Enfances (Childhoods) (Directors: Yann Le Gal, Ismaël Ferroukhi, Corinne Garfin, Joana Hadjithomas, Khalil Joreige, Isild Le Besco, Safy Nebbou): This very interesting idea, brought to realization by French director Yann Le Gal, brings together six short films, each concerning a pivotal moment in the childhood of six great film directors: Fritz Lang, Orson Welles, Jean Renoir, Jacques Tati, Alfred Hitchcock, and Ingmar Bergman. I hadn’t heard of any of the segment’s directors before, but three or four of the segments were outstanding. My favourite is the story of how Fritz Lang, at the age of ten, discovers a family secret that changes his politics and his whole outlook on life. Also excellent was the recollection by Jean Renoir of how his friendship with a peasant child who teaches him how to hunt and steal gives him an appreciation for the injustice of class distinctions. The segments on Welles and Hitchcock, though good, were perhaps the weakest. But the segment on Jacques Tati was perhaps the closest in spirit to an actual Tati film. The gangly Tati is too tall to fit into his class photo, so he wanders off into the school on an almost wordless adventure. The way he ends up in the photo is pure physical comedy. The segment on Bergman rounds out the film, and if I’d been more familiar with his work, I might have appreciated it more.
I really enjoyed the way each segment not only told a story from the director’s life, but was also directed in their signature style. Although these omnibus films are always bound to be uneven, these six stories moved along at a great pace and made for a very enjoyable (and hopefully enlightening) experience.
Official site of the film
(8/10)
Tagged as:
childhood,
children,
cinefranco,
france
Well, in typical fashion, I haven’t yet seen a film here. This is my ninth South by Southwest and only the third for which I’ve had a Gold badge, which gives me access to the film panels and screenings as well as the Interactive conference. Though there has been much more cross-pollination on the panels side, it’s still difficult to choose film screenings or film parties over the Interactive events, since I have so many friends at those.
But it hasn’t been all bad. Here are some film-related tidbits from my trip to Austin so far:
- Just this afternoon, I was at a panel billed as a conversation between Richard Linklater (an Austin native) and Todd Haynes. Spike Lee and John Pierson (all-around indie film hero and husband of SXSW Film programmer Janet Pierson) came in and sat directly behind me.
- Wandering late last night in search of another party, I found myself instead at a film party and though I didn’t think I knew anyone, I introduced myself to Gary Hustwit, director of Helvetica (review) and Objectified. I also ran into onetime doc blogger Joel Heller, who’s here screening Winnebago Man, on which he served as producer. He introduced me to the founder of Brooklyn’s Rooftop Films, Mark Elijah Rosenberg.
- I had a drink with Benten Films honcho Andrew Grant and Watchmaker Films’ Mark Rance. Among many other accomplishments, Mark directed the behind the scenes documentary on P.T. Anderson’s Magnolia DVD.
- On a whim, I signed up for a ten-minute “mentor session” with Silverdocs director of programming Sky Sitney, who gave me some good advice for getting more work as a festival programmer.
- I finally got to meet the lovely Stéphanie Trépanier, founder of Evokative Films. We’d conducted our interview back in November over email.
- I got to hang around a bit with the inimitable James Rocchi, former Canadian and all-around bon vivant. He also reviews films occasionally.
- I got to see my favourite doc blogger, Agnes Varnum, who moderated a useful panel about how Interactive conference registrants could get the most out of the film festival. She introduced me to Spout’s Kevin Kelly.
Not too bad, then. And here is a list of people spotted, but not (yet) engaged:
Tagged as:
#sxsw09
I came across the writing of indie director Alex Cox about a year ago in Film Comment magazine, where he writes a regular column. I’d only seen a couple of his films and had no real idea of what his filmmaking principles were, so to speak. But reading his writing about what films he liked made me want to know more about him. He is also a fine writer, so I knew reading a full-length book from him would be a pleasure, no matter what the topic. But another event occurred recently that made me want to read this even more.
In early 2008, Criterion released his film Walker in a packed special edition DVD. Though I’ve still not seen it, this project fascinated me for many years. Made in Nicaragua with the full support of the Sandinista government in 1987, Walker was about an American who, in 1855, invaded Nicaragua with the intention of annexing it for the US. Considering the political climate of the time, with American-backed “contras” trying to overthrow the Sandinistas, Walker was never going to be a commercial success. But something about Cox’s steadfast and sometimes quixotic support of left-wing causes made us kindred spirits and so it was always on my list of films to see.
In X Films: True Confessions of a Radical Filmmaker, he recounts stories from the making of ten feature films, including Walker. Beginning with his film school days at UCLA, Cox talks about how he acquired his lifelong resistance to the big studio way of making films. I especially love that in true indie style he draws inspiration nowadays not so much from filmmakers but from hackers and other culture jammers:
Today, an independent filmmaker is a revolutionary fighter, in a prolonged popular war. This is the same war that Free Software and GNU/Linux activists fight against Microsoft; that the Slow Food movement fights against McDonald’s; that independent musicians fight against the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) and the Apple Music Store; that Fairtrade activists fight against WalMart and the WTO; that the Zapatistas fight against patriarchal systems of control in Mexico. There are no spoils to be had on this battlefield, and no prospect of a quick and easy victory. Yet, buoyed by belief, and by the lack of a sustainable or sane alternative, the guerrilla soldiers on. In the case of feature films, the battle for an independent, personal art form is already won (thanks to the Mini DV tape and the DVD), lost (thanks to the studios and their admirers), but irrelevant anyway.
Irrelevant because the feature film was the original art form of the twentieth century. It can’t be the original art form of the twenty-first as well. Something that goes beyond it will displace it—some medium equally visual and visceral, but interactive, with multiple narrative possibilities. It’s already being born: out in the same uncharted territory as the computer game, the “readjusted” corporate web site, and the home-made CD of “illegal” MP3s. But the birth won’t be easy, and the new form is destined for a long and hard-fought war.
It’s not all quite that provocative, but I like where he’s coming from. And in his anecdotes from a lifetime making films, you can see how he’s come to embrace the new technologies while continuing to believe in the power of a good story.
Liverpool-born Alex Cox’s directorial credits include Repo Man, Sid and Nancy, and Walker. He also wrote the script for Terry Gilliam’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and has acted in many of his own and other directors’ films.
If you buy from Amazon using this or the above links, you’ll help support Toronto Screen Shots.
Tagged as:
alexcox
This may be old news to some, but I’ve just discovered Apple’s wonderful Set to Screen series of podcasts. As part of their Education website, Apple has teamed up with director Baz Luhrmann (Moulin Rouge!, William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet) to explore all aspects of creating a feature film.
The film in question is Luhrmann’s Australia, a period piece about an English aristocrat (Nicole Kidman) who inherits a ranch in rural Australia just before World War II. Hugh Jackman also stars. I’d actually heard little about the film as well (what sort of film blogger can I claim to be?), so it’s a good promotional move for Luhrmann to build interest in the film, which will not be released until November.
The educational aspect involves presenting a creative challenge at the end of each podcast, which students have to complete. Winners are chosen and prizes awarded.
I’ve yet to watch these, but am looking forward to checking them out in more detail.
Tagged as:
apple,
bazluhrmann,
education,
marketing,
promotion
