Maverick Meet-up — Lights, Camera, ACTION!!
Posted by Cynthia Corral
The 2010 Film Festival has ended but the Summer Maverick Meet-ups have just begun!
We're ba-aaack!!
Do you miss Cinequest? Miss seeing your friends and fellow film-goers? Then head over to E+O Trading Company on Friday, May 14. From 5pm – 7pm anyone and everyone who loves Cinequest, independent film or film festivals in general are invited to our informal gathering of fun and friendship.
What will happen at this meet-up? We don’t know! But past meet-ups have had quizzes, games, prizes, special guests and even an Osama Bin Laden impersonator. At EVERY meet-up there have been old friends, new friends and potential friends. New faces and familiar faces. Kathleen Powell and Halfdan Hussey. And no matter what, great food and drinks.
It is okay if you have never attended the Cinequest Film Festival before, but if you love film you will be in your element. If you would like to meet some people behind the scenes at Cinequest this is the place to be. And if you like Happy Hours and meeting new people – this is where you should spend your Friday evening!
Come down to E+O Trading Company any time between 5 and 7pm on Friday, and we will see you there!
| Date: | Friday, May 14, 2010 |
| Time: | 5:00pm – 7:00pm |
| Location: | E+O Trading Co. |
| Street: | 96 South 1st Street |
| City/Town: | San Jose, CA |
5Q: Dustin Grella / PRAYERS FOR PEACE
Posted by CQ Central
Dustin Grella
1Q: Tell us a little about the origins of PRAYERS FOR PEACE, from concept to financing.
I don’t know that it was ever a conscious decision. The film is entirely non-fiction, and I tried to keep as close to the facts as possible, so the story unfolded relatively naturally. I write every day, so after I walked past the ribbons, I went home and wrote about it, and while I was writing it I knew I was going to make a sound piece out of it. I was trying to make it feel a little like an Ira Glass narrative, very Americana. When I started looking for a topic to do the animation on I realized that I already had this sound piece finished and could simply animate on top of it. I don’t know that I ever sat down and said that I was going to make a film about my brother. I think this goes back to the question of what motivates me, when I said that the creative process is exciting, that I never really know what is going to happen next. I could be writing a letter one day that becomes a sound piece another day that becomes an animation the next, I don’t ever really know.
I think I might have just done that. The film’s creation was very organic. I just had to sit in the studio and do the work. As I mentioned before, the whole thing is a narrative of what actually transpired. I was walking home, I saw the ribbons and went home to write about my thoughts. After making the sound piece and deciding to turn it into an animation I decided that the shots should be long and slow so that the viewer has the opportunity to digest the story and not get hung up that it is entirely drawn with pastels on a sheet of slate. I storyboarded what I could, and pulled a lot of the sound and imagery off of Devin’s laptop, although the images for the end didn’t arrive until months later. I had some ideas of what I wanted to use, but this film’s creation was very organic. I just had to sit in the studio and do the work. I found the reference footage for the very last shot a few days before I used it. My Uncle Art gave me hours and hours of family VHS tapes to go through and I was getting sort of tired and drifting out and would have missed it entirely, but my girlfriend leaned over my shoulder and said, “Whoa!” Even though I did a lot of the work on the film, the film itself kept shifting forms and I really didn’t know what it was going to be about. It wasn’t until it was all over that I realized it wasn’t really my film at all, I was just there to put it together. »More
Tags: 5Q, animation, Dustin Grella, non-fiction, Prayers for Peace, SHORTS, war.
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. »More
REVIEW: OUTSOURCED
Posted by Cynthia Corral
OUTSOURCED
One of the great new ideas Cinequest had this year was using social media to have people vote on their favorite past Cinequest film. The winning film was given an encore screening at the festival. The winner this year was OUTSOURCED, indeed one of my favorite films and I am thrilled that audiences had a new chance to see it.
Plot: Todd Anderson is the head of a Seattle call center whose entire operation has been fired and outsourced to India. Todd is sent to India to train the new employees.
