Women With Vision 2010

Here's what I'm planning to see!

Friday, March 12, 7:30 pm
35 Shots of Rum (35 rhums), Directed by Claire Denis

A personal film about relationships and letting go, 35 Shots of Rum was inspired by the subtle, graceful work of Japanese filmmaker Yasujiro Ozu. Depicting a widowed father sharing an apartment with his adult daughter, the story is built around the pauses between their activities as they both make new plans for the future. “Sublime . . . Denis’ warmest, most radiant work” (Village Voice). A provocative director recognized for her explorations of cross-cultural tensions, Denis was the subject of the Walker’s 1998 Regis Retrospective, and has screened two films at previous Women with Vision film festivals. 35 Shots of Rum was included on several critics’ top ten lists. 2008, 35mm, in French with English subtitles, 100 minutes.

Saturday, March 13, 7:30 pm
The Runaways, Directed by Floria Sigismondi

“We shared the dream of girls playing rock and roll.” —Joan Jett

One of rock’s quintessential girl groups, the Runaways exploded onto the scene in the mid-seventies, playing hits such as “Cherry Bomb” to huge audiences around the world. Based on vocalist Cherie Currie’s shocking book Neon Angel, The Runaways chronicles the band’s brief rise to fame and all that came with it. In her debut feature, Sigismondi—best known for photography and music videos for Marilyn Manson, David Bowie, and Björk—enlisted Dakota Fanning for the role of Cherie Currie and Kristen Stewart for Joan Jett. 2010, 35mm, 105 minutes.

Sunday, March 14, 1 pm
WIFTI Short Film Showcase

Celebrating films from New Zealand to the Twin Cities, this annual short film showcase includes works from festivals around the world. Organized by Women in Film & Television International (WIFTI) and copresented by its Minnesota chapter (MNWIFT). Approximate running time 120 minutes.

Thursday, March 18, 7:30 pm, Free
Visiting Artist/Premiere
O’er the Land, Introduced by director Deborah Stratman

Gun shows, historical war reenactors, cheerleaders, and motor homes are touchstones in this experimental documentary that delves into America’s concept of manifest destiny. O’er the Land reflects powerfully on the ways Americans have come to understand freedom and heroism in the light of increasing militarism and perceived threats to our national borders. Winner of the Best International Film Award at Images Festival (Toronto). A Q&A with the director follows the screening. 2009, 16 mm, 52 minutes.

Friday, March 19, 7:30 pm
Lourdes, Directed by Jessica Hausner

People flock to the purportedly miraculous healing waters in the French town of Lourdes when they think science has failed. Exploring religion and the origin of belief, Lourdes focuses on Christine (Sylvie Testud), wheelchair-bound with multiple sclerosis, who uses the pilgrimage to create a social life. “Hausner walks a tightrope . . . between medicine and the Madonna—and the result is an austere, measured, skeptical, sensitive film that lingers in the mind for days” (London Evening Standard). Winner of the FIPRESCI Prize, Venice Film Festival. 2009, 35mm, in French with English subtitles, 96 minutes.

Sunday, March 21, 3 pm
Vision
Directed by Margarethe von Trotta

A portrait of the fascinating Hildegard of Bingen, a central figure of the medieval Catholic Church, is the latest film from “the most important woman director to emerge from the New German Cinema” (Senses of Cinema). Hildegard, a 12th-century Benedictine nun, was also a mystic, author, linguist, scientist, philosopher, herbalist, healer, poet, and composer—a range of talents that invited controversy, leading the Church to sanction her for expressing her visions from God. Barbara Sukowa renders a bravura performance. 2009, 35mm, in German with English subtitles, 111 minutes.

