The closing day of the Mammoth Lakes Film Festival brought exciting documentary shorts, an exhilarating narrative feature, a haunting international selection, and a tear-jerker of a doc feature.
Let’s dive in:
Documentary shorts included a wide range of riveting stories. In Do Not Pass Go, investigative filmmaker Cullen Hoback – who was here last year with a feature length doc, What Lies Upstream, which tackled political corruption and water pollution, is back with a battle between telecommunications monopolies and a small North Carolina town’s right to build their own local, high-speed fiber network. The film is informative, revealing, and a call to political action. Hoback said “I picked the town of Wilson for this story because the high speed internet established by the town revitalized it.” As to the political corruption inherent in the support of telecom monopolies, Hoback remarked “North Carolina is the cheapest state to ‘buy’ a state representative. Lobbyists know it costs $18,000. Kentucky and West Virginia are the next least expensive.” Next up for Hoback will be a film exploring the world of cryptocurrency.
Big Paradise was a beautiful tribute to Robert Kidney, a working musician in the Kent/Akron, Ohio area, which is on the edge of urban decay. As vital as Kidney’s music is, the town itself is on the skids. Director JP Olsen said “Back in the day, when I was a kid, I used to sneak in to hear the band play. Bob had no idea I was so into his music.” Of the region, Olsen says “A lot of internalized art comes out of the area that remains unknown outside it. Two members of Devo were in Bob’s band, and Chrissy Hyndes’ brother is their sax player.” Olsen is now working on a film featuring his son’s alter ego – a character he created and performs free-form in New York.
David and the Kingdom, from directors Brian Paccione and Woodrow Travers, is an intimate and harrowing look at David Lawrence, a small-town Vermont legend for his care of abandoned wildlife and a past as a renowned hunter. “The film is about interspecies relationships,” Paccione related. “What I liked about this film is that you can’t quite figure out a person, or why they do what they do, and the way that humans consistentely intervene in nature, for good and bad. ” He added that “David and I had an intimacy from the moment we met, an understanding. He got what we were doing and he felt pretty safe. ” Also a part of the shorts block were a compelling look at San Francisco’s 911 dispatchers, in The Shift, and a celebration of the personal journey of filmmaker Yamilk Rodriguez’ grandmother in A Gift for a Centenarian.
Fest director Shira Dubrovner with producer, writer, cast members from Rock Steady Row, above.
And now for the rock part of the day: Rock Steady Row is a vibrant, super fun film about a stolen bike ring at the titular college campus. Fallen on hard times, two rival fraternities operate a bike stealing ring that also lines the pockets of a corrupt university president. Toss in hilariously well choreographed fight scenes, a terrific location amid abandoned buildings, brilliant cartoon-style graphics, and a killer score, and you have a movie that’s fresh, funny, and fast paced. Inspired in part by Fistful of Dollars and, of all films, The Apartment, writer Bomani J. Story and director Trevor Stevens created a funny and trenchant take on college life. According to Story, “I got my bike stolen in colege, and I was highly upset. So I invented a scenario like this in my head. And from that, this movie started. Trevor wanted to make a western in a college setting,” he explaind – and a collaborative project among Chapman and USC grads resulted in this terrific and clever film.
A short, Nowhere Now, proceeded Rock Steady Row, Italian director Gabriel Bagnaschi’s take a tought neighborhood in Glaswgow, Scotland. Bagnaschi asserted that Glasgow is “the murder capital of Europe with stabbings.” The film looks at a break-dancing crew and a street gang – and their definite non-bonding. in an interesting intercultural mix.
Tower, A Bright Day is a spooky, surreal, and fear-filled look at a dysfunctional family, religion, and what could just be judgement day. The Polish film sends shivers, as two reunited sisters almost bond, and the world may just be ending. Writer director Jagoda Szeic creates a reality-grounded film with overtones of horror and mysticism that will leave viewrs talking about this first feature film.
Last up: Love, Gilda, a moving, beautiful tribute to late comedienne and actress Gilda Radner. The often-funny film shares her own words and interviews with those who knew and loved her. Doc director Lisa D’Apolito has created a fitting memorial that definitely brought out the handkerchiefs.
Next up: MLFF Awards. Did we see many of the winners? Yes, we did.
- Genie Davis; photos: Jack Burke; film stills courtesy of productions