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Serbia

More from Slamdance 2023

January 23, 2023 by Darrel Manson 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.

Filed Under: Film Festivals Tagged With: art, documentary, homelessness, Serbia, Slamdance Film Festival

Genius Ep. 6 – Hitting Rock Bottom

June 1, 2017 by J. Alan Sharrer Leave a Comment

(National Geographic/Dusan Martincek)

One of the key points of conflict thus far on Genius, National Geographic Channel’s 10-part series on Albert Einstein (Tuesdays, 9 PM/ 8 CT), involves his marriage.  It’s obvious that Albert married Mileva mainly for her scientific mind and little more. As a result, the relationship has been spiraling downhill for a few episodes; in the meantime, Albert’s scientific career has been on an upward trajectory. When his cousin Elsa enters the picture as more than just a family relation, it’s only a matter of time before the powder keg of emotions explode.

Director James Hooks (the fourth different director of the series thus far) brings a heavily dialogue-driven perspective to the proceedings.  He begins the sixth episode by setting up Einstein’s plan to confirm that light waves bend as a result of gravity.  Albert (Johnny Flynn) has teamed up with an astronomer who will photograph the upcoming eclipse and gather data to further strengthen his theory of relativity. Problem one: the nearest location to see the full eclipse is Crimea, Russia. Now that he’s moved to Berlin and is a part of the Prussian Academy, Albert has to convince a bunch of skeptical scientists to provide funding for the trip—scientists who are ruffled by his brazen attempts to challenge their previous work. Albert gets some of the money, but Elsa (Gwendolyn Ellis) uses her clout to get the rest.

Problem two: After the trip has departed, German declares war on—you guessed it—Russia. With a load of photographic equipment in tow behind enemy lines, things aren’t going to go well for the members of the team on the train (see below).

(National Geographic/Dusan Martincek)

But there’s another issue—a Serbian scientist has been able to come up with proof that Einstein’s theory doesn’t work as it currently exists. If Einstein publishes the paper with the eclipse data, he’ll likely be discredited.

This is where Einstein’s marriage enters the discussion.  He moved the family to Berlin because he wants to be with Elsa instead—he even tells her, “With you, it’s sunshine.  At home, [it’s always] a cloud of anger.”  But she realizes how scandalous the situation can become unless Mileva (Samantha Colley) is out of the picture.  Mileva finds out, and Albert has to make a decision—one that will have consequences for the rest of his life.

He chooses Elsa, telling Mileva he wants a divorce.  But Mileva refuses to grant it to him.

At this point, Albert becomes even more of a jerk than one can possibly imagine, giving Mileva a written list of demands in order to keep the marriage intact.  They amount to a completely platonic, non-physical relationship—cook, clean, take care of the two kids, and leave him completely alone with his studies.  Surprisingly, she agrees to this.  When she learns of the Serbian’s negation of Einstein’s proof, she tries to tell him, but he cites the written list he wrote her and dismisses her out of hand.

Eventually, the strain is too much, and after she has a one-night stand with the Serbian scientist, Mileva agrees to separate (not divorce—this may play a role in future episodes).  Albert is elated—now he can return to Elsa.  But when he returns home, he finds it empty.  Mileva takes the children to Zurich, leaving Albert—for the first time in the series—completely broken.

Nobody wants to ever hit rock bottom in life.  But there comes a period for most people where just that occurs. What once was is not any more.  Friends have abandoned in a time when they’re needed the most. There’s really nothing left to do but surrender to God and strive to make life changes that last.  It doesn’t mean there won’t be scars, but the end will be better than the alternative.  Jesus talked about this situation in a story about a young guy who took his inheritance, blew it all on the frivolities of life, then found himself in a place where he had to resort to eating pig slop to survive.  Only then did he come to his senses and point his life in the right direction (see Luke 15:11-31).

We’ll have to see if anything arises from the final scene of the episode—Albert Einstein crying, alone, at a train station. Is this really rock bottom, or will things get even worse?

Filed Under: Current Events, Reviews, Television Tagged With: Albert Einstein, Berlin, Crimea, Eclipse, Elsa, Genius, Gwendolyn Ellis, Jesus, Johnny Flynn, Kevin Hooks, marriage, Mileva, National Geographic, prodigal son, Relativity, Rock bottom, Samantha Colley, Serbia, Zurich

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