Go Indie Now continues previewing the 2021 Slamdance Film Festival: Animation & Documentaries

 Hey everybody -

We are back and today's blog highlights more of what you can expect from the 2021 SLAMDANCE FILM FESTIVAL in the realms of Animation and Documentary. 

Over the last few years these are arguably Slamdance's strongest programs. Especially in the field of documentary, where they have really paved the way the last couple of years especially. In fact I would put their crop of Documentary features and shorts up against some very strong all Documentary Film Festivals (where there is nothing but docs). 

Again if you are looking for any reason still as to why this festival is worth your time and money, today's blog and the films we will talk about should give you a lot of those reasons. 

So let me give you some of those right now, we'll start with the animation. 
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THE LITTLE BROOMSTICK RIDER

A film by Matteo Bernardini

SYNOPSIS: When a nine-year-old boy in 1620s Bavaria goes on trial for witchcraft, a flabbergasted court must decide the child’s fate.

WHAT THIS FILM DOES WELL: I would speak to the entirety of the series, having gotten the privilege to see all the episodes of it, but at Slamdance you are able to see Episode 4, so my focus will be on that. Which having seen all of them, was the perfect choice to showcase. Episode 4 is going to give you a really, really good feel for how this series starts, progresses, and even ends. This animation at first might be viewed as simplistic but really its designed around how Matteo decides to tell this story, and in that the animation quickly becomes clever and interesting. The details are what really sells it, from the shadows that accompany the depth of your eyes, to the visual details of the story being told by the young wizard, to the quips and quick witted dialogue cards. All of it really adds this unique sense that suddenly as you are watching the story unfold you almost lose the sense of the animation itself. It's what I like to call the "predictive sub-title effect". If you have ever watched a movie with sub-titles, at first the reading aspect can be daunting but then you start to, just out of pure nature of looking at something, see the little subtle eye movements or hand gestures, or something the actor or camera does that captures you into this almost catatonic state in which you stop reading the words and start figuring out through the action. This happens a lot faster in this piece because it is more visual. The storytelling is very nice here and it moves in a way that will grab you and not let you go. Suddenly the episode is over and you are left with a thought or feeling that you know needs processing but you almost feel compelled to watch it all over again because you know you missed something. That rings true throughout the series but it certainly is very strong in the episode you can watch right now with the festival pass. THIS IS IN THE EPISODES PROGRAM OF THE FESTIVAL.

REVELATIONS

A Film by Jack Dunphy

REVELATIONS SYNOPSIS: A high school filmmaker wins the heart of a troubled young woman, only to loose her in the course of a harrowing psychedelic experience that forces him to confront life truths that are at once beautiful and painful.

WHAT THIS FILM DOES WELL:  Like a film I talked about in the 1st blog ENDOMIC this one combines animation and live action too. However this one is much more slanted toward the animation side of the equation then live action. It's nearly 90% to 10%. However that being said because it is a based on real life story Jack is telling. Which then you really appreciate the interesting way in which he infuses the live action. This film's tone though serves as its biggest asset because the tone sets you up for what you would not expect it too. Jack as a storyteller is funny and introspective, like a film from last year's festival you may recall called Shoot to Marry. By Jack being the one who tells the story it serves the narrative so much better because you laugh with Jack when maybe you feel like you shouldn't be laughing at all but his selling of it just is too good. In the end though this 5 minute short will stun you and surprise you, how you might ask? Well you have to get the pass and watch it to find out. THIS FILM CAN BE FOUND IN THE VERY POPULAR DEPARTMENT OF ANARCY SECTION.

KNIFE HANGING FROM A TREE

A Film by JiHee Nam

SYNOPSIS:  It is a story based off of a Korean traditional saying, directly translated to 'sour grapes'.

WHAT THIS FILM DOES WELL: Okay, first let me just say this, if you are watching this on your computer or phone, WEAR HEADPHONES and if its on your TV have the surround sound on. Trust me. The audio for this short is spectacular. It's really a strong part of the presentation, especially in the first minute or so. I have to be honest at first I wasn't too into the 2d animation style but man I am glad to be saying right here I was wrong. In absorbing the pay off in this tale and then going back and seeing it unfold a couple times, its amazing storytelling from moment one. It also amazing how JiHee Nam manipulates shapes and shadows to bring in this almost rotoscoped reality feeling into it. Very hard not watch more than once.
THIS IS IN THE ANIMATED SHORTS PROGRAM OF THE FESTIVAL.

