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Newport Beach Film Festival

When Love Sets Us Free: 1on1 with Celia Au (IN A NEW YORK MINUTE)

May 1, 2019 by Steve Norton

Currently playing at the Newport Beach Film Festival in Los Angeles, In a New York Minutegives a glimpse into the lives of three strangers who inadvertently discover that their problems may be solved by a single pregnancy test. Amy (Amy Chen) is haunted by a past breakup that has manifested into an eating disorder. Angel (Yi Liu) is torn between an unhappy marriage to an American businessman and a passionate affair with a Chinese writer. Meanwhile, Nina (Celia Au) works as an escort in order to support herself.

Based on a Chinese short story, In a New York Minute focuses its lens on the journeys of three young Asian women in New York City. However, according to star Celia Au, while it?s exciting to have an almost entirely Asian cast, the film itself is accessible to anyone.

?I think it’s cool to have a full Asian cast,? she begins, ?but I think that, for the story, it doesn’t matter if you are a Caucasian, black version, or Hispanic. It relates to everyone. These are circumstances that we all experience. Maybe you know someone that owns a flower shop or someone that owns a diner. It’s just a different setting, but it’s the same story that I feel like everyone can relate to.?

For Celia, what was most exciting about bringing Nina to life onscreen was that it provided a chance to play someone so outside of her everyday personality and persona. 

 ?I remember when I first walked in, the director said, ‘Oh, you’re not as girly as I envisioned you to be,?? she recalls. ?I said, ‘You can dress me girly, but I’m not really that girly.’ Every time [my friends who have known me for years] see a clip of the film or a picture, they ask ‘Who is that person? I don’t know you anymore!’ I just said that, ‘It’s called acting.’ [laughs]?

?It’s something that I’ve never had the chance to play. I have a kind of a tomboyish kind of personality. I always get like the hipster, the punk kid, the cool one, or the one that’s more rough and tough. [Nina] is a girly [character]. [When] I [was] reading the script, [I saw that] she had a lot of layers and depth. I would call her [story] almost like a Cinderella story in modern times. There’s her struggle of trying to make due of her current situation and make the best out of it. So, I thought that it was great to put myself in a different situation where I’m not most comfortable. That’s not me, which I liked that because people could see me in a different light and that’s what acting is all about.?

Though all three storylines follow separate arcs, the cast appears to genuinely connect with one another when they do share moments onscreen. Celia thinks that much of the harmony of the cast stems from their desire to build relationships on and off screen which allowed them to trust one another.

?The other women are all actually my friends,? she beams. ?We’re all from New York so we’ve known each other for a while. We’ve never worked together until this job? On set, we all had time to hang out to get to know each other and built a relationship. And the great thing is that Mandy [director Ximan Li] created an environment on set where everybody got to be good friends? Once you have that, you can trust each other. You know? And that’s important.”

What?s more, this chemistry is also palpable between Celia and her co-star Roger Yeh, who plays her boyfriend Ian in the film. As the two worked together on set, Celia says that her connection with Roger was genuine, continuing after the cameras stopped rolling.

?When we were shooting, each couple [got] a nickname and we [said that] we should be the weird Disney couple,? Celia muses. ?Every time they called cut, Roger and I would just belt out Disney songs. Our boom operators kept saying, ‘oh my God, I can’t do this anymore.’ [laughs] And then, when they called action, we’d get really serious. That was a lot of fun. Just to see everyone’s reactions, the two of us would look over and they’d be shaking her heads.?

As Nina, Celia brings that same enthusiasm to her role as the young woman trapped between two worlds. Asked what she believes her character is looking for, Celia believes that Nina simply wants the opportunity to find herself.

?She’s looking for simply freedom,? she claims. ?[Nina] doesn’t want to abandon her family per se. It’s just she wants to find her own self and her own life, without being trapped. Her stepmom is basically like the queen of this flower shop and their family. She understands that her half-brother is the one that’s more loved and she’s okay with that. It’s just that her problem is that she wants to be able to do what she wants to do as well. She’s not relying on the family. So, she’s going out and using her way to find her own freedom and her own world, maybe not in the most common way. She’s trying to make money in the short amount of time to reach her goals and start a new life.?

