Maryland Film Festival 2013 Update

Website: http://www.md-filmfest.com/


Maryland Film Festival has now announced 36 total films showing at the festival next month.  I am looking forward to the full schedule coming out (hopefully soon).  They have added a day to the festival this year, which may account for a schedule not being up yet.

They have announced several additional documentaries.

It looks like this is the roster of 12 documentaries announced thus far.  All information is taken from Maryland Film Festival's Blog: http://blog.md-filmfest.com/


12 O’Clock Boys (Lotfy Nathan) This gritty and exhilarating documentary follows several years in the life of Pug, a young Baltimorean who hopes to join the exclusive ranks of Baltimore’s urban dirt-bike riders.

16 Acres (Richard Hankin) From the editor and co-producer of Capturing the Friedmans comes this riveting and nuanced documentary look at the rebuilding of Ground Zero—one of the most architecturally, politically, and emotionally complex urban renewal projects in history.

Aatsinki: The Story of Arctic Cowboys (Jessica Oreck) One year in the life of a family of reindeer herders in Finnish Lapland yields an immersive study of hard work, hard earned leisure, and an intricate bond between man and nature. From the director of Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo.

After Tiller (Martha Shane and Lana Wilson) A documentary look at the personal and professional lives of the only four U.S.-based doctors who continue to perform third-trimester abortions in the wake of the 2009 murder of Dr. George Tiller.

Before You Know It (P J Raval) This observational documentary raises the curtain on a profoundly neglected segment of the LGBT community, its senior population, as three gay men residing in very different regions of the U.S. face new life challenges.

Downloaded (Alex Winter) With remarkable insight and access, this documentary tells the story of the rise and fall of Napster, taking a close look at the internet mavericks and musicians involved and the lasting global impact of peer-to-peer file sharing.

Good Ol’ Freda (Ryan White) Freda Kelly was just a shy Liverpudlian teenager when she was asked to work for a local band hoping to make it big. That band was The Beatles, and Freda was their devoted secretary and friend for 11 years; this documentary tells her story—and the story of the world’s most famous band through her eyes.

Hit & Stay (Joe Tropea and Skizz Cyzyk) This Baltimore-made documentary tells the story of the radical priests, nuns, and everyday people who comprised the Baltimore Four and the Catonsville Nine, risking prison to challenge U.S. military involvement in Vietnam.

I Am Divine (Jeffrey Schwarz) From the director of Vito comes the definitive documentary look at actor, singer, and drag icon Harris Glenn Milstead, better known as Divine; featuring extensive interviews with John Waters and many others who knew, loved, and worked with Divine.

If We Shout Loud Enough (Gabriel DeLoach and Zach Keifer) An inside look at the Baltimore underground music scene through one of its most pivotal bands, Double Dagger, as they embark on their final tour.

Leviathan (Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Véréna Paravel) Functioning as both an immersive experiential documentary about modern commercial fishing and a feature-length experimental film, Leviathan offers an explosive and chaotic sensory experience like no other.

We Always Lie to Strangers (AJ Schnack and David Wilson) A documentary story of family, community, music and tradition, built over five years and set against the backdrop of Branson, Missouri, one of the biggest tourist destinations in America.

My hope is to see I Am Divine, 12 O'Clock Boys, Hit & Stay, and 16 Acres.  I would also like to see Aatsinki or Leviathan.  They seem to be a different type of documentary than I have seen thus far.  I am planning to prep a little for the festival this year.  I plan to watch a previous film from the director(s).  Hopefully this will give me a better insight to the new films this year.

Mansome

Release Date: 2012
Production Company: Dumbdumb Entertainment, Electus, Warrior Poets
Director: Morgan Spurlock
Run time: 84 minutes
Seen on: Netflix Watch Instantly
Website: http://mansomethemovie.com/             
Mansome is a 2012 film by director Morgan Spurlock, perhaps best known for Academy Award nominated Super Size Me.  This film takes a humorous look at men's grooming in today's society.  The film is not ground-breaking: it covers trends such as beard competitions and the personal grooming habits of a professional wrestler.  It includes interviews with John Waters, Paul Rudd, and Zach Galifianakis.  The film is forgettable, but not necessarily one to skip.  It's a film where you don't necessarily have to give all of your attention 100% of the time.

