Venus: Unmasking Female Mystique And Desire

“What are other women really thinking, feeling, experiencing, when they slip away from the gaze and culture of men?”   / Naomi Wolf – The Beauty Myth

 

“Personally, I always thought it was hard to reconcile being a sexual being with being a person in society.”   / Venus director Lea Glob

The very title of Danish directors Lea Glob and Mette Carla Albrechtson’s startling 2016 documentary film, Venus, conjures up the ideal context of female beauty dictated by the Sandro Botticelli painting in 1486.  Its definition is all surface with no real substance.  Or it may possess the Roman goddess of beauty/love. It could also delve into the Latin meaning  of a deified abstraction from an originally neuter common noun Venus that suggests sexual desire or qualities that are exciting with desire and charm.  We soon learn that Glob and Albrechtson’s learned choice lends itself immediately to a clever slap in the face to our conditioned responses and preconceived ideals of female sexuality associated with this word.

Venus is a film of great power and daring.  An argument can be made that it should be required viewing by women everywhere…and men.  Its importance lies in its capture of intimate real stories without the constraints of society norms and practices.  These are real women talking about hidden desire, emotions, and expectations regarding sex.  Placed outside the male gaze circumference, these women bravely bare what lies beneath to let us glimpse inside those thoughts and needs which propel or sometimes hinder them.  It is fascinating, but very truthful.  Shocking, but somehow familiar.  It is nonetheless beautiful in any aspect centered squarely on these genuine, very giving women talking about an all too common societal taboo; females are sexual beings.

A projected conceived by two filmmakers, Lea Glob and Mette Carla Albrechtson idea started as an exploration into female sexuality with reenactments of actual spoken experiences and desires.  An ad was placed for auditions in the city of Copenhagen (a four month process in which both were quoted to have fallen love with the city itself and the people they met) with a set of questions; each one diving deeper than the last.  Intimate questions to expose a truth that neither the women auditioning or the filmmakers knew where it may lead.  When all of these auditions were recorded, Glob and Alrechtson began to realize their original concept was meager when compared to the treasure of what was already displayed in these casting couch interludes.  They had found their film by default in the audition process and pored over the hundreds of hours of recorded material to produce their remarkable film.

A simple white background with a chair makes the audience focus intensely upon the subject at hand.  Each of  the women enter (one at a time) into this deceptively simple set up with the usual first time nervousness.  They each show their individuality once the shyness wears away upon each question heard given by the off camera filmmakers.  Body language, voice quality, and presence comes through in such powerful waves as we get to know each of these women in ways both painful and glorious.  These are young women in their twenties (the filmmakers are in their thirties) discussing the politics and stigma of wanting (and being) sexual.  It is a frank discussion covering a multitude of sexual subjects ranging from (but not limited to) virginity, masturbation, fantasies, BDSM, orgasms, or even the number of partners.  Within these questions, the outer shell cracks with these participants and reveals such a true inner beauty.  Again, the film is deceptively simple, but therein lies its power.  The more we are brought closer to these individuals, the more we question ourselves.  That marks Venus as a sensational and important documentary.

Venus also prominently illustrates the disconnect between the male’s idea of sexuality versus intimacy with the female ideal.  The stories, some gorgeous in their catharsis and revelation, while others resigned to sadness and failure, give rise to this bull-headed conditioning we are all given as children in regards to sex (dirty and shameful) that ultimately separates us and keeps alive the stigma that we are not sexual creatures, we are not “animals”.  The freedom to express sexual needs without fear or repercussions.  It goes without saying that body image is integral to many of these women.  The overwhelmingly bad messages in the vast arena of media consumption (yes, including pornography) contributes to many of these women with perceptions that ache to break the shackles of the male dominated view of female sexuality in cultural history.  In one humorous sequence, the women each are asked what they call their genitalia with responses ranging from outrageous to stoic to nothing at all.  Each were caught off guard by that question, but their answers revealed both surprising strengths and weaknesses.

