Wisdom = Combination of Opposites

Recently I had the chance to interview an art director about his craft. I asked him to describe how he thought all the effort that he put into the sets will translate to the audience when it's all said and done. "You hope it's just a feeling... you know?" I realized then that's the most any artist hopes for, to display or transfer a feeling, indescribable by logic. That's why Black Swan was enchanting, why Cave of Forgotten Dreams was so moving, and it's why I couldn't separate my eyes from the screen while watching She Monkeys, the first narrative of Sweden's Lisa Aschan.

The subject matter is a little jarring, maybe that's how this film is so good: while it's entrancing it's also slightly uneasy to digest. A pre-sexualized 8 year-old who is in love with her cousin; and the competition between two teenage girls, one manipulative, both strong-willed. It's possible Aschan creates the feeling of unease by how bluntly she illustrates characteristics of good and bad, as journalist Ilya Tovbis pointed out to me in the festival press lounge when I asked him why he liked it. As opposed to black or white, as good and bad are often portrayed by amateur works of art (or Disney), she portrays them in a way so real that we the audience can't hide.

The visuals, stark and perfectly set with meticulous attention to detail while often bright and fun suggest youthful sexuality, tension, and perfection. By the time it ended suddenly, my feelings ranged from being slightly disturbed, a lighter feeling of damn, girls are mean, and like what I just watched was well-told.

She Monkeys is the first narrative of Sweden's Lisa Aschan, it won the Dragon Award for Best Nordic Film at the Goteberg International Film Festival, and is up for the New Directors Film Prize Competition at SFIFF. Winners will be announced May 4th.

Werner Herzog in 3D: Cave of Forgotten Dreams

I have been delaying it long enough, it's time to write about experiencing Werner Herzog's Cave of Forgotten Dreams Monday night. Not that I have much to say besides SEE IT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. Let the film envelop you and enjoy the ride.

I won't be a fool and spoil for you or try describe the near out of body experience in too many words. Here are just a few thoughts:

As she introduced the film festival programmer Rachel Rosen said, "This film reminds us how extraordinarily wonderful and mysterious of a world it is." The crowd clapped when "Werner Herzog" came up on the screen. These viewers, who got their tickets far in advance and waited in a long line are no strangers to the wonder of Herzog.

A note on 3D: I realized after watching and being so moved by the sensual nature of the 3D camera that I have never seen a 3D live action film before. I don't consider Avatar live action because it is told through so many special effects, same with Tron, and besides that all I have seen in 3D is Alice in Wonderland (underwhelming, not filmed in 3D but rather a 2D-3D conversion), Toy Story 3 (Yay of course), and Coraline (Yay of course) but Herzog's was the first live action without major special effects. Also it is the very first documentary filmed in 3D, and Herzog [who I consider of the next level of human development] must be the first to have used the 3D camera as such a natural part of his filmmaking. The well written SFIFF54 program comments on the subject best. "Who better to adopt the form than Werner Herzog, our veteran guide to landscapes and mindscapes dislocative yet immersive? Eternally attracted to the spectacular, mystic and strange, he’s forever plunging head-first into exotica his bemused point-of-view renders gently inviting. There’s scarcely a Herzog feature...whose outré content, personalities and imagery wouldn’t make perfect sense in the stereoscopic form."

Since the caves that Werner and the 3D camera show us in this story were discovered in 1994 after being covered by limestone in a massive landslide, we witness the 32,000 year-old paintings inside as "a frozen flesh of a moment in time...they created the perfect time capsule." Adding to the mystery, the Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc caverns are now locked by a steel door. No visitors allowed besides the occasional researcher granted access by the French Ministry of Culture.

A whole supporting cast and crew of interesting academics and scientists play supporting roles here, including a "Master Perfumer" and an "Experimental Archeologist." Many of them best explain the experience of being in the caves on more spiritual/emotional terms than logical, and that's really what this film is about. One man speaks to the experience of being in the caves as emotional shock. After coming out he needed days and weeks to relax and absorb the experience. "I am a scientist but I am human too," he says when describing coming out with a "powerful feeling of understanding things." Another expert ties the experience of the cave paintings to his opinion that human described as homosapien is wrong and that the descriptive word should be homospiritual instead.

And if we are just speaking logically, what is it about being in the caves, among the paintings? Well, has anything so old, in such fine, fresh form has ever been experienced. No. Part of the powerful feeling must also come from the fact that very few people have witnessed them. And the drawings represent the "invention of the figuration of things," from a previously oral culture.


Alas I fear I've said too much.
Heavier applause this time at the end: "Written, narrated, and directed by Werner Herzog." Im not sure I have ever felt such depth of feeling at the sight of a byline before.

Children of the Princess of Cleves at SFIFF54

Monday at the San Francisco International I saw the North American premiere of documentary Children of the Princess of Cleves, by French neuroscientist turned filmmaker Regis Sauder.


