The monthly AFS Discussion Club has been a small refuge of sanity for the Cinema-obsessed during this pandemic. We have been thrilled to welcome some pretty fantastic guests. This month was no obsession. AFS Lates Programmer and host Jazmyne Moreno joined us for a discussion of DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS (1971), the arty vampire movie that combines overtones of classic Hollywood with the very permissive sexual atmosphere of the age of Aquarius.
Our discussion follows, and it is absolutely full of spoilers, so you should watch the film first if you haven’t already. As of press time it is available to stream in gorgeous high definition on the Criterion Channel. Check it out and enjoy the discussion with Moreno, AFS Lead Programmer Lars Nilsen and a number of the virtual attendees.
AFS Lead Programmer Lars Nilsen shares his highlights from this year’s virtual Toronto International Film Festival. Stay tuned for Head of Film & Creative Media Holly Herrick’s picks coming soon.
The experience of film festivals for a professional programmer or buyer is usually a pretty intensive one – building a plan of must-see titles, a backup slate of might-sees, etc. Then there’s the matter of scheduling those all-important 5 or so screenings per day, getting from venue to venue, finding time for meals, sleep and meetings with people you might not get a chance to see at any other time during the year. The upside, for programmers at least, is that we get an opportunity to map out a decent portion of our upcoming first-run titles, and sometimes we can even – over a few beers, perhaps – get assurances from film distributors of advance bookings.
The Toronto International Film Festival is one of the best fests in the world, because it is international in scope and has a large number of intelligently-selected titles on offer – and thankfully most of the press and industry screenings are concentrated within a four block radius – no small consideration. Taking all of this into account, TIFF is really a model of the well-functioning international film festival.
Though TIFF was mounted as an in-person fest this year, it was done so on an extremely limited basis. Fortunately, a virtual version of the fest was offered. Obviously, this can’t compete with the experience of watching the films on a big screen, noting the audiences’ reactions, and discussing them afterwards with professional peers, but it’s better than no fest at all. So, with the aid of my laptop, my TV and a long HDMI cable, my living room became a TIFF venue this year.
Though there were fewer titles on offer this year, the accessibility was much more forgiving. Each movie is available to watch for a 48 hour window, which makes for much easier scheduling. I did find that I missed the spartan life of fest-going, but there’s no accounting for taste, I suppose.
Here, in no particular order, are some of the most interesting titles I caught during this year’s virtual TIFF. Hopefully these will all receive American theatrical distribution so we can bring them to the Cinema and/or our Virtual platform.
NIGHT OF THE KINGS
(2020, D. Philippe Lacôte)
From Côte d’Ivoire comes this film about a young man incarcerated in an unbelievably overcrowded, labyrinthine prison called La MACA. Almost as soon as he arrives, the dying cell block boss, the fearsome Blackbeard, names him the new “Roman” – the term in the prison for storyteller or griot. As it happens, the role is a very important one in the prison, as the vicarious stories, which blend myth and real life experiences, are an essential part of the lives of these hopeless men. There’s much more, but this is just the unique jumping-off point of this unusual and recommended film.
THE DISCIPLE
(2020, D. Chaitanya Tamhane)
This decades-spanning narrative follows a young man whose love of North Indian classical music, instilled by his father, leads him to devote his life to performing, teaching and preserving the art form, even as it becomes seemingly less and less culturally relevant and remunerative to practice this art form in its pure incarnation. This film is a true immersion in North Indian classical vocal music – we hear several long pieces uninterrupted and the philosophy behind the music is explored widely. Fundamentally, the themes apply to any art form, and in fact any discipline. This is a film that cuts deep and rewards a close viewing.
LIMBO
(2020, D. Ben Sharrock)
On a cold, relentlessly windy island in the Scottish Hebrides, a number of refugees from different regions are interned together while their fates are being decided by bureaucrats. In the face of the hostile climate conditions, the crushing boredom of the island, and the well-meaning but inept attempts at education by the local social work contingent, these men find common ground and find ways to cope with their individual traumas. A surprisingly funny movie, and one that does not spell everything out for the viewer but instead allows us to make our own discoveries about the characters.
