bmurphyfl
12 Mar 2005, 03:21 PM
Next Friday, the Green Mountain Film Festival (http://www.savoytheater.com/gmff/) makes its annual return to the smallest capital in the country. And, once again, I'm looking for help in choosing which movies to see. I think Tmax will be interested in everyone's opinion of these movies too since he goes to the festival also.
I'm pretty sure that I'll be going to see the documentary about The Ramones, "End of the Century". But, beyond that, I'm open to any suggestions. Here is the movie listing (and thanks in advance for the help):
AFTER THE DAY BEFORE
Hungary, 120 minutes, 35mm
Directed by Attila Janisch
Dressed in a vest, tie and gabardine raincoat in spite of the steamy weather, a stranger gets off a truck in the middle of a verdant countryside and accepts a dilapidated bicycle from the driver. The visitor is searching for his inheritance, an abandoned farm. Why don’t people want to help him? Where is that Billie Holiday music coming from? Who is the murdered girl that everyone is talking about? And why is hehaving such strange dreams? Director Attila Janisch describes his unsettling film as a study of “the psychology of sin.” Winner of many European prizes, it was described by Variety as “astonishingly unclassifiable… Director Janisch eschews linear narrative in favor of a waking dream state, and the result is uncompromising, risk-taking contemporary European filmmaking at its best… The musical selections, particularly by Arvo Part, complement the action as well as any of the classical pieces employed by Kubrick to drive his SHINING protagonist crazy.” Sponsored by Dick Jenney. In Hungarian with subtitles.
BEAUTY ACADEMY OF KABUL
USA, 75 minutes, DVD
Directed by Liz Mermin
Liz Mermin’s “irresistibly moving” (indieWire) film about a beauty school opening in the Afghan capital discreetly observes the interactions between Western teachers and Afghan women to reveal an inspiring portrait of women triumphing against all odds. As whispering men with machine guns always lurk in the background, several Afghan students--ranging from younger neophytes to mature women who had cut hair behind closed doors during the Taliban regime--finally relish the chance to perform their craft out in the open. Mermin captures the vibrancy of the war-torn city, along with the colorful Western teachers whose style and behavior conflict with their new surroundings. Says Mermin: “Our standard vision of Afghan women--oppressed, hidden, tormented--isn't entirely wrong, but it's terribly narrow. The seriousness with which the students took hair and makeup amidst such tremendous destruction and poverty seemed, at first, anomalous; but one of the many tragedies of war is the suppression of the ordinary things that make life entertaining. And so I hope in its small way this film will play a part in bringing their reality closer to ours, in reminding us that we're all part of the same fragile world and that only chance has kept some of us safe while others endure incomprehensible violence.” Post-film event: producer Nigel Noble will appear at the Friday, March 18 and Saturday, March 19 shows.Sponsored by Vermont Women's Fund. Community Partners: Peace and Justice Center, Vermont Commission on Women, Central Vermont WILPF. In English and Pashtun with subtitles. OPENING NIGHT GALA: Following the Friday, March 18 show, a catered reception by Susan's Kitchen at City Center. With short “Baker's Men” by Harriette Yahr.
BROTHERS
Denmark, 110 minutes, 35mm
Directed by Susanna Bier
Michael (Ulrich Thomsen) is a career military man with a beautiful wife (Connie Nielsen) and two lovely daughters. He's a success, unlike his younger brother Jannick (Nikolaj Lie Kaas), recently released from prison and living a marginal alcoholic's life. Michael is assigned to a UN mission in Afghanistan, where his helicopter is shot down and he is presumed dead. Jannick develops a sense of responsibility and does his best to help his sister-in-law cope with the loss. But Michael reappears a few months later, traumatized and paranoid. After his experience as a prisoner, everything has changed for him. Against a backdrop of modern warfare, Danish director Suzanne Bier has created an uncommonly intense examination of brotherly relationships. Its carefully crafted script and accomplished actors allow her to portray exceptional emotional detail (as she did in her earlier OPEN HEARTS, shown at the 2004 GMFF), shooting her characters in frequent extreme close-ups and bringing the audience into their intimate turmoil. Variety: “The second collaboration between director Susanne Bier and scriptwriter Anders Thomas Jensen once again shows what skilled artists can do with a story that might have ended up filled with clichés.” In Danish with subtitles.
COWARDS BEND THE KNEE
Canada, 75 minutes, VHS
Directed by Guy Maddin
The latest film from one-of-a-kind Winnipeg filmmaker Guy Maddin is a gloriously over-the-top story about a young ice hockey star and his ruinous involvement with a salon-cum-brothel. When the young Maroons hockey player—not coincidentally named Guy Maddin—casually discards his pregnant girlfriend in a beauty parlor/illegal abortion clinic, he takes up with an exotic beauty named Meta, the daughter of the owner. Meta has serious issues involving her faithless mother, her murdered father and his severed blue hands - creepily, the only male hands she can bear to have touch her body. As in his previous films (THE SADDEST MUSIC IN THE WORLD, ARCHANGEL) Maddin pays tribute to silent-film conventions, adding his own psychological obsessions in a heady and often hilarious brew. Time Out New York: “The story is told in such a breathless, brilliant fashion that one can only sit slack-jawed in its joyously overwrought wake.” 75 minutes. With short “Paranoid: A Chant” (Chris Shumway, Burlington High School).
