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I was floored
by a documentary that was not in competition, "An Injury to One."
This film still haunts my sleep. It's a documentary with no talking heads.
Most people call this doc experimental. I call it beautiful. It's about
the birth of Butte, Montana in the late 1800's as the world center for
copper and it's subsequent take over by the Anaconda Corporation who had
no regard for the safety or well-being of the miners or of the land they
raped. Every U.S. history class ought to show this film for its insight
on the rise of the labor movement and its scary lesson on corporate greed
and irresponsibility.
I attended
two films from the World Documentary category: "Bus 174" from
Brazil, and "The True Meaning of Pictures: Shelby Lee Adams' Appalachia."
"Bus 174" chronicles a bus hijacking in Sao Paolo that was filmed
live by news stations in Brazil. The tragedy unfolds in front of every
television in the country because of the ineptitude of the police in securing
the area from the crowds and the news crews that gather around the scene.
It raises global questions regarding the role of the media and the failure
of most governments in combating poverty and criminality. It was like
watching and waiting for a ticking bomb to explode. "The True Meaning
of Pictures" makes the viewer ask whether or not Adams (a photographer
who grew up in the Appalachia) is being respectful to his people or exploiting
his subjects by reinforcing the "Deliverance" stereotypes of
these people from Hazard County. After seeing the film, I feel it is the
latter. It also asks whether his photos are fine art or documentary. Some
of his best known pieces were staged and posed. I left the theater conflicted
and still haven't decided.
The first
feature film I saw was from Brazil, "Madame Sata." The film
is set in the boho district of Rio de Janiero in 1931. It's a dramatized
true story of an aspiring Afro-Brazilian transvestite cabaret star and
his constant struggle with society's issues of race, class and sexuality.
It was wonderfully acted and had many stunningly beautiful scenes. I hope
it gets the major distribution deal it deserves. The other feature, Bollywood
Queen was from the UK. It was a light-hearted pop musical inspired Bollywood
film. A classic Romeo & Juliet story of an overprotected London-born
Indian girl and a blue-eyed lad from the Somerset countryside. Nice art
direction and slick MTV-like musical numbers, but if your looking for
high art, this isn't it.
"Angela"
was an Italian feature I saw one morning. It was fine, but nothing to
write home about. So I won't. But I will write about the superior short
film before it, "Rosso Fango." We came in a bit late and thought
we were in the wrong theater. It was a war scene from World War I. Bombs
bursting over a muddy trench and gunfire and screams dominate the soundtrack.
A British soldier is trying to climb out of a trench with a screaming,
injured German soldier. The Brit can't escape the carnage or screams and
is about to shoot the German dead. At the last moment he puts down his
rifle and takes out some medical supplies and helps the German with his
wounds. The two exchange names and the British soldier has no idea he
just saved the life of Adolf Hitler. The same Adolph who went on to cause
the next World War and kill millions of innocent people. True story. Powerful
short film.
I didn't
meet any big celebrities, but I did meet several interesting people at
Sundance. I met a woman who makes DVDs and a dwarf who works at the Denver
Center for the Performing Arts who wants to make a documentary on dwarfism.
I had a brief chat on the bus with film critic B. Ruby Rich about Frances
McDormand. I met a film student from L.A., who told me that the Beastie
Boys were playing at some club, which made me mad, because I had to be
somewhere else. I met a Sundance volunteer from New York who told me that
the Festival puts them up in a condo with five other people and gives
them a $10 stipend for meals. He said he bought a bunch of Spaghettio's
for the week. "At What I Want My Words to Do to You," I met
and complimented Eve Ensler on her film and her incredible work with the
women incarcerated in Bedford Hills Correctional Facility. Very moving
film.
But the
bulk of my meetings took place while standing in a line for something.
It's really the best place to meet people, because if they see someone
more important than you are, they can't leave because they'll lose their
coveted place.
I arrived
in Park City as an innocent bystander, really -- a fan of films with no
agenda. I was only there because of a generous Christmas present from
my girlfriend. I saw films of beauty and furious social activism. Films
made by people with a passion for their art form and a mad desire to get
the hidden stories out to people like me. To make people think, to keep
us up at night with questions, to incite us to stand up for our beliefs,
march on Washington when necessary and not to be afraid to talk with the
person standing next to you.
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