DOWNSTREAM TO KINSHASA
(2020, D. Dieudo Hamadi)
A truly fascinating doc about a group of wounded and maimed war victims in the Democratic Republic of the Congo who, 20 years after suffering their injuries, band together to demand redress and compensation from the government. We see them make their plan for the long river journey to the capital Kinshasa, then we accompany them on the harrowing journey as they crowd the improvised flotilla from stem to stern. Throughout the journey, we learn more about some of the group, and their stories of enormous persistence in the face of poverty and adversity.
76 DAYS
(2020, D. Hao Wu, Weixi Chen, Anonymous)
This gripping, suspenseful doc takes us behind the quarantine barriers in Wuhan, China as the first stages of the COVID-19 pandemic take hold of the region. The level of access to emergency rooms and intensive care facilities here is jaw-dropping. We watch the health-care workers cope heroically with heavily overcrowded facilities as they battle a disease that at the time was only dimly understood. There is tragedy, there is relief when patients begin to recover, and there are even some good laughs thanks to an incalcitrant old fisherman – whom everyone refers to as Grandpa – who resists every attempt to confine him in his room. Completely fascinating.
FAUNA
(2020 D. Nicolás Pereda)
I’m not sure how many other people will like this one, a narrative about a family reunion that takes place in a rundown motel in a mining town in Mexico, but I loved it. The film is divided into scenes in which Pereda’s corps of talented actors ratchet ordinary situations into paroxysms of awkwardness over such situations as a borrowed bath towel or the sale of a pack of cigarettes. It’s the kind of humor that you could never diagram. I don’t know why it works, and it certainly won’t work for everyone, but it sure works for me.
Today we celebrate the birthday of one of our favorite modern filmmakers, Bong Joon-Ho (born Sept. 14, 1969). While Bong only recently became a household name thanks to last year’s unprecedented Oscar win, his cinematic mastery goes back decades (which is no secret to those who have kept up with AFS’s programming over the years). As a storyteller, Bong Joon-ho has refined his genre influences to such a degree that his own filmmaking transcends the categorization. How does he accomplish this? A few years ago, the meticulously analytical video essay series Every Frame A Painting took on that very inquiry, producing a trio of essays that break down a few of his many subtle techniques, and their powerful psychological effects. Enjoy!
With many of us home-bound and stuck indoors indefinitely, we wanted to share some film recommendations to help you pass the time. Where better to start than one of AFS’s most popular series, Jewels in the Wasteland, curated and hosted by AFS Founder and Artistic Director Richard Linklater to spotlight some of the best overlooked films of the 1980s.
Below you’ll find links to Linklater’s intros and Q&A discussions on films that can all be streamed via the Criterion Channel, including LOST IN AMERICA, JOJO DANCER, VAGABOND, MISHIMA: A LIFE IN FOUR CHAPTERS, L’ARGENT, STRANGER THAN PARADISE, FANNY & ALEXANDER, EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF, and WINGS OF DESIRE.
Linklater also appears in the documentary ALSO STARRING AUSTIN, which is now available for free on YouTube.
For an archive of all of our Jewels in the Wasteland films and Q&A recordings, visit our Youtube page.
The AFS Grant is at the heart of AFS filmmaker support programs. Since 1996, the Grant has nurtured the leading edge of Texas’ creative community by providing cash grants to emerging artists, with a focus on filmmakers who are underrepresented in the industry. This year the grant for feature filmmakers was expanded to provide much-needed resources for artists pushing to get projects off the ground, and finished, amidst the pandemic.
The AFS Grant has provided critical support to some filmmakers who became defining voices in contemporary independent film, including the Zellner Brothers, Kat Candler and David Lowery, among others. It’s a safe bet that in each new class of AFS grant recipients, there are a few artists whose work you’ll come to love. So with that in mind, meet this year’s talented roster of feature film grant recipients (the short film grant just opened, so stay tuned for part 2 later this year).
