All these wonderful things

SXSW 2010: Rebecca Richman Cohen's WAR DON DON

The runner-up in this year's SXSW Documentary Competition was Rebecca Richman Cohen's WAR DON DON.  Like fellow comp doc CANAL STREET MADAM, WAR DON DON was a grantee in Full Frame's Garrett Scott Documentary Development Program. 

The film chronicles the war crimes trial of Issa Sesay in Sierra Leone - a man who may have committed crimes against humanity and who may have brought peace to the civil war-ravaged country.

Pamela Cohn, writing at Still in Motion, praises the film as "a superb piece of work on every level":

"The film supplies incredible visual power, is rhythmically precise in its pace and timbre, and presents the hard-won access these filmmakers had to its very best advantage for the viewer to weigh, ponder, listen and learn.  Never outright didactic, and, thankfully not narrated by the filmmaker or anyone else, it has a lot of nuanced and, downright contradictory, information to impart.  WAR DON DON ("the war is over" in Krio) is one of the most intelligent, balanced, thoughtful films I've seen in a while."

Michael May of the Texas Observer says it's "one of the most thought-provoking documentaries you will see this year":

"The film takes you inside the expensive and time-consuming process of international justice. In this case, the international war crimes tribunal sets up a special court in Freetown, and spends more than $200 million on the trials of ten men, who are considered to be the most culpable for the atrocities. The first half of the movie builds the case for justice, by letting you absorb the bone-chilling accounts of the war by the victim’s themselves and taking you along as Chief Prosecutor David Crane travels the country building public relations for the tribunal. It’s amazing to see hundreds of villagers crowded around small television sets watching the trial, completely engaged and hungry for justice.

But after the filmmakers have you ready to see heads roll, they slowly unpeel the court’s process, leaving you ultimately unsure of Sesay’s guilt, and whether an individual could ever get a fair trial in an international court.  In Sesay’s trial, many of the key witnesses are themselves war criminals, but thanks to their cooperation are being paid handsome salaries to testify. This creates a huge incentive for the witnesses to lie in order to implicate the defendants, but any attempt by the defense to point this out is brushed aside by the judges."

SXSW 2010: Jeff Malmberg's MARWENCOL

Update: MARWENCOL won the Documentary Competition Jury Prize at the SXSW Awards ceremony Tuesday night.  Following the event, juror and LA Weekly Film Editor Karina Longworth wrote about the choice:

"MARWENCOL stood out from the competition pack for a number of reasons, but as I noted at the ceremony, for me the most refreshing thing about it was that it seems to fuse several different strands of contemporary non-fiction filmmaking that rarely seem to coexist within the same film. It's a film about social issues (mental disability, alcoholism, sexual identity) that presents itself in an extraordinarily personal way, with Hogencamp's story unfolding so organically that it seems as though the subject is talking directly to the viewer, slowly revealing more of himself as one would with a strander-turned confidante, as they slowly earn our trust. It's both "relevant" and "personal" -- two buzz words that are often bandied about, but Marwencol earns them. I was so glad my fellow jurors agreed that this was the finest film in competition. Had they not, I would have fought them over it."

Previously: Premiering in Austin in the Documentary Competition (and just announced for San Francisco's doc comp line-up) is director Jeff Malmberg's MARWENCOL, already one of the most talked about nonfiction features in this year's SXSW line-up.  The film profiles Mark Hogancamp, a former, self-described "angry drunk" who, following a brutal bar beating that sends him into a coma, builds an intricate, WWII-era, fictional world filled with GI Joe dolls and constructed villages.

Hammer to Nail's Michael Ryan is effusive, calling it "the film to beat for awards. It will also be one of the most talked about docs of next season.":

"The doc mixes interviews with Mark about his own personal struggles with his detailed explanations of the dolls and their personalities and backgrounds. Many dolls are direct stand-ins for someone in Mark’s life. Love interests, best friends, co-workers and neighbors all have their own alter ego doll. Mark, of course, has his own alter ego and the trials that Mark puts him through reveals an inner life that in reality Mark was hesitant to face...

Beyond being a hyper engaging narrative on several levels, the film really allows the key questions about art and reality to emerge. Can art/fiction be more ‘real’ than ‘reality”? Can art heal, both the creator and viewer? What role should the public/commerce play in the life of an artist?  MARWENCOL has it all. It is an emotional, unsentimental tale that is both laugh out loud funny and intellectually engaging and at the same time it’s all TRUE!"

