Documentary Insider

Silverdocs Audience Award winning film CAN MR. SMITH GET TO WASHINGTON ANYMORE? opens in Washington, DC on September 22 at the E Street Cinema.

We opened July 27 in St. Louis and are beginning to roll out theatrically across the country. In St. Louis they scheduled the film for 1 week and we played there for 6! In DC they scheduled the film for 1 week – let’s do it again! Go see CAN MR. SMITH GET TO WASHINGTON ANYMORE? opening weekend and you could make a HUGE difference in the theatrical distribution of this important film.

CAN MR. SMITH GET TO WASHINGTON ANYMORE? follows congressional candidate Jeff Smith as he wages an all out grass roots campaign to fill Dick Gephardt’s seat in St. Louis, MO.

Not near the E Street? Check the website for upcoming screening dates and cities. www.mrsmithmovie.com

Critics are saying:

“The best political-campaign documentary since THE WAR ROOM”
ST. LOUIS POST DISPATCH

“4-1/2 Stars”
FILM THREAT

“True-life David-and-Goliath story”
VARIETY

CAN MR. SMITH GET TO WASHINGTON ANYMORE?
September 22-28
E Street Cinema
555 11th Street NW
Washington, DC 20004
(entrance on E Street between 10th and 11th Street)
(202) 452-7672
http://www.landmarktheatres.com/Market/WashingtonDC/EStreetCinema.htm

I know I’ve got a doc about John Waters on my shelf at home so I was surprised to see This Filthy World pop up in the festival program. But, as soon as I walked in I knew what I was in for, 90 minutes of listening to John Waters talk about his movies and his take on the world. It’s a fun romp, although the editing is a bit disjointed at points. I enjoy one-man shows, stand up comedy and spoken word, but I always find it a bit odd when it ends in the documentary sidebar. The film is directed by Jeff Garlin best known as Larry David’s manager on Curb Your Enthusiasm and is produced for Red Envelope Entertainment a division of Netflix.

To balance out my funtime with John Waters I went to see The Prisoner Or: How I Planned To Kill Tony Blair by Michael Tucker and Petra Epperlein. It showed with James Longley’s (Iraq in Fragments) short doc Sari’s Mother. Both are difficult films to process and I don’t know how effective a pairing it was, although I think it’s always hard to put a longish short in front of a shortish feature. It’s a programming issue because if people are paying to see a movie they want at least 80 minutes of programming. The Prisoner is a good film, but it’s 54 minutes, what can you do? Anyway, the film is Tucker and Epperlein’s follow up to Gunner Palace. It follows the story of an Iraqi journalist who is wrongly accused of being an insurgent in a plan to kill Tony Blair. The film uses comic book style animation to brighten up an otherwise bleak and disturbing story.

I wanted to see more movies, but I couldn’t stay awake. I went to this party for European Film thingee at the Versace store. It was weird and it brought out all the Eurotrash wearing their crazy costume jewelery. Did I mention the party was in a clothing store?! Luckily I met some really cool people there and hooked up with some other festival compadres for the Sarasota Film Festival bash at Sassafrass.

Jason Leaf of Avatar and Harriette Yahr.

What a great party. I was only going to stay for a short time and then go back to seeing movies, but the next time I looked at my watch it was time to go back to the hotel for my last night in Toronto. (Goodbye Comfort Hotel!)

David Wilson of True/False and Kim Morgan of the Lone Star Film Society at the Sarasota party.

I really had a great time in Toronto. It’s a great city, it’s alive with people, tasty restaurants and overall it is a very convenient and accommodating festival (even though the program book costs over 30$!!).

A helpful volunteer explains the ticket situation.

The volunteers I encountered were always extraordinarily helpful and really into the festival. I think some of them knew more about the movies than the buyers! Sometimes I go to a film festival and I spend so much time seeing movies and being focused that I forget how much I really love movies. I spent a little more time seeing things that peeked my interest than being super serious and obsessing about documentaries. Don’t worry, though, docs are still tops, but what’s wrong with seeing a zombie sheep film once in a while, or Ken Loach’s Palme d’Or winning The Wind that Shakes the Barley? In the end, if you pick it right, it’s all just plain old good storytelling whether it’s fact or fiction. And with a program as varied as the Toronto International Film Festival, how could I resist the candyfloss that is Black Sheep?

Other docs of note, that I can’t help overhearing people talk about and that I really wanted to see are Blindsight, Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing (opens in October in limited release by the Weinstein Co), Ghosts of Cité Soleil, Lake of Fire and The U.S. Vs John Lennon (opens September in NY and LA release by Lions Gate).