If you’re a festival-goer, you might have seen one of Arlington, TX-based Lizette Barrera’s award-winning shorts over the years at SXSW, Cine Las Americas, and Women Texas Film Festival. Her 2016 film MOSCA (FLY) is currently in distribution with HBO. This year’s AFS Grant will help her adapt her short CHICLE, which was nominated for the 2019 SXSW Grand Jury Award, into a feature film. You can watch the trailer for CHICLE below.
Ya’Ke Smith has been featured on NPR, CNN, HLN, Ebony Online, Indiewire, Filmmaker Magazine and Shadow&Act. His short DAWN was picked up by HBO. Most recently his powerful short DEAR BRUH: A EULOGY. A BAPTISM. A CALL TO ACTION. gained national attention in the aftermath of George’s Floyd’s killing and the national movement that has followed.
Kim Tran’s autobiographical dramedy ZOE AND HAHN played at SXSW last year and was praised by shortoftheweek.com as “a fresh and pleasurable addition to the genre of mother/daughter generational and cultural conflict.” Now, with the support of the AFS Grant she will adapt her hit short into a feature length film.
If you’ve been keeping up with our recent programming, you are likely familiar with Annie Silverstein’s AFS-supported drama BULL, which played Cannes last year before coming to our virtual cinema this summer. Prior to that, Silverstein directed the Cannes Cinefondation-winning short SKUNK. Her next AFS-supported feature is called A TIME, A PLACE.
Solomon Onita’s TAZMANIAN DEVIL stars Abraham Attah (BEASTS OF NO NATION) and is produced by Birdman and Benny Boom. This powerful film tells the story of a Nigerian immigrant struggling to find balance between his new life in a fraternity and his estranged family. The grant will support the film’s distribution phase, so keep an eye out for TAZMANIAN DEVIL release details soon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmX6SuWvuyM
Angela Chen is a prolific director who has directed dozens of short films in the last decade. The AFS Grant will support her first move into feature fiction, FLY GIRL, which tells the story of a 42-year-old, recently-divorced Vietnamese American woman who joins a 90s-inspired hip-hop dance team. FLY GIRL is written by Christine Hoang, whose script was selected as a 2019 Sundance Second Rounder and a Top 20 Finalist in the Austin Film Festival’s Pitch Finale. Watch the trailer for Chen’s last short film, OUR HOME HERE, below.
Austin-based Shadi Qutob’s short BASTARDS, which played last year’s Austin Film Festival, explored the prevalence of anti-blackness in the Arab community. Qutob’s new feature project, FANDOM, explores a different facet of the Arab identity, following a Pakistani Woman who garners unexpected attention when her fan art goes viral, and then faces the backlash from the fan community’s toxic side. Watch BASTARDS below.
Clint Bentley wrote and co-produced the acclaimed Texas-made thriller TRANSPECOS, and was flagged as one of 25 Screenwriters to Watch in 2017 by MovieMaker Magazine. TRANSPECOS is now streaming on Hulu, Prime and Vudu. With the support of the AFS Grant, Bentley will make his feature directing debut with the drama JOCKEY, which expands upon the short 9 RACES.
Kelly Daniela Norris is another emerging filmmaker to get the attention of Filmmaker Magazine, who selected her as one of 25 New Faces of Film in 2016. Her 2013 feature film, SOMBRAS DE AZUL, is available to watch via our own Lone Star Slate streaming program. Her last feature, NAKOM (streaming on Prime), was nominated for a Best First Feature award at the Berlin International Film Festival and a Film Independent Spirit Awards John Cassavettes Award.
Robie Flores is a journalist and documentarian living in Eagle Pass, TX. Her doc feature THE IN BETWEEN will capture coming-of-age moments among residents along the U.S.-Mexico border. Her journalism work has appeared on CNN, Bloomberg, Teen Vogue, Fusion, Allure and i-d Vice.