Todd Brown of Twitch Film praises that the film is like "the best works of Errol Morris":

"MARWENCOL hooks you in with the sheer oddity of Hogancamp and his creation, the extreme otherness of the man and his work inspiring a sort of voyeuristic curiosity, before subtly turning things on their head until the audience comes to the realization that they're really no different from Hogancamp at all."

SXSW 2010: James Franco's SATURDAY NIGHT

It's probably no surprise that the first (somewhat) widely reviewed doc out of this year's SXSW is a high profile pop culture concoction from actor and first-time feature director, James Franco, whose school project/short film about SNL regular Bill Hader grew into the longform SATURDAY NIGHT.

Eric Kohn, writing at indieWIRE, says that the film "pulls back many curtains at once":

"Given exclusive access to the frenzy of pitch sessions, rehearsals and the final broadcast that fuels each show, Franco captures the mania associated with “SNL” over the course of three decades while simultaneously demystifying it. The movie unquestionably delivers enough behind-the-scenes peeks to satisfy a basic level of curiosity about the production, but it also depicts the virtually unflagging motivation required of the show’s performers—an adrenaline mode that can’t afford to quit."

LA Weekly Film Editor Karina Longworth notes that Franco's taped introduction (he's shooting a new film with Danny Boyle in Utah) revealed that DA Pennebaker and Ricky Leacock has wanted to make a behind-the-scenes verite in the coke-fueled 1970s, but, as Franco tells it:

""Lorne said no. I guess because there was more to hide with that incredible cast."

If that sounds like a backhanded compliment to the current cast of the show, well, it's nothing compared to what Franco's put on film (actually, videotape; the only interesting thing about the way SATURDAY NIGHT is crafted is that several types of video seem to have been used, ranging from crisp broadcast quality to a choppy black-and-white image that looks like PXLvision). In bringing cameras inside the world behind Saturday Night Live, Franco reveals the production to be an airtight bubble, penetrated only by the occasional headline, seen on screen in the form of the news ticker visible outside the window of Weekend Update writer Doug Abeles' office window...

SATURDAY NIGHT is fascinating and absolutely worth seeing, but for what are probably the wrong reasons. It can't be the actor-turned-filmmaker's intention to make this specific cast or the greater SNL institution look bad (as Jolivette admitted, the filmmakers are friends with several cast members), but SATURDAY NIGHT stands as a document of a dinosaur, chugging along in oblivion, unaware and or/uncaring that the world is changing and it'll have to adapt to survive."

The Monday Brief: Recapping Berlin, More SXSW Titles and Friends of Karen Schmeer Announce Editing Fellowship

February is flying past - the Spirit Awards, Oscars and opening weekend of SXSW all go down in the next three weeks...

It was another weekend awards giving, with THE COVE's Mark Monroe receiving the WGA Documentary Screenwriting award on Saturday night.  As we noted, the Writers Guild win completed an unprecedent sweep of the four available guild prizes (Producers, Directors, Editors and Writers) for Louie Psihoyos' film.

On the other side of the planet, the BAFTAs were handed out in London, where MUGABE AND THE WHITE AFRICAN was nominated in the Best British Debut category (the winner was MOON).  Although the BAFTAs don't have a Best Documentary category (there's a Facebook group pleading for BAFTA to add one), the British Academy lumps nonfiction nominees in with narrative features - and sometimes, the docs win: MAN ON WIRE and TOUCHING THE VOID both took Best British Film.

Also over the weekend, the Berlin Film Festival wrapped up and presented its prizes.  Notably, Lucy Walker's WASTE LAND picked up the Audience Award in the Panorama Section.  The film had previously won the Audience prize in the Sundance World Documentary competition.  Walker has previously picked up the Panorama Audience Award for her 2006 film BLINDSIGHT.

In addition to WASTE LAND, a number of films that had made their debuts at Sundance had their international premieres in Berlin.  Time Magazine's Tristana Moore and Dennis Lim, writing for the NY Times, both wrote about Laura Poitras' THE OATH, as did indieWIRE's Shane Danielsen, who said the film had "the strongest word of mouth by far".  The great Meredith Brody (covering Berlin for Anne Thompson's column), the Guardian's Nick James and indieWIRE's Eugene Hernandez all have thoughts about EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP and director/artist Bansky's "appearance" in Berlin.

The Monday Brief: VIDEOCRACY & OCTOBER COUNTRY Open Well, More Sundance Sales & Can Anything Stop THE COVE?

Happy President's Day and Happy Day After Valentines Day as the Sundance sales and THE COVE's onward march toward Oscar continues.  But first...

It was a good (if not mind-blowing) weekend at the box office for two of our favorite documentaries of 2009, both kicking off exclusive runs at New York's IFC Center. 

