Jason goes to Docfest--Day 12

Just one movie last Tuesday, that was my easy night, when I actually got home at a reasonable hour and got some sleep.

So I need to explain the theme I've found in this festival.  I'm not sure if it's intentional or not, maybe it's just a common theme for documentaries in general, but there's been a theme of people trying to accomplish that one thing that will change their life.  The interesting thing, though, is that when people consciously try to change their life it doesn't really work.  Stuff like 'If I could only walk across the country, or win one Elvis impersonation contest, everything will be alright' fails.  When you do the small things, like practice jump rope or learn to twist balloon animals, they really are changing their lives.  I find that very interesting.

So the Tuesday movie was perhaps the clearest example of this phenomenon.  In "Enlighten Up", director Kate Churchill has been doing yoga nearly as long as she's been making documentaries (which is nearly 10 years).  She believes that finding the right yoga practice can change anyone's life.  So she looks for a willing volunteer, and finds Nick Rosen, a skeptical journalist who's between jobs and therefore has a lot of free time.  He's game, but as I said, skeptical.  He's not a spiritual man, so he has a very strong inclination to approach it purely from a workout perspective and ignore or question the spiritual aspects.  He also visits several different studios and meets several different yogis, from masters like BKS Iyengar and Pattahbi Jois to former wrestler Diamond Dallas Page (inventor of Yoga for regular guys, and who's unabashedly not in it for "Namaste" as much as for "T&A").  He travels from New York to LA, to Hawaii, and finally India.  He finds practices so disparate that he questions what Yoga means at all (which is interesting, because the contemporary practice of yoga is only ~100 years old, and historically a yogi was an wizard who was to be feared when he came to town).  Practices range from hard-core twisting yourself into a pretzel to a guy who teaches a class of people just standing around laughing.  Of course, his skepticism is causing Kate's experiment to fail, and sooner or later that friction becomes the conflict of the movie, which just makes it funnier.  There are some weird dream sequences that maybe point to yoga breaking through his skepticism, and by the end maybe there's a little movement, but it's certainly not the transformation that is looked for in the film.  But it was fun.  Here's director Kate Churchill and star/subject Nick Rosen at the Q&A:

Jason goes to Docfest--Day 11

I'm so far behind in my blogging...

More movies last Monday, starting with "Elvis in East Peoria", one of the strangest 'is this real?' movies in the festival (up there with "Anvil"...something about offbeat musician docs?).  It's the story of a struggling, broke Elvis impersonator, the woman who takes him home to let him live with her (while she manages his career), her accepting husband (who is really accepting that their marriage has been over for a long time), and her daughter (who is either jealous of or a target of Elvis' affection).  The Elvis impersonator is Jimmy, and he's the most believable person in this movie.  I guess they should all be believable, since it is a documentary.  Donna is the woman/fan who brings him in and lets him freeload off her.  She books some (poorly attended) shows, and he's actually not that bad.  Many audience members really do like the show, and former Elvis impersonators and judges give him compliments.  His voice is okay, he's mostly hampered by age and injuries so he can't do all the moves right.  They enter competition after competition, and he never makes the cut, and never makes any money off it.  Which, of course, strains their relationship horribly (although by the end of the movie she's divorced and they're dating).  A very funny tragedy.  Director Eric Burdett wasn't at the screening, although I heard he was at the previous screening and is actually Donna's nephew, which is how he got such great home movie footage.  The closing credits gag reel of Donna screaming over and over again, "Eric, shut that camera off!" is hilarious.  Especially considering what he left in, I have to wonder what was too embarrassing for her that she didn't want filmed.

Next up was a short and a feature, which farkers will recognize the common theme.  The short was "Song of a Sperm Donor".  Jeffrey lives in a trailer in southern California, loves his doggies, and hangs out on the beach a lot.  In the past, he made a good bit of money donating to the California Cryobank.  Then one day he reads a newspaper article about sperm donor babies who are looking for their genetic fathers, and he recognizes his donor number!  So he comes out, announces he's the donor a group of girls are looking for, and meets with them.  Very interesting, particularly the economic and philosophical differences between his lifestyle and theirs. 

