CATALOGUE PART 3

Transcription

CATALOGUE PART 3

UNTIL THE LIGHT TAKES US
WEDNESDAY 7 OCTOBER AT 6:15PM
There is certainly something rotten in the state of Norway:
Satanism, the killing of ‘faggots’, the burning of churches, and
lead singer Dead shooting his brain out with a shotgun, prompting
an interviewee to opine how ‘Dead was dead in a bed’. It can only
be one thing: Black Metal.
This doc concentrates on some of the key players in the
Black metal scene and investigates the influences, characters,
art and the often-disturbing belief systems that are present in this
morbidly engaging world. We hear the case against Christianity
and its inherent disrespect for other cultures. American
imperialism, consumerism and the tabloids also get it in the neck.
Often the music takes a back seat to the sensational events
that are discussed. But there’s enough to sate anyone from the
darkside. The main Norwegian bands featured are Mayhem,
Burzum, Darkthrone, a wave of metal acts that take their
cue from metal veterans Venom and Celtic Frost – with that
regimented sound of distorted guitars, double-kick drums and
the kind of vocals that make one want to eat one’s own ears.
A healthily objective viewpoint is achieved by the directors who
take matters pretty seriously, though at times, it’s the interviewees
who seem to find the bizarre incidents almost amusing. GB
Country USA Running Time 93 mins Format 35mm Director/Producer Aaron
Altes, Audrey Ewell DoP Odd Reinhardt Nicolaysen, Audrey Ewell Featuring Varg
Vikernes, Gylve Nagell, Harmony Korine P/S Field Pictures E [email protected]
Website www.blackmetalmovie.com
SEVENTEENTH RAINDANCE FILM FESTIVAL
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WE FUN
SATURDAY 10 OCTOBER AT 7:15PM
We Fun is the story of a burgeoning musical scene in Atlanta,
which was the home of the Black Lips, Mastodon, Deerhunter,
King Khan & The Shrines and a whole host of other great bands.
The Black Lips get most of the airtime, which isn’t such a bad
thing considering how hot a ticket they are right now with their
balls-out, train-wreck of a live show. They create mayhem and
play wild energetic, cranked-up garage rock.
The name for the film is apt as it really seems that everyone
is having the time of their lives – (and that includes the girl who
operates a make-shift flamethrower from out of her private
quarters). It’s not only about the music, this film is about the
solidarity, community and sense of self-sufficiency that these
people have – in spades. They make stuff happen and they
don’t stall any of their creativity waiting for big record deals.
It’s a trajectory that, for me, is a pleasure to watch. It’s genuine.
Director Matthew Robison, producer of Silver Jew, about David
Berman, keeps things snappy, intelligent and charmingly crude.
There’s a lot going on and it’s pretty inspirational. GB
Country USA Running Time 69 mins Format Mini DV Director Matthew Robison
Producer Bill Cody, Geoffrey Leek DoP Zack Wilson Featuring Black Lips,
Deerhunter, Mastodon Print Source Matthew Robison Email [email protected]
Website www.myspace.com/wefunmovie
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25 CARATS [25 KILATES]
FRIDAY 2 OCTOBER AT 7PM + MONDAY 5 OCTOBER AT 1:45PM
Set in Barcelona’s criminal underbelly, this sizzling, tense thriller is
a fantastic debut from Patxi Amezcua, a name worth following. A
cross between Nine Queens and Leon, it follows Kay, a sassy car
thief living with her conman father Sebas. Together they scrape
by on earnings from petty theft in the hope that one of Sebas’
bigger scams will eventually take them away from a life of crime.
One day, Kay is caught red-handed, but a mysterious,
handsome stranger, Abel, impulsively rescues her from the police.
Abel has also been forced to work in the criminal underworld to
support the upbringing of his young son Adrian. The chemistry
between Kay and Abel cannot be denied and as their bond
strengthens they realise they can help each other. When their
lives are threatened, their trust is tested, and they are forced
to choose where their loyalties lie.
25 Carats combines gripping plot twists and a virulent cat
and mouse chase as well as a distinctly subtle portrayal of the
tenderness and delicacy of love, trust and loyalty between the
protagonists. Executed with a fresh and exciting fervour, brilliantly
shot with muted sepia tones and held together by an outstanding
cast, 25 Carats demonstrates a remarkable collusion between
violence combined with a delicate sensitivity to vulnerability. SD
Country Spain Running Time 86 mins Format 35mm Director/Screenplay Patxi
Amézcua Producer Jose Nolla, Quique Camin DoP Sergi Gallardo Cast Francesc
Garrido, Aida Floch, Manuel Moron Print Source Beatriz Setuain
Email [email protected]
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A DAILY DAY
France 5 mins Mini DV Director/
S’play/DoP Elsa Blayau Producer
Moteur S’il Vous Plaît Print Source
Elsa Blayau Email [email protected]
Website www.elsablayau.com
An ordinary woman will question
herself on all the strange and nonsense
things that surrounds us in our daily
environment. Through her reflections she
will imagine poetic and absurd answers.
SCREENING SPONSOR
CHAMELEON [KAMÉLEON]
SUNDAY 4 OCTOBER AT 2:30PM
Conmen Gabor and Tibi (played by Ervin Nagy and Zsolt Trill)
at night pose as janitors in offices, digging through bins to find
marks to help them pin down lonely victims. Gabor plays the slick
gentleman, backed by Tibi, marrying women for access to their
bank accounts. This brings them easy but not exorbitant amounts
of money, but when Gabor starts to fall for a high-risk mark
however, things begin to spiral out of control. Uncertain whether
he is playing the beautiful dancer Hanna, or falling in love with
her, he gets drawn into an increasing number of complex cons
to keep their relationship up.
Chameleon, unlike many of its con-film American equivalents
has a certain depth, capturing the pathos of the victims, who
also build an anger and ability to push back at their manipulator.
Developing characters with meticulous detail, the protagonists
question their tendency towards deception, disguises and sense
of achievements whilst it is also uncertain who is betraying whom.
The third feature from Krisztina Goda, after Just Sex And
Nothing Else and Children of Glory, Chameleon is this year’s
official Hungarian entry for the Best Foreign Language film
category of the Academy Awards. JB
Country Hungary Running Time 105 mins Format 35mm Director Krisztina Goda
Producer Gabor Kalomista Screenplay Reka Divinyi DoP Buda Gyulas Cast Ervin
Nagy, Gabriella Hamori, Zsolt Trill P/S Hungaricom Ltd Email [email protected]
Website www.kameleonfilm.hu
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GUTS [AGALLAS]
SUNDAY 4 OCTOBER AT 5PM
When small time hustler, Sebastian, gets out of prison after
a five-month stint, he finds that his luck has run out. His boss’
Uncle Paco has him beaten and shoved on a bus to the remote
seaside Galacian region. A stranger, Raul, the foreman of a fish
processing plant, offers him a job. Soon Sebastian realises there
is no such thing as a free lunch – he is being used by Raul
to ferry large quantities of cocaine inland.
Worse comes to worse when Sebatian kills Raul when he
discovers Raul is about to snitch to the cops. Now Sebastian
is the pawn with the big time gangsters as he tries to extract
himself from the life he created and if possible, some of the
huge quantities of cash being passed around.
Directed by senior figures at Spanish television broadcaster
TVE Samuel Martín Mateos and Andrés Luque, this debut is
an unscrupulous and unsettling look at drug trafficking in Spain’s
Galician region, artfully directed and supported by outstanding
performances from lead Carmelo Gomez and Hugo Silva.
