly, which was immensely filling and tasty.  I had either the fish sandwich or the burger, I can't remember now.  What I do remember is that it came with a mountain of fries.  My drink options were a bit limited, on account of my distaste for both tequila and mezcal, but I still managed to stumble my way through the drink menu on rum alone.

Inventing Tomorrow: this was a great documentary about some of the world's top kid scientists, their research, and their participation in ISEF (the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair).  The coolest thing that we learned from this movie is that there's a Public Day at ISEF, and one of these years, we are going to go!

My Name is Batlir: a goofy but sweet movie about a boy with an oversized head, and how he finally finds his place.

Narrative Shorts: Baring It All: stories about vulnerability, including Three Centimeters, Spring, Camgirl194, Tightly Wound, L'Amazone, Constellations, Barefoot, Denise, and Life After.

Our third night:
Stroop: a horrifying documentary about the war for rhino horns in Africa, and an investigation into the eventual use of the rhino ivory.

Dinner was at Mission Taco Joint in the Loop, because we both love street tacos!

My Big Gay Italian Wedding: a comedic coming out story featuring a very unhappy Italian father.

Our fourth night:
Heaven Will Wait: a story about two girls drawn to radical Islam, and the different directions that their lives go based on the choices they make.

Dinner was at Vito's, which was disappointing.  People love the place, but I've never understood why.  I'm pretty sure the only reason it's still in business is because it's so close to SLU, so they have a built-in audience.

Narrative Shorts: Comedy: these should have been just what they sound like.  They were disappointingly not funny, and the venue (the Stage at KDHX was awful; we ended up standing through the whole show).  We missed a couple of the shorts -- we were late because we couldn't get our bill at Vito's, and left early because I was not feeling well and my feet were killing me.  12:58 P.M., My Son NN, Writer's Workshop, We Know Where You Live, It Should Be Easy, Sac de Merde, Driving Ms. Saudi, Gina, Life Partner, Medusa, One., Jessica Jessica, Boob Sweat.
The ones we didn't see: Il Etait Une Fois Mon Prince Viendra, I Will Not Write Unless I Am Swaddled in Furs, Floovy, and A General Audition.

And after that, S and I both got really sick, so no more movies for us.