A Look Back With Dwight Edwards of The Filmcake: The 2008 Festival
There are three constants in my deadCENTER experience. One, multiple people will ask my wife and I if we’re filmmakers to which we’ll reply, “not yet.” Two, at approximately the mid-point of the festival we’ll skip out on something we really wanted to see to go have a bite and a couple of drinks. For a moment, we’ll feel bad about missing the opportunity to see what ever it was that we missed. But, then we’ll feel as if our batteries have been recharged and we can make it through to the end. Three, related to the first, we’ll watch something brilliant and decide there and then that we MUST make our own film.
Still no film. Not yet. But, it’ll come. Wayne Coyne’s much-anticipated labor of love Christmas on Mars provided one moment of inspiration. You would catch snippets of it here and there throughout the years as it seemed perpetually on the verge of being released. So, finally seeing the finished project–to see that it actually existed–was a real treat. The soggy conditions of the screening were forgotten amongst all the Flaming Lips fans drinking Stella and munching on popcorn within a giant circus tent. How awesome was that!? For this week, I took a look back at the 2008 festival by rewatching American Teen, Disfigured, Gustav Braustache and the Auto-Debilitator, and The Aviatrix.
American Teen — A documentary from Nanette Burstein about a handful of high school kids in Warsaw, Indiana nearing graduation. I really enjoyed this documentary. Very compelling. Mostly I just love Hannah Bailey. She’s the arty rebel who can’t wait to escape small-town mundanity for life on the coast. While the rest of the students (Colin, Megan, Mitch, and Jake) remind me why I didn’t much care for high school, Hannah is someone I wish I knew in real-life. This film was criticized upon its release for seeming scripted and staged. I don’t really care. All of cinema is a lie, even documentary film. I’ve long ago accepted that fact. But, an engrossing story is still an engrossing story.
This 95-minute documentary feature is available on DVD.
Disfigured — Winner of the Grand Jury Narrative Feature award. A socially conscious film from director Glenn Gerrs about two women’s struggle with their own bodies. Lydia (the fat one) and Darcy (the skinny one) strike up an unlikely friendship and end up finding much in common with each other. The movie would seem a little too preachy if it weren’t for the fact that Hollywood wouldn’t touch this subject matter from a mile away. Fat people, especially women, can’t be actors. Hollywood barely acknowledges their personhood. On the rare occasion when a heavy woman appears on screen she is either the joker or the butt of a joke. But it’s not all Hollywood’s fault. Too many ordinary people still think it’s okay to be downright mean to someone because of their weight. That Gerrs tackled the issue in his film is admirable even if it comes off as just a bit heavy-handed.
This 96-minute feature film is available on Netflix Instant Viewing.
Gustav Braustache and the Auto-Debilitator — Too many comedic short films seem to be little more than set-up and punchline. They’re not much more than a joke told in front of a camera. In only the rarest of circumstances is this enough to sustain even a short film. A truly effective comedic short needs the components of the joke(s) to be told visually. This is film, not stand-up. In this short, filmmakers Rob Cunningham and Tony Mullen get things absolutely right.
As an eccentric inventor struggles with his creations, his landlord struggles to collect rent payments. Nothing complicated, but room for a lot of laughs. The direction here is impeccable. The film is delivered in black & white, even though it takes place in 2002. As such, it harkens back to the early magic of cinema and to the work of the first cinemagician, Georges Méliès. It shows how effective an early special effect like stop tricks can be. This isn’t a simple joke preserved on film. It’s a well-paced set-up with lots of payoffs along the way.
This 20-minute short film is available on Vimeo.
The Aviatrix — Winner of the Best Student Film at the 2008 festival. This sweet short film tells the story a young woman stricken with cancer who finds relief within her imagination. First, I appreciate the notion that in severe illness empathy is more effective and desired than pity. Second, I think this short stands in for a general cinematic experience. While most of us are thankfully not suffering from cancer when we watch movies, we all know what it’s like going through trying times. Watching movies, for me anyway, can sometimes be a wonderful way to escape the hardships of life. Movies aren’t just art. They’re therapy.
This 10-minute short film is available on YouTube.
–Dwight (www.thefilmcake.com)
Next Wednesday: The 2009 festival…
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