Recently picked up by Sony for major distribution, Guts has been
one of the most talked about exports from Spain this year. EG
Country Spain Running Time 99 mins Format 35mm Director Samuel Martin
Mateos, Andrés Luque Pérez Producers Pancho Casal, Antonio Saura Screenplay
Javier Echániz, Juan Antonio Gil Bengoa DoP Juan Carlos Gómez Cast Carmelo
Gómez, Hugo Silva P/S Latido Films E [email protected] W www.latidofilms.com
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SCREENING SPONSOR
THE INVESTIGATOR [A NYOMOZÓ]
FRIDAY 9 OCTOBER AT 5:15PM
For pathologist Tibi, dead bodies consume his daily life. He’s
a loner with serious communication problems, meticulous and
silent, if slightly out of touch with life. When his sick mother
seems to be on her deathbed, Tibi fails to accept it. He even
makes her the empty promise that she will live. Tibi’s life takes
a sudden twist when a strange man, who calls himself Cyclops,
enters into it. Just at his breaking point, Cyclops presents Tibi
with a scheme to allow his mother to receive the expensive
treatment for her bone marrow cancer. Tibi finds himself in
a dilemma of decisions. He discovers just how far he can push
his limits in the hope of saving his sick mother’s life.
Winner of the best actor, screenplay and editing categories
at this year’s Hungarian Film Week, The Investigator by first
time director Attila Gigor is bound to keep you guessing on
your toes. Grotesquely humorous, it is also a remarkable take
on the detective film noir genre, to which it pays homage. The
protagonist Tibor, is played fantastically by Zsolt Anger, and it
becomes easy to empathise with him, even though he is nothing
but slightly odd. MH
Country Hungary/Sweden/Ireland Running Time 110 mins Format 35mm
Director/Screenplay Attila Gigor Producer Ferenz Pusztai DoP Máté Herbal
Cast Zsolt Anger, Judit Rezes, Sándor Terhes Print Source Katalin Vajda
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THE LIFE AND DEATH OF A PORNO GANG [ZIVOT I SMRT PORNO…]
Marko, a young director from Belgrade, wants more out of life
than 15-minute quickie porn and sex with inflatable pigs. Thus the
porno gang is born in worship of Eros, the god of lust, beauty, and
intercourse, with no premonitions of the dangerous road ahead.
Marko’s cast of societal misfits including a fat and proud
would-be manicurist, gay lovers dying of AIDS, and a washed
up actress all become the players in Belgrade’s first porn-theatre,
marrying pure pornography with social and political issues. Due
to bad press in the city as well as an influential porn director
whom Marko has wronged, the group is run out of town and
forced to tour in Serbian villages. Their celebration of sex takes a
turn for the sinister when they are offered an opportunity to make
snuff films. Out of desperation and Marko’s need to distinguish
himself as a filmmaker, the group agrees to film suicides on the
side for those who wish to end their life. With this decision they
dig their own graves, and fall deeper into the dust of death and
moral destruction from which they cannot and will not escape.
This is truly a unique road movie, which brings to light a number
of social issues in Serbia, delving into the changes that occurred
post Milosevic, whilst examining the differences between urban
and rural life and the social outcasts of society. MH
Country Serbia Running Time 90 mins Format 35mm Director/Screenplay
Mladen Djordjevic Producer Srdan Golubovic DoP Nemanja Jovanov Cast Mihajlo
Z Jovanovic, Ana Acimovic, Predrag Damnjanovic Print Source Mladen Djordjevic
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THE LONGEST NIGHT [LANGE NACHT]
MONDAY 5 OCTOBER AT 10PM + THURSDAY 8 OCTOBER AT 2:15PM
Six childhood friends hold a reunion and spend the night camping
beside a lake in the village where they grew up. But as darkness
falls, a gang of testosterone fuelled skinheads arrives, and what
began as a nostalgic summer getaway slowly turns into an
apocalyptic nightmare – and to make matters worse, terrifying
creatures are lurking in the woods.
Till Keinert’s debut feature is an intriguing affair, focusing
strongly on its characters, and with its horror opting for
psychological and fantastical over visual. Think The Blair Witch
Project meets Pitch Black, mixed in with some coming-of-age
drama, and you’re on the right track. But The Longest Night
boasts a visual style of its own, and is easily set aside from
its counterparts.
The film makes no attempt to explain what exactly the
creatures in the woods are, or how they came to be – merely
that they exist, they thrive in the darkness, and are to be feared
relentlessly. As the characters experience the never-ending
wait for a dawn that fails to materialize, exhausted and terrified,
the audience remains as clueless at the protagonists –
and it’s altogether a more rewarding experience for it. CP
Country Germany Running Time 91 mins Format DV Director Till Kleinert
Producer/DoP Bastian Hopfgarten Screenplay Till Kleinert, Aron Craemer Cast
Isabelle Hoepfner, Volkram Zschiesche, Marcus Staab Email [email protected]
Website www.thelongestnight.com
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MOTHS [FALENE]
TUESDAY 6 OCTOBER AT 6:15PM
In this Brechtian drama, two old friends seek to escape the
confines of their useless lives by committing a childish and futile
robbery. Enzo and Tonino are nothing more than moths battering
themselves against a bright bulb, an unachievable dream behind
the glass of reality.
Events unfurl in an approximation of real time as Enzo and
Tonino wait under a single glowing streetlamp with a mystery
package. This oozing, unknown mass in a nondescript black trash
bag is the McGuffin of the film, a reason to keep the two men
in this single location. Within this sparse space they discuss
the importance of culture to human existence, snort some
cocaine, and plan for a future of promise after their heist.
In the hour it takes for their unsuspecting associate to arrive
they imagine life in glorious Paris as their means of escape.
These sequences create a sharp contrast to their bleak
surroundings with collages of beautiful dancing girls, bright
colours and gay music. But neither friend has been to the city
of their dreams. The Paris they imagine is only a product
of what they have read and fantasised.
Moths is a well-paced, insightful film that will trap the
viewer within its glowing, deceptive web as life has trapped
ts two protagonists. MH
Country Italy Running Time 65 mins Director André A Arce Producer Giovanni
Costantino Screenplay Andrej Longo DoP Maura Morales Bergmann Cast Totò
Onnis, Paolo Sassanelli P/S Giovanni Costantino E [email protected]
92
EMILIA GALOTTI
Italy 30mins Director Alessandro Berdini
Producer Luna Rossa Screenplay
Paolo Fallai DoP Bruno Cascio Cast
Elettra Mallaby, Alberto di Stasio,
Paola Rinaldi Print Source Laura
Nasso Email [email protected]
Website www.alessandroberdini.it
Sixteen-year-old Emilia Galotti is in a
coma from an overdose. Her story is told
through the memories of her father who
cares for her.
SCREENING SPONSOR
NO ONE’S SON [NICIJI SIN]
SATURDAY 3 OCTOBER AT 6:30PM + MONDAY 5 OCTOBER AT 3:15PM
Ivan Baric (Alen Liveric) was once the lead singer in Refinery,
a well-known Croatian rock band, but now, 20 years later he finds
himself wheelchair bound and living with his parents, thanks
to injuries suffered during his time as a soldier in the Croatian
War of Independence. The singing he does now consists mainly
of drunken rants in local pubs, which often ends with him being
wheeled off to the local police station. In gruesome flashbacks
we see the horrors of war as he faced them.
