attend a film festival

2009 freezeframe international film festival in winnipeg (katimavik work placement ^_). i sorta expected to attend my first festival as an audience member but i guess you never know with these things!

Film festivals, music and fringe theater festivals are ones I love. There’s always a local paper that lists them, plus http://www.filmfestivals.com has world-wide festivals going on right now, all film!

I attended the Bad Ass Nature Film Festival, if that counts…some day Sundance…or something.

..animation festival, it is compulsory for first year animation students, and I live in that city basically, but still :P it’s a goal!

I am a volunteer at the Tribeca Film Festival!

I’m trying to use my volunteer shifts, free vouchers, and also free “surprise” tickets to see as many films as possible during these 10 days, to really feel I ATTENDED a festival, though it’s exhausting to balance this in with the rest of my life – auditions, work, health, class, and still getting to sleep some… if I ever do attend another festival this fully, I will clear my schedule for the duration!

The films I have screened:

1. Beyond Belief: Two 9/11 widows become dedicated to the cause of raising money to aid the destitute situation of hundreds of the 500,000 widows in Afghanistan in this documentary. This well-produced intimate portrait shows the striking differences for women on the other side of the world, as well as the striking similarities of emotion we all share.

2. The Premonition: This French narrative directed by a renowned French actor portrays a middle-aged man who forgoes his comfortable life, career, wealth, and family in exchange for a trail at a “normal” life in a poor part of Paris. He experiments with writing, generosity, and solitude, discovers his heart while caring for a teenaged neighbor in a bad situation. Overall, the film goes a little too French on us in the loose-ended storytelling.

3. Doubletime: This SPECTACULARLY told documentary follows two teams of young people: the Bouncing Bulldogs, a world-champion jump-roping team of mostly priviledged kids from Chapel Hill, NC, and the Double Dutch Forces, a world-champion double dutch team from the impoverished Columbia, SC, as they both train in a new skill called Fusion, in an effort to win Best of Show at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem, NY. The storytelling is captivating, the children dedicated, the talent fierce, and the skills thrilling.

4. The Workshop: the epitome of a documentary designed to blow your mind, challenge your convictions, and encourages the examining of your life and mind, introducing everything from radical ways of living free of fear, guilt, anxiety, and dishonesty, radical self-love, non-manogamy, and the existance of aliens among us. A 10-day workshop in San Francisco under the tutelege of charasmatic leader Paul Lowe, 72, this experience gives you a peek into the world of the last true remaining hippies, part-enlightened, part-cult, all-human.

5. Between Heaven and Earth: another documentary, tells the story of two circus men in Uzbekistan, and how they have each incorporated different levels of political involvement in their lives, how it has affected their families and their relationship with one another. Both live nobally by most standards, and it was an interesting look at life in this rarely discussed place, but ultimately, what was the point?

6. Blackout: a fictional narrative set in a ghetto Brooklyn block during the 2003 NYC Blackout. A good premise, but ultimately, the story was thin, the stakes weak, the characters incomplete, the acting and directing poor, and by the “climax,” I just thought, “who cares?” Ultimately, it seems sometimes stardards aren’t as high for festivals as we’d like.

7. 2 Days in Paris: this narrative is French actress Julie Delpy’s writing and directorial debut, about 2 days in the City of Lights with her American boyfriend, played by Adam Goldberg. The dialogue is steeped in reality, with quirky interplay and varied characters, and while it’s the best narrative I’ve seen in the festival, I was ultimately left uninspired.

8. Surburban Girl: this narrative with lots of hype and fancy stars in the form of Sarah Michelle Gellar and Alec Baldwin was, quite, possibly, THE WORST movie I’ve EVER seen! The writing was horrid, the acting WORSE, the direction cliched and totally unmotivated, and the story completely unnecessary, with absolutely NOTHING to say! Good thing it was free, because it was a HUGE waste of time!

9. Blue State: this narrative was my top pick for the festival, and was sold out all week. Breckin Meyer plays a liberal youth disgruntled after the 2004 election, who decides to move to Canada via marry-a-canadian, to make a political statement. He recruits for the roadtrip Chloe, played by Anna Paquin, who we learn is an Army girl running from her second tour date in Iraq. The two develop a friendship/romance, but with unexpected characterisations, original writing, and good acting along the way. So far the best narrative. B- solid.

10. The Education of Charlie Banks: this narrative direction by Fred Durst won the NEW YORK NARRATIVE AWARD at the festival, which is the event for which I bought an advance ticket, in order to see the “best.” A truly original premise with great acting and excellent, economical direction, this was easily the best narrative I’ve seen. We follow lovable loser Charlie Banks as he navigates college, an unrequited love, and mostly a strained commraderie with the dangerous, street-raised delinquent from his past, who happens to be running from the law after commiting murder. A solid B+.

Well, I did it – I ATTENDED the TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL. I worked the festival from both sides – as a volunteer and a movie-goer, and in all I saw TEN films, which was my goal, and I feel constitutes really attending. Ten films in ten days. It was exhausting, and at times not so fun (I think only four of the ten I saw were remotely worth seeing, perhaps fewer would I even “recommend”), but I feel much more clear about what goes into a festival, and what types of films one can expect. The best part is – as a volunteer, I saw ten films, and paid only $8.50 – for a cab ride one time between two close-running pics.

I’m proud, and ready for a week of recovery!

Attended all Spanish-language films. Oh my goodness some of the conversations were so fast.

I’ve wanted to do this since the late 80’s. It’s cool, you’re the first to see excellent films, you get to meet directors, writers, and actors, and it’s a great party. Can’t wait!