So then the feature was about killing kittens.  "Here Kitty Kitty" chronicles the 2005 debate in Wisconson over legalizing the killing of feral cats.  These aren't like bobcats or lynx or anything, just standard domestic cats that haven't been tamed and are running wild.  Apparently Wisconsin had (and still has) a problem with feral cat overpopulation.  They piss everywhere, and are really annoying, so why not shoot them all?  So there's a heated debate, both sides receive death threats, questions of killing vs. spaying (which is more economical), debates over how many birds feral cats kill every year, etc.  It's all filmed with a sense of bemused detachment, and really the whole debate seems so silly (and Wisonsinites want to chime in and tell me why it isn't silly?)  There are many great quotes from the debates, like "I've heard a lot of people say how feral cats aren't native to Wisconsin.  I'd like to point out that neither are white people!"  But my favorite comes from one of the anti-cat killing advocates, who explains how cats are an important part of what makes Wisconsin what it is...you know, with all the cheese.  I had to ask people afterwards if I heard that right, and everyone heard it.  I believe he claimed that cheese comes from feral cats.  New ad campaign for California cheese--Good cheese comes from happy cows.  Wisconsin cheese comes from feral cats?

Jason goes to Docfest--Day 10

Five more movies last Sunday, plus a few shorts.

First up was "Bunnyland". That title is a semi non-sequitur, in that Bunnyland is a small part of it. A more descriptive title would be "Johnny Tesar is Fucking Insane". But "Bunnyland" is a fine title, because...I love bunnies! Johnny Tesar describes himself as "the last Indian put on the Trail of Tears" (we take his word that he's really an Indian). He lives (or lived, he's moved out of the area) near a small mountain town of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. He's an amateur archeologist, amassing a giant collection of "artifacts" (maybe just rocks) showing a long lost culture in the area, including evidence of elephants (rocks carved to look like elephants--or maybe just a big coincidence). He had the great idea to create Bunnyland golf course--a mini golf course with bunnies hopping (and pooping?) all over it. His business partner screwed him out of his half, and the next season 73 (out of ~100) bunnies turned up dead. Johnny suspects dogs, because dogs were always a problem there. His ex-partner suspects Johnny, because they were beaten with a baseball bat. He was never convicted (or even tried), but he's the only suspect in some peoples' minds. I should mention at this point that the movie interviews a lot of people who defend Johnny and swears he's a sweet, kind man. So I don't really know what to believe. Anyway, Johnny went on to build rental cabins. But not entirely to code--he snatched the ends of logs used when making log cabins and glued them together with spray foam. They were fully furnished, including washer and dryer. But again, not up to code. So when one of them caught on fire and killed the woman living in it, he was pretty screwed. Lost all his land (which the owners now claim they can't sell because it was worthless for building on in the first place), and has since moved away from town. His newest business--making and selling Gun-Tees, t-shirts with graphics of a shoulder holster with a gun in them. I don't know who freakin' buys them. But there, I might drive a little business to his site.

Here's the man who started out researching the legend he heard about the bunny mini-golf and all the dead bunnies, but ended up meeting Johnny Tesar, director Brett Hanover:


Next up was the political conscience program, starting with the short film "So the Wind Won't Blow it All Away". This is a sad and touching short about Katrina. But specifically about an overlooked demographic of victims--children who lost their parents in Katrina. Some live with extended family (aunts, uncles, grandparents), some high school students have become the de facto heads of households, taking care of their little siblings. Very sad.

Then the feature was a mix of comedy and activism, "Considering Democracy: 8 Things to Ask Your Representative". Keya Lea Horiuchi traveled the world, asking people what they thought of America. What do they like about us, what don't they. Is freedom and democracy really sprouting all over the world. Do people really want American-style democracy? She gets a wide range of responses, and edits it together with supporting statistics showing how our lifestyle, health care, tax system, etc. differs from the rest of the world. It's all done very playfully, and the end result is a bit of fun that also makes you think. Just one quibble--in world maps she highlights the US in red (and sometimes other countries if they share something in common with America). I don't have a complaint about the color, I have a complaint that Alaska isn't colored the same way. But maybe the AIP will like that.

Keya Lea Horiuchi was at the screening, and the Q&A was very engaging, but for some reason I don't have one of my signature blurry filmmaker photos of her. Maybe the light was actually so bad I decided I couldn't get the shot. Anyway, thank you to Keya for making the movie and being there for the screening.