Docs that screened at TIFF ’06 I’ve seen somewhere else American Hardcore (Sundance), Deliver Us From Evil (DocuWeek), Summercamp! (True/False), Tales of the Rat Fink (SXSW), These Girls and When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts (HBO).

Writing this I’m sitting in the airport awaiting my delayed flight to New York. I’ll be in NY for the IFP Market. I haven’t been there since 2001 and am really looking forward to it. There are a ton of doc works in progress to check out, plus an entire conference. It’s all part of the ifp’s Independent Film Week in New York. If you’re around, come by and check it out.

After one too many parties Monday night and waking up to a wet and dreary Toronto morning I decided to sleep in and missed Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing. But not until I checked to make sure there was another screening. I finally got out the door for D.O.A.P. It’s not a doc, but a mock doc from the UK about what would happen if President Bush were assassinated, so it was of interest. Plus it’s been getting tons of buzz, making sales and caused a huge lineup of folks trying to get in. I was turned away along with about 100 other people. So, after two misses I decided on a no miss situation, the video library.

Right next to the press office you can find the video library. There are about 15 stations set up with VCRs and DVD players for press and industry. You can throw on some headphones and dive right into film after film if they have them available. Lucky for me, there were several docs I wanted to see and there was a station available. The staff running the place are very helpful, but they do like it if you book time in advance instead of just waltzing in and trying to watch whatever you want whenever you want. I settled into station #9 and watched Macky Alston’s The Killer Within. The film deals with huge issues, is well made and is interesting on both a personal and political level. What do you do when you find out your loving father, a university professor of environmental psychology, killed his dorm roommate 50 years ago? He, his wife and his two children, one biological and one from his wife’s previous marriage, both expose his crime and attempt to understand it in this very personal film. It is heartwrenching to watch the two sisters talk to their father about his crime as they try to process his actions that happened long before they were even born. If he had been put away for life, his biological daughter would not exist.

I really wanted to see …So Goes the Nation. They say that as Ohio goes, so goes the nation. Filmmakers James D. Stern and Adam Del Deo went to Ohio in 2004 to see how the politics of campaigning could affect the outcome of the election. How could one state change everything for the country? The film follows republican and democrat volunteers as they work their hearts out trying to make a difference. Good music, great characters, but while the film seems non-partisan I couldn’t help wondering what side the filmmakers were on. It’s a slick piece with good information, but it’s no personal story.

I was too tired to try any parties for the evening so I decided to stick around the Varsity Theatre for Werner Herzog’s Rescue Dawn. It’s a big Hollywood movie, but it’s based on Dieter Dengler’s life and stories during the Vietnam War. Herzog originally profiled Dengler in the 1997 documentary Little Dieter Needs to Fly. The film is a crowd-pleaser with Christian Bale in the title role. I must have been entertained, because I stayed awake the whole time! Hooray!! I even found myself scootched forward and sitting at the edge of my seat a few times. After watching Christian Bale and his co-stars starving on screen, their faces thinning the longer they are prisoners in the Laos jungle I had to get something to eat. I found a great place on Bloor called 7 West that’s open 24 hours. I sat at the bar and had bacon and eggs at midnight. The cakes looked amazing, but I couldn’t deal with a sugar high so I trudged out into the wet street for the hotel another day in Toronto finished.

Yesterday was Monday, and while it marked day 5 and the middle of the festival for folks that started their TIFF experience on the first day, I wanted to start my first full day off early. So with a few hours sleep under my pillow I shot out into the world at 8:30 for the Documentary Breakfast at Doc Corner. Most people were probably feeling the exhaustion that creeps up by day 5 and slept through the breakfast making it an intimate gathering to meet writers and TIFF staff and programmers. I caught up with some other journalists and we all got books signed by photographer Charles Peterson and rock writer and drummer Michael A in honor of AJ Schnack’s Kurt Cobain About a Son.

Tamara Krinsky shoots a quick interview with Charles Peterson and
Michael Azerrad on the fly for iklipz.

Packing for a trip is always a pain. This time I just didn’t pack warm enough, but before I could say, “there must be an H & M around here,” one appeared on Bloor and I made a few quick purchases to layer on.

Mohammed Naqvi’s portrait of Mukhtaran Mai, Shame, is a festival crowd pleaser complete with standing ovations, huge applause and a Q&A full of inappropriate questions. The film explores the life of a Pakistani woman who is gang-raped after her brother is accused of molesting a relative her predators. She overcomes adversity and starts a school for young girls in her village. The film was shown as a work in progress and was produced for Showtime.