I love the movie because in the beginning you see India through Todd’s eyes; you see stereotypes, crazy cab drivers, cows in office buildings, horrendous art… but it is not long before you are seeing America through India’s eyes, and laughing harder at your own self and country and customs than you were laughing at India. The movie shows you the beauty in “tacky” and teaches you that you are indeed a “schmuk”. Nothing I could say in a simple entry like this would get across the beauty and humor and lessons that are in this film.
I hope the OUTSOURCED screening was well attended, and that Cinequest continues this idea of bringing back favorite films. I had voted for ANDREW JENKS, ROOM 335 because it was just as great of a film as OUTSOURCED, yet unavailable on DVD. If you did not make the OUTSOURCED screening this time, you are in luck because it IS available on DVD at both Netflix and Amazon. I strongly recommend you get your hands on this delightful film whether by renting or buying (I recommend buying!), you will be happy you did.
REVIEW: MOTHER (AND CQ20 CLOSING NIGHT)
Posted by Cynthia Corral
MOTHER (MADEO)
CINEQUEST 20, while still showing Encore Films today, ended last night with their best Closing Night ever.
The California Theatre was packed with tired yet excited festival goers, regretfully saying goodbye to another year. We were treated to music from the organist, then the singer from BUMMER SUMMER, and an amazing set by Panthelion. Awards were announced and a full list can be found on the Cinequest website. FISH PASTA won for best SanDisk film. A final Maverick Spirit Award was given to Kathy Wolfe, founder of Wolfe Video, the oldest and largest distributor of gay and lesbian films. And finally the lights went down for the closing film.
This final film of the festival was MOTHER (MADEO), a new film directed by Joon-ho Bong from THE HOST. If you have not yet seen THE HOST (like a few of my self-professed “film fan” friends admitted) you must immediately open up the Netflix site and put it in your queue. It is simply one of the very best monster films ever made. MOTHER is not quite at the same level, but it was still terrific.
The very protective mother of a mentally challenged adult man is crushed when her son is accused of a brutal murder. The police believe they have an open and shut case, especially after the boy willingly signs a confession. But the mother refuses to believe her son is guilty and becomes very involved in conducting her own police investigation.
There are many twists and turns in this beautiful film. There is some extreme violence as well as acres of gorgeous scenery. And most important there is some tremendous acting. I am unfortunately not able to decipher who is who from the character list, so I don’t know the name of the actress who played the mother however she turns in an Oscar level performance. The son is equally talented. The only downside is that at 128 minutes long the film seemed about 20 minutes TOO long. The last several scenes could have easily been cut.
Jason Wiener, Paul Robinson at SoFa Billiards around 2am. Photo by Tassoula Kokkoris from Cinebanter.
But maybe the audience was just anxious for the party! This year the Closing Party was held at South First Billiards, and this super large venue could barely hold all the excited party goers. Stella Artois beer and vodka & cranberry drinks flowed freely as a DJ played in the background. Guests danced, played pool, and sat and discussed the festival. My own party was finally kicked out at 2:15am and we all went home to crash and prepare for Encore Day.
Perhaps next year the Closing Ceremonies could start at 7pm. This seems reasonable for a Saturday night, and would allow us out and ready for the party before 11pm. But aside from wishing we had more time to celebrate together it was still an awesome time and we are all missing Cinequest already.
Next year: Cinequest 21
Tags: closing night, closing party, joon-ho bong, mother, south first billiards, the host.
REVIEW: SHORTS PROGRAM 3, DOCUNATION
Posted by Cynthia Corral
CLANDESTINE from SHORTS 3: DOCUNATION
SHORTS PROGRAM 3: DocuNation is usually one of my favorite groups of shorts at Cinequest. There were only five films in the program this year and I did love three of them, but I really hated two of them.
