by RUPERT BOTTENBERG, LORRAINE CARPENTER and SARAH ROWLAND

Algerian protest music? Beast-freak claymation? Anti-totalitarian novelists? With 280 films from 30 different countries covering 26 different disciplines of art, it can be a little overwhelming trying to choose which film to check out at the 24th International Festival of Films on Art (FIFA). So to make your life easier, the Mirror screened dozens upon dozens of biographies and came up with the following picks:

Minotauromaquia: Pablo in the Labyrinth

After that SNL sketch with Jon Lovitz and Phil Hartman, the one where the great painter’s sketches no longer cover his bistro bills and he’s obligated to wash dishes (that one always killed me), this is the second funniest Pablo Picasso riff I’ve seen. The delightful 10-minute claymation short from Spain finds ol’ Pablo lost in a maze inhabited by the denizens of his own paintings, including his recurrent Minotaur, who gets all pissed off when Pablo steals his piece of charcoal. What Juan Pablo Etcheverry’s short film really constitutes is a lovely metaphor for creativity, its oppressions, responsibilities and liberating joys—but I’d prefer to think that it’s simply about that wily rascal Picasso getting hounded by a supernatural beast-freak. “But I’m Picasso!” (RB) At the Musée des beaux-arts on Thursday, March 16, 7 p.m. and at the Cinémathèque québécoise on Saturday, March 18 at 7 p.m.

Khaled

Get ready to rai ’n’ roll. Director Gerald Fox follows the rise of modernized rai (Algerian protest music) by comparing and contrasting two of its biggest stars. First we meet the Paris-based Khaled, a.k.a. the King of Rai. He is a perma-grinned, worldbeat sensation and hero to the Oran ghettos he grew up in. Then we meet rebel rocker Rachid Taha, a.k.a. the Joe Strummer of Rai. He’s a chart-topping, critics’ darling who won international acclaim with his cover of “Rock the Casbah.” Clearly, both men have the same goal: bring issues of racism and Arab oppression to light through song. They just have different ways of going about it. Taha wants to keep pushing the boundaries musically by fusing as many influences as he can. He’s also sick of tiptoeing around socially sensitive issues with time-consuming metaphors. His lyrics are blunt and he makes no apologies. Khaled, on the other hand, seems determined to stay true to rai’s rhythmical roots and plays it safe lyrically with song titles like “The Dove.” But whether it’s traditional or revolutionary, the killer beats and exotic vocals make this the number one FIFA pick for music fans. (SR) At the NFB on Friday, March 10, 9:30 p.m. and Saturday, March 18 at 4:30 p.m.

The Human Hambone

Rhythm, from the Earth’s steady orbit to each person’s breathing and heartbeat, is a fundamental, intrinsic element of our lives—possibly even the guiding characteristic. That’s the motivating premise of Mark Morgan’s lively, thought-provoking and wide-ranging documentary about all the ways, aside from singing, that our own bodies can be used as musical instruments. The “hambone” in question is the American folk art of slapping thighs, chest, arms and face—making a drum kit of oneself, essentially—that is traced back to a point when, following a bloody slave riot, drums (the African telegraph) were outlawed among blacks. A variety of venerable practitioners, eager to show off their craft, make hambone the backbone of the film, but don’t worry. Beatboxing gets its due, as do the gumboot dancing of South African miners, the “stepping” scene of Southern black colleges, tap dancing and, um, some dude who can play the William Tell Overture on his teeth. An informative doc, but more importantly, an insanely fun and funky one. (RB) At the Goethe Institut on Saturday, March 11 at 9:30 p.m.

Hank Williams—Honky Tonk Blues

Like any self-respecting musician, Old Hank died before his 30th birthday. But before he succumbed to a lethal cocktail of barbiturates and whisky, he penned a shitload of gut-wrenching hillbilly tunes—the kind that city-slickin’ musicians like to cover for street cred. Director Morgan Neville looks back on what made Hank’s existence so tragic, including how the lanky and awkward crooner most likely suffered his entire life with a case of undiagnosed Spina Bifida. The recounts of him curled up in a foetal position, crying from the back pain are as heartbreaking as his music. Wisely, Neville uses minimal footage of Hank II, who is the bloated embodiment of what makes new country so repelling. Instead, Hank’s punk-influenced grandson, Hank III, narrates most of this intimate portrayal of one of country’s greats. Very touching and, needless to say, the soundtrack is stellar. (SR) At the Goethe Institut on Saturday, March 11 at 9:30 p.m.

Orwell, Against the Tide

Directed by Mark Littlewood, this hour-long Scottish/Spanish co-production focuses on the events that shaped George Orwell’s politics and inspired his writing. His conservative upbringing, his disillusioning work as an Imperial policeman in Burma and his exposure to propaganda on the frontlines of the Spanish Civil War, all of which informed the anti-totalitarian themes of Animal Farm and 1984, are presented in this well-written doc in the form of reenactments. It’s an awkward but necessary device—virtually no film of the author exists—and these scenes are balanced with photos, relevant period footage and interviews with the likes of Noam Chomsky. (LC) At the Grande Bibliothèque on Friday, March 10, 10 p.m. and Thursday, March 16, 7 p.m.

Miles Electric: A Different Kind of Blue

You’ve heard about all the hoopla that ensued when Dylan plugged in? Well, it’s no big secret that the same thing happened to Miles Davis in the late ’60s when he went electric on his most commercially successful album Bitches Brew. This controversy is where Murray Lerner picks up his bio on Davis. And as you can imagine, hearing about critics using the term “sell-out” to describe 30-minute, experimental jazz recording sessions seems a little over-dramatic and silly in retrospect—especially considering the state of adult contemporary music today. But at the time, they truly feared that the advent of electricity marked the end of jazz as we know it. After much debate back and forth, Lerner closes his doc with the nearly 40-minute set Davis played in front of 600,000 rock fans at the 1970 Isle of Wight festival—it’s safe to say that this segment is for hardcore fans only. (SR) At the Place des Arts Friday, March 10, 9:30 p.m. and at the NFB Saturday, March 18, 9:30 p.m.

The International Festival of Film on Art screens Thursday, March 9—Sunday, March 19. For more info, visit www.artfifa.com

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