I've been talking quite a lot about SIFF these days, but with May 3rd approaching it's time to take a brief pause from that and recognize the arrival of "Seattle's True Independent Film Festival" aka STIFF. Look, I'm not going to get into the whole "true" vs. SIFF part - I'm not about the labels. All that matters is if the festival has something interesting to offer. Many may know STIFF as the festival that traditionally ran during SIFF making attending both challenging to say the least. But starting last year the folks over at STIFF have moved their festival ahead of their larger cousin making it easy to attend both. While STIFF may be smaller it's definitely worth checking out. In keeping with the festival's missions statement the production costs often are lower. But as past entries have shown cheaper to make doesn't necessarily mean less fun or lower quality.
"The Seattle True Independent Film Festival is dedicated to the exhibition of independent, underground, experimental and zero budget films. The festival endeavors to provide cultural exchange and educational opportunities by bringing a diverse selection of films to the area and provide a place for networking between local filmmakers, visiting filmmakers and the public."
Festivities kick off May 3rd and run through May 11th. Including shorts, features, parties, awards, and something I'm a bit afraid to attend called Indepenetration.
Unfortunately there's not a ton of films playing that I've seen at STIFF. The full list of films with descriptions and trailers are of course available on their website. Below I picked off just a few options from the STIFF schedule to give a sense what's available.
If you're looking for something to do April 25th and fancy a movie then you're in luck. As I write this free passes are available for a preview screening of the comedy The Kings of Summer which is currently rocking a 7.1 rating on IMDb.com (and a Metacritic score of 70). Not too shabby...
Oh, and of course it's free. Well, not totally free, you likely will have to stand on line to get in as these things are often overbooked a bit.
I've included the film's teaser trailer. "Teaser" apparently means it's designed to remind me of Sound of Noise rather than completely give away the story give a sense of the film. From what I can tell looks worth a shot. So hoping to catch the film myself - so don't hesitate to shoot me a note in the comments or on Twitter if you're planning to do the same.
Wanted to remind everyone that the National Film Festival for Talented Youth (NFFTY) is coming up fast. It's scheduled to be held April 25th-28th at SIFF Cinema and the world renowned Cinerama. I've sung the praises of NFFTY before - and it's worth reminding people that while the talent contributing to the festival isn't that old their skills are often way ahead of their calendar ages.
I was lucky enough to preview eleven of the short films that will screen during the festival. While I certainly liked some more then others the quality of all of them was pretty top notch. The four day festival has shorts packages broken down into themes with at least one bound to appeal to almost any cinema lover. From comedy to horror to action shorts NFFTY has the based covered. Passes are available for a day or the entire festival. And of course individual tickets are on sale as well. It's a good time and a great cause.
If you're wondering my favorites included Tina for President, Dewey: The Musical and 80's Fitness. The first two taking very different approaches to student elections, the third a crazy musical/animated/bloody battle between rival aerobics groups that would be at home at Fantastic Fest. Each of which would've wowed me at any festival I regularly attend.
The NFFTY motto of "Film Starts Here" is well deserved. Hope to see everyone there!
One of my most anticipated films of SXSW was Kiss of the Damned. Not really based on anything particularly significant about the film other that it had (a) vampires and (b) a trashy enough trailer to pique my interest in a big way. I mean, if we're all being honest, they don't put a half naked female vampire chained to a bed out there because it's going to drive audience members way do they?
I'm going to stray really close and perhaps a smidge over the spoiler line in what follows. But I don't think it's going to take away from the film much ... if Kiss of the Damned is going to speak to you it's not because of the minor plot point transgressions I make below.
12 O'Clock Boys was my most anticipated documentary of SXSW. With great expectations sometimes comes at least moderate disappointment. 12 O'Clock Boys has many merits but it failed to deliver fully on the promise it had captured my imagination with. That of getting to both witness and to an extent better understand a vibrant sub-culture in I'd never myself get to be a part of. It's got some unbelievably fantastic visuals and an amazing premise. For the former alone I think it's worth a watch, but be aware it may leave your curiosity somewhat unsatisfied.
