Film in the West
New West Pick: Documentary Film Festival
Big Sky Film: “The Drug Years” Gives the ‘60s a Fresh Look
I like to tell my composition students that the narration on "The Wonder Years” strikes the sort of nostalgic, reflective, humorous tone they should aspire to as they think about the 750-word memoir unit. You know: "As I watched my sister drive off in her VW bus, I felt a little piece of my innocence slip away ... turn, turn, turn..."
On the other hand, too many made-for-TV documentaries about drugs and the counterculture in the late '60s aspire to much the same thing: that "Wonder Years” tone -- too tidy, too compact, too sentimental, too simplified. If you weren't there, you grow up thinking about flower power, the Haight-Ashbury, the First Human Be-In and so forth in rose-tinted terms because they're so often presented that way. Everyone wants a piece of Woodstock; no one wants to claim Altamont.
The Drug Years, a four-part co-production between Perry Films, VH1 and the Sundance Channel, goes some distance toward, if not a radical re-imagining of the decade, then at least the inclusion of some younger, fresher voices.
Editor's Note: "The Drug Years" is one of NewWest.Net's top picks for the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, which opens Feb. 15 at the Wilma Theater. "The Drug Years," part of the special presentations program at the festival, shows on Saturday, Feb. 17 at 1:40 p.m. in Wilma 2. Check back to www.newwest.net/bsdff for more NewWest.Net picks this week and coverage of the festival.
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New West Pick: Documentary Film Festival
Big Sky Film: ‘Silences’ Blurs Line Between Subject, Object
The line between subject and object is getting skinnier and skinnier in this crazy, mixed-up, postmodern world, and people like Octavio Warnock-Graham are doing little to rectify the problem.
Warnock-Graham is the writer, director and producer of Silences, a 20-minute entry in the Documentary Short competition at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival opening this week at the Wilma. He also is the movie’s star -- or, more accurately, "subject" -- alongside his mother, Harriet Warnock. We know this because moments after an intro montage of the idyllic suburbia of Maumee, Ohio, Warnock-Graham turns his camera on his mother and asks "Do you know what this is about?" She fumbles the answer and he interjects, "It’s about you and me."
As evidenced by the family photo that graces the movie’s DVD cover and website, Warnock-Graham is clearly not white. And at 36 years old, he’s decided to uncover the truth about his heritage once and for all.
Editor's Note: "Silences" is one of NewWest.Net's picks featured this week to help you plan for the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, which opens Feb. 15 at the Wilma Theater. Click here for the trailer for the film. "Silences" plays at the festival Sunday, Feb. 18 at 5:15 p.m. in a series of shorts screenings with Dig, Memento, a Boulder Life Line, My Name is Ahmed Ahmed and In the Glow.
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bold words in bingen
CGEC Presents “America: Freedom To Fascism” in Bingen, Wa.
Editor’s note: Guest writer Mark Capps is the event organizer for the Columbia Gorge Earth Center’s Film and Lecture Series.
The CGEC launches the new season with a free presentation of Aaron Russo’s new film "America: Freedom To Fascism”. The public is invited to attend the screening on Monday, Feb. 12th at 7:00 PM at the Solstice Wood Café (formerly Red Fish) in Bingen, Washington. An open discussion will follow the screening and due to the controversial nature of the film, the discussion is expected to be quite lively.
The film makes the case that America is moving headlong into a fascist police state and that this state of affairs is the result of two of the most profound changes in American history...
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Faith, Hope and Flick
Interfaith Week with the Salt Lake City Film CenterTo mark the beginning of interfaith week in Utah, The Salt Lake City Film Center will be screening the documentary Secrets of Mary Magdalene. The documentary, which is actually a companion piece to the book of the same name, discusses Mary Magdalene and her role in theology, legend and myth. The film will be accompanied by a discussion with contributing author, Maxine Hanks. The screening will be held at 1:00pm at Salt Lake City's downtown public library on Sunday, February 4th and is free and open to the public.