CRYING LADIES
Philippines, 114 minutes, 35mm
Directed by Mark Meily
The Filipino entry for this year’s Best Foreign Film Oscar is a crowd-pleasing comedy/melodrama about three working-class Manila women who are hired as professional mourners for a funeral in the city’s Chinese community. Stella, a petty thief, has lost custody of her young son after serving a year in prison, and struggles to make ends meet. Relief comes in the form of a young Chinese man, Wilson, whose wealthy father has just died. Tradition decrees that professional mourners be hired to wail loudly at the five-day wake in order to impress the gods. Stella in turn rounds up two old friends to harmonize alongside her: the churchgoing adulteress Choleng and the former B-movie actress Aling. The New York Times: “Mark Meily’s film is a loose and genial soap opera… With a refreshing lack of vanity or pretension, the three actresses play their ordinary, hard-luck characters with generosity and grace.” Sponsored by SoVerNet. Community Partners: Vermont Commission on Women, Central Vermont WILPF. In Tagalog with subtitles.
DANGEROUS LIVING
USA, 58 minutes, DVD
Directed by John Scagliotti
Despite the massive efforts of gay organizations around the world, the majority of nations are entering the 21st century with horrific laws on the books that keep their gay and lesbian populations locked away in their closets, and, at times, prison. In some countries, “getting caught” can even incur the death penalty. John Scagliotti’s film is the first documentary to deeply explore the lives of GLBT people in non-western cultures. The centerpiece is the story of the “Cairo 52.” On May 11th, 2001, 52 men in Cairo were arrested, tortured and imprisoned for simply gathering at a discothèque on the river Nile. The crew of DANGEROUS LIVING also traveled to places such as Namibia, the Philippines and Brazil to tell the heartbreaking and triumphant stories of brave individuals on film. Stuart Klawans, The Nation: “Far-ranging, very smart and thoughtful.” Post-film event: John Scagliotti will appear to discuss the film at the Saturday, March 26 show. Sponsored by Concept2 and Samara Foundation of Vermont. Community Partners: Peace and Justice Center, Mountain Pride Media, Out in the Mountains, Outright Vermont, R.U.1.2?
THE DESERTED STATION
Iran, 88 minutes, 35mm
Directed by Alizera Raisian
Like many Iranian films, the plot of director Alizera Raisian’s film is simplicity itself: a photographer and his wife are stranded in a village in the middle of nowhere when their car breaks down. The husband goes off with the village mechanic/schoolteacher while the woman subs for the teacher, taking over his one-room schoolhouse. But the day turns out to be a subtly life-changing experience for the woman (Leila Hatami, whose nuanced performance was honored at the Montreal Film Festival), as the film, based on a story by Abbas Kiarostami, takes a haunting turn. With an interesting and refreshing style—from the unexpected frankness and openness of dialogue and scenarios, to the strong and vital portrayals of women, to the glorious picture-postcard cinematic compositions—THE DESERTED STATION is a modern gem of Iran’s always interesting filmmaking industry. The Village Voice: “Under Raisian’s sensitive direction, the story is revealed slowly, making the most of the location’s unearthly beauty… Hatami makes her character’s inner transformation both subtle and palpable.” Sponsored by Sarducci's Restaurant. In Farsi with subtitles.
END OF THE CENTURY
USA, 108 minutes, 35mm
Directed by Michael Gramaglia and Jim Fields
Stephen Holden, The New York Times: “To lead the rock 'n' roll life may be to drink deeply from the fountain of youth, but the rigors and temptations of that life often point to an early death. Take the Ramones, the seminal punk rock band whose history is traced in exhaustive detail in this absorbing documentary. The band's geeky, rubber-lipped lead singer, Joey Ramone, aka Jeffrey Hyman, and its skinny, heavily tattooed bassist, Dee Dee Ramone, aka Douglas Colvin, died a year apart, in 2001 and 2002, at 49 and 50 respectively. As the movie reveals, harmony among band members gets harder to sustain as the years gather, youthful enthusiasm wanes, and personalities define themselves. The Ramones' defiant, often funny bubblegum punk, the group's uniform image of black-leather street punks and its adoption of a common last name, Ramone, camouflaged its members' serious personality disorders and conflicts.” Sponsored by Buch Spieler.
FLEDGLING FILMS
90 minutes, VHS
Kingdom County Productions will screen a sampler of its best Fledgling Films, from seven years of teen filmmaking institutes in the Northeast Kingdom--and featuring teens from across the country. Among the films: a bittersweet teen drama, CARLIN FELL; an experimental drama, RALPH, by former U-32 filmmaker N.J. Bartrum; and LOSING SLEEP, a documentary about homeless teen girls in Montpelier. Sponsored by Cabot Creamery. FREE admission, tickets available in advance and at the door (same show both days).