Cleves portrays students of a high school literature class in Marseilles who are reading and studying the 17th century French novel La Princesse de Cleves. The first thing I like about this documentary is how relatable it is: most of us can remember back to highschool required reading. We follow along as the students read and study the book while dually we are woven into their personal lives: they experience large and meaningful feelings of love and heartache, angst, and excitment that reflect the themes they are reading in the book. And Sauder does an excellent job weaving, I found it a very powerful documentary in large part because of the filmmaking. The high school characters in the documentary sometimes act out scenes from the book, sometimes voice the scenes to the camera, then dialog of them talking about their own lives and feelings is voiced-over footage of them in their daily lives, that is often very close up shots on their young acne-d faces (which I especially noticed since I got there late and had to sit in the 3rd row...) The tight, personal shots, and the drama of the fiction they're reading make for a nuanced and interesting twist on documentary.

*This is also posted over at my fest21 film blog

The State of Cinema is...Not Necessarily Taking Place in a Cinema

Sunday night, closing out day 4 of the San Francisco International Film Festival, Christine Vachon of Killer Films delivered the State of Cinema Address. Christine has personally produced over 60 films, including I'm Not There, Boys Don't Cry, One Hour Photo, and the 2010 HBO mini series Mildred Pierce. The annual Address is billed as assessment of cinema + culture + society. Here's a little summary.

The style of the talk was the type where Vachon would ask a question, sort of state that she didn't know the answer, and then go on to offer lots of personal insight into the current state of things that suggested certain answers. I'll admit that as I sat in the audience I felt like I wanted her to tell us things with more certainty. "I came here for answers!" I couldn't help but feeling. ...But silly me, of course the smartest way of all is to be sure of the uncertainties.

- Vachon has produced over 60 films. Which, as she said, means "I have seen independent cinema die and be reborn at least 3 times." Over those years she has witnessed "How terrified the film industry is of change." She remembered back to hearing film editors say they would never work digitally. When she first started in the industry there were two types of film: very experimental cinema and Hollywood films, but not a lot in between. "Then I realized that there was this whole other kind of cinema... people were starting to make movies and not asking permission to make them. They were saying 'I don't see my life reflected, I don't see my world up there so I am going to take matters into my own hands.'" Vachon says this is happening again. And with the availability of cheap equipment that creates a professional look + more and more online distribution portals, this will only increase. But "they're doing it and it's not necessarily happening in a theatre near you," she said. "In some ways the name of this address should be, 'The State of Cinema is not necessarily taking place in a cinema,'" she said.


*photo credit- Pamela Gentile, courtesy of San Francisco Film Society

-As we spend more and more time in front of our computers, the way we consume media is changing dramatically. For the first time Vachon just signed a contract that included a certain number of tweets and facebook updates per day. Does the way we consume media affect the stories we tell? Though she never answered just how it does, she brought up this point at least 3 times during her talk so I'd say yes it definitely does.

-Now we have multiple pathways of distribution, multiple mediums for reaching audiences, and things are changing for the better. "What's happening now is we have to be: budget agnostic, format agnostic, content agnostic, and platform agnostic ...and that's exciting," said Vachon.

- Vachon spoke to early in her career making films oriented and marketed towards gay and lesbian audiences. Now because there is such a massive amount of content for consumers to choose from, marketing towards niche audiences is more necessary than ever. "More than ever indie film is about a direct relationship with the audience... filmmakers can understand exactly WHO they are making films for...but how do you find them?" Filmmaking now is about 1: finding a way to get to your audience (Twitter, Facebook?) 2: Making sure the audience knows where / how to find you (Twitter, Facebook?) and 3: Giving the audience a sense of participation in what you're creating (because the past 100 years of films are now available for consumption consumers need to feel invested to choose yours). Crowdsourcing...

- What is the definition of an independent film? Is it a dollar number? Is it considered independent if Miramax funds it? People ask Vachon this a lot, and she says it's not about the way it was financed but about the vision involved. It's about a true singular vision. An independent film is a movie that couldn't have been made by anyone else, a film that when shown on any platform the singular vision is preserved.

- These days younger filmmakers don't have the same boundaries about what is or isn't acceptable on their career path (ie. made for TV or HBO or online) and that's refreshing.

- As we spend more and more time in front of the computer our appetite for how long we will watch something is changing. Nobody wants movie theatres to die, and Vachon doesn't think the theatrical experience will anytime soon, but currently "We are at a real crossroads," Vachon says. There's so much out there. "If you want to live in 1974 you have more access to 1974 content now than you did in 1974."

- Portals. Vachon spoke a lot about "portals" which I will loosely define as venues for filmmakers to get their content out. Vachon thinks the future will be more and more filmmakers realizing they don't have to go through traditional portals, new portals will become available, filmmakers will be able to own more and more of our own rights, taking portals into our own hands. Because in this age we can DO IT OURSELVES. How refreshing and exciting.

- During Q&A someone asked Vachon what she's like to work with, how she spreads her vision. "The great thing about film production is it's like giving birth...You just have to forget about it or the species would never get propogated." Vachon spoke of getting to set the first day of a new production and remembering "Oh yeah, I HATE this." Haha! She told a story of seeing a psychic once who wondered if she was a general in battle. "Film is tough... Every film is a war story epic. A battle in its own way." Vachon said.

- I found it refreshing how Vachon spoke to corporate sponsorship. Is it about selling out? No, cynical hipsters, it's not. Of Killer Films Vachon said, Though we are never pandering, "Totally we are trying to take advantage of any corporate sponsorship we can."

