ScreenFish

where faith and film are intertwined

Darrel Manson

Sundance 2023 – A Still Small Voice

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“I have no idea where my prayers are going.”

We enter the world of hospital chaplaincy in A Still Small Voice, a documentary by Luke Lorentzen. Lorentzen was recognized at the Sundance Film Festival with the Directing Award in US Documentary.

Mati Engle is in a one year residency with the Department of Spiritual Care at Mount Sinai Hospital. We watch as she deals with patients, staff, and her cohort in the program. She and her supervisor, Rev. David Fleener, discuss her work and the difficulties she faces with workload.

The film takes us into very intimate and vulnerable situations (with permission of all involved). Mati talks to patients about serious spiritual and life issues. Doctors may not talk about these things. Perhaps they are too personal even for family. But as a chaplain, she is available for whatever issues arise. (She even baptizes a child who died at birth so her family can find some comfort—even though Mati is Jewish.)

A still from A Still Small Voice by Luke Lorentzen, an official selection of the U.S. Documentary Competition at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute

The film isn’t so much focused on chaplaincy per se as it is on Mati and the strain of the residency. Her supervisor often challenges her about her boundaries and her feeling of being depleted. It is also interesting to listen in on the supervisor’s own struggles with his role when he talks to his own overseer.

It is interesting that there is very little overtly religious or spiritual content to the film, but it is still infused with a spiritual element. That is the nature of chaplaincy and perhaps ministry in general—the most spiritual things are often found in everyday life.

We don’t really hear how those involved in the residency are fulfilling their own spiritual needs—which leads to the quotation at the top of this post. And we see how this work and the demands are especially emotional and spiritual.

As clergy, I wasn’t surprised by how consuming and draining such work can be. Self-care and burnout are topics that many clergy ignore to the detriment of themselves, their families, and their ministries. The concept of self-care is built into the residency program, but often it is hard for those involved to balance self and work.

A Still Small Voice will certainly resonate with those involved in the spiritual care of those who are suffering. It should also give people insight into the lives and struggle such spiritual care givers face—often silently.

More Shorts from Slamdance 2023

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Here are a few more shorts from the Slamdance Film Festival. These come from three different sections, and include some of the award winning shorts.

Good Grief (11 minutes, directed by Rob Sharp). The terrible grief of the loss of a child is portrayed through four mothers. The grief becomes symbolized as both darkness and light. It is something they carry with them always. Many think they should put it down and get on with life. But can they? Should they? What if that grief is also a form of love? This was a very moving film that deals with a subject that can be difficult to watch, but it is a wonderful insight into grief. Good Grief was part of the Unstoppable section.

Christina (17 minutes, directed by Gerald Fantone). A young woman with Down Syndrome bristles under her mother’s trying to control her life. She longs to live independently. But then her mother begins showing signs of early onset Alzheimer’s. It may be that roles may have to change. Christina played as part of the Unstoppable section.

The Sidewalk Artist (27 minutes, directed by David Velez and Brandon Rivera. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize for Narrative Shorts). Is it real or fictional? We watch a contractor who goes to where cement is being poured and leave imprints of various kinds, using his hands as his artist tool.

Gwendoline (22 minutes, directed by Joaquim Bayle. Honorable Mention for Narrative Shorts). A borderline surreal story about two post-punk musicians (their act has no name) who travel around on a tandem bike trying to find an audience for their bizarre art.

The Unicorn in Snowpants Suddenly Ran Off (19 minutes, directed by Philipp Schaeffer. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize for Documentary Shorts). Watching blind children as they entertain themselves. Three different children creating their own stories or worlds in which they find joy.

Millstone (17 minutes, directed by Peter Hoffman Kimball. Winner of Grand Jury Prize for Unstoppable). The film is done entirely in American Sign Language by deaf actors, but deafness really plays no role in the story. We see a man and woman whose lives and marriage are being torn apart by the grief over a lost son. They have tried many things and have now come to a man who offers a very extreme form of therapy. But then the story takes a very dark and unexpected turn. A very engaging story.