GODZILLA
Japan, 98 minutes, 35mm
Directed by Ishiro Honda
The Japanese monster movie from 50 years ago has become a camp cult classic, but with this restored version, we can see how much was lost in translation. The Americanized, dubbed GODZILLA removed 40 minutes from the original and added 20 minutes of material (with Raymond Burr) that minimized the film’s anti-nuclear theme. Terrence Rafferty, The New York Times: “While this might not, on the face of it, seem like one of the more urgently needed film-preservation projects, the buffed-up GODZILLA, radically different from the truncated, risibly dubbed version Americans know, is a surprisingly compelling pop-culture artifact with a distinctively haunted, elegiac quality: a picture of the strange forms nuclear anxiety took in an era that now feels nearly as remote as the Jurassic.” Sponsored by New England Credit Card. Community Partners: Japan Society of Vermont, Peace and Justice Center, Central Vermont WILPF. In Japanese with subtitles.
HOLY CROSS
N. Ireland, 84 minutes, VHS
Directed by Mark Brozan
This potent Irish film, directed by Mark Brozel for BBC Northern Ireland, dramatizes events of 2001, when a dispute over passage to a Catholic girls’ school through a predominantly Protestant neighborhood in North Belfast exploded in rioting. The film’s story is told through the eyes of two young girls who, in any other town, could be good friends, but because of the situation in Ardoyne and Glenbryn, they don’t even know each other’s names; they are members of two ordinary families whose houses are back-to-back, but who lead lives on either side of an insurmountable divide. The drama includes actual news footage from the time and shows the effects of the violence on both families as tension builds over the summer, reaching a crisis when the children go back to school. Variety: “The complexity of historic, political and personal issues at play here are very well laid out in the non-didactic screenplay… While everyone here is right and wrong to an extent, the biggest victims are those whose formative years are being shaped by fear and rage.” With short “Ever Since” (Spencer Campbell, Harwood High School).
IN THE REALMS OF THE UNREAL
USA, 82 minutes, DVD
Directed by Jessica Yu
During the day, Henry Darger mopped floors at a Catholic charity. But at night, in his crowded, one-room apartment, Darger ruled over an imaginary universe of extraordinary richness. Steeped equally in Catholic doctrine and the illustrated children's books of the turn of the century—including those of Darger's fellow Chicagoan, L. Frank Baum—his life's work tells the epic story of the Vivian Girls, seven virginal sisters who lead a revolt against an evil empire of child-enslaving males. Discovered after his death in 1973, it embraces some 300 paintings and 15,000 pages of typed, single paged manuscript. Dave Kehr, The New York Times: “Jessica Yu's fine documentary offers the outline of Darger's troubled life, but more importantly, it offers a handle on his massive, unwieldy work, summarizing his complex narratives and bringing the paintings to life through discreet, digital animation.” Sponsored by Deerfield Design. Community Partners: Studio Place Arts, Phantom Theater. With short "Lizard Tea Party" by Nate Vaughan.
KAMCHATKA
Argentina, 104 minutes, 35mm
Directed by Marcelo Pineyro
In the years following the military coup in Argentina in 1976, hundreds of people—men, women, artists, teachers, lawyers, musician, children, even babies—were captured, tortured and sometimes disappeared without a trace. Marcelo Pineyro’s film tells the story of one such family - a lawyer, his wife, and their two boys - who are forced to leave Buenos Aires and hide out in a house in the suburbs. They take on new identities and attempt to lead a normal life, always wary of the "call for action" that might come at any time. The story is told through the eyes of the elder son, who reinvents himself as Harry, after Harry Houdini, the famous escapologist, whose feats are recorded in a book he finds. Argentine stars Roberto Darin (NINE QUEENS) and Cecilia Roth (ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER) play the parents, who struggle to maintain an illusion of normalcy. Variety: “A marvelously human film that becomes a touching universal statement about love and loss.” Sponsored by Artisans Hand Craft Gallery. Community Partner: Peace and Justice Center. In Spanish with subtitles.
KITCHEN STORIES
Norway, 95 minutes, 35mm
Directed by Bent Hamer
Folke (Tomas Norstrom) is an expert from the Swedish Home Research, part of a 1950’s project to track the domestic habits of Norwegian bachelors. He moves into the home of one of the study's subjects, Isak (Joachim Calmeyer), an eccentric codger who pads around his tiny, uncomfortable house. Isak turns the tables at night by slipping into his attic and spying on the lonely Folke, who lives in a trailer on Isak's property. The New York Times: “The Norwegian writer and director Bent Hamer takes what sounds like a constricted and unpromising premise and produces a wry, uninflected deadpan social comedy that points as straight and true as a compass fixed on magnetic north. It has the tingly, dry shock of a snootful of sub-zero air.” Sponsored by Hunger Mountain Coop and The Larsen Fund. In Norwegian with subtitles.
