Telluride: Best of

My vote for the best of the 2005 Telluride Film Festival is [drumroll, please]:

Sisters in Law
In a courtroom in Cameroon, Vera and her courtroom staff do as much good as they can every day. It’s a great deal of good, at a place and time where women and children are routinely beaten and the men continuously pull excuses, tricks, blows, or bribes from up their sleeves to maintain the status quo. The film follows three of the plaintiffs, two abused wives and one young child, in their journeys through the legal system toward justice, hope, and humanity. The force of nature that is Vera, the judge, pulls these women and children into its wake, granting them peace and freedom for the first time in much of their lives. She is an example of someone who is making a difference daily by helping others achieve respect and dignity without a shred of egotism; every world leader has something to learn from her. These women’s and children’s stories are as suspenseful and outrageous and life-affirming as any fictional creation. Fans of mysteries like Law and Order will find it gratifying to see justice done in the real world.

This is what film is all about! I wish Telluride could have shown Seoul Train; it would have been a good companion for some of these. But ST's poor production values probably hurt its chances. Maybe their next film....