- It continues to be an interesting time. We are consuming media in so many different ways. "Be open-minded and open-hearted," pleaded Vachon to the movie-goers in the audience.

- She spoke to how making female-driven films is tough, especially films about women in their 30s and 40s. "I have a hard time as a producer figuring out how those films fit theatrically." Later someone in the audience (who I later found out via twitter live feed was filmmaker Miranda July) challenged Vachon to speak to the tragedy of this, but Vachon wouldn't agree that it was even a tragedy at all. Instead Vachon looks at the positive, the opportunity. For example TV right now is practically ALL women-driven stories (Vachon speaks from experience having just produced HBO mini series Mildred Pierce). "That's amazing. Why not focus on what IS possible?" Hear, hear! "I think nostalgia is the most dangerous emotion in the world," said Vachon. Live in the moment! Focus on the opportunity!

- Are film festivals still a great goal for filmmakers? Yes. "Same as it ever was" as far as festivals. "This year Sundance was incredible. More movies sold than ever," she said.

- How will the future work so that filmmakers can make a living? "Ultimately I feel like if people want content, and people want filmmakers to produce content, there's going to have to be a meeting where content gets produced in a way that filmmakers can earn a living." What kind of a way? Vachon spoke again to how we are going to take portals more and more into our own hands. Filmmakers will be able to break off rights more specifically..."Figuring out portals that not only can give a good sense of independent film that people will go to, but also will really compensate filmmakers for putting their work up on them."

"I did hear an agent say that film is the new theatre. You do it for the love," Vachon said with a chuckle, before getting serious. "We're gonna crack it. We haven't cracked it yet but we're gonna crack it soon...We've stayed in business this long because we ONLY make the movies we really care about. We stick around because we only do what matters to us."

- On remaining true to her vision and whether she has been forced to comprimise on anything Vachon said, "All I do is comprimise...But ultimately if you're really focused on the vision the comprimise doesn't matter that much because you have a clear sense of what your 'wall of No' is. At what point is it not your movie anymore?"

The feeling I most took away from her talk ties back to the moment she took the mic at the beginning of the hour with a totally unassuming nature, as my friend and I noted. "The State of Cinema Address," she whispered dramatically, sarcastically. As if she has all the answers. No one does. No one can say exactly what is happening or what will: there is no one answer. But, an aspiring filmmaker myself, I left Vachon's talk feeling excited, invigorated, and not too concerned about the state of cinema. Like she says, "We're gonna crack it.

This is also posted over at my fest 21 film blog.

SFIFF 54: What I'm Looking Forward to

It's springtime and the San Francisco International Film Festival is here again to enlighten us with the latest best film and commentary. May I say YAY?

There is tons of good stuff in the program, so here's just a bit of what I'm looking forward to:

1st: As usual, The State of the Cinema Address. The seductive combination of academia + film and you have the best event of the year for film nerds. Every time I've been my hand is sore after from excitedly taking so many notes. Hmmm, maybe I'll bring my recorder this year... Check out my coverage of the 2008 State of the Cinema Address with Wired Magazine's Kevin Kelly. This year's address is by independent cinema forerunner and risk taker Christine Vachon, cofounder of Killer Films, who as the SFFS says, "has been at the forefront of the independent film movement, championing risky, emotionally demanding work from unknown filmmakers and never shying away from edgy material." She's behind Boys Don't Cry, and a bunch of other cool stuff including that she produced the TV version of This American Life (personal journalism film nerd win).

2nd: Since such a big part of animation is "you never know what the F you are in for" film festivals are the best place to catch the latest. I've had more than a few experiences where I have seen some awesome animation then it disappears into the abyss of it's not on netflix or youtube how do I watch it world. Needless to say I plan on catching at least one or two animations and some of the childrens' categories. A cat in Paris looks interesting - Paris, french language, "watercolor" style. drool.


3rd: There are some seriously excellent looking documentaries in this year's program. Years past at the SFIFF I have seen great documentaries such as Age of Stupid, Crude, and A Journey with Peter Sellars... This year there are 30 documentaries in the program. American Teacher looks like a must-see: we need passionate teachers yet we underpay them. What to do? An inside look into the strife of the modern American teacher through 4 different perspectives. Education is such an important issue right now that every American should feel passionate about embracing, the more we all can learn the better. Cave of Forgetten Dreams- Herzog's latest, filmed in 3D, a look at cave paintings from 30,000 years ago. I heard him discuss it on npr yesterday, and he said once he went into the caves he decided not to go back in for 5 days because "he needed to absorb it." There's also an Yves Saint Laurent doc I'd love to see, Women Art Revolution about women artists in the 60s and 70s, Page One: Inside the New York Times (journalism nerd super win!). Let the Wind Carry Me, an inside look into a cinematographer's world that "details the itinerant lifestyle of a deeply observant and philosophical artist and the tolls that his profession takes on his family life." Enough said.

4th: New Skin for the Old Ceremony: 11 short films set to each track in this 1974 album by Leonard Cohen. "The films will be projected uninterrupted with the album as a soundtrack." HELL YES. I experienced this sort of thing at last year's SF animation fest with the Decemberists' Hazards of Love Visualized and it was awesome. A 21st century cinematic experience. Plus it includes the screening of a 1967 documentary of the young Cohen: Ladies and Gentlemen . . . Mr. Leonard Cohen.

