ScreenFish

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Tuesday at NBFF

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My movie choices at Newport Beach Film Festival on Tuesday were stories filled with humanity, love, and compassion.

From Ireland came Sanctuary, a film that features actors of the Blue Teapot Theatre Company who have intellectual disabilities. Larry, who has Downs, and Sophie, who has epilepsy, are in love. When the group from their sheltered workshop takes a trip to the cinema, Larry bribes their companion/caregiver to get them a hotel room so they can spend some private time together. While that happens, the others in the group begin to wonder where they have gone to and some set off in search. By the time the companion gets back, the group has gone several different ways. It is a comic disaster. But we discover that these people are really very like the rest of us. They love, they flirt, they want recognition, they want independence. Of course, there are consequences for all of this. Eventually some very severe consequences.

On October 30, 1938, Orson Wells and his radio theater company did a production of H.G. Wells’s story War of the Worlds. Many listening believed it a real Martian invasion and panic set in. All that is true. Brave New Jersey is a fictionalized story of what happened in a small rural town in New Jersey. The town has a group of zany characters who set out to protect their town. In the process people’s real nature comes out. Some step up, others run away. And some, facing the possibility of their last night of life, seek to make known the love they have kept hidden. It was a cute and fun take on the War of the Worlds legend.

As I’ve mentioned before the tag line for NBFF this year is “Go Deeper”. That is certainly what The Longest Road has sought to do. This documentary features a group led by Iraqi War veteran Richard Campos on a humanitarian trip to Kurdistan. Campos has been taking medical supplies to the region for several years, knowing the need that is there in light of ISIS and it’s violence. A Gold Star father who lost his son in Iraq asks to go along to honor his son. Filmmakers come along as well to document what faces the refugees here. We hear many horrific stories and see terrible living condition of both Kurds and Yazidi refugees. We also learn of the Kurdish soldiers who are seeking to protect their land and people from ISIS. There are many people of compassion and commitment who strive to aid those in such a dire need. I’m conflicted a bit about this film. It is always important for us to know about the needs of the very disadvantaged in places such as this. There needs to be more attention paid to the victims of the war that has been going on there for some time. This film certainly opens our eyes to these people we may have known nothing about. But at times the many, many stories of violence and need became a bit too much. Even as it shows humanity and hope, it also overwhelms us with the darkness of the situation.

Sunday at NBFF

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You’ll note I never give you a preview of what I’ll see the next day when I make my report each day. That is because one never knows what will be sold out leading me to figure out a plan B (or plans B throughout the day). But then that is part of the charm of film festivals—not knowing where the plot will take you, like in a good movie.

Yesterday started with the documentary The Resilient Heart, which follows the work of cardiologist Dr. Valentan Fuster, who seeks to prevent heart disease through public health advocacy around the world. He has projects in Columbia, Spain, Grenada, Kenya, and Harlem which seek to teach children and communities about healthy lifestyles. His is an ambitious task. The film, however, really doesn’t serve to educate about heart disease itself or about the lifestyle changes that people can and should make.

Another doc from yesterday was City of Joy. The Democratic Republic of Congo has been a place of war and violence for two decades—much of it led by militias funded by multi-national corporations that seek to control the mining of materials used in our smartphones and computers. Some of the most affected victims of all this violence are women, because rape and sexual violence is used as a weapon of the war. In Bukavu, a city now filled with refugees, is a compound known as the City of Joy where women are given refuge and training to return to the world. The program was started by Dr. Denis Mukwege, who has served these violated and often mutilated women; woman’s rights activist Christine Schuler-Deschryver, and playwright and feminist Eve Ensler, author of The Vagina Monologues. The film includes accounts of horrendous rapes and violence. It also shows the growth that can take place as these women heal and find hope and a voice.

The narrative film I saw is Heaven’s Floor. Based on a true story, it recounts the story of Julia, a photographer in L.A., who goes on a trek across Baffin Island in the Canadian arctic for which she is totally unprepared. When she finds herself alone on the ice, she is rescued by a young Inuit girl, Malaya. Malaya is orphaned and being raised by her grandmother. She seeks a mother. Julia is convinced to bring her to L.A., but her husband wants nothing to do with it. I found the film a bit on the passive side. Julia, especially, seem to let things happen rather that being actively involved. The conflicts that arise never quite give rise to the kinds of moral issues that really should be addressed.

Friday at the Newport Beach Film Festival

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The tag line for the Newport Beach Film Festival this year is “Go Deeper.” It no doubt refers to the idea that independent films may have a deeper meaning that more commercial films. (Although we at Screenfish often look at popular commercial films for deep meanings—and they are there.) I only got in one film yesterday because (a) it was a light day on the schedule, and (b) there were some technical problems with the second film I went to.