Ivan also hangs out with an ex band mate who’s also
wheelchair bound and encourages Ivan to join him in training
for the Para Olympics, while another buddy is always ready
to set him up with a prostitute. Meanwhile his father is running
for political office and is seemingly on the brink of victory when
an elderly woman reports her brother missing.
A dark and stylish thriller, the action unfolds in a dynamic nonlinear fashion which is complemented by crisp cinematography
and a brisk pace. Based on a stage play, it has been adapted for
the screen by its original author, Mate Matistic and was Croatia’s
nominee for the Best Foreign Film category at the Oscars.
While much of the action may seem like some kind of political
metaphor, this is nonetheless an action packed thriller. SB
AND ANOTHER THING
UK 2 mins 35mm Directors Zak
Emerson, Daniel Gifford Producer
James Bland Screenplay Andrew Irvine
DoP David Luther Cast Charlotte Asprey
Print Source Daniel Gifford
So very tired of doing all the work at
home herself, an overburdened mother
finally lets her husband know exactly
how she feels.
Country Croatia Running Time 100 mins Format Super 35mm Director Arsen
Anton Ostojic Producer Jozo Patljak Screenplay Mate Matisic DoP Branko Linta,
Slobodan Trninic Cast Alen Liveric, Mustafa Nadarevic, Biserka Ipsa Print Source
Format Arsen Anton Ostojic Email [email protected] W www.arsenantonostojic.com
93
SCHEMES OF AFFECTION [LA STRATEGIA DEGLI AFFETTI]
MONDAY 5 OCTOBER AT 6:30PM
Paolo (Paolo Sassanelli) is frustrated at his teenage son Matteo’s
(Davide Nebbia) lack of drive and ambition, the qualities that have
made Paolo the successful businessman he is. Matteo wants his
father’s attention, but there is no communication between them.
When an accident brings a visitor to stay with Paolo’s family,
and Matteo discovers secrets in his parents’ eyes, the simmering
emotions in Matteo’s seemingly placid frame arise.
In a slow-burning and methodical dissection of the lack
of communication in a wealthy and outwardly successful family,
the relationships twist and turn without ever descending into
melodrama, yet unexpectedly pulling our sympathies from one
character to the next. Dodo Fiori’s Schemes Of Affection never
allows us to assume the viewpoint of one of the characters and
surprises us with revelations for all its compact length.
Performances throughout are superb, particularly Sassanelli,
whose constant nervousness and fearful eyes betray the true
man behind the wealth and success, and Marta Iacopini as his
wife walks the knife-edge between steely composure and brittle
breakdown. Nebbia’s central, slack-jawed, performance as Matteo
never allows us to fully comprehend his thoughts and actions,
making the film’s surprises all the more startling. AStJ
Country Italy Running Time 80 mins Format 35 mm Director/Producer Dodo
Fiori Screenplay Diego Ribon, Dodo Fiori, Heldrun Schleef DoP Pierluigi Piredda
Cast Paolo Sassanelli, Davide Nebbia, Nina Torresi Print Source Blue Suede Shoots
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SCREENING SPONSOR
THE SLOVENIAN GIRL [SLOVENKA]
THURSDAY 1 OCTOBER AT 6:15PM + SATURDAY 10 OCTOBER AT 12:30PM
Set in Ljubljana in the year Slovenia took its turn at the
European Presidency, this is the story of Aleksandra (Nina
Ivanisin), a university student studying English and who’s new
to prostitution. She slips into a hotel room where her first client,
a European member of Parliament awaits her. He’s obese and
holding a used pack of Viagra and no sooner than she asks him
how many he’s taken, he collapses dead at her feet. She calls
down to reception for an ambulance then helps herself to cash
from his wallet before making a hasty exit. The next day the
papers all carry front-page headlines on his death and mention
a woman dubbed ‘The Slovenian Girl’ being hunted by the police.
With no more than an ad in the local newspaper (student top
level, discreet – also in English), business is brisk enough to
afford her a brand new apartment. Events, however, turn nasty
when she’s ambushed by two pimps who dangle her head first
over a high-rise balcony and threaten to drop her until she agrees
to work for them. Meanwhile she must conceal her lucrative
sideline from her doting father, convince her professor to let her
take her final exam and shack up with her abusive ex-boyfriend
who seems to be the only person to whom she can turn. SB
Country Slovenia/Germany/Serbia/Crotia Running Time 91 mins Format 35mm
Director Damjan Kozole Danijel Hocevar Screenplay Ognjen Svilicic, Damjan Kozole
DoP Ales Belak Cast Nina Ivanisin, Peter Musevski, Primoz Prnat Print Source
Slovenian Film Fund Email [email protected]
95
SOS LOVE [SOS SZERELEM]
SUNDAY 11 OCTOBER AT 11:45AM
Péter lives a structured life with his daughter and works an
unusual job at a company specialising in matchmaking. However,
his position is in peril when a sleuth rival matchmaking company
is suddenly soaring beyond their numbers and the only person
who can help is his toughest client hopelessly in love with
a kindergarten teacher. Péter personally takes on the job, but
to his misfortune falls for the same woman he is trying to set
his client up with. Trying to hold back his feelings to save his
company, Péter can only keep up his professional façade
up for so long until a massive unveiling exposes a secret.
Due to its witty dialogue, humorous moments, and surprising
twist this romantic comedy was an immense success in Hungary.
Set against a beautiful backdrop of the countryside in Hungary,
this feel-good film is a lovely break from reality. With a wonderful
cast to pull all the pieces together, along with a particularly
talented little girl playing Péter’s daughter, the characters are
played excellently bringing their own personalities beyond their
origins. Tamás Sas’s SOS Love is a memorable romantic comedy,
particularly enjoyable due to its aloofness and breezy rhythm. TN
Country Hungary Running Time 96 mins Director Tamás Sas Format 35mm
Producer Adam Nemenyi Screenplay Agnes Fernandes, János Szurmai DoP Martin
Miklauzic Cast Sándor Csányi, Monika Ullman, Iván Fenyo Print Source Katalin Vajda
96
39
CARMO – HIT THE ROAD [CARMO]
THURSDAY 8 OCTOBER AT 5PM
Crossing the borders of South America Marco, a handicapped
smuggler passing through the tiny town of Bela Vista stops
at a bar for a drink and prevents a young and beautiful girl from
being raped. Maria is beautiful, wild and desperate to escape
the provincial town she has grown up in – seeing Marco as her
escape route she eventually persuades him to take her with him.
Despite their confrontational relationship she intervenes and
saves his life when two border bandits attempt to boost his load
and leave him for dead. Marco and Maria engage in a cat and
mouse game with the bandits, often stepping beyond the law,
determined to get back the smuggled hi-fis.
