Sundance: A Cultural Overview of a Film Fest

Every film festival I have been to has it's own culture: Rotterdam favored a sweeping international landscape with a focus on the artistic and the auteur, True/False a homegrown socially progressive the-most-awesome-summer-camp feel, New Horizons promoting Polish cultural betterment and the finest of new classic independent directors and so on. Sundance too has it's own distinct culture but in a really evolving and peculiar way. This independent cinema orgy began with an industry feeding frenzy, people from the coasts pouring in, taking notes and surveying the landscape of what is being offered and in turn what they were willing to offer certain films. This was then followed by a kind of local push and volunteer push, Utah natives coming out to support the festival and (the large army of) volunteers being a little alleviated to allow for a movie or event or two. Then, the fest winds down with a weekend party leaning crowd of skiers, college kids and just plain film lovers out to see what all the fuss is about. Overall a complete change in vibe as Sundance progressed over it's nearly two week period!

As for the other parts of the festival... Getting into screenings was a task, usually rewarding and sometimes frustrating, mostly you would rely on arriving at the theater two hours early, procuring a number for a spot in a wait list line, returning a half hour before the film to the numbered spot and then slowly fill with anticipation as ticket holders filtered in and empty seats were revealed. If you were able to buy advanced tickets a few weeks before the fest you were given a time slot in which to purchase them but reliable sources were met with many sold out screenings even then! After a few days I understood that screenings would also have a certain amount of tickets released a day or so prior to the show giving another chance to the slow ticket getters (points at self)...Lesson learned: just getting tickets to screenings can be a job unto itself at Sundance, diligence is required!

The free citywide bus system and the Sundance FF shuttles would take you on loops of Park City and the outskirts that held many of the festival's venues housed inside everything from multiplexes, high schools, local gyms, synagogues, ski lodges and even a local library! I do have to say the whole community opens it's doors for this generative event- and why wouldn't they, look at the numbers!- but the smiles still seem genuine and made even the most tiring of 9am film screenings a pleasant experience!

And then there are the parties....heavily catered and alcohol laddened, these events were all a little on the club-like side (except for the Shorts Awards Party whose location at a local bowling alley allowed for a nicer feel of happy gourmet pizza eating-pool playing- fun time and the many house parties where homemade food, cold beers and hot hottubs with friends made for a nice post-film calmness)...the sponsorships for this huge celebrity attended event was also kind of crazed, a thing I never really have experienced before. Constant bling and swag were thrown about in hopes to catch a famous handling the items in a publicity shakedown (tons of photographers were everywhere all the time in a serious controlled media chaos)...I can't complain though, I am perfectly content with my Sundance/Brita-Nalgene bottle and complimentary extraordinarily functional Timberland filmmaker boots! ...but all this make up? I could do without...

And, lastly, SNOW! It snowed so often and so beautifully that the town was blanketed nearly every day making for treacherous driving but beautiful scenes! O, and I am also told there was skiing somewhere...up a mountain maybe? I dunno? Ok everybody, so there is a brief recap of what Sundance 2012 was all about, a huge undertaking in the name of American Independent Film! (pictures of outlying areas including the Bonneville Salt Flats & the Great Salt Lake- where the salt water is so dense it is made crazy reflective, visited on our final day in Utah! This place makes me feel like an extra in the pioneer wonderland of McCabe and Mrs. Miller! A feeling I couldn't be happier about!)

Sundance Review: Kid-Thing

Obviously I am saving the best for last. First, a disclaimer: I first met the Zellner Brothers when Brent & I were out in Northern California installing a project in a museum and the Austin Texas based Zellner's were in town at the same time for film festival related events. I didn't talk to them too much but we all ate burritos together, watched a bank get robbed (I swear!) and ambled the streets under the direction of Cinemad's Mike Plante. After this encounter (did I mention they were wearing matching track suits?) I was fascinated so I sought out all I could find by them starting with their first feature film, Goliath (about a man who loses his cat and his wife, finding someone to displace his rage on like a true American Texan!). After the hilarious shock & awe of that film, I went on to watch all of their shorts I could find, each a creative bitter comedy in a voice unlike any other. Wow.