It begs to question again why is there a need for such a film?  Is this all just sensationalist propaganda? What possible impact could this place upon women and men?  Are we not, as a society today, beyond the primitive Victorian Age dogma that dictates what female sexuality is all about?  Are we still in the dark?  Sadly, the answer to that last question is a resounding yes.

Sex for pleasure is forbidden, right?  Sex with intimacy is much more fulfilling than without it, correct?  How many sexual partners is too much?  These questions (and many more) are dragged into the light from their dark corners.  We were all taught the dangers (well, some of us) of unprotected sex and diseases, but are we taught that we should take joy in our sexual feelings and desires; embrace them as healthy and good?  Are we even taught what sex is all about, aside from the physiology of it?  This is the mirror that Venus holds up to us.  It is important, with the noise of predefined examples of perfection, beauty, and the actual act of sex within our society, that we talk honestly and openly.

With open minds and open hearts, this film has the possibility to instill constructive discussions with our youth about a subject that we already know is very intimately close to them.  Again, to view this film, is to hold up a mirror to ourselves.  It has the potential to teach men, as well as women.  Yes, even men can learn by listening to these stories.  Venus is a brave and beautiful piece of work.  It dignifies and solidifies the notion that female sexuality is very powerful and cannot be neglected.

[directors Lea Glob (l) and Mette Carla Albrechtson]

RATING: Absolutely RUN, do not walk to this film! (This is a potentially important film for you and your teenagers/young adults.  It is a raw and frank dialogue, but one filled with wisdom and honesty.  This is not to be missed, so seek it out.)

“Venus” 2016 1hr 30min (directors Lea Glob, Mette Carla Albrechtson)

Screened at the 2017 True/False Film Festival in Columbia Missouri.

 

 

A Firm, But Loving Hand: Miss Kiet’s Children

The magic of the True/False Film Festival are the sweet unexpected moments that rise from certain films that speak a thousand words as if directed only to you (such as my 2017 T/F favorite “Donkeyote”).  When browsing through the catalog of which films to view, my partner-in-crime and I resolutely chose subject matter first over all other options.  Some of these films far surpassed our expectations in form and execution of cinematic techniques with that invested subject matter.

Petra Lataster-Czisch & Peter Lataster shot a unique look into refugee children assimilating into a completely different culture; the world as in the classroom.  “Miss Kiet’s Children” is the result which showcases a child’s point of view with no narration and only the words of the teacher, Miss Kiet, and the children trying to disseminate the social differences, language, and classroom rules of a whole new world.  These are very young children from war torn Syria arriving at a school in Holland under the guidance (as my partner-in-crime acknowledged as a kick ass instructor) of Kiet Engels, who rules her classroom with a firm, but very loving hand.  The film begins and ends with Miss Kiet setting up and then cleaning up her classroom at the end of the day.  It is her everyday ritual, a sort of meditation she performs before these young lives enter her realm with unforeseen challenges, heartaches, and bonding respect.  It sets up for the audience the amount of work involved in this profession and how exhausting the toll can be on the instructor and on the kids.

Co-director Peter Lataster photographed the proceedings in a direct and specific way; eye level with the children at all times.  The adults are seen, but not altogether unless they bend down and join the child’s point of view.  It is a brilliant choice that immediately brings the audience intimately close with the children’s faces and reactions.  And what faces they are!  The camera catches moments unguarded in a child’s day that gives us more material than any one thousand page script ever could.  There is not one overhead shot or master shot.  All camera angles keep us focused on the most important subject at hand here, the children at their level only.  These children are fearful at first, shy with others, suffering nightmares from recent memories of their country, and trying to navigate their way through a strange language and customs.  It really shows how resilient children can be in the face of adversity and gives us hope that, unlike our country at the present time, other cultures are extending their arms and hearts to these innocents.  How else are we going to attempt to make the world a better place?  Miss Kiet’s classroom is proof positive and also shows it isn’t easy, in fact it is tough at times, but at the end of the day these children learn to open up and show such grand potential.  Their understanding of the world is something we could all use a healthy dose of.

