Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Yeah, NYT!
One of the best articles I've seen recently on the argument for going veggie ran in yesterday's New York Times.
Sundance Film Festival
On Sunday I flew back to LA from the Sundance Film Festival in Park City. Didn't see much for celebrities (no, the bald guy Charlotte marries in Sex and the City, Danny Baldwin, and the random guy from Neil Young's band do not count), but I saw some fantastic films, sat in on some really great panels, took in a set by Brett Dennen at the Music Cafe, and basked in the beauty of Park City's snowy, snowy mountains. Most of the celebrities come earlier in the week, so things were quiet, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that people seemed to be more focused on making great film and on making social change through film than on the glitz and glamour Hollywood has lent the event in recent years.
First, the films.
Flow: For Love of Water
The pathos was a bit over the top (they compared the future consequences of the water shortage in some parts of the world to the meteors that caused mass extinctions), which is too bad because I think it undermined the credibility of what was otherwise really good content on the consequences of privatizing water.
Red
Malicious teens shoot dog. Owner goes on insane rampage seeking vengeance, which (spoiler alert) ends with a bloodbath (at least for a Sundance Film). Don't get me wrong, I love dogs and empathize with the owner's anger, but no one in their right mind would go as far as he did. Overall the film was trite, predictable, and low on insight and character development. Too bad the best thing about the film, the cute dog, is only on screen for the first few minutes.
Sugar
The movie is by the creators of Half Nelson and is about how we crank ballplayers from Latin America through the baseball machine like so many cogs on a conveyer belt and toss them out when we're done with them. Unfortunately, I think that's exactly what will happen to the Dominican actors in the film. Still, the lush visuals and subtle acting make for a good movie.
Half-Life
What unwinds as a weird and unsettling look at the life of a dysfunctional California family is made beautiful and lovely by the animated (literally) imaginations of the main characters and touching depictions of each character's vulnerability.
I Always Wanted to be a Gangster
A French comedy, oddly enough, and the only lighthearted movie I saw. Absolutely gorgeous imagery. Funny, original, and sweet-but-not-too-sweet. Probably my favorite movie of the festival.
Now, for the panels.
That Must Be Told: Todays Human Rights Documentary Movement
The panelists started by showing clips of their films (more info below) and then moved to a discussion of whether it is enough to simply make a documentary film and raise awareness or whether one must also offer concrete ways for viewers to take action. That segued to a discussion on the trend of working with nonprofits that use documentary film in their campaigns, and the benefits that can come with collaboration, like exposure, funding, and offering audiences a way to take action. Amnesty International has a campaign related to Mumia Abu-Jamal, a Black former Panther and journalist, and his 25 years on death row, and so they were willing to collaborate with panelist Livia Giuggioli on her film about his life, In Prison My Whole Life. The film screened at Sundance, but unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to see it.
Also on the panel:
*Gillian Caldwell, 1Sky Alliance
*Oren Yakobovich, B'Tselem, collaboration on Shooting Back, a very cool project in which B'Tselem gives cameras to Palestinians living in Israel to film their daily lives. Democracy Now! uses the film on their website.
Paul van Zyl, International Center for Transitional Justice
James Orbinski, the Nobel prize winning doctor for Doctors Without Borders and the Narrator of Triage: Dr. James Orbinski's Humanitarian Dilemma
The Double Bottom Line: Too Good to be True?
Panelist Bristol Baughn, an executive with Reason Pictures and GOOD, disagreed. She talked about how she thinks it is possible for filmmakers to make a profit by telling relevant stories, using compelling narrative and marketing effectively.
The panelists then discussed ways to measure the social value documentary film creates, like number of viewers, number of click-throughs to take action, and measures of actual action taken, and agreed that social value is difficult to measure, but is becoming more measurable with online metrics.
The panelists also talked about how they are changing their distribution strategies in response to new media outlets like YouTube. Schreiber talked about takepart.com, a site that lets people watch documentary films on all different kinds of issues and gives them tools for taking action right on the site. A video on Canada's seal hunting, for example, is posted next to links for contacting Canada's prime minister, information on boycotting seafood, and supporting HSI's ProtectSeals campaign.
Panelist Annie Sundberg, the director of The Devil Came on Horseback, (which looks like a very compelling film on the Darfur crisis, by the way) spoke about how distributing films through non-traditional venues, like screenings at schools and collaboration with nonprofit would could use the film in their campaign, can be as effective as more traditional distribution. She also spoke about using viral marketing tactics like contacting relevant interest groups on sites like MeetUp.com to host screenings for a fee.
All in all, a fantastic few days.
First, the films.
Flow: For Love of Water
The pathos was a bit over the top (they compared the future consequences of the water shortage in some parts of the world to the meteors that caused mass extinctions), which is too bad because I think it undermined the credibility of what was otherwise really good content on the consequences of privatizing water.
