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Day 5 at AFI Docs

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Often when important events happen, those involved pay homage to the past by talking of standing on the shoulders of giants. (This actually goes back to before its attribution to Sir Isaac Newton, so there are obviously lots of giants.) Today’s films look back at a couple of those giants upon whose shoulders others have stood and may still stand. One is well known. The other will likely be someone you haven’t heard of.

Celebrities often take part in social causes. In Andre Gaines’s film The One and Only Dick Gregory, we get a look at a comedian, a civil rights and anti-war activist, and healthy lifestyle activist. His humor was often built around race. He could play a room full of white people and have them laughing while at the same time making biting commentary. He was a friend to Medgar Evers and Dr. King. He was arrested frequently. He was targeted by J. Edgar Hoover. It was not enough for him to be rich and famous. He wanted to change the world.

In the film his autobiographiy coauthor Robert Lipsyte says, “He had a mission to accomplish, and it wasn’t just making jokes.” Indeed, very little of the film deals with his comedy, which was impressive in its own right. That comedy opened the door for many more Black comedians (some of whom pay a bit of homage in the film). What we see over and over is a man who was committed to the causes that affected people—racial injustice, the war in Vietnam, and later nutrition.

I was aware of Dick Gregory as a comedian/activist, but was never really connected to his work. This film, gives a very full picture of a man who was indeed a giant in many ways. The One and Only Dick Gregory will be available on Showtime July 4.

“I want to see America be what she says she is in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. America, be what you proclaim yourself to be!”

When filmmakers Julie Cohen and Betsy West were making the Oscar-nominated RGB, they came across a citation that Ruth Bader Ginsberg had in her brief arguing for women’s rights before the Supreme Court. They thought it was worth finding out who this person was. My Name Is Pauli Murray is what they discovered. Fifteen years before Rosa Parks, Pauli Murray was arrested for not moving to the back of the bus. Decades before the Wilmington Lunch Counter Sit-In, Murray and other students desegregated restaurants in DC. Murray was one of the founders on the National Organization for Women. Essays Murray wrote were part of the arguments laid before the Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education. Murray made the case that the Fourteenth Amendment could be used to protect women’s rights (as Ginsberg argued). And yet, so few of us have heard of Pauli Murray.

Murray was something of a polymath. She was an author, lawyer, poet, and eventually a priest. (Murray was the first Black woman ordained in the Episcopal Church.) You may note my lack of pronouns here. Murray was gender non-conforming, and in today’s language would probably identify as transexual. Murray often practiced confrontation by typewriter, writing letters to people of power. When writing to FDR, Murray would copy Eleanor Roosevelt, which lead to a friendship.

Much of the film is made up tape recording of Murray reading from an autobiography as it was being written. It is important that we can hear that story in Murray’s own voice. It is also important to hear the stories of people who knew Murray and who have continued build on that legacy. Pauli Murray truly was one of those unknown giants upon whose shoulders people are still standing seeing a future that can be made better.

For today’s shorts, I want to make special note of When We Were Bullies. Filmmaker Jay Rosenblatt coincidentally meets an elementary school classmate decades later, they recall a bullying incident they were part of. Rosenblatt tries to contact all those involved to see if they remember it. It’s a difficult thing to realize that one has been a bully. (I made that realization some time ago.) In a way, that may be a typical part of growing up. But does that absolve us of what we have done so long ago. An excellent short.

Other shorts for today include Lydia Cornett’s Party Line, which show scenes from the very long line on the final day of early voting in Columbus, Ohio, last year. Ohio law only allows one early voting site per county, and 117,356 people voted early in that county. We see lots of masked people waiting in the snow to take part in democracy. In Halpate, directed by Adam Piron and Adam Khalil, we see Seminole allegator wrestlers in Florida with a bit of background as to why they have done this.

Photos courtesy of AFI.

Day 1 at AFI Docs

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Welcome to the real world.

Documentaries take us into the world to show us lives and issues that we might otherwise not know about. AFI Docs is a festival filled with documentaries to challenge us to see the world around us from a new perspective.