Marfa-based director Margaret Crow’s project will follow a group of teenagers at a high school 10 miles from the US/Mexico border during their senior year and as they navigate what lies beyond. Her last feature, JACKSON (named for the Mississippi city with the state’s last abortion clinic), won an Emmy for Best Social Issue Film, and was hailed by Criterion Cast as “easily one of the year’s strongest documentaries.”
Christian Vasquez is a Dallas-based documentary filmmaker and journalist whose work has been featured by The Dallas Morning News, D Magazine, KERA, CBS 11, and has been screened at Dallas International Film Festival and the Dallas VideoFest. His forthcoming documentary feature explores the power of storytelling, and its capacity to mend, through the work of Dr. Njoki McElroy, a master storyteller, educator, and activist.
Jeremy Rodgers hails from Taylor, TX, and his debut documentary feature, FROM THE GROUND UP, follows a family of Palestinian farmers in the West Bank and their decades-long legal struggle to retain their ancestral farm. Finding creative, nonviolent means of resistance, the family embody their motto: “We Refuse to be Enemies.”
Ray Santisteban’s last documentary feature, THE FIRST RAINBOW COALITION, examined the influential effort to unite disparate racial groups during the civil rights movement in the 1960s and 70s. The doc debuted on PBS’s Independent Lens series earlier this year and is now available via PBS.
Alejandro Sescosse and Anna Veselova’s TLALOC is a phantasmagorical romance of digital illusions set in the near future where the threat to human life is existential worldwide due to the slow collapse of natural ecosystems. (Below, the filmmakers at the premiere of INVENTION OF NATURE at Festival de Cine Radical, Cinemateca Boliviana)
Robert Rodriguez’s career arc is the kind of thing you can’t make up. As a young, broke indie filmmaker, he took a skeleton crew to a rural town in Mexico with seven grand in his pocket (half of which he’d earned as a guinea pig in pharmaceutical trials) to make what he considered a practice film that he expected nobody to see. Instead, he wound up creating a minor miracle of low budget action that caught the attention of Columbia Pictures. This auspicious debut, EL MARIACHI, was the first installment of his now beloved Mexico Trilogy. Today, August 25, 2020, marks the 25th anniversary of the release of the trilogy’s second film, DESPERADO, a much higher-budget affair that gave Antonio Banderas his first American lead role, further cementing his status as a bonafide Hollywood star. From there, Rodriguez never took his foot off the gas, prolifically churning out blockbuster after blockbuster and innovating at the boundaries of modern filmmaking technology. Rodriguez’s willingness to dive head-first into seemingly impossible projects has made for some unbelievable adventures in filmmaking. A couple years ago, we had the great pleasure of hearing some of them when we hosted the Austin-based legend in conjunction with a marathon screening of the Mexico Trilogy. Today, we’re thrilled to share the exhilarating conversation with you.
In honor of Austin Pride Month, we asked Curran Nault, author of Queercore: Queer Punk Media Subcultureand the artistic director of Austin’s OUTsider Fest, to tell us about his journey with Queer cinema and make some home viewing recommendations. Read on for some exciting and unexpected streaming suggestions.
