Documentary Insider

People keep asking me why I went home today. I mean, if I stayed I could have gone to to the Award Ceremony. Well, I assumed I would be able to watch it on TV as I have in past years. But after extensive searching it seems the show is not being televised this year. What’s up with that!?

This is the ninth in a series of Sundance Film Festival entries.

I go home Friday, and it’s a good thing too since I’m running out of sweaters, socks and patience. Thursday was a crazy shuttle fiasco. We were on the shuttle, we were off the shuttle, we were on the shuttle, we were off the shuttle. It was…sort of a nightmare.

Out the condo door on the way to the shuttle…as much at the shuttles made me wacko this year, you sure can’t beat the view.

After a frustrating day I went out to a leisurely dinner with some friends and eventually saw one last movie, at midnight, In the Pit by Juan Carlos Rulfo. The documentary tells the story of a second level being built on top of an already existing freeway in Mexico. It is beautifully shot on Super 16, 35 and DV and includes time lapse and music that deserves its own article written about it. The music is completely composed of 36 sampled construction sounds by Leo Heiblum and when it is strung together through the film it sings of hope, movement and change.

On the way out I noticed the poster for In the Pit stuck up in the lobby of the Holiday Village with the caption “the pit is the pre-text, what we encounter is life.” Too too true. The film uses the freeway as a backdrop to explore the lives and attitudes of the people building it.

I was so glad to see one more movie. After all, I only saw 11 films and the shorts program this year. Day 9 is a travel day. I’ll be home breathing a sigh of relief.

This is the eighth in a series of Sundance Film Festival entries.

When I read in the program that there was a documentary about global warming starring and produced by former future president of the United States Al Gore I figured The Inconvenient Truth was the movie for me. And really if you have to make a movie with Al Gore doing a lecture then it couldn’t have been done more gracefully and powerfully than this. Filmmaker Davis Guggenheim’s foray into the world of global warming is stunning. It starts out simply enough with Al Gore’s voice warming the audience with a geniusly directed voice over. Sure, the film’s not an easy sell, but when you get into it it’s actually quite moving (I got misty) and even more anger inducing than Who Killed the Electric Car?. The only thing I regret is seeing it at the press screening. At the public screenings Al Gore was on hand for the Q&A session following the film.

The festival has these press and filmmaker functions. They are designed to give press people an opportunity to meet casually with filmmakers they want to cover or interview. There was plenty of food and not too many people. I ended up at a table with several journalists snacking and drinking and talking about movies and hair removal(!). And, a researcher from Harvard interviewed me for a study they are doing about digital media. It was weird.

Just when you thought there couldn’t be a party presented by more organizations came the Withoutabox/Shorts Program 3/Silverlake Film Festival/Filmmaker’s Alliance party at the Queer Lounge. It was loud, but I met some cool people. I couldn’t stay long though, had to make it back to the Yarrow to see Paul Rachman’s punk rock doc American Hardcore.

I was so tired when I left the screening I thought I was going to go into meltdown mode. Luckily I was brought out of my Sundance rundown funk by a perky friend who somehow (she worked her magic) scored us a ride in an Official Festival Vehicle. Randal, our driver, told us how The Edge, Glenn Close and Kirby Dick had all sat where our butts now were. I have to say, the Volkswagen was luxurious and with a retail sticker price of $80,000 it had better be. Randal drove us straight up Main Street and even got out in the snow and opened our doors for us right in front of Star Bar where we also received VIP treatment.

Randal drops us off at the top of Main Street.

The party for American Hardcore was one of the best of the festival. DOA played and the Circle Jerks closed out the night. It was loud and smoky, but the sound and the crowd were superb. DOA sounded just as relevant as ever. And on the way out we all got gift bags (primarily sponsored by VANS and Avid Express) with gift certificates to create our own custom old school VANS.

DOA rocks the Star Bar at the American Hardcore party.

