Taos Picture Show Taos, New Mexico March 30-April 3, 2005 Like multi-headed phoenix rising from the ashes of the esteemed but ultimately financially doomed Taos Talking Pictures festival, which folded in 2003 after nine years, small handful of upstart film festivals sprang up in the small picturesque northern New Mexico town of Taos in the spring of 2004. This year, with the fate of at least one of the other two festivals still uncertain, the Taos Picture Show kicked off its second season March 30-April 3, 2005. A small-scale festival, the Taos Picture Show screened 16 features and two shorts programs at single venue over four days, the intent being to provide more intimate experience for attendees. As Festival Director Jonathan Slator (who also serves as the executive director of the Taos County Film Commission and the Director of the Taos Mountain Film Festival, which screens in the fall) wrote in the festival program, In presenting the second Taos Picture Show we intend to stay true to the spirit of the first: to bring some of the best films from around the world to 'family' of aficionados in one venue. It is indeed casual affair reflecting the low-key nature of the community, with festival-goers making s'mores around small fire outside the theater between screenings. With single screen and no extracurricular activities such as panels or master classes diverting attention from the films, attendees were not required to choose between competing shows. The vast majority of attendees were northern New Mexico residents and noticeably missing from this hometown festival was any discernible industry presence. While several filmmakers were in attendance and dialogued with appreciative audiences after screenings and during three special events for passholders, this was no meet-and-greet event and no one seemed to miss the elements (and effects) of the schmooze factor evident at so many A-list festivals. The festival's program lived up to its tagline, a celebration of cinema from around the world, with half of the features coming from outside the United States. Two in particular stood out from the (admittedly small) crowd. The Great Water (2004, by Ivo Trajkov), Macedonia's Academy Awards entry for Best Foreign Language Film, is fictionalized look at an obscure piece of history that manages to remain this side of sentimentality despite its subject matter. The film successfully conveys the confusion of young boy who is captured and incarcerated in postwar labor camp for orphans of political undesirables through strong script (adapted by Trajkov from novel), convincing child actors, stunning cinematography, subtle symbolism and an appropriately desolate and menacing set that serves as moody and intimidating character of its own (as well as surprising casting twist revealed by cinematographer Suki Medencevic during the Q & A following the screening). The young protagonist, acclimating to his confines, spends his days being indoctrinated into the righteousness of communism while endeavoring to avoid being mistreated by the overzealous, masochistic staff. He becomes mesmerized by mysterious new arrival who helps him explore the secrets behind the walls of the camp and whose serene presence has an unusual affect on the orphans and staff alike. French director Eduard Erne's Birdpeople, one of the festival's many strong documentaries, reveals the unusual and lengthy pre-production activities behind Winged Migration (Le Peuple migrateur, 2004, by Jacques Perrin), the popular and critically acclaimed documentary that follows several species of migratory birds on their journey south across the globe. A team of amateur ornithologists raised the avian subjects of the first film (searching out eggs from nests as far-flung as Iceland and Africa) on farm in the south of France, and trained them to be comfortable with humans, light aircraft and film equipment. …