Flying back to Los Angeles from Cleveland, where
locals are putting the wraps on the latest edition of their staggeringly
successful regional film festival.
With jammed corridors like I’d never seen before and uniformly packed
screenings (a new record of 71,000 tickets sold), the Cleveland International Film Festival has developed an
exceptionally loyal and curious fan base (one that reaches far outside the
Cleveland metropolitan area), resulting in a festival that sets a high
benchmark on the regional circuit and…
It was in Cleveland last night where two docs stood in the spotlight. First and foremost, Jeff Malmberg's MARWENCOL continued its hot streak, picking up its second Jury Prize in
less than two weeks – it took the title at SXSW last week (see our summary of
the early reviews of the film here. The film will next go to top fests Ashland in Oregon, IFFBoston and San Francisco International.
In addition, another documentary, LOUDER THAN A BOMB, a world premiere that follows participants in a poetry slam in Chicago, took two prize in Cleveland - the coveted Audience Award as well as the Greg Gund Memorial Standing Up Prize, given to the top social justice film.
As Cleveland was wrapping, another spring festival favorite, Don
Hahn’s WAKING SLEEPING BEAUTY (which screened at True/False and SXSW)
kicked off its theatrical run, opening on five screens for a
solid weekend estimate of $6,620 per screen.
The Disney distributed film on the fall and rise of the
studio’s animation unit in the late ‘80s/early ‘90s is heading to Full Frame and Sarasota in the next few weeks.
While we've been on a bit of an extended hiatus (or at least slowdown), several top fests have posted their line-ups. Hot Docs announced this past week that they will open with Thomas Balmès’ French doc BABIES - which was acquired by Focus Features at last year's Cannes Film Festival. Said Focus topper James Schamus at the time:
“Seeing these little heroes during their formative moments makes
Baby(ies) an extraordinarily entertaining experience, one that will
appeal to any viewer of any age in any part of the world. With this movie, Thomas is re-defining the
nonfiction art form.”
Hot Docs has slated 25 films in its International Spectrum section of the festival, including festival favorites THE OATH, THE INVENTION OF DR. NAKAMATS, MARWENCOL, HIS & HERS and GASLAND. Here's the full list:
HOT DOCS 2010
INTERNATIONAL SPECTRUM
AISHEEN (STILL ALIVE IN GAZA)
Directed by Nicolas Wadimoff (Qatar/Switzerland)
AUTUMN GOLD
Directed by Jan Tenhaven (Austria/Germany)
CHEMO
Directed by Pawel Lozinski (Poland)
DADDY'S GIRLS
Directed by Lily Sheffy (Isreal)
DAVID WANTS TO FLY
Directed by David Sieveking (Germany/Austria/Switzerland)
DISORDER
Directed by Huang Weikai (China)
FEATHERED COCAINE
Directed by Thorkell Hardarsson and Orn Marino Arnarson (Iceland)
A FILM UNFINISHED
Directed by Yael Hersonski (Isreal)
FLOWERS IN THE DESERT
Directed by José Alvarez (Mexico)
GASLAND
Directed by Josh Fox (USA)
GENERAL ORDERS NO. 9
Directed by Robert Persons (USA)
HIS & HERS
Directed by Ken Wardrop (Ireland)
I SHOT MY LOVE
Directed by Tomer Heymann (Isreal/Germany)
INTO ETERNITY
Directed by Michael Madsen (Sweden/Finland)
THE INVENTION OF DR. NAKAMATS
Directed by Kasper Astrup Schröder (Denmark)
ITO - A DIARY OF AN URBAN PRIEST
Directed by Pirjo Honkasalo (Finland)
MARWENCOL
Directed by Jeff Malmberg (USA)
THE OATH
Directed by Laura Poitras (USA)
THE PLAYER
Directed by John Appel (Netherlands)
THE REGRETTERS
Directed by Marcus Lindeen (Sweden)
SONA, THE OTHER MYSELF
Directed by Yang Yonghi (Japan/South Korea)
STEAM OF LIFE
Directed by Joonas Berghall and Mika Hotakainen (Finland)
TANKOGRAD
Directed by Boris Bertram (Denmark)
THIEVES BY LAW
Directed by Alexander Gentelev (Isreal/Germany)
WISTFUL WILDERNESS
Directed by Digma Sinke (Netherlands)
In addition to Hot Docs, IFFBoston also announced their strong line-up, including nearly 40 nonfiction features. THE OATH, MARWENCOL and HIS & HERS will screen here as well - along with a number of other notable titles, including BANANAS!*, CASINO JACK AND THE UNITED STATES OF MONEY, COLONY, ERASING DAVID, FAMILY AFFAIR, HOW TO FOLD A FLAG, I'M DANGEROUS WITH LOVE, JOAN RIVERS: A PIECE OF WORK, SATURDAY NIGHT, WAR DON DON and our own CONVENTION.
