Director Justin Strawhand uses every known documentary trick in the book (as well as some tricks not in the book) to translate Edwin Black’s The War Against the Weak from 600-page doorstop of exhaustive, collaborative research into a smooth-moving filmed horror show that’s shocking, inventive, and seductive in the most disturbing sense imaginable.
Black’s basic thesis — and slogan on his book’s website — ominously portends that “it began on Long Island and ended at Auschwitz…and yet it never really stopped.” “It” is the scientific study of hereditary genetics, named “eugenics” by Charles Darwin’s cousin Francis Galton, developed by American academic elitists to serve their inherently racist and discriminatory fear of the other, and eventually adopted by the Adolf Hitler, who, already obsessed with the notion of denerate peoples like Jews and Gypsies as a threat to Aryan supremacy, became obsessed with American eugenics literature whilst in prison in the 1920s, even writing “amateur anthropologist” Madison Grant a fan letter describing Grant’s The Passing of the Great Race as Hitler’s “bible.” Eugenics theory first resulted in questionable U.S. laws governing the civil rights of the blind, the epileptic, the feeble minded, and the generally lowborn, and ultimately the sterilization or euthanasia of the same. “Eventually,” Black writes, these same theories “led to the Holocaust, the destruction of the Gypsies, the rape of Poland and the decimation of all Europe.”
On Sunday at True/False, filmmaker/blogger AJ Schnack screened the first thirty minutes of Convention, his verite-style film documenting the 2008 Democratic National Convention with an eye on the Denver locals (politicians, city administrators, journalists, protesters) who were in the mix. Shot by Schnack in collaboration with nearly a dozen documentarians (including the Oscar-nominated directors Laura Poitras and Julia Reichert, and Daniel Junge, who directed the Oscar-shortlisted They Killed Sister Dorothy), the film’s making-of process was almost as much of a serendipity-dependent feat of execution as the event captured on screen.
As his, uh, primary inspiration, Schnack cites Robert Drew’s Primary, a Direct Cinema landmark documenting the Wisconsin primary race between John F. Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey. The first American nonfiction picture filmed with sync sound, its IMDb profile reads today as a who’s-who of 60s documentary film: Drew as audio recordist, Albert Maysles and Ricky Leacock behind the camera and D.A. Pennebaker in the editing room. Time will tell if Convention’s slate of collaborators seems as starry 50 years on, but in the present it stands out as a film built out of and on top of connections made on the film festival circuit. If, in the context of the incestuous world of indie film, that hardly seems all that noteworthy, it is relevant that the production seems to have harnessed the scrappy, obsessive energy of that rather insular community and put it to the service of documenting an event that could potentially have meaning to a much larger segment of the population. …Read more
A personal documentary disguised as expose, Justin Donais‘ glastonburykids tracks a few formative months in the lives of teenage troublemakers Lucas, Ben, Dan, Tom and Dylan — known around their lily-white, upper middle class Connecticut suburb as Dub G, short for “Gay Gangsters” (the “gay” part being presumably as much of a joke as “gangster”, although the film never delves’ into the boys’ sexual lives or preferences). Consciously “influenced” by Jackass, the teens rebel against their peers and parents, and the traditional concept of teen rebellion itself, by eschewing sex and partying and instead devoting their nights and weekends to videotaping themselves masterminding and following through with a series of stunts and pranks around the neighborhood — they call it their “anti-drug.”
True/False, that annual magical haven for nonfiction lovers in Columbia, Missouri, has announced a portion of their 2009 festival lineup. In addition to some festival circuit usual suspects (Sundance 2009 winners We Live in Public, Rough Aunties, Burma VJ and Afghan Star; LAFF 2008 winner Loot, and the Oscar-nominated Waltz with Bashir), there are a number of sneak previews and premieres that sound, based on their two-sentence pitches, to be well worth a look:
I recently submitted a ballot for indieWIRE’s annual Critics’ Poll, which offers respondents a chance to create two separate lists of the best films of the year: one comprised of films which received theatrical distribution (which is described as, at minimum, a one week run in a commercial theater in New York City, essentially the same type of release required for Oscar consideration); and a list of the best films which weren’t distributed commercially in 2008––ie: those which screened only at festivals, and/or in other non-commercial venues, and/or outside of New York. Because I see so many films at festivals, I had a far greater pool of candidates for the latter list than the former. My “true” top ten list would combine films which were made readily available to audiences via studio subsidiaries (such as Synecdoche, NY and Rachel Getting Married), with films that I fell in love with at a festival and may never get a chance to see again, and with films which had the bare minimum New York release, but nevertheless were probably still seen by fewer people than the average distributor-less festival hit (such as Build a Ship, Sail to Sadness). That said, I understand the purpose of making the distinction––even if there was no other benefit to it, there’s always the hope that some smaller theatrical and straight-to-DVD distributors will look to the annual Best Undistributed list as a reference to films they might have missed. After all, 2007’s “winner,” Hong Sang Soo’s Woman on the Beach, was purchased and ended up in theaters barely a week into the new year.
