SxSW 2021 Continues From Documentary to Midnighters

Posted on by Diversions LA

SXSW 2021 online continued to offer a rich and varied platform as the week unspooled. While some films didn’t work for me, uniformly all of them were well-worth viewing.

Case in point was Mei Markino’s Inbetween Girl. The bittersweet coming-of-age-the-hard-way story crammed a lot into its run time, with teen Angie Chen indulging in secret hooking-up with an unfaithful boyfriend. Her burgeoning friendship with the boy’s main squeeze was the most interesting part of the well-acted, angsty film; the boy/girl fling just didn’t compel. Touching on racial topics and stereotypes enriched the story, Markino will do much more.

The conflicts of gentrification and the lives of real, gritty, down-on-their-luck residents resonates in director Liz Lambert’s Through the Plexi-Glass: The Last Days of the San Jose. Both as a character study and the history of a neighborhood, the story took turns and twists. Fascinating and raw.

While Disintegration Loops bore marks of a low-budget production (cue the grainy zoom images), it was nonetheless quite wonderful in revealing the composer behind a haunting and beautiful piece of “found” looped music. Director David Wexler merges interviews and 9/11 footage with filming of New York City under early pandemic lockdown, introducing viewers to composer William Basinski in the process. Basinski’s work received widespread recognition when the music was presented as an elegy to 9/11. I wanted it to last longer.

Violet, from director/screenwriter Justine Bateman, was literally the only film viewed in the festival that did not grab me in one way or another. Boasting a full cast of well known’s, including lead Olivia Munn, the thin story centered on a film-development executive trying to overcome an abusive childhood that resulted in her own negative guiding voice. Perhaps in another, less reverentially meta work setting, I might’ve cared. Some.

Witch Hunt, on the other hand, was an extremely smart use of the horror genre to confront racism.

Director and screenwriter Elle Callahan crafted a nail-biting horror thriller in an America where witches are not only real, they’re outlawed, and the witch-hunting version of ICE persecutes them. Safe territory is Mexico, but can a sheltered teen make it there? And will America ever change? Definitely could not look away at the hope we can burn racism at the stake.

Oh no, not a pandemic comedy! Too soon? Apparently not. Recovery is nothing if not zany fun, with a number of genuine laugh-out-loud moments. Directors Mallory Everton and Stephen Meek, along with screenwriters Whitney Call and Mallory Everton, lead viewers on two sisters’ wild journey to “recover” their grandmother from a nursing home experiencing a COVID outbreak. We could all use a dose of smart n’ silly about now.

The Fallout is an absolute wow. Justifiably the jury pick for a Narrative Feature win, the film had me dissolved in tears and hurting with anger.

Perfectly acted high school drama about the aftermath of a school shooting, writer/director and co-star Megan Park focuses on high schooler Vada and her relationships with her family, friends and future. A film that ached to be made, its powerful and resonant. Park scores high on all counts.

The documentary Lily Topples the World introduces us to the cool and successful world of a domino artist. Director Jeremy Workman tackles another jury award winner with the insightful story of 20-year-old Lily Hevesh, the only woman in her field. While this was an excellent character study, the documentary that blew me away – was the story of 25-year-old Reality Winner.

Director Sonia Kennebeck does a riveting job of exposing the perfidy of the FBI and truth about the young woman who disclosed one document about Russian election interference to the media in the United States vs. Reality Winner. Persecuted by the Trump administration, this armed service veteran and down-home Texas girl has received one bum rap. Here’s hoping President Biden pardons her, and the film is widely viewed; Kennebeck does stellar work on a do-not-miss story.

I’m Fine (Thanks for Asking) a strong concept and well-performed lead can’t save Kelley Kali and Angelique Molina’s film about a beleaguered single mom and young widow forced to live in a tent with her young daughter. I was rooting for them, but amateurish supporting performances and a repetitive, rather sluggish storyline derailed the power of what could’ve been a truly moving film about being houseless in Los Angeles.