In one more bit of spring festival news, Tribeca announced today that they will close their 2010 festival with the ensemble doc FREAKONOMICS, featuring new work from an all-star line-up of docmakers, including Morgan Spurlock, Alex Gibney, Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, Seth Gordon and Eugene Jarecki.
And one more thing... Part of the reason why I’ve been so slack over the
past few weeks is that I’ve been editing my new film (and I’m desperately
trying to keep my priorities in order).
But another reason why I haven’t been able to muster together Monday
Briefs the past three weeks is that I’ve been at somewhat of a loss to add
anything of substance to the various debates du jour.
I mean, what really is there to say about Elinor
Burkett that wasn’t said by the late night comedians? And seriously, are any of us happy that
the most famous documentarian on Oscar night is a loud-mouthed punchline? Or that after months of THE COVE’s
steady march to Oscar glory, that film’s director wasn’t allowed to speak about
the reason that he made the film – unfurled banner or second speaker rules be
damned.
And what to add to the latest rounds of film
critic wars and woes? Armond White
vs. J. Hoberman? Glenn Kenny vs.
Eric Kohn? The pink-slipping of
sometime documentarian and longtime film critic Todd McCarthy by the imploding Variety? The cancellation of “At the Movies”,
just as the series seemed to have a rebirth (and more focus on documentaries)
with the hiring of the NY Times’ A.O. Scott and the Chicago Tribune’s Michael
Phillips. And the less said
about Kevin Smith, the better. All
this in just three weeks. I mean, it was nearly four years ago when I wrote
“Dog Days for Film Critics”, but who could imagine it would get so much worse
so quickly.
Which is not to say that this stuff doesn’t
matter. It does. It matters that the biggest platform
that documentary filmmakers have all year was hijacked by a
lucky-to-be-nominated producer (don’t run off at the mouth about how you don’t
like the finished film and how your vision isn’t on the screen at the same time
that you clutch your little gold man) and an overeager activist/show
director. Looking idiotic on
television is not good for our brand, if that must be said aloud.
And the state of our film criticism union is not
strong. And that matters to us as
well. Check out Rotten Tomatoes
year end lists of the best reviewed films of the year. It’s consistently dominated by
nonfiction features. Now, as much
as I love docs, I gotta admit I find it a little hard to believe that we are really
that much better than narrative films, but I will take any bit of leverage I
can to get our films out before an audience that needs to be convinced that we
are entertaining, cinematic and theatrical.
And what to make of The Conversation, a much tweeted about gathering of the usual suspects in New York and the latest attempt to grasp hold of some sense of balance as the ground keeps shifting underneath our industry. Maybe one day one of these events will come up with the big answers, but for now it seems like a constant cry for filmmakers to find more ways to be innovative (and spend more time marketing and promoting their films - for free, naturally) while the "industry" types pontificate. How many of the folks speaking at The Conversation actually pay filmmakers and vendors what they say they will? And they charge filmmakers to watch this stuff?
So, alas and alack, I have thoughts but no answers. And I'm probably as much of a usual suspect as those on the dais in New York. But I'm quickly looking forward to some new things to have conversations about.
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