Close – End of childhood innocence

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Coming of age can open the world in new ways, but at what price? In Lukas Dhont’s Close (which is Belgium’s entry for Oscar consideration) we watch a sudden and tragic shift from the idyllic world of childhood to thechallenging world of trying to fit in to the expectations of society. The film has been shortlisted for Best International Feature.

Thirteen year olds Léo (Eden Dambrine) and Rémi (Gustav De Waele) are best friends. We first see them as they spend a summer day running through the commercial flower field that Léo’s parent work. They have sleepovers where they unconscientiously sleep side by side. They tell each other stories. Léo sheds tears as he listens to Rémi masterfully play his oboe. Theirs is a Edenic existence that exemplifies the innocence of childhood.

When school starts, they head off to their new school together. As the camera moves back, we see that they are alone in the crowd of other kids they don’t know. They are physically demonstrative of their emotional closeness. Then one day at recess, a girl asks Léo, “Are you two together?” That question changes everything.

Léo is now aware that there are social expectations at play. He immediately begins to create distance between himself and Rémi, who until now has been his most intimate friend. He begins to avoid Rémi, leaving Rémi even more alone in this new environment. Léo joins the hockey team as a way of proving his masculinity, even though it is new and awkward for him.

On a school field trip tragedy happens. Rémi is dead. The school is distraught. We watch as grief counselors help the children address their grief. But Léo remains silent and stoic. His grief is put on hold, because how can he deal with such feelings—including guilt—without looking unmasculine.

The only other person who might understand is Rémi’s mother Sophie (Émilie Dequenne). But how can he go to her when he feels like he is so much at fault for what has happened? Sophie is also struggling to find answers and comfort in the aftermath of Rémi’s death. She feels as if she has lost two sons, because early in the film she calls Léo, the “son of my heart”. It is the tentative reaching out of these two people that will open the possibility of healing.

Dhont draws on his own experience of growing up queer, but he is careful not to label the boys’ relationship as anything other than childhood friendship. It is the very threat of labeling that pushes Léo to separate himself from his friend and soulmate. To further prove he doesn’t fit such a label, Léo goes out for hockey. Hockey is convenient because not only is it considered manly, but he is able to hide. He wears a uniform, so he is an indistinguishable part of a group. He is masked, and in a sense, caged.

This is a film that focuses on isolation. Adolescence is often a time when the perceived conflicts of social expectation cause changes in the way we see the world. Léo by distancing himself from Rémi isolates them both. Rémi is abandoned. Léo, even as he tries to fit in, is still cut off from meaningful relationship—certainly from anything as meaningful as he has shared with Rémi. That isolation proves deadly for Rémi. It also is totally stifling for Léo in his grief.

Léo’s entry into adolescence turned out to be an expulsion from the Eden he had known with Rémi. He will never be able to go back. It will be challenging for him to move into his new world. It will be even harder if he is only allows his perceived role to define him.

Photos courtesy of A24.

Unstoppable Shorts at Slamdance 2023

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Shorts are always an important part of any film festival. That is really true for Slamdance, which often features filmmakers who are working with very limited resources. But those short films often demonstrate as much power and skill as longer films. Often even more so because they are so compact. One of the sections for shorts as Slamdance each year is called “Unstoppable”. These films are about overcoming the obstacles of life—often physical or emotional disabilities. Some such films are about those disabilities, others by filmmakers who are overcoming their own obstacles. Here is a sampling of this year’s Unstoppable shorts. These and other films can be seen at https://slamdance.com/festival .

Queen Moorea (27 minutes, directed by Christine Fulgate). A documentary about a young woman who is chosen homecoming queen at the high school in spite of being born with a genetic syndrome that involves learning disabilities and deformity. She and others with similar issues strive to lead normal lives, but they struggle in a world that often doesn’t see past their disabilities.

A Black Saturday (9 minutes, directed by Tori Sampson). A slice of life that looks at two children for whom Saturday is a time of both fun and obligation. It is a sweet look at innocence and the love of family.

Charley and the Hunt (15 minutes, directed by Jenn Shaw). The story of a girl with a vivid imagination who must go on a “dangerous” treasure hunt to recover her deaf mother’s lost bracelet.