In the midst of this, Nina finds that her life is gradually transformed by Roger?s deep unconditional love for her. According to Celia, love has the tremendous ability to offer someone hope in the midst of darkness.

?Everyone [within her home] just wanted something [from her], [whether it?s] give me money for this or that,? Celia explains. ?But, for someone to actually stop and ask, ‘how’s your day? Is everything okay? I’m thinking about starting a future with you. I see something else with you, other than just answering to her family or trying to help support [you] in that way.? So, this gives her a light at the end of the tunnel, basically. With Ian, there’s a new life ahead of them that she doesn’t need to be stuck. I think it’s really nice when you are feeling like no one cares about you at all and someone’s says, ‘Hey, how’s your day? I’m here for you. I’m just a phone call away. You can text me and I’ll show up.’ It’s a sense of security and support?

Living under the thumb of her family, Nina?s character remains stuck in a cycle of shame throughout much of the film. However, Celia also believes that someone can break free from the devastating effects of such an environment if they?re willing to take risks and step outside their comfort zone.

?[It takes] bravery and trust,? she argues. ?It doesn’t matter if its Nina’s character or just life in general, sometimes we feel stuck in our own circle. It takes the person to take a leap of faith to get out and to explore the possibility of ‘x’ outside of our own circle and stop being too comfortable where you are. Everyone has a past, right? It’s just who they’re striving to be?

In a New York Minuteis currently playing at the Newport Beach Film Festival.

For full audio of our interview with Celia Au, click here.

May 1, 2019 by Steve Norton Filed Under: Film, Film Festivals, Interviews, Reviews Tagged With: Amy Chen, Celia Au, China, In a New York Minute, Newport Beach Film Festival, Yi Liu

In a New York Minute: Lost Together

April 28, 2019 by Steve Norton

Premiering today at the Newport Beach Film Festival, In a New York Minutegives a glimpse into the lives of three strangers who inadvertently discover that their problems may be solved by a single pregnancy test. Amy is haunted by a past breakup that has manifested into an eating disorder. Angel is torn between an unhappy marriage to an American businessman and a passionate affair with a Chinese writer. Meanwhile, Nina works as an escort in order to support herself.

Premiering today at the Newport Beach Film Festival,?In a New York Minutegives a glimpse into the lives of three strangers who inadvertently discover that their problems may be solved by a single pregnancy test. Amy is haunted by a past breakup that has manifested into an eating disorder. Angel is torn between an unhappy marriage to an American businessman and a passionate affair with a Chinese writer. Meanwhile, Nina works as an escort in order to support herself.

Developed by Ximan Li,?Minutewould be a challenging piece to successfully complete for a first-time writer/director given its fractured narrative. Thankfully, however, Li interweaves its story that interweaves its characters in compelling ways without sacrificing the complexity of their own situations. Despite the film?s connective tissue regarding the mysterious pregnancy test, Li wisely allows his characters to breathe and grow until its necessary to reveal the truth at the proper moment. Leads?Celia Au, Amy Chang, and Yi Liu each create fascinating characters that succeed individually on their own while, at the same time, recognizing that their stories are pieces of a larger collective.

In fact, it?s this very notion of the collective whole that Minuteis based upon. While each woman exists in their own narrative world, they all impact one another?s stories, be it intentionally or not. (Without spoiling anything, none of the women even meet until the final 15 minutes.) In doing so, Li demonstrates the connective nature of our lives, even with those we don?t know. Through the use of a single pregnancy test, Li reminds us that the decisions we make are not isolated and can have a ripple effect that changes and directs the lives of others unwittingly.

Similarly, Li also points to the truth that, despite the fact that our stories differ, one of the key aspects of our common experience is our need for love and intimacy. In each story, Amy, Angel and Nina are driven or changed by their desire to love and be loved. Though none of these women define themselves based on the men in their lives, they are all experiencing varying levels of brokenness and looking for newness. However, while all of their stories differ wildly in their professions, family situations and needs, all are on a journey to find transformative, unconditional love that sees them for who they are and recognizes their value. 