5th: An Evening with Oliver Stone: Oliver Stone will be on stage for a Q&A. As I mentioned above, I love hearing interesting people speak their minds, and I worked at fora.tv for a year so by now I know enough about lectures to know when it's going to be GOOD. Oliver Stone? Enough said.

6th: Any of the unexpected awesome films I run into and am transfixed by. Stay tuned...

Hopefully I can make it to all of this. Being currently based out of Reno makes things a bit tricky but yes I will drive hundreds of miles for this stuff.

This is also posted on my film blog over at Fest21.

Moments of Inspiration!

When I was in San Francisco at the start of this month I got to meet with USF professor David Silver. How nice! I wanted to plant the seed of our What's Good in America Today project in his head and see what he thought about it. We had a lovely lunch next to some sociologists in the faculty dining room, a secret spot I somehow didn't really notice during my three whole years there.

It was one of those certain conversations where there are too many things to talk about because everything is interesting. After having a similar kind of conversation with an uncle this past weekend, now it makes me appreciate how awesome and important those moments, and people are. You can go from unsure to totally fueled, positive and inspired in a mere moment!

Then the bus rolled up right as we were leaving, and both heading the same direction we ran and hopped on just in time. Silver had just a $5 bill but called out to fellow bus-riders for change. Someone in the back did, and a man next to me cheerfully said, "A community effort!"


And for a photo with this post, this sorry one which somehow is the only I took during my weekend in San Fran. Turns out it's kind of perfectly fitting though, since it shows muni and USF.

Sean Uyehara, San Francisco Film Society Programmer

I interviewed Sean Uyehara at the animation film festival. The perspective he offered was shockingly academic, and very interesting. Sean has been with the San Francisco Film Society for 5 years.

Lis: How did your interest in animation begin?
Sean: I’m interested in movies…and one thing about animation that I think is especially interesting is the way that it implies the relationship of the production world of film to an audience. One thing I’m interested in about movies in general is not only how they create meaning, but how they create authority. There are certain ideas we think about what goes into the making of a movie that communicates its meaning. So when we see a Hollywood blockbuster we have an imaginary history of the production, right? Like we think about studios and important directors and big, industrial processes... With animation there’s usually this idea of the hand of an artist and the trace of what was there, and this sort of subjectivity is being produced. And it occurs on all kinds of different levels. So that’s mainly what I’m interested in. When I look at different forms of movies I’m interested in how they bring this kind of cognitive framework and this interpretive competency that goes along with it that we develop in a shared way.

Lis: Why do you think that is so interesting to you?
Sean: (haha) Because when you think about that then you start to realize that the different forms of communication that we have come with different vehicles of meaning and authority and voracity and authenticity and all these things that relate to how we understand the world and each other. So what it means for me to be sitting here and speaking to you directly has a completely different context and authority than what it means for me to make a video and send it to you. So, there are certain ways that people have access to different kinds of meaning and stuff. What I’m interested in investigating on a basic level is how we develop our shared competencies for understanding each other…And there’s a lot of ideas that go into that: ideas about narrative form and structure, aesthetics, grammars and techniques, so there are a lot of different things that sort of come along with different modes of communication... Like it would be odd for me to tell you a story right now, unless I were telling u a story rhetorically, whereas it’s not odd for a lot of these films to be narrative. And so we have certain expectations when we enter into this kind of relationship. I think about viewing movies as that- as the production and development of a relationship.

Lis: What goes into the process of you deciding what to show?
Sean: The point of the animation festival to me, (and the point to me doesn’t mean it
S the point for everyone, people have different ways of accessing the festival) For me what I’m trying to do is I’m trying to present an array of all of the different ways that animation is produced and articulated. So hopefully what emerges, if you come and you look at a lot of different works, is you see the different fronts where animation styles and techniques are being produced and being disseminated and then you sort of get a sense for where we are currently in terms of mode of communication.

Lis: It seemed to me while watching some of these movies that animation has the power to capture emotion and feeling. Do you have any thoughts on that?
Sean: Well I think that it’s not unique in being able to capture emotion or feeling…but one thing that is often residual in animation is the idea that what’s being communicated to you is the idea of an artist- a specific artist: because what one tends to see in animation is sort of the direct subjective intervention of somebody. That’s not really the case always- it often can be but it’s just one of those things where I think that the way that emotion is communicated through animation appears to be very direct and subjective to a person. So its apt- not because of the form per say, there might be certain things about the form that allow it to do that... but what it is is what we think were seeing and what we expect to be understanding and comprehending is imbued or tinged with this idea of the process of drawing or the process of doing this frame by frame manipulation which is an artisan, artisanal process- there’s a craft that you feel like is on display.

Lis: And it’s not the same with live action?
Sean: I don’t think so. We understand live action to be more of an objective process in general- not that it’s correct, that socially in general we agree that a camera records things independently of the desire of the maker. You can set up a camera in a place but the camera is going to capture something independently of the hand of the artist. That’s different than the idea of drawing something, or working on something in a frame-by-frame mode. When you understand it to be produced differently you think it comes with different meanings.