Kid-Thing, the Zellner's second feature, was so fucking awesome that I am really confused as to why this film is not the god damn immediate smash hit of the festival! The fable of a little girl, Annie, who is filled with inexplicable rage acts as a parable for our own country, fearing the unknown, acting with brute force, and searching for a way to be a human when no real definition for such exists, Kid- Thing is not only a perceptive narrative but also a beautifully constructed film. The details that went into creating this story- the lush imagery, the complex sound design, even applying their signature off kilter, self styled comedic rhythms to the pacing/editing of this dark cinematic journey- made this film a classic Zellner spectacle on a whole new level!

I really cannot describe how perfect and layered this film is, even down to the Edvard Munch/Alice Neel/Judy Blume like marketing (pin-on-my-sweater & card pictured here, along w/a photo of the Zellner's at a Q&A) that is so, so fitting to the adolescent symbolist figures Kid-Thing constructs. I also cannot describe the scenes of Annie exploding bananas, squashing grubs and tearing at tree trunks with the depth that this little girl brings to this difficult role, nor can I capture the essence of how lost and sad her life is (especially given her slow, well meaning, childlike father trying to better himself but directionless at the same time, a role poignantly portrayed by a sort of Lennie-like Nathan Zellner). Lastly I can't describe the fairytale tone that this film takes on, teaching a lesson on human kindness, fear and compassion in the wake of America's increasingly dark days. The film makes me as an audience member ache to help Annie, bringing out the desire for human connection that is falling behind in today's world, brought to us in a technological medium that is also tied to the very disconnect we have between eachother. Kid-Thing will remind you that you are not just a passive audience member, you are a thinking, acting human being: SEE THIS FILM. Dammit!

Sundance Review: The House I Live In

A documentary on the American war on drugs, The House I Live In is a great premise for a rarely discussed topic. Your basic doc outline (interviews, voiceover, archive footage/photos etc.) the film itself was not much but the tackling of such a layered issue and the eventual conclusions drawn were shocking, stunning and worth muddling through the Ken Burns' style learning experience. I guess the crux of The House I Live In was that a systematic vilifying of drug users in this country has allowed for an instant scapegoat, a pattern taking on the burden of the flaws in our capitalistic American dream, especially along a racial divide. The entire time I was watching it though I kept thinking of this fantastic article I read recently about the legalization of drugs in Portugal, thinking of the stark differences between our own ways of harsh enforcement and the driving force behind them as opposed to the ways other countries manage their drug problems; America focusing on money while other nations focus on the people. As a film The House I Live In wasn't perfect but as it unveiled the hidden agendas of the drug war making me want to become more educated on this clandestine topic that truly shapes our nation for the worse. (Picture of a patriotic parking lot barricade which there are many of out here in traffic ladened Sundance and which I thought was mildly fitting for this post!)

Sundance Shameless Self Promotion

It has been a wild ride with the film/sculpture piece out here at Sundance! From people manhandling the hell out of the sculpture in terrifying, terrifying ways (to the point I had to leave the room today when I saw a man BEND STEEL to mold the sculpture into what he wanted to see! The EMPAC director was right!) to the unexpected positive response from viewers, To Many Men Strange Fates Are Given has had a lovely stay at New Frontier.

The ever so darling Sean Uyehara, from the San Francisco Film Society, wrote a little piece about the piece over here on Fandor! Speaking of which, a selection of Brent's short films are also available for a limited time on the hi-def wonder, curated online streaming videospace of Fandor, enjoy! Now, to put the sculpture back into the truck and take it back home...for now at least! Will be sure to keep everyone posted on the next place we will be traveling with this strange, new work!

Sundance Picture Post 1/28/2012

Just as I was able to both force Brent Green into a movie theater and revel in the early morning empty shuttle bus system the festival slowly comes to an end....! I will wrap up more in the coming days but, for now, a rare photo of a Brent in a movie theater! And also, in a random act of the universe I somehow ended up on a bus today with people who hail from Schuylkill Haven, PA the very place our own film studio barn is?! A small, small Sundance world!