It started off with PERFECT WORLD, which set me off right away. Several students in an alternative school in England are asked about their version of a perfect world, and so the entire film is shots of them saying “In a perfect world…” or “A perfect world would be…” The students themselves have some disabilities such as learning problems and ADHD, so this would seem to be a great idea and it is, but it’s been DONE BEFORE. And better. It’s not an original idea, and in this case, there were no inspiring, charming, thought provoking or insightful answers from the children. I found it to be tedious and frustratingly boring.
NOTES ON THE OTHER I loved, and many others in the audience did as well. It switches between the story of Ernest Hemingway seeing an injured man on the street in Pamplona, to the story of the injured man and his still living son, and then to a group of men in Key West, Florida, who meet every year to choose the new authentic Hemingway “look-alike”. I enjoyed hearing bits about Hemingway’s life, but what struck me the most was the film about the son who still lives in Pamplona and runs the family business. Every year during the running of the bulls he shuts up the business, opens a hole in the door, and sits behind it photographing the race. The film documents him sitting behind that hole with his camera, and when the bulls and men begin running past the viewer is instantly put into the middle of this exciting event. I have never felt so close to the running of the bulls before, and it was both exhilarating and terrifying at the same time.
CLANDESTINE is a narrative about the filmmaker’s father who is a shortwave hobbyist, but intertwined with a documentary about the encrypted messages used by spies, and the history of what happened to some of these spies. It’s a 30 minute film and I found it to be fascinating and well told. I like when documentaries teach us something, and this doc was quite interesting.
UNDERTOW EYES was a strain for me to get through. It is about a couple named Vera and Gabriel who are around 80 years old now, and they narrate the life they have lived together since meeting when Vera was age 15. It is a beautiful film with colorful images of Vera and Gabriel now, mixed with photos and film of their lives since they were children. The problem here is there is no real conflict in this story. A few parts were interesting, but for the most part I wish some conflict had been introduced to make the story more fascinating than that of any of our parents or grandparents. Vera and Gabriel met, got married, had many children, not a lot of money, and now they are old and happy together. The End.
HOW GREEN WAS OUR VALLEY is the story of a small village in Iran whose tenants are warned that an incoming flood from the new hydroelectric dam is about to destroy their village. The villagers refuse to leave because they do not believe their saint, whose bones are buried in a temple in the village, will let harm come to them. Of course this saint has no control over civilization’s progress in this case and they are indeed flooded. They are now faced with finding a new home, but more importantly, moving the bones of their saint. It is heartbreaking to watch and was a powerful ending to the entire shorts program.
REVIEW: GABI ON THE ROOF IN JULY
Posted by Cynthia Corral
GABI ON THE ROOF IN JULY
GABI ON THE ROOF IN JULY is one of the more interesting films of Cinequest this year, and the filmmakers Lawrence Michael Levine and Sophie Takal are two of the most personable and loved of the festival this year. I am not sure it is one of the best films though.
The movie and its characters draw you in from the start. Gabi, a student of “post-fluxist feminist art”, comes to live with her older brother Sam, and there is a cast of characters that I certainly remember knowing when I was in my early 20s. Sophie Takal is strikingly beautiful and it doesn’t hurt that her character loves to be naked through most of the film. This may explain why my male friends think this film is the best ever.
I didn’t find it the best ever. There was a good story and I liked the progression and how it ended. But the characters turn out to be mostly unlikeable. Gabi especially moves from very immature behavior to possibly crazy. Sam behaves badly with his girlfriend. And all females in this film are shown as extremely possessive and insecure. I suppose I most liked irresponsible Garrett and silent Charles, in comparison to the other unlikeable characters.
That said, overall I think it’s a good film with some problems. We were warned about profanity and nudity before the film started, and while neither bothers me, I do have a problem with swearing for the sake of swearing. It was overused a bit in the beginning. The actors did a great job and were very comfortable in their roles; I think the biggest surprise to me was what a great presence Lawrence had on screen. But there needed to be someone to root for. I think Gabi was actually more likable as emotional issues were finally becoming clear, but for the first half she was just a very annoying child. I do think overall there was more good than bad.