Equally situated on the peripheries of society, these two,
initially defensive, characters open up to each other under the
strain of their unorthodox road trip. The film’s handheld shooting
style lends it a documentary feel, intensifying the action; this
is complemented by the humorous graphic effects and amusing
cuts to Maria’s parents. This film is both witty and sensitive,
the character arcs, written gently and with subtlety, are brought
to life by the two incredibly strong central performances
and the spiky chemistry between them. JB
Country Spain/Brazil/Poland Director/Screenplay Murilo Pasta Producer Elisa
Alvares DoP Robbie Ryan Cast Fele Martinez, Mariana Loureiro, Seu Jorge Print
Source Maria José Camacho Email [email protected] W www.imaginasales.tv
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THE DINNER PARTY
FRIDAY 9 OCTOBER AT 7:30PM + SUNDAY 11 OCTOBER AT 2:15PM
The Dinner Party tells the story of a relationship gone wrong
and the consequences of misplaced affection. Written and
directed by Scott Murden, the film originally received funding
from the Australian Film Commission’s (AFC) indivision funding
stream, but this backing was withdrawn due to the controversial
subject matter. Starring Lara Cox, best known to audiences
in the UK for her role in the popular TV show Heartbreak High,
the film begins with her character, Angela, planning a dinner party
that will end in the joint suicides of both herself and her lover Joel
(Ben Seton). As events unfold it becomes clear that this is purely
the intent of her alone, and her fellow dinner companions are
none the wiser to her plans. Prior to the gathering we see Angela,
accompanied by her concerned friend Maddy, buy two doses of
heroin from a dealer, while also enquiring as to the potential lethal
nature of injecting both. Concerns are raised at the party when
one of the guests, Sky, an ex-girlfriend of Joel, discovers two
syringes in the bathroom, and events escalate from there.
Shot on a budget of $200,000, the film manages to create
an absorbing yet menacing atmosphere thanks in part to the
elegant and sombre score (Oonagh Sherrad) and the restrained
yet subtly effective cinematography (Lisa Tolcher). PJD
Country Australia Running Time 88 mins Format HDCam Director/Screenplay
Scott Murden Producer Brendan Sioane DoP Brett Murphy Cast Lara Cox, Ben
Seton, Kai Harris Print Source Brendan Sione Email [email protected]
Website www.thedinnerparty.com.au
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THE DIRECTOR’S CUT
THURSDAY 8 OCTOBER AT 4:30PM
Director Mike is filming his first feature and the biggest threat
to his project seems to be his ego – that is until his team start
dying around him at an alarming and amusing rate. Moments
before he leads his cast and crew to their deserted filming
location deep in the Australian outback, the temperamental
tyrant suddenly demands guns in his period drama, which his
beleaguered producer dutifully sources. Even as they set off,
there is something ominous in the air – thanks in part to the
soundtrack that won it Best Original Music Composition at the
WA Screen Awards – yet it is when they reach their destination
that the gore really starts to fly.
A distinctly Australian offering, the premise of this comedy
horror – which pivots on the victims’ utter isolation in an arid
landscape – would hardly work anywhere else, while the killer’s
cuddly attire is an unequivocal national symbol. By driving home
its unique identity, this slasher manages to feel fresh, avoiding
hackneyed parallels with US and UK films, although there is
something delightfully Shaun of the Dead-esque in the delivery.
That it also scooped Best Editing and Best Cinematography
at the WASAs should come as no surprise, for this gruesome
black comedy has an impressively high-gloss finish. AS
Country Australia Running Time 87 mins Format HDV Director/Producer/
Screenplay Paul Komadina DoP Ivan Davidov Cast Jonathan Wood, Mollie King,
Melanie Munt Print Source Paul Komadina Email [email protected]
Website www.thedirectorscutfilm.com
100
IN YOUR NAME [EM TEU NOME]
TUESDAY 6 OCTOBER AT 7:30PM + WEDNESDAY 7 OCTOBER AT 4:45PM
As the fourth feature by director Paulo Nascimento, In Your
Name has a satisfying assuredness in the cinematography.
It is beautifully shot in a subtle sepia shade, with the slightest
looks captured in scintillating detail. At the start, these take
the form of indulgent sideways glances between the two leads;
later anguished faces will replace them.
Based on the true story of a political exile, this film shows that
a man’s love for his country and freedoms can coexist with his
love for his partner, played by an entrancing Fernanda Moro,
who worked with Nascimento in Valsa Para Bruno Stein (2007).
By following the life of Boni, an engineering student banned
from his homeland for his perceived crimes, In Your Name
allows us a very personal handle on the vast theme of military
dictatorship. The situation in 1970s Brazil is one that few viewers
will be familiar with, which Nascimento counters through his
liltingly poetic frames. Heart-rending without overstating its case,
In Your Name represents a sensitive and involving example
of Latin-American cinema. AS
SCREENING SPONSORS
Country Brazil Running Time 108 mins Format HD Director/Producer/
Screenplay Paulo Nascimento DoP Roberto Laguna Cast Leonardo Machado,
Fernanda Moro, Cesar Troncoso P/S Accorde Films W www.emteunome.com.br
101
THE PANDA CANDY
A great example of Chinese underground filmmaking, The Panda
Candy is directed by Peng Lei, frontman of Beijing New Wave
band New Pants, who provide most of the excellent soundtrack
and apparently recruited actresses for the film at their concerts.
Filmed in a neo-documentary style, the film is a non-narrative
exploration of rebellious Chinese youth and lesbian love set
against the backdrop of the underground rock scene.
Like a more innocent take on Nine Songs, the film alternates
scenes at rock concerts and karaoke bars, with those of young
people connecting and disconnecting through sex. The main
focus is two girls: Chun, who has a string of disappointing
encounters with skateboard kids and self absorbed poets; and
Taki, a stunningly beautiful lesbian on tour with her friend’s band
and recording her erotic encounters in each town. The film’s
atmosphere of sexual longing and alienation is well judged thanks
to Lei’s excellent use of editing techniques. As an introduction
to Taki’s erotic travelogue, he uses a rapid montage of shots
from different angles and locations to express her disconnection
from life, whilst her final sexual encounter with Chun is filmed
in long sensual close ups, suggesting she has found stability
through sex. DB
Country China Running Time 85 mins Format HD Director/Screenplay Peng Lei
DoP Meng Jinhul Cast Shun Shu, Torki Zhang, Tu Qiong Print Source Wing Wang
102
STORAGE
Jimmy, at seventeen, witnesses his own father’s street killing,
and is left mentally scarred. His uncle Leonard takes him in,
and gives him work in his storage facility. From Jimmy’s position,
it seems that just about every customer is involved in something
questionable. With the help of Zia, another distraction to Jimmy’s
eye, he investigates a man who appears guilty of a terrible act.
As Jimmy gets more deeply involved, it seems that there is much
more happening than he could imagine.
The use of the storage facility as the key setting here
is original and a great hook to the attention. It is particularly
effective in invoking fear and a sense of claustrophobia. Michael
Craft’s direction shows a great instinct for mood and focuses
intently on Jimmy. Original music by Garry McDonald and Laurie
Stone is haunting and as disturbed as the characters on screen.
Considering that much of the film rests on his shoulders, Matthew
Scully gives a great performance as Jimmy. Through the grief,
fear and panic, he is always believable. This is the film’s main
strength: whatever turn of event, however strange, seems like
it genuinely befalls him. While grim, there is a morality tale here,
at the film’s bleak core. JG
Country Australia Running Time 93 mins Format HDCam Director/Screenplay
Michael Craft Producer Elizabeth Symes, Gregor Drugowitsch DoP Tony Luu
Cast Damien Garvey, Matt Scully, Robert Mammone Print Source Elizabeth Symes
103
TWILIGHT DANCING [CHE SHI]
SATURDAY 10 OCTOBER AT 7PM
Joshua Tong’s Twilight Dancing is a beautifully enigmatic drama
told in grainy, desaturated cinematography. The opening, an
homage to Jean Luc Godard’s Le Weekend, sees a long tracking
shot of a road strewn with crashed cars. Through this strange
landscape, symbolising the human condition perhaps, Yangbing
Hao drives a large red van, picking up hitchhikers. It is here that
he meets Meimei, a deaf girl who, like a character from a Haruki
Murakami novel, has always suffered from inexplicable pains, until
she enters the sanctum of Hao’s travelling home. They fall for
one another, but their relationship is resisted by Meimei’s
guardian, Uncle Da, who runs an auto repair shop and who
also seems to be in love with her.