Gifts in hand we headed out into the cold (it was really snowing now!) and down Main Street to the IFC Films party for Kirby Dick’s new one This Film is Not Yet Rated. After we finagled our way in, I threw myself back into meet and greet mode. The party was loud, but not too packed. And it was back at the Heineken Green Room, so there was sushi! Around 2:15 in the morning I trudged out into the snow and caught a taxi back to my condo. I thought my day would conclude quietly with me writing this blog entry and checking my email, but before I could get anything out I heard what sounded like a football team rushing through the front door. Upon further inspection I found two condo-mates and two film festival programmers getting ready to jump into the Jacuzzi. We stayed up late chatting with Paul Sturtz (True/False Film Festival) about the documentary Oscar race, festival programming, and naturally every Sundance documentary that we could think of. As the time clicked by I realized that Day 8 had started before I even went to bed.

This is the seventh in a series of Sundance Film Festival entries.

I always want to see films that change my worldview, make me think; films that make me want to do something. Who Killed the Electric Car? begins as a simple, dull, educational film about GM’s mid-nineties answer to nonpolluting vehicles, the stylish and electric EV1. But as the film goes on filmmaker Chris Paine’s investigation into the development, recall and consequent demolition of these cars is 100% rage inducing. By the time we visit the wrecking grounds via Huell Howser and the demolition expert says, “That’s the sound of a crushed automobile being shredded into a million pieces,” the audience is both shaking their heads and groaning. The film is a sick indictment of oil companies and car companies and of course, the government. Unfortunately, the voice over and weak start to the film make it inaccessible to general audiences. And, it’s not really a festival film either. The film has some problems, but ultimately it angered me and made me think and it’s hard to complain about something that makes you feel.

Continuing on in my party style this year I spent the rest of the day party hopping down Main Street. First stop, the Sundance Channel party, which was so packed it was near impossible to move around 350 Main (the restaurant where they held the party). So I made the rounds and then headed down to Zoom for the Picturehouse party. It was a calm group having drinks and the always-beautiful Zoom delicacies. I stuck around there until they turned the lights up and kicked us out. And it was off to the Heineken Green Room for the IDA and A&E party. Molly Thompson of A&E announced their second annual work in progress grant. Financing news is always good plus the sushi was amazing! And I know it’s not just because I was starving. After all I had already eaten at the 2 previous parties!

David Straus (Withoutabox) and Brian Felson (Disc Makers) at the IDA A&E party.

Finally it was destination Kodak party. The Kodak party is somewhat of a Sundance institution. Lots of people, lots of food, live music and dancing. Instead of milling about the party I decided to set up camp in a booth and have the people come to me. It worked great! Darianna and I sat there and ended up meeting and chatting with filmmakers, sales reps, writers, festival programmers, it was the who’s who in documentary film.

Sarah Levy, Vanessa Holtgrove and R.J. Cutler at the Kodak party.

On the way home on the shuttle I overheard an industry-type talking. “I have two blackberries,” he said. “With a blue-tooth in each ear. And sometimes they ring at the same time. It’s so funny.” I couldn’t help thinking…how funny it ACTUALLY is. Good thing there’s only 2 more days of this nonsense. I’m starting to think I can’t take any more. But at this point there’s no slowing down for Day 7.

This is the sixth in a series of Sundance Film Festival entries.

I came up with a theory on Sundance questions. These are questions that people ask you on the shuttle, at a party, on the street, wherever you may be that someone can get at you.

1) Where are you from?

2) What do you do?

3) Who are you with?

4) Do you have a film in the festival?

5) How many times have you been here?

I just think it’s funny that everyone says the same thing. I was washing my hands in the ladies room at the Filmmaker’s Lodge when I noticed the woman washing her hands next to me looking at my credential around me neck in the mirror. Credentials are color coded so it’s pretty easy to tell if someone is industry, press, filmmaker or staff. My blue badge tells this woman I am press. She says, “Who are you with?” (See question 3 above). I say, “Oh, um, Documentary Magazine and I also rep some films, docs.” She says, “Oh, bummer, I was hoping you were with Variety.” With that she walks out of the room. I was a little surprised, I laughed. I think it pays to be nice to people. After all, when I’m standing talking to my colleagues from Variety and she walks up, I have no reason to act like I’ve ever seen her before in my life.

