Film festival blurs fact and fiction

‘ ‘ ‘ Carnegie Mellon University will approach the rickety fence separating reality from the… ‘ ‘ ‘ Carnegie Mellon University will approach the rickety fence separating reality from the imaginary this week in its third annual International Film Festival, ‘Faces of Realism.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘Realism in cinema is different than in literature or painting. There is a blurred line between fiction and documentary. There are documentaries with staged sets and fiction films with real time frames,’ said Jolanta Lion, the festival’s director and assistant director of the Humanities Center at Carnegie Mellon. ‘ ‘ ‘ Selecting the range of films to follow this topic was no easy task. Lion watched about 100 films and selected nine. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘I believe they are the best representatives of realism and have very high artistic merit. It’s like I’m bringing nine pieces of art, rather than just films,’ she said. ‘ ‘ ‘ The event’s goal is to ‘question and look for a relationship between reality and cinema. We want to ask questions rather than answer them,’ said Lion. To generate these discussions, many screenings incorporate lectures or question-and-answer sessions with the directors. ‘ ‘ ‘ Friday’s showing of ‘Momma’s Man’ at Southside Works Cinema, for example, will showcase an appearance by its award-winning director, Azazel Jacobs. The film details the story of a man named Mikey who returns home to live with his parents in Tribeca. ‘ ‘ ‘ The festival will conclude on Sunday with ‘Marcela,’ a film that embodies precisely the kind of blurred realist-fictional vibe that Lion discussed. Czech director Helena Trestikova followed a woman named Marcela for 20 years, becoming a fixture in her daily existence. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘By watching this glimpse of a person’s life, you have the impression that it is fiction. But it’s not ‘mdash; it’s creation,’ said Lion. ‘ ‘ ‘ Regardless of whether each piece of cinematic splendor is fact or fiction, the festival will give viewers a rare opportunity to see award-winning films and create their own sense of realism.