FPC will also host a related Bread for the World workshop led by the Lehigh County Conference of Churches’ Justice and Advocacy Team on April 27. Feel free to download this poster and share!

Related articles

• The Dude at The Table (portlandfarmersmarket.wordpress.com)
• Bread for the World’s photostream (heartsonnet.wordpress.com)

Dir. Kristi Jacobson and Lori Silverbush
(2013, PG, 84 minutes)

A Place at the Table was not made explicitly as a follow-up to Food Inc., but it functions well as one. Food Inc., from 2009, explored how the food industry has transformed over the last 50 years, with big businesses promoting profits over safety and sustainability, and getting government subsidies that keep soft drinks more affordable than fruits and vegetables. While that film approached America’s food problem at an institutional level, A Place at the Table is more personal. By profiling a few individuals from diverse communities, directors Kristi Jacobson and Lori Silverbush empathetically illustrate how 50 million Americans are food insecure, even though the country produces more than enough food to feed every citizen. So what’s the problem?

It’s money, of course. The hunger crisis is really an economic crisis. Most of those who are food insecure are in working households but don’t earn enough to make ends meet; the aforementioned government subsidies make unhealthy food cheaper and businesses distribute those products much more widely, thus driving up health care costs for those who consume it; and food stamps don’t cover much, if you qualify at all.

The myth of the meritocracy paints America as a country of a few “job-creators” who “built that” and an underclass that “takes.” What this film does especially well is humanize some of those takers, who would pull themselves up by their bootstraps if only our nation’s economic policies weren’t standing on their feet. Consider an infuriating scene in which struggling women, representing the advocacy group Witnesses to Hunger, address their concerns to a Congressional committee, and most of the seats are empty. Later, when extra money is authorized for school lunch programs, it’s paid for by cuts to food stamps, which is like robbing Peter to pay Paul.

It’s more difficult to write off a large number of Americans when you’re shown the practical realities of their lives, from Barbie, a single mother in Philadelphia who finds a steady but low-paying job, loses her food stamps, and thus struggles to provide for her family as much as she did before; or a Colorado community where a young girl, Rosie, struggles to concentrate at school because she hasn’t eaten and depends on charitable deliveries from her teacher. Some believe that if we provide too much aid the poor will lose their incentive to succeed, but if you’re spending all your energy trying to scrape together enough for three meals a day – or two, or hopefully at least one – that doesn’t leave much time to become productive members of society.

The reasons are many and varied as A Place at the Table points out. The documentary goes to Collbran, CO; Jonestown, MS and Philadephia, PA to show real people and their difficulties obtaining a nutritious diet.

The two school-age girls in Mississippi and Colorado and the young single mom in Philly are the central characters in the film. Their problems, as depicted, are heartbreaking. The single mom, for instance, finally gets a job, but her pay, which disqualifies her for food stamps she had been receiving, is not high enough to feed her two kids and pay for daycare.

A Place at the Table features celebrities. Actor Jeff Bridges offers his thoughts about the nation’s food problems and mentions Hidden in America, a TV movie from 1996 that starred his brother Beau as a member of the “working poor.”

Top Chef’s Tom Colicchio appears to talk about his efforts as a hunger activist. His wife, Lori Silverbush, is co-director of APATT with Kristi Jacobson.

As do many advocacy films, A Place at the Table offers certain statistics and declarations without sufficient attribution. And, ironically, some of the people described as victims of hunger are, in fact, obese.

While the film encourages a variety of government actions to correct shortcomings, it is not an overly political film. Yes, Michelle Obama has a cameo, but APATT does not engage in bashing of any particular party or administration.

The film does takes aim at the US Department of Agriculture’s price supports, which APATT claims are inordinately high for commodity crops (corn, soybeans, etc.) but low for growers of more nutritious fruits and vegetables. The result is healthy fruits and veggies are too costly and limited funds (and food stamps) go toward less healthy foods that provide more calories for the buck.