In the current American political environment, it seems like no one wants to talk to people they disagree with. The First Step, from Brandon Kramer, follows CNN political commentator Van Jones as he works for prison reforms. This is a story of strange political bedfellows. Jones, who was angered by the election of Donald Trump, found an ally in the issue in Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, whose father served time in federal prison. Together they worked for the passage of The First Step Act (which eventually was supported bipartisanly and signed by the President).

Much of the film is Jones trying to bring very opposite people together. For example, he creates a group made up of people from South L.A. and West Virginia around the common issue of how addiction has affected those communities. But there were many who were appalled that Jones would have anything to do with the Administration. Many in the Black community saw his work as a betrayal. They thought he gave validation to Trump and his people. The main point of the film is that such dialogue is essential to the working of a democracy. When we refuse to meet with those we may view as “the enemy”, it only adds to the polarization and the effective paralyzation of the political process.

The US Women’s National Soccer Team (USWNT) has been wildly successful. They have one four World Cups and four Olympic gold medals. The Men’s Team, not quite as successful—by any measure. But the Men get paid at a much higher rate than the women. Yeah, that’s not fair. But is it legal? LFG, from Andrea Nix Fine and Sean Fine, is the story of the USWNT’s legal battle against the US Soccer Federation over equal pay. While the film offers some wonderful soccer action as the women continue to win, the main focus is the legal process as it plays out over more than a year. (The case still is ongoing at the appeals level.)

When we think of professional athletes, we think that those who have made it to the highest level probably get paid in ways that reflect that. That certainly doesn’t apply to women athletes. The lawsuit reflects the basic pay disparity between men and women in the US. The film is filled with the personal emotions of the women who are fighting this battle. It also shows the arguments on both sides of the issue, although it certainly favors the USWNT’s perspective. (It should be noted that the US Soccer Federation opted not to be part of the film.) LFG is available to stream on HBO Max.

Fathom, by director Drew Xanthopoulos, focuses on two women scientists who are separately working on the calls and songs of Humpback whales. Dr. Michelle Fournet and her colleagues are trying to communicate with whales off Alaska, testing an hypothesis that a certain sound (a “whup”) is a greeting/introduction. Dr. Ellen Garland is trying to follow the pathway of how a song moves across the ocean to different groups.

Whales, especially humpbacks, are highly intelligent. The film notes that these animals had developed a culture before humans walked upright. Their sounds may not be what we would think of as language, but it seems to have a social and cultural aspect that connects the whales to each other.

Among today’s shorts were Audible, the story of the football team at the Maryland School of the Deaf, as they come with the end of a winning streak and the death of a friend; Bug Farm, about some people who work on a farm that raises crickets, mealworms, and roaches for sale to pet stores and zoos as feed; and Invisible Monsters and Tomato Soup, in which twenty people have shared some of their dreams from early in the COVID-19 pandemic. Audible will be available to stream on Netflix in July.

One of the industry forums that was held in conjunction with AFI Docs was “Breaking the Silence: How Documentaries Can Shape Conversation on Racial Violence”. It focused on a study by that name done by the Center for Media and Social Impact, which used the documentary about lynching, Always in Season, as a focal point for conversation in several locations in different parts of the country. The key point is that such a documentary can be a helpful beginning to conversations, if done properly. The report and resource guide can be found at https://cmsimpact.org/report/breaking-silence-documentaries-can-shape-conversation-racial-violence-america-create-new-communities/

Photos courtesy of AFI.

The Perfect Candidate – Speaking Out

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The world is changing. Of course, each day brings changes, some small, some momentous. But for women in Saudi Arabia, changes are happening rapidly. In Haifaa Al Mansour’s The Perfect Candidate we see a woman who almost by accident finds herself in a role that not only pushes society’s boundaries—and her own.

Maryam is a doctor in a small regional hospital. She is conservative, especially in her dress. She covers her face whenever she is in the presence of men. The hospital where she works is essentially inaccessible, except through deep mud. She has complained to the municipal councilor, but it is always put off until next year. When she tries to go to a medical conference, she discovers that her travel papers have expired. When she tries to get them renewed, the official she goes to is only seeing applicants for the municipal election. So she fills out the form and ends up a candidate.