We get to know the children as individuals, not just some class of refugees lumped together as we are used to seeing on the nightly news.  Once again, as “Miss Kiet’s Children” proves, if we place even just one face with a story, the preconceived prejudices and beliefs wash away from our eyes when looking upon events such as what is taking place in Syria today.  One standout (pictured in the poster) is Leanne, who is fearful and lonely at first, but as the film progresses we see her blossom into the little girl she was meant to be; before war took away her dreams.  In order to understand the full ramifications of what these children have gone through (which the film never discloses except in very small glimpses such as nightmares that the little boy Maksim suffers), it is up to us as adults to seek out this background as responsible citizens of the world.  The children are innocents and the film hammers it home by making us realize their anxieties and dreams are just like everyone else’s, just like our own children here at home.

“Miss Kiet’s Children” is not just a serious affair, but filled with riotous humor (thanks to the camera catching such gem-like situations with these kids) and beautiful small moments that will bring tears to anyone’s eyes at how utterly human and frail we all are.  The mere fact that these children were captured on film without an ounce of trickery by the part of the directors, is downright miraculous.  The camera seemed to disappear for the kids and we are given a secret access into the wondrous inside world of being a child.  That is magic and that is why a festival such as True/False deserves acclaim for bringing to light such a deserving film as “Miss Kiet’s Children”.

“Come away, O human child!
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
For the world’s more full of weeping than you can understand.”
― W. B. Yeats / The Collected Poems

RATING: Sprint, do not walk to this film! (If you care anything for children, or your own children, this film will teach and make you realize a bigger picture of the world)

“Miss Kiet’s Children” 2016 115min (directors Petra Lataster-Czisch & Peter Lataster)

The Syrian Face Of Unrest: The War Show

“If we speak calmly, in a businesslike fashion, let me draw your attention to the fact that Russia supplies arms to the legitimate government of Syria in full compliance with the norms of international law. We are not breaching any rules and norms.”  

~ Vladimir Putin

The tragic civil war still raging in Syria, since 2011, has taken world headlines with stories and images of cities in ruin and its residents fleeing refuge in neighboring countries.  More recently, the current US administration has rained tomahawk missiles upon an airfield where allegedly the origination of gas attacks (approved by President Bashar al-Assad) were carried out and killed as many as 100 people, including women and children.  War is business with horrendous consequences.  No one is safe and the mask of innocence will always be ripped away.  At this time, the world itself is complicit in what is taking place in Syria and our responsibility is colored with differing perceptions of morality, business, politics, and religious grounds.  The countries participating and aiding this war are just as guilty as Assad’s actions on his own people.

The film that True/False presented paints a very human face on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s statement for a “businesslike fashion” for the Syrian conflict.   People are at the forefront in the starkly humanistic film, “The War Show”.

Danish director Andreas Dalsgaard worked closely with Syrian radio host Obaidah Zytoon to paint a moving video essay of a circle of friends (activists and artists) who took to the streets to protest the harsh leadership of President Assad in the exuberance of the 2011 Arab Spring, which saw citizens raising their voices collectively.  The film stands apart with a treatment of young people loving, learning, finding their voice amidst the aftermath which lead to an ongoing and devastating civil war.    The focus is on the spirit of revolution rushing headlong into the face of unbelievable odds.

Zytoon took her camera and captured images of protest that are powerful because it places actual faces upon these events.  It is no surprise that the young people of Syria strive for what we all want like freedom, justice, and peace or understanding between conflicting parties.  We are thrown right into the crowds wishing for both a secular and Muslim based government and it is striking to see how both factions take to the same street without conflict.  The unifying theme is to rid the current government of Assad.  What was presented in the today’s media colors a very different picture.