MACHUCA
Chile, 120 minutes, 35mm
Directed by Andres Wood
In 1970's Chile, President Allende is in power and, in its capital Santiago, the liberal padre of an English school, Father McEnroe, attempts an ambitious social experiment by introducing students of different classes and social backgrounds. This is how Gonzalo Infante, the shy rich boy, meets Pedro Machuca, the streetwise kid from the slums across the river. United against bullies, they form a bond of friendship and experience each other’s lives: Gonzalo's aspiring mother and rich lover, idealist father and spoilt sister; Pedro's drunken father, enterprising uncle and alluring cousin Silvana. Andres Wood's film is a passionate look at how Salvador Allende’s regime was not only physically crushed by a military junta, but crippled by class divisions and bitterness. The film has been an enormous hit in its native land, praised across the political spectrum as a tale of healing and reconciliation. Variety: “Richly human in focus, the drama steadily cranks up its political and emotional charge, poignantly viewing its themes through the eyes of two 11-year-old boys.” Sponsored by the Larsen Fund. Community Partner: Peace and Justice Center. In Spanish with subtitles.
MILES ELECTRIC: A DIFFERENT KIND OF BLUE
USA, 85 minutes, DVD
Directed by Murray Lerner
At the Isle of Wight Festival in the summer of 1970, Miles Davis and an electric sextet (featuring Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett, Jack deJohnette and Dave Holland) played a riveting set consisting of one 38-minute jam. That memorable set is resurrected in impeccable sound in Murray Lerner's film of the event, which one musician remembers as a “microhistory of jazz.” During the first half of the film, the original Isle of Wight sidemen and other musicians such as Carlos Santana look back three decades to recall Davis's historic transition into electric instrumentation. That leap, which brought Davis to a mass audience for the first time, infuriated the orthodox jazz establishment. The New York Times: “MILES ELECTRIC is an exceptionally concise, well-organized concert documentary. There's none of the padding you often find in concert movies, and once the jam begins, there are no distractions.” Sponsored by Figrig Web Crafters. Community Partner: Green Mountain Jazz Series.
MONUMENTAL
From the moment David Brower first witnessed the extraordinary beauty of the Yosemite Valley, his life was tied to the fight to preserve the American wilds for future generations. Director Kelly Duane explores the dramatic story of Brower and his colleagues’ unrelenting campaigns to protect and establish some of our most treasured National Parks. At the center of the film—which incorporates much of Brower’s own footage from the 30’s and 40’s—are the themes that absorbed Brower through his life: the threatened beauty of the American earth; the spiritual connection between humans and the great outdoors; and the moral obligations to preserve what is left of the world’s natural wonders. Variety: “Director Kelly Duane delivers a stirring and visually dense account of Brower’s life and times… The ample display here of 16mm shot by Brower in the Western wilderness virtually makes him a co-director.” Community Partners: Vermont Sierra Club, Forest Watch, Vermont Natural Resources Council, The Nature Conservancy - VT Chapter, Friends of the Earth. With short “John Gore and the Amazing Whiz Wagon” (Marty Cain, Marlboro).
MOOLAADE
Senegal, 124 minutes, 35mm
Directed by Ousmane Sembene
A.O. Scott, The New York Times: “Ousmane Sembene, the 81-year-old Senegalese filmmaker, is often referred to as the father of African cinema, but he is a patriarch with evident feminist sympathies. Set in a village in Burkina Faso, Colle, the tough-minded second wife of a village elder, starts a revolution when she offers ritual protection (the “moolaade” of the title) to four young girls who have escaped from a genital circumcision ceremony. In chronicling her struggle with male power and deeply rooted tradition, Mr. Sembene also paints a rich and complex tableau of village life, which gives the film, in spite of its harsh topic, a remarkable buoyancy of spirit. In its warm-hearted optimism, MOOLAADE is an example of humanist cinema at its finest, a movie that reminds you of the dignity and heroism of ordinary life.” Sponsored by Global Fund for Women. Community Partners: Peace and Justice Center, Vermont Commission on Women, Central Vermont WILPF. In Jula with subtitles.
MUSIC FROM THE INSIDE OUT
USA, 90 minutes, VHS
Directed by Daniel Anker
As we hear through performances in the United States and on a European tour, the century-old Philadelphia Orchestra is one of the finest in the world. The diverse, talented men and women who comprise the orchestra are continuously learning more about their own music, and in Daniel Anker’s riveting documentary, they express their thoughts during interviews and group discussions, as well as through their instruments. Whether onstage at the symphony hall or playing bluegrass or salsa at a local bar, these musicians embody the art of living as well as performance. Each musician’s story reveals a struggle to maintain individuality, to test musical boundaries and to live the challenging life of a mostly anonymous artist. Says director Anker: “I’d been backstage with an orchestra, and there is a real sense of excitement… I wanted this film to capture that.” Sponsored by The Black Door Bar & Bistro. Community Partners: Vermont Violins, Capital City Concerts, Monteverdi Music School, Central Vermont Youth Orchestra.