The film’s highlights include many upbeat moments: a Colorado church offering a free hot meal each week to any and all, a group of Mississippi school kids learning to prefer honeydew melon as a snack over junk food, the Philadelphia mom sharing her pride in her accomplishments.

A Place at the Table brings attention to vital concerns and offers suggestions for improving conditions in America. But will it reach those persons who can affect change?

In addition to its theatrical run, the movie will be available starting March 1 for download on iTunes. By the way, APATT features cool music from The Civil Wars and T-Bone Burnett.

Take time, too, to read the early comments to the brief interview – enlightening…..

In past posts I’ve written about the big picture of hunger – the right to food as a human right, the need to rethink agricultural policy and U.S. investments in research, hunger as an education issue and the need to move from stopgap to holistic policy to cope with what is, after all, a solvable human condition.

A Place at the Table presents the “why” of the dilemma.  It tells the real-life stories of children and families trapped in the poverty cycle, mainstream Americans trying to earn a living and to learn.  These are good hard-working people who are the collateral damage of a broken system.

The documentary includes the voices of and views of experts, including a sociologist, a nutrition policy leaders and an author, along with the experiences of a pastor, teachers and activists. Food insecurity is a huge problem that has an impact on everyone because the social, economic, economic and education implications are profound throughout society.

As most Minnesotans know by now, March is Minnesota FoodShare Month.  We work together to support the immediate needs of people who depend on the agencies, from major state institutions to local places of worship.  We share food and funds as well as awareness campaigns focus on the tragic fact that families in our community are going hungry through no fault of their own – and that we can help.

We also need to face the fact that we as a nation have within our purview the resources to solve this problem.  It’s complicated.  It will take collaboration among players with adversarial agendas.  It will take time.  It will mean that we will have to reexamine our basic belief in the right to food.  It will mean deconstructing a complex system that meets the voracious wants of some at the expense of the basic needs of others.  It may require retooling processing, shifting the research agenda, thinking in global as well as local terms.

A Place at the Table may possibly get the conversation started, especially if people of good will take time to listen to the preview and see the film.  Though its first run is in the theaters, the film will  no doubt travel a mix of digital routes in short order.

A heartbreaking and undeniably one of the most important films of the Hot Docs film festival, Finding North explores the existence of the working poor and the fact that 49 million people go hungry in the United States.

With the rise of corporate agriculture receiving the majority of government subsidies and the class divide growing between the poor and the under-taxed rich, a once great nation (and possibly a great one again should they wake up before its too late) is stumbling and sacrificing their own future by ignoring the most important resource their children and their citizens.

The film spans America following rural and urban families, some unemployed some with parents working more than one job, and no one making enough to survive on.

Instead of being a stinging indictment on government and corporate policy, the filmmakers instead illustrate poignantly the conditions and existence of those people money-hungry companies and corporate funded governments have chosen to ignore.
It illustrates food banks, food stamps, the school lunch and breakfast programs, and the requirements to be eligible for them, and how the difference of two dollars pay can get you kicked off the program.

Despite that, the film remains steadfastly objective sharing the statistical facts and illustrating the subjects’ existence. The country, undeniably one of the richest in the world, is flush with food, real food, not the cheap processed food, which is all some of these families can afford and which leads to an increase of obesity, and yet they cannot feed their own people.

Speaking as someone who has survived weeks at a time on nothing more than a box of honey comb cereal and a jar of peanut butter because I wasn’t making enough to cover my rent and buy groceries, I can say that this phenomenon is real and needs to be addressed.

The film shows how since 1980 the price of processed food (produced by corporate agriculture – chips, snacks, cookies, etc.) has gone down, while fruits and vegetables have gone up 40% in price – a leading cause of obesity because the working poor can no longer afford healthy food, they have to buy what they can and make it last as long as possible, so of course you’re going to shop cheap!

It’s time for a wake-up for America, and by extension the world. It’s time to stop thinking of the individual, it’s time to think of the country, the world, the species.