“The War Show” was culled from years of footage shot by Zytoon which covers the ecstatic cries of revolution to the harsh reality of civil war and imprisonment and sometimes…death.  The viewer gets to know this close circle with glimpses of emerging relationships, road trips to the city of Hom (the city in recent news) that open eyes and hearts, and a growing sense of hopelessness where cherished dreams are shockingly torn asunder.  Many do not survive.  This hammers home the sorely lacking human element that is lost in headline wars.

After the film, we listened to questions and answers that, not surprisingly, unearthed precious few actual answers.  “The War Show” displays what we must never forget; the people protesting, fighting, and dying are individuals very much like us with universal desires.  It asks tough questions.  Television news fights for ratings and viewers nightly, so stories look faceless and lack any personal element.  What makes this film powerful is that it places on the table, so casually, how fragile and brittle young lives really are in the face of war.  War is an old man’s game played with young lives.  It is profane and obscene, and yet Syria continues down this path while we still sit idly by watching from the sidelines.

(Obaidah Zytoon, pictured above during the 2011 Arab Spring protests)

“The War Show” [2016] directed by Obaidah Zytoon and Andreas Dalsgaard

RATING: Run, Do Not Walk To This Film (Syria has been in the news for a long time, but this film will present the human side to the war footage shown in the media)

currently available on YouTube

Most Dangerous Creations: “Whose Streets?” and “I Am Not Your Negro”

Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced. 

The most dangerous creation of any society is the man who has nothing to lose.

~ James Baldwin

On two successive evenings, two particular films displayed themselves as bookends holding in between a message both racially charged and politically prescient to American society.  The message that sadly still needs to be repeated.  Let us pay heed to where we came from and how far we still have yet to go.  Friday night, we witnessed the firebrand “Whose Streets?” which presented several local residents during the 2014 Ferguson Missouri protests and its aftermath.  Saturday night we viewed the James Baldwin treatise “I Am Not Your Negro” in which the words and interviews of Baldwin, many that have never been released until now, are intertwined with the historical and recent events towards the seemingly endless road to racial equality.  Both approach their subjects in diverse ways, but hold close their anger and frustration with a society that  remains unchanged and unmoved by injustice.  Both of these films received thunderous standing ovations during their end credits.

One one bookend stands Sabaah Folayan’s “Whose Streets?”; a fierce portrait of the actual residents of Ferguson Missouri which inspired a 2014 movement (the development of Black Lives Matter) after the killing of 18 year old Michael Brown by a local police officer which, to this day, still sparks controversy and high emotions on all sides.  Folayan thankfully pushes aside the outside professional activists that swooped in and took advantage of a situation for media attention.  Instead, she rightfully trains her eye on certain locals that took up an activist role for their community with inspiring results amidst the gray muddle of headline news.  Regardless of your perception of those events blaringly broadcast nightly in 2014, “Whose Streets?” asks you what is justice?  What lengths would you go when all other avenues have failed?  Where is the line drawn from peaceful protest to a searingly emotional outcry?  How can a voice be heard, when martial law drives a foot into that voice to subdue it?  Any personal recollection of those events are reexamined with untold stories of the lives affected which are brutally honest and reveal ugly truths about this country.  There are no innocents in this story, only individuals honestly trying to make a difference.  There has not been a film in recent memory that strikes at the heart of prejudice within all of us with such outrage and anger and surprisingly…hope.  As a viewer, it is difficult to truly ascertain all the gamut of experiences, the lack of privilege many of us take for granted, comprehend being treated as second class citizens with no real voice, but restless with a fire inside thirsting for justice.  We can only watch and ask ourselves why does this continue?  We all have a stake in this.  “Whose Streets?” does not have the answers.  It has more questions for everyone.  It asks for you to make a stand, no matter how small or large, because it is the right thing to do.  It is the only thing to do.