Compiling this list of LGBTQIA (“queer”) film recommendations, I am overcome with the options. Coming of age in the 1980s and early 90s, seeing myself on screen was a rare, but cherished, reality. Today, there are gems galore. If you are new to the wild world of queer cinema, I suggest starting with some celebrated contemporaries: TANGERINE (Sean Baker, 2015), MOONLIGHT (Barry Jenkins, 2016), A FANTASTIC WOMAN (Sebastiá Lelio, 2017), PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE (Céline Sciamma, 2019) (side note scoop: Sciamma’s less overtly queer GIRLHOOD just might be the best film of the last decade)…Or, you might take an arthouse adventure with some queer classics: PARIS IS BURNING (Jennie Livingston, 1990), ORLANDO (Sally Potter, 1992), MA VIE EN ROSE (Alain Berliner, 1997), ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER (Pedro Almodovar, 1999), TROPICAL MALADY (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2004) (call OUT: TROPICAL MALADY is wild and weird in the richest senses of these words—an immersive feast for film fans)…And, don’t forget all the queerdos in the indie/underground, like: DYKETACTICS (Barbara Hammer, 1974), LOOKING FOR LANGSTON (Isaac Julien, 1989), NO SKIN OFF MY ASS (Bruce LaBruce, 1991), the shorts of Sadie Benning…
BUT, among the best of the bunch are these five flaming films. Occasionally overlooked, these are deep cuts with outlaw aesthetics and renegade hearts:
In a future society (that looks a lot like our present reality), fierce (BIPOC) feminists band together in badassery to unleash their collective power against an onslaught of racist, patriarchal, capitalist [insert profanity of your choice]. Radical cinema at its most unruly, empowering and, sadly, still relevant. Tune in and get ready for the revolution.
Before “intersectionality” was a buzzword, Marlon Riggs was schooling us all with the powerful poetics of this unconventional and affective documentary. With a pulse of the personal, TONGUES UNTIED delves deep into the traumas and joys that come with being black and gay in the US. This film awakened my conscience on first viewing and has continued to spark my soul with each subsequent screening.
Wild, wacky and queer as punk, GB Jones is the brilliant brain behind queercore: a queer punk movement that ignited an outlaw community of creative queer castaways. Jones’ shorts are hard to find (you can purchase them via VTape). But, if they come to a screen near you, get that punk ass of yours out the door and into that theater seat! I am especially fond of THE TROUBLEMAKERS (1990), a scrappy tale of surveillance and shoplifting, and The YOYO GANG (1992), a DIY delight in which two girl gangs—the “Yo-Yo Gang” and the “Skateboard Bitches”—wage war. That is, until they realize it’s the sexist dudes who are the true devils.
This film, like its tender-hearted lead, is a lovable diamond in the rough. A coming-of-age tale set in an impoverished borough of Manila, young girlyboy Maximo comes into their queerness with the support of a fugitive family and a local policeman—despite the fact that the family and the policeman are at odds, on opposite sides of the law. Heartbreaking and heartfelt, this one’s a treasure to keep real close.
Tsai Ming-liang. I mean, Tsai Ming-liang! This master of mood, affective isolation and stretches of silence that will burrow into your brain is, in my opinion, the un(der)sung cinematic genius of our time. All of his films are worthy of your watch. But this one is, perhaps, the queerest on the surface (although, really, all of his films are queer, in ways both blatant and indirect). I DON’T WANT TO SLEEP ALONE is ostensibly about a man who comes to take care of a migrant day labor that has been beaten and left in the streets. But, like all Tsai’s films, it’s really about the profound alienations and absurdities of life itself. My queen!
Best for last? Well, I should let you decide, as this one’s by my boo. So, yes, I’m biased. But, yes, of course it’s the best. And, extra “bonus,” you can screen it via AFS! This unsettling, but galvanizing, documentary details the 2014 murder of transgender Filipina Jennifer Laude by a US marine—and follows the fearless women who demand justice after her death.
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PS – While I am on the subject of shameless plugs, I have an essay about CALL HER GANDA coming out in the January, 2021 edition of Transgender Studies Quarterly. I have written about MA VIE EN ROSE and THE BLOSSOMING OF MAXIMO OLIVEROS in the anthology, Mediated Girlhoods. And, my book, Queercore: Queer Punk Media Subculture, covers the work of GB Jones and Bruce LaBruce, among others.
There is nothing quite like the mind-bending animations of Marcell Jankovics, a master artist who has been overlooked outside of his native Hungary for far too long. Jankovics’ films bustle with a fluid, expressionistic energy that, combined with vibrating colors and continuously shape-shifting characters, produces nothing less than a lysergic effect. For the highest dose of this mind-altering style, look to the Hungarian origin myth-inspired SON OF THE WHITE MARE (1981), which you may recall was featured on the cover of our pre-pandemic programming calendar at the beginning of this year. Now, thanks to Arbelos Films, you can take this immersive audio-visual trip beginning this Friday, August 21st in our Virtual Cinema – in a truly astonishing 4K restoration.