Lis: Any thoughts on the current state of animation?
Sean: One thing that animation has gone through is this sort of intense relationship to computers. One thing that’s been happening for a few years now is that that relationship is falling back. It’s not becoming as important. So one of the things that’s happening with animation is that there was this idea that computers and software were becoming almost like what cameras are to live action - that there’s this objective idea of the computer producing something independently of the artist. But I think that that’s being sort of captured and taken back and people are doing more 2D animation or they’re using computers in ways that allow them to express themselves more directly.

Professor David Silver

I was lucky enough to be in David Silver's Davies Forum on Digital Literacy class my last semester at USF. That class is the reason I even have this blog! What I most noticed and appreciated about Professor Silver's teaching style then was how much he asks questions instead of gives answers. Somehow as a student a professor's questions and curiosity empower you to think and learn more... And he's so curious that it in turn makes YOU curious about what he's teaching, no matter how you felt about the subject otherwise. You see his curiosity and you think, "Wow this must be really interesting."

So I was thrilled to interview Silver about his approach and philosophies on teaching, and living in the bay area. If you know David Silver you know that two of his main focuses are: gardening, sustainability, and green; then analyzing, creating and studying media. I had fun editing the video and putting the pieces together because though these are separate concepts, they also fit together very nicely and Professor Silver has made a point of meshing them into one: green media.

Oh, and I could not have told his story well at all without the use of fantastic photos from his prolific, well-organized, creative commons-ed flickr account.

Meet David Silver.

Jónsi

Jónsi, his band, the 59 productions team, and the rest of his artistic crew, are very talented. If you have listened to his album, watched the making of videos on his site, or watched the music video for Go Do, you know what I'm talking about. Before I got to see him live at the Palace of Fine Arts on Friday I knew it was going to be awesome. But it was INCREDIBLE. Here's a tiny taste.



Back home, after playing the album for my mom, she said, "It seems that through his music he's giving people a sense that we CAN create a brighter future."

That night, together as performers and audience, we experienced the creation, or maybe the acknowledgment, of inspiration and hope. Somehow Jónsi's music reflects this sense of possibility. I suspect all of his performances are like this. For his current tour, there's a place on his site for guests to share their experience of his shows. It's no coincidence phrases like, "transcendentally beautiful," "truly magical," and "the soundtrack of my life," are what make up those comments. Some commenters admit to crying. I know I saw my own life before my eyes during the show, the word catharsis comes to mind. I left so personally inspired.

At the end of the second encore, after two standing ovations, the Jónsi crew came up and bowed together. The performance was so perfectly orchestrated, this was the most raw moment of the whole night. As they stood at the end of the stage closest to the audience, Jónsi and his team seemed genuinely surprised and appreciative of the roaring applause from the packed house. How special it is when, after an artist gives and gives so much, you can give back, say thanks and express your appreciation in such a simple but meaningful way.

The San Francisco Mime Troupe

Since I call myself "interested in theatre" and I have lived in San Francisco for four years, it's probably some sort of sin that I had never heard of the San Francisco Mime Troupe before a few weeks ago. When I saw the Mill Valley Film Festival was having an event: Troupers: 50 Years of the San Francisco Mime Troupe I was intrigued, but also sincerely thought I was in for a night of miming- in my mind silent acting.

The illustrious Peter Coyote introduced the event by reading a section from his book, Sleeping Where I Fall, about his own introduction to the Troupe.

"Miming- not like Marcel Marceau- a mime uses words, movement and props to extend ideas," he explained. The Troupe performed Commedia Dell'Arte style theatre- ‘pass the hat' old Italian street theatre. You had to be entertaining, to be good, or you wouldn't make money. And most of the Troupers survived off of what was put in the hat. No room for boring theatre.

"It was the tail end of the beat era," said Coyote. "The Mime Troupe was just a successor in a long line of cultural expression."

Following Coyote's introduction we saw the very well done 1985 documentary Troupers- directed by Glenn Sibler and Claudia Vianello, and that's when I got the full story of the Mime Troupe.

Rock music promoter Bill Graham was the Business Manager of the Troupe for a long time. The Mime Troupe prevailed in the 60s. "Theatre is for people to see their own fears and preoccupations acted out on stage," said one actor. The San Francisco Mime Troupe served as the theatre for San Franciscans during a tumultuous, emotional time- the Cultural Revolution of 1962-1972. They would often set up in Golden Gate Park and hundreds of people would come watch. The Troupe still does performances like this in San Francisco, (http://sfmt.org) but I imagine in the 60s they were more prominent- that a more unified San Francisco supported them. The Mime Troupe became a collective by default.

"The Troupers seemed to speak for humanity instead of against it," said one Mime Troup fan in the documentary.

Troupers intimately follows the actors and we get an idea of why they are involved in the Troupe. One actor talks about how he used to be very religious and we get the impression that the Troupe now fulfills what Church did for him -"I switched from a faith in God to a faith in people," he says.

Another says the Mime Troupe was, "An integration of fun, sex, what you believed, and a vehicle to talk about it."

After Troupers, the filmmakers, and SF Mime Troupe alums Joan Holden and Wilma Bonet joined by Peter Coyote, sat on stage for a discussion. They all agreed that the Mime Troupe was something special in their lives, and that it was a special group of people who were part of it. Now later in their lives, "No one ever changed or backed down on their principles. We all have that fundamental, progressive, humanistic quality," said one.