(continued in the next post)
I'm pretty sure that I'll be going to see the documentary about The Ramones, "End of the Century". But, beyond that, I'm open to any suggestions. Here is the movie listing (and thanks in advance for the help):
AFTER THE DAY BEFORE
Hungary, 120 minutes, 35mm
Directed by Attila Janisch
Dressed in a vest, tie and gabardine raincoat in spite of the steamy weather, a stranger gets off a truck in the middle of a verdant countryside and accepts a dilapidated bicycle from the driver. The visitor is searching for his inheritance, an abandoned farm. Why don’t people want to help him? Where is that Billie Holiday music coming from? Who is the murdered girl that everyone is talking about? And why is hehaving such strange dreams? Director Attila Janisch describes his unsettling film as a study of “the psychology of sin.” Winner of many European prizes, it was described by Variety as “astonishingly unclassifiable… Director Janisch eschews linear narrative in favor of a waking dream state, and the result is uncompromising, risk-taking contemporary European filmmaking at its best… The musical selections, particularly by Arvo Part, complement the action as well as any of the classical pieces employed by Kubrick to drive his SHINING protagonist crazy.” Sponsored by Dick Jenney. In Hungarian with subtitles.
BEAUTY ACADEMY OF KABUL
USA, 75 minutes, DVD
Directed by Liz Mermin
Liz Mermin’s “irresistibly moving” (indieWire) film about a beauty school opening in the Afghan capital discreetly observes the interactions between Western teachers and Afghan women to reveal an inspiring portrait of women triumphing against all odds. As whispering men with machine guns always lurk in the background, several Afghan students--ranging from younger neophytes to mature women who had cut hair behind closed doors during the Taliban regime--finally relish the chance to perform their craft out in the open. Mermin captures the vibrancy of the war-torn city, along with the colorful Western teachers whose style and behavior conflict with their new surroundings. Says Mermin: “Our standard vision of Afghan women--oppressed, hidden, tormented--isn't entirely wrong, but it's terribly narrow. The seriousness with which the students took hair and makeup amidst such tremendous destruction and poverty seemed, at first, anomalous; but one of the many tragedies of war is the suppression of the ordinary things that make life entertaining. And so I hope in its small way this film will play a part in bringing their reality closer to ours, in reminding us that we're all part of the same fragile world and that only chance has kept some of us safe while others endure incomprehensible violence.” Post-film event: producer Nigel Noble will appear at the Friday, March 18 and Saturday, March 19 shows.Sponsored by Vermont Women's Fund. Community Partners: Peace and Justice Center, Vermont Commission on Women, Central Vermont WILPF. In English and Pashtun with subtitles. OPENING NIGHT GALA: Following the Friday, March 18 show, a catered reception by Susan's Kitchen at City Center. With short “Baker's Men” by Harriette Yahr.
BROTHERS
Denmark, 110 minutes, 35mm
Directed by Susanna Bier
Michael (Ulrich Thomsen) is a career military man with a beautiful wife (Connie Nielsen) and two lovely daughters. He's a success, unlike his younger brother Jannick (Nikolaj Lie Kaas), recently released from prison and living a marginal alcoholic's life. Michael is assigned to a UN mission in Afghanistan, where his helicopter is shot down and he is presumed dead. Jannick develops a sense of responsibility and does his best to help his sister-in-law cope with the loss. But Michael reappears a few months later, traumatized and paranoid. After his experience as a prisoner, everything has changed for him. Against a backdrop of modern warfare, Danish director Suzanne Bier has created an uncommonly intense examination of brotherly relationships. Its carefully crafted script and accomplished actors allow her to portray exceptional emotional detail (as she did in her earlier OPEN HEARTS, shown at the 2004 GMFF), shooting her characters in frequent extreme close-ups and bringing the audience into their intimate turmoil. Variety: “The second collaboration between director Susanne Bier and scriptwriter Anders Thomas Jensen once again shows what skilled artists can do with a story that might have ended up filled with clichés.” In Danish with subtitles.
COWARDS BEND THE KNEE
Canada, 75 minutes, VHS
Directed by Guy Maddin
The latest film from one-of-a-kind Winnipeg filmmaker Guy Maddin is a gloriously over-the-top story about a young ice hockey star and his ruinous involvement with a salon-cum-brothel. When the young Maroons hockey player—not coincidentally named Guy Maddin—casually discards his pregnant girlfriend in a beauty parlor/illegal abortion clinic, he takes up with an exotic beauty named Meta, the daughter of the owner. Meta has serious issues involving her faithless mother, her murdered father and his severed blue hands - creepily, the only male hands she can bear to have touch her body. As in his previous films (THE SADDEST MUSIC IN THE WORLD, ARCHANGEL) Maddin pays tribute to silent-film conventions, adding his own psychological obsessions in a heady and often hilarious brew. Time Out New York: “The story is told in such a breathless, brilliant fashion that one can only sit slack-jawed in its joyously overwrought wake.” 75 minutes. With short “Paranoid: A Chant” (Chris Shumway, Burlington High School).
