As if it isn't hard enough to choose between the films, the MFF also has an ongoing schedule of filmmaker panel discussions and workshops. This morning, I sacrificed "Underworld" with the Alloy Orchestra to sit in on a talk with documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney, director of the Oscar-nominated "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room," Oscar-winning "Taxi to the Dark Side" and "Gonzo," which is screening at the festival this year.
When someone asked him what he's working on now, he rattled off four or five projects, including a film he just finished on Jack Abramoff. It sounds great!
Listening to what became a conversation between him and the half-dozen or so others in the tent, I could appreciate the film I saw later in the afternoon with perspective on the style. Gibney chose and hosted this rare screening of "WR: Mysteries of the Organism" (1971) by Dusan Makavejev ("Montenegro"). When it was released, as now, it was too arty and sexually explicit for wide release. Gibney saw it in college at a film society screening.
What it shares with Gibney's style is a strategic juxtaposition of two elements to tell a story. In "Enron," Gibney cut between the extreme-sports obsession of a lot of the Enron executives and the financial risk-taking and eventual ruin of the company.
In "WR," it's between sex and politics (or, more specifically, political ideology).
I was unable to see "Gonzo" yesterday. But it will surely be released theatrically, so I'll see it then.
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