The moderator asked the group something they most took away from the Troupe. "It gave you great confidence. You could go into a room with nothing and be magnificent. You may fall on your ass but you'll fall confidently," said Coyote.

"The fantastic feeling was that we could do anything, make anything work. There was a feeling of great power and mastery," said Holden.

If you haven't seen it Troupers I highly recommend it. Anyone interested in theatre or San Francisco should know the history of the San Francisco Mime Troupe.

*photo credit Margot Duane

Out of Business

Our corner store is out of business! After a sign yesterday morning that said, 'Closed Today' this one came up last night.

I mean, the place was kind of deficient. We complain about it all the time. Everything was overpriced, they barely ever restocked, often unexpectedly expired items were for sale (I once bought a muffin, had some bites, THEN realized it was moldy), and they didn't sell much a sober adult would want to eat often: Chips, candy, soda, ice cream, overpriced alcohol, other packaged goods that have at least 40 ingredients...

But it's still weird. Makes me feel like preparing for the worst. I guess it's the most prominent reminder I've had of the economic crisis in awhile.

'Age of Stupid' Finally, BOLDLY, Shows Fate of Earth (at SFIFF)

Last night 'Age of Stupid' had its North American premiere at the San Francisco International Film Festival, and after watching I feel more called to action than I have in my 23 years on earth.

"I hope you enjoy the film- well not enjoy exactly- it's not a feel good movie but a feel inspired movie," director Franny Armstrong said before the show.

This is not your average documentary. Age of Stupid starts in the future- the year 2055 at a [computer generated] "digital archive" in Copenhagen. Our narrator is Pete Postlethwaite. Pete talks to the camera, directly to the audience, and takes us on a tour of our path to destruction of the earth, showing us news video clips of events that have led us to where we are now, and to where Pete is, alone in 2055.



The decision to make the film in the future, with all other footage and information completely real and and factual, only came after the first draft of the film was done, Armstrong said during q&a. In preview screenings the audience was confused and the film needed something to tie it all together. That's when the crew got the idea to set it in the future. The rest of the story is told (so effectively) by way of six peoples' intertwining stories- an idea stolen from the movie Traffic, directed by Steven Soderbergh. The six differet stories show us the reality- that "there is no right or wrong, or good or bad, we're all just people," said Armstrong. An Indian airplane entrepreneur who also wants to solve global poverty, an English man who develops wind turbine fields, and a Nigerian girl suffering the effects of a nearby Shell oil camp, are a few of the characters who help tell this story.

Some particular facts set us straight. If the whole world consumed as much as Americans, Canadians, and Australians, we would need 5 earths right now.

Destruction of railroads, death of electric cars, building cities where a car is a must...We don't have the right laws running our country because oil-business men have had an unhealthy impact on those who run our country. Now they run our country.

Energy is so ridiculously cheap that this has been an economical way to do things.

"It's like we had an unspoken collective pact to ignore climate change."

"Plenty of politicians are talking about it, but when it comes down to is, it's just not happening folks. It's just not happening," says one of the six.

"Why wouldn't we save ourselves if we had the chance?" asks Pete.

Quirky, humorous animation often mixes in to simply illustrate complex issues, like the idea that China is polluting so much right now, when Americans are the ones consuming what China manufactures, buying it in plastic, only to throw it away, where it sits in landfills...

The passion of the crew in portraying this important issue correctly, and
effectively, show through in the high quality of the film. Not
only is it inspiring but entertaining.

The San Francisco Film Society is right in saying, "Armstrong delivers a cautionary, pre-apocalyptic documentary that succeeds in piercing our complacency to a degree matched only, perhaps, by An Inconvenient Truth."

The Age of Stupid is the movie that goes with the Not Stupid campaign. The goal of the campaign is to get 250 million people to watch The Age of Stupid, which will be strategically released from now until September worldwide, and "to turn 250 million viewers into physical or virtual
activists, all focused on the Copenhagen Climate Summit in December
2009, where the successor to the Kyoto Treaty will be finalized and the
future of our species decided. Clearly the overall aim is to prevent
runaway climate change and the deaths of hundreds of millions, if not
billions, of people."

Go to notstupid.org, where you can send letters to politicians, and pledge how you will help this cause for the earth.

this article is also posted on filmfestivals.com

Rockwell the Inspiration for Duncan Jones' 'Moon'

WHOA! This movie is a mind-blow.

Let me start by saying that I am quite unfamiliar with the genre of science fiction. When I read about this movie I didn't think, 'Oh what a cool sci-fi this movie will be.' SO it was a surprise to me when during the Q&A at the West Coast premiere of the movie at the SFIFF Sunday night so many questions and answers had to do with the sci-fi genre (themes borrowed from other movies, etc).

When I first started watching I immediately thought of Herzog's 'Grizzly Man' because of the perspective issue. We see astronaut Sam Bell ( Sam Rockwell) talking to a camera (The U.S.) back home. SO I thought of the idea of only being with yourself and the camera, the relationship formed there, and the perspective of the camera. Timothy Treadwell was alone in the wilderness with his camera, Sam is alone on the moon with a camera...
Well not completely alone. Kevin Spacey plays a robot friend.