Saturday, March 27, 7:30 pm
Before Tomorrow (Le jour avant le lendemain)
Directed by Marie-Hélène Cousineau and Madeline Piujuq Ivalu

“A profound, elemental, and hauntingly beautiful period drama that makes an intimate story of endurance into a metaphor for an entire culture.” —Variety

In 1840, shortly after Inuit tribes had began to encounter foreign fur traders, a boy and his grandmother return from drying fish to find everyone in their village dead from smallpox. As they look for a new community, they struggle to survive in the Arctic wilderness. This is the third work in a trilogy of Inuit dramas created by the Arnait Video Collective (Antanarjuat: The Fast Runner and The Journals of Knud Rasmussen). 2008, 35mm, in Inuktitut with English subtitles, 93 minutes.

A New Hero

Or should I say heroine?

She is Melody Gilbert from Frozen Feet Films. If you live in the Twin Cities, you've probably seen some of her work, or at least seen trailers for them. There's her film about people who want a limb amputated called Whole. Or how about the movie about Urban Explorers or the film, Married at the Mall, where she stakes herself out at the Mall of America marriage chapel to show us weddings at the world's largest mall. I'm watching her documentary Disconnected right now on Hulu for free so you can too. It follows students at Carleton College who decided to do without computers.

I met Gilbert at a screening for Urban Explorers. During the Q&A she let the audience know she never studied film, but instead has a deep background in journalism. Afterward, I asked about her outsider's take on the male dominated film industry from her point of view as a woman. Before I could finish my question, she said, "That's why I work alone."

Gilbert talked about the difference between how she holds a camera and how men do. She talked about her interviewing style and how it changes when men are around. I was hoping for some insight or helpful tips about women in the film industry, but I'll just keep supporting women in their efforts to break the celluloid ceiling.

I'm looking forward to a local showing of Gilbert's documentary about Fritz Mondale, showing at the Women with Vision Film Festival at the Walker Art Center this spring and whatever my hero is doing next.

Off and Running

I want to be an official movie reviewer not because I want that as a career or because I want the free films but because I want to be in the middle of the stream of information that flows to reviewers so I don't have to miss films like Off and Running.

I found Off and Running by accident browsing Apple's trailers.

This documentary is about an African American girl who was raised by Jewish lesbians in New York. She has decided to find her birth mother to figure out who she is.

Now I'm going to do all I can to get Off and Running to one of our upcoming film festivals, Sabes JCC Jewish Film Festival (because the family in the documentary is Jewish), Women With Vision at the Walker Art Center (because the film is about women and directed by a woman), and finally, my dark horse candidate (because Al Milgrom, the guy who chooses most of the films, is who he is), the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Film Festival (April 15-29).

The Lovely Bones

A group of friends and I got to see a preview of The Lovely Bones, Peter Jackson's upcoming flick based on Alice Sebold's book by the same name. As we argued back and forth about the religiosity of the interpretation and the room the film left for the viewer to make up his or her own mind, I wondered what impact Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens had on the choice to make The Lovely Bones. In a pause, I asked the question out loud, and all but the film critic looked at me with blank stares. One asked, "Who are they?"

There were about a dozen of us in the room, all of whom love film and see lots of movies. They knew who played the predator in The Lovely Bones (I couldn't name him, but it was Stanley Tucci) and knew all the films Peter Jackson had directed. But they didn't know the names Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens. Maybe you don't either, but these are people who pride themselves with their knowledge and understanding of the film arts.

If I have my way, I won't let you be clueless about these women.

Other than Walsh being Jackson's wife, and Boyens being the couple's neighbors, they are Jackson's closest collaborators, and why, in my opinion, movies like The Lord of the Rings trilogy and even King Kong are films that women can love as much as men. The threesome write together, and Jackson calls Walsh his "first assistant director." In a recent interview in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Jackson says:

They're very important right across the board, not just in writing characters like Susie. We write as a team, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens and I. I don't really categorize people as male or female in a funny kind of way, maybe because I've spent most of my life working with women. My producer is a woman and I've had a woman first assistant director for 20 years. I like women more than men in a funny kind of way, to where I'd rather work with them as collaborators. They're more refreshing, they're funnier and I find with women there's no ego involved. None of that blokey kind of macho nonsense.

