Live at the 2010 Maryland Film Festival

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2011-05-06T10:40:00.000-07:00

My 2011 Maryland Film Festival blog appears on the Urbanite website. Please visit and comment!

A weekend of tough decisions

2011-05-04T20:41:00.000-07:00

Something's gotta give. From the description, "The Catechism Cataclysm" looks like it's right up my alley. But both of the showings this weekend at the 2011 Maryland Film Festival are conflicting with two other films I want to see: "Domaine," which was chosen by John Waters and will be presented with a live Q & A with him, and "Cafeteria Man," about Tony Geraci, the chef has begun what I hope will be a true revolution in the world of school cafeteria food, and right here in the Baltimore City Public Schools.

Speaking of schools, I'm also hoping to catch "The Learning," by Baltimore-based filmmaker Ramona Diaz. Her earlier documentary, "Imelda," is a jaw-dropping-- but balanced -- depiction of the woman who either pillaged a country or gave it hope, depending on one's politics. "The Learning" is Diaz's latest doc. She followed four of the several hundred Filipino teachers who accepted jobs with the city schools and came to make up 10 percent of the faculty. I'm expecting to learn a lot from this film.

Other films that look good: "Small Pond," "Meek's Cutoff" (but this will be back in commercial release anyway), "The Sleeping Beauty" by Catherine Breillat and therefore NOT for kids. More later. I'm sure to hear more buzz at the opening night shorts screening and party tonight.

Check out Chris Reed's take on "Casino Jack" and "Tiny Furniture"

2010-05-09T10:45:00.000-07:00

I met Christopher Llewellyn Reed at the 2008 festival, when he was standing behind me and reading my notes over my shoulder. He couldn't help but make a suggestion -- a very good one. And since it was a very long line, we had time to become friends.

Chris teaches film and video at Stevenson University. I'm posting a link to his review of two films I really wanted to see but couldn't make it to -- hard choices when so many films are showing simultaneously. Read his blog here.

Happy Mothers' Day for film-loving moms

2010-05-09T10:01:00.000-07:00

This festival always falls on Mothers' Day weekend. There's good and bad in that, so embrace the good. The closing night film is Mother and Child, but that's sold out. I'm sure you'll have a chance to see it when it is released widely, which isn't the case for a lot of other films at this festival.

There are a few screenings here that you could take a child to, as long as you're not too uptight about the content. I could have taken my 12-year-old to the Animated Shorts program I saw last night, and it screens again today at 4 p.m. I would call it PG-13, although no films here are rated.

Music by Prudence, which won best documentary at this year's Academy Awards and has a strong local connection, shows at 5 p.m., but be prepared for that to be sold out.

(See the Film Guide for information on these films.)

Earthling would appeal to teens and moms who love alien body-invasion sci-fi. I got to see only the trailer, and it looks intense.

Putty Hill would appeal to anyone -- the multi-generational tale has 15-year-olds front and center, but the most moving moment in the film for me was between the mother and grandmother of the character whose death brings together his family and friends. I saw it Friday, and it was only the second film in 12 years of the festival that brought tears to my eyes.

I did, in fact, bring my son this morning to the Alloy Orchestra accompaniment to the 1927 silent film Chang: A Drama of the Wilderness. He grumbled, but I know he got a lot out of it. We sat right in front of the musicians so he could watch them play. Otherwise, it's easy to forget they're there playing along; the music so perfectly complements the film.

Michael Sragow, film critic for The Baltimore Sun, hosted the screening and gave some terrific background information on the film, which is a fictionalized depiction using the real jungle and wild animals. Filmmakers Merrian C. Cooper and Ernest Schoedsack made King Kong a few years later in 1933.

"Gabi on the Roof in July" star and director in video interview

2010-05-08T22:36:00.000-07:00

I had a chance to talk to the director/star and his co-star, who both describe a film with a complex sibling relationship.

See the short interview with Lawrence Michael Levine and Sophia Takal.

Saw a lot on Saturday, ready for more on Sunday

2010-05-08T22:07:00.000-07:00

The Maryland Film Festival always falls on Mothers' Day weekend, and I'll be trying to use this to convince my 12-year-old son to join me to see Chang: A Tale of the Wilderness, and old silent film with live accompaniment by the Alloy Orchestra.

Too tired to write much, I'll just say that I've loved almost everything I've seen since Friday, thanks to the MFF staff for a thorough program book with notes on each film -- even the individual shorts.

Here's what I've seen:
Putty Hill -- (Friday night) magnificent, and more coming on this later.
La Pivellina -- a film that Fellini might have made if he had been a neorealist.
Faces -- an old John Cassevetes film that was bold for its time and which stars the lovely and talented Gena Rowlands, his wife. But I wasn't in the mood for its intensity and I left early. I think Woody Allen did a better job with Husbands and Wives.
12th & Delaware -- absolutely loved it and admire the fairness, boldness and intimacy. By the duo that made Boys of Baraka and Jesus Camp.
American Jihadist -- see earlier posts.
Animated Shorts -- this had the lovely effect of feeling like "dessert" after a long day at the movies. It was packed -- SRO and people sitting on the steps (I was one of them).

Mark Claywell and Ramona Diaz

2010-05-08T22:02:00.001-07:00

Ramona Diaz, right, introduced Claywell's film at the Maryland Film Festival. Diaz is a Baltimore-based documentary filmmaker whose work includes Imelda, about Imelda Marcos. She is currently working on The Learning, about teachers hired from the Philippines to teach in Baltimore City Public Schools.

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Interview with Director Mark Claywell

2010-05-08T21:10:00.000-07:00

I had a chance to interview Mark Claywell after the last screening of his film, American Jihadist. Some context before viewing a short video of his comments:

The documentary is about Isa Abdullah Ali, an African-American man raised in Washington, DC, who came of age during the tumult of the 1960s. After coming home from service in Vietnam and facing racial injustice, he experienced a religious conversion to Islam and dedicated his life to going to wherever Muslims are under attack. He helped the Mujahadeen fight off the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and arrived in Bosnia with weapons and skills to train Muslims to defend themselves against Serb forces.