Sam Rockwell gives quite a performance. It turns out the movie was inspired by him. Jones wanted to work with Rockwell, and Rockwell had ideas about wanting to play a working class hero type...

The moon setting is especially notable! I found myself wondering about why and how they decided to make it look the way it did and how the set worked. I learned during the Q&A it was built as a miniature model, and that's probably why it looked so beautiful. Often we see Sam driving the rover over the surface of the moon and it appears in slow motion, moon dust filling the dark air, which is only lit by the out-of-place man made machinery in outer space...


Whoa! Googling Duncan Jones just now I found out from Wikipedia that he is the son of David Bowie. Full circle. Last week at the SFIFF I watched Crude, in which David Bowie's wife and supermodel Iman Abdulmajid plays a key role in creating press buzz around a huge Chevron oil spill in Ecuador.

I'm not going give away anything about this movie, but I will say that it's soul-wrenchingly sad. About 3/4 way through I wanted to give up. At one point Sam says, "I just want to go home." And then earth comes into view.
But instead of giving up I became intrigued by the plot, and started questioning my own sadness- curious about why I felt so sad by this subject.
Sadness turned to curiosity.

Jones made the movie on a 5 million budget. and with only 30 days to shoot. 450 special effects shots. Damn!!!

Go see it. Be boggled.
Opens wide release June 12.

Coppola, American Zoetrope Founders Thrill San Francisco Crowd

Forty years ago Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas, Carroll Ballard, and Walter Murch moved to San Francisco from Los Angeles, and founded the film company American Zoetrope. Three years later Coppola made ‘The Godfather.’



Accompanied by their wives, last night the men sat around on stage at the world-renowned Castro Theatre, telling the story of how it all began.
Zoetrope was $30,000 in dept before Coppola did ‘The Godfather.’ Worried about the debt and knowing that Coppola was “the only one of us who knew how to get a job” Lucas pressured Coppola to take the offer he had to direct ‘The Godfather’. Coppola said, “George was telling me to do the Godfather. ‘Do it however they want you to,’ he said,” to a chuckle from the sold-out audience.
“So thanks, George, for telling me to do the film,” Coppola said.

It turns out the studio had huge objections with how Coppola wanted to make it (Little did they know). They were opposed to Al Pacino and especially to Marlon Brando. In order for Brando to be cast the studio required that he do a screen test, that he do the part for free, and that there would be a million dollar bond for him in case he damaged anything. When shown the screen test of Brando, who Coppola described as “a brilliant man,” the studio was astounded.

Coppola, who made the1988 feature ‘Tucker’ about a maverick car designer and his ill-fated challenge to the auto industry, had a few words to say about the fall of the auto industry. “It’s heart breaking. America has spent decades making beautiful cars.” And on a broader note about the fate of the economic crisis, “Hard times will bring us closer together personally.”

Moderator David D’Arcy asked the group if there was any hesitancy to the idea of moving from the booming movie industry in Los Angeles to much smaller San Francisco. Overall the men said there was no hesitancy and that one of the reasons to leave Los Angeles was to leave all the legal and industry. “Why should the person who edits the sound not mix the sound?...Being in San Francisco was more like being in school…We wanted to be film makers.”
Coppola’s wife Eleanor spoke up. “This [San Francisco] is really about people who want to make films…In Los Angeles there are so many parties that revolve around things that really are peripheral to film.”

Lucas said, “We were all desperate to make movies.”

The four couples seemed truly pleasured to be on stage reminiscing about their lives and projects together, and the San Francisco audience, who lined up around two corners for hours in advance to see the event, were just as thrilled. “Can we bring the house lights up to see the beautiful faces of the audience?” Coppola jollily requested at one point.

Often the group teased one another. Murch said, “Lucas used to say- ‘Why am I the only one with a vision around here?’”
And Coppola and Lucas joked about Lucas’ writing skills back in the day. Lucas said he was more of a visual guy, didn’t think you needed anything else besides the vision.
“Like a script,” Coppola joked.
Coppola didn’t believe Lucas couldn’t write, and made Lucas write a screenplay for a job.
“But then you read it and said no, you’re not a writer,” Lucas said to Coppola. They all laughed along with the audience.

Ballard piped up about how these days more often than not the director has nothing to do with the writing of the script, rather the director comes in without any prior knowledge of the script and then takes over. “We were under the notion that if you were going to make a film you’d write it,” he said.

Coppola talked about his latest project, ‘Tetro’ (premiering later this month in Cannes) which is in black and white. “With black and white it’s different because it’s the light that’s used to separate, since there’s no color. No one will buy black and white movies. It’s hard…. For awhile if you wanna do it [make movies] you have to have a day job.”
“It’s fiction but it’s filled with personal memories,” he said about the film.

Coppola said there are really only about four films he made that are the ones he really wanted to make, from his own personal ideas. He noted Rain People, Conversation, Rumble Fish, and Youth Without Youth. "Film should be personal. Each person here, we're all unique and that unique perspective is reflected in what we create... which makes it all the more beautiful."


“The curse is that people just don’t go and see them,” he said.
“If you don’t have that kind of violence, or thrills and spills, the audience just won’t come.”

This review is also published on filmfestivals.com

'Everything Strange and New' Showing at SFIFF

For the last time tonight! at 6:30 at kabuki cinema as part of the SFIFF. It was shot in Oakland.