With that I visited the Outreach Table in the Filmmaker’s Lodge to say hi to the Docurama/New video folks and then headed over to the Holiday Village to catch Who Needs Sleep? the new documentary from Haskell Wexler and Lisa Leeman. In 1997 after working a 19-hour day on the set of Pleasantville, assistant cameraman Brent Hershman fell asleep behind the wheel, crashed his car and died. “You can’t will yourself to stay awake,” Wexler says in his cantankerous voice over. The doc explores both the film industry and its infamous overlong working hours and sleep in general. Who Needs Sleep? is a cry for help to the industry for “12 hours on 12 hours off”. Sleep deprivation is a major issue and explored through the eyes of the Oscar-winning cinematographer the film could hopefully help make some changes to the insane work schedules on movie shoots.

I spent the evening bumping into people I know and going to parties; another eventful evening in the Sundance schedule. Film Independent hosted a part at the Leaf Lounge for their members. Then the BMI party, a crazy condo packed full of people and a DJ spinning. Finally it was off to the ITVS party at the Riverhorse where ITVS celebrated 15 years and 600 programs made by independent producers. It was a sweet night. After the lights came up around midnight they sent us out into the cold with Krispy Kremes and ITVS stainless steel mugs filled with hot coffee. Time flies here with so much to do and so much talking, I think I’m losing my voice a little. Day 6 will be another packed day.

This is the fifth in a series of Sundance Film Festival entries.

The shuttles at Sundance this year seem slow, there’s more traffic than I ever remember and MORE PEOPLE! So…Sunday I decided to avoid the shuttle buses and stay in one place, Main Street.

I got there first thing in the morning for a panel at the Digital Center in the basement of the Main Street Mall, Podcasting, Vlogging, & The Freedom of Speech. The panelists included Susan Buice of Four Eyed Monsters, explicit podcaster Soccergirl and Atom Films and was moderated by CEO of Weblogs, Inc, Jason Calacanis. Despite some bickering and Jason’s teenage excitement over Soccergirl’s boobs, the most interesting thing was and is that things are-a-changin’ because consumer behaviour has changed; people are ready for downloads like never before, the content is there, iPod and other players bring in portability and more and more people have broadband. Plus this new media is getting easier and easier to use allowing independent artists to keep creating independent media. This is stuff we have heard before. But the fact that the Four Eyed Monsters crew created their own audience of over 50,000 viewers per episode using podcasts and MySpace is pretty phenomenal.

I crossed the street and headed for the Filmmaker’s Lodge to grab a seat for another panel, From the Multiplex to the Living Room: Marketing on the New Documentary Landscape. It was interesting to hear what Peter Broderick (Paradigm Consulting), Lisa Heller (HBO), Diana Holtzberg (Films Transit), Ted Sarandos (Netflix), Daniel Katz (THINKfilm) and Robert West (Working Films) had to say on the topic. Debra Zimmerman (Women Make Movies) lead the pack as a feisty moderator.

“A revolution in distribution has begun for documentary filmmakers,” said Peter Broderick. His take on distribution has changed since his days at Next Wave Films. The distribtion model is in the hands of filmmakers more than every before. “The old guard is being replaced by the new guard, except the old guard just doesn’t know it yet,” he continued.

Ted Sarandos also had some inspiring things to say, “Netflix is a system for democratizing distribution in a very real way.” The service makes more films available to audiences by finding target aundiences instead of mass audiences.