In a New York Minutemay not compete in a wide release with superheroes and magic filling the multiplexes, but that is not to take away its quality. Each woman brings a spark to their characters that breathes life into their stories and relationships. Most importantly though, Xi has crafted a well-told narrative that points to the connectedness of our stories as well as our common need for love.?

In A New York Minutepremieres on April 28th, 2019 at Newport Beach Film Festival

To hear full audio of our interview with Celia Au, click here.

April 28, 2019 by Steve Norton Filed Under: Film, Film Festivals, Newport Beach FF, Premieres, Reviews Tagged With: Amy Chang, Celia Au, In a New York Minute, Newport Beach Film Festival, Ximan Li, Yi Liu

The Passion of Augustine – When Times Were A-Changin’

August 15, 2017 by Darrel Manson

?Modernity is killing me.?

The 1960s were a time of momentous change. We remember much of the social upheaval, but we often forget what major shifts happened in the church. As a bishop says in The Passion of Augustine, ?Everything is moving too fast. Modernism is attacking us on all fronts: Vatican II, loss of faith, fewer vocations, and worst of all: the Ministry of Education . . .. Prepare for the worst.? The pressures of the changes play out within a small convent school in Quebec.

Mother Augustine (C?line Bonnier) heads the Sacred Heart Convent and the school for girls that specializes in music training. It is a very regimented life?both for the nuns and the students. The school often turns out winners in the provincial music contest. But things may change. The government wants to take over education, and the convent schools may have to close. Augustine battles with her superior over the convent. And then Augustine?s niece Alice (Lysandre M?nard) is brought to the school because her mother must leave. Alice is a gifted pianist, but is disruptive. Alice brings a bit of the social changes of the outside world into the convent. She also brings change into Augustine?s relationships.

At the same time, the church and convent are going through changes brought on by Vatican II (the 1962-65 Ecumenical Council of Catholic Bishops that brought major revolutions to the Church). At the beginning of the film we see a bit of a Latin mass. At just about the midpoint there is a folk mass. The shift is startling?and more than a bit jarring for those who have built their lives around the church. When the time comes for the nuns to abandon their old habits and vails, we see that it is a painful and emotional time for them. Not just because of the clothes, but because the security of their chosen life was being stripped away. How shocking and even distressing it must have been for them to go from dressing ?like 18th century widows? (as one of the nuns put it) to airline stewardesses.

But this is also a very personal trial for Augustine. It is not just the changes around her, but the changes within her as well. We see glimpses of her past that show us she was not always a pious nun. And in her struggles with the church hierarchy, she must choose how she is going to best fulfil her gifts.

Change often brings a feeling of chaos. But that chaos often soon becomes the new established order. The changes from Vatican II were not easily embraced by some in the Catholic Church. In all churches the prospect of change can lead to dissension. (How many church board members does it take to change a light bulb? CHANGE?) Everything around us seems to be in a state of constant flux. We may rely on what we think are foundational institutions like the church to keep us grounded. But like everything else, those too undergo change. It is good to remember that often God can work through those changes to continue to fill the world and our lives with God?s love.

I first saw the film at the Newport Beach Film Festival two years ago. At NBFF it won five jury prizes: Best Feature Film, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Director, and Best Screenplay. I don?t know if it ever got a non-festival release in the US, but now it is becoming available on VOD. I?m happy to have the chance to revisit this story of the struggles of faith in a changing world.

Photos courtesy of Under the Milky Way

August 15, 2017 by Darrel Manson Filed Under: Film, Reviews Tagged With: C?line Bonnier, Canada, convent, L?a Pool, Lysandre M?nard, music, Newport Beach Film Festival, nuns, Quebec, Vatican II, vod

The Innocents – Faith and Doubt in War’s Aftermath

July 1, 2016 by Darrel Manson

?Faith is twenty-four hours of doubt and one minute of hope.?

