It’s probably going too far to suggest, as I’m tempted to, that Spine Tingler: The William Castle Story should be considered a foundational document for anyone interested in the film marketing revolution that began with the fall of the studio system and which still shapes the way most Americans learn about and consume movies today. Admittedly, you cant say that Jeffrey Schwartz’ staggering of talking head interviews with competent After Effects animation is the stuff that reinvents genres; Schwarz makes a living making behind-the-scenes docs for the DVD releases of Hollywood films, and stylistically, at least, that shows here. But despite its formal limitations, Spine Tingler is a vibrant and vital work of pop film historiography, and for a certain type of cinephile (myself included), it should be required viewing.

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Liv Ullmann, the recipient of the Sarasota Film Festival’s 2008 Master of Cinema Award and the star or director of a dozen films on the Festival schedule, sat down with Sony Pictures Classics president Michael Barker last night for a chat before a packed and fawning crowd.

Dressed in a low-cut black pantsuit bracketed by diamond earrings and killer heels, quick with self-deprecating quips and eager to offer candid, perfectly paced anecdotes, her faded Noweigian accent occasionally taking on the lilting cadences of a woman a third her age (she’s a big fan of the word “whatever”), Ullmann came off as loquaciously eccentric and yet completely clear-eyed about past, present and future. Paying special attention to Ullmann’s triumphs with Ingmar Bergman and failures in 70s Hollywood, Barker and Ullmann traced the actress/directors career from the making of Persona to the psychic impulse that led her to visit Bergman on his death bed. Highlights after the jump.

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The neatest formal trick in Throw Down Your Heart, Sascha Paladino’s somewhat overlong but surprisingly moving document of his brother Bela Fleck’s journey to Africa to sort out the roots of the banjo and record an album with native musicians, is the employment of selective translation. Fleck, a celebrity in his bluegrass/jazz Americana niche, is a wide-eyed total outsider in Uganda and Tanzania, where even those who speak English have thick enough accents that their words need to be subtitled. But Paladino only translates African song lyrics and conversations between locals when the content within is essential to understanding a scene. This forces us to really contemplate the imagery and the sound of the music––elements that are so universal they need no translation––to pick up most emotional cues, and for the most part, it works beautifully. For a film about the power of music to shatter cultural and historic barriers and unite people based on pure feeling, I can’t imagine a tighter welding of form and content.

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Photo via zizzybaloobah @ Flickr.

I landed in Sarasota around 2:00 yesterday afternoon, and by the time I was standing in line for my first film an hour later, the sore throat I’d been carrying around for three weeks in New York since returning from SXSW had miraculously disappeared. It would be hard to overstate how magical this place feels in contrast to the cold, gray, post-global warming non-spring of New York City. It’s 80 degrees here and sunny; my hotel’s right on the beach. And I’m working. Feel free to hate me––I would.

Speaking of work, I saw two films yesterday, Throw Down Your Heart and Spine Tingler: The William Castle Story, both of which I’ll be writing about shortly. More soon.

On Monday, I’m heading down to the Sarasota Film Festival, which begins this evening with opening night film, The Deal. A ton of Spout favorites from recent festivals will be screening at Sarasota over the next ten days, including Medicine For Melancholy, Natural Causes, One Minute to Nine, The Pleasure of Being Robbed, and Yeast. The Festival is also premiering a doc (which I have not yet seen, and which will unfortunately not be screening while I’m in town) called All God’s Children, directed by former Reeler TV producers Scott Solary and Luci Westphal. Here’s a look at some of the stuff I’m planning to check out whilst in Florida:

Bergmanmania: The Festival is presenting a sidebar called Face To Face: The Films of Liv Ullmann and Ingmar Bergman, through which they’re screening a dozen films, ten directed by Bergman and starring Ullmann, and two directed by Ullmann. I’m going to hit as many of these screenings as I can over my 3.5 days in town, but I’m most excited about Tuesday night’s Conversation with Ullmann, who is the recipient of the fest’s 2008 Master Of World Cinema Award.

Throw Down Your Heart: One of the most talked about films at SXSW that I didn’t get a chance to see, Sascha Paladino’s film tracks legendary banjoist Bela Fleck on a trip to Africa, where he records new music and explores the history of his instrument.

Spine Tingler!: The William Castle Story: I’ve had my eye on this doc about the legendary filmmaker/gimmick peddler since last fall, but haven’t been able to catch up with it at a festival.

I Can No Longer Hear the Guitar (J’entends plus la guitare): Phillipe Garrel’s 1991 ode to Nico is making the rounds of festivals and small screens via Film Desk, a distribution venture spearheaded by BAM Cinematek programmer Jake Perlin. I was in Austin for SXSW and missed its brief stop at New York’s Cinema Village last month, so when I saw it on the Sarasota schedule, I yelped with joy. Read some of the rapturous reviews, and you’ll know why.