Shorts

Above, Joanne is Dead

Sisters – Director and writer Jess Brunetto expertly explores a tense relationship between two estranged sisters with wit and a perfect third-act twist. Lots of story packed in a small package, the film expertly strides the line between funny and poignant.

Joanne is Dead – I loved the black comedy of this film about one wicked old spy in a nursing home. Director, writer and co-star Brian Sacca does not fail to surprise.

O Black Hole – Animated and adventurous, this didn’t grab me, but it is visually lovely and uniquely spiritual. Renee Zhan’s Jury prize winner touches on deep subjects such as the passage of time, singularity, and loneliness.

Puss – Okay, so it’s odd, to say the least, but ultimately fun; the story of a pandemic-cloistered woman seeking a booty call with a kitty at home definitely made me laugh. Writer/director Leigh Shore has shaped an edgy, clever, and enjoyable Midnight Short.

Significant Other – taut and well-done, this super-short horror tale gives us a red orb throbbing away in the madness of late night. Wonderfully creepy, writer/director Quinn George knows how fashion one weird glow.

A Really Dark Comedy – Absolutely loved this funny and quirky tale crafted by Texas High School filmmakers about a lovelorn boy, a potential prom date, and a dog in the wrong place at the wrong time. Director Manasi Ughadmathe and writer Jackson Coates have done an awesome job, one which should predict a bright film future.

Overall verdict on SXSW 2021? Not only was it an often outstanding film festival, I just wish I had more time to explore other programming sections. A festival I will not miss, pandemic or no pandemic, this was a deep breath of fresh and intelligent filmmaking.

  • Genie Davis; photos courtesy SXSW

South by Southwest 2021: SXSW is Innovative as Ever

Posted on by Diversions LA

SXSW2021 is my fourth virtual film festival within the last year, but the platform has many offerings beyond film, although that is the section of the festival we’ll be focusing on here. VR, comedy, music, education are all major elements of South by Southwest online, but with a short run of 5 days, film comes first.

Here are the first capsule reviews of films I’ve viewed so far, and which for the most part receive a consistent thumbs-up here. Some of my favorites were in the Documentary and Midnighters sections, but there were exceptional exceptions to that rule as well.

Here Before, from director and screenwriter Stacey Gregg fooled me. I was expecting a straight up horror premise, and instead received a really riveting psychological thriller touching on grief, motherhood, and marital fidelity. Shot in Belfast, the U.K. production stars a compelling Andrea Riseborough, and is filled with a compelling, harrowing tension. Possibilities from possession to madness swirl, and if the conclusion is slightly more prosaic than that, it does little to discredit the powerful and absorbing film that comes before. With riveting and pitch perfect performances, the film remains one of my favorites.


Our Father is quintessentially American, in both its sense of aimlessness, pressing money matters, and family strife. The turbulent relationship of two estranged sisters, Beta and Zelda is temporarily rebonded as the pair defy the certainty of their more estranged stepmother and her three sons, and go in search of their missing uncle, mentioned in their late father’s will. The story is elusive at times, but director/writer Bradley Grant Smith sets an absorbing and poignant mood that hurts, haunts, and often amuses. Strong cast, too.

The End of Us is another of those “my relationship in pandemic lockdown” movies that keep cropping up, and that I inexplicably keep watching, hoping one will offer profound insight. That said, while this one does not, director/writers Henry Loevner and Steven Kanter manage to create a film this is often charming, and often sweet, in which a broken-up couple must remain together yet negotiate their own way through the uncharted territory of a pandemic lockdown, both together and apart. A much better film than the bigger star-powered WB-film Lockdown that came before it, here, there were strong moments and waves of good humor popping up that kept me watching.

