Archive for the ‘Film’ CategoryFebruary 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. 
The Choir directed by
Michael Davie, 2007
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.
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. 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. 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.
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.
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.
BSDFF 2009 Review: Saturday February 14thFebruary 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. Even in poverty and chronic fatal illness, the people in this film are able to find snippets of happiness. The singing by the children was incredible, the cinematography amazing. It’s great to see that the gogos are trying to educate the young. It was also surprising to me that those doing the testing and processing of test samples did so without eye protection or gloves.
 Bonecrusher directed by Michael Fountain, 2008Lucas the father is Bonecrusher, and Lucas the son follows his father into the mines for a life fraught with the dangers of coal mining. The women behind the men were largely silent in the film, while Fountain focused upon the relationship between the father and the son in this compelling story where mining overshadows all aspects of life in this small West Virginian town.
There is a beautiful scene in Bonecrusher where Luke has just been honored at a little league softball game. He’s been a huge advocate of and volunteer for the softball program all of his life. The camera cuts away to a train pulling coal cars. As the whistle whines, we are reminded that mining permeates every aspect of the Dante, West Virginia people’s lives.
 In A Dream directed by Jeremiah Zagar 2008Heartbreakingly beautiful film. Isaiah Zagar, responsible, by his count, for over 100 murals, 7 buildings and 7 alleyways in Philly, opens himself, and his family, up to us intimately and without looking away. The film truly was a “mysterium tremendum”. Amazing.
Gogol Bordello Non Stop directed by Margarita Jimeno, 2009
Having heard of Gogol Bordello, and heard some of their music before, I was glad to be able to see what all of the fuss is about. The film is about what happens when you start following your dream and doing what you believe in.
It would seem that these guys must be seen to be believed, and I cannot wait to see them live. The film captured a lot of that energy, fun, love of life and good times.
 American Swing directed by Mathew Kaufman and Jon Hart, 2008Plato’s Retreat is the backdrop for a story that was really about the loneliness and egotism of Plato’s owner Larry Levenson. Kaufman and Hart have fashioned a compelling film using archival footage from Plato’s, talk show appearances by Levenson , and interviews with members and employees of Plato’s.
 Originally uploaded by BigSkyDocFF Thriller in Manilla Directed by Joe Dower, 2008I was too young to remember the details of these fights when they aired, but remember them being on TV. I never realized how much of an asshole Ali was, betraying his friend after Frazier supported him for years when he couldn’t box. Ali was the most barbaric poet in the world – rasicst and mean to his friend. Ali did say, afterwards, that he said some things he shouldn’t have. That doesn’t make up for the damage done to their friendship. A well-told story using interviws and archival footage. We are Wizards, Directed by Josh Koury, 2008Never having read the Harry Potter series, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this film. Its main focus was on Wizard Rock, with bands like Harry and the Potters in the forefront of the movement. The film also delved into the Harry Potter boycott, started by a 16 year old girl who ran a fan site on the interwebs that was sent a cease and decist letter by Warner Brothers. I really enjoyed the film as it took me into a world I’d never experienced before, and erased preconceived notions about what a Harry Potter fan is.
Omen, Directed by Oksana Sokol, 2007Cinemetography really captured the movement of the art as it is being made. Watching the flow of the paint as it came out of the can, listening to the words of the artist – very inspiring. Number One With a Bullet, Directed by Jim Dziura, 2008
Well told story about gun violence and its consequences. Anti-gun without being preachy. Some things I scratched in my notebook as I watched: “Violence begets violence.” Tupac compared to JFK, Martin Luther King, John Lennon. “Hip hop doesn’t show this” (from a doctor in a hospital emergency room.) I’m live blogging the festival as I experience it via Twitter. Find me there, I’m @marcmoss. See you in the theatre.