On the other end of this is the bookend of a more historical spectrum in Raoul Peck’s astoundingly masterful “I Am Not Your Negro” which is entirely written in his usual shining brilliance by James Baldwin.  Director Peck spent years amassing the writings (letters, speeches, essays) of Baldwin, a personal hero of Peck, into a phantasmagorical examination of this country’s issue with race and equality.  With the archival footage chosen for this film, it is quite hard to stomach the absolute hard-line racism that was publicly  rampant only a few short years ago.  Then couple that with today’s rising tide of that same type of public racism and one realizes Baldwin was right in stating that history is literally present in all that we do.  We can look at the past as the past, but it is still around us in our actions today.  It begs to be seen if this nation has learned anything from protests both peaceful and violent.  The narration of Baldwin’s pointed words, voiced by a terrifically nuanced Samuel L. Jackson, lends the historical images with freshness and a knowing eye how absurd and destructive the institution of racism is to all of us.  Do we need to be constantly reminded of these images, these dark memories of our country’s past?  Indeed we do and no better guide than with the eloquent voice of James Baldwin to take our hand with a torch to cast these continual monstrous acts with a blazing logical light.  “I Am Not Your Negro” has since become one of the highest grossing films in documentary history.  Raoul Peck has crafted a miraculous film from elements seen before and never presented in such a prescient angry voice that says we have such a long road still to travel.  We, and our children, need to be reminded of this.

“The great force of history comes from the fact that we carry it within us, are unconsciously controlled by it in many ways, and history is literally present in all that we do.”

Rating: Absolutely Run, Do Not Walk To These Films (it is imperative as human beings to seek out and experience these films for one will not soon forget them)

“Whose Streets?” [2017} directed by Sabaah Folayan

“I Am Not Your Negro” [2016] directed by Raoul Peck

Lighting A Cultural Match: Brimstone & Glory

Don’t look to the sky for fireworks when you can watch them light up in the eyes of all the people passing by.  ~ Tyler Kent

Pure cinema is all about the sensory experience with the complimenting elements in perfect synchronization with each other.  Out of all the films, my partner-in-crime and I viewed over the entire True/False Film Festival weekend, this stunning work captured the pure cinema definition with great power.  It is a power derived by images projected onto the big screen surrounded by a soundtrack of pulsing sensuous music which gives an ethereal beauty to the work.  All of which strikes right at the raw emotions of your heart.

This is Viktor Jakovleski’s meditative stunner “Brimstone & Glory”.  The film dives into the city of Tultepec, Mexico with a single effervescent spark on the lower right of the screen which culminates with a slow burn (orgasmic-like to quote director Jakovleski after the screening) into a shower of sparks.  Tultepec, the center of a major fireworks industry, celebrates yearly a week long dedication to San Juan de Dios, according to legend saved a multitude of people from a burning hospital without a single scratch or burn.  The entire city gathers for two specific events; the castillo, the Festival Of Castles, which neighboring towns participate with huge structures of fireworks in front of on-lookers and then the pamplonada, the Festival Of Bulls, in which large paper-mache bulls laden with fireworks are rolled through the crowded city streets and ignited.  It is a frenzied crazy release for the citizens of Tultepec and one that has a hand in the deep cultural origins of its people.  Jakovleski captures the raw power and energy, often right in the thick of the exploding light filled displays.  We get to meet several of the citizens, but this film does not dwell on the who and the why.  Jakovleski lets the festivals speak for themselves with such a force of incandescent images and sound.  There was not another film at this festival that just gave itself freely to that definition of pure cinema.  It truly needs to be seen on a large screen with surround sound as we saw it.  A complete surprise in our choices and more than worthy of our time.

The photography by a team of thrill seeking individuals (garbed in protective gear) rush headlong into the bull’s arena with fireworks cascading dangerously all around.  We sense the danger and the risk of such festivals, but we also see the release and joy in the midst of such a grand display.  The music by Benh Zeitlin and Dan Romer is a fantastic hyper kinetic score that lingers with you long after the film is over.  One can sense being in the hands of assured filmmakers when it feels as if you are participating right along side the wonderfully beautiful people of Tultepec.