Now if only the rest of Hollywood could get the impact women could have on film, beyond chick flicks.

I've read two of Alice Sebold's books, The Lovely Bones and Lucky, and it's hard for me to see this film from the point of view of someone who hasn't read her work, so I'm biased. I'm also a survivor, and The Lovely Bones is a tale for survivors. Outside of these facts, it's visually beautiful in both the fantastical scenes and the real-life scenes. The screenplay is an appropriate adaptation and is faithful to the book. Sebold's imagery and themes are reflected in both the screenplay and cinematography. It will knock your socks off if you see it on the big screen.

My rating: Worth $10, hiring a babysitter, and $10 for crappy popcorn and a pop that'll make you get up in the middle of the film to pee.

FGC Gathering Films

Here's what we're showing at the 2009 FGC Summer Gathering in Blacksburg, Virginia, including links to film websites, previews and reviews.

The Visitor, Sunday 9:15

Widowed professor Walter Vale discovers an immigrant couple, Tarek and Zainab, squatting in his Manhattan flat and becomes wrapped up in their lives when Tarek is thrown into a detention center. 103 minutes. Rated PG-13 for brief strong language. Reviews.



Stop the Reroute: Taking a Stand on Sacred Land, Monday 1:30

This documentary shows people putting their bodies on the line to preserve one of the last burr oak savannahs along the Mississippi and a 10,000-year-old sacred water source: Coldwater Spring. Q&A to follow film with director Ann Follett
and Quaker Alex Holzinger, who participated in the protests. NOT RATED. Appropriate for all ages. DIRECTOR PRESENT. Trailer

Gracie, Monday 9:15

After her brother dies, 15-year-old Gracie channels her grief into trying to get onto the varsity soccer team. Set in 1978, this film is inspired by a true story of Elisabeth Shue, who plays Gracie’s mother. 95 minutes. Rated PG-13 for brief sexual content, fistfights and strong language.



Shorts Program, Tuesday 3:15

See short films about insects learning important lessons, a couple dealing with Alzheimer’s, a man meeting the perfect mate, dancing prairie chickens, and a family facing cultural clashes and racism. NOT RATED. Appropriate for all ages.

The Grocer’s Son, Tuesday 9:15

When his father suffers a stroke, Antoine reluctantly returns home from the big city to his small French mountain village to help out with the family business, a grocery that makes daily rounds to the town’s elderly inhabitants. 96 minutes. NOT RATED. Reviews.



Wednesday 3:15 REST No film. Take a nap instead.

Jihad for Love, Wednesday 9:15

Documenting the quandary of GLBT Muslims via the perspective of subjects from countries such as India, Iran and Turkey, director Parvez Sharma chronicles their struggles to square their sexual orientation with their faith. 81 minutes.
NOT RATED. Reviews.



The Prep School Negro, Thursday 1:30

This film is a cinematic exploration of identity and how it is affected by and defined for black students at elite white institutions. It tells the story of the director Andre Robert Lee, who graduated from Germantown Friends School, and follows
three students from William Penn Charter. Q&A with director to follow. 53 minutes. NOT RATED. DIRECTOR PRESENT.



Waltz With Bashir, Thursday 9:15

Utilizing vivid black-and-white animation, director Ari Folman documents his quest to explore the memory gaps in his life during his service for the Israeli army in the Lebanese war of the early 1980s. 90 minutes. Rated R for some disturbing images of atricities and strong violence. Reviews.




Once, Friday 3:15

In this charming contemporary musical, a street musician in Dublin, Ireland strikes up a friendship with a migrant street hawker and the duo ends up composing and recording a series of songs over the course of a week. 85 minutes. Rated R for swearing, but otherwise very innocent. Reviews.



Frozen River, Friday 9:15

On a Mohawk reservation on the Canadian border, Ray teams with widowed tribe member Lila to smuggle illegal immigrants into the United States. Although the work provides the women with much-needed money, each trip puts them in danger. 97 minutes. Rated R for strong language, mature themes. Reviews.