She begins to see this as an opportunity to push to get the road fixed. That serves as her campaign issue. But little by little, her gender becomes more of an issues. When she meets with women, they are hesitant to vote for her—or even to vote. Men are more dismissive. In her role as a doctor, there is a man who refuses to let him treat her, even though there is no other doctor. In time, her incumbent opponent repairs the road, taking away her issue, but by then she has come to see the election more about women’s voices, and especially her voice.

Al Mansour began looking at the changing role of women with her film Wadjda, about a young Saudi girl who wants a bike. In the years since that film, women in Saudi Arabia have made some advances. For example, they can now drive. But just because things have advanced doesn’t mean it is easy. We watch as Maryam slowly transforms. In her first campaign video, she is completely covered. He first real shift is when she takes off her face covering before appearing on TV. Little by little, she begins to go against the more strict societal expectations. It is not so much a matter of protesting the norms as it is finding her own freedom.

There is also a side plot dealing with Maryam’s father, who is a musician. Until recently music performances were forbidden. Yet he has continued his craft through this time. Now he is able to perform openly. This is yet another bit of change that some struggle with in that society. But her parents’ artistry was as much a push against the norms as Maryam’s political campaign.

Western audiences should not view this merely as a look at a culture that we view as in need of modernization (or Westernization). This is a story about facing change. Cultures are often strong currents that move against any advancement. That is as true for us as well. All those changes that happen each day may be welcomed in our lives, or we may fight against them. But often even the changes we never really look for can bring the most important advancements in our lives.

The Perfect Candidate is available in theaters.

Photos courtesy of Match Box Films.

I Am Woman – Raising Her Voice

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♫ “I am strong. I am invincible. I am woman.” ♫

Those words were part of what became the anthem of the Second Wave Women’s Movement in the 1970s. Unjoo Moon makes it the cornerstone of her Helen Reddy biopic, I Am Woman. The film is in part a celebration of her music set within her story amidst the background of the Women’s Movement.

Helen Reddy (Tilda Cobham-Hervey) arrives with her daughter in New York in 1966 thinking she has won a record contract. It turns out the label has no plans for her. She sings in a lounge trying to make ends meet, but it is a struggle. She is befriended by fellow Aussie Lilian Roxon (Danielle Macdonald). At a party, she also meets Jeff Wald (Evan Peters) who is seeking a way into the management business. Jeff and Helen hit it off romantically. They move to Los Angeles where Jeff gets his foot in the door of the industry, but Helen is languishing in the role of housewife. She nags him into doing for her what he does for other clients, eventually getting her a chance to record some covers. That gets her started on her career.

Throughout the first half of the film, the demeaning nature of the male dominated entertainment industry (and culture as a whole) is obvious. She is pigeon-holed in a certain genre of music. Her husband is in many ways just as bad as everyone else in his view of the place of women, but he knows how to help Helen find success. It becomes obvious when she writes “I Am Woman” and wants to include it on her album. The men react to it, thinking it sounds “angry” and “man-hating”. But Jeff convinces them to bury it in the last half of the album because no one listens to that part anyway. But Jeff promotes that song in ways that make it a hit. Helen is one her way.

This is a by-the-numbers biopic. Intro. Struggle. Love interest. Success. Marital problems. Finding a new personal fulfillment. That motif is frequently used to tell stories that are designed to inspire. I Am Woman is a story of a woman who has to overcome both the struggle to find success, and the effects of attaining it.

Playing in the background is the society-wide struggle that women faced during that period. We see bits of the Women’s Movement and the battle for the Equal Rights Amendment. In some ways, Helen Reddy’s story reflects that period. She faces being talked down to because she is a woman. But she also becomes a symbol of a successful woman, with her own TV show, and worldwide fame. But there is also a downside to the life she has tried so hard at achieve. And in the end, like the ERA, perhaps all the success is just for show and there needs to be more done.

I Am Woman is playing in theaters and on VOD.

The Divine Order – Stepping into the Fray

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“I believe God’s plan is for all people. All different, but all the same”

1971 was a year of turmoil in many places. But most of that seemed far away from a village in Switzerland. Life just goes on there. But there is to be an election about giving women the right to vote. (Of course, only the men will be voting on this issue.) In The Divine Order an unassuming housewife must take on a leadership role in the women’s suffrage movement in her locale.