The next program started with another short (this was sort of the day for movies with shorts before them. There aren't many in the program, but I seemed to see the most last Sunday). That short was "The Good Mother of Abangoh", a wonderful triumphant story of Jane Mankaa, a poor girl in Cameroon who decided she wanted to help the homeless children. So she joined the convent, became a nun, and opened an orphanage that is wildly successful and gives so many poor children a chance at a better life. She's an inspiring person, and is doing great work

Then there was "This Dust of Words", by director Bill Rose. A few years back Rose directed a similar documentary about the loss of genius, called "The Loss of Nameless Things". I saw it at Cinequest in 2004, and here's what I wrote about it back then:

25 years ago, Oakley "Tad" Hall III was an up andcoming playwright on the verge of greatness running a community theater inLexington, NY. Then a mysterious fall from a bridge and the resultingmassive head injuries destroyed his carreer, and for all intents andpurposes, the man he was. His IQ went from over 200 to 6 (he has sinceworked it up to a modestly respectable 75). No one knows what exactly happened on the bridge except Oakley, who is too brain-damaged to remember, and the mysterious man from Seattle who showed up that summer, ran to the barn/theater to announce that "Oakley's gone off the bridge!"and disappeared the next morning, never to be seen again (some suspectfoul play). The director, Bill Rose, spends the first 1/2 of the moviefocusing on Oakley's once-promising career, interviewing those who knewhim best, mostly actors from his Lexington Community Theater troup. Thenext 1/4 of the movie is dedicated to the events after his fall, and hisstruggles to even make a living and to learn to be a writer again. And it's only at about the 3/4 point that he brings out the interviews with Oakley from today. An interesting directorial choice, but I think appropriate. There are so many ways this story could've gotten off onto tangents, and Bill Rose does an admirable job of keeping the story focused and the narrative moving forward. As I said, Oakley today has an IQ of around 75, which means he's functional, but nowhere near the genius he was. At the same time, there's been renewed interested in his last play,"Grinder's Stand", based on the last days of Merriweather Lewis. SoOakley gets to witness his last great work finally get performed, and getthe recognition he deserves, even if he's no longer the man who wrote it. As a final note, Oakley still writes, or tries to. And it's that unquenchable artistic drive that's the most powerful part of the movie. He gets up and writes every day, even when finishing a single sentence isa challenge. Even when he has to read what he wrote yesterday before hestarts because he can't remember it. His current work-in-progress isbased on the life of Alfred Jarry, an obscure absurdist French playwrightwith whom Oakley identified both before and after the accident (after the accident, he also identifies with Jarry's lead idiot king, Ubu).
It's called "Alf and Me, and auto/biography of Alfred Jarry".

Well, "This Dust of Words" has a similar theme, in that it's about a brilliant young person who somehow goes wrong and doesn't live up to her promise. Elizabeth Wiltsee had an IQ of 200, she learned to read (English) by age 4, and learned to read Greek by age 10. She was an exceptional student at Stanford, where she studied English under professor John Feltsiner (the movie title comes from her thesis). And then...she disappeared, went crazy, and ended up homeless in Watsonville, CA. And then this movie turns into a story not just about her, but about the town, and how it rallied around the poor homeless (and sometimes mute) woman, taking care of her in the two places she was most comfortable--the church, and the library (which now has the Elizabeth Wiltsee memorial reading room). In 1999, as she appeared to be getting better, she abruptly told people she was "going home" and walked away. 60 miles away and 7 months later, her body was found in the San Luis Reservoir. It's unknown if it was a suicide or accident (there was no evidence of foul play). A tragic end to a promising but tragic life.

