MLFF

The first full day of film programming at the 2019 iteration of the Mammoth Lakes Film Festival kicked off with two strong shorts programs, included a brilliant documentary, and moved on to coming of age film that accented feminism and fantastical situations.

In the Mojave to Mammoth shorts block, each film was entirely original and dynamic. Among the standouts: Remission, gave a mix of abstract animated images and profoundly moving live action sequences filmed in the desert and mountains. Visually astonishing, creator and artist Paul Kaiser was working to create a personal experience that was relatable to any audience, based on the fact that he served as Special Ops during the Iraq war, was kidnapped, and escaped, and the adjustment traumas he went through on his return. Director John Charter said that “One of the driving forces was that Paul lost contact with his children. We chose different creatures and locations for the film to express a tone of longing and loneliness, and express his dedication at an cost.” Kaiser described using Jungian images to express “my experience in a way that trasnferred my story.” A fine artist by profession, Kaiser paired with Charter make an awe inspiring team in a dazzling tour de force. The film is party of a trilogy, Kaiser says. “We are completely a three part series of shorts dealing beyond the typical tropes.” The second in the series will deal with mental illness, PTSD, and suicide.

With Follow, director Byron Stankus and his half brother, writer Gregor Patsch, along with lead actress Alison Blaize, created a taut suspense thriller about an ominous stalker following a woman on a solo trek along a Sierra Nevada trail. Stankus, who appeared with his lead, related that “We used a DSLR and four lenses in a two day shoot because the first day got rained out. Most scenes were shot in one take.”

It also serves as a cautionary tale about what one posts to social media.

Miracle Desert was a perfectly crafted prize, directed and written by Mark Hosack, the short depicted a supernaturally ominous El Diabolo and a dangerous sheriff both after two buried-in-the-sand hapless semi-criminals.  Hosack first wrote the short as the concluding scene for a feature project 14 years ago. “We almost had the feature up and going, but it fell apart, I had three babies, and then a friend of mine, who produced this film said, let’s do it.” They flew the accomplished actors into Las Vegas but were short on cash. “My friend had $1000 and we pushed it up to $4000 in black jack, but then lost. On our way back, we did it again, and this time we won $8000 and were able to complete the film. Proving it’s easier to get funding in Las Vegas than in Hollywood.” Despite enduring a sandstorm and two and a half days of shooting in a dry lake bed in high heat, the short turned out letter-perfect; Hosack is currently in pre-production on the feature version of the film, and looking for additional completion funds – in our opinion, it will be a worthy investment.

Also in the Mojave to Mammoth line up: Sound of Silence is a doc short about a severely deaf young man overcoming obstacles to become a downhill skier of great skill; Climb-It Change, also a doc, discusses researchers and rock climbers investigating the impact of climate change,; and the emotionally powerful Red and White doc includes astonishing and terrifying first person footage of an actual avalanche in Iran.

In Shorts Block One, Tunnel Ball offered a hilarious tgake by Australian director Davis Jensen about a new school in which everyone but him is an identical person named Brett. “It was based,” Jensen asserts, “on a toxic environment in a private school experience.” He’s currently writing a school-based murder mystery; this was his grad school film.

“Get Up Pierrot,” an animated short from Gurleen Rai and F Anthony Shepherd features an archetypal sad clown. Rai says “It was all intuitive work. Every work we put out a new short episode on Instagram about this character, then base our next episode on audience response.” Shepherd adds “It’s about rejection, and includes Commedia Dell’arte even in the naming of his character.” The images are drawn by Rai on printed paper and scanned into photo shop, Shepherd adds music and shaping.

Enough is Enough is an intense, brilliantly executed dramatic standout from director/writer Jess Kellner. New Jersey-based, Kellner shot on location in the state. “I consider myself a funny guy, but my favorite movies are dramas such as There Will Be Blood. All are very visual and so was this film, which I approached with minimal dialog.” Kellner also cast himself in the film. “My brother DP’d the project, and having him aboard was really helpful. It was a real team effort. My lead actress I cast from seeing her in a play after reaching out for recommendations from theatrical directors and filmmakers.” He shot on an ARI Alexa, on a very low budget, but the short looks like it cost a great deal more to produce. The story of a a woman forced to question her fidelity to a chronically sick husband was compelling and intense; it’s pitch perfect, and left the audience wanting far more.

Nobody Likes You as Much as I Do features the dry with of Jerzy Rose, directing and writing a piece that pushes relationship issues to the fore in the story of a pair of American academics who met up with a former student and worry about her welfare following a drunken night on the town in Paris.

Other films include the surreal One about the deadly dreams of three Iranian boys, which included vivid animated images with live action; and Liberty, from director Faren Humes, an intimate look about the upheaval brought about when redevelopment occurs in the oldest public housing space in Miami.  “That spurred ideas of grief and loss and long standing bonds torn apart. i was trying to materialize that feeling,” Humes says.

Cold Case: Hammarskjold is a riveting documentary from director/writer Mads Brugger intent on solving the mysterious death of U.N. leader Dag Hammarskjold. The case leads him into uncharted territory, uncovering a hidden South African-based organization also responsible for spreading the AIDS epidemic. Fascinating, conspiratorial, funny, and frightening, Brugger’s work here echoes his satirical docu-series and past feature docs which won awards at Sundance in 2010 and 2012. The compelling and terrifying film – while also managing to be amusing – is already scheduled for release through Magnolia pictures.

In competition here at Mammoth Lakes was Knives and Skin, a highly feminist high school coming-of-age story that also involves the horrifying inciting incident of a teen girl’s death,  a passionate young lesbian relationship, and the trauma-induced coping-mechanisms of three hardly-stellar mother figures. Edged in fantasy, vividly costumed and colored, the slightly surreal narrative feature includes brilliant use of acapella 80s and 90s pop hits. Director Jennifer Reeder’s visual palette and exceptional cast wowed, even if the story-line occasionally strained. Undoubtedly, the film will make a cinematic mark.

Actress Marika Englehardt appeared for a q and a with fest programming director Paul Sbrizzi. “Shooting the film was magical and bizarre. Here we were, out in the sticks of Illinois, and there was pink and glitter everywhere.” Citing the director’s “strong vision,” she noted that the film is currently a hit on the festival circuit, and will be soon headed for Toronto. “It had a mystical scale and time line,” she notes. Englehardt herself is currently at work on the Netflix series Easy.

Rounding out a full festival day: a late night happy hour at Mammoth’s craft brew emporium The Public House, where the beers were diverse and the soft pretzel and honey-mustard as tasty as the conversation with filmmakers.

Above, Mammoth Lakes Film Festival director Shira Dubrovner with filmmaker Mark Hosack of Miracle Dreams.

Looking for something extraordinary to do this Memorial Weekend? – Mammoth Lakes Film Festival, now its 5th year, should fit the bill.

• Genie Davis; Photos: Jack Burke