95 and 6 to Go (2016)

95 and 6 to Go: Directed by Kimi Takesue. Tom Takesue is a hard-working, practical Japanese-American raised in Hawai’i, who discovers his filmmaking aspirations at the age of ninety when he becomes invested in “re-writing” a feature love story that his granddaughter is developing. His unusual script doctoring reveals larger concerns about love, loss, unrealized dreams, and mortality.

“This is a film you donu0026#39;t see every day, and one from which I felt to have learned a lot as a filmmaker. Even though I watched it over two years ago at the doc competition of Krakow Film Festival, many aspects of it have managed to stay with me vividly.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eFor instance, the well crafted construction of the character of Tom, who becomes more and more compelling as the film progresses. For someone who at first may seem a fragile old man, Tom lets his complexity unknowingly shine through. Bit by bit, he becomes the disciplined collector of magazine ads; the nostalgic music and dance enthusiast; the ultrasincere, tough-loving grandfather; the widow who is motivated to go on with his life… and last but not least, the unbelievably creative storyteller.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBy focusing on this fascinating character, Takesue ended up undertaking several goals, most of them successfully achieved. For starters, she permanently inscribed the history of her family into celluloid, carrying on the narratives of her grandpa, grandma, aunt and others for herself and the rest of the world to see. Not only is this noble goal of constituting and preserving memory a raison du0026#39;etre for cinema itself, it is also one that I personally aim at.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAside from this heartwarming gesture of u0026quot;documentingu0026quot;, which would make this film great on its own, what really elevates it in comparison to other documentaries out there is the subtle insight we are given into the process of self-acceptance the director engages in while she documents her grandpa.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAs she listens, throughout the years, to her grandpau0026#39;s vivid script advice regarding a project that she seems to be fixated on for too long a time, Takesue comes to realise that the film she so badly wanted to make might have been somewhere else all along… And to experience this somewhat frustrating, yet inestimably sobering process of self-reflection take form as the film weu0026#39;re seeing at this very moment, is what makes u0026quot;95 and 6 to Gou0026quot; a gem as unforgettable as Sarah Polleyu0026#39;s u0026quot;Stories We Tellu0026quot;.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAlso, itu0026#39;s beautifully shot and the soundtrack kicks ass. Filmmakers alike will be inspired by its beauty.”