CRYING LADIES
Philippines, 114 minutes, 35mm
Directed by Mark Meily
The Filipino entry for this year’s Best Foreign Film Oscar is a crowd-pleasing comedy/melodrama about three working-class Manila women who are hired as professional mourners for a funeral in the city’s Chinese community. Stella, a petty thief, has lost custody of her young son after serving a year in prison, and struggles to make ends meet. Relief comes in the form of a young Chinese man, Wilson, whose wealthy father has just died. Tradition decrees that professional mourners be hired to wail loudly at the five-day wake in order to impress the gods. Stella in turn rounds up two old friends to harmonize alongside her: the churchgoing adulteress Choleng and the former B-movie actress Aling. The New York Times: “Mark Meily’s film is a loose and genial soap opera… With a refreshing lack of vanity or pretension, the three actresses play their ordinary, hard-luck characters with generosity and grace.” Sponsored by SoVerNet. Community Partners: Vermont Commission on Women, Central Vermont WILPF. In Tagalog with subtitles.
DANGEROUS LIVING
USA, 58 minutes, DVD
Directed by John Scagliotti
Despite the massive efforts of gay organizations around the world, the majority of nations are entering the 21st century with horrific laws on the books that keep their gay and lesbian populations locked away in their closets, and, at times, prison. In some countries, “getting caught” can even incur the death penalty. John Scagliotti’s film is the first documentary to deeply explore the lives of GLBT people in non-western cultures. The centerpiece is the story of the “Cairo 52.” On May 11th, 2001, 52 men in Cairo were arrested, tortured and imprisoned for simply gathering at a discothèque on the river Nile. The crew of DANGEROUS LIVING also traveled to places such as Namibia, the Philippines and Brazil to tell the heartbreaking and triumphant stories of brave individuals on film. Stuart Klawans, The Nation: “Far-ranging, very smart and thoughtful.” Post-film event: John Scagliotti will appear to discuss the film at the Saturday, March 26 show. Sponsored by Concept2 and Samara Foundation of Vermont. Community Partners: Peace and Justice Center, Mountain Pride Media, Out in the Mountains, Outright Vermont, R.U.1.2?
THE DESERTED STATION
Iran, 88 minutes, 35mm
Directed by Alizera Raisian
Like many Iranian films, the plot of director Alizera Raisian’s film is simplicity itself: a photographer and his wife are stranded in a village in the middle of nowhere when their car breaks down. The husband goes off with the village mechanic/schoolteacher while the woman subs for the teacher, taking over his one-room schoolhouse. But the day turns out to be a subtly life-changing experience for the woman (Leila Hatami, whose nuanced performance was honored at the Montreal Film Festival), as the film, based on a story by Abbas Kiarostami, takes a haunting turn. With an interesting and refreshing style—from the unexpected frankness and openness of dialogue and scenarios, to the strong and vital portrayals of women, to the glorious picture-postcard cinematic compositions—THE DESERTED STATION is a modern gem of Iran’s always interesting filmmaking industry. The Village Voice: “Under Raisian’s sensitive direction, the story is revealed slowly, making the most of the location’s unearthly beauty… Hatami makes her character’s inner transformation both subtle and palpable.” Sponsored by Sarducci's Restaurant. In Farsi with subtitles.
END OF THE CENTURY
USA, 108 minutes, 35mm
Directed by Michael Gramaglia and Jim Fields
Stephen Holden, The New York Times: “To lead the rock 'n' roll life may be to drink deeply from the fountain of youth, but the rigors and temptations of that life often point to an early death. Take the Ramones, the seminal punk rock band whose history is traced in exhaustive detail in this absorbing documentary. The band's geeky, rubber-lipped lead singer, Joey Ramone, aka Jeffrey Hyman, and its skinny, heavily tattooed bassist, Dee Dee Ramone, aka Douglas Colvin, died a year apart, in 2001 and 2002, at 49 and 50 respectively. As the movie reveals, harmony among band members gets harder to sustain as the years gather, youthful enthusiasm wanes, and personalities define themselves. The Ramones' defiant, often funny bubblegum punk, the group's uniform image of black-leather street punks and its adoption of a common last name, Ramone, camouflaged its members' serious personality disorders and conflicts.” Sponsored by Buch Spieler.
FLEDGLING FILMS
90 minutes, VHS
Kingdom County Productions will screen a sampler of its best Fledgling Films, from seven years of teen filmmaking institutes in the Northeast Kingdom--and featuring teens from across the country. Among the films: a bittersweet teen drama, CARLIN FELL; an experimental drama, RALPH, by former U-32 filmmaker N.J. Bartrum; and LOSING SLEEP, a documentary about homeless teen girls in Montpelier. Sponsored by Cabot Creamery. FREE admission, tickets available in advance and at the door (same show both days).
