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Also this issue: Shorts Stories Variety Pack The Big Picture Still Growing |
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April 4-10, 2002
cover story
 old country: From Kimi Takesue's Heaven's Crossroad, part of FestIndies' "Distant Cultures." |
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In its second year under new management, the Festival of Independents continues to sit a little uncomfortably within the Philadelphia Festival of World Cinema as a whole. The renewed involvement of PIFVA -- the Philadelphia Independent Film/Video Association, the local filmmakers’ support network, many of whose members skipped out on last years’ festivities -- is a good sign: Members will be filming throughout the festival, producing an instant record of the week’s events to be shown as part of the closing-night ceremonies. But there’s still the sense that FestIndies is the red-headed stepchild of the PFWC: Curator/coordinator Scott Johnston doesn’t have so much as a desk at the festival’s Market Street offices.
Like the rest of the PFWC, FestIndies continues to grow, but with four feature-length films and five shorts programs, it’s doubtful anyone will be able to run the gamut. And that’s not counting the fact that three of them -- the shorts programs “Distant Cultures” and “Progressive Cinema” and the documentary feature Talk Fast -- are scheduled back-to-back on a weekday evening; it’s hard to imagine even the most devoted local film fan rushing out of work to spend six straight hours at International House on a Wednesday. PFWC seems to be torn between a desire to make FestIndies bigger and splashier than ever and a reluctance to commit the needed resources.
That said, there’s still a lot of quality local work in this year’s programs, even if viewing it occasionally means sitting through a handful of sub-par entries. The features -- Snipes, Bikini Bandits, Talk Fast and Bottomfeeders -- will be reviewed individually along with the rest of the festival’s entries, but here’s a quick look at each of the five shorts programs. (For the stories behind several of them, check out the City Paper Festival of Independents supplement, located in the middle of this here newspaper.)
Philadelic Yo! (Mon., April 8, 7 p.m., International House) An octet of short works that pay homage to the City of Blubbery Love. Highlights include Joey and Mickey, Mark Brodzik’s portrait of the duo of salty nightclub singers who have been entertaining South Philadelphia audiences with their ribald shtick for three decades; Grit, a similarly colorful reminiscence of one out-of-control old school Philly boxing bout, animated by Mike Enright, who also crafted the festival’s trailer; Welcome to CB Land, a whimsically noirish semi-documentary that dramatizes one woman’s battle with her invasive next-door neighbor; Sk8 B-LO I-95, the latest from the fine ladies of Big Tea Party; and Civil Disobedience or Just Cheap?, a grandiosely titled five-minute look at a grassroots parking rebellion near Philadelphia International Airport.
Distant Cultures (Wed., April 10, 5 p.m., IH) The highlight of this foreign-themed program is undoubtedly the latest from Kimi Takesue (Rosewater), whose Heaven’s Crossroad is a mesmerizing catalog of imagery from the Vietnamese countryside. Also of note are Jeremiah Zagar’s Delhi House, which documents attempts to aid the poorest of the poor on the streets of India’s capital, and Border Crossing, by Termite TV’s Anula Shetty (last seen taped to a television on CP’s cover).
Progressive Cinema (Wed., April 10, 7:15 p.m., IH) Michael O’Reilly’s In the Shadow of the Shortest Saint has had more than a few airings around town, but if you haven’t caught it yet, by all means, do so. Saint is, characteristically for O’Reilly, edit-intensive, mixing media, tempos and frames of reference to weave together a series of disparate stories, all centering around death or loss. Chris Mich’s Character examines the ways in which letters, divorced from the words they compose, are both works of art and the building blocks of our environment, and Karl Staven’s Towards Ground Zero: One Month Later, provides a new perspective in tragedy by subtly animating still photographs of New York City post-9/11.
Unblinking Eye (Thu., April 11, 9:30 p.m., IH) A truly bizarre pairing of two wildly different documentaries. The College Eye spends half an hour with Jane Elliot, whose controversial (read: annoying) approach to anti-racist teachings involves a six-hour, two-day workshop in which students are separated and then discriminated against (or favored) by eye color -- the point being mainly to teach white kids what it’s like to be the victim of prejudice. So simplistic, so good -- except that Elliot’s “technique” also involves consistently yelling at the top of her lungs, to the point where you’re as eager to bust out of that classroom as any of her subjects.
Paired with that is the quieter and infinitely more enthralling Fruits of the Revolution. Shot in Iran over a period of two months, the film encompasses a wide variety of perspectives on the condition of Iranian women in the period since the 1979 revolution that installed an Islamic fundamentalist government. While the film’s multiplicity of perspectives risks seeming inconclusive, and the alternation between talking heads and footage of Iranians going about their daily lives can start to seem a bit mechanical over the film’s hour-plus length, the overall effect is striking, and not just because it’s all but impossible to find footage of Iranians simply being allowed to speak their minds. Far from the monochromatic portrait we’re usually painted, Fruits shows Iran as a society of wildly divergent opinions, and one in the midst of profound social upheaval. Not perfect, but still essential.
Short and Sweet (Fri., April 12, 6:15 p.m., IH) As usual, FestIndies’ straight-up narratives are its weakest links, and five of them are gathered into the festival’s most missable program. Shandor Garrison’s No One’s a Mystery has some evocative country-road imagery (and music by Frog Holler), and Hugues Dalton’s Shake ’em Up has strong performances to go with its predictable story, but if you’ve got to skip one program, this is the one.
And lest we forget, spare a moment to look over the parties and special events that put the “fest” in FestIndies. The premieres of Snipes and Bikini Bandits will be followed by shindigs at FestIndies’ 1616 Locust HQ (organized by CP’s crack marketing staff), while the week brings a host of panel discussions. On the 10th at 7 p.m., local rep programmers gather at the Five Spot for “Keepers of the Frame,” while Friday night at 1616 brings “Chix on Flix” at 7 p.m. -- a female filmmakers’ panel including Shetty, Takasue and last year’s CP covergirl Gage Johnston -- and “Blast-Off!” at 9, featuring live music, surprise guests and an opportunity to anyone who dares to grab the mic and air their horror stories. And, to lay it all to rest, there’s closing night (April 14, 9 p.m., 1616 Locust), with awards, the above-mentioned PIFVA short, and a live performance by Joey and Mickey (meaning you’d best see the short so you know what you’re in for).