The picture follows a few years in the life of Pug, a pre-teen whose goal in life is to join the 12 O'Clock boys. The crew in question is a Baltimore based collective of dirt bike (and ATV) riders who enjoy the occasional Sunday jaunt through the city's streets. Pug practices his moves on a small ATV as his mother (Coco) worries that he's got his motivations mixed up. All the while raising her children and dealing with tragedy in a tough environment. The action follows Pug's ups and downs closely, at the cost of going deeper into the outlaw bike culture that at least for me was the main draw of the film. I'd never heard of this group or this uniquely Baltimore activity, but the rebel concept and fantastic trailer drew me in for the picture's first SXSW screening.
I respect the director's choice to take a fly on the wall approach to things focused on Pug. But I think it reduced the opportunity to more deeply cover the actions of the 12 O'Clock Boys and the actual members' lives and motivations. One of the few onscreen interviews with Steven, an adult member is all too brief. He mentions he no longer rides illegally, playing a supportive role. The value of which is clear given the police focus on tracking the bikes both on the streets and from the air. There's one of the few less urban onscreen moments where he takes some of the young wanna be riders out to to work on their skills in a safer environment. I can't help but thing that he and some of the older participants would have made for a richer take on the material. Albeit perhaps without the more familiar coming of age narrative arc Pug affords.
There's mention that the group has been involved in fatal incidents - but implicitly suggests those come only when the police chase them. I never really understood what the local dynamics were, who the riders were and what had them taking to the street on what I feel I know from The Wire as "church day." There were multiple media mentions about the scourge of these Wednesday ride alongs - but little investigation as to where the truth lay.
The site of the riders is awesomely impressive as they flow as a noisy swarm, often balanced on only half their tires. Director Lotfy Nathan nails the visuals - his high def, slow motion photography of the 12 O'Clock boys is true onscreen poetry. Alone reason enough to see the film on the big screen. It's when he switches the focus back to Pug that the story is interesting, often wrenching but somewhat more familiar. He has a gift with animals and a desire to become a veterinarian - a challenging goal I sincerely hope he achieves. Maybe he'll get to ride with the big boys as well, but as ambitions go it's a bit harder to root for.
Throughout, bike gang (and I'm not sure that's the right term) is kept at a distance. Leaving one to wonder who they are, why they do it, and at what risk. These are all questions I left the theater wishing I'd seen more answers to. Or barring that at least seen more footage of the group in action.
Some pictures from the film's SXSW post-film Q&A follow.
I'm excited to get a bit into reviews for some of the films I saw at SXSW 2013. There's a lot to cover, so for the most part I'm going to keep things a bit shorter than I often do. Unless something really speaks to me - either positively or negatively. Given the length of what follows it seems I had more to say about The Great Hip Hop Hoaxthan I'd originally expected to.
The Great Hip Hop Hoax was one of those documentaries where the idea was far more interesting than the execution. The story is about the allegedly almost super famous rap duo of Silibil n' Brains who didn't quite make it while living a lie. The latter being that while presenting as California based rappers they were in fact from Scotland.
OMG! - Seriously, Rich - why the hell did you ruin it for us?!?
Well, before you think that let me clarify. That secret is not just in every written synopsis of the film, but it's also made clear in the first few minutes of the picture. So ... imagine you know that going in, then the tension has got to be about how they found out ... right? Well no, that's not quite it. A big part of the problem is that there really wasn't any tension in the film. Without the what happens when they're caught hook it's actually the story you've probably seen a bunch of times before in music docs. A band starts to have some success, enjoys the high life (perhaps a bit too much) and then doesn't find the success they hoped for. And at the end of the picture at least one of the members is still chasing the dream of hitting it it big some years later while the other has moved on. The big difference here is the underwhelming level of drama ... as well as the fact that Silibil n' Brains aren't convincingly the second coming of the hip hop messiah regardless. In comparison, most other rock docs share the narrative arc, lack the pretending not to be Scottish hook, and more than make up for it via enjoyable music.
After the jump I'm going to let fly with some more details - including some that possibly might be considered spoilers. So if you want to stop now that's cool. Just leaving knowing that the greatest trick that The Great Hip Hop Hoax may have played is getting one to sit through the entire film, only to discover...