DEAD END

Episode featured is directed and co-written by Nir Berger, co-written by Ofir Sasson 

SYNOPSIS: In a post-nuclear-war Jerusalem, two teenage bickering siblings travel what's left of the city in search of their little brother whom they lost in the bombing.

WHAT THIS FILM DOES WELL: Well hands down, the funniest short I have seen at this festival. I laughed incredibly hard and out loud so much. This short is spot on in pace and it is a great escape piece. Unlike Broomstick Rider I haven't seen (if there more episodes) all the episodes that might be with this season or show but I have to imagine where ever this episode might fall within a season this story, it doesn't take much to put you and keep you into an entire series. Which I hope I get the privilege of seeing at some point because I would totally binge it. If you are a fan of Adult Swim where they lean on the sarcastic more than the animation itself, this may be the series you have been waiting for. All that being said, there is a lot to unpack here with character and series development but again the way in which Nir chooses to present this story to us, is perfectly timed and each punchline is set up brilliantly enough for you to absorb the moment to enjoy it.  
THIS IS IN THE EPISODES PROGRAM OF THE FESTIVAL.

ALL THIS ANIMATION WILL KEEP YOU BUSY FOR SURE WITH THE PASS BUT YOU SHOULD CONTINUE INTO THE DOCUMENTARY SECTION BECAUSE THIS IS A STRONG YEAR FOR PEOPLE AND THESE DOCUMENTARIES ARE SO NEEDED, THIS IS PERFECTLY PROGRAMMED FOR WHAT WE ALL FEEL RIGHT NOW. 

So let's talk about some amazing humans and all they have done and are doing, highlighted by these incredible filmmakers passions and visions to tell these stories.

A TINY RIPPLE OF HOPE

Directed by Jason Polevoi

SYNOPSIS: “Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope...” Robert F. Kennedy.

The documentary follows Jahmal Cole as he wages a war of love, altruism, and compassion, through a myriad of neighborhoods in his hometown of Chicago. Filmmaker Jason Polevoi carries viewers deftly through intimate moments in Jahmal’s life, as he goes about his daily ritual of helping others, while simultaneously, unable to stop his own life from unraveling and Jahmal’s commitment to his organization: My Block, My Hood, My City. 

WHAT THIS FILM DOES WELL: Jason Polevoi's ability to tell a compelling narrative in a very static style of the day-in-the (really it's a year and really more than that) lives of Jahmal Cole and some of the kids in Jahmal's program is a skillset very few have and even less can do it while keeping you compelled and interested. That being said I was never bored, mainly because Polevoi's persistence also sets up one of the more surprising audience payouts of the festival's programmed films. This film switches gears in a couple key moments and in doing so takes you through some really good twists and turns.That's all due to its the storytelling style and the choices made by Polevoi. Well that, and how compelling a character Jahmal himself is. One of the hardest things to do is to capture raw passion and present in an authentic manner without putting it on a pedestal or it making itself look cartoonish or arrogant. Jahmal is so authentic and so willing to participate in how Jason Polevoi presents the film that this movie always feels intimate to the point of keeping you engaged and wanting to know more about Jahmal and My Block, My Hood, My City. That is a talent difficult to accomplish and Jason Polevoi and Jahmal Cole do it in spades.  

THIS IS IN THE DOCUMENTARY FEATURES PROGRAM OF THE FESTIVAL.

WORKHORSE QUEEN 
Directed by Angela Washko

SYNOPSIS: Workhorse Queen is a documentary film exploring the complexities of mainstream television’s impact on queer performance culture. In addition to following Ed’s life and career before and after being cast onto RuPaul’s Drag Race, the film focuses on the growing divide between members of a small town drag community – those who have been on television, and those who have not. Throughout the film Ed Popil navigates the exciting highs and devastating lows of pursuing the fame promised by a reality television platform. With one foot inching toward Hollywood’s doorstep and the other cemented firmly within her beloved Rochester community, Mrs. Kasha Davis finds a surprising new audience at home as she works toward becoming the queer role model for children that Ed didn’t have and desperately wanted growing up.