Isa Ali is not someone most viewers will like -- he is a killer, and hearing him talk about that is uncomfortable, especially when it's about his part in the civil war in Lebanon, my parents' homeland, on the side that I have always thought of as the enemy.

But if I were persecuted and powerless to defend myself and he came to help with grenades, guns and camo, I might want him on my side.

With terrorism and homeland security on everyone's mind, it is tempting to lump Isa Ali in with terrorists, but there is a difference. Ali does not target civilians. He shows up to help the Muslim civilians train to fight organized forces bearing down on them.

"American Jihadist" at 4 today

2010-05-08T12:39:00.000-07:00

I was able to watch only the first 15 minutes yesterday of American Jihadist, a documentary by Mark Claywell. It was enough to confirm that I wanted to make time today for the whole film.

I interviewed Claywell on opening night about the role of the documentary as journalism in a time when the journalism industry is in such a state of flux, and focused more on profits than on paying what it takes to truly investigate a subject.

A lot of this comes down to money, and money was certainly a challenge -- American Jihadist was expensive to make because of the travel involved to Afghanistan, Lebanon, Bosnia and other places. How many filmmakers have to compute kidnap insurance in their expenses? But he and his producer and writer -- Jody Jenkins, a veteran journalist now working in Paris -- are pros. They raised the money it took to cover the subject.

This is one of at least two films at this year's festival that can broaden our understanding of the motivation behind people who fight for Islam, whether it's as the subject in this film -- a self-described professional soldier of Islam who travels to where Muslims are oppressed and will fight for them -- or the terrorists of al Qaeda. The subject of The Oath, by Laura Poitras, is a former bodyguard to Osama bin Laden, now living in Yemen and struggling with questions of faith and morals.

Filmmaker Steve Yeager and film student Daisy Hart at the tent village

2010-05-07T17:22:00.000-07:00

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Steve's recently completed film is Crystal Fog. His Divine Trash won Best Documentary at Sundance.

"Night Catches Us" by Tanya Hamilton

2010-05-07T14:49:00.001-07:00

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From left, Wendell Pierce (actor), Lynn French, Tanya Hamilton (director), Paul Coates and Marc Steiner

I had to sit on the floor.

2010-05-07T14:35:00.000-07:00

But it was worth it. Standing room only doesn't exactly describe how full the house was for Tanya Hamilton's film Night Catches Us, with Kerry Washington, Anthony Mackie and Wendell Pierce. People were sitting on all the stairs up and down both aisles of the theater. I was sitting on the floor near the front. It actually was not a bad view at all, and I had a wall to lean on.

Before the film started, festival director Jed Dietz told the audience there would be another showing tomorrow, but no one wanted to leave. More on this film later when I have time, but I highly recommend going to see it tomorrow at 9:30 p.m. at Brown Center on the MICA campus. There will be a shuttle from the Charles Theatre to Brown.

I suggest buying tickets today and getting in line early tomorrow, for obvious reasons.

Standing room only for Night Catches Us

2010-05-07T11:53:00.000-07:00

Above, Marc Steiner led the Q and A after the film.

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Lines at midday Friday

2010-05-07T11:23:00.000-07:00

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All access passes sold out

2010-05-07T11:19:00.000-07:00

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Film for Everyone

2010-05-07T06:32:00.000-07:00

That's the slogan for this year's festival, which I'm happy to have introduced to George Scott, the Ehrlich technician who just left my house after a scheduled check-and-treat. Upon seeing my husband's rather extensive collection of CDs and LPs, Scottie mentioned that he was that way about movies.

"Well, then," I said.... and told him about the festival and gave him my extra program. He's a John Waters fan, so the showing tonight of United 93 is one he's considering so that he can hear Waters' insight on this unique film.

Another thing -- chocolate

2010-05-06T22:55:00.001-07:00

I would look so jaded not to mention that the food this year was also great -- marinated cold shrimp, veggies and dip and wonderful rosemary bread.

Best of all -- Albert Kirchmyr himself was giving out his hand-crafted and otherwise very expensive chocolate truffles and infused chocolate candies. I had two on my plate when filmmaker Lawrence Michael Levine (Gabi on the Roof in July) saw them and asked where to get them. No sooner had I pointed him in the direction of the great chocolatier when Matt Porterfield (Putty Hill) asked me the same question.

Also serving food was Sofi's crepes, which is next door to the Charles Theater, where most of the films in the festival will be shown.

Opening Night Short Films and Party

2010-05-06T22:07:00.000-07:00

Md Film Fest programmers Eric Allen Hatch and J. Scott Braid put together a selection of seven short films that were so good that I regret to tell you that you won't get a chance to see most of them. One that you can see is Junko's Shamisen, which will be part of the "Animated Shorts" program that looks like it has at least one more winner, Pigeon: Impossible.

Junko's Shamisen is an artful and modern combination of live action and animation. Director Sol Friedman puts the translation of what the Japanese narrator is saying in comic-book style white boxes with text, avoiding the more pedestrian subtitles and adding to, rather than distracting from, the beauty and mystery of the images.

And I absolutely loved The Late Mr. Mokun Williams, which has a keen sense of balance and humor. It will resonate with anyone who has gotten one of those e-mails from the orphan/widow of someone who has thousands of dollars in an offshore bank that must be transferred to your savings account so please give the account number.

This film was so popular with the crowd that one man hated to see it end so much that he asked director Kenneth Price if he was planning a sequel and my husband said he thought the concept could even hold up for a feature-length film.

Also loved the collage-1050s look of Voice on the Line by Kelly Sears, the only woman among the filmmakers of the opening night programs. I'm wondering why I don't see more women directors.

