Utama has won acclaimed for its visual poetry style. Bolivian Director Alejandro Loayza Grisi‘s film follows the affects of severe weather on a shepherd family.
Chat Cinema Podcast with the filmmaker coming soon.
For its eighth annual edition, the Bentonville Film Festival once again purported to be all-inclusive. Its tagline reads: ‘Championing Women and Diverse Voices’. Academy Award winner Geena Davis chairs this festival in Arkansas State. Physical events took place from June 22nd-26th, with virtual events running to July 3rd.
The Competition Narrative entry The Unknown Country was directed by Morrisa Maltz. This road movie’s documentary-style premise seamlessly morphs into its fictional narrative. A grieving young woman called Tana (Lily Gladstone) is invited to reconnect with her estranged family. Sparse dialogue and compelling atmosphere exemplify this surreal journey from the Midwest to the Texas-Mexico border. The radio sound collages in the car serve as alternative episodic sequences. The overall effect sums up the contemporary psychological state of America.
Also in competition, Straighten Up and Fly Right directed by Kristen Abate and Steven Tanenbaum. The directors were also the co-writers, producers and lead characters. Kristen is a 20-something New Yorker suffering from a severe case of ankylosing spondylitis (AS). This inflammatory disease of the spine causes Kristen chronic pain and reduced mobility. A very personal film, co-director Steven Tanenbaum also suffers from ankylosing spondylitis. Despite its bleak scenario, the film is courageous and avoids sentiment.
Some well-chosen shorts entries featured in the Competition Documentary section. The Weight of It concerns Maria, a breast-cancer survivor. Readjusting to her new life after a mastectomy and breast implant, we witness her strength and resolve. The US entry Seasick is a coming-of-age LGBTQ story set on a ferry. Sadie is an adolescent who is not yet ready to come out. She also has a crush on her shift captain, Jess. Director Lindsey Ryan handles the sensitive subject matter with charm and humor.
The Competition Episodic section blurs the lines between short documentary and essay film. Tiffani Alexander’s The Tale of 2 Music Cities shows us Nashville’s overlooked musical heritage. The Tennessee town is more famous for its Country and Western music scene. However, the roots of the city’s musical lineage underlines the contribution of Black music. Otherwise, Shadow Work is the film debut of Kary Collier Jr. An intense caustic analysis, it focuses on a PhD graduate who confronts his alter ego.
Two of the Animated Shorts were the work of Canadian production company ACE Film. Pivot analyses the rites of passage and identity through a mother and daughter relationship. The Butterfly Affect is social commentary, looking at the self-worth of a young cashier.
At the awards, actor Fin Argus won Rising Star for the feature Every Day in Kaimuki. His producer Effie Brown took the Rising to the Challenge Award. Gretchen Stoeltje’s Shouting Down Midnight won the jury award for Best Documentary Feature. Georgia, by Jayil Pak, was selected for Best Short Film and Carlos Cardona’s Chiqui won for Best Episodic.
By Steven Yates
Check out the Chat Cinema Podcast for entertainment news.
The New York City Film Festival unspooled its usual cinema fair of polished works by filmmakers from around the world. The mixture of physical and virtual continued this past June for ten days.
God Said Give Em’ Drum Machines is the story of how a sound was created in the Detroit music scene. Check out the Chat Cinema interview with director Kristian Hill.
McEnroe, director Barney Douglas’ story of the legendary “Superbrat” John McEnroe is a compelling documentary on a great tennis star. A humanising portrait of a man coming to grips with his illustrious yet troubled past.
All Man-International Male Story from Bryan Darling and Jesse Finley Reed is for anyone who remembers the sensual if not soft porn International Male Catalogs of the 80’s and 90’s. From humble beginnings flying by the sit of the pants to global success the documentary charts the raise pages sent to men all over the world.
Britain has always considered itself on the moral side of the Slave Trade having abolished the institution in 1807. The Story of Bones by Joseph Curran and Dominic Aubrey de Vere asks many unsettling questions about the country’s role with the treatment of human cargo. The effects of this are felt today on the isle of St. Helen.