Kid Candidate is a quite wonderful documentary about a 24 year old musician and his run for city council in Amarillo, Texas. As smart and winning as its upstart subject, director Jasmine Stodel creates a surprisingly intimate portrait of an honest and passionate young man. The corruptness of our money-driven political process is the B-story, and that resonates too. Having once run for local school board and finding even that supposedly not-so-partisan office overrun with moneyed candidates, this one was a no-brainer for me to watch, and a wonderful and heartfelt character study, too.

If Kid Candidate was winningly sweet, The Oxy Kingpins is anything but. A harrowing expose, this documentary feature from skilled director Brendan FitzGerald is an astonishing and horrifying story of the ways in which a network of pharmaceutical “leaders” engaged in criminal behavior. And doubtlessly they still do, as they remain out of jail despite their operation and perpetration of the opioid crisis in America. Drug dealers: jailed. Addicts: jailed. Corporate criminals: free to continue wreaking havoc – isn’t that the American way? Devastating and important, this is simply a must-see.

I really was rooting for the narrative feature Ludi, which was a sweet story of a hard-working nurse as she struggles to survive her American Dream/Nightmare of money needs and long hours. The problem for me was that the set-up and twist to the bonding between Ludi and her elderly overnight client was easily predicted; and the curmudgeon she wins over a frustrating mess. Touching moments and a winning lead performance do work, unfortunately for me the film as a whole did not. Director Edson Jean and screenwriters Edson Jean and Joshua Jean-Baptiste doubtlessly have more powerful projects ahead.

Alien on Stage is a documentary that puts a smile on your face and keeps it spreading. I loved this U.K. film from director/producers Danielle Kummer and Lucy Harvey. Sweet, fresh, surprising, the film documents an amateur theatrical production of Ridley Scott’s film Alien. While not a hit in the small community its initially staged, the bus drivers and their friends involved in the production nonetheless hit the big time with an offer to perform the saga in London’s West End. It’s a pure delight, and I defy you to find one better.


Broadcast Signal Intrusion is a fascinating, narrative dark horror, one ultimately as mysterious when it concludes as when it began. Eerie pirate broadcasts interrupt programming and women – including the video editor/protagonist’s girl friend – disappear. We follow a maze of breadcrumb trails into the heart of darkness and emerge somewhat dazed. I couldn’t stop watching, and if the sum isn’t quite as great as its parts, this was still a terrific, taut film from director Jacob Gentry and screenwriters Phil Drinkwater and Tim Woodall.

Director/Screenwriter: Mickey Keating weaves a richly creepy spell with Offseason, in which a daughter must visit a shuttered town, ostensibly in the Florida Keys, to deal with vandalism to her mother’s grave. But the desecration is merely a lure, as the devil has cast his own bargain with the town’s inhabitants and descendants, and a night of terror begins. Despite a conclusion that veers toward horror convention, it’s a grand nail-biter, with shades of The Shining, Preacher and Cape Fear mixed together. An atmospheric and fun horror ride.

Shorts

Still from The Moogai

Marvin’s Never Had Coffee Before is a witty take on trying to fit in and find friendship during the pandemic. Brief and sharp, can a cup of coffee really create a bonding experience among co-workers? Director Andrew Carter and screenwriters Carter and Kahlil Maskati think it can indeed. A fun little brew.

The Mohel is somber and sweet, as director and screenwriter Charles Wahl explores the tension from family convention and financial stress after the birth of their first born son. Celebrating a traditional circumcision ceremony with the help of a renowned Mohel, questions of faith and reverence arise. Artful and moving.

The Other Morgan invites us to meet two sisters, one whom knew nothing about the other, but who both share the same name. Add in one beloved and deceased father, life choices and the search for happiness. Mix these elements together and director/writer Alison Rich makes some delightful and laugh-out-loud funny.

Sophie and the Baron is a lovely documentary short about art and collaboration. Director Alexandria Jackson depicts the friendship and sharing between photographer Baron Wolman and contemporary artist Sophie Kipner, whose freehand drawing style is as unique as Wolman’s iconic Woodstock-era images. Gentle and touching, the story is as much about the renewing spirit of friendship as art.