We can be better, the efforts of many people in this film profoundly illustrates that.

So why are those in power, those with the ability to make things better not doing so…

Finding North screens again Thursday May 3 at 1:00pm at the Isabel Bader Theater and Saturday May 5 at 1:30pm at the ROM.

By far my favourite and most surprising was Finding North, a movie by Kristi Jacobson and Lori Silverbush.

The movie has hunger as its theme and whilst initially I wasn’t too ‘interested’ the story just blew me away – I certainly didn’t realise that something like 49 million US citizens are in a situation called Food Insecurity, a term which means that these people have no idea where or when there next meal will come from which is outrageous for a superpower.

The movie ran three stories, each beautifully told and heartbreaking at the same time. It’s definitely worth seeking out as were the other two movies; Chasing Ice and The House I Live In.

Chasing Ice was about climate change and the effect of green house gases on glaciers – all captured on time lapse cameras. To see the rate at which these glaciers are disappearing was a real shock – you hear about it on the news and read it in paper but having now seen it with my own eyes, well I’m convinced.

The House I Live In was about America’s failed War on Drugs and locking people up, many of whom were non-white (when all sections of society use) and the boom in private prisons – this was tough watch and for me it really did show that the War is lost and a new approach is needed.

It’s nuts knowing that the US spends over a trillion dollars in the fight against drugs, which it isn’t winning whilst at the same time it’s children and families are starving, its a crazy mucked up place!

Anyway, the first film of the day was the one I had been most intrigued by when I picked my screenings a few weeks back.  An Oversimplification of her Beauty directed by Terence Nance, is the most visually striking off all the films I have watched this weekend. A bold combination of digital, film and animation (that is blended together with skill that a lot of more experienced filmmakers would struggle to emulate) results in a beautiful film. It’s not all about looks though as the film does contain a strong albeit non-linear narrative led by a strong voice over track. A touching and personal film which highlights this first time feature film director as an artist to watch in future. Sadly though there are no plans for UK distribution currently, so it may be a while before it sees the light of day on our shores.

Straight out of that screening and into the next, and despite my comments last night this film was another documentary. Finding North directed by Lori Silverbush and Kristi Jacobson, is a well made and balanced piece about the large amounts of people living in food poverty in America. The film although looking at the problems in US still has something we can learn from in the UK so it felt a little more relevant than last night’s documentary. Also I feel the filmmakers should be applauded for not falling back on using an emotive narrator. The people they picked to represent the issue are more than strong enough personalities to get the point across and having Jeff Bridges on your side can’t fail to help matters. Not that using a narrator is anyone bad but I think it shows the effort the filmmakers went to deliver their message through the afflicted people rather than just celebrity voiceover.

The final film of today and of the festival was Shut Up and Play the Hits directed by Will Lovelace and Dylan Southern. I will admit more than a little bias on this one, the film is a rockumentary/gig movie focused on LCD Soundsytem’s final gig in Madison Square Garden. Being a massive fan of the band and having seen them live I deliberately saved this film until last. Despite my love of the band I can honestly say the film is excellent. I have never felt the atmosphere of a concert better reflected on a cinema screen, credit to camera work which really brings the gig to life on the screen. The songs are interspersed with documentary narrative scenes of James Murphy (lead singer) reflecting on whether or not it was the right time to end the band. As a result the film packs an emotional as well an entertaining punch. Very highly recommended even if you have not heard the band before!

Ok so that’s all the films dealt with, what about the festival as a whole? Well the films were of very high standard and I can genuinely say that enjoyed every film I watched. However it would have been nice if all of the films from Sundance US had been brought over to the UK rather than the fourteen they came across with. It seems odd to cherry pick only fourteen when they had more to choose from. Perhaps this is just because I hoped to see Simon Killer and Indie Game: The Movie but it’s worth the organisers looking at bringing more films next year.

