matty
03-02-2009, 09:31 AM
http://www.truefalse.org/
Columbia’s True/False Film Festival was this weekend. As usual, I had a great time. Movies, food, sleep deprivation, and extreme drunkenness prevailed. Very fun.
I thought I would mention the movies I saw, because they were all good. (I’ve actually never seen a bad movie at T/F.) So if you ever see any of these movies make it to your local independent theater or cool video store, be sure to check them out.
The Posters Came from the Walls
Forget what John Lennon said about the Beatles — countless obsessed fans around the globe would argue that Depeche Mode is bigger than Jesus. From the US and Brazil to Russia and Iran, men and women celebrate the band that gave them a groove, dulled their depression and even helped unify East and West Germany. Their devotion is reflected in collages, tattoos, graphic novels, bead portraits, music-video reenactments, t-shirt collections, marching bands, church choirs and many, many truly rad hairstyles. Filmmakers Jeremy Deller and Nicholas Abrahams give them an opportunity to tell their stories and to thank the band. The result is a sympathetic and visually striking portrait of music's transformative power. (DF)
I liked this one, but I wish it would have gone a little deeper into the fans. We found out at the Q&A with the director after the movie that he was hired by a record label to make a film about Depeche Mode, so the director didn’t actually care about this movie while he was making it; it was just a job. However, the end result was actually pretty interesting/touching, so he submitted it for consideration to T/F, and they accepted.
Rough Aunties
Evildoers beware! Tough, feisty, wise and full of passionate conviction, a group of women — Thuli, Mildren, Sdudla, Eureka and Jackie — work for Operation Bobbi Bear in Durban, South Africa, dealing with children who have been raped and abused. They accompany police on midnight raids and sit with the victims as they use teddy bears to describe the nature of the abuse. They even clean up crime scenes when necessary. Compounding the degree of difficulty work are the cultural stigmas about talking about sex and the sieve-like processing of criminals through the judicial system. Longinotto's compassionate eye yields a remarkable intimacy with the women as they face trauma and grief of their clients, and in their own lives. Framed against a broader portrait of a society in transition, Rough Aunties offers a personal story women draw strength from each other and performing, on a daily level, the small miracles that help to make the world a kinder, better place. (IK)
This was a beautiful movie. I had Andi K on one side and Jeff on the other side, both sniffling away. (I would have cried too if I had human tear ducts.) A little hard to watch at times, and you feel a little weird watching these women and children as they go through some of the roughest things a person can emotionally go through, all caught on film. But the greater purpose is all about drawing strength from one another and then passing that strength on to others. These women are nothing short of amazing.
Because We Were Born
"My father was father long enough to make me," says one subject in this haunting documentary. "My mother was mother long enough to give birth." Following two boys cast adrift amidst unimaginable poverty in Brazil's northeast, this film reveals, in quiet and deeply moving ways, the resourcefulness and creativity of children surviving a tough world. Just 14, Cocada witnessed his dad's murder; his friend Nero, 13, is the oldest of his mom's 10 children. Begging at truck stops, selling knickknacks and foraging for food, the two grow up abnormally quickly while maintaining some childlike innocence, wrestling in a pile of corn husks or asking for guidance from a kindly trucker. The directors, who also shot the film, maintain a formal purity — there is no voiceover or interviews. Still, they find ways to implicate Brazi's leadership: we hear the empty promises of campaigning politicians through loudspeakers and the TV. The footage — villagers elbowing each other to get to the water truck, a dying cow beset by flies — reveals darker truths. (JS)
I didn’t really care for this one, but everyone else I know who saw it went on and on about how great it was. They present a problem, as in-your-face as you can handle, and then don’t make even a hint at a solution or even hope for a better life. Just brutal, naked reality.
