Festival coverage sponsored by IndiePix.
A whirlwind fifth anniversary edition of the True/False Film Festival came to a close last night with a packed screening of James Marsh's exceptional MAN ON WIRE at the University of Missouri's 1700-seat Jesse Auditorium and a rollicking 2 hour concert by former documentary subjects They Might Be Giants. The screening, concert and traditional closing night party for volunteers capped a triumphant weekend for True/False, which seems poised to set records anew for attendance.
The University of Missouri's Jesse Hall, home of closing night reception and screening for True/False 2008.
Going into the festival, there was some question as to how the fest would manage with the loss of its largest venue, the Missouri Theatre, which is undergoing a massive renovation, as well as the paint-still-wet opening of its new Ragtag Cinemacafe. To cope with Missouri's unavailability, the fest expanded to three new theatres on the campus of neighboring Stephens College. In all, 6 of the festival's venues - including closing night Jesse - were new this year. In addition, for the first time at True/False, films screened more than once. Combined, it was potentially a recipe for disaster, yet reviews from visiting filmmakers and industry figures confirmed what we wrote here last week - True/False maintains its place as one of the most important, intimate and exciting festivals for nonfiction in the world.
Audiences in Columbia showed considerable love for a sextet of Sundance favorites, including Marsh's MAN ON WIRE, Margaret Brown's THE ORDER OF MYTHS, Alex Gibney's GONZO: THE LIFE AND WORK OF DR. HUNTER S. THOMPSON, Christopher Bell's BIGGER, STRONGER, FASTER*, Gonzalo Arijon's STRANDED: I'VE COME FROM A PLANE THAT CRASHED IN THE MOUNTAINS and Nanette Burstein's AMERICAN TEEN. But the film that seemed to come out of nowhere to exemplify the True/False spirit and electrify audiences was Anna Broinowski's FORBIDDEN LIES. As we wrote on Friday, FORBIDDEN LIES is a tour de force of filmmaking skill, a crafty con job that had many wondering how the film (which screened last year at Hot Docs) had managed to stay undercover for so long. Talk about the film was so dominant (spurred by a series of hilarious Q&As by director Broinowski) that many industry folks (noticably higher than in past years) were weighing ways to help the film get distribution in the US (it's already had a very successful theatrical run in Broinowski's native Australia).
FORBIDDEN LIES director Anna Broinowski with filmmaker David Redmon, whose new film with partner Ashley Sabin - INTIMIDAD - will debut at SXSW.
In addition to the triumphant FORIDDEN LIES, I am still thinking about some of the mesmerizing sequences in Antoine Cattin and Pavel Kostamarov's film, THE MOTHER. A raw cinema verite portrait of a single mother of 9 children, THE MOTHER grants its audience neither context nor explanation yet entrances with stunning cinematography and pinpoint characterization. The final shot, a seemingly endless close-up of the title character desperately making her way through a Russian train station is like something out of the French new wave and certain to be one of the most unforgettable images in nonfiction film this year.
Fresh from his Oscar victory in Los Angeles, Alex Gibney arrived in Columbia to accept the True Vision Award and to screen both TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE and his latest, GONZO: THE LIFE AND WORK OF DR. HUNTER S. THOMPSON. The latter is an enjoyable and occasionally quite moving look at the late journalist, using a mix of archival footage, recreations, film clips, interviews, pop music and recitations of the author's work by actor Johnny Depp. The suggestion is made in the film that Thompson - who always told friends and family that one day he would take his own life with a gun - may have ultimately fulfilled his promise to commit suicide in part because of his deep anger over the Bush administration's reckless incompetence. On this point. Gibney skillfully draws parallels between Thompson's muckraking - and sometimes fictitious - writings during the election of 1972 and the excesses of today, utilizing strong interviews with figures such as George McGovern, Jimmy Carter and Nixon aide Pat Buchanan. In his introduction of Alex Gibney, True/False co-director David Wilson described Thompson as a patron saint of the festival, reflecting the festival's idea of existing "on the slash". Together with Norma Khouri of FORBIDDEN LIES, Thompson, in both his life and work, epitomized that line that separates True and False.
Oscar winner Alex Gibney, True/False co-director David Wilson and BIGGER, STRONGER, FASTER* director Christopher Bell at the Saturday Filmmaker Fete.
Another memorable character study could be found in Michael Jacobs' AUDIENCE OF ONE, the story of San Francisco pastor Richard Gazowsky and his determination to make a big budget, epic science fiction film with his congregation. While Gazosky may view his production as act of faith, it's one of hubris as well, and in a lesser film, the audience may find themselves rooting for the man to fail. But Jacobs clearly has affection for his main character and despite the inherent insanity of Gazowsky's plan, one can't help but hope that he finds some level of success in his endeavor. Recalling Keith Fulton and Lou Pepe's LOST IN LA MANCHA, AUDIENCE OF ONE is a film that reminds (as if we could forget) that just finishing a film is a not-so-small miracle in and of itself.
Filmmaker Michael Jacobs, director of AUDIENCE OF ONE.
Gonzalo Arijon's STRANDED took the Grand Jury prize at IDFA and was much acclaimed when it screened earlier this year at Sundance. Audiences in Columbia responded strongly as well, but I must admit that I was somewhat less enthusiastic, primarily due to the film's nearly two hour running time (and I say that fully admitting that both of my films have been described as "ten minutes too long" by various critics). Over the past year, I've heard numerous rhetorical pleas for shorter films and while I haven't joined in the chorus, I must say that a number of films that I saw in Columbia and in Park City could benefit greatly from that proverbial ten minute trim. There's much to like in STRANDED, most particularly the subjects, who can quite clearly articulate what happened to them on a mountainside in the Andes and by the end of the film, one can't help but be moved by their experience, but it's hard for me to justify the running time, particularly for a film where the key events are well known.
Gonzalo Arijon addresses a full house inside the Windsor Cinema on the Stephens College campus.
In addition to all the films I watched (including a couple that I have to wait to write about a later date), I participated in two panels. The first was a panel moderated by indieWIRE's Eugene Hernandez in which filmmakers Nanette Burstein, Arne Johnson (GIRLS ROCK) and critic/journalist Ray Pride weighed the current state of theatrical distribution and the ways in which critics can affect a film's theatrical prospects. Next, I moderated a discussion between filmmakers Sean Donnelly (I THINK WE'RE ALONE NOW), Cynthia Lester (MY MOTHER'S GARDEN) and Rivkah Beth Medow (SONS OF A GUN) on the relationship between filmmaker and subject. They were both great debates and conversations about current issues in nonfiction filmmaking.
Two True/False traditions returned this year, including the March Into March parade featuring Mucca Pazza (above) and the Gimme Truth! game show (below), with contestants Esther Robinson (a SWAMI at T/F and a Cinema Eye nominee for A WALK INTO THE SEA: DANNY WILLIAMS AND THE WARHOL FACTORY), David Schisgall (VERY YOUNG GIRLS) and Sean Donnelly.
Much more on True/False, including lots more photos and links in the days to come.
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