Nora, a young mother and wife, would like to return to work, but her husband vetoes the idea. Under the law, she cannot work without his permission. When he goes off on his military reserve duty, she begins to meet other women who have their own stories of little (or not so little) oppressions. With the suffrage vote coming up, they begin to see that as a way to establish their rights to make their own decisions. As the film shows some of the ways the women are subtly oppressed, we hear the wonderful Lesley Gore song, “You Don’t Own Me”. (Perhaps my favorite use of a song this year.)

When they plan an event, it falls to Nora to lead. But as the leader she also becomes the focus of the opposition. In time the women go on strike, leaving their husbands and families to get by as best they can. Soon there will be uproar and the men will make their own response.

Looking back it seems a bit bizarre that a place like Switzerland was one of the last democracies to allow women full political rights (and in some cantons, it didn’t happen until even later.) Of course, all though the long history of women’s suffrage, the argument against has always included that equality was against nature and “the divine order”. It was argued that God has set men above women. But such an argument is inevitably abusive, and certainly ignores the gifts that God bestows on each person, regardless of gender.

But the film is not just a matter of looking at this decades-old event. In the film Nora is called to step up and lead the women (and the men) in the town to see what would be the right thing to do. Although for her it started just as wanting to go back to work, she grew into a new role, both in the village and in her relationship with her husband. Often the biggest hurdle in getting something done is to understand that we must become active. As Nora notes at one point, “That’s exactly why they think they can treat us like this. Because we sit quietly and never say anything.” The Divine Order is not just a time to think about what has been done to bring greater equality and justice to the world, but a challenge to find our own way of stepping into the fray to continue to bring justice.

The Divine Order is Switzerland’s official submission for Oscar consideration in the Foreign Language Film category.

Photos courtesy of Zeitgeist Films and Kino Lorber

3.22 Celebrating WONDER WOMAN

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This week, Steve welcomes actor Amanda Jane Smith and pastor Judith McCartney to enter into the battle with Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman.  While the film has scored with both critics and fans, there seems to be something much more significant about this particular moment.  Is it true that Diana’s story provides a proper role model for young women?  Does the strength of her character really create something unique or is there a veiled sexism at the hands of the male gaze?  In a lively discussion, they dialogue about equality, feminine identity and the nature of evil.

Want to continue to conversation at home?  Click the link below to download ‘Fishing for More’ — some small group questions for you to bring to those in your area.

3.22 Wonder Woman

A special thanks to Amanda and Judith for joining us on the show!

Going Colossal: An Interview with Anne Hathaway and Jason Sudeikis

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Colossal co-stars Anne Hathaway, Jason Sudeikis and director Nacho Vigalondo

In her latest film, Colossal, Hathaway manages to channel all of her experience into her portrayal of Gloria, an alcoholic with a deep desire for belonging.  During the film’s world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September of last year, we had the opportunity to sit down with Hathaway and co-star Jason Sudeikis as they shared about the challenges to bring such complicated characters to life.  Having portrayed numerous emotionally-broken characters in her career (including her Oscar-winning role in Les Miserables), Hathaway says she is drawn to these characters because she can relate to them.

“I love them.  I have a lot of addicts in my life that I feel a great tender affection for. I think we’re living in a time of such exciting consciousness in terms of compassion levels.  Obviously, worldwide but within individuals, it’s been so inspiring and I love when stories present the opportunities to present groups that have been stigmatized, groups that have been judged, groups that have been looked at with very hard hearts, binary thinking, value-based judgment and I love going inside them and showing the human side of them because I always look at it and say ‘That’s me in there’ on some level… I want everyone to be treated with love”

“I know I began my career as a Disney princess but that wasn’t what my life was.  So, I know this character pretty well.”

In Colossal, Gloria (Hathaway) lives her life the only way she knows how… for herself.  Ruined by alcohol and partying, she finds herself out on the street after her boyfriend (Dan Stevens) tires of her behavior and asks her to move out of his apartment.  With nowhere else to go, she returns to her childhood home and reconnects with Oscar (Jason Sudekis), her childhood friend.  Meanwhile, seemingly unrelated events from across the globe involve a gigantic monster rampaging through Seoul, destroying everything in its path.  In the light of this global event, Gloria attempts to build a fresh start and soon discovers that she has a surprising connection with the beast itself.