To choose short films for the festival from among the submissions, Hatch said he and Braid will typically spend 9 hours a day watching 50 to 60 short films to select the ones to show. I didn't get the sense he was complaining, though.

What do you want to see?

2010-05-05T17:00:00.000-07:00

It's the question I've been asked a lot this week. I wanted to look at the schedule to map out what I can see -- many tough decisions await me once I consult the grid, which I can download as a PDF this year rather than wait until opening night. Then I'll sit down with a pen and highlighter in full geek mode to see what is possible.

Until then, I made a wish list list based on the trailers, film guide and Festival Director Jed Dietz's favorites.

Dogtooth

La Pivellina

Putty Hill

Night Catches Us

Music by Prudence

Mars

12th & Delaware

The Oath

American Jihadist

Family Affair

Casino Jack and the United States of Money

Pidgeon: Impossible (animated, looks hilarious)

Cyrus

Mother and Child (closing night film)

Gabi on the Roof in July

Chang: A Drama of the Wilderness (with live accompaniment by the Alloy Orchestra)

Quick Gun Murugun

A Small Act

Tiny Furniture

Partial to Movies With Scripts

2009-05-13T19:51:00.000-07:00

A number of screenings in this year's film festival started out like this: The director comes out to say that he or she had a deliberate approach and story to tell, but did not have a script; the actors were allowed to improvise.

After seeing three of these unscripted improvisations over a span of less than 24 hours, I have new appreciation for screenplays. So did another woman I ran into when I went to the "Funny Bones" screening (now there's a good script!). She had seen me the night before at a late-night showing of a film whose lack of a script slowed it down and gave us each plenty of time to lose interest in the characters.

The unscripted films had some fine scenes and moments, and I don't believe filmmakers have to follow rules. But they can break even more rules with a good screenplay. I'm hoping that as these young filmmakers mature, they'll do that in ways I can only imagine.

Treeless Mountain

2009-05-10T21:43:00.000-07:00

Of the record number of foreign-language films the Maryland Film Festival screened this year, programmer Eric Allen Hatch said, "Treeless Mountain" may have the best chance of getting a wide release. That should be good news to anyone who didn't make it to the Sunday screening of this film by So Yong Kim.

In the film, a struggling single mother must leave her two daughters with their absent father's older sister. The girls -- the oldest is 6 and the younger one appears to be about 4 -- call her what the subtitles translate to "Big Aunt." While she's not in Spiker and Sponge territory as far as evil aunts go, she is neglectful and harsh most of the time. The child actors -- including one who plays a little boy the girls befriend -- are magnificent, and they are in nearly every scene, so that matters.

The low-key performances by the children remind me of Francois Truffaut's "Small Change," "The 400 Blows" and "The Wild Child."

There is, according to the festival program notes, an emerging South Korean cinema. But this is the first South Korean film I've ever had a chance to see. I was unable to make it to "Daytime Drinking," a comedy by Noh Young-seok, but the preview I saw for it reminded me of Martin Scorcese's "After Hours."

World's Greatest Dad

2009-05-10T21:18:00.000-07:00

Could this be the film that finally makes Bobcat Goldthwait famous for what he does best and loves most? I never paid much attention to him when he was a loud and wild actor and stand-up comic. But after seeing three of his films in the last two years, I can say that I will never skip one, and I'm hoping to rent his earlier feature, "Shakes the Clown."

"World's Greatest Dad," starring Robin Williams and Daryl Sabara ("Spy Kids") as father and son, is one of the films from this festival that are most likely to get wide release. Robin Williams still has star appeal, though he doesn't do the kind of comedy here that he's known for. Audiences may give the film a chance just for him, and they'll be rewarded.

Of course, there's the "taboo" factor. Just as in Goldthwait's "Sleeping Dogs Lie," shown at the 2007 Maryland Film Festival as a John Waters pick, "World's Greatest Dad" has a plot that centers on something most people don't like to say aloud. In the latter film's case, it's something that some people can't pronounce, either. And then he takes things further. Goldthwait is a daring filmmaker, but not just for the sake of going to the edge. The story is absolutely original, and it holds together.

Catch “Stingray Sam” Sunday

2009-05-09T20:42:00.000-07:00

I didn’t think I’d like “Stingray Sam.” I’m not crazy about sci-fi or westerns. But I saw a trailer for it a month ago and yesterday, just had to peek inside the theater to see what it was like. Turns out that it’s stylish and goofy at the same time, with hip gags and a black-and-white high-contrast look that was hard to tear myself away from.

I stayed longer than I meant to, and would have stayed longer still if I hadn't been so determined to see “Funny Bones” (see below), which played the same time. The good news is “Stingray Sam” repeats today (Sunday) at one of the festival’s remote locations – the University of Baltimore Student Center. You can get there via shuttle from the festival’s main site at the Charles Theater.

Video Americain, by the way, carries director Cory McAbee's earlier film, "The American Astronaut."

Thanks, Laura. I needed that.

2009-05-09T14:52:00.000-07:00

Most of the films we see at a festival feature unknown or even first-time actors. That's a good thing, usually. It can feel like we're watching real people when we aren't aware it's, say, Jerry Lewis, Oliver Platt or Leslie Caron.

But I just had the pleasure of watching all three of those fabulous actors together in "Funny Bones" (1995). The film also stars comedian/actor Lee Evans, whom most of you would recognize by face, if not by name. He played the obsessed pizza guy in "Something About Mary," and also starred in "Mouse Hunt."

So while I can appreciate a film that has pretty good actors, there really is nothing like a movie that has it all: great actors with presence, great writing and a director who knows what to do with it all.

The film was novelist Laura Lippman's pick as a guest host this year. She originally saw it 12 years ago knowing nothing about it except that it was a house favorite at Video Americain. That would be enough for me, too. Like Laura, I can't say enough about the store and the staff. Support it -- the owners have recently said they know that sooner or later, they won't be in business. They weren't whining, just being practical. I still don't want to believe it has to happen.