The Innocents is one of my favorites from the Newport Beach Film Festival. Set in late 1945 Poland, Mathilde (Lou de Laage), a young French woman doctor, is summoned to a Benedictine convent to aid in the birth of a child. She discovers that there are several pregnant nuns there, the results of rape by first German and later Soviet soldiers. The Abbess (Agata Kulesza) is adamant that this not be reported?it would mean shame and the closing of the convent?but she agrees to allow Mathilde to return and care for the nuns.

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Films in recent years have often treated nuns as something of a dark force within the church. The Innocents treats them with respect, even in times when they may do things that we would deem as inappropriate or even sinful. The film gives us a chance to consider what life within a cloister is like. It shows us the daily rhythms built around prayer. We get insight into what it means to take a vow of chastity and maintain that vow even in extreme circumstances. For example, some of the pregnant nuns do not want Mathilda to touch them even to examine them or deliver the baby because it may go counter to their vows. Even the greatest sin that we observe, we are not asked to judge harshly because we know that there is a reason (although we may question that reason) for such action, and also because of the guilt that weighs so heavily on the one who does it.

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The setting for the film in the aftermath of World War II, shows us a world that is still very broken and in need of healing. There are orphans running uncared for in the streets?even playing atop a coffin sitting in the road. The convent was not spared the horrors of war. Even as the story plays out, the presence of Soviet troops continues to be a threat to the convent?and to Mathilde. The war, although technically over, continues to play out in the lives both inside and outside the walls of the convent.

Mathilde is very much an outsider in both worlds. Within her Red Cross mission, because she is a woman, she doesn?t have the same prestige as a male doctor would have. She is relegated to being an assistant. Within the cloister, where she doesn?t speak the language or understand the religious life, she is very off-balance, but soon learns to adapt.

Much of the film involves a contrast between the sisters and Mathilde, an unbeliever. Mathilde has many conversations with Sister Maria (Agata Buzek) who serves as her translator with the nuns. Mathilde discovers that these nuns, some old, some young, all have a devotion to God, even as they struggle with doubts, especially in the face of the evil that has been visited upon them. Some have lost faith, others hold to it strongly. Mathilde seems fascinated by the faith they hold which is so different from her own approach to the world. Yet she also sees that they may well be happier with their lives than she is with hers.

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The film touches on the question of how God can allow such evil to exist, but without dwelling on it or trying to answer such and unanswerable question. Rather it focuses on how one moves on in the aftermath of such devastation?whether personal or societal. Mathilde struggles within her non-religious worldview just as the nuns struggle with their faith. Yet both must strive to find ways to move forward and to heal the deep wounds within themselves and the world.

Photos courtesy of Music Box Films.

 

July 1, 2016 by Darrel Manson Filed Under: Film, Reviews Tagged With: Agata Buzek, Agata Kulesza, Agnus Dei, Anne Fontaine, based on true events, French, Lou de Laage, Newport Beach Film Festival, nuns, Poland, rape

No Greater Love – Interview with Justin Roberts

May 2, 2016 by Darrel Manson

Chaplain Justin Roberts
Chaplain Justin Roberts

While at the Newport Beach Film Festival, I visited with Justin Roberts, whose film No Greater Love was one of the festival selections. A former Army chaplain, Roberts made this documentary based on footage he took while deployed in Afghanistan and then meeting later with some of the men he served with. It focuses on what the unit went through while deployed and what it was like when they returned home.

At the beginning of the film you reference your own depression that you were dealing with. How are you doing now?

I?m doing a lot better. The film has helped me to process a lot of stuff, because you?re watching it again and again and again. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, a lot of it is experiencing a traumatic event and not processing it?not fully coming to peace with the moment and what happened. For me, the film kind of forces the process. I think that?s the way I?ve been throughout my life. Any time I?m going through something difficult I?m probably going to do some sort of artistic project?start writing something or working on something. So the film was just another one of those for me. When I?m dealing with something difficult I try to see it through a different lens. Plus, I have an amazing wife and she won?t let me sink too low. She?s always carried me through a lot of that stuff. I?m doing good now.

In the film you don?t do a lot of labeling. You don?t say ?This is PTSD. This is Traumatic Brain Injury. This is Moral Injury.? You just kind of have a gestalt, a mixture of everything.

