Souled Out Comedy (Jonathan Appel) **
This documentary has a pretty interesting premise. It follows a group of African-American comics who are trying to shed the stereotypical expectations that follow them. For the most part, they avoid vulgarity and raunchiness that is prevalent on the scene. The film is structured as a series of (oddly staged) interviews with each comic interspersed with shots of their routines.
The movie attempts to make a point about how the comedians struggle against these expectations (white audiences expect the worst and stay away, black audiences expect what they're used to and are disappointed). However, the film doesn't show any of these struggles. Not once are they booed off stage or shown performing in front of sparse crowds. The director also picks some bizarre ways to interview his subjects (they're either walking or driving and often seem distracted).
Unfortunately, none of this material is very compelling. Nothing really interesting happens over the course of the film. The routines themselves are often funny, but not so funny that you get the sense they are being held back by stereotypes, but moreso they are just going through the same difficulties that most comics have to deal with. I applaud the sentiment behind the film, but it is just not successfully executed.
Screening on Monday, April 19 @ 945pm and Thursday, April 22 @ 1215pm.
Cropsey (Joshua Zeman, Barbara Brancaccio) ***
Filmmakers Barbara Brancaccio and Joshua Zeman grew up in Staten Island, where as children they were told to beware of the boogeyman named Cropsey who murdered children that wandered too far into the forest. This urban legend turned out to frighteningly close to reality when Andre Rand was arrested for the murders of one of the children that had disappeared. The filmmakers have returned to their hometown as Rand is on trial for the murder of one of the other kids that had gone missing two decades earlier. The film follows the events of the trial, interviewing the key players and exploring the affect it has had on the community.
The film uses some clever techniques to provide a chilling backdrop for what could otherwise be a run of the mill true crime documentary. There is a creepy score, many cuts to eerie footage of the forest, and some truly terrifying footage of an undercover news report that Geraldo Rivera did when he exposed a nearby mental hospital. There's also a disturbing sequence when the film examines a local satanic cult with some odd theories about the case.
The filmmakers deftly handle the multiple aspects of the trial, providing a balanced portrait that is fair to the victims but also casting doubt on the evidence against Rand, including undermining the credibility of the witnesses against him. They never do get an interview with Rand, but they do correspond with him by mail and his increasingly deranged letters are exposed. The chilling mixture of childhood urban legend and present day tragedy makes Cropsey a winner.
Screening Thursday, April 22 @ 940pm.
9500 Liberty (Annabel Park, Eric Byler) ***1/2
This is an intensely powerful political film that details the battle over immigration reform in Prince William County, Virginia. The trouble starts when the county Board of Supervisors considers a resolution targeting illegal aliens that contains broad language including a probable cause mandate allowing officers wide authority to check papers without any evidence of wrongdoing. The film shows how the resolution divided the county on racial lines.
The filmmakers have a very strong argument to make. Regardless of one's feelings on illegal immigration, they demonstrate how hatred and bigotry was a driving factor in the political process. The Board Supervisor Corey Stewart becomes a major champion of the resolution and he shares a disturbing alliance with an extreme right wing blogger. The resolution itself was actually drawn up by a anti-immigration group called FAIR that is considered a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. And there are many, many clips of citizens speaking up at board meetings using inflammatory and at times outright racist language (It is clear that their problem is really with Hispanics, and not so much their immigration status).
The film is also successful at detailing the efforts of the community to combat this injustice. People from all backgrounds come together to attack the resolution and in one of the more powerful moments of the film, they make a strong stand in support of the police chief, whose job is threatened by Stewart after the chief holds a meeting with the community to explain how enforcement would take place. The film shows us how despicable racism can still influence politics in this day and age, but it also shows how a community can use the same political process when they come together to defeat bigotry.
Screening Sunday, April 18 @ 500PM
Dumbstruck (Mark Goffman) ***
One of my favorite types of documentaries that often show up at film festivals are the ones that focus on people with a specialized hobby or passion that seems far from the mainstream. Past festival screenings have included movies about classic arcade games (King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters), Scrabble (Word Wars), and semi-pro baseball (Faded Glory). Dumbstruck is another film in this genre and it follows the lives of five ventriloquists who are at various points in their careers.