If I was going to make it through any more of the day I would need a nap. I grabbed some take-out from the Thai place across the street from my hotel and took it back for an hour of quiet. I wanted to be ready for Kurt Cobain About a Son. I walked into the movie not really knowing much about it. I don’t like to read about films until after I’ve seen them. I want to be surprised; I want to make my own discoveries, opinions and theories. This film not only surprised me, but also overwhelmed me in ways I could not express after the screening because I was so moved. It almost makes me not want to write about it, so people can have the same experience I had. You can stop reading here, if that’s what you want.

I went to the press screening and it wasn’t even half full. But I felt certain electricity in the air. The film starts with aerial views of Aberdeen, Kurt Cobain’s hometown. There’s a little time lapse, a sunrise and music, it’s stunning. About a Son is a combination of audio only interviews between Michael Azerrad and Kurt between December ’92 and March ’93 collaged together with mostly current images relating to Kurt’s life in Washington, a soundtrack of meaningful music that honors Kurt’s life and his taste, some innovative animations by Tomorrow’s Brightest Minds as well as a few well placed photographs by Charles Peterson. About 20 minutes into the film I realized, I’m not going to see Kurt yet. I told myself to relax and pay attention. It was a very personal moment. I focused. The film forces you to listen to it and puts thoughtful and provoking images in front of you. A little Baraka never hurt anybody. However, the film seems to be polarizing the masses. As I was gushing last night at a party about how much I loved it and it moved me, I got an equal amount of people talking about how they wanted to see interviews, see pictures of his father, see, see, see…but, that would be a completely different movie. That would be a traditional documentary biography. About a Son is a piece of art. Now I’m starting to sound pretentious, but there’s just not that many films that take you someplace special. If Kurt really did come from a UFO, this film may have too, and it makes it all the more unique and inspiring. Listening to the conversations between the two men is like sitting in on someone’s analysis and watching their dreams at the same time. The whole thing builds and builds until it erupts and then ends, thankfully with Kurt still alive. I felt a huge emptiness as the credits rolled across the screen. As though I spent 90 minutes getting to know someone and then remembering that they are gone. There was an eerie silence, no applause. I sat through the credits to compose myself. There have been a number of books and movies about Kurt. Upon hearing that there would be another, I questioned why? But Kurt Cobain About a Son is not about Nirvana, it’s not nostalgic, or exploitive or even investigative. It’s just a young man talking about his life. There’s nothing simple about the life of this man, why should there be a simple film about him?

If you haven’t left for Toronto yet, bring a jacket and a scarf for that matter!

Sunday at 3:44 in the morning after a 3-hour nap I started in Los Angeles and ended up in my hotelroom in Downtown Toronto at 7:00 at night. It was a long day with not much to show for it but a couple episodes of This American Life that I listened to on the plane and a very large vanilla ice cream cone eaten out of irritation for my delayed connecting flight at Chicago O’Hare.

It must have been a little film festival magic or maybe the excitement of my first trip to the Toronto International Film Festival that pulled me out of my travel funk. I cleaned myself up, walked out of my hotel and down Yonge (one of the cities main drags) for a little taste of the city before I hopped in a cab bound for the Seville Party armed with only an address. The cabdriver was pleasant and even a little concerned for me to get out of the car where there appeared to be no party. But, I braved it and followed my ears through a courtyard between two buildings. As I walked the 200 feet towards the two men minding “the list” I considered my options. I could call my friends inside the party and see if they had an invite for me or I could talk my way in. For no good reason I can think of now, I chose the latter. Walked right up to the guys and said, “I’m not on the list.” Before I continue I just must note, inexperienced festivalgoers should not use this tactic as a good way to get in to a party. However, it did work. I proceeded, “my friends are inside and they are very important.” Then I pulled out my business card, the guy looked at both sides and said, “Okay.” I was in. Oh, and remember that ice cream cone from Chi-town. That’s all I ate that day. So I headed right for the door where the food comes out of the kitchen and I stood there and ate mini-burgers, crab cakes and steak skewers drank water and came back to life. It wasn’t hard to find my friends inside; they too had found the food. We went out to the courtyard to regroup and decided to go for a little more food. Piled into two cabs for Richtree Market.

Why don’t we have this in LA! It would be huge! There are seven locations in Canada. When you go in they give you a sort of credit purchase card. Then you visit the different food stations, everything from smoothies and omelets, to seafood, pasta, coffee, beautiful desserts, crepes, everything, and wherever you get something they swipe your card. You go eat, go back for more if you want, then you pay by swiping your card for the balance. The food is fresh and the hardest thing to do is decide what to eat. The great thing is there really is something for everyone. But, after all those hors d’oeuvres it was all I could muster to eat a salad.

