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Salaam Dunk director David Fine (center) takes questions with Coach Ryan Bubalo (right).

Jun 25, 2011 By Chris Tinkham Web Exclusive

Salaam Dunk

Documentary director David Fine has pulled off a cool trick in making an emotionally absorbing film about a sports team in which the final score of the games depicted is only of secondary consequence. The subject of his enlightening, spirited film is an Iraqi women’s college basketball team coached by American grad student Ryan Bubalo. The young women who compose the team are students at the American University of Iraq, Sulaimani, a small English-speaking school in northern Iraq, established in 2007. It’s a progressive school where young men and women, both Arabs and Kurds, share classrooms.

Most of the women on basketball team have little to no basketball experience, but they have compelling, sometimes tragic, back-stories affected by the U.S. invasion in 2003. Through both interviews and video diaries, the women help to further shine a light on the damage that the war has done to the Iraq people, particularly those in Baghdad. However, there are also older struggles—democracy, women’s liberation—that appear to be making progress. Through basketball, the women experience a kind of freedom, camaraderie and self-discovery that feels new, while also forming an unexpected emotional bond with their charismatic coach.

Salaam Dunk screens again on Friday at 7:40 p.m.

Curling director Denis Côté takes a question during a Q&A.

Curling

In this French-Canadian drama from film critic-turned-director Denis Côté, an eccentric, perhaps mentally unstable middle-aged man, Jean-Francois (Emmanuel Bilodeau), lives a quiet life with his 12-year-old daughter, Julyvonne (real-life daughter Philoméne Bilodeau), in the countryside of Quebec. He works two maintenance jobs but shelters his daughter from the outside world. She does not attend school but occasionally is rewarded at home with the opportunity to listen to music, such as Tiffany’s ‘80s version of “I Think We’re Alone Now.” Some wry humor surfaces from their bizarre existence amid the snowy terrain, but there are also dark undercurrents and implications.

In a humorously revealing Q&A after the film, Côté talked about his measured pacing and how he purposely avoided building toward a Hollywood-style payoff. If the film leaves audiences with question marks, that was his intention. He explained that he likes to leave open spaces, to encourage viewers to do some work. He mentioned employing bleaching process to achieve the film’s distinctive visual look and shared some real-life eccentricities about his leading man.

Curling screens again on Friday at 7:20 p.m.

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