WHAT THIS FILM DOES WELL: While director Angela Washko may have personalized some of the moments to tell a narrative about fame and reality television, where this movie's strength lies in telling Ed Popil/Ms. Kasha Davis' story are the moments you are allowed in. Achieved by either incredibly poignant moments of stillness or the moments when you see Ms. Kasha Davis just turn it on and make you laugh. It's really the power of the performer but also the power of the camera and blending those two elements together that really helps run you through a gamut of emotions. It was a brilliant choice by Washko, who's performance art background also really shows by the camera's framing, the color palette she decides to capture in the moments, especially the brighter ones. Her choices to pull back and shoot from more a distance in those moments really does make us feel  like we get the full scope of it all. While interviews and clips feather throughout in setting up the narrative, the true essence and best moments come from when we feel like we might be watching more of a live stream than a feature film. Not to say that it is crude in anyway, because its not, still gorgeously shot and framed but just the way Washko moves as Kasha/Ed moves or again pulling back from that really just provides us with a feeling we are part of the conversations more than being directed to feel this way or that by what would be more conventional methods of doing just that in a documentary. Ultimately again the personalities being filmed are what radiates but a lot of that credit has to go to Angela Washko for recognizing how to capture that so we get as an audience max value. THIS IS IN THE DOCUMENTARY FEATURES PROGRAM OF THE FESTIVAL.

ME TO PLAY

Directed by Jim Bernfield, incorporating the words of Samuel Beckett from his play, ENDGAME.  

SYNOPSIS: Dan Moran and Chris Jones are New York actors. Both have Parkinson’s disease — a disease that affects all the elements essential to their craft.

So it is an act of bravery for Dan and Chris to take on Samuel Beckett’s comic masterpiece, Endgame, a complex and difficult piece of theater that makes the case that “there’s nothing funnier than unhappiness.”

By performing with Parkinson’s disease while opening their lives to a documentary, these two men show that they can meet even the most difficult circumstances with aplomb, a sense of humor, and soul.

WHAT THIS FILM DOES WELL: This film could have easily been a woah is me tale or a celebration that might feel more like a wake but instead this is a rarely captured, authentic look into craft, heart, and soul. What you quickly realize is Dan and Chris aren't in the best of places but that the words and the craft of an artform they have done their entire lives becomes this amazing form of medicine that no doctor would know how to prescribe. Jim's style gives this the subtle touch a film like this needed. Instead of intrusively pushing and prodding, Jim becomes our eyes and ears and leaves us to interpret what we are observing. In doing so we feel so much more a part of this journey, and when moments happen that may sit us down and feel something we may not even be ready for to feel, it just leaps out at us and grabs us. Narrative is so much about how we feel in the moments given to us and what becomes expectation into the next scene and the next. We jump to conclusions or think about what might we be seeing next and that is the engagement all films seek. It helps that everyone around Dan and Chris provide the missing pieces and they become our surrogates as much as the camera does, when the camera can't explain it, Jim has someone on screen talking that can. It is the incorporation of interviews and real moments captured that keep us there and keep that feeling we need to be engaged alive. This is a well made film, with a well made purpose, and it would be hard not to feel like you weren't there.  THIS IS IN THE DOCUMENTARY FEATURES PROGRAM OF THE FESTIVAL.

  

ANATOMY OF WINGS 

Co-Directed by Kirsten D’Andrea Hollander and Nikiea Redmond 

SYNOPSIS: At first gathered to create an after-school film project, ten Black middle school girls return each week to collaborate with their Black and *white mentors on a feature-length documentary about their own coming-of-age in Baltimore City. Weeks turn into years. Then, shortly before the girls’ high school graduations, a sea of misunderstanding arises about what’s to come. This self-defined ‘second family’ is left to question if their solidarity will survive the realities of living in a world of racial inequity.

In ‘Anatomy of Wings’ both mentees and mentors show up as is and practice seeing and hearing each other without judgment. Our film is meant for anyone desiring connection to each other as women, men, girls, boys, transgender, gay, bisexual, brown skinned, pale skinned, impoverished, wealthy, gluten-free, obese, or hairy legged. ‘Wings’ audiences include people working in nonprofits, community-advocacy organizations, schools, universities, and multicultural organizations committed to anti-Black racism, anti-racism, decolonizing curriculum, and understanding where these actions land on the continuum of ally-ship, collaboration, and solidarity. This includes those working with and within some of the world’s most challenging environments to positively impact the adverse effects of structural racism, white-heteronormative media structures, and white-supremacy. Most important, this includes those studying professionally or personally to understand the pervasive cultural trauma resulting from African-American slavery and ALL stolen from Indigenous people.