However, I think it could have been improved.  There is a schtick between Will Arnett and Jason Bateman at a spa that runs throughout the film.  I would have been interested in more content from the "talking heads," such as the cultural anthropologist, Dr. Helen Fisher.  But maybe that's just me.  This is a film that doesn't seem to take itself overly seriously.  That's good, because a pious film about beard grooming and eyebrow threading might just be too much for me.

Overall, a watchable film, but not groundbreaking or revolutionary.

Maryland Film Festival 2013

Website:

http://www.md-filmfest.com/

I am looking forward once again to the Maryland Film Festival.  Last year was my first time attending and volunteering.  I helped set up tents and usher in the Charles Theater.  My volunteering allowed me to see 4 documentaries and one feature for FREE last year.  Since I worked on the set-up day, I earned more vouchers than I would have otherwise.

Last year I saw:
Ethel
Love Free or Die
Detropia
The Source Family
Save the Date

Before going to MFF last year, watching documentaries was an individual activity.  It was refreshing and stimulating to become immersed in a true story with a theater sometimes packed with people.  This fleeting community springs up to work and watch great films.  The bonus of the festival was the Q&A session after the film.  The person(s) are often a director of the film.  However, the most interesting Q&A was after Love Free or Die last year.  The session was hosted by the director, Macky Alston, and the subject of the film, The Right Reverend Gene Robinson.  This was a surreal experience, watching someone's personal story unfold on the screen and then having them in the room answering questions.

I am volunteering again at MFF.  While the full roster and schedule of films is not out yet, there are a few documentaries I am looking forward to and hope to have a chance to see.

I am Divine by Jeffrey Schwarz.  Described as "The True Story of the Most Beautiful Woman in the World."
Hit & Stay by Joe Tropea and Skizz Cyzyk.  About the Baltimore Four and Catonsville Nine, anti-war protesters during the Vietnam era.
12 O'Clock Boys by Lotfy Nathan.  About a young boy striving to become part of an urban dirt-bike gang in Baltimore.  "The film presents the pivotal years of change in a boy's life growing up in one of the most dangerous an economically depressed cities in the United States."

There are 24 films already announced.  John Waters hosts a screening of a selected film every year.  This once always sells out.  I am interested to see what he chooses this year.

The Boys of Baraka

Release Date: 2005

Production Company: Loki Films

Directors: Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady 

Run time: 84 minutes

Seen on: Netflix DVD
Website: http://www.lokifilms.com/

This 2005 documentary is by the directors of Detropia.  Before I get into the review, I sat right next to one of the directors, Rachel Grady and one of the boys from this documentary, as I sat outside eating my PB&J in between the screenings at Maryland Film Festival this May.  I realized it later as she was introducing the film with MFF Director Jed Dietz.  It was random, and now another reason why I think film festivals are great.

I was drawn to this documentary first because I had enjoyed Detropia.  Secondly, the documentary focuses on young African-American boys in Baltimore.  I watched this documentary a few days after The Interrupters.  Both films deal with communities struggling with violence, drug abuse, and the future of its young people. 

The Boys of Baraka poses the question: Can 10,000 miles make a difference?  When the documentary was made, 76% of African-American boys did not graduate high school.  The Baraka School strove to change that.  Each year, the Baraka Boarding School in Kenya, East Africa, selected 20 at-risk boys from Baltimore to spend 2 years in Kenya. 

The film focuses on 4 boys, Richard and his younger brother Romesh, Devon, and Montrey.  You meet each boy in his home and understand where he is coming from.  When the boys leave home, you see the struggle of 12 and 13 year old boys moving away from home.  The scene at the airport is moving: families crying, but mothers reminding them why they are going, why they are doing this.

The documentary shows how the boys begin to change, working together, convincing one another not to fight, and growing academically.  There is some humor in it as well.  Boys from the inner city getting used to rural Kenya, without power 24 hours a day. "There is something better than a cat, a hedgehog.  See?"

Bonus materials include an interview with Bill Cosby: "Your white critics, your black critics.  "Well why are these white people there?'  Well then goddamnit, put the black bodies on them.  Cause if no black bodies show up, don't bitch to me about white people doing a marvelous job."