GODZILLA
Japan, 98 minutes, 35mm
Directed by Ishiro Honda
The Japanese monster movie from 50 years ago has become a camp cult classic, but with this restored version, we can see how much was lost in translation. The Americanized, dubbed GODZILLA removed 40 minutes from the original and added 20 minutes of material (with Raymond Burr) that minimized the film’s anti-nuclear theme. Terrence Rafferty, The New York Times: “While this might not, on the face of it, seem like one of the more urgently needed film-preservation projects, the buffed-up GODZILLA, radically different from the truncated, risibly dubbed version Americans know, is a surprisingly compelling pop-culture artifact with a distinctively haunted, elegiac quality: a picture of the strange forms nuclear anxiety took in an era that now feels nearly as remote as the Jurassic.” Sponsored by New England Credit Card. Community Partners: Japan Society of Vermont, Peace and Justice Center, Central Vermont WILPF. In Japanese with subtitles.
HOLY CROSS
N. Ireland, 84 minutes, VHS
Directed by Mark Brozan
This potent Irish film, directed by Mark Brozel for BBC Northern Ireland, dramatizes events of 2001, when a dispute over passage to a Catholic girls’ school through a predominantly Protestant neighborhood in North Belfast exploded in rioting. The film’s story is told through the eyes of two young girls who, in any other town, could be good friends, but because of the situation in Ardoyne and Glenbryn, they don’t even know each other’s names; they are members of two ordinary families whose houses are back-to-back, but who lead lives on either side of an insurmountable divide. The drama includes actual news footage from the time and shows the effects of the violence on both families as tension builds over the summer, reaching a crisis when the children go back to school. Variety: “The complexity of historic, political and personal issues at play here are very well laid out in the non-didactic screenplay… While everyone here is right and wrong to an extent, the biggest victims are those whose formative years are being shaped by fear and rage.” With short “Ever Since” (Spencer Campbell, Harwood High School).
IN THE REALMS OF THE UNREAL
USA, 82 minutes, DVD
Directed by Jessica Yu
During the day, Henry Darger mopped floors at a Catholic charity. But at night, in his crowded, one-room apartment, Darger ruled over an imaginary universe of extraordinary richness. Steeped equally in Catholic doctrine and the illustrated children's books of the turn of the century—including those of Darger's fellow Chicagoan, L. Frank Baum—his life's work tells the epic story of the Vivian Girls, seven virginal sisters who lead a revolt against an evil empire of child-enslaving males. Discovered after his death in 1973, it embraces some 300 paintings and 15,000 pages of typed, single paged manuscript. Dave Kehr, The New York Times: “Jessica Yu's fine documentary offers the outline of Darger's troubled life, but more importantly, it offers a handle on his massive, unwieldy work, summarizing his complex narratives and bringing the paintings to life through discreet, digital animation.” Sponsored by Deerfield Design. Community Partners: Studio Place Arts, Phantom Theater. With short "Lizard Tea Party" by Nate Vaughan.
KAMCHATKA
Argentina, 104 minutes, 35mm
Directed by Marcelo Pineyro
In the years following the military coup in Argentina in 1976, hundreds of people—men, women, artists, teachers, lawyers, musician, children, even babies—were captured, tortured and sometimes disappeared without a trace. Marcelo Pineyro’s film tells the story of one such family - a lawyer, his wife, and their two boys - who are forced to leave Buenos Aires and hide out in a house in the suburbs. They take on new identities and attempt to lead a normal life, always wary of the "call for action" that might come at any time. The story is told through the eyes of the elder son, who reinvents himself as Harry, after Harry Houdini, the famous escapologist, whose feats are recorded in a book he finds. Argentine stars Roberto Darin (NINE QUEENS) and Cecilia Roth (ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER) play the parents, who struggle to maintain an illusion of normalcy. Variety: “A marvelously human film that becomes a touching universal statement about love and loss.” Sponsored by Artisans Hand Craft Gallery. Community Partner: Peace and Justice Center. In Spanish with subtitles.
KITCHEN STORIES
Norway, 95 minutes, 35mm
Directed by Bent Hamer
Folke (Tomas Norstrom) is an expert from the Swedish Home Research, part of a 1950’s project to track the domestic habits of Norwegian bachelors. He moves into the home of one of the study's subjects, Isak (Joachim Calmeyer), an eccentric codger who pads around his tiny, uncomfortable house. Isak turns the tables at night by slipping into his attic and spying on the lonely Folke, who lives in a trailer on Isak's property. The New York Times: “The Norwegian writer and director Bent Hamer takes what sounds like a constricted and unpromising premise and produces a wry, uninflected deadpan social comedy that points as straight and true as a compass fixed on magnetic north. It has the tingly, dry shock of a snootful of sub-zero air.” Sponsored by Hunger Mountain Coop and The Larsen Fund. In Norwegian with subtitles.