Leave No Trace has generated a large amount of trace. Rightfully. Watching Irene Taylor’s devastating accounts of sexual abuse cover up in the Boy Scouts of America left me raw. For decades the civic organization knew their All American Clean image was a cover for attracting sexual predators. Anger, regret, sadness with a lost of trust combine to make this powerful documentary a raw emotional watch.
Google whistleblower told the world the tech giant has an AI sentient, a shutter went around the world. So happens at this time I screened Sophia. A passionate inventor or mad scientist, Jon Kasbe and Crystal Moselle’s documentary on David Hanson is a character study of a brilliant man on a mission to change the way we interact technology.
Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady took a high morale approach to the documentary work Endangered. Produced by Ronan Farrow, the 4th Estate is under global threat. I can’t say I 100% liked this slickly produced myopic morality tale on journalism considering with public distrust of media at an all time high. Grady and Ewing never why? Frankly, YouTube commentators taking a stand against news censorship are more interesting than this victimhood tale.
The Belgium dark comedy Employee of the Month by Veronique Jadin gets a mention. Who does’t want to kill their work colleagues? Ines, played by Jasmina Douieb, answers the question further.
Check out our Chat Cinema Podcast for news, interviews and reviews regarding filmmaking.
Chat Cinema talks to award-winning filmmaker Jon Alpert on his film LIFE OF CRIME. Screened at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, the work shows lives on the fringe of American Society.
“Life of Crime” was screened at the International Film Festival Rotterdam.
The International Film Festival Rotterdam starts on January 26th. There are some interesting works on the 50th anniversary slate.
Below are some titles we are looking forward to watching.
Black and Paper will attend the festival virtual. Stay tuned for the interviews and reviews.
IFFR runs from January 26th to February 6th.
The episode of Chat Cinema talks to Bay Area filmmaker Erica Eng about her new short film AMERICANIZED.
Americanized was screened at the Bentonville Film Festival.
Running time: 17 minutes.
One intriguing entry into the Venice competition program this year is Lahi, Hayop (Genus, Pan) by Lavrente Indico Diaz (better known as Lav Diaz). Those already familiar with the work of the Filipino director will know he is synonymous with slow contemplative cinema. His earlier films Evolution of a Filipino Family (2004) is ten hours long, one of the longest cinematic narrative films of all time. While some of his more recent prize-winning films, A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery (2016), feature high on the longest ever films list. The director, a former film critic, drew from influences of work by the proponents of art cinema as Michangelo Antonioni and Robert Bresson.
Lav Diaz is also no stranger to the Venice Film Festival. His 2016 filmThe Woman Who Left won the Golden Lion. Lahi, Hayop, for the director comparatively modest in length at just over two and a half hours, still contains his trademark allegories of human greed and brutality, shot in monochrome with long takes. Dismayed by the working conditions at a gold mine, three workers journey to their home village on foot through the isolated wilderness of the mythical island Hugaw.
The weariness creates a hallucinatory effect for the three main protagonists; two mature men and a younger more capricious colleague. From here, with money, envy, and narcissism as the central themes, their relationship and events become more unpredictable and dramatic. As the recent back story unfolds, with scenes of contemporary Filipino society set against notions of the long-term effects of Japanese and American occupation.
Drawing allusions to the formal elements of Bertholt Brecht in its steady rhythm. Lahi, Hayop consistently uses the static camera, and almost always films at the same distance. With virtually no reference to the present, the film could be set at any time in the last 50 years. Given weight by the fact, when speaking of the film, the director’s inspiration came from a question asking him to define the human species. His urgent reply: “Despite being the better developed species, most of us still retain the demeanor and comportment of the chimpanzee or the genus Pan”. Transposed to capitalist society, the film depicts the destructive effects of the human animal, not least through greed. However, the director also finds optimism because the human brain contintues to develop. Diaz believes we will eventually become a self-actualized species, following the examples of Buddha or Gandhi.
Lahi, Hayop has been playing in the final three days of the Venice program. It was in contention for the Main Competition (Orizzonti) prize.
~ Steven Yates contributes to Black and Paper