So, go rent "Funny Bones" if you missed it today. You know where to find it. And if they don't have it in, ask about the other house favorites -- there's a whole wall of shelves of them when you walk in, and staff such as Tyler Brown (left) and Antoinette Suiter are more than happy to discuss them with you.

Mexican Cinema

2009-05-09T10:16:00.000-07:00

One of the most pleasant surprises for me this weekend is "Lake Tahoe," a touching film from Mexico that is beautifully told with just enough dialogue.

An older gentleman sitting behind me was telling me after the lights went up that, "It told the story visually -- which is what a film is supposed to do." Whatever dialogue was there was well-written.

The story has little to do with Lake Tahoe. It centers on a middle-class family in a small town (or perhaps suburb) of a Mexico we don't usually see in the few films that come to the United States from that country. The teenage boy of the house is on the verge of manhood. We watch him go through the day dealing with car trouble, but it gradually becomes apparent that there is a much more serious loss.

Directed by Fernando Eimbcke -- new to me but obviously experienced based on the quality -- this could have been an early film by someone like Alejandro González Iñárritu. Maryland Film Festival programmer Eric Allen Hatch appropriately compares Eimbcke to Jim Jarmusch. This is one worth keeping an eye on.

"Let's all go to Paris."

2009-05-09T10:02:00.000-07:00

That's what we were all thinking, and also John Waters' first words as the lights came up after last night's screening of "Love Songs," a 2007 French film that showed in Baltimore for only a week. "Am I the only person who thinks this was the best foreign language film this year?" Waters asked the audience before it started. Of course, we couldn't answer then; Waters purposely picks films that didn't get enough (or any) screen time in Baltimore.

For any who missed it, it is released on DVD. It's a pansexual romantic comedy with music, full of beautiful people in a beautiful city. "Everyone was sexy in this movie," Waters said. "The mother was sexy." It was more like "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" than I would have guessed -- including a good measure of tristesse.

Moved to Tears

2009-05-08T14:37:00.000-07:00

Jed Dietz, director of the festival, has always insisted that local filmmakers do not get priority to have their films entered. I'll accept that. But there are several local filmmakers who are good enough to get their work in -- even featured. Matt Porterfield, Ramona Diaz and Kurt Kolaja all have had films here in past years and screened works in progress this afternoon.

At opening night, local artists included Eric Dyer ("The Bellows March") and Julia Kim Smith ("Grand Teton"). Their two very different films moved me tremendously. Dyer's animated work in progress was 5 minutes, but it was something that spoke to me instantly -- it made me think of the tragedy of war. Another friend saw it as a metaphor for conformity. Dyer's mix of digital photography and zoetrope is mesmerizing. In the photo (right), Dyer holds up the sculpture used to make the film. But all of that visual virtuosity wouldn't keep my attention for even five minutes without the meaning it evokes.

As for Smith's movie, this is the first time I can remember being moved to tears by a short. Also 5 minutes, and so deceptively simple that it appears like nothing more than a lucky break. Smith had sought, on a return family trip to the Grand Teton National Park 25 years later, to recreate a family photo of her mother, sister and herself.

"We thought, 'Why don't we take a picture in the same spot?' " Smith said. And so she figured she would set up her digital video camera on a tripod, too, just to document the whole thing.

But as mother and daughters stood there to pose, and a grandson wandered in and out, Smith's Korean-born mother began crying. Smith appears a bit thrown off, but also moved, knowing her mother and father's struggles to escape the Korean War and make a new life in the United States. You can hear more about Smith's story from a WYPR broadcast today of The Signal.

"When I saw the footage, I decided I would turn the film into a tribute to my family," Smith said. Yes, it was a lucky break, but Smith was able to recognize what she had captured, and the universal impact on anyone who has lived through hardship -- in Mrs. Kim's case, war and the death of two sons.

Smith replaced the ambient sound with a moving rendition of "America," which spares us what might have been distracting audio and puts the focus on these three women, particularly the strong one in the middle. Happy Mother's Day to Mrs. Kim.

Friday Priorities

2009-05-08T06:59:00.000-07:00

Having just seen a lot of shorts last night, I may pass on shorts programs today in favor of a few feature-length films that are my priorities: "Garbage Dreams," because it looked great in the snippet I saw at a MD Film Fest preview a month ago, and Agnes Varda's "The Beaches of Agnes."

I'd like to see Kris Swanberg's "It was great, but I was ready to come home." (love it -- title that is a full sentence, correct case and punctuation) because I'm curious about films exploring the tensions and subtleties between women friends. But I may have to wait 'til the second screening for that (Sunday). In the photo above, Swanberg and her husband, filmmaker Joe Swanberg (center), speak with filmmaker and comedian Bobcat Goldthwait, who hosted opening night.

At 7 pm, John Waters presents "Love Songs," a French romance, with music, that sounds like it's in the spirit of Agnes Varda and her New Wave amis.

Opening Night

2009-05-08T06:47:00.000-07:00

Could a new genre have been born? Marc Kess, an exuberant New York filmmaker, believes he has created one. But he knows one film does not a genre make, so while is making a second "shot-to-fit" film out of the audio from a real old-time radio play, he is putting out the call to other filmmakers to do the same. Here's the link to the noir film he shot from the radio play, "Mildred Richards."

Kess showed "Mildred Richards" as part of the opening night shorts program. Like other shorts featured at opening night, this one won't be shown again, but Kess will be on a panel. Check the festival website or go to the Filmmaker Tent Village across from The Charles to find out more.

Sharing Works-in-Progress

2009-05-06T21:16:00.000-07:00

Disclosure: I have to say right off that Baltimore filmmaker Matt Porterfield's wife, Sara Gerrish, was my son's kindergarten teacher. But even if I didn't know his wife -- and his father, educator and playwright Gordon Porterfield -- I would still have been moved by "Hamilton" when I saw it at the Maryland Film Festival a few years ago. Porterfield will be showing newly shot footage from his latest project, "Metal Gods," joined by other local filmmakers sharing some of their own works-in-progress Friday, May 8, 3:30-4:45 pm at the festival.