Yes, you should probably see this film if it is replayed on Sunday. You may or may not enjoy it very much, and I doubt you would hate it. The actors are talented and beautiful; in fact one of my notes reads: “EXACTLY where is this place where everyone is beautiful and naked??” It IS a good story. Just don’t expect a 5 star film.
Of course, naked Sophie Takal never hurts.
Tags: Gabi on the Roof in July, Lawrence Michael Levine, sophie takal, world premiere.
5Q: CAMPBELL GRAHAM / ANYONE YOU WANT
Posted by CQ Central
CAMPBELL GRAHAM
1Q: Tell us a little about the origins of ANYONE YOU WANT, from concept to financing.
ANYONE YOU WANT is a romance about a young businessman in Sydney who befriends a troubled homeless girl and is drawn into her secret fantasy world. I wrote it in a month and it was financed by me, my two brothers and my ex-girlfriend!
2Q: ANYONE YOU WANT is having its World Premiere at Cinequest on March 3rd. How have you been enjoying the festival so far, and do you plan to bring the film to any other festivals?
3Q: What was your best and/or worst experience while making ANYONE YOU WANT?
Tags: 5Q, ANYONE YOU WANT, GRAHAM CAMPBELL, world premiere.
REVIEW: STARRING MAJA (PRINSESSA)
Posted by Cynthia Corral
STARRING MAJA
STARRING MAJA (PRINSESSA) is a lovely Swedish film about an overweight, unattractive and clumsy young woman who wants to be an actress. Most of the movie is spent watching her deal with harassment and being used as an object by others for their own purposes, but there is a quite satisfying ending that I found delightful. I loved the film.
Initially I was not sure I wanted to see this film as friends of mine had said it was difficult to watch. Indeed it is difficult to see the emotions Maja cannot help but reveal as she realizes the bit part in a TV show she was offered is actually for “fat, grotesque, ugly girl”. The audience also feels the betrayal that Maja feels as she realizes her only friend was using her as almost everyone else in her life has done.
The film revolves not just around Maja, but also Erika, a failed documentarian turned wedding photographer. She meets Maja at a wedding and decides to make a documentary about her. Beautiful Erika believes she sees something of herself in Maja because she has also not been able to achieve her dreams and is deeply in debt. However there is something somewhat disingenuous about such a gorgeous woman telling fat, unattractive Maja that she is truly beautiful and can be anything she wants to be.
Maja also has a school friend, a boy who has recently realized he is gay but has not come out to anyone but Maja. These two forge the only true friendship that Maja has, and they end up a great (platonic) couple.
The ending is tied up happily and not too falsely. Maja does not turn into a beautiful princess at the end, neither does she win the captain of the football team or become a movie starlet. But she discovers who she is and along with her friend Alex they make it clear that they are going to take on the world on their own terms. It is a hilarious, delightful ending that I just adored.
March 2nd was the final showing of STARRING MAJA but there may be a chance to see it on Sunday when Cinequest replays some of the audience favorites. Keep a look out for it.
Tags: COMEDY, DRAMA, PRINSESSA, REVIEW, STARRING MAJA, SWEDEN.
REVIEW: THE EXPLODING GIRL
Posted by Cynthia Corral
THE EXPLODING GIRL
THE EXPLODING GIRL is a quiet, sweet film about a young girl trying to deal with a waning love-life and her own epilepsy. However the slowness and lack of anything really happening left most of the audience cold.
Young Ivy is home on summer break and a few times we see her dealing with the idea of her epilepsy, but we rarely see her actually physically dealing with it. She also has a boyfriend who we only encounter through phone conversations such as this:
“Hey, sorry I haven’t called in awhile.”
“Oh, it’s okay.”
“So I was just checking in.”
“Okay.”
“Okay. Well, see ya.”
Meanwhile childhood friend Al has come to crash at her house for a bit, and their friendship slowly and sweetly begins to turn into something else. But nothing substantial really happens with this relationship and the film ends just as something might be starting. The 79 minutes of film time could have been condensed into 15 and then continued with an actual story. When the credits finally did roll, this audience couldn’t get out of the theater fast enough.