To celebrate this long-anticipated release, Arbelos Films has provided AFS with an exclusive online premiere of their new restoration of Jankovics’ 1974 short that earned an Oscar nomination. SISYPHUS is an excellent introduction to Jankovics’ flowing animation style. With every pulsating brushstroke, the mythical struggle of Sisyphus becomes viscerally tangible. While this stripped-down, 2 minute black and white film foregoes the vivid colors and expansive visuals that define his features, the short is a minimalist masterclass in the expressive potential of the animated medium.
Without further ado, enjoy SISYPHUS, then grab your munchies and head to our Virtual Cinema on August 21st for SON OF THE WHITE MARE.
This week we announced a special member discount on the Criterion Channel, the streaming service to which we are 100% addicted (you can learn more about the partnership and our member discussion series here). For those just starting out on the channel, AFS Head of Film & Creative Media Holly Herrick has some suggestions, including some rare gems, for the months of July and August.
AUDIENCE (1982) by Barbara Hammer
Part of programmer Nellie Killian’s brilliantly curated feminist “Tell Me” series on Criterion Channel, avant garde icon Barbara Hammer investigates the relationship between art and viewer by destabilizing the artist’s perspective, filming her mostly female, mostly queer audience as they engage with Hammer directly about her work. I loved this film not only because it captured a female subculture that is usually absent in films of the era, but because of pandemic-related theater closures, it reminded me what it’s like to present films to a live audience, and to be a member of one.
CANE RIVER (1982) by Horace Jenkins
Part of our line-up for our first member Criterion Channel discussion (more on that here), CANE RIVER was nearly a ‘lost’ film until the negatives were discovered in the archives of DuArt, and the film was released in theaters just before the pandemic. A sun-drenched chronicle of a romance between a young man from a well-to-do Creole community in rural Louisiana, and a striving student from a nearby working-class town, CANE RIVER’s close-up portrait of a rural pocket of Louisiana is spellbinding. Intrepidly weaving together local history and cultural traditions that influence the lives and choices of the characters, the film also insightfully addresses class and colorism through dynamic performances from the two stunning leads (Richard Romain and Tommye Myrick). After you watch it, sign up for our member discussion about the movie.
L’ENFANCE NUE (1968) by Maurice Pialat
While he was a Palme D’or winner, French iconoclast Maurice Pialat was always somewhat of an industry outsider, which may account for the relative obscurity of some of his meticulously crafted films. In this, his film about a troubled foster child, setting, framing and performance convey a hopeless misalignment of behavior and desire. Pialat’s images are vivid, lush and bitter, and the spiritual connection to the films of John Cassavettes and Pier Paolo Pasolini should be noted, as if you like those films, you’ll like his, too. For the moment, nearly all of his work is streaming on Criterion, and L’ENFANCE NUE is a great place to start.
Five Films by Mati Diop
As the niece of Senegalese master filmmaker Djbril Diop Mambéty, French-Senegalese filmmaker Mati Diop was born into “cinema royalty”. She began her own career as an actor and starred in a string of critically-lauded films, such as Claire Denis’ 35 SHOTS OF RUM, while becoming a director in her own right. She debuted her stunning feature film, ATLANTICS (Netflix), at Cannes last year; but prior to this had a body of remarkable short films that express her interest in desire and self-actualization within globalized contexts. Her short film A THOUSAND SUNS is a particularly fascinating cine-experiment —a docu-fiction following the star of TOUKI BOUKI, Magaye Niang, as he revisits his only major role and the alternate narratives he imagines.