The other filmmakers joining him:

Ramona Diaz, whose documentary on Imelda Marcos managed, I think, to be one that would appeal to Mrs. Marcos' loyal subjects as well as to those who are, well, less sympathetic. Diaz is now making a film about teachers from the Philippines who have been recruited to teach in Baltimore City Public Schools.

and

Kurt Kolaja, who showed a film at the festival a few years ago about turning an old barn into his new home. Kurt's film was touching and funny, and most of all, beautifully shot, which can happen when the filmmaker is already a highly respected cinematographer.

Agnes Varda: From New Wave to Beaches

2009-05-04T19:18:00.000-07:00

It's only a 15-minute drive to Video Americain. Normally, I would not have to ask my friends there to hold Agnes Varda's 2001 film, "The Gleaners and I," until I could arrive. But Varda's latest film, "The Beaches of Agnes," is coming to the Maryland Film Festival this weekend, and there is a cadre of French New Wave devotees in Baltimore who might be thinking the same thing I was. Yes, I'm a film geek, but I am not alone.

Must Rent "Story of a Three-Day Pass"

2008-05-04T21:59:00.000-07:00

It's a film Van Peebles made in France in his early years.

And there is also the legendary "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song."

"Confessionsofa" is nothing like the descriptions friends of mine have given about "Sweet ..." These women don't know each other: one is a black photographer; one is a white lawyer; neither is easily shocked or offended. But they didn't like anything about "Sweet Sweetback."

Still, I want to see it -- all the more now.

Melvin Van Peebles' film is brilliant

2008-05-04T21:20:00.000-07:00

The first night of the Maryland Film Festival, Barry Levinson reminded the audience that no matter how much film has evolved, it's still about storytelling, and "Confessionsofa Ex-Doofus, Itchy-Footed Mutha" is a new kind of cinematic storytelling.

Van Peebles came from New York to attend the screening, fresh from rave reviews at the Tribeca Film Festival. He told the audience last night that he made this film because the technology has evolved enough to give him the precision and control he had always longed for in the editing process -- his favorite part of filmmaking.

The technology allows him to manipulate images, add hand-painted (by him) elements to give scenes a magical quality with saturated colors, and slow or speed up the film for effect. It's a masterful film.

I'm providing a link at the top left of this page, to MFF director Jed Dietz's spot-on program notes for this film.

I love the fact that, at 75, Van Peebles plays the main character as a little boy and young man, as well as the old man telling the story in flashback. It works, because he uses the script to remind you his character is not as old as the actor. And it's a lot like real-life storytelling. When my grandmother told me stories of her youth, I imagined her as a child looking just like she did as a gray-haired old woman, but smaller. And that's what Van Peebles does with his character. I think he used that technology to make his character appear smaller when he's "the kid."

There's no way a verbal explanation can do justice to the way in which he pulls this off. You just have to see it.

Where else would a conversation like this start up?

2008-05-04T20:58:00.000-07:00

The line to get into the closing night film was already pretty long when I arrived, and it wasn't moving. I decided to make a few notes because of something John Waters said Friday night when he introduced "Story of Women," which is a movie about abortion. As was "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days," released earlier this year.

"It's practically a trend," Waters said. "Maybe we should have an abortion film festival."

I'm not planning a festival, but I did start making notes on other films in which the issue, or a particular abortion, are a critical element.

The man behind me in line said, "I'm not trying to read your notes, but I couldn't help noticing ..." And he offered up "Vera Drake," starring Imelda Staunton.

It was Christopher Reed, assistant professor of film and video at Villa Julie College.

We came up with a few more abortion films, and then passed the time (the wait ended up being an hour) thinking of the best female-friendship films, which I had been thinking about since seeing "Yeast" at the festival. He noted that "4 Months ..." is also a study of female friendship.

Alex Gibney, the most prolific guy in the room

2008-05-04T13:45:00.000-07:00

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.

Mumblecore

2008-05-04T11:12:00.000-07:00

I have to admit the "mumblecore" tag given to a certain trend in independent filmmaking didn't sound all that appealing to me. Not all the filmmakers who get tagged with it have selected it for themselves, said Mary Bronstein, and a few of them feel it pigeonholes them.

But most, she said, believe it might get their films more attention on the festival circuit than if they were just one of the many. After all, festivals usually have far more entries than any one person can see, and anything that helps a film stand out can help.

Bronstein said the mumblecore movement is broader than just the collective of filmmakers that includes her husband Ronald Bronstein, Joe Swanberg, Greta Gerwig and others in their circle of friends and colleagues. A sound man for another independent filmmaker coined the phrase, Bronstein believes, and it usually indicates that a film was shot with a hand-held digital video camera for very little money, with natural lighting, containing a good amount of improvisational dialogue and having an intimate style.

"My film does have a similar style, but I feel like there's a separation in the themes," Bronstein said of "Yeast."

"I feel like the emotional level of my film is very intensified," she said. "All the 'mumblecore' films are very different."

But the natural lighting and small budget applies here. "My film cost fifteeen hundred dollars," Bronstein said. "That's just production, not counting transfers and taking it to festivals."

She's able to do this only because she and her colleagues work on each other's films, for no money. They all have other jobs. In addition to a degree in drama from New York University, Bronstein has a psychology degree, and works as a play therapist for a hospital.

"Nights and Weekends," by Joe Swanberg, has much more of subdued quality than "Yeast." It's a moving depiction of a long-distance relationship in a difficult and awkward stage. Swanberg co-stars with Greta Gerwig, who is also in Bronstein's film.

If you attended last year's festival and saw "Frownland," by the way, Bronstein played the female love interest of the main character. "Frownland" was directed by her husband, Ronald Bronstein. While it could be called a "mumblecore," it was shot on film, she noted.