Red
Malicious teens shoot dog. Owner goes on insane rampage seeking vengeance, which (spoiler alert) ends with a bloodbath (at least for a Sundance Film). Don't get me wrong, I love dogs and empathize with the owner's anger, but no one in their right mind would go as far as he did. Overall the film was trite, predictable, and low on insight and character development. Too bad the best thing about the film, the cute dog, is only on screen for the first few minutes.
Sugar
The movie is by the creators of Half Nelson and is about how we crank ballplayers from Latin America through the baseball machine like so many cogs on a conveyer belt and toss them out when we're done with them. Unfortunately, I think that's exactly what will happen to the Dominican actors in the film. Still, the lush visuals and subtle acting make for a good movie.
Half-Life
What unwinds as a weird and unsettling look at the life of a dysfunctional California family is made beautiful and lovely by the animated (literally) imaginations of the main characters and touching depictions of each character's vulnerability.
I Always Wanted to be a Gangster
A French comedy, oddly enough, and the only lighthearted movie I saw. Absolutely gorgeous imagery. Funny, original, and sweet-but-not-too-sweet. Probably my favorite movie of the festival.
Now, for the panels.
That Must Be Told: Todays Human Rights Documentary Movement
The panelists started by showing clips of their films (more info below) and then moved to a discussion of whether it is enough to simply make a documentary film and raise awareness or whether one must also offer concrete ways for viewers to take action. That segued to a discussion on the trend of working with nonprofits that use documentary film in their campaigns, and the benefits that can come with collaboration, like exposure, funding, and offering audiences a way to take action. Amnesty International has a campaign related to Mumia Abu-Jamal, a Black former Panther and journalist, and his 25 years on death row, and so they were willing to collaborate with panelist Livia Giuggioli on her film about his life, In Prison My Whole Life. The film screened at Sundance, but unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to see it.
Also on the panel:
*Gillian Caldwell, 1Sky Alliance
*Oren Yakobovich, B'Tselem, collaboration on Shooting Back, a very cool project in which B'Tselem gives cameras to Palestinians living in Israel to film their daily lives. Democracy Now! uses the film on their website.
Paul van Zyl, International Center for Transitional Justice
James Orbinski, the Nobel prize winning doctor for Doctors Without Borders and the Narrator of Triage: Dr. James Orbinski's Humanitarian Dilemma
The Double Bottom Line: Too Good to be True?
A panel of directors and producers debated whether one of the goals of documentary filmmaking should be to make a profit. Panelist John Schreiber of Participant Productions argued that though every once in awhile a documentary will make a profit, films with critical messages need to be made whether or not they'll generate a profit. He does evaluate whether a film will be able to generate enough revenue to cover its costs, though.
Panelist and moderator Jess Search of the Channel Four Foundation (and formerly of Witness, a You-Tube like site for user-created content related to human rights), echoed Schreiber's sentiments and argued that there's a sweet spot between being socially important/relevant and entertaining that leads to a wildly successful film bu is really difficult for most documentaries to hit and creates unrealistic bars by which to measure the majority of documentaries. Occasionally a film like An Inconvenient Truth will hit that sweet spot, but if documentary filmmakers make only movies that are on hot topics and are always entertaining, lots of important stories will go untold.
Panelist and moderator Jess Search of the Channel Four Foundation (and formerly of Witness, a You-Tube like site for user-created content related to human rights), echoed Schreiber's sentiments and argued that there's a sweet spot between being socially important/relevant and entertaining that leads to a wildly successful film bu is really difficult for most documentaries to hit and creates unrealistic bars by which to measure the majority of documentaries. Occasionally a film like An Inconvenient Truth will hit that sweet spot, but if documentary filmmakers make only movies that are on hot topics and are always entertaining, lots of important stories will go untold.
Panelist Bristol Baughn, an executive with Reason Pictures and GOOD, disagreed. She talked about how she thinks it is possible for filmmakers to make a profit by telling relevant stories, using compelling narrative and marketing effectively.
The panelists then discussed ways to measure the social value documentary film creates, like number of viewers, number of click-throughs to take action, and measures of actual action taken, and agreed that social value is difficult to measure, but is becoming more measurable with online metrics.
The panelists also talked about how they are changing their distribution strategies in response to new media outlets like YouTube. Schreiber talked about takepart.com, a site that lets people watch documentary films on all different kinds of issues and gives them tools for taking action right on the site. A video on Canada's seal hunting, for example, is posted next to links for contacting Canada's prime minister, information on boycotting seafood, and supporting HSI's ProtectSeals campaign.
Panelist Annie Sundberg, the director of The Devil Came on Horseback, (which looks like a very compelling film on the Darfur crisis, by the way) spoke about how distributing films through non-traditional venues, like screenings at schools and collaboration with nonprofit would could use the film in their campaign, can be as effective as more traditional distribution. She also spoke about using viral marketing tactics like contacting relevant interest groups on sites like MeetUp.com to host screenings for a fee.
All in all, a fantastic few days.
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