Here's a pic of director Bill Rose and professor John Feltsiner, who came up from Stanford for the show:


Next up was the gleefully goofy road trip movie, "Head Trip", starring and co-directed by Burning Man co-founder and general weirdo John Law. He and co-director Fletcher Feudjohn are part of the Cyclecide travelling bicycle rodeo. They and a gang of fellow SF artists travel from San Francisco to New York in a bus towing three doggie heads from the defunct SF chain of Doggie Diners (the first love of Zippy the Pinhead). In between mechanical breakdowns (which are excuses to do impromptu acts of random weirdness) they visit odd roadside attractions along the way--like Cadillac Ranch or the guy who makes gigantic recycled metal sculptures. In New York, they do a show and parade down the street with the doggie heads. A fun time is had by all. I don't know what it means, and who really cares? Here's John Law and Fletcher Feudjohn at the Q&A after the film:


And here are the doggie diner heads outside the Roxie. I'm proud to say I rubbed their noses for luck (mostly luck in not getting run over in the street while rubbing their noses):


And the final movie was another road trip film, but first a couple of shorts. "Aunty Betelnut" is a quick, funny interview with a group of Papua New Guinean women, living in Sydney, chewing betelnut. Betelnuts are mild narcotics, creating a sense of euphoria, and responsible for a charming, funny film. The second short was "Sunlight and Babies", an interesting look at the trucking industry and truck stop culture, reaching well beyond the stereotypes, and talking about the importance of trucking in our economy. Particularly interesting use of anonymous CB radio "dialogue".

Then the feature was "The Long Haul", the road trip of Martha and her wife Lavonne as the pack up their Airstream trailer and head out from the east coast to their new life in Sacramento, CA. There's really not much of a story. They freak out about the drive, they drink, they bicker, they drink, they freak out about camping in the south, they drink (I could really go for a drink after this movie). But they're a hilarious, enjoyable couple, and the movie moves along briskly (a lot of the footage is shot from a camera strapped to the passenger side window). A nice, fun way to end a long day of movies.

Here are Martha and Lavonne (and I apologize, I don't remember which is which) and director Liz Welch Tirrell (far right) at the Q&A:


And one last thing, since this was a day with lots of shorts before the features, I looked back and realized there's one short I saw earlier and forgot to blog about (other than all the Current TV shorts):

"I'm Like This Every Day" played before "Bigfoot: A Beast on the Run". It's a wild, funny, kinda scary look at horror fan and metal musician from Georgia, Peter Stubb. If I were like him every day, I'd probably die.

Jason goes to Docfest--Day 9

This Docfest thing just keeps going forever. The day started with a chat with Melody Gilbert, the recipient of the first filmmaker tribute award ever in the history of all things Indiefest (Indiefest, Holehead, or Docfest. Previously they only gave awards to individual films, and then only the audience balloting awards). She received the "Someone to Watch" Award, and for the first time ever Indiefest gave out a physical award (instead of just the right to put laurels and the Indiefest name on their poster/DVD art/etc.). For the whole weekend, Melody was showing off the medal Jeff Ross gave her. Anyway, at 12:30 Saturday, we were treated to an extended chat with Melody, where she showed clips from all her film. Starting with her earliest one, "Married to the Mall". Then her freaky medical oddity duo, "Whole" and "Life Without Pain" (more on that one later). Then "Urban Explorers" (which I saw at Cinequest last year), and finally into the ones I hadn't seen yet. "Disconnected" was one she made with her students at Carleton College (again, more on that later) which she executive produced rather than directed. "Fritz" is the documentary she made about Walter Mondale, which is so new that Docfest didn't have a chance to program it. Between each film we talked briefly about the subject and what it was like to make it. Then we ended with a special sneak preview of the rough cut of her newest film. I can't really tell you much about it, not even the title (which might change anyway). I can tell you she once again executive produced rather than directed. And I can say it's about the pharmaceutical industry and one man's journey to transition off of prescription antidepressants. It's powerful, emotional, and I can't say anything else. Look for it to come out soon. It was also an interesting experience to see a film in the process of being completed, and share critiques with the filmmaker.