Like many recent Asian films the film tells its story visually
with no dialogue. Indeed Tong inserts an intertitle that rejects
language insisting: ‘Only when language is disposed, the truth
gets revealed’. Utilising symbolism and elliptical editing, the film’s
meaning, however, lies tantalisingly out of reach, and like Lou
Ye’s masterpiece Suzhou River it encourages multiple readings.
A deeply philosophical work, it’s hard not to be impressed by
the barrage of potent, ethereal images the film presents. DB
Country China Running Time 94 mins Format 35mm Director/Screenplay
Joshu Tong Producer Xia Cao DoP Patrick Lee Cast Luodan Wang, Taishen Cheng,
Zhaoming Liu Print Source Amanda Chang Email [email protected]
104
39
AIN’T NO TOMORROWS [ORETACHI NI ASU WA NAISSU]
For all their braggadocio, high-school tough guys Akihiro
and Mikio have pretty limited experience when it comes to the
opposite sex. The closest they’ve come to a real flesh sensation
is fondling the man-boobs of their flabby classmate Anpai, who
they rename Oppai (meaning ‘tits’). Despite his lack of confidence
over his weight, Anpai however manages to catch the eye of
buxom class sexpot Akie, while Mikio is left only gawping on the
sidelines at his object of desire, the wistful Natsuko, who seems
more interested in flitting around their nerdy teacher Taguchi than
in anyone her own age. Meanwhile Akihiro stumbles upon Chizu,
passed out with blood trickling down her thighs. An only child
living alone with her father, Chizu seems curiously ill-informed
about sexual matters, though as their friends start to pair up, one
wonders if Akihiro is really the best person to teach her.
The latest from one of Japan’s hottest young filmmakers, Yuki
Tanada, who wrote the script for Mika Ninagawa’s Sakuran and
whose acerbic comedy debut Moon and Cherry screened to great
aplomb at Raindance in 2006, is a canny coming-of-age drama
that invokes the heady days of sexual awakening in manner that
will have everyone in the audience reeling with embarrassed
recognition over their teenage years, particularly the guys. JS
Country Japan Running Time 79 mins Format Digbeta Director Yuki Tanada
Producer Kanako Yoneyama Screenplay Kosuke Mukai DoP Yutaka Yamazaki
Cast Tokio Emoto, Yuya Endo, Sakura Ando Print Source Geneon
106
SCREENING SPONSOR
HOTARU
THURSDAY 1 OCTOBER AT 4PM
Hotaru, meaning ‘firefly’, is a naturalistically-shot piece of visual
poetry that blurs the line between documentary and fiction
in its depiction of an intense yet troubled love affair between
two emotionally-scarred individuals, striptease artiste, Ayako,
abandoned by her mother as a child, and a gruff traditional
potter Daiji. The drama is played out against the changing
seasons in the villages and farmlands of the Nara region,
where Kawase herself grew up. The tension between
memories, ancient traditions and an uncertain future play
a key role in the developing relationship, in this deeply heartfelt
and beautifully-shot feature.
Director Naomi Kawase came onto the scene in a major way
with Suzaku, which went on to win the Camera d’Or in Cannes in
1997. She was this year’s recipient of the same festival’s Carrosse
d’Or award for lifetime achievement in film. After a couple of
documentaries, this second commercial feature was widely hailed
as a classic of arthouse cinema upon its original release in 2000,
but since then it has been stuck in a distribution limbo following
the collapse of its original production company. This screening, in
a new version re-edited from its original 164 minutes, is the first
time the film has aired in the United Kingdom. JS
SCREENING SPONSOR
Country Japan Running Time 106 mins Format 35 mm Director/Screenplay
Naomi Kawase Producer Takenori Sento DoP Masami Inomoto Cast Yuko Nakamura,
Toshiya Nagasawa Print Source Kumie Inc Email [email protected]
Website www.kawasenaomi.com/en/works/feature_film/hotaru/
107
INSTANT SWAMP [INSUTANTO NUMA]
Haname is a lively young journalist blessed with an exceedingly
vivid imagination working for a woman’s magazine on the brink
of bankruptcy. Her daily diet of gloopy health drinks aren’t
enough to shield her from what she perceives as a particularly
severe run of bad luck, which all began on her eighth birthday
when her father stormed out of the house, not only abandoning
her, but flinging all her toys into a nearby swamp, including a cat
talisman which she thinks must have been cursed. Haname sets
out to retrieve her lost possessions, a quest which reacquaints
her with her father, now a hippie working at a junk shop who
goes under than name ‘Light Bulb’, and brings her into contact
with a punk named Gus.
Following last year’s Raindance screenings of Turtles are
Surprisingly Fast Swimmers and Adrift in Tokyo, the latest quirky
comic escapade from Satoshi Miki, like its predecessors, features
a twisting, quicksilver plot peppered with a scattershot of surreal
sight gages that makes for a near indescribable experience,
coming across like a manga-esque remix of Jeunet’s Amélie,
only twice as weird, and with one of the most absurd finales
in recent memory. JS
Country Japan Running Time 119 mins Format 35 mm Director/Screenplay
Satoshi Miki Producer Takeshi Suzuki DoP Shinya Kimura Cast Kumiko Aso, Morio
Kazama, Ryo Kase P/S Third Window Films Email [email protected]
Website www.instant-numa.jp
108
SCREENING SPONSOR
LALAPIPO [RARAPIPO]
FRIDAY 9 OCTOBER AT 10PM
Masayuki Miyano’s uproarious debut, adapted from a novel
of the same name by Hideo Okuda, takes a peek behind the
scenes at Japan’s huge and diverse sex industry, long known
for its whacked out weirdness. The multi-threaded narrative
weaves between various characters: Slobbish Hiroshi is a jaded
porn addict, berated by his long-suffering penis for the selfabuse meted out by his own hands. Silver-tongued ‘talent scout’
Kenji forces his conquests to go increasingly that one step
further, including Tomoko, the pert young shop girl who falls
under his spell. Yoshie is a 40-something housewife who secretly
moonlights as a ‘mature’ performer in Adult Video. Koichi
is a schizophrenic karaoke attendant who imagines his alternate
existence as the puritanical vigilante superhero, Captain Bonita,
cleaning up the streets. Sayuri is a chubby yet morose advocate
of the Gothic Lolita look, who only comes alive performing
in cosplay fantasies in a series of home-made porn videos.
Lalapipo is directed in a similar vein to its scriptwriter Tetsuya
Nakashima’s own work, which includes Kamikaze Girls and
Memories of Matsuko. The slick visuals, vibrant colours, ribald
humour and breakneck pace are guaranteed to entertain,
but ultimately the film has a serious message. JS
SCREENING SPONSOR
Country Japan Running Time 94 mins Format 35mm Director Masayuki Miyano
Screenplay Tetsuya Nakashima Cast Saori Hara, Tomoko Murakami, Hiroki Narimiya
Print Source Third Window Films Email [email protected]
Website www.lalapipo-movie.com/
109
LILY FESTIVAL [YURISAI]
One of the first women to make her name as a director in Japan
who didn’t come from an acting background, Sachi Hamano
is by far the most prolific, having made over 400 films since 1970.
