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The first full day of programming at the Mammoth Lakes Film Festival began with an exuberant collection of shorts that took views from Mojave to Mammoth to Mammoths. The settings added to viewer excitement, but no matter where these films were screened, there was plenty of reason for an enthusiastic response.
Above, cast and crew of Fay Away
Nevada was a claymation charmer, a fully realized and intimate story that was both poignant and hilarious, detailing a couple’s response to a birth control issue, and a decision not to have a baby – at least not yet. Terrific script and fresh, lovely animation. Next up was Fay Away, a tonally perfect, desert-set live-action about a none-too-perfect estranged father and daughter reunion. Set near Joshua Tree, it captured the dusty flavor of time passing in a timeless setting. The film was helmed by producer and lead actress Sandra Seeling Lipski and director/cinematograpaher Rainer Lipski in their sophmore outing at the festival. Sandra Lipski noted “This was a gift to ourselves celebrating our 7th anniversary. It was a two-day shoot and ten months of editing.” The brief abstract animated work Mountain Castle Mountain Flower Plastic touched on the ecology of future landscapes; Zula the Infinite was a coming of age story involving a restless small-town girl and a passing-through “bad girl” with stolen mail and and a stolen car in the mix.
Above, star and director of Zula the Infinite.
Director Jillian Dudley said the film’s concept was conceived as proof of concept for a TV series pilot, and the four day shoot came with its own misadventure: “Our original sound material was stolen, but because the local Palmdale newspaper published a story about the theft, Universal’s ADR department came to the rescue so we could save our film,” which turned out to be a 2-year process. Last up was an amazing short documentary, Mammoth, about a Russian scientist’s multi-generational work to establish what could be an eco-system that saves the planet from global warming. Absolutely fascinating, and the kind of film and subject one might only find on view here.
Above, birthday surprise for Pedro Deltell of Berliners.
More shorts – obviously – comprised the screenings for Shorts Block 1, including several shorts from Pedro Deltell in his collaborative improv series Berliners. It was Deltell’s birthday and he received a surprise cake and candle; the festival itself also had a surprise – Deltell screened more than the expected series entry, which was an extra comic treat for the audience. ” You look for people to cast and think about stories and characters you can do with them. Each of our episodes is different and each is improv based and set in Berlin,” Deltell explained. The animated Tel Aviv captured the city with poetic, whimsical drawings through the eyes of an art student. From Poland, How to Reach God with Proper Exercising created a surreal story centered on a man’s recounting of a dream. Birthday offered up a dysfunctional celebration for a father and three adult daughters at a shooting range; while Careful as You Go presented three vignettes on the threatening yet darkly comic behavior of malevolent women.
Director Jerry Carlson, above, with programmer Paul Sbrizzi, right
From Sweden, Shadow Animals was, director Jerry Carlson said, “Almost a memory of a lived experience. We knew the film was about human behavior through social rituals, and we added our own take on those rituals and a language that went to the physical through choreography.” We found the film to be haunting, with an edgy, horror/suspense vibe that left a chill.
Above, Guide Dogs for the Blind rep to the left, fest director Shira Dubrovner to the right
Pick of the Litter was a deeply moving documentary about the training of dogs for the Guide Dogs for the Blind program. The rigorous process bonded the audience beautifully to five puppies and their human handlers, trainers, and eventual owners. Bracingly directed by Dana Nachman and Don Hardy Jr., and discovered at a Slamdance screening earlier this year, it was easy to see why there were no dry eyes in the house. Dogs were the guests of honor at an after-screening photo op following the screening. Nachman also directed the accompanying short, a delicate, wistful piece documenting the gorgeous sand art of Brandon Anderton, whose debilitating series of accidents may have left him riddled with pain, but still able to create the transient wonder in Washed Away.
Fort Maria, shot in black and white, was a limited-location narrative feature involving an adopted mother afflicted with agoraphobia and the death of her daughter’s elderly dog. A strong performance by Katerina Stoykover-Klemer in the title role grounded the quiet piece. Weekend, a short about a son who spends weekends with his father – imperfect ones – offered a compelling glimpse at Iranian life.
And Minding the Gap, closing the evening, offered an absolutely riveting portrait of three skate-boarding friends growing up and grown up in the dying city of Rockford, Il. Compassionate, semi-tragic, and ultimately uplifting, among the three friends depicted was filmmaker Bing Liu. The film screened at Sundance in January, and with its heart-stopping skateboard shots and involving personal stories, it will undoubtedly be screened elsewhere.
Once again, fest director Shira Dubrovner and programmer Paul Sbrizzi created a memorable day for film lovers, 12 hours of rich and rewarding programming.
Post-screening bonus at MLFF: the clear starry skies and moonlight of Mammoth Lakes after a brief rain.