Friendship break-ups

2008-05-04T10:08:00.000-07:00

If you find the all-too-rarely explored topic of friendship break-up interesting, note that two films at this year's MFF explore that. One is "My Effortless Brilliance," about two men, but I couldn't get into that one during the unfairly short time I had to watch it.

I found "Yeast," about three female friends, much more riveting. It's emotionally intense, with unpleasant characters -- not for everyone. As for me, I had to leave after the first 20 minutes or so yesterday -- ONLY because I had to get to the screening of "Waiting for Hockney," but I plan to catch the rest of "Yeast" during the final screening at 4:30 p.m. today.

I had the benefit of interviewing "Yeast" director Mary Bronstein just now, and I'll be posting more later on how she was inspired to make "Yeast," and her insight into whether the "mumblecore" label hurts or helps the films that get tagged with it.
Link to Bronstein's myspace page to learn more about the movie.

Subject and Director

2008-05-03T21:46:00.000-07:00

Yesterday's screening of "Waiting for Hockney" was packed with the families and friends of artist Billy Pappas, left, and Julie Checkoway, the film's director. (The photo was taken by Gary Vikan, director of the Walters Art Museum and a mentor to Pappas, at the Tribeca Film Festival.) Checkoway, a former English teacher at the Gilman School, now lives and works in Salt Lake City as a journalist and filmmaker, with her husband, Lee Thomsen.

While no more showings are scheduled at the festival, it's likely this film will be back for a screening in some way. Read more about it at the Film Festival site, and at the film's website. (The link is at the top left corner of this page.) The site also includes a recipe for Cookie Pappas's poppyseed cake. The cake was one she made for artist David Hockney for agreeing to meet with her son.

"Waiting for Hockney"

2008-05-03T21:22:00.000-07:00

These detail images are of Marilyn Monroe's lips and neck and hair, from the drawing at the heart of the documentary "Waiting for Hockney." The film screened Saturday afternoon, and by today, it's back at the Tribeca Film Festival for an encore screening. The bonus was that in addition to seeing this compelling film about a local artist -- Billy Pappas -- the audience yesterday got to see the actual drawing. I have to admit that during the film, I was more taken with Billy's artistic drive than with the drawing itself. But when I saw the drawing afterward, using the magnifying glass provided, I was enthralled. I could see the kinds of tiny folds in her eyelid. I could have looked for much longer, but there was a line that snaked all the way across the atrium and down the stairs to the theater, in the Brown Center at MICA. I had to wait in line for about 20 minutes myself. It was like years ago when I visited the Louvre and saw the line to view the Mona Lisa.

Update: Nurses were fake, ambulance was real

2008-05-03T19:46:00.000-07:00

Update on the "Straight-Jacket" screening: There was rain, but most people didn't mind. And just in case anyone was overcome with fright, there were "nurses" on hand, just like producer William Castle used to provide back in the '50s and '60s as a way to reassure (or dare) moviegoers.

The nurses were Film Festival volunteers dressed in the retro white dresses that 99 percent of nurses have traded in for scrubs. They were having fun playing the part -- both of the volunteers I talked to are full-time college students: Christine Carter, a film and English major at Towson University, and Jessica Taylor, a theater major at Essex Community College. They were having fun and NOT doing anything to sully the image of real nurses. Even Christine's red platform sandals were on the tasteful side.

The nurses were fake, but if you saw the ambulance and fire truck earlier this evening, that was for real. A festival-goer fell and hit her head. An ambulance arrived, but the word was that she was not seriously hurt.

Melvin Van Peebles will be here Sunday night

2008-05-03T18:20:00.000-07:00

Fans of Melvin Van Peebles are probably already planning to catch the closing night selection, "Confessionsofa Ex-Doofus-Itchyfotted Mutha," his new film. (At 75.) But now there's a bonus -- he'll be here for the screening. I first heard it from excited fan/festival volunteer Janet Johnson, and it was confirmed by Skizz Cyzyk, programming manager for the festival. Skizz pointed out that Van Peebles has been to the MFF twice before, once to introduce his film "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song," and also when his son's biopic about him, "Baadasssss," screened at the festival. For "Sweet Sweetback," the MFF had to get the print from Melvin Van Peebles himself, so he decided to bring it in person, Skizz said. And both father/subject and son/director (Mario Van Peebles) came for "Baadasssss."

Spotted at the film festival

2008-05-03T17:09:00.000-07:00

Every year at the festival, without fail, I run into my old colleague at The Sun, Mark Fleming. Nice to see you, Mark, even if it's only once a year.

Also spotted this weekend: lawyer and city Domestic Master Theresa Furnari; Sun photographers Amy Davis, Elizabeth Malby and Kim Hairston, and pilot/photographer/videographer Perry Thorsvik; Royal Books owner Kevin Johnson; filmmaker Steve Yeager and partner Patty Barzyk; artist and progressive thinker Bob Hieronimus, who gave me a Willie Nelson cap just for having an energetic aura; retired judge Elsbeth Bothe; Charles Johnson, aka Mr. Johnson; filmmaker Matt Porterfield; nurse Tom Crusse (last name is pronounced like "Cruise"); development whiz Amy Jarboe; and others.

Economics, Film and Civilization

2008-05-03T16:57:00.000-07:00

I had to leave the screening of “I.O.U.S.A.” early, which I regret. I will see the finished film when it shows up in theaters in August. I stayed for much longer than I meant to, at the expense of sending you these posts in a timely manner. Sometimes it’s tempting to just keep going to the movies.

The film about our national debt makes it clear that this most US citizens are economics-illiterate. I also went this morning to see “Bamako,” a feature film that illustrates how Mali and other African countries have become so impoverished. I couldn’t help wondering what the US will be like in 50 years.

