ScreenFish

where faith and film are intertwined

documentary

Sundance 2023 – A Still Small Voice

by Leave a Comment

“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

by Leave a Comment

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.

Slamdance 2023: With Peter Bradley

by Leave a Comment

“There’s people that paint with colour and it’s called abstract. I don’t think it’s abstract at all. Colour is the most important thing.” – Peter Bradley

Directed by Alex Rappoport, With Peter Bradley is a deep dive into one man’s impact on the history of American art culture. Forging a career in the midst of systemic racism, Peter Bradley helped tear down barriers within the arts industry. Because of his influence and incredible resume, Black artists became more greatly recognized in American culture. Before the age of 35, Bradley’s art kicked down doors of Madison Avenue and was connected with the most powerful art retailers in the world. With Peter Bradley allows the viewer to hear from the man himself of his amazing journey and his incredible impact.

Appropriately, what’s most compelling about With… is Peter Bradley himself. Even in his later years, Bradley remains a compelling person to interview. Wisely, rather than bombard the viewer with his own facts and figures, Rappoport steps back and lets Peter speak for himself. Filled with fascinating stories about his accomplishments and adventures in the arts community, Bradley has a boldness about him that sets him apart from other documentary subjects. In a refreshing twist, Bradley comes across as a man without filters, willing to share his opinions on anything and anyone without afterthought. (For example, he has no issue telling the viewer his dislike of Sir Paul McCartney and his music.) In fact, he even comes across as a man who expectsto have his story told. 

Having spent much of his wealthy, Bradley’s life still revolves around his painting to this day. By allowing Bradley to express himself, Rappoport does an excellent job of giving voice to his process. Bradley is enlivened by his experience of colour. It affects every aspect of his life. From music to nature, Bradley’s world becomes invigorated when he talks about colour and his enthusiasm is infectious.

But the theme of colour also works on a deeper level within this film.

As the first Black art dealer and curator of the first racially-integrated modern art show in America, Bradley’s career in the art world helped change the industry forever. In this way, although he himself would argue that his work had nothing to do with politics, his active presence in the community makes his art was indelibly political in nature. The fact that he was respected by as many as he was helped break down cultural barriers and impact change. (And Bradley has no problem sharing stories about the oppression that he faced due to race.)

Because of this, Rappoport has created a doc that begins with art but reveals that the heart of the story is so much more. And, with his unique way of viewing the world, it’s more than worthwhile spending time With Peter Bradley.

With Peter Bradley is now playing at Slamdance ‘23

Still more from Slamdance 2023

by Leave a Comment

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

by Leave a Comment

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: Silent Love

by Leave a Comment

Directed by Mark Kozakiewicz, the new documentary Silent Love begins in a small Polish village after the mother of Aga and Milosz passes away. Alone and hurting, Aga seeks to become legal guardian for her younger brother to help keep the family together. However, in the midst of their legal battle, an unknown piece of Aga’s life is revealed to her sibling when she confesses her love for her partner, Maya. Living in a highly conservative area, the LGBTQ community are viewed as immoral and Aga and Maya have kept their relationship a secret. As Milosz grieves the loss of his mother, the three come together to form a new family that challenges the status quo of this quiet corner of the country.

Directed by Marek Kozakiewicz, Silent Love is an intimate look at the redefinition of family in the modern age. Although the film begins as a story of one woman’s fight to care for her brother, it quickly becomes about much more as it expands its vision. But that’s what sets Love apart. Even though his intent was to focus on the custody battle, Kozakiewicz’s plans change as the story evolves. Suddenly, what begins as one journey splits into two dueling narratives that complement and inform one another in unexpected ways.

Despite the ‘big’ nature of these stories, Kozakiewicz keeps the film feeling small. This is one small family caught in a much larger world, fueled by bureaucracy and toxicity. As such, Silent Love feels like a very quiet film but that’s also the beauty of it. This is a story about a family attempting to come together in a world that threatens to tear them apart. Oppression against the LGBTQ community threatens the unspoken romance between Maya and Aga. Meanwhile, government inquisitions feel as though they could tear Milosz from his home at any moment. Although the odds seem stacked against them, Aga, Milosz and Maya want only to live in peace. 

To them, all that matters is each other.

As he follows their journey, Kozakiewicz captures Aga, Maya and Milosz’ intimate love for one another with grace and humility. With an unflinching eye, he walks with them as they face each moment together (or, at times, apart). In this way, Silent Love becomes a testament to the power of commitment in all relationships, whether romantic or familial. While this type of family structure may not be ‘traditional’ in this corner of the world, their love supports and celebrates each other in the midst of life’s storms. 

And Silent Love calls us to do the same.

Silent Love is screening at Slamdance ’23.

Slamdance 2023 – The Gritty Festival

by Leave a Comment

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.

The Cast Against Cosby: Hope After the Horror

by Leave a Comment

We’ve heard a lot of tales of male toxicity and abuse in Hollywood over the past few years. But maybe none have hurt more to the general public than the truth about Bill Cosby.

As the star of such benchmark television programming as The Cosby Show and I Spy, Cosby was a fixture in American living rooms for decades. However, after allegations from an endless parade of other women revealed the truth about Cosby’s actions, ‘America’s Dad’ drew public ire yet was only found guilty of allegations made by Andrea Constand. Now, in the new CBC documentary, The Case Against Cosby, Constand shares her painful and abusive journey with Cosby and the extraordinary road to healing that she has taken.

Directed by Karen Wookey, The Case Against Cosby is unflinching, horrifying and brutally honest. It’s also one of the best documentaries in recent memory. With each scene, Wookey puts the emphasis where it needs to be – on the voices and stories of the victims that were devastated by Cosby’s serial violence against women. Although the narrative voice is primarily through Constand, Wookey never shies away from the endless parade of women who were damaged by Cosby as well. In doing so, she focuses the viewer on the lives and souls that were damaged by his criminal sexual recklessness.

At the same time, Wookey also juxtaposes these traumatic tales of sexual abuse with clippings from Cosby’s innumerable characters from television. In doing so, she creates a distinction between his public persona and the reality that was taking place behind the scenes. Beloved by millions, Cosby’s character was an icon to the point that people believed that they could trust him as a person. By inviting him into their homes every week, there was a certain warmth in the relationship between viewer and actor that developed over the years. But, in this Case Against Cosby, we understand that the man we thought we knew was never real. Instead, his fictional persona only allowed him the opportunity to hurt innumerable others. (And the doc does not shy away from the fact that his repeated actions were intentional.)

Even so, despite the horrific realities that it shares, Cosby still feels like a story that’s rooted in hope. By framing Constand’s journey through the lens of therapeutic exercises and conversations, Wookey embeds her tale with a sense of healing and a desire to move forward. Conversations about the nature of trauma, abuse and self-actualization serve to acknowledge the past while giving hope for the future. (“My life has never been the same but I believe and have faith that it will be better,” one victim states.) As such, Cosby becomes more than the story of one predator’s prey and becomes an opportunity for all women who have been victimized to be encouraged.

In other words, this Case may be Constand’s but it could also be anybody else’s.

It’s this lens that makes The Case Against Cosby such an alarming and poignant narrative. While this focuses on the damage of a high-profile public figure, Wookey acknowledges that Constand is far from alone in her story. But that’s why it’s also so powerful and fearless. This is a tale meant to empower women who have been victimized to speak up and share their stories.

In doing so, perhaps they can make a Case for themselves as well.

The Case Against Cosby is available to stream now on CBC Gem.

All That Breathes – Ode to life

by Leave a Comment

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?

by Leave a Comment

“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.