If the name is not familiar, it is undoubtedly because the bulk
of her output has been in the clandestine field of the pink film
– softcore sex films made for the theatrical market.
The caustic comedy drama Lily Festival, one of her few titles
made for the mainstream market, also takes a look at female
sexuality, in a less explicit though no less subversive fashion,
portraying the seven inhabitants, aged between 69 and 91, of
a retirement home for women. When Mr Miyoshi, a 75-year-old
lothario with a charming manner and a colourful past, moves in
among them, old passions are rekindled and jealousies aroused.
Overturning the clichés about Japanese women of a certain
age, Lily Festival benefits from the lively performances of its
cast of veteran actresses, including the star of Nikkatsu’s first
Roman Porno film Kazuko Shirakawa, but it is the familiar face
of former singer Mickey Curtis (Fires on the Plain, Fudoh:
The Next Generation, The Laughing Frog) that steals the show,
as all around succumb to his charms. JS
Country Japan Running Time 100 mins Format 35mm Director Sachi Hamano
Producer Sachiko Suzuki Screenplay Kuninori Yamazaki DoP Katuharu Oyamada
Cast Kazuko Yoshiyuki, Mickey Curtis, Kazuko Shirakawa Print Source Tantansha
Email [email protected] Website www.h3.dion.ne.jp/~tantan-s/
110
SCREENING SPONSOR
LOCKED OUT [ROKKU AUOTO]
MONDAY 5 OCTOBER AT 9:45PM + TUESDAY 6 OCTOBER AT 1:45PM
The debut feature of Yasunobu Takahashi, this brilliantly shot
and acted indie production, a discovery at this year’s Yubari
International Fantastic Film Festival in Japan, will keep viewers
guessing where it’s heading right up to the final scenes.
Hiroshi drives blindly through the night, radio blasting, slowly
awakening to the fact that not only has he no specific destination,
but he has no idea where he is. On the run from a mysterious
incident in the past, he is haunted by violent images of himself,
seething with hatred and viciousness. Why does he keep a bloody
implement in the boot of his car, and what does he have any
connection to the reports on the news about a missing child?
Meanwhile, Shoko, a hassled mother, is trying to remain
focused on getting her weekly shopping done, despite the myriad
distractions from her six-year-old son Keita. Realising she has
forgotten something, she tells Keita to wait in the car while she
pops back into the supermarket. Keita ignores his mums request,
and, stealing some change, sneaks out of the car to buy some
sweets. When he tries to get back before his mother, he realises
he has forgotten where exactly she has parked, at which point
Hiroshi pulls into the car park… JS
SCREENING SPONSOR
Country Japan Running Time 82 mins Format HDV Director/Producer/
Screenplay Yasunobu Takahashi DoP Tetsuya Takahashi Cast Kiichi Sonobe, Miho
Ogata, Takeru Shimada Print Source Yasunobu Takahashi E [email protected]
Website www.ontheroadfilms.com
111
LOVE EXPOSURE [AI NO MUKIDASHI]
Unpredictable, undefinable, but above all, unmissable, Shion
Sono’s Love Exposure arrives for its UK premiere carried
on a raft of awards from festivals across the globe. Don’t
be put off by the 4-hour running time. Sono’s deft hand results
in a sublime mixture of humour, romance, action and pathos that
will keep viewers on their toes throughout, combining the verve
and vigour of Bollywood at its best (minus the songs!) with
a genre-bending complexity that is uniquely Japanese.
Yu is the son of a Catholic priest with a twisted guilt complex.
In a bid for his father’s attention, he opts for the way of the
wicked, perfecting the art of surreptitious up-skirt photography
and returning home to confess his sins, a path which leads
him up against an oddball religious sect and the object of his
obsessions, Yoko, a violent man-hater who has castrated her own
father. In order to get closer to her, Yu adopts an alter-ego, ‘Miss
Scorpion’, dressing up in the garb made famous by Meiko Kaji
in the cult Female Convict Scorpion films from the seventies,
but will she respond as passionately when he reveals his true
identity? The must-see Japanese film of the year. JS
Country Japan Running Time 237 mins Format 35mm Director/Screenplay
Shion Sono Producer Toyoyuki Yokohama DoP Shohei Tanigawa Cast Takahiro
Nishijima, Hikari Mitsushima, Sakura Ando Print Source Third Window Films
Email [email protected] Website www.ai-muki.com
112
SCREENING SPONSOR
MIME-MIME [MAIMU MAIMU]
TUESDAY 6 OCTOBER AT 5:45PM + WEDNESDAY 7 OCTOBER AT 2:30PM
Mime-Mime is a bittersweet portrait of Makoto, a rebellious and
highly-strung 18-year-old. Living alone with no real idea where her
life is going, Makoto refuses to forgive her mother for divorcing
her father, and has no time for her sister at all, regarding all
things to do with her family as a tedious chore. Her relationships
with other people are purely self-serving and manipulative,
including her dalliances with a married former high-school
teacher. Then, when her mother announces she is marrying again,
Makoto is reacquainted with her potential new stepfather’s son,
Nakajima, an old friend from her elementary school days. Serious
and motivated, Nakajima attempts to instil the same virtues
in Makoto, and is one of the few people able to see through
the chinks in her obnoxious façade. But as he arranges to take
her on a camping trip and away from all the pressures of her daily
life, he finds himself struggling to cope with Makoto’s innate need
to emotionally assert control over everyone around her.
One of the most exciting discoveries of last year’s Pia Film
Festival, the most important event for independent cinema
in Japan since the 1970s, Mime-Mime is a nuanced character
study marked out by a suitably idiosyncratic central turn
by its star, Ayaco Niijima. JS
SCREENING SPONSOR
Country Japan Running Time 87 mins Format DVCam Director/Producer/
Screenplay Yukiko Sode DoP Furusho Takuma Cast Ayaco Niijima, Masahisa
Yamazoe, Kanji Tsuda Print Source Pia Film Festival Email [email protected]
Website www.pff.jp/english/2008/01/mime-mime.html
113
PEACHES FILM FESTIVAL SHORTS [MOMO MATSURI]
FRIDAY 2 OCTOBER AT 3:30PM
The Peaches Festival was founded in 2006 by graduates
of the Film School of Tokyo to provide a new platform for young
female filmmaking talent, and is organised by Atsuko Ohno,
the producer of the 2004 Raindance Competition winner,
Marebito: The Stranger from Afar, directed by Takashi Shimizu.
Raindance is proud to be screening three of the best from the
past two years, from directors who are already well on their way
to forging successful careers for themselves in the industry.
EMERGER
RT 42 mins Ft Digibeta Dir/S’play Aki Sato DoP Yutaka Koise, Fusaki Urabe
With her own body no long quite the shape it used to be, Sawa indulges a secret
passion to organize dates with men in love hotels – but she doesn’t stick around to
follow through, merely watches from a distance to see if anyone comes.
BUNNY IN HOVEL [TSUKIYO NO BANII]
RT 30 mins Print Ft Digibeta Director Mayumi Yabe Screenplay Mayumi Yabe,
Tatsuaki Sumi DoP Tatsuaki Sumi Cast Ozuno Nakamura, Hiroaki Muro
Portrait of a dysfunctional family who live in a tumbledown house in the rural
hinterlands.