Matt McCormick’s new film, The Subconscious art of Graffiti Removal, makes the argument that the act of removing graffiti, and the end result, is itself art. “Graffiti Removal is the act of removing tags and graffiti by painting over them and Subconscious Art is a product of artistic merit that was created without conscious artistic intentions.” So that makes Missoula’s Greyman one of our most prolific street artists, right? Hit the link for an excerpt from the film, as well as a couple of other short films on the subject.  Mother Lode Theatre for the premiere of Butte, America Growing up in a union household in a workingman’s town, I felt a strong bond with Butte, MT the first time I visited it. My father was the union president for the Fraternal Order of Police in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, and he did his time working a union job in the rubber shops of Akron at Goodyear and then at Firestone, just as his father had. My grandfather helped form the first unions in the Akron rubber shops. I remember listening to my ‘ole man tell stories of the difficult conditions when he was building tires, conditions that the union always fought to improve. And I remember him telling me, that even as union power in America began to decline, that it is because of unions that American workers have many things that we take for granted, like eight hour days and five day work weeks. Remembering this, I very much looked forward to seeing Pam Roberts’ and Edwin Dobb’s finished documentary film, “Butte America”, which premiered in Butte last Saturday. Roberts, a Montanan, but not a Buttian, sought to tell a Montana story that had national significance, and she found her story in the dusty hills of Butte. She knew the challenge ahead of her and recruited Edwin Dobb, a Buttian who wrote the 1996 Harpers article Pennies From Hell: In Montana, the bill for America’s copper comes due. Dobb, who returned to Butte after a 25 year hiatus, was dragged “kicking and screaming” into the project, wary of “entering into such an extreme collaborative process”, being used to working alone as a writer. The time away gave Dobb perspective with which to help craft a compelling film. The duo formed a good team, creating a movie that spans 120 years of history — the rise and fall of the labor unions in Butte, and, by extension, in America. They capture the “feel” of Butte well, illustrating the ambivalence of a town’s dependency on “The Company” via footage with former miners, old timers who worked underground before they were “turned into truck drivers”, or just quit mining altogether when the pit mines opened, because their spirit was broken, their livelihood stolen from them. They were proud men who did hard work in the mines underground, and they helped to build America. But the story is more than just a story of workers and a boomtown gone bust. The story is a human one about the bonds that hard work can forge within a community, how hard work can actually become the defining element of a community. Those bonds and that sense of identity can be destroyed when work dries up. In the case of Butte, the work dried up as a result of corporate greed, when finally, mining left the town forever. More than this, though, is Butte’s story – a story of survival. Montana’s own Pat Williams introduced Roberts and Dobbs, speaking eloquently about Butte and its spirit of survival. Pat told the story of how he was able to get a job in the mines of Butte taking care of the miner’s tools, noting that it was because of his grandmother’s relationship with a local alderman that he was able to get the job. The crowd laughed knowingly, and it was that sense of camaraderie among those in attendance that I most enjoyed about the screening. The theatre was packed – a 1,200 seat building sold out. Some people were dressed to the nines, and Buttians young and old settled in for an evening of celebration of their town, their history and of themselves. One difficulty Roberts and Dobbs faced in making the movie was the lack of first-hand accounts available. Many of the people who were alive during Butte’s heyday are dead. Killed in the mines, or by miner’s consumption. Half of the characters in the film have died since the film was made. Those who are still living were in attendance, though, and stood to be recognized, to wild applause. Roberts gracefully used the live resources available to her to create a beautiful film that blends archive film footage and photographs, donated home movies, and recreations, telling an important story in American history. The screening was a gripping one. Now that the film is finished, it will be shown over the next year at various places across the country. There are talks in the works with PBS for distribution of the film. Roberts and Dobbs will also work to get the film into the hands of students in local communities, along with footage not included in the film, to create learning opportunities for students and encourage them to become more involved in their community through history and community pride. Pam has been working on the film with co-writer and co-producer Edwin Dobb since its inception in 2000. Along with the following screenings, the film will also be shown nationally on PBS and on Montana public television in the fall of 2009. To view links to the “Butte, America” press kit or to catch a sneak peak of the film “Butte, America” Screening Schedule: Emerson Theater (Bozeman) – February 6th @ 7:30 pm Myrna Loy Center (Helena) – February 21st @ 6:00 and 8:00 pm Butte, America Teaser & Press Kit [link]
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Today the Hawk Takes One Chick
In Search of the Hobo Railroad Artist
Last night Monday night at the Zootown Arts Community Center, Debby Florence brought in an amazing filmaker,Bill Daniel, who screened his short film that was 16 years in the making. We were lucky to have him, as his biodiesel van had broken down at the Orange Street exit, and he had to hoof it over to the ZACC for the screening.
Who is Bozo Texino? chronicles the search for the source of a ubiquitous and mythic rail graffiti– a simple sketch of a character with an infinity-shaped hat and the scrawled moniker, “Bozo Texino”– a drawing seen on railcars for over 80 years. Daniel’s gritty black and white film uncovers a secret society and it’s underground universe of hobo and railworker graffiti, and includes interviews with legendary boxcar artists, Coaltrain, Herby, Colossus of Roads, and The Rambler. Shooting over a 16-year period, Daniel rode freights across the West carrying a Super-8 sound camera and a 16mm Bolex. During his quest he discovered the roots of a folkloric tradition that has gone mostly unnoticed for a century. Taking inspiration from Beat artists Robert Frank and Jack Kerouac, the film functions as both a sub-cultural documentary and a stylized fable on wanderlust and outsider identity.