Erik Gandini's VIDEOCRACY, which premiered at Toronto and took the Jury Prize at Sheffield, opened with a 3-day take of $10,000, according to figures at indieWIRE.  While the film had mixed reviews (at least Manohla gets it, while most of the other reviews seem to be at a loss to explain what they've just watched), the Lorber Films release was the top doc (per screen) of the weekend.

Meanwhile Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher's OCTOBER COUNTRY, nominated for Best Doc at the Spirit Awards, winner of two Cinema Eye Honors and recipient of nearly unanimous positive notices, made $7,500 at the same theatre.  The film explands to Los Angeles and Portland, Oregon this week.

Last night, at the ACE awards (no, not the old Cable Ace awards, the American Cinema Editors), THE COVE continued its sweep of the 2010 documentary prizes.  While the film came up empty in the early going (including getting shut out of Best Doc nominations at the Gothams, Spirits and IDA Awards), the film began a December film critics' sweep that has carried well over into 2010.  Adding the Documentary Editing prize after awards from the Producers Guild and Directors Guild (not to mention three wins at Cinema Eye), it's pretty hard at this point not to expect the film to go the distance and win the Oscar.

Add to the awards bounty the fact that THE COVE continues to make news - announcing this week that a Japanese theatrical release had finally been secured - and a Oscar vote for that film suddenly becomes a vote for making real change.  Even though each of the other four nominees plays to the Academy's liberal heartstrings, none seems to offer the seemingly visceral chance to make a difference that THE COVE does.  Even the NY Times' Carpetbagger gets into the act:

"The filmmakers behind THE COVE have been open about their goal: not to win an Oscar – though they wouldn’t mind – but to stop the dolphin slaughter that the documentary depicts. They may have moved one step closer to that goal with the news that the Oscar-nominated film, which shows a secret dolphin-killing field in Taiji, Japan, will now be distributed in Japan...

"'To me the awards are the collateral in hopefully trying to create this awareness to stop what’s going on there,” [director Louie Psihoyos] said, though he did acknowledge that the Oscar nomination has made his next feature, about the effect of acidification on the oceans, easier to finance. “Career-wise, just having a nomination is an amazing achievement for everybody associated with the film,” he said. “But the real reason to try to win, for me, is that then you have 45 seconds to talk to the Japanese people. You have a platform.'"

SXSW 2010: Rounding Out a Well-Programmed Fest with 30 More Documentaries

Rounding out this year's stellar SXSW line-up are 30 more documentaries split between 4 sections: Lone Star States, 24 Beats Per Second, SX Global and Festival Favorites.  (We previously covered this year's Documentary Competition here and the Spotlight Premieres and Emerging Visions sections here.)  That's 57 nonfiction features in this year's line-up (let us know if we missed one) and further proof that SXSW is one of the best programmed festivals around - a great mix of premieres (both from vets and newcomers), films with local interest, films with music interest, festival hits and international films making their American debut.

Kudos to Janet Pierson, Jarod Neece and their team on this year's slate.  Descriptions below, per usual, supplied by the festival.

LONE STAR STATES

CITIZEN ARCHITECT: SAMUEL MOCKBEE AND THE SPIRIT OF THE RURAL STUDIO
Directed by Sam Wainwright Douglas

In Alabama, Samuel Mockbee’s radical design/build program brought architecture to the rural poor and a new set of ethics to architecture.  His legacy has inspired a generation of architects dedicated to design for social good. (World Premiere)

FOR THE SAKE OF THE SONG: THE STORY OF THE ANDERSON FAIR
Directed by Bruce Bryant

A devoted community of artists, volunteers and patrons transforms a politically subversive little coffee house and restaurant into a unique American music institution... a small place where big things happen.  Featuring Lyle Lovett, Lucinda Williams, Nanci Griffith, Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt. (World Premiere)

THUNDER SOUL
Directed by Mark Landsman

In the 1970's, Kashmere High School band director Conrad Johnson turned his band into an international funk sensation. Now thirty years later, his students return to pay tribute to the man who changed their lives. (World Premiere)

WHEN I RISE
Directed by Mat Hames

When I Rise is the powerful story of Barbara Smith Conrad, a gifted University of Texas music student who becomes a lightning rod for civil rights and ultimately ascends to the heights of international opera. (World Premiere)

SXSW 2010 Spotlight: New Documentaries from Steve James, James Franco and Malcolm Ingram

Last night, SXSW announced their full lineup for 2010.  We told you about the eight films in competition but that's just the tip of SXSW's documentary iceberg.  In this post, the nonfiction components of this year's Spotlight and Emerging Visions sections.

