Big Sky Documentary Film Festival Review – Sunday February 15th, 2009

February 13th through the 22nd, The Wilma Theatre was overrun with filmakers, volunteers, and fans of the documentary film. I was one of the fans (and volunteers), and here I’ll be sharing with you thoughts from some of the almost fifty films I saw this year. The festival is growing and getting better every time, and I’m proud to have been a part of it once again.

Was very glad that this film won an award. To sum it up in three words: Music can heal.

Poetry in Motion directed by Ron Mann 1982

A standout section of the film for me was when Charles Bukowski compared writing poetry to taking a beer shit.  Most poetry should be flushed away.  There’s some good poetry out there, but I’ve found myself shying away from most poetry, and most poetry readings.  A lot of it is too pedantic and overwrought.

Bukowski provides the spine of the film with his anti-narrative ranting against poets.  I enjoyed the film on many levels, especially because it covered so many different styles of poetry, featuring a variety of poets.

Ron Mann introduced the film, telling us that he shot over 100 hours of footage.  Anticipating the question of how he chose which poets to include from such a huge library of materiel, he said that some poets wrote great poetry and were poor performers, while others were great performers who wrote horrible poetry.  Using that as a measuring stick, he was able to find a middle ground and create a great film.

I’ve never been a fan of the over the top avant-garde jazz, preferring Coletrane and Davis to some of the other “weirder” musicians.  This film was enjoyable, as it exposed me to music I would never had otherwise heard.

Watch Cecil Taylor Bill Dixon – Imagine the sound on youTube.

Coober: A Desert Speedway Story

The description for the film alludes to a big race that promises a celebration by the community and lots of fun.

The race never really happens, people just talk about how great it is.   I think that is the success of the film.  Promise never realized.  This is a broken town full of tough, proud people, but it’s also a dying town.

I Love Alaska directed by Lernert Engelberts & Sander Plug,  2008

I was talking to one of the BSDFF staff members about this film.  He said he didn’t like it.  I told him that I’m fascinated with communication, and that I loved it.  he said, “Yeah, but there was no communication”.  I agree with him in that there was no communication between user #711391 and her husband, which is why the searches took place, and that if they had communicated better, their relationship may have been better, and the searches may hev been less interesting.

Because the movie was so intimate, it was at times difficult to watch.  User # 711391 is lonely, desperate, paranoid, and not very aware of the world.  The minimalism here is incredible, building a character around user #711391 that is fascinating.  I cannot say enough about how much I enjoyed this movie.

Thankfully, you can watch it online.  Links below.

Official site

Episode 1

Episode2

Episode 3

Episode 4

Episode 5

Episode 6

Episode 7

Episode 8

Episode 9

Episode 10

Episode 11

Episode 12

Episode 13

Jennifer directed by Stewart Copeland, 2008, WINNER Best MiniDoc 2009

Growing up in a family of educators, watching this film for me was great.  What an achievement for Jennifer to have been able to pull off what is probably the most memorable lesson ever in these students’ lives.

An interesting companion piece to the film would be to track down those kids today and get their memories of the day.

Stewart Copeland

Official site (view film)

The Oldest Tree directed by Dale Elrod, 1997

The oldest tree in the world gets cut down by a scientist.  That’s the film.

Beautifully shot, with a “gotcha” that isn’t terribly surprising if you have a cynical view of humanity.  The problem was that Elrod tried too hard to be “poetic” in the film.  The Bristlecone is a fascinating tree and the story of Prometheus (aka WPN-114) is one worth telling.  This film only gets it part right.

Crude Independence directed by Noah Hutton, 2008

Hutton does a good job telling the story of Stanley, ND with an objective eye.  He first introduces us to the town and its people before the oil men show up and change the town forever.  He portrays all sides equally, giving the point of view of the land owners, mineral rights owners, oil workers, company owners, townsfolk, all who have a slightly different take on what’s happening in and to Stanley.

The film, using many long shots of the North Dakota plains, allows the story to seep in and the viewer begin to ask his own questions about oil dependence and consumption in the United States.

Official site

South: Ernest Shackleton and the Endurance Expedition directed by Frank Hurley 1919

Incredible story about the ill-fated expedition.  The silent film was accompanied by a live performance by the Alloy Orchestra, which made it one of the most amazing film going experiences I’ve ever had.

Goth Cruise directed by Jeanie Finlay, 2008

Not sure what I expected from this film, but I didn’t get it.  More about defining what a goth is than anything, just happened to be set on a cruise ship to frame that definition.  I walked away knowing that goths are professionals, own homes, have families, not groundbreaking stuff.  The film held my attention, though, and I enjoyed it for what it was.

Official site

I Think We’re Alone Now directed by Sean Donnelly 2008

Obsession can sometimes lead to delusion.  Very interesting movie about a couple of very interesting people.

Official site

Mellodrama directed by Dianna Dilworth, 2009

This film could have been amazing.  The problem with “Mellodrama” is that there *was* no drama.  Show me, don’t tell me, and there was a lot of showing going on.

Had the people talking been illustrated with more examples and they talked less, this film may have been stronger.  Not sure how that could be accomplished without some heavy editing.