My Eyes Are Up Hear (14 minutes, directed by Nathan Morris). Comic film about a young woman with physical deformities that wakes up in a man’s apartment after a wild night. She sets out to get the morning after pill. He wants to help. She wants to be independent. It develops into a mini-romcom. The film challenges our idea about disabilities and sexuality.

Just Right (16 minutes, directed by Camille Wormser). This is a comic look at what it is like to live with severe OCD. (Wormser, who also stars, has severe OCD.) When the central character decides to go somewhere with her roommate, she is on the clock to be ready on time, but there are so many things that have to be done in just the right way.

Still more from Slamdance 2023

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Here are more films that are playing at Slamdance Film Festival. You can see these and others at https://slamdance.com/festival.

Sweetheart Deal, directed by Elisa Levine and Gabriel Miller, is one of those documentaries that turns into something entirely different than it sets out to be. The film focuses on four sex workers in Seattle and a man who goes into Aurora Avenue area where they work to provide a safe place for them to come and rest, eat, or kick their drug habits. The women face danger in their work. They are all also involved with drugs that are often the reason for them doing this work, but also make their lives tolerable. “Eliot”, seems to be a wonderful friend. When one of the women is kidnapped and escapes, he helps her find the place she was, so she can take the information to the police. But the last third of the film has such an amazing revelation (both the to the audience and to the women) about “Eliot” that it takes the film in a new direction. The betrayal we discover just adds to the many ways that these women are abused and debased. Although it is a very dark topic, there are signs of hope in the end.

In case you think Slamdance is only about dark movies, let me tell you about Love Dump, directed by Jason Avezzano. This work was created by Leila Gorstein and Jesse Kendall, when they worked together in an improv theater. It is a parody of Hallmark romcoms. Jessica Dump runs a vintage garbage store. One day in the park, she is trampled by Todd Barkley, a lawyer who defends dogs. Sparks fly immediately, but then fifteen years pass. Through various misadventures, the two struggle to find each other again, hitting all the romcom beats you expect to find. The humor is broadly over-the-top as one might expect from its improv background.

One of the finds of the festival, from my perspective, is OKAY! (The ASD Band Film), directed by Mark Bone. Slamdance has sections of both features and shorts that they label “Unstoppable”, which focuses on overcoming the obstacles of life. OKAY! is the story of a band made up of four musicians on the autism spectrum. Autism has become a subject of entertainment in recent years. (E.g., The Big Bang Theory, Atypical, As We See It, and Extraordinary Attorney Woo.) Perhaps it is time to see those with autism in reality. A program helping people with autism learn social skills brought together these four gifted musicians. We may think that people with autism cannot connect to other people, but that is not what we see here. They are working on making their first album, and writing songs that reflect their lives, and collaborating to make each song something special. We meet their families, as well as some other people with autism who have greater struggles than these. One of the songs they perform has a line that is a wonderful statement of the thesis of the film: We’re different, but not less.

More from Slamdance 2023

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Here are a few more of the films currently playing at the Slamdance Film Festival. The festival will be available online January 23-29. You can find out how to see the films at https://slamdance.com/festival/.

Where the Road Leads, directed by Nina Ognjanović, comes to the festival from Serbia. The film opens with a young woman, Jana, running. Meanwhile, there are people who are all looking for the New Guy with violence in mind. We aren’t sure yet what has transpired. The story is told in a circle. The opening scene is will come around again when the film ends. The end of the story (and the beginning) come in the middle. Then we go back and learn about this remote little town that is suspicious of anything and anyone new. But is the New Guy really new? Jana is hoping he is her ticket out of this small world. But is her wanderlust any different from what brought the New Guy here after he has tired of the city? Perhaps the search from greener grass in another field is not the answer to our problems. Where the Road Leads is part of the Narrative Feature program.

With Peter Bradley, directed by Alex Rappoport, is a look at the career of a Black abstract painter. Peter Bradley, first gained attention in the 1970s, but his work has faded into the shadows over the last few decades. He still works every day, focusing on color and has a unique approach to making his art. At times, Bradley likens his art to jazz and to plants. The film essentially lets Bradley tell his own story from growing up in Pennsylvania, where his home was often visited by big name jazz musicians, to time in Detroit and New York, where along with making art, he was a dealer at a major gallery. The film has a wonderful original score featuring the Javon Jackson Quartet. Between the art and the music, this is a film about art on many levels. With Peter Bradley is part of the documentary feature section.