Melody Gilbert weekend continued with her third film, "A Life Without Pain". I'd seen this a few years back at a previous Docfest (I think it played at Docfest, not the general Indiefest), and was impressed. But in looking through my archives I find that was from a time before I wrote about every single movie I see, so I don't have an old review to fall back on (like you might have noticed I did for "Whole"). Well, "A Life Without Pain" is an interesting companion piece to "Whole", only in as much as it's about an odd and incredibly rare medical affliction. The title is pretty straightforward--people born without the ability to feel pain. They can feel touch, pressure, pleasure, etc. But the pain nerves don't work (or the brain doesn't process the pain signals right--there are actually two forms of the disease but the movie doesn't get into that). Melody follows around three little girls (all girls sort of by coincidence, although more girls have this disease than boys--the opposite of "Whole"). And until you think about it, you'd think this wouldn't be a big deal, it might even be easier to live if you didn't feel pain. Oh, boy, would you be wrong! How do you learn not to touch the stove or chew on your own tongue if it doesn't hurt? Children learning to walk tend to hit the ground pretty hard, and will stop and rest when they start to get sore. Well, not these kids. Melody follows around the difficulties children and families have dealing with this disease and keeping the little girls safe when the pain response doesn't work for them. I remember when I saw it years ago it was a fascinating movie. But I had forgotten how scary and traumatic it could be. I realized watching it again that this is a very empathic movie. Every time 3-year old Gabby runs headfirst into a table, I feel all the pain she can't feel.

Here's a pic of Melody Gilbert. I'm not sure which Q&A I snapped this at:

Next was yet another Melody Gilbert screening, but first things first: "First ____" is a short by Indiefest alum Dave Laden (winner of the Audience Award for best short in Indiefest 2007 for "The One").  Here he interviews a series of people about their first...whatever.  First name, first pet, first love, first sexual experience, first car (I think).  But he doesn't always let the audience know what the question was, and you have to figure it out.  Pretty clever, with some funny, interesting results.  Here's Dave Laden taking questions after the movie:


And the feature film was one Melody executive produced, but was really directed by her students at Carleton College (in Northfield, MN).  "Disconnected" follows the story of three college students as they attempt to go a full term (or at least three weeks) without using a computer.  An interesting experiment, because I actually rarely used a computer in college (certainly didn't blog or surf the Internet, I probably just used it a few hours a week for work).  So much has changed, and it's mean to make me feel this old.  But at least as an old guy, I can take some solace in the fact that the young generation is a bunch of idiots who don't even know how to work a typewriter!  (sigh...I really am old)   Anyway, the three volunteers (Andrew, Caitlin, and Chel) first encounter boredom, then frustration (as so many services and required tasks are online now).  They do learn some lessons about changing work habits (Caitlin talks about organizing her paper much better in advance since she can't use a word processor), and appreciating different things in life (although I can't help but think of this xkcd cartoon).  Ways they "cheat" (or rationalize cheating) are funny.  And the final moments when each decides when he or she will turn back on the computer are oddly dramatic (and not just the competition of who has more e-mail piled up).  All of them agree that while computers are good, they'll probably spend less time on them now.  Very interesting.

Next up was a very different kind of movie, "Fat Man Walking".  Steve Vaught was a broken man.  An ex-marine, now a tow truck driver in north San Diego County.  A few years back he got into a bad car accident and killed a pedestrian.  He fell into (more of a) depression, and ballooned up to 400+ pounds.  Then one day, he decided he needed to get his life together, chase away his demons, and make a fresh start.  So he decided to walk from Oceanside, CA to New York City.  And he eventually did it, over the course of 13 months (with a break to fly back to LA for a little training).  Along the way, he became famous, signed a book deal, signed a vitamin endorsement deal, made this movie, lost his wife, fell to pieces many times over, and...well, you can't tell from this movie whether he chased off any demons or turned his life around.  While there's a clear narrative, this movie nearly abandons it and instead plays like an extended nightmare hallucination of his anger and frustration not just with the walk, but with his life before, during, and after the walk.  There are scenes of him screaming at his wife (and later of her packing up all his stuff and moving it into storage).  There are scenes of him obsessing over hate mail on his blog (http://www.thefatmanwalking.com/)  There are scenes of him complaining about the pain, exhaustion, and how long it was taking (original plan was ~3 months or so).  But there are also scenes of the people he inspired, and the hope he brought.  He was actually at the screening, and did assure the audience that while fortune never really materialized, he has learned (somewhat) to concentrate on the 80,000+ people who wrote nice things, and not obsess over the dozen who wrote mean things (who knew people were nasty, cynical assholes on the Internet?).  Fascinating, and a little scary.  