I think we have like an evolution of definitions for the reactions, but so much of these reactions bleed over into each other. It?s really hard to pinpoint and define. We can say what TBI is, and MTBI, but that?s never just the one issue. Usually if they have TBI they also have some form of PTSD or Moral Injury. So part of our problem in dealing with these things is that you try to put it on one shelf and just deal with that one shelf, and then that care process doesn?t work fully. You have a person who?s dealing with a litany of issues. So poly-trauma then becomes a better approach?dealing with the whole person, a holistic approach. I didn?t get too heavy in the film on that. I just wanted to touch on it, because I could make a documentary about any one of those things, and not tell the whole story. So that was my approach, at least on that.

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I believe theology is something that?s best done with pencil.

And humility.

I?m sure the deployment was a challenging time of you trying to do theology. How about doing this film? How did making the film give you things to think about theologically that might not have been there before?

The first thing that I wanted to express through the film, and the reason we titled the film No Greater Love that comes from John 15:13: ?No greater love has any man than this that he lays down his life for his friends.? Now, for me, growing up in ministry and also going to seminary, I knew that at a theological level?this conception of Christ dying on a cross. I knew it and of course it was very deeply personal. But this was the first physical experience that I had of people I knew risking their lives and dying for people that I loved.

So this was the first flesh and blood example that I had?that I could put my hands on that person even as I was praying for that person. This was a man who put his life on the line for me and he?s about to go meet his maker. That changed my concept radically on that idea of sacrifice. It made me appreciate it so much more because when I?m losing that friend and he?s gone I understood what he did for me at some level, and then understanding God?s sacrifice?what Jesus did on the cross?it just magnifies it. I don?t think in America today that we have a concept of sacrifice.

We have it on such a thin level. We?re inconvenienced when the line is too long at Starbucks or we deal with our problems that generally are not that heavy. To dive deeper in understanding the sacrifice on the cross, it helps to understand the sacrifice being made by people as well?the martyrs that are throughout our world, and those people who are on the front lines, and those first responders who risk their lives every single day, and how we appreciate them and help them and support them is a direct relationship about how we truly feel about the sacrifice Christ made on the cross.

We have veterans right now who are struggling?struggling?and how much is the church becoming a part of that solution? It?s not. Not on the whole. Most of them aren?t even aware that there?s a problem. So if they say they fully understand the sacrifice that happened on the cross, but they?re not willing to just go across the street and help that veteran who put his life on the line for their religious liberties, they don?t understand it. They just don?t. They don?t appreciate it. If they did, they?d at least be willing to walk across that street and help that guy, who is now mentally broken because of the sacrifices he made on their behalf. They say they appreciate the sacrifice, but they aren?t even willing to do minimal ministry for that guy.

It breaks my heart. I didn?t realize it until I became a chaplain and came back and started down this road and reach out to the church. We get some love from some amazing ministries and amazing churches, but as a whole it?s a hard road ahead. It?s not because they?re apathetic. They?re just ignorant to what happened. So that?s the point of the film: to raise awareness, because I truly do feel that when the church becomes aware of a problem, they do react to it. They just need to wake up and realize there is a problem.

I sensed in the film that there was a kind of incarnational aspect. As you were saying, you understand more about sacrifice that God made through seeing the sacrifice these people made. And although none of these people are fully divine?

No, they were rough guys.

I noticed one scene in particular where you were talking about the First Sergeant who would say to you, ?How?s Jesus today?

?How?s Jesus doing?? with a dip in his mouth.

I assume you realize he was asking how you were doing because you were for him Jesus. You were the incarnation.

Uh-huh. It?s like that physical representative of God. It?s so funny because these are guys who are rough, wounded, foul, but willing to put their lives on the line for others. They have a concept of eternity, you know, it?s just sometimes a very rough one and a very loose one. Yeah, every single time I saw him, ?How?s Jesus doing?? and he?d have that big chaw in his mouth. An amazing guy. The soldiers loved him. It was such a painful hit when he died because everybody lost a father that day.