In fact, I think singling out films which are still on the market, and in a perfect world wouldn’t be, is so worth doing, that not only am I revealing here the ten titles I included in the poll, but I’m adding a few bonus films. The following list is presented alphabetically and should be considered unranked, with the exception of the first title mentioned — they all deserve to be seen by wider audiences, but the reception thus far bestowed on the work of one French master in particular is actually a travesty.
Turner Classic Movies has hired Elvis Mitchell to host a new interview series called TCM: Under the Influence.Lou Lumenick reports, via Movie City News.
In an interview with Stream, Wholphin’s Brent Hoff gives props to the programmers of some of our favorite film festivals: SXSW, Cinevegas and True/False. Of the latter’s Paul Sturtz and David Wilson, he says, “Their selections are incredible. They are people with such heart, and they look at everything through the prism of who they are as people and what moves them. And I think that’s why they put on such beautiful films. And believe me, everyone says it, everyone that goes universally agrees that these guys nail it like nobody else, and few people know about it. I guarantee it will become a much bigger deal. I’m outing them. I’m sure I’ve just ruined the town.” Via BigScreenLittleScreen.
Above: a talk at Drexel University, wherein Arin Crumley talks about rethinking cinematic content for web episode distribution.
Festival hopping, from True/False to SXSW. To help kick off our South by Southwest coverage, Paul and Kevin reflect on Medicine for Melancholy, and talk with writer/director Barry Jenkins about race, identity, and San Fransisco. Between festivals, Karina manages to find time to share some stories about the True/False Film Festival. The small town Missouri fest is fast becoming a premiere destination for non-fiction film. Karina offers her thoughts on Forbidden Lies.
Focus Features has set a 1000 screen-wide, September 12 release date for the George Clooney starring Coen Brothers film Burn After Reading. David Poland wonders is this is a thinly-veiled dump: “[H]ave The Coens asked to be pulled out of the Oscar race next year? Has the studio seen a first cut of the picture and decided that it wasn’t a racer? Or is Focus just going to pull out the stops for Harvey Milk and pushing this high profile distraction out of the way?”
“It’s astonishing, not only to think about the challenges Paul [Sturtz] and David [Wilson] faced in creating a regional non-fiction festival that would take place in a small mid-western town during the winter, but also to consider how quickly the festival has earned the respect and goodwill of the international documentary film community—as well as the people of Columbia, Missouri.” Joel Heller introduces a podcast interview with the co-directors of the True/False Film Festival.
Mental Floss quizes your knowledge of Universal’s classic 1930s monster movies.
Lindsay Lohan has been replaced as the celebrity face of Jill Stuart by Hillary Swank. Yes, it’s exactly that kind of news day.
After seven hours in the St. Louis airport, I have returned from my long, wonderful weekend at the True/False Film Festival. Below, you’ll find a recap of the films I covered whilst in Columbia, MO. But first, I want to give a shout-out to Satin and Chenille.
Before each screening at True/False, “buskers” culled from all over the country take the stage to perform while the audience is filing in. At some of the larger True/False venues, the buskers sort of fade into the background, but at an intimate space like the new Little Ragtag, the performers really get a chance to take over the room. That’s where I saw Satin and Chenille, a girl and boy (I came late, so I’m not sure which one is Satin and which one is Chenille) who did a tongue-in-cheek set of standards and love songs before the Friday night screening of Carny.
“I hope you guys love each other as much as we love love songs,” said the boy, before they launched into an acoustic guitar-fueled version of “Baby It’s Cold Outside.” They followed that up with an epic, partially-accapella version on “I’ve Had The Time of My Life,” which turned into a mass sing-a-long. It was a great moment, and maybe an audience of 50 or so moviegoers united by a Dirty Dancing reference is a little thing compared to the achievement of such a well-curated program of films, but it’s also one of the many things that sets True/False apart from larger, more impersonal festivals, and it’s definitely a reason to go back next year.