From Australia, director/screenwriter Jon Bell crafts a terrifying tale of Aboriginal horror in The Moogai, which is a perfect little bundle of terror for the parents of a newborn child. Can’t wait for Bell’s first feature. A deserved winner in the jury’s short horror narrative category.

Special Screening

Filmmakers answer questions at the SXSW Film Festival Premiere of “Tom Petty Somewhere You Feel Free” during SXSW Online on March 17, 2021.

Director Mary Wharton crafts an engaging archive of Tom Petty at work on his 1994 release, Wildflowers, in the archival documentary Somewhere You Feel Free. The newly found footage and interviews from the making of this album is moving and deeply personal; I wanted to hear more of the music, but that’s me. If you’re a Petty fan it’s a loving must-see.

Guess what? More reviews coming up including other stellar docs and spine-chilling horror plus a devastating narrative feature, too.

  • Genie Davis; photos courtesy SXSW Online 2021

The Film Party is Over: Final Day of Virtual 2021 Sundance Film Festival

Posted on by Diversions LA

We packed in every film we could in the final hours of Sundance 2021 with a variety of award winners in the mix. Here are the hits and misses.

Hits:

Sabaya is a pure wow of a documentary with unbelievable imbedded footage from the harrowing rescues of kidnapped Yazidi girls from the hands of the Daesh terrorists, who abused and sold them as sex slaves. Brave, poignant, riveting, Hogir Hirori’s film is a powerhouse, more than deserving of the World Cinema Documentary Award for directing.

Luzzu: Winner of a Special Jury Award for acting. Filmed and set in Malta, which has not had an entry at Sundance previously, director Alex Camilleri’s debut project tells the story of Jesmark, a fisherman and new father, as he tries to earn a living in a market controlled by EU regulations. Giving up the open sea, his passion, is a sacrifice – and the film aches with longing for a no longer viable way of life.

The World to Come: From the festival’s Spotlight selections, this well-acted drama of thwarted lesbian love is moving, aesthetically deliberate, and absorbing. Set in the frontier era, the rugged setting and sense of loss is punctuated by bursts of too-short pleasure. Mona Fastvold’s short-story-based film is quietly tragic and extremely well acted, but does not break any new ground.

Cusp: Some things never change? Women are still prey to a patriarchal society, this one in modern day Texas. Winner of the special jury award for emerging filmmaker, this intimate documentary follows a summer in the lives of teens Autumn, Brittney, and Aaloni and their families.  The directors, Parker Hill and Isabel Bethencourt, offer an absorbing and deeply intimate view of the girls as they navigate fraught family lives and the older boys they date and party with, as well as a history of abuse. Their fast food eating and beer drinking social life is quite a contrast with the young women in Sabaya, and yet there are some parallels.

Documentary top prize winner Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s Summer Of Soul (…Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised) is a joyous compilation packed with terrific music, presenting primarily archival material about the Harlem Cultural Festival of 1969, forgotten amid the Woodstock hype from the same year, and very likely due to systemic racism. The festival was not just a musical event, it was truly a celebration of black culture, and a galvanizing social event. Current-time interviews and political commentary contribute to a balanced, smart film.

Misses:

On the Count of Three, award recipient for screenwriting, just didn’t work for me. The story of two suicidal friends veered through a roller coaster of a day; the beginning of which was far more compelling than its conclusion. Darkly comic, director Jerrod Carmichael’s film has its moments, but ultimately went nowhere.

Already sold to Magnolia, the uniquely animated Cryptozoo gives us a fanatical animal world and some awesome creatures, but not much else. Random violence from the beginning was off-putting. Dash Shaw’s film was four years in the making, and certainly lovely to look at, but similar to the old saying about black olives, probably just not to everyone’s taste – at least not to mine.