January 25th Premiere of “Catch and Release” sells out at Boulder Theater
Boulder Loves Hollywood…As Long As We Still Get To Bed By TenI love it. The invitation to the pre-party event to the premiere of Boulder’s very own “Catch and Release” movie starring Jennifer Garner (Alias) and Tim Oliphant (Deadwood) and directed by Susannah Grant (screenplay for Erin Brokovich) clearly stated the dress code as cocktail attire. And try as we may, Boulderites just couldn’t get it together for our moment of fame. Yes—there were some cute, strappy black dresses and the occasional trendy men’s jackets but overall the masses of attendees were wearing Boulder business casual or full on jeans, Patagonia jacket and sensible Dansko clogs. I tried to break the mold with my short black skirt complete with sexy knee boots and a red knit sleeveless turtleneck. However I must confess that I fell far short of red carpet material. But who cares? Boulder sold the house and we packed the Boulder Theater, all to cheer on our hometown. [more]
written in iambic pentameter
A Wild West Fascist Vampire Film
We'll be following the filming of "The Sanguinarian", a locally produced movie which proposes to use the language of Shakespeare and other techniques that make you say WHAAAT??? to tell a unique story of bigotry, hate, fascism, survival and redemption.
At Film Day at the Idaho Statehouse, characters in costume competed for the crowd's attention.
Here's one who caught the eye of corset fans of all ages. For a bigger photo, hit "more."
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Local currency, big ideas
GLCC Catches Filmmaker’s EyeGorge Local Currency Cooperative will hold a potluck Friday, February 2nd at Acre Coffee. This is an opportunity for member networking, public education, and discussion of "the moneyshot," a documentary by Alan Rosenblith, segments of which will be filmed in the Gorge.
The mechanics of local currency may seem complicated. But how many of us actually understand the intricacies of the Federal Reserve System? It is often easy to confuse simplicity with familiarity.
Not surprisingly, the highly successful RiverHOURS cooperative network, with over fifty local member businesses and a newspaper/trade directory published quarterly, have attracted both national and international attention. Most recently, independent filmmaker Alan Rosenblith.
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2007 Sundance Film Festival Begins
The Sundance KidThe first time I attended the Sundance Film Festival in Park City it was 1995. I was 20 years old, living in Idaho with a serious film addiction and a wicked crush on the actor Tim Roth. My best friend suggested it, “Hey why don’t we go to Sundance?” she asked. I’ve never been very adventurous especially when it comes to travel and spending money, so I was hesitant, but why not? When the catalog (yes, in the days before the interweb we had to do things like request catalogs…made of paper!!!! and came in the mail!!!)...so, when the catalog arrived we read it cover to cover; each of us clutching our own copy to our respective chests, highlighters in our hands.
We wanted to see everything; being only 20 we didn’t know the meaning of pretentious yet, or even boring. If it was on film, we wanted to see it. But, with only $100 a piece to spend we had to choose carefully, meticulously. First and foremost there was a Tim Roth movie, a sleepy picture about a family and two brothers and how the older brother is a criminal, but the younger brother looks up to the crook brother and of course wackiness ensues; it was called Little Odessa. Next of course would be a Christopher Walken film: Search and Destroy…and so on from there. All of our choices carefully plotted out to spot the maximum amount of our obscure movie-star crushes. Oh yes and of course to celebrate the art of independent filmmaking, or whatever.
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When does judgement override elated powder turns?
Avalanche Film Probes Choice, Consequence and Snow Science
It was New Years Day.
A group of close friends were enjoying the best way they knew to christen the beautiful crisp winter’s day: a backcountry ski tour.
Equipped with the knowledge, the gear and the insight into the current avalanche conditions, the Centennials Mountains held what seemed to be a perfect day. Instead, it held a single event that would change their lives forever.
The film premier, A Dozen More Turns, showing Wednesday night at the Emerson Theater, is a story that a thousand people could tell, but it’s the other people that got lucky.
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New West MVP Events
Ottawa Animation Festival Lands in Missoula
The Ottawa International Animation Festival got its start in 1976 and thirty years later it’s still running strong. The festival took place back in September but now the best of the festival is going on tour. Out of the handful of U.S. cities that the festival will be stopping at, Missoula got the nod to host this one-of-a-kind event. This is great for Missoula considering some of the other cities were New York, Austin and Cleveland. I don’t know how we do it, but we keep on getting the goods in this town. [more]