Some Freaks is a coming-of-age story by Ian MacAllister-McDonald. It is story of high school students Matt, who only has one eye, and Jill, who is overweight. They are both ouside the real of “normal”, but find that when together they are happy. But when Jill leaves for college, and loses weight, Matt isn’t sure it is a good thing. Matt has also added a prosthetic eye. Both are seeking to fit in to the “normal” world. But will either ever be able to be like everyone else? Can their relationship handle the changes they are going through? It’s a nicely done first film that has won a few awards on the Festival circuit. Some Freaks plays again Tuesday.

The technological issue for the second film was that it had no subtitles. Since the film was Polish that presented a problem. There are lots of reasons that this can happen, so you can’t assign blame without knowing more. It does make from some frustration, though.

But there will be more to come.

Serenade for Haiti: Can the Arts Save Your Soul?

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“Music is in us.  It is in our lives.  It cannot disappear.  That would be like the end of life.”

– Father Cesar, Serenade for Haiti

Directed by the award-winning documentary filmmaker Owsley Brown (Night Waltz: The Music of Paul Bowles; Music Makes a City), Serenade for Haiti (Serenad pou Ayiti) reveals a side of the country that is often misunderstood by the rest of the world.  Filmed over a seven-year period that began before the earthquake of 2010, Serenade illustrates the powerful role that music, art and education can play in developing and empowering the youth of a nation.  By focusing its lens on Father Cesar and his dedicated staff at Sainte Trinite Music School, this documentary reveals the burgeoning artistic side of the children of Haiti and their commitment to hope.

However, Serenade for Haiti is not merely about the film’s bursting culture and musical talent.  Instead, the film is intent on Haiti’s quest to discover and express its soul.  Despite the vibrancy and colour of the nation, Cesar also reminds us that ‘there is a shadow’ that follows it.  Repeatedly throughout the film, we are reminded of the suffering and anguish that the Haitian people have experienced in recent years.  From politically-rooted violence in the streets to the vicious earthquake of 2010, the nation has found themselves torn apart by fear and bloodshed.

However, herein lies the very heart of Serenade.

In the midst of the pain, Father Cesar and his team recognize that, by teaching the arts to their children, they find a healthy manner of creative expression.  In fact, for Cesar, the arts are not merely a distraction from the country’s social challenges, but potentially the solution to them.  While many children do not have the ability to express their feelings through words, they manage to reveal their hearts via song and paintbrush.  In doing so, they find new hope and life through their creativity.  Like a small plant shooting up from the ashes, music and the arts have become a beacon of hope for the children in the midst of suffering.

Undoubtedly, Serenade paints this creative outburst as a spiritual breakthrough for a nation looking for answers.  As God establishes hope by creating all things new, so too does this expression demonstrate an echo of His image within the people.  In light of this, while the arts may not ‘save one’s soul’, they certainly allow us to connect with the heartbeat of God in a manner that allows for healing and growth.  Repeatedly in Scripture, we see that music is a response to and recognition of the beauty of God.  It is life-affirming and demonstrates an incomprehensible comprehension of His glory that brings wholeness to our soul.

In Serenade for Haiti, we get to see the restorative nature of music first-hand within the eyes of children who have seen the depths of hurt.  In the midst of their suffering, they seek beauty.

And that leads to Hope.

 

Serenade for Haiti is currently making the rounds on the festival circuit.

AFI Fest 2016 – Stars Outside and Inside

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The thirtieth Edition of AFIFEST Presented by Audi is underway. This festival is a wonderful collection of independent, foreign, and Oscar buzz films playing side by side in the middle of Hollywood. It always strikes me that on the street level of Hollywood Boulevard tourists look at the stars in the sidewalk and take selfies with various film characters, but two floors up in the Hollywood and Highland complex, some amazing films are showing for free. (That’s right. Tickets for AFI Fest screenings are free, which means that it is almost always a sold out house, so if you’re coming, check the website to get a ticket and arrive early to get a place in line.)

Nicole Kidman and star in LION
Nicole Kidman stars in LION

After picking up my pass, I chose Lion for my opening film of the festival. This Australian film is the story of Saroo, a young Indian boy who is separated from his brother at a train station and ends up over 1000 miles from home, in Calcutta where he can’t even speak the language. He faces hardships, eventually ending up in an orphanage. But then he is adopted by an Australian couple and grows up in Tasmania, along with another Indian adoptee who has some severe emotional issues. The second half of the film recounts Saroo, now an adult, becoming obsessed with finding his Indian family and letting them know he is well. The problem is he has no clue where he is really from in India. Working with Google Earth and childhood memories, he works toward a solution. In the meanwhile he discovers the meaning of home and family. The film is based on a true story. Screenwriter Luke Davies, actors Dev Patel and Nichole Kidman, and the films real-life subject Saroo Brierley were on hand for a Q&A after the screening. (Sometimes seeing stars is not limited to the ones in the sidewalk.) Lion opens later this month. Look for a more complete review then.

Dev Patel stars in LION
Dev Patel stars in LION

Photos provided by AFI Fest.