The past 3 years I have written about Slamdance for Documentary Magazine. So I am extra curious about their doc programming. I haven’t had too much time to spend there so I chose one thing to see for sure, Abduction The Megumi Yokota Story by Chris Sheridan and Patty Kim. The film spans 30 years and tells the story of 13 Japanese children that are kidnapped from their homes and taken to North Korea. Abduction follows one family as they search and campaign to find their lost daughter. The editing of the film is really all over the place making it difficult to connect with the characters. However, the 15 person Japanese TV crew certainly created an atmosphere like no other as they shot the Q&A, threw mics about the room, and tossed their lights in the eyes of audience members and the filmmakers alike. I know I’ve said it before, and I hate to be repetitive, but it kills me to sit in a movie at Slamdance and have to bob and weave my head around to read subtitles from my hard-ass seat. The way the bleachers are set up hardly anyone can really see the movie. This does no justice to the film or the filmmakers and I just end up frustrated and exhausted.

The Discovery party at Zoom (Robert Redford’s restaurant) was superb and made up for my exhausting experience at Abduction. A great crowd full of documentary filmmakers to meet and talk to, delicious food, a free-flowing bar, henna tattoos, a little gift bag and Al Gore. What more could a Sundancer ask for? The party went into the night and I even got to meet Kitchen Confidential chef and renowned traveler Anthony Bourdain. Stuffed with chocolate covered strawberries we exited into the snowy night to a couple doing performance art in the street. It was beautiful and surreal. Only hoping Day 5 will be as climactic.

Adrian Belic, Karin Hayes, Amy King and Sarah Jo Marks at the Discovery party.

I couldn’t help getting a shot with famed traveler, chef and Kitchen Confidential author Anthony Bourdain.

Festival attendance (2005): 46,771

Total number of films screened in 22 years: 3,587

Total number of films screened in 2006: 194

Total number of films submitted: 7,475

Number of documentary films: From 1,208 submissions, 46 were selected. Of the 46 documentary films selected, 30 come from the U.S.; the remaining 16 are international documentaries.

This is the fourth in a series of Sundance Film Festival entries.

What’s the time? It’s time to get ill! Nathanial Hörnblowér (AKA Adam Yauch AKA MCA) is at it again with the new Beastie Boys concert film Awesome; I Fuckin’ Shot That! And…not to be completely cliché, but the film is awesome. The Beastie Boys handed out video cameras to 50 fans to shoot the entire concert. The old adage, “whatever you do, just keep shooting” is put into play and the energetic concert is captured from 50 perspectives across the sold out show at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

The film starts with the “shooters” getting their pep talk before going to their assigned seats spread all across “the Garden”. Everyone is pumped. Seeing the concert through the eyes of the fans is exhilarating and at times both funny and even a little over the top (is it cool to keep shooting when you take a bathroom break, buy a beer or try to get backstage access? It’s this stuff that breaks up the concert, adds character and let’s the “shooters” show a little extra creativity.). Beastie Boys perform songs spanning their over 20-year career. The film uses great effects that make the viewer feel as if they are there including shots with all 50 cameras going at once. And with the sound turned up and the base thumpin’ it’s an intense musical and visual treat.

I came out of the film to a very snowy walk to the shuttle stop to make it up Main Street to the Film Arts Foundation party. On the way I stopped in Dolly’s Bookstore to meet Will Shortz, the crossword puzzle editor at The New York Times, where he was signing books as a promotion for the documentary Wordplay.

That’s me and everyone’s favorite crossword puzzler Will Shortz.

There were many documentary filmmakers at the Film Arts party and it was good to meet some new people. After a couple more quick stops at the Filmmaker’s Lodge for the Discovery wine reception, the Queer Lounge for the filmmaker party and then a couple of tacos it was back to the Holiday Village for Crossing Arizona.

Crossing Arizona explores the Arizona border, those who want to cross it and illegally immigrate from Mexico and those who want to protect it. Crossing the border through the desert is dangerous and many die. The film presents no real new information, but has a few interesting stories to tell within. One story of a man who fills jugs with water and leaves them in specific places throughout the desert so people don’t die of thirst is particularly fascinating. The film however, does not delve deep into any one person’s story. It lacks a personal journey that could have made it so much more powerful.