It’s opening night at the Mammoth Lakes Film Festival, and the first night of our daily coverage of this stellar, growing fest. As festival director and founder Shira Dubrovner remarked while introducing the opening night film, “This is the 4th year of the festival…we’re here to stay.” Along with programmer Paul Sbrizzi, Dubrovner has a wide ranging slate on tap for this year’s edition of MLFF — so drive on up to Mammoth and join us. There are tickets to many events still available at the box office.
Tonight’s opener, Damsel, premiered at Sundance in January, and it is a quirky, twisty, fresh delight. Set in the old west, the titular damsel, Penelope, ( a galvanizing Mia Wasikowska) is not in distress and does not need rescuing, but that doesn’t deter her persistent former-beau Samuel Alabaster (Robert Pattinson) from trying, aided and reluctantly abetted by Parson Henry (played to lonely perfection by co-writer and co-director David Zellner, who shares writing and directing credits with his brother Nathan).
Devious twists and turns edge between comedy and tragedy – a lot like real life, but with a touch of ironic whimsy and abrupt bursts of violence. The Zellner siblings share some of these traits with two other related filmmakers, the Coen brothers, but their take is fresh and on point. One of the most delightful aspects of the film is its complete unpredictability, signaled from the very first scene, when an exhausted minister gives up the cloth to Henry, before wandering off into the desert. Henry is as reluctant a preacher as he is an accomplice to Samuel’s “rescue” of Penelope.
The film plays on Western tropes and turns them in a surprisingly feminist direction; it touches on current mores and offers a gentle send-up of classic Westerns. But best of all it is dark and funny, dry and yet edgily sentimental. It’s no small thing to wonder where a film or even a scene is going, feel a jolt of adrenaline-producing surprise, and have that sensation occur repeatedly while watching. Lush and at times eerily symbolic cinematography, plus strong acting all around, make this film a winner, and a nicely outside-the-box opener for MLFF.
Following the screening, an opening night party at the Sierra Nevada Center served up Blue Moon and St. Archer beer, Black Box wine, and munchies including Swedish meatballs and crunchy cheese tots.
With a full day of programming tomorrow, no one needs snow as a reason to head to Mammoth.
A California Historical Landmark and an artistic and architectural treasure, the Forestiere Underground Gardens is a miracle of folk art.
Akin to the Watts Towers and Nitwit Ridge, it is the vision of a man who could craft anything, and didn’t let a little problem like hard and unyielding soil destroy his vision of a California Eden.
An hour long tour takes visitors through the well-preserved tunnels and caves created by Baldassare Forestiere, a Sicillian immigrant. His underground rooms, courtyards, and passages include producing fruit trees and vines some now 90 years old.
Always a digger, Forestiere immigrated first to New York City where he excavated subway tunnels. He moved west in search of his dream of a perfect climate and a rich orchard; first to Orange County, then to Fresno, where he bought 80 acres for what was then $80 in the early 1900s. But the land he purchased was hard as rock, too difficult to break through the hard pan surface to plant, particularly in weather that in the summer could soar to 120 degrees.
So instead, he dug below, far below, creating an underground haven similar in temperature and construction to large wine cellars or catacombs. His dream evolved: he decided he wanted to create an underground resort with 50 rooms.
He dug for over 30 years; but his dream was unrealized in full: after surgery for a hernia he contracted pneumonia and passed away. His brother Giuseppe knew what the property meant to his brother and saved ten acres from development, opening it to tours and the public.
Today, viewers can explore the ballroom where a terrazzo floor was laid; Baldassare Forestiere‘s ingenious water piping and bathtub, his irrigation for underground fruit trees that are still thriving, his kitchen, with clever nooks and crannies, mosaic decorative work, and more.
It’s a wonderful place, full of smart touches from rotating cabinets to expandable tables; a glassed in pond that could be viewed from a lower level of the caverns and on the floor above.
Giuseppe’s now-80 year old son Rick and his children still work on preserving the gardens, and the rather magical memories Rick has of sleepovers at his uncle’s place have been passed through the generations.
It may not have become a luxury underground hotel, but it is a special luxury to visit the place, to see a wonderfully realized artistic vision. Think of it as installation art that has reached the highest pinnacle of success; something to be lived in, treasured, and preserved.
“To make something with a lot of money, that is easy; but to make something out of nothing – now that is really something.”
— BALDASSARE FORESTIERE
You want to see this brilliant space, it is art and architecture and crazy vision and faith realized all at once. Faith possibly above all.
Just get on the 99 and go. The tours are warmly given, the gift shop may have fruit available from Forestiere’s own trees.
On you way back to LA, stop at a Basque restaurant in Bakersfield and eat an inexpensive feast, and raise a glass of beer or wine in a toast to Forestiere – and the power of persistence, and the strength of a dream.