CSIKOSPOST [KUSHIKOSUPOSUTO]
RT 25 mins Ft Digibeta Dir/S’play Yumiko Beppu DoP Noriaki Sugihara Cast Maria
Kawamura, Nao Okabe
Life through the eyes of eight-year-old Mina, who yearns for someone to call Mum.
Country Japan Total Running Time 97 mins Producer / Print Source Atsuko
Ohno E [email protected] W www.momomatsuri.com
114
SCREENING SPONSORS
A PIECE OF OUR LIFE – KAKERA
WEDNESDAY 7 OCTOBER AT 7PM + FRIDAY 9 OCTOBER AT 2:15PM
Based on the best-selling manga Love Vibes by Erika
Sakurazawa and featuring a soundtrack by James Iha, former
guitarist of Smashing Pumpkins, the debut feature of Momoko
Ando, one of the members of this year’s festival Jury,
is a delicately-nuanced portrait of two very different women.
Haru, a college student, is frustrated by the lack of any real
spark between her and her slobbish and indifferent boyfriend,
who only seems to be interested in her for sex. One day, while
brooding over a cappuccino in a cafe, she catches the eye
of Riko. Riko joins her table and the two strike up a conversation
in which she explains her job as a ‘medical artist’, something
slightly different from aprosthetics, in that rather than create body
parts that attempt to emulate the function of those lost through
accident and disease, her role is to cure the psychological
traumas arising from the patient’s physical deficiencies by
balancing body and soul, creating parts that aesthetically make
up for the loss. While Haru might be physically intact, Riko sees
in her a certain emotional wanting to which she might provide
a cure, and the two begin an all-encompassing relationship that
draws Haru away from her dissatisfying routine and into a new
and more emotionally fulfilling area of her life. JS
SCREENING SPONSOR
Country Japan Running Time 107 mins Format 35mm Director/Screenplay
Momoko Ando Producers Sakura Momoyama, Keiko Watanabe Screenplay Yuko
Shiomaki DoP Hirokaze Ishii Cast Hikari Mitsushima, Eriko Nakamura, Tasuku
Nagaoka Print Source Yuko Shiomaki Email [email protected]
115
VACATION [KYUKA]
Hirai is one of the uniformed ranks of guards working at a death
row prison. Carrying out his duties emotionlessly and without
question, he barely talks to anyone in the outside world about
his daily routine as a public servant. Long past marrying age, he
is introduced to a recently-bereaved single mother, Yuki, as part
of an omiai (a formal arranged-marriage meeting), and selflessly
agrees to take on responsibility for her and her young son.
As the day of the wedding grows closer, the Justice Minister
signs the execution warrant for Kaneda, a model prisoner whose
good behaviour belies the violent deeds that landed him the
death penalty. As is customary, the prison asks for two volunteers
amongst the prison warders to act as a ‘crutch’ – their duty to
escort the condemned man to the gallows and hold him until
the trapdoor opens. In return, the volunteer is given a week-long
vacation for such a traumatic task. Hirai puts his name forward
so he can spend more time with his bride. Can the warders,
as much prisoners of the system as the inmates themselves,
maintain their composure in front of the condemned man?
Born in 1973, director Hajime Kadoi has created a mature and
restrained drama that raises uneasy questions in one of the few
developed countries where the death penalty remains. JS
Country Japan RT 112 mins Ft 35 mm Director Hajime Kadoi Prod Toshihide Akama
S’play Dai Sako DoP Yukihiro Okimura Cast Kaoru Kobayashi, Hidetoshi Nishijima,
Nene Otsuka P/S Eleven Arts E [email protected] W www.eigakyuka.com
116
TO BEGIN AND TO END [ALKAA
JA PÄÄTYÄ]
Finland 3 mins Super 16mm Director/
Producer/Screenplay Ville Kerimaa
DoP Päivi Kettunen Cast Kaisa
Leppänen, Samuli Vauramo P/S Ville
Kerimaa Email [email protected]
Website www.filmi-visio.fi
The ending of a relationship; the end
of one phase in a person’s life and the
beginning of another. A woman makes
a life-changing decision to have a baby,
against the will of the father.
SCREENING SPONSOR
39
DEADLINE
FRIDAY 9 OCTOBER AT 9PM + SUNDAY 11 OCTOBER AT MIDDAY
Screenwriter Alice (Brittany Murphy) relocates to an empty
dark country mansion in order to concentrate on her work
and avoid her ex, who has a history of harassment. She begins
to hear noises at night and finds the courage to go explore the
house and finds a box of DV tapes. Panning through the footage
she comes across the story of Lucy (Thora Birch), the house’s
previous occupant, whose life eerily shadows her own. Lucy’s
partner, it seems, is obsessed with documenting her every step
on a small camcorder, and documents his increasingly violent
outbursts and suspicious paranoid behaviour, which lead him
to think Lucy is fostering a child that may not be his.
As Alice is drawn further in to Lucy’s world, we have to wonder
how far her own trauma is affecting the way she sees things.
Alice soon discovers that Lucy has disappeared, and retraces
through he footage to discover what may have happened.
Raindance alumnus writer-director Sean McConville has built
a fragile and chilling thriller supported by the subtle and powerful
performances of Academy Award nominees Brittany Murphy and
Thora Birch. The stylish cinematography (Ross Richardson) and
original score (Carlos José Alvarez) contribute to high production
values normally only achieved on much much bigger budgets.
Country USA Running Time 85 mins Format 35 mm Director/Screenplay Sean
McConville Producers Roger Betterton, Sean McConville DoP Ross Richardson
Cast Thora Birch, Brittany Murphy, Tammy Blanchard Print Source Sean McConville
118
EASIER WITH PRACTICE
FRIDAY 2 OCTOBER AT 10PM
Here is a film that, despite its strange premise, is engaging,
moving, psychologically astute and socially relevant all at once.
The story follows Davey Mitchell [Brian Geraghty], an aspiring
writer, who, whilst on a cross country trip of America, becomes
involved in a long-distance and anonymous relationship. Finally
able to open up without fear of reprisal, he begins to overcome
his neuroses and leave his psychological baggage behind.
Brian Geraghty is able to convey so much depth with only
slight facial tics and subtle inflections in his tone; his performance
is one which garners sympathy and understanding, respect
and admiration. The supporting cast is uniformly superb and
the dynamic between the Mitchell brothers, in particular, is
presented with startling authenticity. The film’s success hinges
on the viability of the story and Alvarez’s script is so tight
and that the slight absurdity of the premise is easily dismissed.
Alvarez dissects the nature of fear and of comfort; as Davey
becomes increasingly at ease with himself, he also is no longer
satisfied with the anonymity of his relationship, no longer afraid
of what is tangible. Davey may be a piss-poor writer – using
similes such as ‘clear as a trumpet’ – but his self awareness
is refreshing and his character development is stunning. ZB
Country USA Running Time 103 mins Format HD Director/Screenplay Kyle
Patrick Alvarez Producer Cookie Carosella DoP David Morrison Cast Brian Geraghty,
Kel O’Neill, Marguerite Moreau Print Source Kyle Patrick Alvarez
Email [email protected] Website www.easierwithpractice.com
119
THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE
Chelsea, (played by pornstar Sasha Grey), is an elite Manhattan
call girl who seems to have it all. She runs her own business,
hiring herself out for $2,000 an hour and shares a Manhattan
loft with Chris, her understanding boyfriend. She specialises
in ‘the girlfriend experience’, where in addition to sex, she offers
companionship, conversation and kissing. She takes herself
seriously, keeping a diary of everything she wears on a date,
right down to the underwear. She is also not adverse to taking
investment advice from her clients – as one tells her to ‘go with
gold not diamonds.’ Eager to improve her business she consults
a sex connoisseur with his own website who offers a glowing
review in exchange for a freebie. Meanwhile boyfriend Chris finds
both his career as a personal trainer and his relationship with
Chelsea in stagnation. When the sex connoisseur retaliates with
a bad online review, Chelsea offloads her insecurities on Philip, a
new client from out of town who seems to offer something more.