After my greens I still had it in me to get to the party for AJ Schnack’s Kurt Cobain: About a Son at the Drake Hotel. Cool location, cooler party. Can’t say much for the snacks, as I couldn’t eat a bite more. But that was the least of my concerns. The music was pulsing through the place and being spun by Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie and it seemed like every doc person was in that room. I got caught up with folks I hadn’t seen in a while, made some new friends and, my favorite, got to meet people that I’ve been talking to on the phone and email. It’s always a thrill to put that face to a name. Before I knew it, it was 2:00 in the morning, I was still standing (in my new Kenneth Cole loafers) and I had to get to sleep. Back into a taxi for a ride home and before I knew it the alarm was waking me up at 7:00 for the documentary breakfast at Doc Corner.

Pics and day 2 soon!

It’s just passed midnight and I am making time to write (there must be an easier way…) another update rundown for docs.

The Emmys were last night. I didn’t watch ‘em, but, while I was eating a Fatburger for dinner at 11:30 I read the LA Times coverage (again, there must be another way…). Non-fiction is represented there, but is anyone else wondering why there are so many awards for TV?! They have to break it into 3 different categories (daytime, nighttime and LA) and then they can’t put everything in the broadcast and all anyone remembers is that the original Charlie’s Angels were there. Anyway, (lots of ranting and parentheticals make it difficult to write at night) the non-fiction programs were actually celebrated on August 19th. Before I digress, here’s a list of the nominated and award winning programs. And a link to more with my pal Eric Moe at About.com.

Exceptional Merit In Nonfiction Filmmaking (multiple winners possible)
Baghdad ER – HBO – WINNER
Combat Diary: The Marines Of Lima Company – A&E
P.O.V. – In The Realms Of The Unreal – PBS
Three Days In September – Showtime
American Experience – Two Days In October – PBS – WINNER

Outstanding Directing For Nonfiction Programming
All Aboard! Rosie’s Family Cruise – HBO
 Shari Cookson
American Masters – John Ford/John Wayne: The Filmmaker And The Legend – PBS
 Sam Pollard
American Masters – Bob Dylan: No Direction Home – PBS
 Martin Scorsese
Baghdad ER – HBO – WINNER
 Jon Alpert & Matthew O’Neill
Children Of Beslan • HBO
 Ewa Ewart & Leslie Woodhead

Outstanding Nonfiction Series
American Masters – PBS
Biography – A&E
Deadliest Catch – Discovery Channel
Inside The Actors Studio – Bravo
10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America – The History Channel – WINNER

Outstanding Writing For Nonfiction Programming
American Masters – Ernest Hemingway: Rivers To The Sea – PBS
 DeWitt Sage
American Masters – John Ford/John Wayne: The Filmmaker And The Legend – PBS
 Ken Bowser
How William Shatner Changed The World – The History Channel
 Alan Handel & Julian Jones
Penn & Teller: Bullshit – Prostitution – Showtime
 Penn Jillette, Teller, Cliff Schoenberg, Jon Hotchkiss, Michael Goudeau, & Star Price
Stardust: The Bette Davis Story – TCM – WINNER
 Peter Jones, Writer

Outstanding Cinematography For Nonfiction Programming – Single-Camera Productions
All Aboard! Rosie’s Family Cruise – HBO
Baghdad ER – HBO – WINNER
Children Of Beslan – HBO
I Have Tourette’s But Tourette’s Doesn’t Have Me – HBO
Rome: Engineering An Empire – The History Channel

Outstanding Picture Editing For Nonfiction Programming
(Small team entries – Primarily Single-Camera Productions)
AFI’s 100 Years… 100 Movie Quotes – CBS
American Masters – John Ford/John Wayne: The Filmmaker And The Legend – PBS
American Masters – Bob Dylan: No Direction Home – PBS
Baghdad ER – HBO
Penn & Teller: Bullshit – Prostitution – Showtime
Rome: Engineering An Empire – The History Channel – WINNER

Outstanding Sound Editing For Nonfiction Programming
(Single Or Multi-Camera)
The Amazing Race – Here Comes The Bedouin! – CBS – WINNER
American Masters – Bob Dylan: No Direction Home – PBS
Baghdad ER – HBO
Survivor – Big Trek, Big Trouble, Big Surprise – CBS
American Experience – Two Days In October – PBS

Outstanding Sound Mixing For Nonfiction Programming
(Single Or Multi-Camera)
The Amazing Race – Here Comes The Bedouin! – CBS
American Masters – Bob Dylan: No Direction Home – PBS
Baghdad ER – HBO – WINNER
Deadliest Catch – The Clock’s Ticking – Discovery Channel
Survivor – Big Trek, Big Trouble, Big Surprise – CBS

Outstanding Nonfiction Special
All Aboard! Rosie’s Family Cruise – HBO
How William Shatner Changed The World – The History Channel
Inside 9/11 – National Geographic Channel
Rome: Engineering An Empire – The History Channel – WINNER
Stardust: The Bette Davis Story – TCM

Toronto IFF will have their schedule up Tuesday. Looking forward to that so I can strategically plan my screenings. I’ll be there Sep 12-16.