The way I approached ministry was relational and to find the place in the middle we can all sit at and to love people there. Through that relationship the gospel?s best delivered. That was my approach in both the ministry and the film. The film is a middle place. It?s not heavy-handed religious. It?s not proselytizing. But it is expressing the faith in an organic way. The hope is that it?s not a film that?s going to minister to Christians. It?s not a doctor that?s going to heal the healthy. The job of the film is to get Christians awake to a need, and then for them to become ministers to the sick who are in their area but are invisible to them right now.

We have thirty-six suicides per day. We would not have 36 suicides per day if the church were doing something about it. They have the resources to connect, care, and love. They have the power to bring the gospel to a broken people who are not a thousand miles away, but are right next door to them. And they?re not doing it. The number wouldn?t be there if they were. This is not a far off ministry. It costs nothing. But it?s a people group that is difficult. They generally don?t want to go to church. They?ve been baptized by fire. It?s not that we?re doing a charity for them. We owe them a magnificent debt. And we are in some small way paying them back by simply reaching out, loving on them, and helping them. That?s my personal feelings.

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You mentioned last night in the Q&A that you started this connection with them even before the deployment in an effort to build connections that would prevent suicides afterwards.

It?s all about the relationships. If you look at a lot of veteran charities right now, a lot of them are working to raise awareness of the veteran suicide issue. Part of the problem is their focusing all their mind, money, time, and energy on awareness, in large part because they?re not really sure what to do about it. It?s a very difficult, mysterious curse that?s hanging over our veteran population. Now what I saw in my unit was the best way to approach it was not trying to force 100% of the population through an individual psychiatric care program. I?m not saying that psychiatric care does not have a place. It does. But the problem is you can?t target the people who need it and most of them aren?t going to go. If you understand the culture, you understand that.

You have to understand the tribe that you?re trying to treat. Most of them are not going to say they have an issue. And then most of them are also not going to go get care. We can work for 100 years trying to change that culture and meanwhile we?ll have 36 suicides per day. So the best way to approach it is to reach out, build that community, get people interconnected, building up strong relationships, so that way when they do have a problem they?re going to start talking to people they?re connected with and know aren?t going to judge them, aren?t going to think less of them, just going to be there and love them. All these guys and gals, they have amazing BS detectors. They know when someone?s legitimately caring for them or not?or just out to try to sell them something. So it has to a legitimate relationship, a selfless, loving relationship. When they have that, they may well have that bridge to get care. If they don?t have that, there?s not a shot. There?s not hope. And a lot of those guys, if they do have that bridge?a person who?s caring for them and loving them?they?ll consider going to a counselor or psychologist. It usually takes some love and encouragement. So the goal is build the community, build the tribe, get them plugged in, then there?s a shot. That?s what I saw work in battalion, so that?s what we?re trying to do on a national level.

You mentioned that you couldn?t carry a gun, so you carried your camera. What was your plan for what you were filming?

I had this loose idea of doing a documentary, but not full, and definitely not this. If you know me, generally, I?m working on something. I?m just a project person. I?m generally going to be writing something or working on some sort of film thing. At the time I thought it would be cool to capture some of these moments. I wanted to take pictures to send back to the moms and grandmas. I really did have the largest grandma and mom fan club on Facebook. It was a way for them to stay connected to their soldier. It also became a way for me to connect in to the guys on Facebook, because that became about a third of the counselings I was doing down range.

I couldn?t be everywhere at once. We were in four or five different locations at any one time. So for me to be able to take on counseling with a guy that day, sometimes it would have to be through Facebook. So if I took his picture and his mom liked it, he?d want to see it, and on Facebook we?d become friends and it would open up the door for the counseling. So there was a ministry strategy to it. It evolved into what it currently is. I never saw how the ministry that I did within the unit was going to marry the film until I got a little further along. I thought I could use this to do this ministry, to get guys connected. Then when I saw how that got married together it became the mission, and it?s led me here.

I saw you got some nice awards from festivals. What?s the plan ahead for the film?