Motel Drive, directed by Brendan Garaghty, focuses on the denizens of motels in Fresno, California. The once busy motels are now nearly empty, except for those who can find nowhere else to live. When the California High Speed Rail is proposed to run right through those motels, they are closed down, making everything even more complicated. The film spends most its time with one family who struggles with housing insecurity and addiction over the seven years this film was made. We especially see the difficulty this involves for children whose educational lives are severely disrupted. The film manages to see the residents we meet (which includes sex workers, addicts, and sex offenders) as vulnerable human beings without judging their decisions and actions. Motel Drive is also part of the documentary feature program.

Slamdance 2023 – The Gritty Festival

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It is the time of year for a gritty film festival taking place in Park City, Utah. The big news coming out of that town currently is the Sundance Film Festival. However, running concurrently is a festival with a much different vibe—Slamdance. Slamdance has been an important step along the way for various filmmakers, including Christopher Nolan, Anthony and Joe Russo, Joon-ho Bong, and Rian Johnson. The films at Slamdance are smaller and even more independent than at Sundance. That independence means that more filmmakers find more ways to tell more stories. The festival has an online version that can be accessed beginning January 23. Go to https://slamdance.com/festival/ to see how you can watch. Here’s a sampling of some of the films showing.

Onlookers, from director Kimi Takesue, is a cultural immersive experience of travel and tourism. Takesue grew up in Hawaii, where he saw tourists and the way they did or did not interact with the local culture. Here he takes his camera to Laos, where he is a tourist. The film shows various scenes that may show the natural beauty, or local culture, or tourists doing what tourists do. The idea is to allow viewers to consider what it means to go somewhere that is foreign to us. How do we look at the local people and customs, Or are they just background to our personal experiences? I have to admit I saw myself in some of the tourists, especially in one scene in which a group of tourists come to a beautiful small temple, each pausing long enough to take a quick photo before they move on to whatever may be next. The film is presented without dialogue or explanation of what we are witnessing. We simply get a few moments to take it all in. Onlookers is playing in the Breakout section.

From Poland comes Silent Love, directed by Marek Kozakiewicz. This documentary follows Aga, who has left Germany and her partner Maja, to return to Poland to raise her teenage brother Miłosz. Through various interviews, Aga must make the case that she can care for her brother, while hiding the fact that she is in a same-sex relationship. She needs the support of Maja, but can Maja leave her world in Germany to join Aga and Miłosz in Poland? The film shows some of the struggles that Aga and Miłosz face as they develop a new relationship. It is a very awkward age for Miłosz, who is also coming to terms with his mother’s death. Silent Love is part of the documentary feature section.

Law Chen directs Starring Jerry as Himself. This is an entertaining reenactment of a senior being victimized by a telephone scam. Jerry Hsu was victimized out of his life savings of close to a million dollars. He came to the US from China in the ‘70s and worked for forty years. He didn’t spend a lot of money (but his ex-wife did), so he has a sizable amount saved. Then he received a phone call from the Shanghai police to tell him he was the target of an investigation for money laundering. To save himself, he cooperated fully with the investigation, which was really two con men who convinced him little by little to sell his investments and send them the money. The film is Jerry’s family’s way of sharingl the story as a way to show just how this can happen. While we may know all through the film that this is a scam, the believability of the con is just like what many people (especially seniors living alone) encounter. Starring Jerry as Himself is also in the documentary feature section.

Darrel’s Dozen for 2022

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The time has come to share my favorites of the last year. Things are still struggling to get back to normal in the world of movies. But things are beginning to look up with films from both established and upcoming filmmakers. The order of my list would probably change on any given day, but these are the ones I think need to be highlighted. Of course, my motto for lists like this is “De gustibus non disputandum est.”

But feel free to disputandum.