At 41 Hours and Counting

Monday, MSPIFF finally posted their full schedule and program, just three days before opening night. So I haven't had much time to read every tiny little detail. But here's the schedule I've come up with as of today.

Lots of things could change. Like if I hear buzz about something (like I did tonight), I may change my mind (like I did tonight) at the last minute. Or, more likely, MSPIFF won't get a film or a print won't have subtitles, or it'll be scheduled in a theater that doesn't play a specific format.

No matter what, if you're planning to join me for any of these films, call me. That button on the right side of my blog actually works. Click it, type in your number, and you can call me FOR FREE and completely privately from whatever phone you choose. Just confirm with me that I'll be at the theater and saving a seat for you!

All films, except for opening night on April 16th (which will be at Block E, downtown), are at St. Anthony Main. Free parking for cars AND bikes.

Here goes, the "final" schedule!

April 16

7:00 500 Days of Summer

April 17

6:45 The Karamozovs
9:55 Three in Love

April 18

12:00 The Necessities of Life
2:30 Liberation Day
5:30 Wrong Rosary
6:45 Rumba
8:30 Lion's Den

April 19

1:00 Littlest Shorts
2:50 Trust Us, This is All Made Up (the page has a wrong date on it--should be the 19th, not the 29th)
5:30 William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe
7:00 American Violet
10:00 Song for the Southern Seas

April 20

5:00 I Am From Titov Veles
9:30 The Photograph

April 21

5:00 Minnesota Shorts: Documentary
6:50 Apron Strings
8:45 The Fighter

April 22 (Earth Day! I will be computer-free and I will bike and/or bus it)

5:10 What Remains of Us
7:00 Minnesota Shorts (this ALWAYS sells out--get your tickets now)
9:45 Horn of Plenty

April 23

5:10 Forgotten Transports: To Estonia
7:15 A Walk to Beautiful
9:45 The Mermaid

April 24

5:10 Letters to the President
7:00 Bang-Bang Wedding
9:15 White Man's World

April 25

12:15 Taarka
2:35 Wounded Knee
4:45 Breaking Upwards
8:30 Getting Home

April 26

1:00 The Red Jacket
3:00 All Ages Animation
5:15 Fados
7:15 Kisses
10:15 Blind Loves

April 27

5:15 Sleepwalking Land
6:30 Rough Aunties

April 28

5:45 Stars on Earth
9:30 Mothers and Daughters

April 29

5:00 Salt of This Sea
6:45 TBA? (an empty spot on my schedule--I may want to see whatever MSPIFF decides to put in this slot)
9:45 Mutum (I may have seen this last year, and I'm confused--maybe it was supposed to come last year but never made it through customs?)

April 30

5:15 How About You?
7:30 Dunya & Desie
9:00 Apron Strings

Some More Reviews

Every Little Step

Pros: Great music, a storyline that roughly follows A Chorus Line, and compelling characters you want to root for.
Cons: I can't think of one.

I don't like musicals, but LOVED this film.

My rating: Worth $10 and the price of a babysitter.


Up

Pros: It's Pixar's next film. Up is a date movie as much as it's an adventure film.
Cons: It's a little long. The strong female character in the beginning isn't throughout the film, and there are no other females.

My rating: Worth a matinee. You have to see this one on the big screen to appreciate the animation--especially textures and light.


Moon

Pros: The science and technology doesn't get in the way of the story or the main character's humanity, and is mostly good. The moon scenes are fantastic. GREAT acting by Sam Rockwell.
Cons: If you're a sci fi geek, you might find the plot twist a bit transparent.

My rating: See this at the ONLY showing at MSPIFF, Monday, April 27th at 7 pm. What else do you have to do on a Monday night? The view of downtown from St. Anthony Main is fabulous, the parking is free, and there's lots of great food and drink to to be had.

And get your tickets now--this Sundance 2009 film might be sold out by the 27th.