ODDSAC

The much anticipated film by Animal Collective, titled ODDSAC, will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2010. While I don’t think I can convince anyone that this is a doc, even based on the loosest definition of documentary film (I would not expect anything like Behind The Music: Animal Collective), I couldn’t resist posting a quick article.

ODDSAC sounds more like an art house installation. According to the Sundance description of the film, it incorporates mystical characters, “to form themes and a distinct vision, rather than following a traditional plot and dialogue.” The film sounds visually stunning. I can easily picture Geologist painting day glo onto 16 mm film.

That article also mentions the film’s use of flicker effects to produce phosphenes, the psychedelic visuals that occur by rubbing your closed eyes. Experimental filmmakers have always been fond of this technique, as it produces a different visual experience for each member of the audience.

Collaborator Danny Perez has directed the film. Avey Tare's sister, Abby Portner, has contributed artwork for the band in the past, and also directed their "In The Flowers" music video. No word on her involvement in the project.

I’ll be far from Park City, Utah when this is screened. But anyone who is going to Sundance with a hankering for avant-garde film should look into a screening of ODDSAC. Oh yeah, and the soundtrack is a guaranteed winner.

Spellbound

Director: Jeffrey Blitz
(2002)

A gripping account of eight teenagers and their quest to win the 1999 National Spelling Bee, Spellbound is so so good that it could've been written by the Guest/Levy mockumentary machine.

Spelling bees attract the biggest, most extreme nerds in all their eccentric nerdy glory from across the country - setting up the stage for an enticing character piece. These kids are all brilliant, and their preparation for the Bee is persistent and intensive.

The spellers' parents play almost as big a role in the film. Their relationship with their children is fascinating - though sometimes painful - to watch. One highlight was one contestant's mother used the unword "irregardless" (and not in an ironic kind of way) moments after her son was eliminated on what his father called an "easy word."

Spellbound is no hellebore. Watch it!



Trivial Tidbits:

• Lost to Bowling For Columbine at the 75th Academy Awards
• The final/winning word from the 1999 Bee was "logorrhea"
  

Sundance 2010

The Sundance Film Festival is nearly upon us, which means that we will soon be introduced to a slew of world-class independent documentary films. Here are some titles that caught my eye.

16 films in the U.S. Doc Competition were selected from 862 submissions. Among them:

• 12th & Delaware – A look at a single intersection in Fort Pierce, Florida that houses an abortion clinic on one side and a pro-life group on the other.
• Casino Jack & The United States of Money – An examination of the world of lobbyist Jack Abramoff that sounds like the real life version of Thank You For Smoking.
• Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child – A depiction of the graffiti artist and underground icon.
• Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work – This biopic that looks underneath the caricature of Rivers is sure to please the masses (also - nice work on the pun title).
• Restrepo – The filmmakers integrate themselves with the Second Platoon in Afghanistan’s Korengal Valley in this intense and unprecedented observation of the front lines of war.

13 Films were selected for the World Cinema Doc Competiton. Among them:

• Sins of My Father – After infamous drug lord Pablo Escobar was murdered in 1993, his son, Juan Escobar, redefined his identity and moved to Buenos Aires to escape his father’s legacy.
• Fix ME – Filmmaker Andoni is searching for serenity while living in a land plagued by war: the Palestinian city of Ramallah, located 6 miles north of Jerusalem.
• Secrets of the Tribe – In the 1960s, anthropologists flooded the Amazon to study the Yanomami Indians, a tribe untouched by the modern world. Decades later, both the content and the very ethics of their research is still hotly debated.

The 2010 Sundance Film Festival takes place from January 21 to 31, 2010 in Park City, Utah.

Trivial Tidbits:

• The festival was originally called the Utah/US Film Festival when it began in Salt Lake City in 1978.
• In 1991, it was renamed the Sundance Film Festival, after chairperson Robert Redford's character The Sundance Kid from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

20 Seconds of Joy

Director: Jens Hoffmann

(2007)

Karina Hollekim is a young Norwegian woman who was born with a love for the most dangerous sport in the world: BASE jumping. 20 Seconds of Joy is a depiction of five years in the life of this extreme athlete.

BASE jumping guru Jeb Corliss recalls an early conversation he had with Karina where he bluntly warned her that if she partook in the sport long enough, she would die. But the veteran also recalls looking into Karina’s eyes and not sensing an ounce of fear, even in her earliest jumps. It was as though she thrived in those seconds when most people would be paralyzed with terror.