The Interrupters

Release Date: 2011

Production Company: Kartemquin Films/Rise Films

Directors: Steve James and Alex Kotlowitz

Run time: 125 minutes

Seen on: Netflix DVD, on PBS
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/Interrupters
Update 5/20/13, Available Free Online at PBS

Even before I watched, The Interrupters , I was impressed by its pedigree.  It is directed by Steve James who is also responsible for the acclaimed Hoop Dreams.  That is on my must watch list.  Kartemquin Films is also responsible for Refrigerator Mothers, a film I watched in February and was also impressed with.

This film follows the Cease Fire program in the neighborhood of Englewood in Chicago's South Side.  "Violence is like a disease, it spreads from one person to another.  To cure it you must interrupt it."  The film follows The Interrupters through a year in Chicago and focuses mostly on Ameena Matthews, Cobe Williams, and Eddie Bocanegra: former gang members who now work with the program. 

The goal of The Interrupters is to "interrupt" the cycle of violence.  The idea behind it seems fairly straight forward.  If violence leads to violence leads to more violence, the only way to stop it is to convince someone not to retaliate.  But how does one step into a conflict and break the cycle?  This film follows them into the fray, directly into conflicts, fights, and community action.  You see Ameena speaking to the youth at a funeral.  You see Cobe trying to convince a friend to follow the right path.  You see Eddie teaching art to kids.

The film follows them through a full year and begins in the summer.  One of the first shots brought me right to Baltimore.  Someone on the corner selling "Ice Cold Water, One Dollar."  The chant and the cadence was the same in Chicago that it is in Baltimore.  While I do not have first hand experience with the violence in Baltimore, it appears that Chicago may have some of the same problems with poverty and violence among young people.

This is a film that I was not able to look away from.  I had this on my list for a few weeks, but it took me awhile to get up the courage to watch it.  This is not easy to watch but I highly recommend it.  The Interrupters is a captivating and potent view of a community in crisis.

Get Bruce!

Release Date: 1999

Production Company: AJK Productions

Distribution Company: Miramax Films

Director: Andrew J. Kuehn

Run time: 84 minutes
Available on Netflix streaming

Get Bruce! is an entertaining look at the inside the creative process of a writer and actors.  Bruce Vilanch is an American comedy writer whose credits include writing for the Oscars, Emmys, Grammys, and Tonys.

The film includes interviews with legends such as: Billy Crystal, Whoopi Goldberg, Bette Midler, and Robin Williams.  It is impressive to see how Vilanch can work with these hugely varying characters and create things that work for them.  He works with both comedians, who are used to speaking to a crowd, and actors, who are not used to public speaking as themselves.  Actresses such as Lauren Bacall or Raquel Welch used Vilanch to assist them when presenting for awards shows or fundraisers.

Overall, I would recommend this film as a clever and enjoyable look at a man behind Hollywood's known faces.

The Thin Blue Line

Release Date: 1988

Distribution Company: Miramax Films

Director: Errol Morris

Run time: 96 minutes

Seen on: FLIXe, Channel 170, also available on Netflix streaming

I have had The Thin Blue Line on my DVR since January and finally got around to watching it last week.  This film by Errol Morris recounts the murder of a Dallas police officer in November 1976.  The film combines reenactments with interviews.  The same scenes are reenacted several times during the documentary.  They are showed from different perspectives and with different information from witnesses.  This technique helped to illustrate the differing viewpoints and clashing information.

They do not list the interviewees by names during the film.  I found this to be an interesting and effective technique because it made you pay attention to what the person was saying, not who they are and how they fit into the puzzle.  It definitely made me focus more on the film.

It was somewhat disturbing hearing how it appeared that the cops and DA railroaded a conviction.  The film showed both sides of the story, but you could see what the cops and DA were wrong.  Some witnesses appeared unreliable, with suspicious motives or memory problems.

This is another case of how a documentary can create new interest in a case and effect the individuals involved.   I won't ruin it for you, but you can Google it if you are interested.

It had a great use of music.  The cuts between scenes are silent, almost like the film ends each time.  I had enjoyed Morris' techniques in the film Tabloid  and I am looking forward to watching Fog of War.  It has also been sitting on my DVR, so hopefully look for it soon.