SPOTLIGHT PREMIERES

BARBERSHOP PUNK
Directed by Georgia Sugimura & Kristin Armfield (Co-Director)

Keeping the independent/punk spirit alive, barbershop quartet fan Robb Topolski takes on the nation’s largest cable company, only to find himself at the center of a federal investigation, inspiring a larger story of censorship, individual voice and access. Featuring interviews with Ian MacKaye, Damian Kulash of OK Go, Henry Rollins, Janeane Garofalo, John Perry Barlow among others. (World Premiere)

GREENLIT
Directed by Miranda Bailey

It ain't easy bein' green. (World Premiere)

HOOD TO COAST
Directed by Christoph Baaden and Marcie Hume (Co-Director)

Hood to Coast follows four unlikely teams on their epic journey to conquer the world's largest relay race.  Winning isn't everything in a documentary that takes a celebratory look at personal motivation and attempting the extraordinary. (World Premiere)

LEMMY
Directed by Greg Olliver and Wes Orshoski

This documentary delves into the personal and public lives of heavy metal icon and Motörhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister. Nearly three years in the making, and featuring appearances by such friends/peers as Metallica, Dave Grohl, Billy Bob Thornton and pro wrestler Triple H, the film follows Kilmister from his Hollywood bedroom to the hockey arenas of Scandinavia and Russia. (World Premiere)

 

MAN ON A MISSION

Directed by Mike Woolf

Man On A Mission is a feature length documentary that follows gaming millionaire Richard Garriott as he becomes the first second-generation American astronaut. (World Premiere)

NO CROSSOVER: THE TRIAL OF ALLEN IVERSON

Directed by Steve James

Steve James returns to his hometown of Hampton, Virginia to examine the 1993 bowling alley brawl that landed Allen Iverson, the nation’s top high-school basketball player, in jail and divided the community along racial lines. (World Premiere)

ONE NIGHT IN VEGAS

Directed by Reggie Rock Bythewood

On the evening of 9/7/96, Mike Tyson attempted to regain the WBA title in Vegas. Sitting ringside was his friend Tupac Shakur. This ESPN Films documentary tells not only the story of that infamous night but of their remarkable friendship. (World Premiere)

THE PEOPLE VS. GEORGE LUCAS

Directed by Alexandre O. Philippe

A no-holds-barred cultural examination of the conflicted dynamic between George Lucas and his fans over the past three decades. (World Premiere)

THE RIDE

Directed by Meredith Danluck

A journey into the heart of America through the rough and tumble, rock and roll world of bull riding Cowboys. (World Premiere)

SATURDAY NIGHT
Directed by James Franco

With unprecedented access to the behind the scenes process of the writers, actors and producers, Franco and his crew document what it takes to create one full episode of Saturday Night Live. (World Premiere)

THE WHITE STRIPES: UNDER GREAT WHITE NORTHERN LIGHTS
Directed by Emmett Malloy

A visual and emotional feature length film documenting The White Stripes making their way through Canada and culminating with their 10th anniversary show in Nova Scotia. The film documents the band playing shows all over Canada; from local bowling alleys, to city buses, and onward to the legendary Savoy Theater for the 10th Anniversary show.

SXSW 2010 Announces Line-Up, 8 World Premieres in Documentary Competition

The other shoe drops tonight as SXSW announces its line-up and we get a more complete view of the films that we'll be talking about for the rest of the year.  Remember, last year's SXSW gave us our first look at 45365, BEETLE QUEEN CONQUERS TOKYO, GARBAGE DREAMS, WINNEBAGO MAN, BEST WORST MOVIE and others.

We'll be unspooling the other strands in different threads.  First up, this year's Documentary Feature Competition slate (with descriptions furnished by the festival):

BEIJING TAXI
Directed by Miao Wang
Official Website
Miao Wang on Twitter
BEIJING TAXI on Facebook
Sundance DocFund page with information about the film

Through a humanistic lens, BEIJING TAXI vividly portrays China undergoing a profound transformational arch in an era of Olympic transitions. The intimate lives of three cabbies connect a morphing cityscape and a lyrical journey through fragments of a society riding the bumpy roads to modernization. (World Premiere)

CAMP VICTORY, AFGHANISTAN
Directed by Carol Dysinger
Official Website
Dysinger's Guest Blog for Filmmaker from the Sundance Doc Lab
Sundance DocFund page with information about the film

Using almost 300 hours of footage shot over the course of three years, CAMP VICTORY, AFGHANISTAN tells the story of the Afghan officers charged with building a new Afghan National Army and the U.S. National Guardsmen sent to mentor them. (World Premiere)

THE CANAL STREET MADAM
Directed by Cameron Yates
Director's Website
indieWIRE preview from May 2009
GRITtv preview from April 2009 with clips from the film.