The directors of "Hoop Dreams" were in attendance, and "I.O.U.S.A." director Patrick Creadon told the audience that documentary opened up a whole new world for him. Creadon, by the way, also directed "Wordplay." So even if you can't catch "I.O.U.S.A." until it is released in August, you can take the opportunity to rent "Hoop Dreams," which is one of the best documentaries ever made. There's an economic angle in "Hoop Dreams," too: The subjects are inner-city Chicago students hoping that a basketball scholarship will be their ticket to college, and a better life.

The story behind "Straight-Jacket"

2008-05-03T16:45:00.000-07:00

“Spine Tingler” is a lot of fun, if you like the intentionally over-the-top horror films of the '50s and '60s. But if you’re having trouble choosing between this documentary and something else playing at the same time, choose it only if you’re a big fan of William Castle’s films. For the rest of you, any 20-minute stretch of this documentary will supply you with several good laughs and some inside information on Hollywood and Castle’s marketing smarts to let you enjoy all the more “Straight-Jacket,” which will be showing outdoors tonight for FREE. Castle also produced a few “high-brow” films, but he’s known more for producing and/or directing pictures such as “House on Haunted Hill” and “Macabre” than he is for “Rosemary’s Baby” and “Frankenstein” (Boris Karloff version).

Anyway, what you learn from this documentary is that Joan Crawford was a tyrant on the set of “Straight-Jacket,” that she insisted on prominent product placement for Pepsi for her own financial gain, and that she had an extra scene written for herself when she feared the penultimate scene with the much younger Diane Baker, who plays her daughter, was going to steal the picture from her. This shows one more time: Sunday at 12:30 at the UB Student Center.

Thank you, Janet Johnson

2008-05-03T16:31:00.000-07:00

I want to give a huge thank you to festival volunteer Janet Johnson, who found my watch for me, then came into the movie she knew I was in – “IOUSA” – to hand it to me. All the volunteers are great here, as are the Film Festival staff. I haven’t asked a question yet in which the answer was “I don’t know,” or even worse, contained the wrong information.

Janet is looking forward to closing night feature "Confessionsofa Ex-Doofus-Itchyfooted Mutha" by Melvin Van Peebles, and so am I. I've never seen a Melvin Van Peebles film, like most of this country, and that's a shame all around. Now 75, he's always made films on his own terms. He's the grandfather of indie filmmakers. Actually, the father of one in particular, Mario Van Peebles.

"Straight-Jacket" free screening tonight

2008-05-03T16:30:00.000-07:00

Tonight (Saturday), there is a FREE screening of “Straight-Jacket,” a 1964 horror film starring Joan Crawford and Diane Baker. It looks like it will be an unintentional howler about axe murders. If you thought Faye Dunaway was overacting in “Mommie Dearest,” this will show that she was probably underplaying it. I don’t expect her to be playing an unsympathetic character, but some inside information about the movie can be gotten from “Spine Tingler,” a documentary about William Castle, the producer who made those big shlock/shock horror films. See the “Spine Tingler” post for more.

When the lights go up

2008-05-03T16:29:00.000-07:00

One of the nice things about film festivals is that when the lights go up, you’re as likely as not to find yourself sitting in front of the actors you just saw in screen. Most of the films here feature a Q and A afterward with the director, producer or actors.

Comedy in Short Doses

2008-05-03T16:27:00.000-07:00

You still have time to catch Comedy Shorts at 9:30 tonight (Saturday). My favorite in this collection was “Woman in Burka,” starring Sarita Choudhoury (“Mississippi Masala”), with “Hirsute” being a close second that time-travel fans will appreciate. And the rest of the comedy shorts offer a lot of all-out belly laughs for the adolescent but irresistible humor. Not for children, by the way. The shorts are grouped in collections of four or five, for one ticket price.

Holy merd! The film broke.

2008-05-02T21:24:00.000-07:00

"Is there a better actress than Isabelle Huppert?" John Waters asked the crowd after the screening of his pick for the festival, "Story of Women," a French film by Claude Chabrol that was released in 1988.

No one could come up with a better actress than Ms. Huppert, who, it is said, brings a character into herself, rather than wearing her on the outside. If you missed this screening, you can find Isabelle Huppert films on DVD, and Claude Chabrol has directed a number of them. "Madame Bovary" is a good start. Video Americain is your best bet.

Each year for the MFF, Waters chooses to host a film that, for one reason or another, didn't get the exposure and attention it deserved when it first came out. "Story of Women" made distributors very nervous after Catholics protested strongly because of a scene in which the main character, being condemned to death, utters a profanely corrupted "Hail Mary." Amid the controversy, a radical used tear gas to bomb a theater where it was playing in France, and a man died while trying to get out of the theater. (see the NYT story, link at top left corner of this page)

No bombs went off at The Charles, thank God, but we all got a little nervous when, about 7/8 of the way into the movie, the film broke and fizzled out in a loud snap. The crowd was abuzz -- lots of cell phones and Blackberries came out and several people took the opportunity for a restroom break, but Jed Dietz, MFF director, quickly confirmed the break, but said it was being repaired and indeed it was.

Chesapeake Film Festival coming in Sept.

2008-05-02T13:31:00.000-07:00

Easton is growing its own film festival, Jed Dietz announced on Opening Night of the MFF. As I suspected, the man behind the nascent Chesapeake Film Festival is Doug Sadler, director of "Swimmers," which had its debut at the MFF a few years ago. Search the Urbanite archives to read an interview I did with Sadler at the time. I ran into him today while he and Todd Albrecht, an Easton podiatrist also involved with planning the new festival, were going over THE BOARD (the giant schedule). Sadler, who lives in New York and Easton, says the festival will take place Sept. 26-28, and include venues such as the Avalon Theater.

