ok. this is how i found this short film. i happened to google myself one day and was interested to learn that one of the first hits on the internet was a film called “bamboleho” – two of its main characters are called mara and ahmed. i was intrigued. i found a lot of reviews on the film especially on a website called POV – a danish journal of film studies. this was a couple of years ago. i looked for the film everywhere – on netflix, blockbuster online, amazon.com. i was ready to rent it or buy it, i just wanted to see it.
about a month ago i sent an email to richard raskin in denmark. he is the editor of POV. i got an instant response. he sent me luis prieto’s email address – the spanish filmmaker who directed bamboleho. i wrote to luis and he sent me his website where i could go and view the film online. i was so excited! “do you speak spanish?” he asked. i don’t. but i’d read so much about the film i had no doubts i would be able to follow the 20 minute short. plus my french always helps a little bit with latin languages.
here is some background on the film, in an interview with luis prieto.
to see the film, go to luis prieto’s website, click on reel, then click on bamboleho on the left hand side of the screen.
loved the film’s artistic elements – the daliesque visual feel of the opening, the poetic notion of living on rooftops, and how these elements contrast with the very raw and harsh realities of the characters’ lives.