There are some panels tomorrow and a couple of parties. Looking forward to Day 4.

This is the third in a series of Sundance Film Festival entries.

Black Gold is about coffee, where it comes from and where it’s going. Buying and selling. It’s also about the people on all sides, farmers, buyers, growers, roasters, sellers and drinkers. Coffee is a multi-billion dollar industry, but the people farming the coffee are making next to nothing while the New York Stock Exchange controls the price of coffee making the rich richer and poor even poorer. It’s a sad predicament. Brothers Marc and Nick Francis starting making Black Gold three years ago and it is their first feature documentary.

After Black Gold I needed a break so I popped over to the PBS party at the Filmmaker’s Lodge. PBS and Sundance go hand in hand. Pat Mitchell was there to talk about her time at PBS and how special it has been. She was thrilled with the turnout and proud to be a part of both PBS and Sundance for one last time before she steps down from her position as president and CEO of PBS.

Pat Mitchell speaks at PBS party.

I had to make it back to the Holiday Village (a small movie theater where they hold press screenings) to see Thin, the new doc by prominent youth culture photographer Lauren Greenfield. 1 in 7 young American women has an eating disorder. Thin goes inside a Florida rehabilitation center with unprecedented access to reveal the lives and psychoses of several young women with eating disorders. The film is compelling as the viewer truly wants these women to get well, to be healthy again. According to the press notes 10-14% of people with anorexia will die from the illness and watching the film makes me think that’s a low number. Thin is an incredibly bleak and unnerving film and not really the one I wanted to see before bed. But…Day 3 is another day.

This is the second in a series of Sundance Film Festival entries.

Friday is the calm before the storm, figuratively speaking (hopefully), so it’s a good day to pack in some films before the hordes of people descend on the city after work Friday and Saturday for the weekend.

I headed over to the Racquet Club to see Shorts Program II, the documentary shorts. At 8:30 AM it can be difficult to contend with doing much of anything at this elevation, and the doc shorts proved to be an eclectic collection of attention getting films. The only real bummer for me is that I really like short shorts. And these were no exception. The highlight of the bunch being the shortest film in the collection, Undressing My Mother by Ken Wardrop at 5 minutes. The film is a beautiful and loving portrait of the filmmaker’s mother and features vibrant photography coupled with an aging woman’s voice over that is both tender and poignant. Also notable was Rape for Who I Am by Lovinsa Kavuma that explores the lives of black lesbian women in South Africa and the racial stereotypes they endure.

The theater before the shorts start. The festival trailer is by DigitalKitchen and is quite charming.

The program started 30 minutes late and was the first of many things, especially the shuttles that seemed to be running late the first full day of the festival. After the program I went up to Main Street. Main Street is one of several hubs for the festival and over the past few years Main Street has turned into a place of name brand gift lounges. This year features lounges by Volkswagen, Chrysler, Aquafina, Starbucks and Airborne to name a few. After a brief survey of the goings on on the main drag, I grabbed some lunch and was off to The World According to Sesame Street.

It was a bit of scene, with people pushing and cutting in line (and this was the industry/press screening!) There were buyers and press clamoring to see the film. But within 45 minutes half of the audience was gone. I stayed through the film. The World According to Sesame Street is not really what I expected, but it’s not a bad movie. The thing that bothered me was that it seemed that the filmmakers had too much good footage and could have probably made a more powerful film had they only focused on one country instead of 3. Sesame Street is seen in over 150 countries and each country is a completely separate production focusing on each countries, traditions, and background and works as a learning tool. The film focuses on new Sesame Street productions in South Africa, Bangladesh and Kosovo. It is interesting to see the behind-the-scenes of how each Sesame Street is created, but the film jumps from one place to next without ease and thus seems longer than it is.

Part 2 of Day 2 will post later today and will include notes on Black Gold the PBS party and Thin.