Sundance Review Under African Skies

I grew up with Paul Simon's album Graceland, blaring in my mother's car,  growing a deep crush on Chevy Chase in the "You Can Call Me Al" music video, listening to the title song through long winding roads during a college road trip. So when I went to see Under African Skies, a documentary about the making of the Graceland album, I was all too bummed about the lackluster filmmaking...Joe Berlinger, the director of this film, has made many seminal films in various doc genres such as music (Metallica's Some Kind of Monster) and court justice portraits (the West Memphis Three Series, Crude, and Brother's Keeper) each of these films using the subjects to craft the story/movie into a real cinematic vision ... and I know that these films were probably crafted from hundreds of hours of footage molded into the director's vision of who these characters & subjects are but when it comes to this new film, it just felt like something wasn't clicking in the editing room...

Under African Skies focuses on the apartheid in South Africa that was taking place while Simon was creating his African centric pop music in that country. Ignoring culture embargoes, just living for the music, the film reminisces with Simon and others as they recall the importance of this album, musically and politically. The best part of the film by far was when Simon dissected his creation of the songs, speaking of how the music was a hybrid beyond race and how the need for cultural preservation in South Africa (and even slightly extending to the American South) slowly became inherent in the creation of Graceland.

I guess where this film lost me was that it was not a complete feeling portrait, the characters did not fill the screen in the big way that those in other film's by this director have in the past. There were redeeming moments of stunning archive footage (both the serious side,  the racial conflict in S Africa, and the lighter side, Simon debuting his new type of Africana music on Saturday Night Live to a bewildered, and eventually accepting audience) and random, precise poeticism of Ladysmith Black Mombazo but as a whole I wanted a little bit more. Maybe it is my love of Graceland that made me wish the film had lived up to the same level of artistry but maybe that is too high a standard for anybody...! (And yes, another picture of another mountain! And a video of a live performance by Graceland era Simon!)

Sundance Review: The Ambassador

When I read that the director of The Ambassador was a gonzo journalist I did not realize the extent to which that was true! Danish filmmaker Mads Brügger, on a quest to uncover common yet intense political corruption in Africa (and extending to other continents as well), actually becomes a Matchbox Factory CEO/Consulate on the path to diamond trafficking with ease in the Central African Republic. Undercover cameras, secret cell phone recordings, constant bribes and an overall tension that Brügger will be revelaed as a fake drive this film into something much more poetic than just a political expose.

While developing the CEO magnate character the film also develops a true understanding of how simply everything has a price- consulate positions, diamonds, even lives...Apart from the serious journalistic implications, the film is also composed extremely well, the shots, scenes, characters and even the soundtrack (of 30s and 40s conga, folk, jazz songs) create this kind of beautiful cushion of support for the larger issues at hand. This type of documentary is one of a true visionary, a style Brügger refers to as "performative journalism," literally putting himself in every position of the filmmaking process. I am not sure if the political ramifications of this film have yet to surface but awareness alone is the definitely the first step....and this ground breaking/risky style of documentary filmmaking is another step towards a new way of social justice through storytelling. Witty and purposeful, The Ambassador is nearly perfect! (picture of Brügger, as the director, in the Q&A!)

Sundance Picture post 1/27/2012

Today I saw three films, waited in two nerve wracking wait list lines and can't remember much else...? Did I even eat? As for those wait list lines...they are a great subculture out here at Sundance in which dozens of people queue up before a film in hopes of no shows and empty seats. I have met film students, directors, producers, locals and just plain film lovers in these lines, each eager to tell the story of how they ended up there! And also, three cheers to the volunteers who painstakingly monitor the microcosm that each wait list line becomes, keeping peace, getting people into movies and making the whole process as painless as possible! Woohoo!

Sundance Review: Marina Abramovic The Artist Is Present

I really wanted to eat popcorn while watching the Marina Abramovic documentary (Marina Abramovic The Artist Is Present) just because it isn't often you are allowed to eat snacks in front of nude performance art and, as someone who has suffered through her fair share of such, I really wanted to revel in the spectacle in the absent way movie food allows! But, then again, people recently did pay thousands of dollars to eat cake in front of nude, Abramovic performers as they rotated about as centerpieces in a (stupidly) controversial fundraising event so maybe one day I will have another chance...? Anyway...this was one of the most well crafted documentaries I have ever seen!