Steven Soderbergh returns to his low budget roots in a film
reminiscent of his first, Sex, Lies and Videotape. The camera is
hand held, much of the dialogue seems improvised, the direction
is intimate but Soderbergh’s observational eye as sharp and
unswerving as ever. SB
Country USA Running Time 77 mins Director Steven Soderbergh Producer
Gregory Jacobs Screenplay Brian Koppelman, David Levien DoP Peter Andrews
Cast Sasha Grey, Chris Santos, Mark Jacobson, Glenn Kenny Print Source Revolver
Entertainment
120
HUMPDAY
WEDNESDAY 30 SEPTEMBER AT 7PM
Ben (Mark Duplass) and Anna (Alycia Delmore) are sprawled
in bed in suburban Seattle when Ben’s old college buddy, Andrew
(Joshua Leonard) rocks up looking for a place to crash. It’s soon
evident that Ben and Andrew have headed off in vastly different
directions since their college days. While Ben has settled into
marriage, Andrew’s beat poet mentality soon has him wondering
just how much he’s missing.
The next day, Andrew goes out for a coffee and ends up at
an all night party with the waitress and her lesbian lover. Ben
meanwhile, heads off to find him. He arrives in the midst of a
drug and alcohol fuelled happening, desperate to prove he hasn’t
completely lost his mojo and finds himself drunkenly suggesting
they make an ‘art’ film to enter into ‘Humpday’, the local porn
festival. The film will depict the two friends having sex – an idea
which all present decide will be ‘beyond gay.’ As the day of the
shoot draws near, tension mounts, while the details remain foggy
as to who will ‘do’ who.
For her third feature, director Lynn Shelton rigorously
structured the scene progression and storyline before unleashing
the actors to improvise. The result is a hilarious yet subtle film
which is complemented by first-rate performances. SB
Country USA Running Time 94 mins Director/Producer/Screenplay Lynn
Shelton DoP Benjamin Kasulke Cast Alyciia Delmore, Mark Duplass, Joshua Leonard
121
MODERN LOVE IS AUTOMATIC
Striking brunette, Lorraine Schultz (Melodie Sisk) lives in
suburban Nowheresville and is almost catatonically bored with
her job as a nurse. In fact, she’s bored with just about everything,
including her boyfriend Ben (Matthew Hartman). So bored, she
hardly bats an eyelid when she catches him in bed with another
woman. She does, however, manage to kick him out and replace
his rent checks with those of Adrian (Maggie Ross) an über
bubbly short young woman who suffers from the delusion
she can make it as a model.
After leafing through an S&M magazine she finds on the bus,
Lorraine decides to moonlight as a dominatrix but soon finds
even forcing masked johns to clean toilets can be boring. Adrian,
meanwhile, believes she’s on the first rung of the ladder to her
dream when she’s hired by a bedding store as a ‘model’. In truth,
her job involves enticing male customers to lie down with her
and allowing them to feel her up. There is a shift in tone however,
when Adrian’s boyfriend Mitch (Carlos Bustamente) develops
an obsession with Lorraine and begins stalking her.
Director Zach Clark utilises saturated colours, retro costume
design and a deliberately slow pace to give his edgy second
feature its unique and distinctive look. SB
Country USA Running Time 93 mins Director/Screenplay Zach Clark Producers
Sydney-Chanele Dawkins, Zach Clark DoP Darryl Pittman Cast Melodie Sisk, Maggie
Ross, Carlos Bustamente Print Source Zach Clark E [email protected]
Website www.modernloveisautomatic.com
122
MY SUICIDE
Archie Williams is a horny, geeky media-obsessed teen who
decides his school project will focus on him committing suicide.
Forced into a psychiatric unit for a few days, he returns to school
where the stunning and sexually experienced Sierra Silver finally
notices him and who, it turns out, may be even more messed up
than he is. Far from being perfect, she has her own reasons for
wanting to commit suicide. Submerged into his newly found state
of popularity, Archie documents his gleaming steps to finale.
Stunning, hilarious and groundbreaking, David Lee Miller’s film
intertwines narratives, animation, archive footage, titillating visuals
and a fantastic soundtrack in a film that is bound to gain cult
status. Winner of the Crystal Bear at Berlin, its lead actor Gabriel
Sunday became the recipient of numerous awards for Best
Actor including Gen Art and Stargazer awards, and he was soon
afterwards picked up by Ang Lee for Taking Woodstock.
In one of his last performances, Archie’s ‘idol’, played by David
Carradine (Kill Bill), is seen discussing life, death and suicide, in
a gripping prose which periodically interrupts the narrative of the
film, shot shortly before his own death earlier this year. XR
SUPER HERO BLUES
UK 4 mins HD Director Cass Marks
Producer Ross Marks Screenplay
Stephen Rowell DoP Mike Connolly
Cast Anthony Moran, Stewart
Scudamore Print Source Stephen
Rowell Email [email protected]
Two super heroes, Derek Downside and
Rob Roundhouse, take time out from
saving the world to put their own world
to rights.
Country USA Director David Lee Miller Producers David Lee Miller, Larry Janss,
Todd Traina, Eric Adams Screenplay David Lee Miller, Eric Adams, Jordan Miller,
Gabriel Sunday DoPs Lisa Wiegand, Angie Hill, Cast Gabriel Sunday, David Carradine,
Joe Mantegna P/S Mary Miller E [email protected] W www.mysuicide.net
123
A NECESSARY DEATH
SATURDAY 10 OCTOBER AT 9PM
Gilbert, a student director, wants to document a suicide for his
final thesis. He persuades two of his peers to join him on his
unnerving odyssey – crucially including his ex-girlfriend – and
their actions are in turn caught on camera by his room mate,
Daniel (writer/director Daniel Stamm). After placing an ad online
to find an individual plotting to die by their own hand, Gilbert
holds an audition and selects Matt, a terminally ill Englishman.
As the endearingly immature subject weighs up different
methods of demise, many viewers are sure to shift uncomfortably
in their seats; indeed, at its SXSW premiere, some even got up
and walked out. For this is the question at the crux of the film:
by watching events unfold, are we in some way complicit? Can
the presence of a lens – and a director standing just out of shot
– change the course of real-life events?
Val, Gilbert’s ex, serves as something of a moral barometer
throughout, although her sensitivity is shown to be as damaging
as her sometime boyfriend’s tunnel-vision; for Gilbert, his subject
has to die in order to validate his film. An arresting project in
an increasingly voyeuristic age, A Necessary Death exposes
key questions at the heart of documentary-making and rightly
won the AFI Fest Audience Award. AS
Country USA Running Time 98 mins Format MiniDV Director/Screenplay
Daniel Stamm Producers Brian Udovich, GJ Echternkamp DoP Zoltan Honti Cast GJ
Echternkamp, Matt Tilley Print Source Brian Udovich Email [email protected]
Website www.anecessarydeath.com
124

CATALOGUE PART 3

Transcription

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