And that’s a wrap for Sundance 2021, virtual edition, where pandemic life, racial inequality, and a color palette of pink (The Pink Cloud, Strawberry Mansions, Blazing World, and Eight for Silver all exhibited memorable moments awash in this shade) stood out thematically. 

  • Genie Davis; photos provided by Sundance Institute

Monday and Tuesday in the Land of Film – Sundance Film Festival Heads to a Close

Posted on by Diversions LA

Monday, Monday – and Tuesday – I managed to take in ten films, including an outstanding documentary and an ultra-low-budget tale of teen angst.

Misha and the Wolves is nothing if not fascinating, particularly when you poise this story of delusion/deception against the last four years of American politics. Yes, there’s a sucker born every minute, particularly alluring for those who listen to a story the teller obviously believes is completely true. Misha Defonseca tells a winningly tall tale of living with wolves while on the run from Nazis, one she told in a book published by a small publisher who longed for more attention, and got it – but not in the way she imagined. With the help of genealogists and a journalist, the truth comes out – one I won’t reveal here, but suffice to say Misha’s story is just as unbelievable as it appears to be. They hype and the hoax is just one element in a compelling film.

Carlson Young directs and stars in The Blazing World, a stunning visual achievement dealing with the trauma of loss, the potency of the mind to control the narrative of the soul, and peripherally, the acceptance of a dysfunctional family leading to but not actually to blame for a horrific tragedy. In a search for her sister – lost to death by drowning or sucked into a black portal of demons, take your pick – Margaret traverses a series of dream worlds that leads to her own ultimate redemption. An exceptional film even more so considering its low-budget inclusion in the NEXT portion of the festival, it’s also a thought-provoking one, and one that thoroughly burrows into the viewer’s own psyche.

Eight for Silver is an elegant, much more vast production, a werewolf story also hinging on family guilt, but in a very different fashion. Writer-director Sean Ellis spins a classic Victorian take on the werewolf legend, with Boyd Holbrook doing a strong turn as a pathologist called in to uncover just what is going on in a dank English forest where slaughters of gypsies and guttings by werewolf are visceral and bloody. Curses and silver bullets and settings work well, but the pace was a bit slow given the subject; and the unexplored sexual frustration in the Laurent family between younger, pretty Isabelle and harsh older husband Seamus sat unresolved to the side. For the genre, it’s in need of a bit more sex appeal and less slowly paced acts of evisceration.

I loved Jockey – heartfelt, warm, small but shining character study. I note that this is the type of film I love to see and see too little of – a man has given his life to his passion, literally and emotionally. What does it feel like when that life is about to fade away? A gem of a film focused on the racetrack’s surrogate “family life,” versus the act of winning a race, it’s moving and graceful. Writer-director Clint Bentley is himself the son of a jockey, and he knows his setting as well as a carefully-fitted pair of riding boots. Clifton Collins Jr. and Molly Parker as long-time friends and jockey/trainer are riveting, as is Moises Arias as the younger man at the track. Already purchased by Sony, this is a film well-worth viewing.

As to Mayday – hmm. Quite a tour de force of a fever dream of feminism, director Karen Cinnore’s film ultimately backs away from what it spent most of its running time espousing, a kind of benevolent Lord of the Flies crossed with Peter Pan and World War II be tween the sexes all mashed up with perhaps the Odyssey, as female “sirens” lure men to their island to slaughter them. Ana (Mia Goth), a waitress often victimized at work and put-upon by life, but with a loving boyfriend and friendly pastry chef in her corner, is sucked through a portal of sorts into some sort of after-life or maybe just a dream about another world. The mind-altering event occurs after a weather-induced crisis causes a major electric shock that temporarily pulls her in to this women’s-world afterlife. As the ending skews conventionally on, the film hasn’t really anywhere interesting to go after all, but between underwater choreography and female takes on male-wartime archetypes, it has visual fun circling back, anyhow.