 The music, the cinematography, the editing it all knew just when to swell, be picturesque and cut for the maximum effect, emotion and interest- beautiful filmmaking! As for the subject, the film follows Abramovich as she prepares for her retrospective at MoMA whose centerpiece, a new work titled The Artist Is Present, composed of her sitting in chair, motionless, for the entire duration of the 3month exhibit as audience members took turns sitting across from her gaze. Abramovic's work is an aggressive look at endurance, societal roles, pain, beauty and the intense spaces between people. She views herself as a canvas for others to reflect upon, her performances acting out some base desire on the part of the audience, leading to a critique of the audience and the world that has shaped them.

 I have never been a huge fan of the performance art genre (with very few exceptions, namely Chris Burden) and this film did not make me respect the genre any more or less...but, it did humanize the life and work of an aging art star and make this strange, complex artform (that is not the most accessible) into a striking, visually appealing, palatable portrait of an artist that I think everyone in the audience could somewhat relate to. From living in a van with her true love to gallavanting in Givenchy, Abramovich consistently lives out the dream of what many people think being an artist means: a lifestyle, work ethic, and soul portrayed in a masterful documentary. (And a special shout out to whoever was responsible for the ever so sly dissing of James Franco in the films editing! A++ And a thumbs down for the inclusion of David Blaine, D-)

Sundance Picture Post 1/26/2012

Early morning mountains, more movies and more snow....! You know, a typical gorgeous day in Utah! O, I almost forgot, today also included a lovely brunch hosted by my favorite film festival in the world (True/False!!!!) and one of the best online film resources on the web (Indiewire!!!). Again, another gorgeous day in Utah, filled with the brightest & nicest of film world people!

Sundance Review: Big Boys Gone Bananas*

After hearing a lot of great things from trusted film
friends about Big Boys Gone Bananas* I decided that I should wake up at 7:30am in the chilly air of Park City Utah and hustle to a faraway, remote, synagogue turned movie theater to see this social documentary unfold! And I am pretty glad I did! Filmmaker Fedrik Gertten (who is based in Malmo Sweden, a magical land that we brought our own to film to awhile back!) made a documentary about the use of pesticides by Dole Food Company and the pending lawsuit surrounding the devastation these pesticides caused to the workers in the banana plantations. Days before the films premier it became apparent Dole did not want this film to be seen. By anyone. Ever. This leads Gertten to create another film, Big Boys, a straight up documentary on his struggles as a filmmaker against a corporate giant. We watch Gertten and his colleagues crusade under the pressures of Dole, battle the lawsuits brought against them, thrive in the development of a Swedish community siding with the film's cause, and, most interestingly, witness the increasingly blurry vision of freedom of speech. Needless to say, this film is being screened and hopefully will continue to be screened bringing the issues of both corporate responsibility and the need to fight for documentarian human rights!



Big Boys Gone Bananas* is a case study in how standing up for justice, the freedom of speech and the triumph of truth are not to be taken for granted and should be strived for in whatever way one can, especially in a time when rights and responsibilities are slowly eroding away....also, Organic Fair Trade bananas all the way please! O, and also, the original documentary shunned by Dole can be rented or purchased in the embedded trailer link above, support this filmmaker and his important work!

Sundance Expanded: New Frontier, Abacus & whiteonwhite

New Frontier, the sort of artistic/experimental section of the Sundance Film Festival (the section we are a part of out here), hosts various performances and screenings of work apart from the exhibition on view throughout the festival. I was lucky enough to sneak in on the dress rehearsal for one performance and also one screening- one a live experience and one a filmic experience, two very different approaches to a new forefront in expanded cinema.

Ever since Lars Jan became a  TED fellow the interest in his latest work has been humming below the surface of most art and film circles I come in contact with. His Abacus project, an outlook on what the future of mankind could look like, was first conceived as a large scale multimedia project up at EMPAC (a place I adore!) where giant screens, live camera feed projection w/steady cam dancers (?), a complex light show, and a live actor orating a monologue on our misconceptions of the world/ how we need to expand our minds to fix looming disaster- think global, act global perhaps? As someone who religiously reads National Geographic I don't really think I learned anything new in this performance and the format of a one man show is something that has never appealed to me as a medium....but that is not to say that an audience of young, forming minds would not benefit from a surfacey crash course in "how to fix the world." Hopefully Abacus will screen in it's much larger scale form again since I think the tiny, intimate setting of the Sundance performance took away from a much needed distance that would allow for contemplation, a better experience of the propaganda/screen/dictator/superstar relationship (which Jan views as an important part of the social commentary of the piece and which I think is a necessay Brechtian A-effect tool), and more acceptance of the soft futurist tone.