Here's P. J. Bagley (Producer/Director/Editor/Cameraman), Steve Vaught (the Fat Man himself), and David Mollering (Producer/Cameraman) at the Q&A after the movie:

And finally, the last movie of the night was "Toots", about the legendary Manhattan saloonkeeper Toots Shor.  Toots was a unique man in a unique period, ruling over the hottest, hippest bar in Manhattan, serving with equal honest charm Supreme Court justices, gangsters (there's a legend of Earl Warren and Frank Costello on opposite sides of the bar on the same night), singers (Sinatra was a regular), and sports heroes (DiMaggio, Frank Gifford).  And they weren't just clients, they were friends (whom he'd often greet with good-natured profanity or jocular racial epithets).  Not bad for a Jewish hustler bum from south Philly.  This movie was made by his granddaughter, and is full of charming anecdotes and great footage, all tied together in a pretty picture.  This is a very standard homage film.  I don't think they included any negative stories of Toots (or if there were, they were examples of his outrageous behavior).  If you're interested in the man, or in the time and place (and the two are pretty inseparable), it's an interesting movie.  If you've never heard of him, and couldn't care less about mid 20th century Manhattan, there's probably not much here for you.

And that was last Saturday at Docfest.  I'm catching up slowly.

Jason goes to Docfest--Day 8

Just one program last Friday, and then I had to go to Scotchtoberfest (but that's a different story, and one I don't remember that well.  I remember everyone liked the Scotch I brought, I remember blurting out "I never knew I loved 12-year olds before tonight" (pretty sure I was referring to 12 year old scotches).  And I remember arguing with a Filipina lady who was convinced that Jews eat the foreskin after a bris.)

Anyway, let's talk about the movies instead.  This kicked off Melody Gilbert weekend at the festival.  Melody is a talented, accomplished filmmaker, and now Indiefest's only award winner, as she was given the first ever Someone to Watch Award.

The program was a double-bill of her first two independently made documentaries (previously she was a TV journalist), starting with her first, "Married at the Mall".  The Mall refers to the Mall of America, the giant Mall in the suburbs of Minneapolis/St. Paul (Melody is from Minnesota).  You know, the famous mall with the roller coaster inside, etc.?  Well, it's also go the Chapel of Love where you can get married in the mall.  The movie follows around the workers and a half dozen couples as they plan and celebrate their marriage.  The couples range from truck drivers to a Russian bride getting married to a fireman who holds the world land-speed truck record.  There's the soldier getting married right after 9/11 before he ships off on tour (he's Navy, she was in the Air Force, that's how they met).  There was even one odd moment when a chapel director said that the people she sees coming in there were a cross-section of "the real America".  Of course, in our current political climate, in SF, that was met by hisses (we don't boo in SF, we hiss), and I just had to shake my head and say "That's not what she meant!  She's not Sarah Palin!"  Anyway, it was all a lot of fun.

But then "Married in the Mall" was overshadowed by the movie that had introduced me to Melody's work back at Indiefest in 2004, "Whole".  Here's what I wrote about it back then:

Next up there was a documentary about amputee wannabes called "Whole".  That's right, amputee wannabes--people who want to have a limb amputated.  In all cases in the movie, it happened to be legs they wanted amputated (which is the case 90% of the time). And it happened to be men (again, true 90% of the time). Why do the want it? Nobody knows. They can't explain it, other than the feeling that the limb doesn't belong to them.  And it's very specific. One guy who successfully convinced a doctor to amputate his leg after freezing it in dry ice showed how actually the doctor had cut a little too much off in one spot and left a little too much on in another spot (although he didn't try to fix it, it was close enough). Another guy shot his leg off with a shotgun, several people have died trying to do this. They also interviewed some wannabes who hadn't tried anything yet. One who was thinking of doing it, and the only thing
that kept him from it was that his wife said she'd leave him. Another from Holland who ties his leg behind him and walks around on crutches.  Interestingly enough, his wife supports him completely. And that became one of the most interesting things about the movie (the director, Melody Gilbert, talked about this). If your significant other wanted to get an amputation, would you stand by him/her? They also interviewed a psychologist who's trying to get this studied better (as it is, the condition doesn't even have a name), and a doctor from Scotland who performed two voluntary amputations and caused quite a scandal.  Absolutely fascinating.

Yes, still fascinating.  The second time watching it I was also struck by how eloquent, intelligent, and rational the subjects were about their desire and their decisions.