This is the first feature for Viktor Jakovleski and what a love he shows for what cinema is capable of.  A very gracious and humble artist, Jakovleski spoke after the screening of the technical difficulties and the love of the people he met and got to know.  He brings a world foreign and strange to some of us, but familiar at the same time.  That is a hard balance to maintain and the result stays with you long after it is over.

RATING: An Absolute RUN TO film (like hordes of zombies are chasing you), Do Not Walk!! (worthy of repeated viewings and a possible landmark cinematic film)

“Brimstone & Glory” [2017 – 64 min] directed by Viktor Jakovleski, music by Benh Zeitlin and Dan Romer

The More Things Change: Donkeyote

“But time growing old teaches all things.”   –  Aeschylus

There is sometimes the rare quiet film which crosses your path to capture your heart and give you the sense of what life is all about, and Chico Pereira’s sweet fable of a story “Donkeyote” is one of those films.  Throughout the festival, my partner-in-crime and I discussed what our favorite films were, but that was an unfair challenge, for all the films we witnessed were good in their own right.  So, the question became which one film, out of the many, would be the first you would want to revisit?  “Donkeyote” was my overwhelming choice.

Director Chico Perira chose his uncle for the subject of the classical unbending devotion to old ways and respect for this world and its treasures.  We get to follow Manolo, a retired laborer from Southern Spain, who chases one last dream to traverse the 2200 mile Trail Of Tears with his faithful longtime companion Gorrión (meaning sparrow); a stubborn, but very lovable donkey.  Both his daughter and his doctor advise against this planned last walk, but Manolo is a man to be reckoned with and begins to develop and execute his plan, with a trip to the coast of Spain to hopefully barter passage for Gorrión.  This film is filled with gentle humor and a stillness where time seems almost meaningless within the simple life of Manolo.

Perira sets the audience in his capable hands right from the beginning shot of Gorrión in shadow against the setting sun.  It’s a beautifully cinematic shot that sets up the landscape and its relation to his subjects.  Manolo calls out to his donkey off camera and, like a dog, Gorrión slowly trots to his masters voice.  This is the Spain of sunshine, rolling hills, and gentle waters.  It is Manolo’s real home.  The only place he feels at peace and one with the universe.  Director of photography,  Julian Schwanitz, paints with available light and from the donkey’s eye-line perspective, often to a sweet comical effect.  “Donkeyote” is a road movie at heart and its odyssey refuses to change with the times.

One significant absence is the lack of a musical soundtrack.  Perira chose to use natural sounds to compliment the images and it is magical.  The sound of a running stream, night time insects, and the gravel underneath Gorrión’s footsteps is music in of itself.  When Manolo enters a small village halfway through his trip, he joins some patrons at a bar for a beautiful song and a much needed drink.  The man’s singing voice speaks of a time lost in this modern world and shows us the importance of keeping the old ways alive and well.

There is something to be said about slowing down our busy schedules in this fast paced world and appreciate the simple philosophy of a man such as Manolo.  The audience sees through the eyes of his companion, Gorrión (similar to the  donkey in Robert Bresson’s masterful “Au Hasard Balthazar” from 1966).   Gorrión is devoted to Manolo, but has its own fears and stubbornness like we all do.  This culminates in a hilarious scene of the animal not wanting to cross a narrow bridge over water.  The more patient Manolo is, the more obstinate Gorrión becomes.  The camerawork punches home the cosmic joke like no other.

“Donkeyote” is a slice of life, a cultural gem held under the microscope of society change.  It displays the old adage…the more things change, the more they stay the same.  Somewhere in southern Spain, Manolo and Gorrión are proving it with their simple adventures.

RATING: This Is A RUN LIKE HELL To Film, Do Not Walk!! (worthy of repeated viewings)

“Donkeyote” [2017 – 85 min] written/directed by Chico Pereira, director of photography Julian Schwanitz, edited by Nick Gibbon.