Anyway. Check out a guide to my True/False reviews after the jump.
True/False co-director David Wilson presented recent Oscar winner Alex Gibney with the festival’s True Vision Award on Saturday, before a screening of Gibney’s latest opus, Gonzo. The film takes a comprehensive look at the zeitgeist-defining glory years and post-middle-age decline of journalist Hunter S. Thompson, whose commitment to truth through fictionalization inspired Wilson to brand him “a man who could well be the patron saint of True/False.” In introducing Gibney, Wilson noted that the festival was proud to host the director on his first stop after last week’s Oscar ceremony. When he reached the mic, Gibney corrected the record. “This is not my first stop after that event in Hollywood,” the filmmaker said. “I looked at that as a warm-up to True/False.”
The True Vision Award is designed to honor mid-career filmmakers who, in the words of Wilson, “are pushing the non-fiction form forward.” It’s a bit of a disappointment, then, that formally, Gonzo swings wildly between stylistic experimentation and rote talking-head traditionalism. Shooting on high def video to appease producers Todd Wagner and Mark Cuban, who will release the film theatrically under the auspices of Magnolia before broadcasting Gonzo on their HD Net TV, Gibney seems to struggle to transcend the standard visual tropes of the medium. The bulk of the film consists of sit-down interviews with expert witnesses, including Thompson’s son and two ex-wives, Jann Wenner and Pat Buchanan; much of the rest of the footage is culled from fiction films about Thompson and previous documentaries. When Gibney does take chances––such as when he casts actors in a home-video style reenactment set to an actual audio recording of Thompson’s visit to a Nevada taco stand, the transcription of which formed a chapter of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas––the end result is not dissimilar to something one might see on basic cable. There are inspired ideas here, but with its sometimes awkward video effects and general made-for-TV patina, the whole thing looks a little downmarket for a filmmaker of Gibney’s caliber.
Which is not to say that Gonzo doesn’t offer valuable insight into Thompson’s life, work, and, especially, the power of his celebrity. …Read more
On Friday, True/False seemed to explode all over the city of Columbia, beginning with the annual March into March parade through downtown’s main drag, and continuing through a night of packed screenings and parties. I ate buffet-style kangaroo carpaccio at an event called Reality Bites. I saw a live, partially acapella performance of “I’ve Had The Time Of My Life,” from DirtyDancing. And I got a chance to confirm that the film that’s probably attracting the most “buzz” at this festival definitely deserves it.
Let’s start with that last one. Anna Broinowski’s Forbidden Lies tracks the almost too fascinating to be believed story of Norma Khouri, the author of Forbudden Love, a bestselling purported memoir about the honor killing of Kouri’s best friend Dalia, a Jordanian Muslim who fell in love with a Christian soldier. The book was published in 2003, (with the support of the Cheney family, who latched onto Forbidden Love as the right piece of anti-Arab propaganda at the right time, it was translated into 18 languages), and Kouri promptly became a literary rock star and a controversial spokeswoman for Muslim women’s rights. A year later, an Australian journalist published a story revealing that many details of Forbidden Love were plainly inaccurate and/or apparently made up.
Khouri, calling the book “not fact, not fiction, [but] faction” and comparing it to The Da Vinci Code, claimed she had altered specifics in order to protect her friend’s family, but maintained that Dalia’s honor killing was very real. In an effort to clear her name, Khouri tells Broinowski that if they go to Jordon together, she’ll prove it. The ensuing trip devolves into a magnificent farce, and it forms the core of a portrait of Khouri––who has the charisma of a movie star and the spin talent of a grade-A publicist––as a con woman too clumsy to evade detection, but somehow so charming and clever that even those who have been hurt by her lies and crimes feel compelled to defend her.
I’ve become fascinated over the past year with the visual tropes of the Hurricane Katrina film. The helicopter shots of the city underwater, borrowed news footage of refuges spilling out of the super dome, and of course, the ultimate post-Katrina New Orleans money shot: the passenger-side tracking shot of a devastated residential street, probably in the Lower Ninth Ward, meant to bowl us over by offering the illusion of an endless loop of devastation.
When that tracking shot appears in Peter Entell’s Shake The Devil Off, which screened for the first time in the U.S. last night at True/False, it plays to a slightly different end. For every three addresses occupied by a pile of rubble, there seems to be one house not only left standing, but apparently without significant external damage. Certainly, such an image speaks to the frustrating randomness of nature, but more than that, it reminds that appearances can be deceiving. The owners of that home may have the advantage of having an intact structure to return to, but that may not mean much when their community has crumbled all around them.
