Editor’s column/daily commentary welcoming feedback and opinions.
My personal thoughts: I say this during the interview, but it bears repeating an emphasis: As a man watching this incredible documentary, I felt privileged to hear what I was hearing form these women, to be present in their midst as they were going through such an intimate, emotionally revealing process.
My personal thoughts: This is another film that I am currently working with as their publicist, so naturally I think it’s wonderful. This might be an odd way to compliment a documentary, but when I watched CISCO KID the first time, I kept thinking of Altman films or Malick films, because the combination of an independent, enigmatic character at the center of a story set with in a truly significant landscape is what I so often associate with that cinema when I hear those names. Allen and her camera become trusted companions to a charismatic, yet fiercely independent personality who hearkens back to a different time in their pursuit of restoring structure and life to a literal ghost town in the desert.
My personal thoughts on FANTASTIC MACHINE: This thing is so comprehensive and bombards you with photos and video since the first images were recorded to seemingly selfies and Tik Tok videos that were shot and recorded right before you watched the film. That’s what it feels like. And the effect is an overwhelming one, revealing how we are being influenced and manipulated by the photographic image and how we enthusiastically feed the beast ourselves. Like parakeets pecking at our reflection in a mirror, we can not deny the power it has over us and FANTASTIC MACHINE does an amazing job boiling it all down and focusing that conversation about what we have wrought upon ourselves with our cameras.
My personal thoughts on MASCOT: Full disclosure is that I am working on the PR for the film, so I am obviously a fan of it. And the thing that I am most a fan of, is that while it follows a long tradition of European films that have dealt with hooligan culture and toxic masculinity (before that term had been coined), MASCOT is a rarity in the unflinching manner in which it delves into the environment that created that bubbling inner turmoil and rage in one young man. Specifically, this film looks into the relationship with the boy’s mother, misguided, mistargeted and unintentionally incredibly damaging. It gives the film an additional layer and element that adds to the building dread and threat of the young man potentially losing his hold on his emotions
My personal thoughts on MAMACRUZ: A film – and subject – that could so easily have gone into a clownish or overtly provocative direction actually has a loving restraint, while still not shying away from its story of an elderly woman having a sexual reawakening while still honoring her devout faith. It is funny, but sweet, and deals with sexuality in a direct, yet entertaining way that films made in the states still haven’t figured out. I was completely charmed by the film.
On a special red carpet at Slamdance 2023, filmmakers were given 30 seconds to try and convince us to watch their films.
My personal thoughts on STARRING JERRY AS HIMSELF: This is a very entertaining (and at times harrowing to watch) film about a man going through an extraordinary experience thinking he could be extradited because he is at the center of a major bank fraud investigation. It is a nightmare that anyone with elderly parents has somewhere in the back of their minds. However, Jerry has one very special thing in his favor: He has a genuine zen regarding where his place is in the world at this time in his life. So, as we watch this creative approach to his story including a reenactment of this adventure with each member of Jerry’s family participating, ultimately we are buoyed by that knowledge.
My personal thoughts on SIGN THE SHOW: I have had this film at a few of my film festivals last year and not only is the film a delight in how it informs us about signing at live events, as well as celebrating the people who sign and making the connection with the performers whose music and art are translated to the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community, but Cat Brewer couldn’t be a better conduit to deliver this film to audiences, herself. The film has a joy to it, bottom line – and you could figure that out watching with the sound off.
My personal thought on PLAN C: I want each and every one of my film festivals to screen this film. I haven’t felt an urgency after watching a documentary on the crisis with female health care and the medical providers trying to provide that care since AFTER TILLER. Of course, I live in Texas which has literally put a bounty on women’s heads if they find themselves in a bad situation with an unwanted pregnancy and don’t want to wear a red cloak and be breeding chattel. Find it, watch it, and GET THE WORD OUT.
The last time I was in Park City for Sundance and Slamdance was 2020. Of course, all shit broke loose a couple months later in March when the zombie apocalypse began (checks notes), COVID pandemic, I mean. Now, I frequently rail against and tense up at the idea of regional fests being a kumbaya experience for filmmakers because the Eric Kohn/Indiewires of the world use that to dismiss the importance or viability of them and the films that screen there business-wise (because, if it doesn’t happen in Europe or Asia or the island of Manhattan then it’s just not important, right?).
