We started Day 4 of the Mammoth Lakes Film Festival with a charming collection of East German cartoons from Defa Studios – circa the 1960s through 1980s. Interesting stop action animation came alive with an on-site narration and commentary by the hilarious Flula Borg.
Borg’s voice-over not only translated but offered pithy commentary such as a repetitive musical jingle defined as “Kanye’s new single,” and the idea of the live narration as “very exciting, like a cold splash of Guinness to the Head.”
A delightful and truly funny experience as well as an insightful look at these classic animated works made a great start to the morning; the audience, including a cadre of young viewers, was thrilled.
Borg, who has several new film projects in the works can also be heard currently voicing characters on the Boss Baby series on Netflix.
A morning producing panel offered insightful tips for filmmakers from a terrific panel that included Emmy-award winning producer Allison Amon; filmmaker and co-founder of Slamdance Film Festival Peter Baxter; Devin DiGonno, director of acquisitions at Lakeshore Entertainment; Academy Award winning producer Rachel Winter; and filmmaker David Zellner, whose film Damsel opened the fest Wednesday night. A buffet brunch included mimosas, veggie quiche, and blueberry blintzes: like everything else about this event, it was both first rate and inclusive.
Top tips included DiGonno asserting that “Filmmakers should not be afraid of hearing the word no. Establish people in your corner. If you’re passionate about what you do, people will come on board.”
Winter said “You have to buy into your own brand. Stay committed, and when things go wrong, go forward.” Zellner noted “We made a feature, we thought that was it, no one saw it – we went back to making shorts, and now we have a feature. The point is that it’s a journey. Just keep going.”
And talk about a journey, the doc White Tide took audiences on a terrific ride, the true story of contractor Rodney Hyden’s attempt at retrieving over $2 million worth of buried cocaine in Puerto Rico – based on a treasure story he’d heard, told by a neighbor in Archer, Fla. The film is as compelling and sleek as a narrative feature, but it’s all true.
Director Theo Love has previously directed the narrative Little Hope Was Arson; a making-of documentary about that film led to his interest in non-fiction film-making. “All the people wanted to be in the movie,” Love said, explaining some of the rich interviews and reenactments in the film. “We sought out a true story and told it.” The events in the film transpired in 2012; Love, producer Bryan Storkel, and crew shot and edited from last September to February of this year; the film premiered at Tribeca Film Festival earlier this year, and had its west coast premiere at MLFF. White Tide has received a distribution deal; look for it.
We promised no spoilers, so you’ll have to see for yourself what a wild and wonderful ride this film is – which so far is one of our very favorites in the festival. A more extended review of our top picks will run on this space next week, expect White Tide to be one of these.
Next up, a narrative feature from Norway, Vidar the Vampire. Both poignant, comic, and horrifying, this vampire is “pathetic,” as actor and co-producer Brigt Skrettingland explained of director Thomas Aske Berg’s project. The film skewers the domination of organized religion, therapy, and the vampire genre itself. Skrettingland portrays a rather malevolent Jesus in the film, and related that he was brought on board because “Thomas said I looked 50% like Jesus and 50% like the devil.” The film took 7 years to complete, predicated on cast and crew schedules; it mutated from what was originally conceived to be a comic mockumentary about a vampire to something darker and sadder, but still laced with potent humor. Berg is also the star of the film, and Skrettingland said “He always wanted to play a vampire, but there are no such movies in Finland. So he wrote his own. It’s about loneliness and power and abuse and bullying,” he summed up. Fresh and well-conceived, this is a vampire with a resounding bite. The short accompanying this feature, Clean Blood, was a horror and religion laced riff on a “fight I had with my sister over who made the mashed potatoes,” director Jordan Michael explained.
And of the red-washed ominous images, he said: “The aesthetic was old, disposable photos.”
Academy award winning actress – and icon – Melissa Leo was the recipient of the Mammoth Lake Film Festival’s Sierra Spirit Award this year. Following a screening of the gut-wrenching Frozen River, the story of a mother trying to hold her family together, Native American tribal poverty, and human trafficking; Leo sat on stage to discuss her work with MLFF founder and festival director Shira Dubrovner.
As Dubrovner said “Melissa Leo is unique in her ability to be her characters. She doesn’t enact the parts, she inhabits the people she portrays.” Leo related that her career has followed this trajectory: “The beginning is a lot like the middle and now — I never pick and choose my roles. I take the work that is handed to me,” she said.
Leo began her professional career with a year stint on ABC Daytime’s All My Children; receiving Oscar nominations and an Oscar win has made little difference to the actress.
“The honor of winning an Oscar is unspeakable, the fact that my peers chose me. Work-wise the only real difference is that there is an expectation now.” Leo stated that “It’s hard being a woman in film. There aren’t enough roles for women to being with … to take control of the industry we as women have to start by being nicer to each other.” Asked what kind of role she’s currently seeking out, she insisted “The next one.” Leo described the experience of working with first-time feature director Courtney Hunt on Frozen River as “brilliant.” Hunt, Leo, and film co-star Misty Upham had made a short together as a calling card to “entice people to produce the film” three years before the feature’s production began. The budget for the 2008 release – hard to believe with the incredible images on-screen- was just $250,000 and Leo received $100.00 per day for her work. “What Courtney Hunt did with this movie was write two women incredible roles.” Leo said she felt very “moved” watching the film again herself for the first time in years. “Misty Upton is now deceased, and her death is a real Native American issue. Her body was found in a gully she’d fallen into weeks before; no one had devoted the resources to look for her. She was one of the finest actresses I’ve ever worked with.”
And last but not least, an after-party at Mammoth Lakes local hangout Rafters served up Blue Moon and Saint Archer brews as well as Black Box wine, and offered a chance to mingle with filmmakers and other fest attendees.
There’s one more day ahead: what are you doing with the last half of your Memorial Weekend?
- Genie Davis; photos: Jack Burke