With shots like this, Shake The Devil Off incorporates some of the tropes of Cinema Katrina, but it’s maybe the least dependent on those tropes for its power than any of the many recent films about the storm and the city that I’ve seen. In fact, in that sense, it’s maybe the only truly post-Katrina film on the festival circuit, in that it’s not really at all concerned with the storm itself, but with the social, economic and racial ripple effects of Katrina that really only became apparent in the months thereafter. …Read more
True/False officially begins tonight, but as is tradition, the festival hosted a special preview screening last night for students at the University of Missouri. The film was …an Alternative to Slitting Your Wrist, and it was a perfect pick for the young crowd. 25 year-old Owen Lowery, who directed, edited and appears in nearly every frame of the autobiographical doc, doesn’t exactly break new thematic ground or wow with his filmmaking prowess, but that’s part of the point: super-accessible and unencumbered by the constraints of traditional cinematic language, Wrist is pure peer-to-peer catharsis.
The film follows Lowery from 24th birthday to 25th, as he attempts to conquer a list of 52 things that he’s always wanted to do, one for each week of the year. We learn early on that Lowery made the list whilst in a psych ward, where he was recovering from a suicide attempt. At first, Lowery milks some of the less-noble list items for comic relief: he gets shot with a taser, he gets but by a scorpion and, thankfully, we’re spared the footage of him “taking a dump on Mount Rushmore.” But the list eventually settles into a structuring gimmick that gives Lowery license to confront his real demons. It becomes apparent that the project isn’t really about the list at all, but about the personal traumas––childhood sexual abuse, his father’s drinking problem as well as his own––that led Lowery to his personal rock bottom.
I’m typing this from Columbia, MO, where the True/False Film Festival is just getting underway. Shortly before I flew in yesterday, I found out that Christopher Bell’s surprisingly strong Sundance entry Bigger, Stronger, Faster had been added to the True/False program. Shortly after arriving, I found out that the film has been acquired by Magnolia, for theatrical distribution followed by broadcast on HDNet.
Bigger, which I saw at Sundance and reviewed here, has a real shot at Super Size Me-style success, although marketing is going to be key. Bell puts himself at the center as a character, but the film doesn’t feel self-indulgent at all––for a first-time filmmaker, he shows remarkable skill both as an interviewer and as a polemicist. In selling the film to audiences, I think it’s going to be key to showcase Bell as a personality, without undermining the fact that this a convincingly and seriously researched film.
Tomorrow morning, I’m flying to St. Louis, then taking a bus to Columbia, Missouri to check out the True/False Film Festival. The festival brings together non-fiction films from recent major festivals, world premieres, and surprise screenings. Here’s a look at a few of the films that I plan to see before heading back to New York on Sunday. If you’re showing a film at the festival or will just be there hanging out and would like to meet up, send me an email at karina AT spout DOT com, and we’ll make it happen.
Shake The Devil Off: In post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans, pastor Father LeDoux tries to stop the closing of St. Augustine’s church, a vital community center thought be some to be the birthplace of jazz. See the French-subtitled trailer (the film first premiered at Locarno) here.
Carny: A work-in-progress presentation of Allison Murphy’s doc on the personal lives and relationships of carnival workers, based on Virginia Lee Hunter’s photo book. Judging by the footage shown on Carny’s website, the film, which blends Super 8 film with video, looks amazing.
Hold Me Tight, Let Me Go: A cinema verite portrait of an English school for troubled kids, Kim Longinotto’s film won a special jury prize last fall at IDFA.
Gonzo: I missed the press screening of Alex Gibney’s Hunter S. Thompson doc at Sundance, but maybe it’s for the best: recent Oscar-winner Gibney is expected to to be in attendance at Gonzo’s Saturday True/False screening.
Very Young Girls: David Schisgal’s doc on teenage prostitutes premiered last fall at Toronto. At True/False, it’s being honored as part of the True Life Fund, though which the festival choose one film per year for which to “raise funds to support and honor those who appear in front of the camera.”
We’ve had a bit of trouble getting this episode to go through the iTunes feed, so we hope this re-post will fix the problem. The original post, with episode description and embedded player, is here.
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Focus Features has set a 1000 screen-wide, September 12 release date for the George Clooney starring Coen Brothers film 