We?ve gone through I don?t know how many festivals now. We?ve gotten eight or nine, and we did a Congressional screening for the House VA Committee. We?re looking at doing a screening at the Pentagon and the White House. But what all this is leading towards is a theatrical release of the film, and to use that to help raise awareness and support for veteran charities and veteran ministries, to encourage churches to take on veteran ministries and to create this conversation across the country. If we don?t raise awareness?if people don?t get involved?if veterans, service members, and civilians don?t get involved in working for a solution, the number?s never going to go down.

It?s only by getting everybody actually involved and aware and acting that we can actually do something about it. So this is that one shot we have. There is no other national program. There?s no other national initiative and there?s no clear concept on how to achieve real results in the way we can help them. I?m functioning on the theory that if we get people connected in real relationships and really talking we can do something about it. All of this is to test that theory. It?s something I?ve seen work at battalion level, then we need to see if it can work at a national level.

We?re looking at pushing it out to theaters. It all depends on where the community support is. If we get communities reaching out to us, then we know we can bring the film there. That?s why the important thing is that they start connecting with us on Facebook or email, then we know we can bring the film there.

Photos courtesy of NLGFilm.com

 

May 2, 2016 by Darrel Manson Filed Under: Film, Interviews Tagged With: Afghanistan, chaplain, documentary, Newport Beach Film Festival, war documentary

Thursday at Newport Beach Film Festival

April 30, 2016 by Darrel Manson

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As the Newport Beach Film Festival comes to an end, I need to give kudos to the staff and volunteers for their wonderful work in making the festival a outstanding event.

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While it has an interesting premise, I had problems with Love Is All You Need? The premise of the film is to create a world in which same-sex relationships are the norm and heterosexual relationships are viewed as deviant and perverted. It is something like what was done with race in the 1995 film White Man?s Burden. When a star quarterback on the college football team (a woman, by the way) falls in love with a male reporter, it sets up a scandal in the town. Meanwhile, a junior high girl is struggling with her sexual identity and is harassed and bullied by others because of their perception of who she is. The film was designed to be a way of talking about bullying and gay bashing?serious problems that LGBT people deal with. However, the film uses the church as a foil, and a very disingenuous portrayal of the church. It is modeled on Westboro Baptist Church, which is an aberration within Christianity. I understand that the church as a whole has a lot to answer for regarding its treatment of LGBT people. (See the notes below on An Act of Love.) But there is venom in the film towards the church which is not much less toxic than the venom that the church in the film aims at the deviant heterosexuals. Probably the film I was most disappointed in at the festival.

 

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In The Great and the Small, a young man on probation for petty crime is living on the street. He gets a job working for a boss who is trying to lead him into bigger crime. He reconnects with an old girlfriend, but mostly for the sex. He also seeks out the woman who adopted the child that his girlfriend had a few years before. She is deeply in grief over the child?s death. As he tries to negotiate his way among the relationships and seeks to find some sense of security in his life, he is also being pursued by a detective looking into his boss? crimes. The timeline for the film is a bit problematic at times. About half way through it goes back to an earlier scene, but I?m not sure that helps us understand the convergence of storylines. The relationships he has with the two women are something that leads to mutual growth for them all.

schaefer

In 2013 Rev. Frank Schaefer was put on trial within the United Methodist Church because he performed a same sex marriage for his son and partner. An Act of Love is a documentary that uses the trial and Rev. Schaefer?s story to look at the struggle within the UMC (and by extension many other denominations) over LGBT issues. It does a very good job of tracing the issue back to the church?s 1972 General Conference that adopted language that both recognized that LGBT people are loved by God and should be welcomed in the church, and that homosexuality was ?inconsistent? with Christianity. Within the UMC there continues to be a great struggle between those who wish to fully accept LGBT people into the life and ministry of the church and those who seek to maintain a more traditional (and in their minds, biblical) position. The trial and the national coverage it received put this issue into the broader national discussion about sexuality. In the Q&A with director Scott Sheppard (whose father was a United Methodist pastor) and Rev. Schaefer, it was noted that the church?s quadrennial General Conference will be meeting very soon. Copies of the film have been sent to all delegates to the Conference that will be considering possible changes to the way the denomination relates to the issue. This is an excellent film for those who want to think about this issue in the life of the church.