I SHOT JESSE JAMES (1949) by Samuel Fuller
The greatest and noblest battle, for Samuel Fuller’s masculine heroes, is a moral reckoning. Fuller examines Robert Ford’s conscience in this beautifully performed anti-western, mining the modern dilemmas imbedded in the historic narrative. Fuller also opens up the stories of the women too often at the fringes of this tale, and finds these female heroes making weighty existential decisions equal to their male counterparts. This is in the Criterion Channel’s Western Noir collection, which includes some other wonderful titles like Fritz Lang’s RANCHO NOTORIOUS and Robert Wise’s BLOOD ON THE MOON.
MY BROTHERS WEDDING (1983) by Charles Burnett
Part of our line up for our first member Criterion Channel discussion (more on that here), MY BROTHER’S WEDDING is the second feature film by legendary ‘LA Rebellion’ independent filmmaker (and AFS Advisory Board member) Charles Burnett. It’s the story of Pierce, who is stuck working for his family’s dry cleaning business in South Central LA, while his successful brother prepares for marriage into an upper middle-class family. Capturing the community and neighborhood in specific detail, the film is a defining portrait of 80s Los Angeles and yet refreshingly contemporary in its comedic and political notes. MY BROTHER’S WEDDING was a major influence on AFS-supported film MISS JUNETEENTH, and that film’s director, Channing Godfrey Peoples, will join the AFS Discussion Club event as a featured speaker.
THE WATERMELON WOMAN (1996) by Cheryl Dunye
Cheryl Dunye’s debut feature is a genuinely hilarious, viciously sharp, insightful and essential comedy of the 90s. Cheryl (played by Dunye herself to low-key comedy perfection), is a very awkward lesbian video store employee and aspiring filmmaker attempting to get her first film off the ground, about a mysterious, uncredited Black actress in early Hollywood. Along the way, she’s stymied by her nagging sidekick, a worsening crush on a white girl, and of course the trials and tribulations of no-budget filmmaking. If your quarantine taste buds are craving brilliant and substantive comedy, put this one on your list. Added bonus—a selection of wonderful short films by Dunye are also currently streaming.
THE WHITE BALLOON (1995) by Jafar Panahi
A great feature of Criterion Channel is the Saturday Matinée series, which are films you can watch with the whole family. Not only are these good choices for young viewers, but they are perfect for multi-generational gatherings and general audiences. A gem of this section is Jafar Panahi’s THE WHITE BALLOON, which claims it’s place in the canon of great movies about children’s inner lives, alongside Satyajit Ray’s PATHER PANCHALI, Ingmar Bergman’s FANNY AND ALEXANDER and Victor Erice’s THE SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE. Following a little girl on a quest to buy a goldfish in Tehran, the film exalts childhood innocence and human connection.
Today we raise a glass to one of classic Hollywood’s great leading men, William Powell, who was born on July 29th, 1892. Powell rose to fame during the silent era, sharing the screen with superstars like Bebe Daniels, Evelyn Brent, Kay Francis, and “It Girl” Clara Bow (who also deserves a birthday shout-out today). Early in his career he was often typecast as a villain, but off-screen, Powell was known to be exceedingly gentle, kind, and self-effacing. When the transition to talkies came, unlike so many of his contemporaries, Powell’s career further blossomed, owing to his richly resonant voice. His roles quickly shifted, and he was frequently cast as a suave, intelligent leading man.
Eventually Powell would star opposite Myrna Loy in the career-defining Thin Man franchise as the lovable lush Nick Charles. Given that Nick and Nora’s liquor of choice was gin, we felt it would be a fitting tribute to share the AFS Cinema’s delicious twist on the G&T for you to enjoy (responsibly) at home.
The AFS Cinema G&T
2 oz Highborn Gin
0.5 oz Lillet Rose
0.25 oz Lime Juice
2 oz Elderflower Tonic
Add the lime, Lillet, gin and ice to a double rocks glass. Stir until chilled (15 seconds). Top with elderflower tonic (AFS Cinema uses Fever Tree). Gently swizzle. Garnish with a lime wheel, juniper berries, and a sprig of mint.
