5Q: DANIEL KRAUS / PROFESSOR
Posted by CQ Central
Daniel Kraus
1Q: Tell us a little about the origins of PROFESSOR, from concept to financing.
PROFESSOR is the third film in the Work Series (www.workseries.com), a cycle of cinema verite documentaries about working in America. After making SHERIFF and MUSICIAN, I wanted to do a movie about the labor of the mind, so I tracked down the University of Iowa’s Rabbi Jay Holstein. I remembered him from my undergrad days as angry, hilarious, foul-mouthed, and brilliant. I was pleased to find that not only was he still teaching at age 69, but he had lost none of the fire.
2Q: This is the first festival for your film, and your first audience; how has it been received? Are you looking forward to any other festivals?
I was caught off-guard by the response. Three packed houses (including one that had a lengthy unplanned intermission when a popcorn machine in the lobby caught on fire) and an added Audience Award screening. My documentaries are typically patient, studious affairs that are not everyone’s cup of tea, so it was a lot of fun to see how Holstein’s personality transcended that and exploded the appeal factor. Read more
REVIEW: BURIED PRAYERS
Posted by Cynthia Corral
BURIED PRAYERS
BURIED PRAYERS is an emotional documentary about the search for buried items from holocaust victims sent to the gas chambers. In 1943 one of the worst death camps was Maidanek in Warsaw, where before the victims were sent into the camp they were held in these open fields right outside. After interviewing many survivors of the camp the filmmakers started hearing multiple stories of some of the Jews having buried their jewelry and valuables right in the field. They were well aware they would never exit Maidanek alive, but in a final act of defiance they refused to let the Germans get hold of their possessions so they buried them in the field. The film is about Maidanek itself, the stories of many witnesses from Maidanek, and finally the search for the items.
The pluses of this documentary are the witness accounts and the information about Maidanek itself. There are heartbreaking stories from the survivors who were mostly teenagers in 1943 and lost their entire families – their parents, siblings, everyone. Most had never spoken of what had happened in Maidanek until this documentary, and they were extremely touching and tales that needed to be told.
The minus is the amount spent on discussions about searching for the items, as opposed to the time spent actually looking and showing us what was found. It feels a bit dragged out as we are told over and over what a good idea it is to search these fields. The actual archaeological dig is not shown until the final minutes of the film.
The documentary is not as depressing as I expected it to be, so don’t let the idea of a dark, depressing tale push you away from this film (as I almost did). It IS a very emotional documentary, but there was something uplifting about the fact that the items hidden were actually found all this time later, that the stories of the people who died there were going to be told. The documentary is a rough cut and not completely edited yet, and of course there will be much more to be told later as they complete the dig (2 days work uncovered 80 items but left 99% of the field still to be uncovered).
It is an imperfect documentary, but a story that needs to be told. Don’t be afraid to see it, you will definitely learn something and see an incredible strength of human spirit.
REVIEW: NO TOMORROW
Posted by Cynthia Corral
NO TOMORROW
NO TOMORROW is a thought provoking documentary that covers a lot of ground and argues a lot of different ideas. Its only weakness is that it perhaps presents a few too many ideas and does not have the correct case to prove their arguments.
AGING OUT is a documentary brought by the same filmmakers to Cinequest in 2004. It was about three teenagers who are aging out of the foster care system and the trials and tribulations they were then facing. The film focused on the resilience of each teen and chose to look positively on their future prospects.
But soon after that film was completed one of the teens, Risa Bejarano, was brutally murdered. The killer was caught, prosecuted and found guilty. This is where NO TOMORROW comes in. For the penalty phase of the trial the prosecution wanted to (and did) show the jury AGING OUT as a way of humanizing Risa and pushing the jury toward a death penalty decision. The filmmakers were not happy about having their film used to give death to an 18 year old when their original purpose was to bring something positive into the world. And so the documentary brings its arguments.
The problem I have with the film is that it brings so many arguments to the table. The value of the death penalty itself is a main topic, but we are also presented with the idea of whether Juan Chavez (the killer) would have received the death penalty if a) AGING OUT had not been shown to the jury or b) Juan Chavez had had his own documentary to show the jury.