April 30, 2016 by Darrel Manson Filed Under: Current Events, Film Tagged With: Festival, Frank Schaefer, LGBT, Newport Beach Film Festival, role reversal, United Methodist Church

Tuesday at Newport Beach Film Festival

April 28, 2016 by Darrel Manson

nbff marquee

It was a dark and moody day at the festival.

Steve-Mojean-Aria-2

The day opened with Call of the Void a noirish tale of love and madness. Steve is determined to win back the love of his life Veronica yet it seems clear she wants nothing to do with him. In fact, even his therapist tells him he needs to move on with his life. But really this is not so much about the story as it is about the mood. Set in the 1940s with black and white cinematography that emphasizes light and shadows, this creates an eerie environment that sets up the final twist.

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Demimonde is the story of three women?a well-known prostitute who has found a rich patron, her housekeeper, and a new maid?in Budapest in the early 20th Century. The new maid is entranced by the worldliness she encounters. The housekeeper tries to protect the new girl from corruption. The lady of the house seems to see some special promise in the girl. The dynamics of jealousy, virtue, desire, and control all intertwine as the story evolves.

fare

Fare takes place almost entirely inside a car. Eric drives for a ride-sharing service. We see a few of his fares, and then he gets called to one he can?t believe he?ll be driving?the man with whom his wife is having an affair. As they drive around and he reveals who he is, there is a great deal of animosity exchanged, threats made, and discussion of relationship and marriage. And then his wife gets in the car as well. I really like the discussion and shifting perspectives as they drove around. It kind of fell apart in the final act, however.

April 28, 2016 by Darrel Manson Filed Under: Current Events, Film Tagged With: Festival, Hungary, Newport Beach Film Festival, noir

Monday at Newport Beach Film Festival

April 26, 2016 by Darrel Manson

Red-Mountain-kiss

The Chinese film Red Mountain is a minor family saga, told by a son about his father and grandfather who served as mountain rangers in a remote section of China. When the (then) young father wants to leave to go to college and see the world, the grandfather forbids it, forcing the younger to stay and take over his role on the mountain. For years, he resents his missed opportunity and, when he has a son of his own, he resents being away from him. He seems trapped in an unhappy life. But in time he discovers that this mountain is a part of his life and wishes to pass that relationship on to his son as well. It is a bit melodramatic at times, but it exhibits a love for the natural world and our place within it.

Courtesy of Music Box Films
Courtesy of Music Box Films

The creator of All in the Family, Maude, The Jeffersons and several other amazing and successful TV shows is the subject of Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You. There was a time when he had six shows in production at one time. This film chronicles his career and speaks of his influence on the medium. It also touches a bit on his activism outside of TV. Now in his nineties, he is still active and much of the film consists of?his own memories of the events. Even with an hour and a half, his career had so many successes that it?s hard to spend much time on any of them. The clips that are shown are some of the best in the history of TV. This film is part of the PBS American Masters series and will be in theaters in July.

Courtesy of NGLFilm.com
Courtesy of NGLFilm.com

When Army Chaplain Justin Roberts experienced a post-deployment depression, he reunited with many from the unit he had served with in Afghanistan to talk about their experience there, and the difficulties involved in coming home. His conversations?with these comrades makes up the bulk of No Greater Love. That deployment was a difficult one for that unit. They lost several soldiers in very strenuous battles. As he interviews them in the film, they relive some very emotional moments. This is about more than just the PTSD that many must deal with; it seeks to get to the hearts of these soldiers and their commitment to one another. In the Q&A after the film, Roberts noted that in part this grew out of an attempt to cut the number of veteran suicides that began even before the deployment. The film is very powerful and moving film with intense battle scenes that Roberts filmed while with the unit.

April 26, 2016 by Darrel Manson Filed Under: Film Tagged With: Afghanistan, chaplain, China, Festival, Newport Beach Film Festival, Norman Lear, PTSD, TV, war documentary

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