I've raved about whiteonwhite:algorithmicnoir before on the blog in it's gallery setting but, seeing the film in a theatrical setting was a completely different experience! Composed of film clips, voice over tracks, and music tracks randomly live edited together by a computer program (the "Serendipity Machine," whose script was made visible on screens to the sides of the theater screen while at Sundance) the film began playing when audiences entered and continued to play after they left. Telling a lose noir story of a man lulled into a life within barren City A and the circumstances surrounding his confines, Eve Sussman and The Rufus Corporation create a tense landscape of a film genre, exploring the nature of creating cinema, the inherent expectations/behavior of an audience, a visualization of clandestine code, and moving towards a completely new understanding of what film & new media can do together (this last point underscored by Triple Canopy's involvement in the early stages of this project). In this thater setting the film puts the audience in a much more active position, trying to piece things together, glancing at the algorithm to see what it is thinking, almost trying to complete a puzzle- the most engaged cinematic audience I have seen in awhile! The film actively plays with the normally passive act of watching a film, urging each person to construct their own conceptual narrative, or mood, or meaning, alongside that of the multitude of actual directors ( the art collective/filmmakers, the code writer, the computer). Ultimately the form this film takes on leads to questions of control, surveillance, and intent: in a world of surveillance and technology who is determining our notions of reality?

I think Abacus and whiteonwhite are both approaching the same problem in today's film going/media ravaged audiences, a response against the passivity of the overstimulated world of virtual/false interaction. These pieces actively engage the viewers: to work with a machine to create a narrative, and to disburse important concerns & knowledge in  a more palatable/pop-cultural way- both pieces acting in the name of human existence. These projects are meant to be experienced in settings much different than the audience/film screen setting Sundance provides- whiteonwhite better suited for an intimate gallery/museum and Abacus a large, arena-like theater- yet their inclusion in this large scale film festival, and the high attendance rates of their shows, makes me think that film goers are seeking out a different kind of watching. The definition of what a film audience is, and their role as such, is changing: projects like these won't be the anamolies in the future of the film industry. (photos from a window in downtown Park City)

Sundance Picture Post 1/25/2012

...yes, so I am a little late on yesterday's posting! I won't lie though, it was due to a few afternoon glasses of sleep inducing wine at a press event where I was lucky enough to chat with the ever so lovely Zellner Brothers (whose new feature Kid Thing I am going to see tomorrow!!!!!), Terence Nance (whose film title, An Oversimplification of Her Beauty, I covet), members of The Rufus Corporation team and a few other random film/art darlings! All that then followed by a hottub surrounded by icicle dripping spruce trees...I thought the abundance of hottubs at Sundance was some sort of myth but no, they are everywhere, their steamy, snowy wonder beckoning at every moment!

Sundance Picture Post 1/24/2012

A pretty slowish day on the Sundance front (only due to extreme exhaustion and other non-Sundance related work to get done!)! We did manage to get out to the UMOCA (an amaaaaazing museum!) opening over in Salt Lake City (pictured as lights below) to see the film fest related art exhibit featuring a lot of  expanded pieces from New Frontier, really showcasing some of the hidden gems (middle picture of My Generation by Eva and Franco Mattes on display at UMOCA)! Also, we hit up the local bowling alley where the Shorts Awards Program took place (more to come!) Hope you enjoy your night as much as I have! O no! I have been summoned back to bowling! zzZZZzzzzz

Sundance Review: 5 Broken Cameras (N American Premier)

When I walked into 5 Broken Cameras I didn't know what to expect. Two co-directors (Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi) introduced the film, humbly thanking everyone for being there followed by the programmer who chose the film speaking with a wonder and awe, seemingly moved to tears by what we were about to watch. And now I know why.

A documentary by a Palestinian man whose town is slowly being encroached upon by Israeli barricades and construction follows the life of his youngest son through the lens of his videocamera, a device that provides him protection, distance and becomes the symbol for his freedoms as each one is systematically destroyed by conflict. It is not possible to describe the pain, beauty and utter confusion that this film evokes, seeing first hand this ineffable struggle that the press could never begin to humanize in these terms.  By exploring a personal aspect of a political & cultural rift that is so rooted in history it is nearly intangible 5 Broken Cameras becomes a poetic documentary, an archive of a time that is not easily defined by borders, names and facts, images to identify with and stand behind as a citizen of the world.