Two minutes in I wanted to skip back to the beginning because I was stopped in my tracks by the style of film making. I wanted to watch it over so as to catch every detail.

This is a BLEAK movie. And man, the film making is incredible at illustrating bleakness.

Eerily slow zooms and dolly shots (which my cinema major roommate says is a trend right now) come one after the other and don't stop. Voice over has a huge role in this bleak illustration too. Often the camera holds on one vacant, nonliving space in the protagonist's daily life (like parts of the construction site where he works, or the empty street he lives) while we hear voice over of him talking about his life, or of he and his wife arguing. slow. silence. pain. monotony of daily life.

The shot that brings us down the most is a frequent long shot of protagonist Wayne, walking. Just walking. But he walks so slow, in no hurry, without any cares, not looking forward to anything next. Silence. Walking. After half a minute we are depressed too. Because we can feel it. We fear it for ourselves.

Director Frazer Bradshaw says on the film's website that his goal is to "create work that opens viewers to themselves."

While watching and after, I did spend some time assessing parts of my life (I guess to make sure it isn't going where Wayne's is). And though while watching most of the film I was quite depressed and down, today I feel extremely happy. Coincidence? Purging?

Bradshaw says further "I hope that viewers will reconstitute characters and events for themselves, bringing their own ideas and sensibilities to bear. In shaping my stories and characters, I leave important narrative and emotional spaces to be filled by the audience. My characters develop naturally, as if they absorbed what the audience imagines about them. I leave moments of silence so that viewers can employ their own motivations in driving the film's emotional content."

WHOA. I'd like to talk to Bradshaw more about this. I feel like that's exactly what this film did.

'Everything Strange and New' gets scarily depressing. (AT least that's how I feel?) Wayne and his wife detest each other. They're unhappy. There is no smiling and there aren't any birds chirping. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, Wayne and his wife embrace in a thick hug. Love and hate at the same time? I'll keep watching.

Frantic orchestral interludes accent.

I recommend this movie. The film making is incredible, so much that it's maybe a bad thing because it's all I could focus on. It shows that Bradshaw has experience as a director of photography for over 200 productions.

This post is also posted at fest21.com.

Sutro Baths Then and Now Portrait

Here's a portrait of the Sutro Baths I made for our first assignment in Sam Green's doc class last Spring at USF! Sam gave us a list of places to choose from in the city, and I chose to do a portrait of the baths (named after San Fran's 24th Mayor, Adolph Sutro) because I have always been intrigued by the eerie history of the Cliff House and it's surrounding areas.

For this assignment I was really interested in sound mixing, from sounds found online to the music included and the sounds recorded live at the Baths. Thanks for the Marcus Guenter Sky. Enjoy...

January 20, 2009 at San Francisco Civic Center

On inauguration day in San Francisco, I took my camera down to the civic center and interviewed people about the switch, the time in history, their emotions, what's next, and what it all means...

Synecdoche, New York

If you'd like your soul and heart and mind twisted and turned over and over until you are simultaneously so drained and sad yet relieved, see Synecdoche, New York. A cathartic experience. Playing only until Wednesday in SF, at the Roxie Theater, in the Mission.

Walkmen / Beach House Show in SF!

Last night, on President Obama's first full day in office, I saw The Walkmen and Beach House play the Fillmore. Man it was great! Of the two The Walkmen really rocked-- I say Beach House sounds just as amazing digitally as live, but I'm still definitely open to them.
And it's great being in a city where almost every time a band is on stage they say something like, "This is our favorite place to play," or "We love this city," and mean it.

Hell yes. Rock on. I'd see either of the bands again.

*The Walkmen above. I didn't take this picture but it's quite studly eh?

New Solo Show Opens with a bang!

There's good theater in town. Last weekend at The Intersection for the Arts theatre in the Mission, In My Corner, Joe Orrach's new solo show, opened to two sold out performances.

I just happen to be the Assistant Production Manager for the show, and I am loving it!

When I first met Joe and saw a rehearsal I was shocked at how multi-talented he is. First he dances a little, and you're thinking, this is great, then there's this intensely intriguing story (which is his true life story) and then he belts out this great tenor voice, and then he starts tap dancing! To top it off, your senses are completely tuned in because of the excellent accompaniment of this world class jazz trio: Matt Clark on piano, Micha Patri on drums, and Eugene Warren on double bass.

I was lucky to fall into such an opportunity. You can be part of it too: there are four more show dates this Thursday through Sunday!


Joe is a local who some may know from Teatro ZinZanni where he performed for 6 years. He grew up in New York and started his performance life tap dancing on the streets. This is where Gregory Hines saw him and this led him to where he is now.

In My Corner is an autobiographical story, largely the story of Joe's relationship with his father, and his personal voyage. It's a coming of age story, his transformation from growing up a New Yorican, leaving the ring behind, hanging up the boxing gloves, and putting on the tap shoes. The story winds through the riffs and beats of latin jazz and rock and roll. Sit back and relax, and your emotions will shift by the vibrations, sounds and silences of this 75 minute show.



Get your TICKETS now at www.joeorrach.com for one of the last performances:
Thursday at 8pm
Friday at 8pm
Saturday at 8pm
and Sunday at 1pm
$20 general admission