My favorites of SXSW 2012 - Documentary Edition

Wow, it feels like SXSW Film was ages ago. At the same time it feels like I just got back. I've been writing reviews of films in a sort of random order so far. But I wanted to be sure I at least pointed out my favorites all in one spot. That's what this post is all about. I separated faves into two basic categories, documentary and narrative feature. I watched 31 films that screened at SXSW Film 2012 and while I didn't fall in love with all of them looking back it's a pretty good collection of stuff. Even the things I liked the least should make for interesting posts in some way. So without further delay here are what I found to be the standout documentaries of the fest. As always these are basically unordered in terms of "favoriteness" - though the first one on each list is probably my personal favorite. But beyond that they're all equally good. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Of course there are great sounding documentaries I didn't get a chance to screen (such as Brooklyn Castle) - this list is just based on what I saw during the festival. If was picking an additional runner up to my set below that honor would go to Girl Model which is a deeply unsettling story about the Siberian-Japan link for young models - that never really goes to as horrifying place as one fears, while still being extremely memorable in many ways.

I'll be following up with a separate post just focused on narrative features. And then likely a final one with some of notable film experiences (not all entirely positive) during the festival. Plus of course many more reviews still to be written.  

Favorite Documentaries

Her Master's Voice - in a word, exceptional. Fascinating subject material that few know much about, a hilarious subject and all combined with a touching personal story - makes for one damn fine documentary. A film by the ventriloquist Nina Conti about the ventriloquist Nina Conti it tells the story of her taking significant trip with her deceased mentor Ken Cambell's puppets. With his passing dummies might have been silenced except that Conti lends them all a voice as she travels. Specifically to the Venthaven International Ventriloquist convention where one of the dolls will stay behind in a museum that pays homage both to the craft and the departed voices of it. Conti takes the trip questioning whether she should extend further her ten year foray into a career based on talking to a stuffed monkey, or call it quits. Accompanied by the eerily individualistic puppets that make up her collective she works through issues of life, love and loss while consistently being laugh out loud funny. There's perhaps an entire body of psychological work that could be (or has been perhaps) produced over the relationship of ventriloquists with their puppets, and their borderline multiple personality disorder amazing ability to project not just their voice, but separated aspects of their psyche into the different dolls. But as fascinating as that is, the magnetic personality of Nina Conti will take over and have you engaged and laughing. Tightly edited into a roughly hour long film this was one of my biggest positive surprises of SXSW.

The Central Park Effect - A film about birds in Central Park, and the people who watch them. It's  transfixing in a deeply peaceful way. Standing out both for the incredible video footage of what must have been 100+ species of birds and the set of human stories/testimonials that accompany it. Especially those from a set of old school New Yorkers, who just happen to be birders. The film's title refers to the incredible concentration of migratory birds that stop off in Central Park. A distinctive path of green welcoming to birds as the move along the east coast from north to south. Even though the park itself is not truly natural (being an engineered creation) it makes for a fine habitat that these birds remember to return to each year. There's really not that much more to say other than to urge readers to look for it when it hits HBO in the future. Their documentary arm wisely snapped this guy up. For my fans in Brooklyn - stand tall. In the Q&A it was revealed that the film's dirty little secret is that Prospect Park may actually be better for bird watching.

Wonder Women! - Fascinating and important review of female heroines that remains positive as it points out obvious and unfortunate gaps in female role models in pop culture. Most of the focus is on the Wonder Woman character. But there's a lot more mixed in ranging from other heroines to the Riot Grrl movement. Not to mention a good section on the incredible media program from Seattle's own Reelgrrls. Oh, and just a bit about the fascinating originator of Wonder Woman and why she always seems to be tied up in early editions of the comics. Worth seeing by comic fans .... and everyone else. It's funny, it's insightful, it'll make you want to twirl around to see if you become a superhero. Not that I ever tried that as a kid...

Bad Brains: A Band in DC - Well ... I've written a lot about this film. So overall it probably just makes sense to read my main review. But in short it's an overview of one of the most important punk bands ever, told effectively. The entire history of the band is covered, from pre-inception through the present day. Rather than linearly drag us along this path the filmmakers wisely intercut bits of history throughout. We meet the band on a recent latest tour, where some clear tension has arisen (there's yelling about being a sellout from what I recall). Not really surprising, I'm not sure there's any group whose members have a perfectly smooth relationship after 25 plus years together. Nevertheless those early scenes may feel familiar to anyone who's watched a recent (or any) doc about aging rockers who've grown up together. They still want to play, they're perhaps not as intense as they once were, and there's always at least one member of the band who seems to be less than a healthy member of the ecosystem. Typically for whatever reason it's their front-man. All of that is on display from the opening scene. Thankfully, we're drawn back in time quickly to better understand the origins of the boys who became the legends. With great access to the spaces and people that were around at the start of their DC based career the basics are fleshed out (how they met, the inspiration for the band's name, where they played) while rewarding fans with lots of nuggets that are new (at least to me).

In short - See it. If you don't believe me here's a much longer take that basically says the same thing.