Tuesday served up a fun First Date – an action comedy that includes plenty of mayhem on sweet Mike’s (Tyson Brown) first date with his crush Kelsey (Shelby Duclos). The crazy comedic chaos is all due to the last minute purchase of an ancient car with more of a history than he could possibly imagine. While one unnecessary bystander’s death seems a step too far, for the most part this is a super fun ride that has laughs and gun play and happy kisses. Directing/writing team Manuel Crosby and Darren Knapp have crafted a fully enjoyable film that Jean Luc Goddard would enjoy, as it follows his cinematic advice that “All you need for a movie is a gun and a girl.” First Date has both.

What to make of We’re All Going to the World’s Fair? Well, I’m not entirely sure. Pre-film, the director warns viewers to put their phones in another room not to be tempted to browse them during the film’s slower sections, unfortunately his advice and the film itself made me think the unthinkable – should I turn my phone back on? What are my friends up to? Can I get the vaccine yet? You really don’t want to suggest this to audiences about to see this film. I hate to dunk on something so heartfelt too hard, and it does contain some nice visuals on a micro-budget, in an essential one-hander of a coming-of-age story (Anna Cobb plays Casey with intensity) which switches to another viewpoint only for its after-thought of an ending, and a twist that seems to be saying that what is most real is really in your mind. Maybe. Jane Schoenbrun’s highly personal film was just not something I found engaging, although its semi-referral to “creepy pasta” online events, and trans identity – a unique combination – have merit.

And in Taming the Garden, Salome Jashi’s documentary depicts the systematic uprooting and transport of ancient trees from small communities in rural Georgia to a wealthy buyer’s private gardens. A visceral and intensely visual example of the casual cruelty of those who can afford to literally buy Eden, this quiet film speaks for itself about the greed that most devastates this planet.

Hive, winner of both audience and jury prize, as well as directorial award for World Dramatic film, tells a true story packed with poignant emotion. While I would’ve selected a different film in this category (The Pink Cloud from Brazil, and One for the Road, from Thailand, which received a special jury prize for Creative Vision, would’ve certainly been my top picks here) it’s undeniably a powerful film. Based on the true story of the Fahrije Hoti, Blerta Basholli’s quietly passionate film examines the life of a woman overcoming extreme sexism as well as the tragic aftermath of the loss of her husband and home to the Yugoslavian civil war. Offering both an intimate look at a rural community in Kosovo and a widow’s life and need for financial survival, the film reveals Fahrije Hoti’s (Yllka Gashi) struggle to rise above enormous odds and create a burgeoning business making homemade avjar, a roasted red pepper chutney, with the help of other women she rallies in her community.

Life in a Day 2020 is the current iteration of documentary director Kevin Macdonald’s crowd-sourced project of personal experiences. A compilation of some 320,000 video clips sent from 192 countries, this year’s project depicts life on July 25th, 2020. I wanted to love this, but I found it unsatisfying; perhaps my joy at the 2010 version, viewed at the Sundance festival live, was in part fueled by a crowd experience, just as the film’s components were crowdsourced. Or perhaps it was a better-told tale. At any rate, this felt strangely lacking in both cohesion and variety – where was Rome, New York, Hawaii, Hong Kong, the Saharan desert? It spent a lot of time in and around Los Angeles (easily recognizable to a resident), and in various parts of Asia. And in those settings – where were gig workers delivering weed and Amazon packages; closed small businesses; doctors and nurses battling the pandemic? While some of the more compelling extended clips were moving stories, as a whole, it just felt disjointed.

Tomorrow we’ll pick up some of the prize winners this year that were missed, and coming up in the weeks ahead will be a summary of highlights from and comparisons and contrasts in the Sundance Film Festival, Dances with Films, and the Mammoth Lakes Film Festival, all of which I attended virtually rather than IRL this year.

  • Genie Davis; photos courtesy of Sundance Institute