Footage from 5 Broken Cameras has been broadcast all over foreign press outlets, even (according to the directors in the Q&A) garnering tons of internet buzz for some of the gruesome accounts of Israeli soldier's violence against Palestinians so, why has it taken so long to reach an American audience? Why have we not seen this version of the story before? As the director noted after the film, he was afraid to bring his son to America, fearing our own political leanings could act against him- a truth evident in the fact that this film has taken so long to reach our shores. Apart from being a heart wrenching piece of emotional journalism, 5 Broken Cameras can also be seen as a warning, a warning that civil rights are at war even in our own country and it is everyone's responsibility to save those of others. Please see this film. (pictures of a barren, snowy Utah)

Sundance Panel Discussion: Carr, Dodd, Fithian & Vachon! O my!

After getting an early morning wait list ticket for a film I went to the Filmmaker Lodge on Main street in downtown Park City where, throughout the fest, panels and Q&As are held covering the spectrum of all things filmmaking. I missed the very beginning so I am not sure what the exact topic of conversation was supposed to be but Christine Vachon (indie-film producer extraordinaire), former Senator Christopher Dodd (now head of the MPAA), John Fithian (President CEO lobbyist of the National Association of Theatre Owners) under the mediation of David Carr (NY Times staff writer/star of the doc Page One) took to the stage discussing the state of distribution, SOPA and where the film industry is headed.

There wasn't much real solution discussed but hearing these different views on where indie film sits was truly eye opening. Dodd asserted that $58billion dollars has been lost due to illegal downloads, an audience member acting as a symbol for this drastic shift whose indie film was on the right path to distribution but, after it leaked on the internet, has been excessively downloaded leading to a devastating loss of revenue. In fact, the audience seemed more in tune with the realities of the current film distribution landscape: one man suggesting that we lower the price point of film going (a bloated industry across the board) to begin a new feeling of responsibility to the audience and another audience member spoke of his organization, Arthouse Convergence, who have created a coalition of alternative venues for indie films making programming and filmmaker accessibility better (a thing we here at Nervousfilms have obviously looked toward in our own distribution with Gravity). Christine Vachon, speaking as a producer/fosterer of talent definitely spoke the most clearly on the current issues asserting that "TV is embracing risks" (evident in her recent support of Todd Haynes Mildred Pierce miniseries) and that online production/distribution is a reality that we can use  for better content & profit (she is working on a project with Michael Eisner's online production company). David Carr also heartily discussed his own brushes with illegal downloading, fearing that without theaters his job will become obsolete and people will not looks towards reviewers for answers in a more democratic, online sea of self distributed work. Overall, this panel pronounced the disconnect between the artists/filmmakers/creatives and those responsible for displaying/supporting their work, culminating in a really tough question: how do we all remain relevant and fed in the changing landscape of cinema?

All of these topics were especially fitting since I was told to stop taking pictures during the event since I did not have a special purple press pass (which I filled out paperwork for but never received!) yet was surrounded by hi-quality camera phones snapping away to no end! The accessibility of content, of media, of technology is moving at a pace that the film/entertainment industry cannot keep up with, a pace that will eventually lead to a complete overhaul of the system, a change in the way we value creative expression in film...a change that is all to welcome in a theater landscape of predominantly multimillion dollar crap! (Dodd & Vachon pictured at top, Carr at bottom- hastily taken before I was reprimanded!)

Sundance: New Frontier

I haven't had very much time to write about the New Frontier exhibit out here at Sundance, the exhibit that Brent's piece, To Many Men Strange Fates Are Given, (pic above and below) is a part of! With a theme of Future Normal: The integration of humanity and media technology the show is expertly curated by Shari Frilot, a socially conscious curator/programmer at Sundance. Every piece in the show takes the step between technology and cultural progression, bridging the gap between how we can use tech art to make vital statements and make us more aware. When entering the space the first piece you encounter is the 3d bombasity of Marco Brambilla with Evolution (Megaplex). This piece is a scrolling, 3d video loop that tracks the evolution of man through hundreds of Hollywood movie gifs, collaged together into a moving Renaissance painting of epic proportions. His piece is compelling in that the clips are pointing out our own creation of a human history that is completely false, questioning the value of image and word, of entertainment and vulgarity, a kind of fictionalized cultural artifact from a digital world that doesn't speak the truths that we have lived- insane! 