The shots of Norwegian Fjords and various mountains are stunning in and of themselves. To see Hollekim and others diving into oblivion with nothing more than a small parachute on their backs is astounding. Jumps are made across the world from the Perrine Bridge (Idaho, US) to the Gorges du Verdon (France).

The film builds on these powerful visuals by delving into the psychological motivations of thrill seekers. The blast of adrenaline from BASE jumping is unparalleled, and it is what drives jumpers to take these ultimate risks. The rush is likened to a drug, and for Hollekim, the addiction is strong.

*SPOILER ALERT* As the film progressed, it became more and more apparent that Hollekim was not going to make the conscious decision to stop jumping. This story would not end with her deciding to pack away her parachute and take up some other hobby. It could only end in one of two ways, and I was relieved to find that it concluded with the “happy” ending: (severe) injury.

Perhaps a result of the succinctness of the radical acts, (as Hollekim herself so eloquently referred to as "20 seconds of joy") the film clocks in at a crisp but fitting 60 minutes.

20 Seconds of Joy won Best Film on Mountain Sports as well as The People’s Choice Award at the 2007 Banff Mountain Film Festival in Banff, Alberta, Canada.

official film site

Trivial Tidbits:

• B.A.S.E. an acronym for the stages from which one jumps: Buildings, Antennas, Spans, and Earth
• The I. B. Perrine Bridge (Twin Falls, Idaho) is the only man-made structure in the U.S. where BASE jumping is legal year round sans permit
  

Tribeca Cinemas Presents: Docs on the Shortlist

As any true docfan already knows, AMPAS has released their "short list of 15 documentaries" that are contenders for the five Oscar nomination slots. For those that may have missed them on the silver screen, Tribeca Cinemas has announced that they will be screening six of these films in January. The lineup is as follows:

Friday, January 8, 2010: Which Way Home and Food, Inc.

Saturday, January 9, 2010: Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders; Soundtrack for a Revolution; The Cove; and Under Our Skin

I just purchased my tickets for The Cove. Maybe I'll see you there!

Errol Morris Honored

Renowned documentary filmmaker Errol Morris was honored with the Career Achievement Award by the International Documentary Association earlier this month.

Phillip Glass, who has composed a number of Morris’ works, presented his friend with the award. "He absolutely redefined what our description of what a documentary film could be. He made the rules, he changed the landscape. He overhauled a whole genre of filmmaking," Glass noted. "Naturally at the beginning he was vilified for his efforts. Now he's glorified for that same work. Vilified, glorified - what more could an artist hope for?"


Morris won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for his 2003 film Fog of War. *SPOILER ALERT* However, his most influential film may be The Thin Blue Line (1988), a film that examines the 1976 murder of a police officer in Dallas, Texas. A man named Randall Dale Adams was falsely convicted of the crime. Morris' work led to the review of Adams' case and his release from prison.

This award comes as Morris is still active in his craft. The 61 year old director is currently working on a project about a group of cryonics aficionados. This project won't be reviewed here however; the documentary icon is trying his hand in narrative film.

Trivial Tidbits:

• Morris received his BA in history from The University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Man on Wire

Director: James Marsh
(2008)

Much praise deserves to be extolled upon this documentary, which won the “Best Documentary Feature” award at the 81st Annual Academy Awards earlier this year. In fact, 100% of the 141 reviews gathered by Rotten Tomatoes are deemed to be positive appraisals. So at the risk of sounding redundant or trite, I offer my own thoughts on the film...

When I first heard the title of this film, I immediately questioned whether the filmmakers would be able to keep the audience engaged for 90 minutes with such a seemingly pedestrian act. My apprehensions quickly dissolved. The structure is laid out early on, with focus alternating between convincing reenactments of “le coup” (Petit's code word for the event), gripping stock footage of the Twin Towers being built, vintage film clips of the team preparing for the siege, and brilliant 16mm footage of Mr. Petit accomplishing stunning feats atop other worldly landmarks. The montage is elegant, as the various acts meld together like a walk through a carnival.

Petit proves to be a worthy protagonist, with his unbridled enthusiasm and strong storytelling prowess. He controls the tone of the film, building tension as he recalls vivid details from decades ago. He takes on the role of performer with ease (you may recall he performed a magic trick at the podium moments after receiving the Oscar). Not only was he fortunate enough to have been born with and to discover this gift within him, but he is bold enough to perform on the most beautiful stage conceivable. The performance was downright profound, as it served as such a clear illustration of the limits of human achievement.

official film site

Trivial Tidbits:

• The titular wire weighed 450 lbs.
• Petit was later granted lifetime access to the Twin Towers' Observation Deck.