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Filed Under (Art, Collaboration, Experimental, Film, Inspiration, Life, News, Reviews, Social Commentary, community, youtube) by Marc Moss on 14-03-2008
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The only CD I ever checked out of a library that I never returned was “My Life in the Bush of Ghosts”, the David Byrne/Brian Eno collaboration. (After many overdue notices arriving in the mail, I went down to the library, told them I’d lost the item, and paid for it. they now have another copy in their stacks). I loved MLITBOG for a lot of reasons, the layered sounds, the samples, the beats, the moods that it created. At the time, I was already familiar with David Byrne’s solo work as well as his work with The Talking Heads, but I had only heard about Eno. Since then, I’ve come to love Eno and his work with a variety of other musicians, including his production work with Devo, Talking Heads, Jane Sieberry (now Issa, who, like Reznor, gives her music away for free) and especially James and the “Laid” and “Wah-Wah” albums. Eno, the “non-musician”, is most known for his prolific catalogue of ambient music, including the fantastic “Music for Airports”, as well as being an amazing record producer and contributor to such movies as David Lynch’s “Dune”.
Eno has always been fascinated by technology and how to twist and bend it for his own purposes. He’s experimented with generative music, music that composes itself, and has branched out into visual art as well, creating a computer game that generates a possible 77 million paintings, chosen by Eno himself. He is currently working on the soundtrack for the multi-player game Spore, “that allows a player to control the evolution of a species from its beginnings as a multi cellular organism, through development as a sapient and social land-walking creature, to levels of interstellar exploration as a spacefaring culture.” [Wikipedia].
I’m here to make the case that Trent Reznor is the new Brian Eno.
Reznor got his start in Cleveland creating what would become Pretty Hate Machine by himself after-hours at the Right Track Studio where he worked as an assistant engineer and janitor. He became proficient at manipulating sounds and bending technology to his own purposes as well, just as Eno learned to do. He’s produced many record albums, including a handful for Marilyn Manson, as well as the phenomenal “Natural Born Killers” soundtrack and the “Lost Highway” soundtrack. His subtle contribution to Tori Amos’ “Past the Mission” on her “Under the Pink” album showed how quiet he could be when he needed to be. It was also the first time I can remember hearing him sing quietly while someone else took the spotlight.
Reznor’s original music from id Software’s video game “Quake” was long one of my favorite ambient pieces of music to load into iTunes when I needed to get some work done and didn’t want to be disturbed. He expanded his fascination with technology and its possibilities with the release of “Year Zero” and its companion alternate reality websites/reality game and subsequent user-submitted art in 2007.
Eno once predicted that music would one day become user-modifiable constructs, and imagined a day when future generations would look at past generations in wonder, asking in wonder, “you mean you listened to the same music over and over?”. Reznor took that idea and ran with it, releasing “The Hand that Feeds” from his dismal “With Teeth” 2005 release as a multi-track Garage Band download that fans could get for free and remix as they pleased. His newest release “Ghosts I-IV”, was released in a variety of formats, including a free torrent seeded by NIN itself. “Ghosts” was released as with a Creative Commons license (no copyright), and Reznor announced yesterday that the tracks can be used to participate in a NIN sponsored film festival on You Tube.
Talk about user generated content.
The album itself is supurb. I’d love to hear Eno’s thoughts on it. Those of you who haven’t hear it, go grab it at NIN’s official site and give it a listen for yourself. Grab the torrent if you’re familiar with the technology.
“Ghosts” ranges from smooth and quiet piano to the heavy muddy guitar and keyboard laden layers we’ve come to expect from Reznor. I’m looking forward to what people come up with, and might even make a contribution myself if I can find some time along with everything else I have going on.
NIN Ghosts Film Festival on YouTube
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I’m still recovering from the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, and promise I’ll be reviewing the films here soon.
In the meantime, in the spirit of documentaries and creativity, I wanted to share a video I found recently. Regular readers know that I am interested in street art and graffiti. I’m also interested in the imperminance of art. And, ultimately, I’m interested in making art for art’s sake. But, we live in a capitalist society, right? And Shakespeare’s got to get paid, son, so I try to make affordable art.
The video is a documentary created by Ana Alvarez-Errecalde and FILMCHICK PRODUCTIONS about Jorge Rodriguez Gerada, a street artist that creates huge murals of familiar figures in the neighborhood. Then, after creating them, they slowly vanish over time. Beautiful.
Big Sky Documentary Film Festival – Closing Night
Originally uploaded by love not fear
The festival has come to a close. I watched over 21 films this year. In the coming days, I’ll be reviewing them here, so drop by and see how they were. In the meantime, you can check out my ratings of the films.
Thanks to the organizers of the festival, once again, for a great week.