Coming from the well attended but far-from-sold-out screenings of the shorts, I almost forgot I was attending a major film fest until I got in line for my first feature of the day. I had to walk a good block before finding the end of the line for Owl and the Sparrow.
Before the show, director Stephane Gauger explained that he always looked to international films as an alternate escape to expensive traveling and hoped the audience enjoyed the journey he had created. I really wanted to hear his Q&A, but with a late start (which seemed quite common at the fest), I had to run off to the next film.
Owl is a very charming tale of a young girl who runs away from the child labor she provides her uncle for the street business opportunities of Saigon. There she meets a kind flight attendant who stumbles from one meaningless date to another and a heartbroken zoo keeper who is shy around the ladies. Together they create an odd but understandable little family.
Review coming soon