The Political Voice Of Fire: Manifesto

man·i·fes·to

ˌnoun

 

1. a public declaration of policy and aims.

The artist and filmmaker, Julian Rosefeldt, turned his acclaimed thirteen channel art exhibit into an astounding feature film showcasing fantastic Berlin Germany locations with some exquisite performances from Cate Blanchett; all thirteen personifications of her.  This is no ordinary documentary or non-fiction film, but an all out assault on art history manifestos ranging from Karl Marx to the modern day of Jean Luc Godard.  Each of the characters Blanchett inhabits (homeless man, puppeteer, housewife, scientist, school teacher, CEO, widow, factory worker, punk, newscaster, choreographer, wall street broker) combines the many manifestos Rosefeldt read and combined to state the many facets of art and overwhelms you with concise images, sharp editing, and throbbing chant-like music.  Everything and nothing is the theme.  It all sounds so heavy with a stamp of importance to it, but humor is prevalent throughout as well with a wink and a smile.

“Manifesto” is ambitious and a profound risk taker which director Rosefeldt pulls off with exemplary ease.  His camera (photography by Christoph Krauss) often pulls up to give a God’s eye view of the proceedings and allows the viewer to take in all the elements thrown our way.  The words are spoken in present day language while Blanchett takes on the difficult task of making these people believable and worthy.  It is not a vanity project to merely showcase her talents, but a deliberate organic exercise on what the role of an artist is in society and what importance, if any, does it have.  The film is prescient with its importance much more today than ever since last November’s American election.

There is not enough that can be said about the power of what “Manifesto” sets out to achieve.  Rosefeldt’s direction, Krauss’ cinematography, and the fluid majesty of Bobby Good’s monumental task of editing all the pieces into a coherent whole.  Good visited the T/F Festival in person from Berlin to discuss the difficulties and triumphs of the project.  I personally got to talk to him for a few minutes after the screening and congratulated him on his work.  He remarked what a wonderful and receptive place this festival provided for his film as an artist.  The community means everything to film-makers like him and to audiences like myself.

RATING: SPRINT As Fast As You Can, Do Not Even Think About Walking To This Film (worthy of repeated viewings)

“Manifesto” [2015 – 90 min] directed by Julian Rosefeldt, photography  by Christoph Krauss, edited by Bobby Good.

Bearing Witness To Pain: Lindy Lou, Juror Number Two

This issue of capital punishment is the subject of this offbeat character study of one juror struggling with the morality of her decision.  Florent Vassault’s “Lindy Lou, Juror Number Two” is a pseudo road movie in which Lindy travels across her Mississippi state confronting fellow jurors from the murder trial of Bobby Wilcher twenty years ago.

An off-kilter real life Twelve Angry Men, Lindy reveals a bizarre turn when she admits to visiting and befriending the death row inmate Wilcher and asks for his forgiveness.  Whether this was morally or ethically right, the film presents Lindy as a woman driven by her religious teachings and society norms.  She seeks answers from her fellow jurors, but it is merely to salve her conscience on the notion of actually sentencing a man to death.  What power do we have in this instance?  Should we have that power?  How does one sleep at night after such an act?  For some jurors, it was a societal need and they did their duty.  For others, they are haunted by that decision.

Vassault’s camera is unimaginative, but concise in its subject matter.  Following the animated Lindy through Mississippi in situations both uncomfortable and at times heartbreaking, one cannot wonder how much the camera played a part in her trumped up personality and choice of words during the film.  Playing to the camera is certainly a danger in documentary films which lends itself to the risk of the lack of authenticity and distracts the viewer believing the events as they are.  Vassault found a worthy subject in Lindy by chance, but his camera may have been intrusive and too close to his lead.  At times, it felt as if she were acting for the film instead of going about her day.  One cannot fault the film-maker for trying to inject a different perspective on such a hot topic as capital punishment.

**With a tip of the hat and respect to my festival partner-in-crime, a new “Siskel & Ebert” rating system will be introduced to these films.  I found it fresh, humorous, and very much in tune with the frenetic pace we scheduled ourselves for this festival.