I just want to end this post by saying that people often ask me what the best movie in a festival is.  I usually tell them a few that made a good first impression on me, but I almost always follow it up by saying, "I don't really know yet.  I'll know a couple of weeks after the festival, when I see which ones are still stuck in my head."  "Whole" was the perfect example of this.  I was fairly impressed when I first saw it, but then in the subsequent weeks or months I found that various comments or observations would bring me back to the subject and I'd tell people, "I recently saw this great documentary about these people who want to be amputees!"  I was surprised that years later (now 4 years on and still going) I would still be reminded of it (often for no reason), and have to tell people about it.  Well, since Melody was there selling DVDs, now I can tell people I saw this great documentary and then loan them the DVD.  You can find links to all her films and buy her DVDs at her website, http://www.frozenfeetfilms.com/.   

Jason goes to Docfest--Day 7

Two movies last night, one funny, one really scary. Let's do this quickly.

The first movie (the funny one) was about a guy named Ryan. It was called "Hi, My Name is Ryan". Ryan Avery is a pudgy, hormonally unbalanced kid from Phoenix. He's also one of the strangest creative artists in Phoenix. He fronts several varieties of punk bands/performance art troupes. He's a comedian, a milk and cookies connoisseur, a fake mustache fanatic, a helmet fanatic, a photobooth artist/model, and...he could be just about whatever. His bands are often angry punk noise, but from a funny side, like Father's Day, where he and three friends perform as stereotypical bad fathers (his family life and trauma is touched on, but exactly how dark it goes is uncertain). He often takes pride in pissing off/confusing his audience, breaking shit, and being more punk than the "real" punk rockers, all the while with a cherubic big baby face that makes it impossible to take seriously. At the same time, he did the incredibly confessional solo projects Silverchair, which morphed into Hi My Name is Ryan. And two years ago she stopped it all to go on a mission to Portland for his Mormon Church. Just another little conflicting bit of information to try to understand about this odd guy. But I can totally respect (and relate to) how he doesn't enforce any sort of arbitrary consistency on his life/performances/interests. If you can't understand how he can be a punk rocker and a Mormon missionary, that's your problem, not his.

Now this movie could be like any of a number of documentaries about eccentrics--interviews with friends and the subject followed by footage of performances. But this movie has one thing that makes it really pop like none other. Not just a solid protagonist, it has a bona fide antagonist. Wayne Michael Reich is an established "serious" artist on the Phoenix scene, and has run into Ryan on several occasions. Ryan's punk performances (in the group Night Wolf), have disrupted Wayne's shows on multiple occasions, and he has no patience for the "no-talent idiot" and his cronies. Wayne is on camera extensively bitching about Ryan, and looks like a conceited redneck David Cross (seriously, if this wasn't a documentary festival, I'd believe David Cross is pulling a joke on us all). He makes an excellent villain, and makes this an excellent, hilarious film.

Not so hilarious was "Silhouette City", a meditation on the rise of the religious right in America. From survivalist camps in the 70's to a modern stranglehold on the Republican party, the "end times" believers have moved from a fringe group that is mocked (if thought of at all) to a driving force in public policy (not that I'm anti-Israel, but it's frightening to see how many right-wingers are pro-Israel because they believe a Jewish state in Israel is a pre-condition to the second coming of Jesus). The movie uses a combination of archival footage, propaganda material, and interviews to...scare the ever-loving crap out of me. Yeah, I know and fear James Dobson (Focus on the Family), Ted Haggard (preach about Jesus and then sneak off to do meth with gay hookers), and the like. But 90 minutes of seeing them all together and pulling the controls of power is frightening. Now I call this movie a "meditation" because it presents stories, images, even statistics in a melodic, meandering way with no narration or a protagonist voice. I don't want to say it doesn't have a point of view (it definitely does, and it's anti-extremist), but it doesn't have a sense of someone asking a question and looking for an answer, if that makes any sense (maybe I was just tired when I saw it). I think that would have helped me to relate to it a lot more. There was a very interesting guy speaking near the end of the movie (and I apologize for not remembering his name), but he spoke about how something like 40 years ago his divinity teacher (at Harvard?) warned the class that a top threat in the coming century is the rise of religious fascism (and as a survivor of Germany in the 30's, he didn't throw words like "fascism" around lightly). This guy was a practicing, devoted Christian, and was afraid of what the political face of his religion was doing. That's the sort of character who would make an excellent protagonist for the movie (basically I wanted to hear more from him and see less of James Dobson).