My only other observation is that it would have been nice to have a venue that felt like it was just for Sundance and where there was more going on between screenings. The bar was all well and good but it felt like a bit of a token effort and certainly not worth the asking price of the credential required to get in. And with the exception of the yellow hooded volunteers (more on them in a minute) dotted around the O2 you wouldn’t have know Sundance was on when outside of the cinema screens. Perhaps look at getting the BFI Southbank next year?

Finally a massive thanks to the above mentioned volunteers, you guys deserve the party I hope you are all still having!

That’s it from me, hope you all enjoyed reading, if there is anything I haven’t covered feel free to question me in the comments box. I’m off to see Avengers so keep an eye out for updates and perhaps even an introduction from my elusive colleague later in the week!

My heart is very heavy today. With all the excitement of Sundance London comes the crushing disappointment that I can’t go this year. But, for all of you who can or are going, the line-up for the first ever Sundance London has been announced. And it’s a bit of a cracker.

Held from the 26th-29th April (yep, next month), London’s O2 will be chockfull of music, panels, discussions and, most importantly, movies. And Robert actual Redford is going to be there, opening with ‘An Evening With Robert Redford And T Bone Burnett’ moderated by Nick Hornby. And Placebo are just one of the bands that have been announced so far. Remember when I told you my heart was heavy today…?! It’s an absolutely brilliant move, bringing it to London, and gives us (well, not me this year) a chance to see the films that we’ve heard so much about since the Americans had their Sundance in Park City, Utah, back in January.

14 of the 120 films shown in Park City will be shown in London and, although it’s a real shame Surrogates isn’t in there, it’s great to see such a brilliant selection of documentaries. Check out the full line-up below (all of the film descriptions are taken from the Sundance website, here):

2 Days In New York – Director: Julie Delpy

“Marion and Mingus live cozily—perhaps too cozily—with their cat and two young children from previous relationships. However, when Marion’s jolly father (played by director Delpy’s real-life dad), her oversexed sister, and her sister’s outrageous boyfriend unceremoniously descend upon them for a visit, it initiates two unforgettable days that will test Marion and Mingus’s relationship. With their unwitting racism and sexual frankness, the French triumvirate hilariously has no boundaries or filters . . . and no person is left unscathed in its wake.

Directed and cowritten by Delpy, 2 Days in New York is a deliciously witty romp. One of the pleasures of this follow-up film to 2 Days in Paris is the addition of Chris Rock, who—amid the Gallic mayhem—convincingly plays the straight man as Marion’s hipster American boyfriend. With great skill and energy, Delpy heightens cultural differences to comedic extremes but also manages to show that sometimes change is the best solution to a relationship that’s been pushed to its limit.”

Chasing Ice – Director: Jeff Orlowski

“Chasing Ice premiered in the U.S. Documentary Competition at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and received the Excellence in Cinematography Award.

When National Geographic photographer James Balog asked, “How can one take a picture of climate change?” his attention was immediately drawn to ice. Soon he was asked to do a cover story on glaciers that became the most popular and well-read piece in the magazine during the last five years. But for Balog, that story marked the beginning of a much larger and longer-term project that would reach epic proportions.

In this breathtakingly beautiful documentary, filmmaker Jeff Orlowski follows the indomitable photographer as he brings to life the Extreme Ice Survey (EIS) – a massive photography project that placed 30 cameras across three continents to gather visual evidence of the Earth’s melting ice. Chasing Ice tells the story of a visionary artist who, in facing his own mortality, bequeaths the magic of photography and the adventure of the expedition to a new generation and captures the most visible sign of climate change on the planet today.

Award Winner
2012 Sundance Film Festival Excellence in Cinematography Award for U.S. Documentary.”

Filly Brown – Directors: Youssef Delara and Michael D. Olmos

““Majo” Tonorio, a.k.a. Filly Brown, is a raw, young Los Angeles hip-hop artist who spits from the heart. When a sleazy record producer offers her a crack at rap stardom, Majo faces some daunting choices. With an incarcerated mother, a record contract could be the ticket out for her struggling family. But taking the deal means selling out her talent and the true friends who helped her to the cusp of success.