One regular guy's picks

2008-05-02T08:03:00.000-07:00

Having trouble choosing from among the many films showing simultaneously on 5 screens? I know I am. Here is what one friend, David Miller, has mapped out for himself. He's not a film geek, like me, just a typical educated Baltimore professional (by the way, he is single, gals). Some repeats -- I copied this from an email he sent to my husband to see if he wanted to join him at any of these showings. Because if he DOES go to all of these, he really is a film geek after all. That's a good thing.

Friday --

At the Death House Door, 7:30 pm @ Brown Center, MICA
Spine Tingler, 9:30 pm @ the Charles

Saturday --

Song Sung Blue, 11:30 am @ UB Student Center
Not Your Typical Bigfoot, 10:30 pm @ the Charles

Sunday --

Woodpecker, 11:00 am @ the Charles
Spine Tingler, 12:30 pm @ UB Student Center
Frontrunners, 2:00 pm @ the Charles
At the Death House Door, 5:00 pm @ Brown Center, MICA

Friday -- the marathon begins

2008-05-02T06:01:00.000-07:00

I plan to start with "IOUSA," which, from what I hear, ought to get the kind of attention and reaction -- and hopefully, distribution -- that "An Inconvenient Truth" got. This time, however, it's our national debt.

By the end of the night, I am really really excited about the John Waters pick --- "Story of Women," a Claude Chabrol film starring Isabelle Huppert, who is always magnificent. And if that film lets out in time, I'm hoping to catch "Spine Tingler." If I don't, "Spine Tingler" repeats on Sunday at noon.

What are you seeing? I can't be everywhere -- help me out here. Post your own review here and then tell everyone you know to read it and comment. Let's talk film.

Politics of Preschool

2008-05-02T05:46:00.000-07:00

The funniest opening night film -- "The Politics of Preschool" -- won't be screened at the festival any more, but you can see it on director Heidi Van Lier's myspace page. I'm providing the link at left. I met Heidi and her husband/filmmaking partner Joe Kraemer last night. Their daughter, Maisy, stars in the film, but this is not like watching home videos of someone else's kid. It's really hilarious, and a little scary. Van Lier said she made the film when her daughter started preschool, and she (Van Lier) witnessed the emergence of personalities. You could see, she told the opening night audience, just where each of these kids was headed when they grew up. Her myspace page has a couple of other films, which I haven't had time to see. While Politics of Preschool is a G, however, Kraemer warns that "Chi Girl" is a "definite R." If you get there before me, tell the rest of us about her other movies.

More today

2008-05-01T22:50:00.000-07:00

Yes, I was having too much fun at the opening night party to leave at a decent hour. So while I'd like to tell you more about the films, I need to get some sleep. Watch this space in the morning. Barry Levinson, left, stayed at the party long after the news cameras left, talking to everyone and appearing to have a really good time back home in Bawlimer.

Cinema Cart

2008-05-01T22:26:00.000-07:00

"Salim Baba" is a must-see, though it won't be screened anymore this weekend. Just as Ice Cream Joe drives his van through North Baltimore, Salim Muhammed pushes a "cinema cart" through the crowded and poor neighborhoods of Kolkata, India. Children flock to him and drop a rupee into a box so they can duck their heads under a black hood. Inside the cart, the film is projected on a small sceen. The Lumiere projecter is, by the owner's estimate, 100 years old. What's projected is a literally taped-together version of one of the 50 Bollywood musical/action/romance movies that he owns. Muhammed, a businessman who just happens to work on a small scale, uses good old scissors and wrinkled and dirty pieces of cellophane tape to edit the films into shorter versions. "I know what the audience likes," he says in his native tongue. A little bit of song and dance, a litte bit of fighting -- not too much of anything -- and there you have it.

"Very much like the studio heads," noted Levinson.

The film's producer, Francisco Bello, was in attendance. He's trying to raise enough money to go back to India to give the subject of his documentary a film version that he can play in his cinema cart. Salim Muhammed already has a DVD version, but he can't put that into his projector and play it for the kids.

If we're lucky, the MFF will screen this Academy Award-nominated short film again during Artscape. See the link at left to learn more about the film.

3-D and brevity

2008-05-01T22:14:00.000-07:00

At the opening night shorts program, host Barry Levinson invited each filmmaker to come up to the stage to introduce his or her film.

It took Bennett Battaile a while to sidestep out of the middle of the packed row and climb the stairs to the stage.

"[My film] is shorter than the time it took me to get up here," Battaile said. "Enough said." That would be a great Oscar speech, wouldn't it?

The film was, indeed, a mere 1.5 minutes of 3-D animation called "Gnatural Wonders," with gnats making formations like an Army air show or a double helix. Yes, the MFF passed out commemorative 3-D glasses for this. I wonder how many people kept the glasses on for the second film before realizing it was not in 3-D.

Levinson recalled his first 3-D movie. It was the Three Stooges in 3-D, and that finger-poking-your-eyes thing was used ad nauseum, coming out at the viewer. I hope the MFF can find a copy of this some day and show it at a future festival.

It's all about storytelling

2008-05-01T21:53:00.000-07:00

The screens are getting smaller and the technology is making the actual celluloid film a rarity. The film experience continues to evolve and change, Barry Levinson told the crowd at Opening Night. In fact, one of the best films of the program tonight was "Salim Baba," which was absolutely about the film experience. ("Salim Baba" merits a post all its own -- watch this blog for more.)

"But at the end of the day, it is about storytelling," Levinson said.

Will I cry?

2008-04-28T21:34:00.000-07:00

The big question: What film will move me to tears? I see so many films that it takes a lot to make me cry. But when it happens, it's all the magic that film can be. A few years ago, the tears came from Sen. Barbara Mikulski guest-hosting "To Kill a Mockingbird." It was a dark time in U.S. government (still is), and I took comfort in Atticus, Scout, Boo and the Bawlmer powerhouse herself, who after the film gave us a much-needed pep talk.

Favorite 2007 MD Film Fest film

2008-04-23T20:46:00.000-07:00

What was your favorite film from last year's festival (2007)?