Bill Nighy as Williams in LIVING.
Photo credit: Jamie D. Ramsay. Courtesy of Number 9 films / Sony Pictures Classics
  1. Living. (Directed by Oliver Hermanus.) Masterful reworking of Akira Kurosawa’s Ikiru with a screenplay from Nobel winner Kazuo Ishiguro. Bill Nighy plays a very strait-laced bureaucrat who learns he is dying. But first he’s going to have to learn how to live. An emotional dive into the search for the meaning of life that dates back (at the very least) to Ecclesiastes. Living  is currently in theaters.
  2. EO. (Directed by Jerzy Skolimowski. Poland’s submission for Best International Feature) This is also an emotional dive into the search for the meaning of life, but from a much different perspective—that of a donkey. It is not so much a remake as an homage to Robert Breeson’s Au hasard Balthazar. EO is currently in theaters.
  3. Women Talking. (Directed by Sarah Polley.) A group of battered women in a religious compound debate whether to leave the community and the only life they have known, or fight the oppression and violence of the men. While it may seem a unique setting, the issues of women’s oppression are far more universal. Women Talking is currently in theaters.
  4. RRR. (Directed by S. S. Rajamouli.) This was the most fun I had watching a film this year. It is part Bollywood, part bromance, part martial arts action film, part anti-colonial statement. An Indian police officer vows to bring in a revolutionary. When they meet (without knowing who the other is), they strike a great friendship and set out to save their country. RRR streams on Netflix.
  5. Close. (Directed by Lukas Dhont. Belgium’s submission for Best International Feature) In this coming-of-age story, two boys who are best friends suddenly are confronted with societal expectations of same sex friendship. A story of tragedy, grief, and possible healing. Close arrives in theaters soon.
  6. The Inspection. (Directed by Elegance Bratton). During the don’t-ask-don’t-tell period, a gay black man joins the Marines. He has no one who accepts who he is. His mother rejects him. Can he persevere through bootcamp to come out as someone who knows (and is known for) his value?
  7. No Bears. (Directed by Jafar Panahi.) Panahi (who has now been jailed by the Iranian government) makes a film about being forbidden to make films. Working near the border (where he could escape to the West), he struggles to make the film remotely and gets embroiled in a local feud. No Bears is currently in theaters.
  8. The Banshees of Inisherin. (Directed by Martin McDonagh.) A long time friendship comes to an end suddenly for what seems no good reason. Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell play out this tragic story that is at time comic but also deeply sad. Banshees of Inisherin streams on HBO Max.
  9. Call Jane (Directed by Phyllis Nagy) and The Janes (Directed by Tia Lessin and Emma Pildes.) These two films (the first narrative, the second documentary) tell the story of a group of women in pre-Roe v. Wade Chicago who helped women secure illegal abortions. I found Call Jane the more engaging because of its storyline, but the two films enhance each other. Call Jane can be rented on Prime Video; The Janes stream on HBO Max.
  10. Tár. (Directed by Todd Field.) A woman has risen to the top of her profession as an orchestra conductor. She is strong, confident, and full of hubris. As she prepares for an important concert, everything comes crashing down—both professionally and personally. Tár is in theaters and can be rented on Prime Video.
  11. You Will Remember Me. (Directed by Éric Tessier.) A man with dementia connects with a girl who lives in a world of constant screens. It is a look at not just memory, but what kind of reality we have crafted in today’s world. Rémy Girard offers the best monologue/rant of the year when the tells us “You are prisoners of the eternal present.” You Will Remember Me can be rented on Prime Video.
  12. Last Flight Home. (Directed by Ondi Timoner.) Documentary about a man who had great success and loss in his life. As he seeks an end to his terminal illness, his family (including his daughter who made the film) gathers in support. A beautiful look at the end of life and the love within a family. Last Flight Home streams on Paramount+ and can be rented on Prime Video.

Of course, twelve is never enough (even if it’s thirteen), so let me add a few honorable mentions alphabetically.