A portrait of an artist forced to discover her authentic voice, Filly Brown percolates with the raw energy of hope sprung from desperation. Directed with tenacious grit by Youssef Delara and Michael Olmos, propelled by an exceptional cast, and fused with a fierce hip-hop score, Filly Brown heralds the arrival of Gina Rodriguez in the title role. A dazzling new star, Rodriguez not only lights up the screen, but she could conquer the airwaves as well.”

Finding North – Directors: Kristi Jacobson and Lori Silverbush

“Finding North premiered in the U.S. Documentary Competition at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and features music by T Bone Burnett.

America has lost its way in taking care of its own. The shocking fact is that one in six Americans doesn’t get enough to eat on a regular basis. Even more disturbing is the fact that this new face of hunger is largely invisible. There are no breadlines in the streets, but increasing numbers of soup kitchens and food banks are feeding people who – though employed full-time – can’t make ends meet.

Finding North unveils the human stories behind the statistics: a rancher juggling two jobs and a small-town policeman rely on food pantries to survive between paychecks; a single working mom can’t afford consistent meals for her children; a short-order cook must travel more than an hour to purchase fruits and vegetables.

As it unravels the real societal costs and applies transparency to the causes of this hunger crisis in the richest country in the world, Kristi Jacobson and Lori Silverbush’s bracing film explores ways that we as a nation can correct this alarming and unnecessary state of affairs.”

For Ellen – Director: So Yong Kim

“After an overnight long-distance drive, Joby (Paul Dano) has a special meeting – with lawyers and his ex-wife. A struggling musician with the prerequisite tattoos, slimy hair, goatee, and his head firmly floating in the clouds, Joby hasn’t been around to be a dad. Now is his last chance to fight for shared custody of his daughter, Ellen.

Writer/director So Yong Kim takes this traditional situation and fills it with humanism. Joby becomes a fascinating character study – a wannabe rock star now turned into a human being – forced to care about something other than his dreams. Kim’s subtle filmmaking style captures real life and conveys emotion in both funny and touching ways. Dano takes a character we are used to laughing at and makes him genuine, completely immersing us in Joby’s journey to respectability, even though he may not make it there.”

The House I Live In – Director: Eugene Jarecki

“The House I Live In premiered in the U.S. Documentary Competition at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and received the Grand Jury Prize for U.S. Documentary, marking Eugene Jarecki’s second Grand Jury Prize at the Festival.

Eugene Jarecki’s seminal film Why We Fight dissected the underbelly of the American war machine. Now, with scalpel-like precision, Jarecki turns his lens on a less visible war – one that is costing more lives, destroying more families, and quickly becoming a scourge on the soul of American society. In the past 40 years, the War on Drugs has accounted for 45 million arrests, made America the world’s largest jailer, and destroyed impoverished communities at home and abroad. Yet drugs are cheaper, purer, and more available today than ever. Where did we go wrong, and what can be done?

Comprehensive in scope, heart wrenching in its humanity, and brilliant in its thesis, Jarecki’s new film grabs viewers and shakes them to their core. The House I Live In is not only the definitive film on the failure of America’s drug war, but it is also a masterpiece filled with hope and the potential to effect change. This film is surely destined for the annals of documentary history.”

Liberal Arts – Director: Josh Radnor

“Liberal Arts debuted in the Premieres section at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, and was Radnor’s second film to screen at the Festival in three years.

Newly single, 35, and uninspired by his job, Jesse Fisher worries that his best days are behind him. But no matter how much he buries his head in a book, life keeps pulling Jesse back. When his favourite college professor invites him to campus to speak at his retirement dinner, Jesse jumps at the chance. He is prepared for the nostalgia of the dining halls and dorm rooms, the parties and poetry seminars; what he doesn’t see coming is Zibby – a beautiful, precocious, classical-music-loving sophomore. Zibby awakens scary, exciting, long-dormant feelings of possibility and connection that Jesse thought he had buried forever.