Another stand out from the show was Question Bridge: Black Males (pictured below) made by an inspiring collective of artists and thinkers who filmed black American males posing questions followed by answers from their peers. The layout consists of 4 screens, composed portraits of the asker and answerers, as you watch the real concerns of these people emerge: the search for an identity of what it means to be an African American male. It is a platform for change and community that the artists hope can be used for all types of people, providing the support, understanding and relatability that is necessary for progression and contentment- I LOOOOVE this piece!  It is currently on display at the Brooklyn Museum too, be sure to check it out there! 

Bear 71  is another piece at New Frontier that I am quite fond of! Sponsored by the mythic National Film Board of Canada, the piece follows the life of a tagged bear but, it is not that simple. An interactive graphic map (pic below!) is projected on three screens depicting the movement of the bear, other tagged animals in the bear's vicinity (including a group of followed humans) and the placement of motion activated cameras that film the bear's whereabouts. When a tablet is placed in front of the graphic map you can access the footage taken by the cameras- all this in addition to occasional film sequences of a bear's life and a soft spoken narrative on that life- one of fear, loss, strength, nature and encroaching humanity. This piece is the best environmental awareness tool I have ever, ever witnessed and is a completely new format for the documentary realm! I hope this project, produced by a wonderful collective of people but conceived by artists Jeremy Mendes and Leanne Allison, reaches a huge audience since I think it is the birth of a new kind of activism in art, a thing there needs to be more of! 

Hunger in Los Angeles, by journalist/artist Nonny de la Peña, is a virtual reality world (which I have yet to experience due to people's interest) that tracks real life situations using gaming technology to immerse you in societal problems, to experience the lives of others, a new journalism that can breathtakingly, literally change the game! The remaining pieces in the show include My Generation (videos of children acting out gaming anger screened on a broken computer monitor, watching the intense emotion/rage erupt from virtually nothing), The Cloud of Unknowing (a film hailing from Singapore in which you witness smoke filling the apartments of lives on screen in a tense worry of impending doom as the environment the audience sits in also fills with smoke in an eerie blurring of reality), and Radical Games Against the Tyranny of Entertainment (featuring politically motivated goals that point out major issues in the form of sweetly rendered video games). Overall this show is a strong, oddly cohesive example of where tech art stands in today's world, a world it seeks to change for the better! So satisfying to see art done right! 

Sundance Picture Post 1/23/2012

I don't really understand how the snow moves through these mountains but...I do understand that the entire town is electric with Sundance mania! Today was a busy one for sure! Beginning with an early morning ticket wait list line (where I relinquished my spot to a fellow line waiter only to be the cut off number for the film and not allowed in-crossing fingers ticket karma will abound!), leading to a serious morning panel, moving into tons of celebrity sightings, followed by sooo many friend sightings and then ending with a film, today was one of those days I am thankful for the calm beauty of  Park City! This place is so captivating, made even moreso with the buzz of film industry dreams and excited attendees everywhere, keeping me awake through these early mornings and late nights!

Sundance Review: About Face (Premier)

After waiting in line for a reaaallly long time and coming down to the wire on wait list spots I managed to get a seat at the premier of About Face:Supermodels Then, And Now, a documentary by the photographer Timothy Greenfield-Sanders about aging beauties in the modern world. This film traces the lives of a group of supermodels (eager to point out that they are not "former" supermodels since they are still the same women they were when they graced the covers of every magazine) as they age beyond a photograph. Seeing these women who I have only known in photographic form speak was nearly disorienting, each one a fully formed human character that their silent  images alone could never fully convey.