And that's day 7. Tonight I might make it up for Melody Gilbert's fantastic movie "Whole" (which I saw at Indiefest a few years back, and I recommend all my SF readers go see). But then I've got a Scotchtoberfest party tonight, so I'll be drinking fine Scotch instead of watching movies most of the night.

Jason goes to Docfest--Day 6

Yup, day 6, and no end in sight.  Or at least, the end is too far off to see.  Anyway, two more movies last night, both of them fun, light treats.

First up was "Twisted: A Balloonamentary".  Yup, an hour and a half of balloon animals and other incredible sculptures, and stories of how learning three simple twists (to create a balloon doggy) can change your life.  There's a brief, animated history of balloon twisting--which predates balloons (it started with animal bladders, etc.)--narrated by Jon Stewart.  Then it launches into the personal stories.  There's an equal mix of personal stories and incredible balloon art, each of which is fascinating in it's own right.  Probably the most poignant story is Vera, a 20-something woman who grew up impoverished living in a trailer park.  A kind neighbor loaned her $60 to take a class in balloon art, and within a couple of weeks working kid's parties she payed him back, and is now putting herself through med school.  Yeah, you can make a lot of money (6 figures, if you work at it) twisting balloons, just ask Michele, who runs several balloon twisters out of Las Vegas (she's the one who really seemed a smart businesswoman as well as an artist).  There's also John, the ex-felon, abused as a child, who is now a balloon twisting evangelist who tears up as he describes the joy of making a Jesus on the cross out of balloons (I kid you not.  At twisting conventions like "Twist and Shout", the 11 pm hour is dedicated to two classes--Christian balloon twisting, and adult balloon twisting.)  There's James "Mr. Me", an African American grandfather who brings his positive message to the poor streets of Atlanta.  And then there's the competitive twisters like the Great Wandini or David Grist (widely thought of as the nicest star in the balloon twisting world).  There's even true love, Don "Buster Balloon" and Laura "Annie Banannie", who met twisting balloons, fell in love, and got married.  She wore a wedding dress made of balloons, the best man gave him a safety pin as a gift.

While the people are interesting, the sculptures themselves are amazing.  It all starts with a little doggy, but from there it goes anywhere and everywhere.  Giant Trojan horses, haunted houses, full-size furniture, giant sharks, racecars, whatever.  Words can't do it justice, just go see it.  If you're in the bay area, it plays again at the festival Wednesdsay, Nov. 5 at 9:30 pm in Berkeley.  If you're not in the bay area, or can't make it out, there's a link to purchase the DVD on the film's website.

Afterwards, Brian Asman from Balloons Equal Fun (who had small cameos in the movie) was there to talk about balloon twisting and teach us how to make a simple three-twist balloon doggy. Here's your proud blogger/film fanatic with my new pet, Col. Squeakypuppy:

And the second movie was one that maybe was supposed to be a little more serious, but I and the rest of the audience found it pretty hilarious (the director even mentioned he never saw his film get more laughs).  "Break Up Date" is a look at the world of dating, breaking up, stupid things people do, cuddle parties, and why so many people are single.  They interview a series of people (some average people, some relationship experts) as they describe their worst break-ups, worst dates, hopes, fears, and ideas on love and life.  They follow them through various activities (most of which the characters bravely volunteer to try for the movie) like online dating, speed-dating, nerd meet-ups, cuddle parties (non-sexual, pajama-clad touching), etc.  Most of the characters have a good sense of humor about it all, even when describing really painful events.  And of course, I had to laugh and cheer when one of the authors of "The Rules" got divorced.

Okay, a little note about San Francisco.  Director Collin Souter mentioned that he'd never seen his film get so many laughs.  Well, recently a survey found that the SF area had the highest proportion of single people in the country.  My theory, we're jaded and "too cool" to couple up.  Screw the stupid conformists who need other "sheeple" to make their lives worthwhile.  At least, that's why I laughed.  Any other SF Bay Area-ites (Bay Areans just doesn't sound right) want to comment/disagree?

Okay, that was day 6 at Docfest.  I'm all caught up on blogging, so it's about time to head out for more movies tonight.