WHAT THIS FILM DOES WELL: First thing that needs to be applauded and recognized is the 12+ year commitment these artists went too to get a finished a product they felt was worthy to put out to the world. Sure its been done before. Sure we all bleed for our art and spend years and decades to be artists and to put work out but what I find most impressive about what Kirsten and Nikiea have done is they have put themselves into it not because they wanted to be showcased but because that was the personal touch this film required. We needed both Nikiea and  Kirsten and in different ways. Their recognition of this as well as their crew's recognition of this, special shout out to Trina Rodriguez, the lead editor because I know if I had to render 12 + years of footage they would have found me in a dark corner in fetal position, makes this film incredibly special. The other essence of this film that triumphs loudly is the invisibility of the camera sources, there to capture real moments, real emotions, and bravo to this cast of woman for their commitment as well, and letting us in.  All those choices could have easily been trimmed and cut from this piece, instead they become the cornerstones and by doing that we get a narrative that is beyond relatable, it is downright necessary. This film had to break ground and do things differently not just because of the sheer volume of captured moments but because those moments worth watching were the ones that would be most real to everyone involved. 12 years is a long time to come away with nothing and those choices couldn't have been easy to make or sell not just to an audience, but the cast, the mentors, the crew, and all who would be putting themselves up on that screen. This is the bravest film I have ever watched and I am a better person for having done so. THIS IS IN THE DOCUMENTARY FEATURES PROGRAM OF THE FESTIVAL.

  

18TH AND GRAND

Written & Directed by Stephen DeBro 

SYNOPSIS: The Olympic Auditorium opened in 1925, a massive, state-of-the-art arena built to match the ambitions of a city on the come. The Olympic was a wild, indestructible palace of violent entertainment for eight decades, and Aileen Eaton managed the mayhem for the better part of its existence. Taking over in the midst of World War II, Eaton thrived in the hyper masculine world of boxing and wrestling, building and influencing stars like Gorgeous George and Muhammad Ali, facing off against Mickey Cohen and the mob, and navigating the Olympic through changing times and tastes. When she retired in 1980, the Olympic became the largest punk rock venue in the U.S. and the launchpad for live music giant Goldenvoice. 18TH & GRAND: THE OLYMPIC AUDITORIUM STORY dynamically recasts the L.A. story, featuring diverse, unforgettable voices, a forgotten heroine, and the battles that shaped a city.

WHAT THIS FILM DOES REALLY WELL: This film is one hell of ride and it straps you in and doesn't let you go for 90 + minutes. Doing an amazing job through pacing and storytelling visually as much as vocally director Stephen Debro really sets a pace that you would think would sputter half way through or just fly by but then there is a super smart choice he makes that really grounds you for a moment and let's you breathe. That's when he introduces you to the First Woman of Promoting in Aileen Eaton and incorporating her story really ties up an incredible journey through time and bygone era that a lot of people will wax poetic and nostalgic for and for those who missed it, this may be the best representation of that time and how crazy, fun, and just plain punk rock it all was. So part educational, part entertainment, part love letter and fair warning for a city that once existed in a manner that made it both worth and shamed for the title "Hollywood". This is as close to being there as you can get and I don't many films that can achieve that documentary style in the manner Stephen Debro did, an achievement is an understatement, this is a triumph and treasure of a film and historical reference. 
DO NOT MISS THE OPPORTUNITY TO SEE THIS FILM AS A SPECIAL PRESENTATION ON THE FINAL DAY OF THE SLAMDANCE FILM FESTIVAL. IT CLOSES THE FESTIVAL. 

**********************************************************So this is the last weekend of the festival but it goes till Thursday.

So if you don't have a pass yet, you can go here: https://slamdance.com/festival-passes/ and for $10 experience all the great things Slamdance has to offer from your favorite place in the house. You don't even have to put on pants. The festival runs until the 25th like I said . So you still have plenty of time to watch all you want and can.

And remember, "It's Always Time to Go Indie Now" and go to the Slamdance Film Festival, one of my favorites.

COME BACK NEXT WEEK AS I WILL GIVE YOU MY FAVORITE FILMS, PERFORMANCES, PROGRAMS, AND WE WILL CELEBRATE ALL THINGS SLAMDANCE AND ALL THINGS INDIE FILM.