To highlight a few: Jerry Hall was fantastic ( "I love getting older, it allows me to be more eccentric!"), Isabella Rossellini was as intelligent, glamourous and witty as ever, and Beverly Johnson (the first African American to grace the cover of Vogue) was a non-apologetic powerhouse! Each woman in the film dissected more than reminisced about the culture of modeling they grew up in beginning from their childhood (models are too young!) where they were clothes hangers, sex symbols and ads for a coveted lifestyle to the present day where they are mothers, fashion lovers and business women. The film makes an interesting timeline of the modeling industry (from civil rights to curfews to the feminist revolution to Studio 54 to anti-aging mania) and each woman comes to their own personal understanding of their situation (some mentors to the younger generation of models, some fashion editors, some regretting the drugs, some holding onto their looks through the power of botox and raw food). About Face is a meditation on beauty and life, a must watch for every woman fooled into thinking beauty is only skin deep. (pic below of Q&A with Greenfield-Sanders, China Machado, Beverly Johnson and Carol Alt) Also a special sidenote/shout-out to a good lovely/exuberant/recently made blonde friend of mine, Anna Yanofsky, who did some interning on this film- a round of applause for her fashion archive know-how!

Sundance Picture Post 1/22/2012

A bright day full of sunlight, snow, traffic and being cattle herded into movie queus! And also of food trucks covered in knitted sweaters dispensing free chili & cookies (!) (pic in middle)! And a q&a with aging supermodels for a fantastic film called About Face (review to come)! O, and a fancy brunch for producers (me? yes! technically I am a producer over in Nervousfilms land, running behind the scenes to get things done in the name of film/art!) complete with champagne and almond french toast and a keynote address from Sarah Green (the producer of the mega-hits Tree of Life and Take Shelter)! Another tiring end to another tiring film festival day!

Sundance Review: Bones Brigade (Premier)

I remember being a teenager and going to an old abandoned amusement park on the Jersey Shore that kids anxiously/painstakingly/religiously turned into a skatepark, a palpable love, skateboard tricks and hardcore filled the air as I watched in awe- a glimpse into a cultish skateboard existence that seemed like a microcosm of awesome! So, when I sat in a theater packed with rowdy ass skateboarders waving their boards, singing odes to skate teams and offering up some extra red vine licorice they had in their bag I felt the same vibe from that dirty amusement park and I knew there was something deeper (and awesome) going on!

Bones Brigade was a skate team that began in the 80s ushering in a new era, a next wave of the sport, on the heels of the surf/70s style that California made famous. The indirect core of this documentary/autobiographical film was the masterful marketing of skater/manager Stacy Peralta as he went about creating this well known team. Peralta (director of Dogtown & Z Boys & a member of the Z Boys skate group) saw his own skating career coming to an end so he embarked on a new way to make skating a profitable, recognized sport. He expertly compiled a group of rag tag kids, each bringing their own passion and skill, to use his branded skateboards. He created an image, a feel, countless logos, ads, even the earliest of skate films to define the identity of a modern day skater kid and was able to grow that into a lifelong skill for every member- including the visionary Tony Hawk (whose name I still remember being howled by a digital voice on a skateboard videogame growing up! ). But, this wasn't the most interesting part of the story, the most interesting part of the story was the skater kids themselves (and they were kids, all preteens when they began the team).

The Bones Brigade were sort of the (marketed?) underdog, clean cut riders who revolutionized the way kids skate, literally defining the terms in the modern skate lexicon. I can't really explain the skater's complicated relationships they have with the thing they love, still as adults moved to tears by their passion- so so moving- you just have to see it! The film as a whole was a normal documentary format whose interesting content was decisively edited from hours and hours of skate footage & interviews yet still managing to include everything; the lives, the stories, the sport, the nuance, and even the historical context (the movement from concrete skate parks, to backyard ramp competitions, to freestyle street skating to today's combination of them all)! It really was an intense sweeping survey of a group of people who love what they do and managed to create that into a way of life, for themselves and others,  even in the face of all of life's pressures.

At the end of the film a bunch of original Bones Brigade members, and Stacy Peralta, took to the stage to answer questions. After a brief serenade from a weirdo in the audience, questions rolled in from the skaters I sat amongst. Each question began with a brief history of the inquirer's relationship to skating, an audience created by the subjects of this film all gathered together to celebrate a mutual love! This is what film, and communities in general, can do: bring people together to find & celebrate what they love! And maybe even make a living from it at the same time...nice one Sundance! (top picture of gym turned 500+ seat sold out movie theater and bottom Rodney Mullen, Stacy Peralta and Mike McGill- skaters, lovers, fighters!)