There is a weakness in this particular argument because the crimes he committed were so senseless and violent, and Chavez himself so proud and unrepentant of his crimes, that I don’t think it mattered who he killed or what his own circumstances were. I have issues with the death penalty myself, but in this particular case it is hard to summon up any sympathy for Chavez whatsoever, so the arguments about documentaries and cost of imprisonment have no real punch. Chavez is not a sympathetic character in any way, no matter how many childhood photos the filmmakers show us. Read more
Tags: aging out, DOCUMENTARY, no tomorrow, world premiere.
REVIEW: FrICTION
Posted by Cynthia Corral
FrICTION
FrICTION played to a packed Repertory Theater on Saturday afternoon, only to have director Cullen Hoback turn the audience’s heads inside out. Those of us who know Cullen and have seen his previous films were perhaps more confused than anyone, but in the best way possible. Billed as a feature film gone wrong, FrICTION will leave you scratching your head and wondering just exactly what was real and what was not, even after listening to the Q&A. FrICTION is simply an enigma wrapped in a mystery and then possibly wrapped in bacon. FrICTION is the kind of film that Cinequest is all about. Read more
Tags: COMEDY, Cullen Hoback, DOCUMENTARY, DRAMA, freedom state, FrICTION, Monster Camp, world premiere.
REVIEW: THE TIJUANA PROJECT
Posted by Cynthia Corral
THE TIJUANA PROJECT
THE TIJUANA PROJECT is a heart breaking documentary about the garbage dump villages in Tijuana and the children who live in them. It is the story of the families who live near and around the huge trash dumps, and who scour the garbage for treasures which can then be sold or turned in for money. The film focuses on the children, and their laughter and game play is a strange juxtaposition against the hopelessness and despair of their life’s backdrop.
The Cinequest program claims the film is “NOT a story of despair and hopelessness,” but I am not sure I agree with this. Methamphetamines and heroin are huge problems for the adult males in this village. Crime is so bad that the local police will not enter the town cemetery to fight the drug dealers who do business there. “This is a woman who lives in the ground,” says one of the children, pointing casually to a woman who is quite literally sitting INSIDE the trash in the dump. The boy runs away laughing as she throws something at him. Another man tells the story of his brother who was shot several times in the cemetery. Somehow he was lucky enough to get help. “God saved him,” says the man as the camera pans over to his brother… who clearly did not get away scot free and has one eye missing or rolled back into his head. I believe it could be debated whether God did this man a favor.
So while I see that the kids are full of laughter and grow up happily playing games amidst the trash in the dump, I don’t really see where their future lies. Is this what they have to look forward to? A nun who works with them explains that the families don’t understand the importance of higher education, but I don’t understand how the kids are supposed to obtain this higher education. There is a positive side in the film when a children’s theater group is organized and all the kids are encourage to participate in the group and the parade it puts on. But there is also a downside when it is discovered that the dump is going to be moved to make room for construction, thereby removing one of the only dependable sources of income for these families.
For me, the lack of any concrete future removed any hope that I had for these children. It is still an excellent film, and I was able to obtain a really informative interview with documentarian John Sheedy. The film also promotes ResponsibilityOnline, an organization devoted to collecting money for the education of these children. This organization can supply hope, and if this film brings more attention to the problem – thereby collecting funds to end the problem – THEN I can say that this is “not a story of despair and hopelessness.” I do, regardless, recommend this film.
FRI 2/16; 7:15pm (C12)
SAT 2/27; 7:15pm (C12)
Dates, times and venue subject to change, check the Cinequest website for updates.
Tags: DOCUMENTARY, John Sheedy, REVIEW, The Tijuana Project.
REVIEW: COOKING HISTORY
Posted by Cynthia Corral
COOKING HISTORY
For the first time since viewing CANARY I find myself in the middle of a film review conundrum, wondering how to explain how absolutely awesome is COOKING HISTORY, even though I turned it off around the halfway point and have no intention of ever returning.
It all depends on your horror threshold. I would guess this documentarian secretly wants to direct some hilarious horror films, because that is almost what you have here. It certainly is a documentary, filled with interviews with the people who were called upon to cook for troops in six different wars, and they are quite incredible. These heart wrenching stories of poisoning loaves of bread for the enemy or leaving out the last meal for the dead soldiers are overlaid with the recipes: “Bread to poison 300 soldiers”, “Pancakes to feed 1 million dead”. Humorous and heart breaking at the same time. It is drop dead serious but also told with a twisted sense of humor.