We Live In Public
At the dawn of the dotcom age, Josh Harris cashed in on his early knowledge in the Web. He then resurfaced as a well-heeled artist with a flair for social engineering experiments. His most intriguing one, "Quiet: We Live in Public," at the time seemed a proto-apocalyptic lead-up to Y2K, an Orwellian commune in which 100 human specimens lived in a New York City basement under 24-7 surveillance. Timoner, whose earlier film Dig explored other difficult artists, was in that basement herself, giving this footage more footing. Later, Harris and his girlfriend streamed their private lives online. This fascinating material is spiked with deep resonance during an era where social networking sites, omnipresent cameras and fast connections have left many swimming in privacy-free zones. Featuring plenty of loud rock 'n' roll, the splashy We Live in Public carries urgent warnings about the near future, as reflected in a little-known story from our recent past. Note: This film contains adult content and is not recommended for children. (PS)
This film was very provoking. I liked it a lot. Be prepared to want to cancel your myspace and facebook accounts and toss your iPhone in the garbage. The guy seems utterly insane throughout the movie (and he probably is) but by the end you realize…he was absolutely right. About everything.
Sounds Like Teen Spirit
Sneak preview. It makes all the sense in the world that Jamie Jay Johnson studied under Kim Longinotto. There's something effortless yet incredibly powerful in his ability to put his subjects at ease and quickly move past their public masks to find truths both funny and shocking. That Johnson chooses, in his debut feature, to tell the stories of pre-teen contestants in Europe's biggest pop music competition is, well, entirely appropriate. Like the young, would-be pop stars of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, Jamie is all energy and enthusiasm behind the camera, propelling his story forward at a vertiginous speed — turning sequins and day-glo into blurs of pure energy. But, as always, it's the kids who make the movie — and I dare you to remain unmoved by their heart-on-sleeve drive to be the biggest little pop stars in Europe. (DW)
So Andi K, Jeff and I all saw the same five movies, and all three of us agreed that this was the best one we saw all weekend. Again, there were tears from the audience at several turns, but happy ones. A really innocent and joyous movie. The director was very friendly and funny, and had sort of a child-like quality himself, and it really shows in the movie. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and you’ll really love the kids that the director focuses on.
Columbia’s True/False Film Festival was this weekend. As usual, I had a great time. Movies, food, sleep deprivation, and extreme drunkenness prevailed. Very fun.
I thought I would mention the movies I saw, because they were all good. (I’ve actually never seen a bad movie at T/F.) So if you ever see any of these movies make it to your local independent theater or cool video store, be sure to check them out.
The Posters Came from the Walls
Forget what John Lennon said about the Beatles — countless obsessed fans around the globe would argue that Depeche Mode is bigger than Jesus. From the US and Brazil to Russia and Iran, men and women celebrate the band that gave them a groove, dulled their depression and even helped unify East and West Germany. Their devotion is reflected in collages, tattoos, graphic novels, bead portraits, music-video reenactments, t-shirt collections, marching bands, church choirs and many, many truly rad hairstyles. Filmmakers Jeremy Deller and Nicholas Abrahams give them an opportunity to tell their stories and to thank the band. The result is a sympathetic and visually striking portrait of music's transformative power. (DF)
I liked this one, but I wish it would have gone a little deeper into the fans. We found out at the Q&A with the director after the movie that he was hired by a record label to make a film about Depeche Mode, so the director didn’t actually care about this movie while he was making it; it was just a job. However, the end result was actually pretty interesting/touching, so he submitted it for consideration to T/F, and they accepted.
Rough Aunties
Evildoers beware! Tough, feisty, wise and full of passionate conviction, a group of women — Thuli, Mildren, Sdudla, Eureka and Jackie — work for Operation Bobbi Bear in Durban, South Africa, dealing with children who have been raped and abused. They accompany police on midnight raids and sit with the victims as they use teddy bears to describe the nature of the abuse. They even clean up crime scenes when necessary. Compounding the degree of difficulty work are the cultural stigmas about talking about sex and the sieve-like processing of criminals through the judicial system. Longinotto's compassionate eye yields a remarkable intimacy with the women as they face trauma and grief of their clients, and in their own lives. Framed against a broader portrait of a society in transition, Rough Aunties offers a personal story women draw strength from each other and performing, on a daily level, the small miracles that help to make the world a kinder, better place. (IK)
This was a beautiful movie. I had Andi K on one side and Jeff on the other side, both sniffling away. (I would have cried too if I had human tear ducts.) A little hard to watch at times, and you feel a little weird watching these women and children as they go through some of the roughest things a person can emotionally go through, all caught on film. But the greater purpose is all about drawing strength from one another and then passing that strength on to others. These women are nothing short of amazing.
