Saturday Night At The Movies — Festival preview

Saturday Night At The Movies

SIFF Preview

By Dennis Hartley

Just in case you were wondering, I have been accredited for the 2010 Seattle International Film Festival, a privilege for which I will remain forever in debt to the readers who went to bat for me last year (you know who you are). And thanks to SIFF for acknowledging our little neck of the blogosphere. I guess that means that we’re too legit to quit now, eh?

The festival kicks off this coming Thursday and runs through June 13. Navigating a film festival is no easy task, even for a dedicated buff. SIFF will be showing 405 films over 24 days. That must be great for independently wealthy slackers, but for those of us who work for a living (*cough*), it’s a bit tough finding the time and energy it would take to catch 16.8 films a day (yes, I did the math). I do take consolation from my observation that the ratio of less-than-stellar (too many) to quality films (too few) at a film festival differs little from any Friday night crapshoot at the multiplex. The trick lies in developing a sixth sense for films most likely to be up your alley (in my case, embracing my OCD and channeling it like a cinematic divining rod.) There is a lot of good potential this year.

The documentary offerings look promising, particularly those with a political bent. Waiting for Superman is the latest from David Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth), and it takes a look at the sad state of our public education system (enough material there for a Ken Burns-length opus, I would imagine). Countdown to Zero is about nuclear paranoia and the continuing importance of international disarmament. Gerrymandering is being billed as a “non-partisan” overview of the redistricting wars going on around the country. The Morman Propostion (narrated by Milk screenwriter Dustin Lance Black) promises to be a “thriller-like” expose of the Morman Church’s role in the passage of California’s Prop 8. A few more docs on my checklist include American: The Bill Hicks Story, a portrait of the late great heir to Lenny Bruce (the good ones always die young). Speaking of non-conformists, I am also eager to see Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel (I suppose the title says it all) and Beautiful Darling: The Life and Times of Candy Darling, Andy Warhol Superstar (sporting the longest title this year, I’d reckon). John Waters and Patti Smith are featured talking heads in William S. Burroughs: A Man Within. Another Beat luminary is profiled in the biopic Howl, from Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, with James Franco as Allen Ginsberg. Another biopic, Nowhere Boy, from U.K. director Sam Taylor-Wood, dramatizes John Lennon’s complex teenage years.

Also from Europe: Ondine, a new fantasy-comedy from veteran Irish director Neil Jordan; Diamond 13, a conspiracy-a-go-go neo-noir from France featuring Gerard Depardieu and Asia Argento; and from Serbia, Devil’s Town, which is intriguingly described as a black comedy that combines “tennis, familial politics and Serbian national character”. From China, City of Life and Death is a WW2 drama that recounts the 1937 Rape of Nanking. I always have a soft spot for offbeat Japanese cinema; and judging just by their titles alone, RoboGeisha and Air Doll sound like a couple of must-sees this year. Also in the “offbeat” category-Visionaries: Jonas Mekas and the (Mostly) American Avant-Garde Cinema, with archival footage, rare clips and interviews assembled by Chuck Workman; and a film that apparently has been stirring up a shitstorm wherever it plays, Ticked-Off Trannies with Knives-which sounds like it might be a stab (sorry) at providing an Inglourious Basterds-style revenge fantasy for the trans-gender community. From Canada: The Trotsky, a comedy about a Montreal teen who believes he is the reincarnation of Leon Trotsky (oddly enough, this one is currently on PPV in my market). And from Australia, Bran Nue Day-a “wacky” musical about an aboriginal and his pals.

SIFF has also lined up a special series of films from Spain this year (18 features and 9 shorts). Some of the more intriguing selections include Garbo: the Spy, a doc about a Spanish double agent who “helped change the course of history during WW2”; The Dancer and the Thief, a crime pulp styled political thriller set against the backdrop of Chile’s Pinochet regime; Stigmata, a metaphysical thriller adapted from an Italian graphic novel; and Woman Without Piano, concerning the misadventures of a bored housewife who embarks on clandestine nighttime wanderings around Madrid (it vibes a bit reminiscent of Dusan Makavejev’s Montenegro, one of my all-time favorite sleepers).

SIFF’s “Face the Music” series is one of my perennial favorites, and there are several entries I look forward to this year. From the U.K., Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll is a biopic about the late proto-punker, Ian Dury, with Andy “Gollum” Serkis in the lead role. Beyond Ipanema is a doc that promises to cover the Brazilian music scene (bossa-nova, samba, baile funk, etc.). As a huge reggae fan, I can’t wait to check out the Canadian doc, Rocksteady: The Roots of Reggae, which brings together genre superstars Hopeton Lewis, Marcia Griffiths and Ken Boothe to swap stories and re-record some of their signature tunes (sounds like it could be the Jamaican version of Buena Vista Social Club). Andre Crouch, Mavis Staples and other Gospel music luminaries are profiled in Rejoice and Shout, and finally, The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls, which to my knowledge is the first documentary to examine the world of, erm, yodeling lesbian twins.

I can’t guarantee that I will catch every film that I would like to, but, dear reader, you will be the first to receive a full report, beginning with next week’s post. In the meantime, for more information about SIFF, you can check out their website: www.seattlefilm.org.

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