An FBI raid on Jeanette Maier’s infamous family-run brothel in New Orleans destroyed her livelihood. Stigmatized by felony, fearing recrimination from powerful clients and determined to protect her children, Jeanette sets out to re-invent herself. (World Premiere)

The Top 25 Film Festivals for Documentaries, 2nd Edition - #9. SXSW

Previously: #8. Tribeca

#9. SXSW Film Festival

Our take: There is nothing quite like Austin in March and SXSW is most certainly one of the few US festivals to attract such a huge industry component.  They come for the parties, for the music, for the first day of warm sunshine (heaven help you if you're screening at the moment).  The transition from longtime programmer and SXSW poster boy Matt Dentler to veteran Janet Pierson was very smooth - and this year's slate feature a terrifically eclectic and artistic roster of films.  Yes, SXSW matters - both as a brand name that's increasingly recognizable to ordinary Americans as well as a stamp of possible/probable quality within the industry.  Make a mark here (particularly if you're playing in competition or can attract the attention of the heavy blogger contingent) and buyers will find a way to see your film...

The downside: ...just don't expect them to see it at the festival.  That combination of sunshine, BBQ and parties are calling their names.  There's no question that the biggest problem with SXSW (and the reason it's way down here at #9) is the mother festival's insistence that filmmakers get the same treatment as musicians when it comes to hospitality.  Which means little to none (competition films get a $500 stipend).  Remember this is a for profit enterprise.  SXSW remains the only major American film festival to refuse to subsidize filmmaker travel across-the-board. 

Important recent premieres: 45365, GARBAGE DREAMS, THE WAY WE GET BY, OBJECTIFIED, WINNEBAGO MAN, SWEETHEARTS OF THE PRISON RODEO, BEETLE QUEEN CONQUERS TOKYO, TRIMPIN: THE SOUND OF INVENTION, BROCK ENRIGHT: GOOD TIMES WILL NEVER BE THE SAME, BEST WORST MOVIE

Selection of US films screened at 2009 Fest: THE HORSE BOY, PASSING STRANGE, WE LIVE IN PUBLIC

Our coverage of SXSW here.

The Monday Brief: IT Does GET LOUD in Theatres, A Tough Week for THE COVE and WOODSTOCK At 39

Good morning.  We're more than halfway through August and just under three weeks away from the World Premiere of Michael Moore's CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY at La Biennale di Venezia...

But the big documentary news of the weekend is the stellar debut of the new film from another Oscar winner.  Davis Guggenheim's IT MIGHT GET LOUD, the story of the electric guitar as seen through Jimmy Page, The Edge and Jack White, broke out this weekend - and big.  Playing at just 7 theaters, the Sony Pictures Classics release made more than $100K, marking the best release for a documentary this year that was playing on more than 2 screens. 

IT MIGHT GET LOUD continues the sensational nonfiction streak for SPC this year, coming on the heels of WALTZ WITH BASHIR (just under $2.3M) EVERY LITTLE STEP ($1.6M and still going) and even TYSON ($886K).

It also marks the latest nonfiction feature from the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival to become a hit with moviegoers (following BASHIR, VALENTINO: THE LAST EMPEROR, EVERY LITTLE STEP and FOOD, INC.  Together, those five titles (including IT MIGHT GET LOUD) have taken in nearly $8.5M.  The highest grossing Sundance film this year is ANVIL! THE STORY OF ANVIL from the 2008 fest (although many haven't been released yet).

One 2009 Sundance title that entered theatres with lofty expectations - huge box office, Oscar nominations, changing maritime law - was THE COVE.  But this was not a good week for that film in terms of the things that worry filmmakers and distributors - box office and press. 

First, despite strong reviews and a new promotional push - including an appearance by director Louie Psihoyos on the Today Show - the film slipped to a per theater average of just $1,660 this weekend and a total cume of $424K.  It now looks like the film will have to struggle to make it to $1M at the box office Worse was a piece in the LA Times by John Horn that used THE COVE as the poster child for why environmental docs aren't working at the box office (we wondered why Horn never bothered to mention Disney's EARTH in his story).  It's never a good sign to have your distributor (in this case, Roadside Attractions' Howard Cohen) quoted as saying, "It's not what we would have hoped" and "the concept of the movie is much more off-putting than the experience of watching it".