RATING: Not A Run To, But Slow Crawl To Film (worthy enough to see once only)

“Lindy Lou, Juror Number Two” [2016-85 min] directed by Florent Vassault

True/False: Reasons Why Documentaries Matter Today

“Documentaries – my God, there is so much going on in our country and in the world today that every time you open the newspaper or turn on the radio or watch the news on TV there is another documentary subject. We’re getting the headlines for a second, shaped by corporate delivery most of the time, but what’s really the story there?”   [Jonathan Demme]

“But I can say what interests me about documentary is the fact that you don’t know how the story ends at the onset – that you are investigating, with a camera, and the story emerges as you go along.”   [Errol Morris]

In the Midwest heartland last weekend (March 2nd-5th), the city of Columbia Missouri hosted an important and ever growing film festival celebrating the art of documentary film-making.  Conceived in 2003, the event gives voice to a circle of artists in their pursuit of capturing real stories that can affect us in big and small ways.  The 2017 True/False Film Festival held its fourteenth gathering with 72 film-makers carrying their 37 feature films and 22 short films with its largest audience ever at 52,400 tickets sold; yours truly among them.  A creative collective shining a light on such subjects as war, race, love, justice, hope, sex, politics, and cultural differences to name just a few.

The documentary is an important art form that requires a patient and curious mind willing to listen to stories that may speak outside our comfort zones or talk directly to the inner voice we sometimes deny.  The documentary opens minds and hearts.  It displays worlds that may not directly affect us, but gives us pause to consider such other viewpoints and arguments.

True/False begs to ask the question whether we continue to just read headlines or choose to ask for the full story on issues and events.  The festival challenges us to contemplate where we are and where we are heading.  You do not leave this event unscathed.  One film, or several, can change a preconceived perception and educate the mind.  If one leaves thinking of just one issue in a different light, the festival has done its job, for it desires the change for a better world for all of us.  Isn’t that what we all want?  For our kids, as well as ourselves?

This writer spent three days and four nights, along with a festival partner-in-crime, viewing thirteen films of our choosing based on subject matter and personal interest.  A formidable undertaking, but filled with excitement and passion for this world…and it exceeded our expectations with the choices made without first hand knowledge of the film-makers involved.  The next few future pieces will focus on those films and their importance both aesthetically and socially, based on impressions and discussions.  Some of these films have since been written about by major magazines, as well as the festival itself.  The importance of this festival is one of social awakening and the communal spirit of exploring the world through subjects both controversial and intimate.  It is time to join in on the adventure.  It is time to act and participate.  True/False Film Festival of 2017.

 

 

Sundance, Before It Was Sundance: True/False Film Fest, Columbia MO

Starting this Thursday, March 2nd, Columbia Missouri will host once again the True/False Film Festival for documentary films from all over.  Created back in the summer of 2003, the festival has grown in stature and size each year since.  The participating theaters screening the films are all within walking distance of each other making the event accessible and convenient to catch all the films you can muster the energy to see.

This will mark my first year attending and it is my plan to view 14 films in those three days and four nights.  Included is the critically lauded and Oscar nominated Raoul Peck film, “I Am Not Your Negro”.  These are experimental and subject rich films that deserve an audience.  There is no better place than to showcase to a receptive public such as the one that will be attending this festival.  The filmmakers themselves will be present and discuss their work.  Documentaries have long been neglected by mainstream audiences, but films such as Peck’s have the possibility to change that.

Notes will be taken and forthcoming blogs will be written about some of these films and the festival experience as a whole.  Columbia has sealed a specific niche in the festival circuit by focusing its attention to real life issues, events, and subjects otherwise forgotten in the Hollywood light.  A festival dedicated to documentaries of all sizes and shapes can enhance understanding and knowledge of the world around us to possibly influence change.

Here is a celebration of truth, or as close as we can get to it.