At the dawn of the 2000s, documentary maverick Errol Morris set his sights on the small screen, granted free-reign by the Bravo Network (and later IFC) to direct a series exploring Morris’ many eclectic interests. First Person seats a wide cross-section of guests in the crosshairs of Morris’ “Interrotron,” his patent filming device that uses a teleprompter-like setup to project the interviewer’s face right over the camera’s lens, giving the audience a first-person perspective as Morris conducts his interviews.
The series is an entertaining foray into Morris’ characteristically unusual, frequently morbid fascinations (Morris’ first film project, after all, was an unfinished study of the PSYCHO inspiration, serial killer Ed Gein). In First Person, interview subjects include a crime scene janitor, a cryogenic immortality advocate, a person who was pen-pals with the Unabomber, and an authority on giant squid. In its nonfiction focus on the sensational and culturally taboo, the series could certainly be seen as an influential precursor to today’s proliferation of true crime podcasts and tv series, but as usual, Morris elevates his interviews beyond the blood and guts to grapple with some overarching societal questions.
Sibling filmmakers Bill and Turner Ross have built a reputation in the nonfiction genre with their keen eye for rich, humanistic details and an exhilarating storytelling flow. Beginning with their auspicious 2009 SXSW hit 45365, which New York Times critic Jeannette Catsoulis called “a beguiling slice of Midwestern impressionism,” the Ross brothers have found universal emotions in unassuming locations. Their latest film, BLOODY NOSE, EMPTY POCKETS (opening this Friday), is both a distillation of their past and a leap into new territory, as they blend narrative and nonfiction techniques to stage, then document, the closing night of a beloved neighborhood bar.
We spoke to them about their unconventional approach, and they shared a fascinating clip reel of classic dive bar cinema that served as a guide during their elaborate pre-production process.
VF: You were in pre-production on this movie for quite awhile, and then shot the entire thing in real time, the 18 hours in which the story itself unfolds. Can you describe what the inside of those 18 hours looked like? felt like?
We prepared copiously for the shoot, pre-producing it much like a fiction film (casting, locations, set dec, shot list, lighting, sound…), with production itself more like a sporting event. Once the thing started we were determined not to break the spell. We wanted the cast of characters to claim ownership of their space and the narrative, responding only to the provided stimuli and each other. That meant Bill and I had to be prepared to capture everything as it happened while also keeping in mind what we needed to capture in order to illustrate the underlying themes, the time of day, the evolution of the space… We had to be incredibly tuned in, and we were. It was winning time.
VF: We love the inspiration reel you made– including scenes from films like BARFLY and THE DEER HUNTER. What were the bars, or bar moments from your own lives that you brought up to each other when creating this?
So much of the film’s inspiration comes from lived experiences and notes written on bar napkins (it’s a theme we referenced in the interstitials throughout). But it’s also an homage to the cinema and art and literature and theater – a whole historical canon of works – that take place in establishments of commiseration. We reference some of these within the film directly through the televisions and set pieces, but also in our colors and textures and title sequences. We’re not the first in this, neither in form nor content, and the whole film is imbued with that sentiment. Underneath that, though, this film is deeply personal.
VF: We have to ask the Texas question– tell us more about what, if anything, you took from Texas filmmaker Eagle Pennell’s iconic and similarly low-budget Texas film about a last night at a beloved bar, LAST NIGHT AT THE ALAMO?
Embarrassingly, we didn’t see Last Night at the Alamo until after we had shot the film. Louis Black sagely sent us a copy after we’d told him what we were up to. It’s an incredible film, a masterful predecessor of mayhem outsider art. What an inspiration.
VF: The movie has many poetic inquiries and avenues to explore, one that seems to come up a lot is whether bars are a cure for loneliness. How would you answer that?
A bar is a certain kind of antidote. So are religion, sports. But the social lubricant in a bar can also lead to loneliness and despair. It’s a quandary. As Bruce said most eloquently, “It’s a place where you can go to when nobody else don’t want your ass.”