Because We Were Born
"My father was father long enough to make me," says one subject in this haunting documentary. "My mother was mother long enough to give birth." Following two boys cast adrift amidst unimaginable poverty in Brazil's northeast, this film reveals, in quiet and deeply moving ways, the resourcefulness and creativity of children surviving a tough world. Just 14, Cocada witnessed his dad's murder; his friend Nero, 13, is the oldest of his mom's 10 children. Begging at truck stops, selling knickknacks and foraging for food, the two grow up abnormally quickly while maintaining some childlike innocence, wrestling in a pile of corn husks or asking for guidance from a kindly trucker. The directors, who also shot the film, maintain a formal purity — there is no voiceover or interviews. Still, they find ways to implicate Brazi's leadership: we hear the empty promises of campaigning politicians through loudspeakers and the TV. The footage — villagers elbowing each other to get to the water truck, a dying cow beset by flies — reveals darker truths. (JS)
I didn’t really care for this one, but everyone else I know who saw it went on and on about how great it was. They present a problem, as in-your-face as you can handle, and then don’t make even a hint at a solution or even hope for a better life. Just brutal, naked reality.
We Live In Public
At the dawn of the dotcom age, Josh Harris cashed in on his early knowledge in the Web. He then resurfaced as a well-heeled artist with a flair for social engineering experiments. His most intriguing one, "Quiet: We Live in Public," at the time seemed a proto-apocalyptic lead-up to Y2K, an Orwellian commune in which 100 human specimens lived in a New York City basement under 24-7 surveillance. Timoner, whose earlier film Dig explored other difficult artists, was in that basement herself, giving this footage more footing. Later, Harris and his girlfriend streamed their private lives online. This fascinating material is spiked with deep resonance during an era where social networking sites, omnipresent cameras and fast connections have left many swimming in privacy-free zones. Featuring plenty of loud rock 'n' roll, the splashy We Live in Public carries urgent warnings about the near future, as reflected in a little-known story from our recent past. Note: This film contains adult content and is not recommended for children. (PS)
This film was very provoking. I liked it a lot. Be prepared to want to cancel your myspace and facebook accounts and toss your iPhone in the garbage. The guy seems utterly insane throughout the movie (and he probably is) but by the end you realize…he was absolutely right. About everything.
Sounds Like Teen Spirit
Sneak preview. It makes all the sense in the world that Jamie Jay Johnson studied under Kim Longinotto. There's something effortless yet incredibly powerful in his ability to put his subjects at ease and quickly move past their public masks to find truths both funny and shocking. That Johnson chooses, in his debut feature, to tell the stories of pre-teen contestants in Europe's biggest pop music competition is, well, entirely appropriate. Like the young, would-be pop stars of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, Jamie is all energy and enthusiasm behind the camera, propelling his story forward at a vertiginous speed — turning sequins and day-glo into blurs of pure energy. But, as always, it's the kids who make the movie — and I dare you to remain unmoved by their heart-on-sleeve drive to be the biggest little pop stars in Europe. (DW)
So Andi K, Jeff and I all saw the same five movies, and all three of us agreed that this was the best one we saw all weekend. Again, there were tears from the audience at several turns, but happy ones. A really innocent and joyous movie. The director was very friendly and funny, and had sort of a child-like quality himself, and it really shows in the movie. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and you’ll really love the kids that the director focuses on.