Workers Leaving The Lumière Factory

Any thorough discourse on documentary film must begin with the genesis of film itself, as the earliest motion pictures were simply attempts to capture moments of reality by transatlantic innovators Thomas Edison, based in West Orange, NJ and French brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière.

Image via famousfrenchfilms.com

Edison was restrained by the enormity of his camera, which had to be stationed within his studio, which was dubbed “the Black Maria.” For that reason, his films were mainly performance pieces of vaudeville acts, circus characters, and dancers acting in the empty studio. Meanwhile the Lumière brothers’ lightweight camera, the cinématographe, allowed a sole operator to roam and document the world.

The Lumière brothers’ Workers Leaving The Lumière Factory (1895) is widely viewed as the first film ever made and is, in a sense, a documentary. The 800 frames display a torrent of workers, a pair of unleashed dogs, bicycle riders, and concludes with a horse drawn carriage. One is familiar with seeing static images from this time period, but to see dozens of industrial-era workers actually moving around in their 19th century garb is surreal.

As Bertolt Brecht has stated, “Reality changes; in order to represent it, modes of representation must change.” Man has always strived to capture reality through the ages, from painting to photography. Cinema is a relatively new extension of that ambition that remains relevant and vital to this day. While remarkable advances have been made to the methods since 1895 (advent of sound, video, etc.), one could argue that the format is fundamentally the same as it was 100 years ago.



Conversely, it’s amazing to consider the progress that has been made since these early films of les frères Lumière and Edison. Today, you can stream the film in its entirety and watch it on your iPhone in the palm of your hand as you take the elevator out of the office.

Trivial Tidbits:

• Lumière is French for “light." It's a female noun (La Lumière).
• Construction costs for the Black Maria studio totaled $637.67.
  

82nd Oscars "Best Doc Feature" Short List

Last week The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences released their short list of 15 films that will be considered for the “Best Documentary Feature” award at next year’s renowned ceremony. Eighty nine films had originally qualified for consideration.

The next phase will take place during the early morning (5:30 a.m., PST) of February 2, 2010, when 5 of the following 15 films will be graced with nominations:

• “The Beaches of Agnes,” Agnès Varda, director (Cine-Tamaris)
• “Burma VJ,” Anders Østergaard, director (Magic Hour Films)
• “The Cove,” Louie Psihoyos, director (Oceanic Preservation Society)
• “Every Little Step,” James D. Stern and Adam Del Deo, directors (Endgame Entertainment)
• “Facing Ali,” Pete McCormack, director (Network Films Inc.)
• “Food, Inc.,” Robert Kenner, director (Robert Kenner Films)
• “Garbage Dreams,” Mai Iskander, director (Iskander Films, Inc.)
• “Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders,” Mark N. Hopkins, director (Red Floor Pictures LLC)
• “The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers,” Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith, directors (Kovno Communications)
• “Mugabe and the White African,” Andrew Thompson and Lucy Bailey, directors (Arturi Films Limited)
• “Sergio,” Greg Barker, director (Passion Pictures and Silverbridge Productions)
• “Soundtrack for a Revolution,” Bill Guttentag and Dan Sturman, directors (Freedom Song Productions)
• “Under Our Skin,” Andy Abrahams Wilson, director (Open Eye Pictures)
• “Valentino The Last Emperor,” Matt Tyrnauer, director (Acolyte Films)
• “Which Way Home,” Rebecca Cammisa, director (Mr. Mudd)

Louie Psihoyos’ The Cove is an early front runner, having already won a handful of awards including the audience award for best documentary at Sundance and the audience award for best feature at the Nantucket Film Festival. The activist film has been praised for its resounding message.

One glaring omission is that of Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story, the summer blockbuster of documentaries that grossed over $14 million. The Documentary Branch Screening Committee may have felt that, despite the topical relevance, Moore’s voice is tired and his structure lacked innovation.

The 82nd Academy Awards will be held in Los Angeles on Sunday, March 7, 2010.

Welcome to "DocZine"

YOUR ONLINE HOME FOR DOCUMENTARY FILM

DocZine will offer articles on a variety of topics:

• reviews of newly released documentaries
• analysis/reflections of classic documentary films
  
• news and interviews (as they come) from the documentary world
• platform for “minidoc” series

Please let me know how I can improve it!