There are some very difficult scenes you should be warned about. At one point a cow is graphically slaughtered and it takes a very long time for the cow to die. A very. Long. Time. There is similar scene with a pig. I have a pretty high threshold for horror, but I couldn’t take this. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear there are walkouts during this movie if people aren’t prepared… so go in prepared.
It really is a fantastic documentary. The war stories are horrific, but they need to be told and they need to be heard. The director cuts from an interview with a soldier explaining how a tank would have crushed him “to mincemeat” in a field to a shot of a former cook pushing meat through a grinder. Actually there are many shots of the grinder, at any opportune moment it seemed.
There is a definite twisted, dark humor in the telling of these tales, and there is horror that is almost impossible to look at. But it brings to life the shocking details of these war stories that are so easy to feel are just stories. It is much easier to listen to battlefield tales without seeing a pig get his throat cut. Hearing how a tank would have crushed the soldier to mincemeat really doesn’t have the same effect as watching the meat get pushed through the grinder while listening to the soldier’s own words.
I did not finish the movie. I regret that I cannot hear the rest of the stories. But my threshold is apparently not high enough to get through this. It will be good for there to be walkouts because it will mean the film had the desired effect on people – War is not pretty, it is about throat cutting and meat grinders. Some soldiers will take a very, very long time to die. War is awful. People will be talking about this documentary during the festival, and that will be a good thing.
Prepare yourself, and go see it.
WED 2/24; 6:00pm (C12)
THU 2/25; 1:30pm (C12)
MON 3/1; 7:00pm (C3)
Dates, times and venue subject to change, check the Cinequest website for updates.
Tags: cooking, cooking history, DOCUMENTARY, REVIEW, war.
5Q: JOHN SHEEDY / THE TIJUANA PROJECT
Posted by CQ Central
John Sheedy
1Q: Tell us a little about the origins of THE TIJUANA PROJECT, from concept to financing.
The concept for the Tijuana Project was shared with me by Victor Villaseñor, author of Rain of Gold. I was looking for a story of hope about kids living and surviving in an inhospitable place and he told me about the kids in the Tijuana garbage dump and a school that was built for them right next to the dump. I only had $1,000 to start with, but after seeing the apocalyptic environment where these kids and their families lived and worked I knew I had to do the film. Read more
Tags: 5Q, CQ20, DOCUMENTARY, John Sheedy, Tijuana Project.
(P)review: The Nature of Existence (Jason Wiener)
Posted by Jason Wiener
Originally posted on Jason Watches Movies:
Cinequest closes on Sunday, March 8 with The Nature of Existence, and so far it’s the movie I’m most looking forward to seeing again. That’s because it’s so far ranging, so ambitious, and so all-encompassing that it’s impossible to digest it all in one screening (for that matter, it contains so many contrary viewpoints it might never be possible to digest). Read more
Tags: closing night, CQ19, DOCUMENTARY, Roger Nygard, THE NATURE OF EXISTENCE.
5Q: ROGER NYGARD / THE NATURE OF EXISTENCE
Posted by CQ Central
Roger Nygard
1Q: Tell us a little about the origins of The Nature of Existence, from concept to financing.
The concept for the movie has been gestating since I was seven years old and began to suspect that adults and authority figures were lying to me about some things (e.g., Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, etc.).
Then in college I encountered my first evangelists, called The Destroyers, who came to the University of Minnesota campus each year to get in the students’ faces and yell that they’re going to Hell for listening to rock music and drinking beer. Their approach, that the Truth could be found in a book written in ancient times, was diametrically opposed to the scientific method being taught in school, that the truth has to be approached through verifiable, repeatable experiments. Read more
Tags: closing night, CQ19, DOCUMENTARY, Roger Nygard, THE NATURE OF EXISTENCE.
CQ’s Closing Night: THE NATURE OF EXISTENCE
Posted by CQ Central
From SFGate:
Roger Nygard knows all about belief systems, life philosophies and zealots. After all, he made two documentaries about “Star Trek” fans, “Trekkies” and “Trekkies 2.” Consider him, then, fully prepared to tackle world religion in his globe-trotting documentary, “The Nature of Existence,” which will have its world premiere Sunday on the closing night of the Cinequest Film Festival in San Jose.
Tags: closing night, CQ19, DOCUMENTARY, Roger Nygard, THE NATURE OF EXISTENCE.