We can’t forget the Sundance deadline is fast approaching. So get your rough cut to a fine cut, make the best movie possible and pop that puppy in the mail. The official submission deadline for doc features is September 11th. More info here.

Did you qualify your film for Oscar? Go through that pesky checklist and deliver everything to the Academy by September 1st. Or thinking about it for next year? Check out the rules here.

AFI Fest. I know, I know, it’s in November. But, I’m still watching tapes (started in April)! This is has been one of the craziest years for me to watch bags and bags of screeners. There’s no time and I still want to give every film the time and opportunity it deserves. But it’s almost that time where the fat starts to fall away and the program begins to take shape. It’s an exiting thing!

DocuWeek. I did go to IDA’s DocuWeek last week and checked out a few exceptional docs (An Unreasonable Man, This Film is Not Yet Rated and Deliver Us From Evil) and met some really super people as well. Pics and reviews to follow soon (I hope).

That’s all I got for today…that and many piles of papers surrounding me.

I booked my trip to Toronto for the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival. I’ll be there September 12-16. Everyone I tell that to says, “Ooooh…that’s late.” So maybe I won’t be breaking any news that late in the festival, but with Miramax already picking up the Dixie Chicks doc before it has its premiere at the well-respected fest, who knows what else will happen before anyone even arrives in the great northeast!

However, if you wanna catch the news on films, parties and dish as it happens TIFF just popped up their own blog. I’ll be reading it and others as I prep for my quick jaunt through the humongous festival. Oh…and the film list is up too, so start digging, because with 352 films, that’s what it takes to make a discovery of your own.

TRUE/FALSE GOES NEW YORK
Aug. 21 & 22 @ the IFC Center
Sneak previews of three new and noteworthy films
http://www.truefalse.org/TFNYC.htm

“An intriguing young film festival aimed at embracing the changing face of
documentary.” – indieWIRE

Now entering its fourth year, True/False (based in Columbia, Missouri) has
quickly become a must on the film festival circuit — “the best US documentary
festival,” per indie film maven John Pierson — offering a smartly-curated
focus on original and innovative work that pushes the boundaries of documentary
filmmaking. This summer, the organizers bring sneak previews of three recent
True/False favorites to New York audiences. After the screenings, T/F alums
Dana Adam Shapiro and Sarah Price grill the directors with some tough
questions. Tickets for each night are $12.

Monday, August 21 at 7:00
CHALK (2006, Mike Akel)
File under: so real it hurts. “50% of teachers quit within the first three years
of teaching.” So begins this humorous, frenetic and painful tale of three novice
teachers and one reluctant administrator attempting to navigate one year in the
public school system. As they deal with rebellious students, faculty squabbles
and a mutinous photocopying machine, CHALK offers an intimate look at what
those who can’t, do. After the screening, join Dana Adam Shapiro, the
co-director of Murderball, as he interviews director Mike Akel.
http://www.ifccenter.com/event?eventid=999927

Tuesday, August 22 at 7:00
THE LAST SUPPER (2005, Mats Bigert & Lars Bergstrom)
This visually arresting doc-meets-installation-art-piece explores the tradition
of a last meal for condemned prisoners.

SOMEDAY MY PRINCE WILL COME (2005, Marc Isaacs)
Heartrending and hilarious in ways that only the love life of an 11-year-old can
be, this British doc is certain to provoke lots of discussion and perhaps some
controversy. After the screenings, Sarah Price (The Yes Men, American Movie)
interviews Bergstrom and Isaacs.
http://www.ifccenter.com/event?eventid=999927True/False Film Festival
Mar. 1-4, 2007
Columbia, MO
http://www.truefalse.org
“Rarely has Reality needed so much to be imagined.” – Chris Marker

Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore? is playing once day through Thursday at the NUART in Los Angeles. Tickets are ONLY available at the NUART box office.

NUART Theatre
11272 Santa Monica Boulevard, just west of the 405 Freeway
West Los Angeles, CA 90025

August 18 – 24
Sun, 8/20 at 11:00am
Mon – Thurs, 8/21-24 at 2:00pm