The success of a film likes this heavily hinges on the personalities of the subjects that are chosen, and former West Wing writer Mark Goffman has found six engaging individuals. Terry Fator is the star attraction, as we witness his transformation from struggling performer to winner of America's Got Talent to signing a $100 million contract for his Vegas show. Along the way we also meet former beauty queen Kim, nervous 13 year old Dylan, cruise ship performer Dan, and the financially struggling Wilma.
What's really surprising about this film is the sense of community that the ventriloquists have developed. When Wilma is facing a foreclosure on her home, it is donations from her ventriloquist friends that help save it. The film builds to a year end convention which is attended by each of the individuals, including Terry Fator who has now attained celebrity status. Watching the way they bond over their shared craft turned out to actually be a moving portrait of people chasing their dreams.
Screening Sunday, April 18 @ 1200pm and Tuesday, April 20 @ 500pm
Divorcing God (Maggie Sargent) **
Here's an interesting documentary focusing on a sad situation (divorce) that takes a look at what it's like when a devout Christian has to deal with it. The idea is good and the central subject certainly sympathetic. The problem is the director's inability (or unwillingness) to cover all sides of the situation, and thus we are only left with half a story.
Gil and Sydney are devout Christians so firm in their belief that they don't even believe in kissing before marriage. They stay true to this belief through their engagement and eventually get married. Sadly, only a few months after their wedding Sydney is seeking a separation. Gil strongly believes that divorce is wrong and that God meant for him to be with her. He stays true to this belief although it appears to be a lost cause.
The biggest problem is that we don't hear from Sydney much at all until the very end of the movie, where she has a tearful monologue about feeling ostracized because of her decision. Without getting more info from her, it feels like an incomplete film. It's hard not to feel bad for Gil as he is presented in the film, but we never really know what happened. At one point, Gil feels the need to point out that it was his idea they didn't kiss before marriage. The film (via the harsh title) seems to suggest that she wasn't as strong a believer as he was, but perhaps there was more to the story.
Screening Saturday, April 17 @ 210pm.
Alley Pat: The Music is Recorded (Tom Roche) ***1/2
James "Alley Pat" Patrick was an Atlanta-based black DJ who gained notoriety in the 50s for his blunt, sometimes shocking commentary. He had no editor and never thought twice about what he was going to say. Yet it was these qualities that helped him gain a loyal following throughout the decade and become an important figure in the civil rights movement. Utilizing seemingly unlimited access to tapes of Patrick's shows, Director Tom Roche's film follows his career and provides an honest and funny portrait of this very interesting man.
One of the most interesting aspects of Alley Pat's radio show was how he utilized sponsorships. He was a savvy businessman and was able to get "ads" sold directly to him. But unlike the modern radio hosts worshipping the products they are endorsing, he would aoften denigrate the product. For example, for a local auto repair shop he said, "if they don't do it right the first time, they'll do it again". He would denigrate restaurants and other businesses, but was still able to get sponsors because people would flock to these establishments just because Alley Pat mentioned them. Other memorable parts of the radio show included his confrontational interviews with local pastors and a frequent female caller who always claimed to have just slept with him.
The most memorable aspect of the film comes near the end when Roche focuses on Patrick's friendship with civil rights icon Hosea Williams. The two often directly challenged one another with humorous insults on several talk show appearances, but behind the scenes they were inseparable. When Hosea Williams dies, Patrick is called to speak at his memorial service at Ebenezer Baptist Church. The speech he gives is a hilariously politically incorrect and moving testament to who his late friend realy was. We also find out some of the hidden things Patrick did during the civil rights movement, such as bailing out civil rights leaders. This is a very good film because it is directly honest and extremely funny, the same exact qualities that made Alley Pat such a success.
Screening Saturday, April 17 @ 700pm and Tuesday, April 20 @ 245pm.
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