MACHUCA
Chile, 120 minutes, 35mm
Directed by Andres Wood
In 1970's Chile, President Allende is in power and, in its capital Santiago, the liberal padre of an English school, Father McEnroe, attempts an ambitious social experiment by introducing students of different classes and social backgrounds. This is how Gonzalo Infante, the shy rich boy, meets Pedro Machuca, the streetwise kid from the slums across the river. United against bullies, they form a bond of friendship and experience each other’s lives: Gonzalo's aspiring mother and rich lover, idealist father and spoilt sister; Pedro's drunken father, enterprising uncle and alluring cousin Silvana. Andres Wood's film is a passionate look at how Salvador Allende’s regime was not only physically crushed by a military junta, but crippled by class divisions and bitterness. The film has been an enormous hit in its native land, praised across the political spectrum as a tale of healing and reconciliation. Variety: “Richly human in focus, the drama steadily cranks up its political and emotional charge, poignantly viewing its themes through the eyes of two 11-year-old boys.” Sponsored by the Larsen Fund. Community Partner: Peace and Justice Center. In Spanish with subtitles.
MILES ELECTRIC: A DIFFERENT KIND OF BLUE
USA, 85 minutes, DVD
Directed by Murray Lerner
At the Isle of Wight Festival in the summer of 1970, Miles Davis and an electric sextet (featuring Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett, Jack deJohnette and Dave Holland) played a riveting set consisting of one 38-minute jam. That memorable set is resurrected in impeccable sound in Murray Lerner's film of the event, which one musician remembers as a “microhistory of jazz.” During the first half of the film, the original Isle of Wight sidemen and other musicians such as Carlos Santana look back three decades to recall Davis's historic transition into electric instrumentation. That leap, which brought Davis to a mass audience for the first time, infuriated the orthodox jazz establishment. The New York Times: “MILES ELECTRIC is an exceptionally concise, well-organized concert documentary. There's none of the padding you often find in concert movies, and once the jam begins, there are no distractions.” Sponsored by Figrig Web Crafters. Community Partner: Green Mountain Jazz Series.
MONUMENTAL
From the moment David Brower first witnessed the extraordinary beauty of the Yosemite Valley, his life was tied to the fight to preserve the American wilds for future generations. Director Kelly Duane explores the dramatic story of Brower and his colleagues’ unrelenting campaigns to protect and establish some of our most treasured National Parks. At the center of the film—which incorporates much of Brower’s own footage from the 30’s and 40’s—are the themes that absorbed Brower through his life: the threatened beauty of the American earth; the spiritual connection between humans and the great outdoors; and the moral obligations to preserve what is left of the world’s natural wonders. Variety: “Director Kelly Duane delivers a stirring and visually dense account of Brower’s life and times… The ample display here of 16mm shot by Brower in the Western wilderness virtually makes him a co-director.” Community Partners: Vermont Sierra Club, Forest Watch, Vermont Natural Resources Council, The Nature Conservancy - VT Chapter, Friends of the Earth. With short “John Gore and the Amazing Whiz Wagon” (Marty Cain, Marlboro).
MOOLAADE
Senegal, 124 minutes, 35mm
Directed by Ousmane Sembene
A.O. Scott, The New York Times: “Ousmane Sembene, the 81-year-old Senegalese filmmaker, is often referred to as the father of African cinema, but he is a patriarch with evident feminist sympathies. Set in a village in Burkina Faso, Colle, the tough-minded second wife of a village elder, starts a revolution when she offers ritual protection (the “moolaade” of the title) to four young girls who have escaped from a genital circumcision ceremony. In chronicling her struggle with male power and deeply rooted tradition, Mr. Sembene also paints a rich and complex tableau of village life, which gives the film, in spite of its harsh topic, a remarkable buoyancy of spirit. In its warm-hearted optimism, MOOLAADE is an example of humanist cinema at its finest, a movie that reminds you of the dignity and heroism of ordinary life.” Sponsored by Global Fund for Women. Community Partners: Peace and Justice Center, Vermont Commission on Women, Central Vermont WILPF. In Jula with subtitles.
MUSIC FROM THE INSIDE OUT
USA, 90 minutes, VHS
Directed by Daniel Anker
As we hear through performances in the United States and on a European tour, the century-old Philadelphia Orchestra is one of the finest in the world. The diverse, talented men and women who comprise the orchestra are continuously learning more about their own music, and in Daniel Anker’s riveting documentary, they express their thoughts during interviews and group discussions, as well as through their instruments. Whether onstage at the symphony hall or playing bluegrass or salsa at a local bar, these musicians embody the art of living as well as performance. Each musician’s story reveals a struggle to maintain individuality, to test musical boundaries and to live the challenging life of a mostly anonymous artist. Says director Anker: “I’d been backstage with an orchestra, and there is a real sense of excitement… I wanted this film to capture that.” Sponsored by The Black Door Bar & Bistro. Community Partners: Vermont Violins, Capital City Concerts, Monteverdi Music School, Central Vermont Youth Orchestra.
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