  • After Yang. (Directed by Kogonada.) A story of love and loss and the meaning of being human. After Yang streams on Showtime.
  • Argentina, 1985. (Directed by Santiago Mitre. Argentina’s submission for Best International Feature.) A team of lawyers prosecute the military junta that oppressed the country. Argentina, 1985 streams on Prime Video.
  • The Eternal Daughter. (Directed by Joanna Hogg.) Tilda Swinton plays both mother and daughter on a trip to recall the past. The Eternal Daughter can be rented on Prime Video.
  • The Fabelmans. (Directed by Steven Spielberg.) Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical account of family and the love of film. The Fabelmans is in theaters and can be rented on Prime Video.

All That Breathes – Ode to life

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Shaunak Sen’s All That Breathes, winner of the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance for World Cinema Documentary and the Golden Eye award at Cannes, is the story of two brothers trying to run a bird rescue in New Delhi. If that were all it was, it would be a run of the mill doc. It would be interesting, but not enthralling. But there is far more to this film than what is found in that simple narrative. The film has been shortlisted for Feature Documentary Oscar consideration and is nominated for a Film Independent Spirit Award.

Saud and Nadeem have had a lifelong interest in black kites, the raptors that fill the sky over their city. They have taught themselves how to care for injured birds and struggle to run a hospital for the injured kites. They are seeking funding for a better facility, but currently run the operation in their home. Part of the problem the kites face is the severe air pollution in New Delhi. Every day several of the raptors fall from the sky. Saud and Nadeem do the best they can with limited resources.

Courtesy of HBO

The film also shows the way much more is going on all around them. We hear news reports and distant sounds of protests over the rising religious discrimination in India. We see that even though this is a very urban area, nature is always near as we see cows, pigs, rats, ants, frogs, and monkeys that are living in the streets as well.

Sen uses his camera in such a way that when he breaks away from the narrative of the two brothers and their birds, we see nature as not something separate from the lives of people, but as a setting in which humans also live. Often the camera creates a kind of visual poetry for us to see life as it is lived by many creatures that we usually overlook.

The result is a kind of ode to life. It is not so much about the human place in the world, as it is about the broader concept of life of which we are a smaller part. And hearing the political turmoil that is certainly not part of the natural world, we may even get the idea that humans are not at the top of the evolutionary process.

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a #@%! – What is worth caring about?

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“Happiness is a problem.”

The self-help industry revolves around selling books or programs that will make you happy. The world of social media thrives by offering us constant exposure to the newest trends and fads. We are always being pushed to buy (or buy into) the latest new thing that will fulfill our lives. Mark Manson (no relation to this writer) takes a different approach to self-improvement in his book (and now movie) The Subtle Art of Not Giving a #@%!. The plan he offers is not to help you find what is missing in your life. Rather it is based on coming to understand what is and is not important in life.

I’ve not read the book, but I assume the film (which is basically Manson doing a monologue) is essentially delivering the same ideas. His philosophy is basically that there are only a few things in life that really matter. The way we find fulfillment is to identify those things and not worry about the rest. Consumerism, the constant search for something new and shinier, the need to have more money, more power, or more fame are all distractions from the things that will really make our lives happy.

Throughout his monologue, he uses raw and scatological language to make his points. Given the title of the book and film, this shouldn’t be a surprise. I think such language also points to his own generation as the target audience for the film, Millennials. The perspective he develops is indeed something that is fitting for that generation to be considering at this point in life. It is something each generation deals with at some point.

Manson eschews the label of stoicism. While there are differences between his views and the Stoics, he is much more like them than different from them. He (according to an article on his website) sees himself more in touch with Buddhism and existentialism. His aha moment grows from discovering the reality of death. That reality is frequently the cause of people beginning to think about what is important in life.

His ideas are similar in many ways to the biblical writer of Ecclesiastes. “Vanity of vanities! All is vanity” is not far removed from the film’s title. Ecclesiastes looks at all the ways people have sought to find meaning—and the ways they all fall short. That is much what Manson is doing in the film. And so, I feel it appropriate to quote Ecclesiastes to give my reaction to the film: “There is nothing new under the sun.” Perhaps this restating what many have discovered through centuries is necessary for each new generation to help it come to grips with the questions of value and happiness.

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a #@%! is in theaters and coming soon to VOD.

Photos courtesy of Universal Pictures and GFC Films.