Without question, Colossal is truly one of the most unique projects in recent years, spinning a story that has shades of warmth, fear, comedy, and even an homage to kaiju movies.  When asked what drew him to this film, Sudeikis argues that it was the script that compelled him to leave his young family to take on the role.

“It’s gotta be a story worth leaving the house for,” he states, matter of factly.  “[It needs to be] worth leaving this home that we’ve made for ourselves and this was one of those.  Six weeks in Vancouver?  I would’ve spent twelve weeks on Mars to because I think the story’s worth telling.”

Interestingly, instead of opting for the more traditional Japanese location of films such as Godzilla and Gamera, Colossal focuses its attention on Seoul, Korea.  Given that the film grapples with a battle for Gloria’s soul, Hathaway explains that she appreciated the connection between location and heart.

Says Hathaway, “It was just one of those happy things.  I loved saying those lines… ‘Seoul is behind that fence.  Giant monsters attacking Seoul… I loved the way that Nacho filmed the street scenes of people.  I got really moved seeing the depiction of joy in the streets.  So often the things that we’ve seen are of terror in the movies and in real life.  To see that was good for my heart.”

When asked whether or not she believes that the film industry contains a sense of toxic masculinity, Hathaway warns us to refrain from lumping all forms of masculine culture in the same box.

“I think it’s important to say that [toxic masculinity] is very different from male energy,” she reflects.  “Male energy is beautiful.  [It’s] welcome.  [It’s] necessary.  [It’s] half the reason that we’re here.  That said, there has been a perversion of this male energy into this macho ideal and I don’t think it serves anybody… I don’t think it serves love… In terms of this movie, what I think our director was saying was that he thinks this energy has no place in our world anymore.”

Taking on the villainous role of Oscar in Colossal is Jason Sudeikis, an actor known primarily for his comedic abilities.  While some might find it less than positive to be viewed as a villain, Sudeikis was excited to take on the challenge.

“I was flattered to be seen that way, which is a weird thing to say.  For me, I can view him now as a bad guy but there you have to feel this sort of empathy for this person.  He breaks my heart a little because he just doesn’t love himself.  He has so much self-hate that it’s spilling over.  So many grudges kept and holding on to so many things.”

Despite his obvious flaws, however, Sudeikis also believes that there’s more to Oscar than simply being labelled a ‘bad guy’.

“I’m not sure he is [a bad guy],” he argues.  “What makes that eight-year old boy do that thing?  What makes him feel so badly about himself?  What drove him to such self-loathing?  We don’t have the option of throwing each other away… We have to find a way to reach into people and not label them ‘good’ or ‘bad’ but just say ‘are you hurting?’ and ‘do you want to heal?’…  Let’s celebrate the grays.”

Of course, given that so much of Colossal focuses on the emotional journey of its female protagonist, it also seeks to set an example for other films to follow. Hence, Hathaway believes that the responsibility to show the strength and courage of women lies in providing alternatives to what could be, as opposed to the way things already are.

“What you want to do is create examples that people can site as to why the old model of thinking is old.  You want try to create examples that people can site so that they can take risks.  It can’t just be the filmmakers.  The media has to help out…”

“I think everybody is poised and primed for change.  And I think we just have to be kind right now because change isn’t perfect.  And there’s going to be disappointments and I think we just need to be patient.”

 

Colossal is in theatres now.

To hear our entire roundtable interview with Anne Hathaway and Jason Sudeikis, you can download it from iTunes or stream it here.

To read our review of Colossal from TIFF16, click here.

To read our exclusive interview with director Nacho Vigalondo, click here.

 

3.11 Discovering the HIDDEN FIGURES

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This week on the show, Chris Utley joins Steve to talk diversity in the Oscars and their response to last years #OscarsSoWhite controversy!  Plus, they also look at the Oscar-nominated film, HIDDEN FIGURES and the cultural impact of breaking barriers of  race and gender!

Want to continue to conversation at home?  Click the link below to download ‘Fishing for More’ — some small group questions for you to bring to those in your area.

3.11 Hidden Figures

Thanks to Chris Utley for being on the show this week!