The multitalented Josh Radnor returned to the Sundance Film Festival (happythankyoumoreplease won the 2010 dramatic Audience Award), wearing three hats. As writer, director, and star of Liberal Arts, Radnor could teach a master class in filmmaking. Given that his engaging co-star is Elizabeth Olsen, the master class here is one in chemistry between two exceptional actors.”

LUV – Director: Sheldon Candis

“Woody, an adorable 11-year-old boy awaiting the return of his missing mother, lives with his grandmother and Uncle Vincent, who is fresh off an eight-year prison stint. For Woody, the confident, charismatic Vincent is a titan among men. When Vincent notices that Woody could learn a thing or two about becoming a man, he brings him along as he ventures forth to open his own business. But when legit life fails to support Vincent’s vision, and his old Baltimore crime boss, Mr. Fish, haunts him, the pace of little Woody’s manhood lesson accelerates.

Beautiful, bold, and confident, Sheldon Candis’s auspicious debut feature transforms the standard gangster film into a warm and radiant coming-of-age story that humanizes complex situations through characters motivated by love, rather than pride. Brought to life by a brilliant cast, including Danny Glover, Charles Dutton, and Meagan Good, LUV is a lion-hearted tale about virtue as it shines through a complicated slice of black male life in Baltimore.”

Nobody Walks – Director: Ry Russo-Young

“Nobody Walks premiered in the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and received the Special Jury Prize for Excellence in Independent Film Producing. The script was developed, in part, at the 2010 Sundance Institute Screenwriters Lab and the project was supported through the 2010 Creative Producing Lab and Summit.

Martine, a 23-year-old artist from New York, arrives in Los Angeles to stay in the pool house of a family living in the hip and hilly community of Silver Lake. Peter, the father, has agreed to help Martine complete sound design on her art film as a favour to his wife. Martine innocently enters the seemingly idyllic life of this open-minded family with two kids and a relaxed Southern California vibe. Like a bolt of lightning, her arrival sparks a surge of energy that awakens suppressed impulses in everyone and forces them to confront their own fears and desires.

Exquisitely orchestrated by Ry Russo-Young (You Won’t Miss Me screened at the 2009 Festival) and co-written by Lena Dunham (Tiny Furniture), this potent charting of inner urges and sufferings links characters in an intricate dance of lust, denial, and deception. Despite their issues, each comes across as fundamentally human, urging viewers to appraise the characters’ morality by evaluating their own motives. Sexually charged and rigorously composed, Nobody Walks boasts an impressive cast who deliver incisive performances in this absorbing tale.

Awards:
2012 Sundance Film Festival U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Prize for Excellence in Independent Film Producing (Andrea Sperling and Jonathan Schwartz).”

An Oversimplification Of Her Beauty – Director: Terence Nance

“An Oversimplification of Her Beauty premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival in the New Frontier category, a section that celebrates the convergence of film, art, and new media technologies as a hotbed for cinematic innovation. The film has since screened at the International Film Festival Rotterdam and MoMA’s New Directors New Films.

You’ve just arrived home after a bad day. You’re broke and lonely, even though you live in the biggest and busiest city in America. You do, however, have one cause for mild optimism: you seem to have captured the attention of an intriguing young lady. You’ve rushed home to clean your apartment before she comes over. In your haste, you see that you’ve missed a call. There’s a voice mail; she tells you that she won’t be seeing you tonight.

With arresting insight, vulnerability, and a delightful sense of humour, Terence Nance’s explosively creative debut feature, An Oversimplification of Her Beauty, documents the relationship between Nance and a lovely young woman as it teeters on the divide between platonic and romantic. Nance creates an exquisite tapestry of live action and various styles of animation to delve deeply into his own young male psyche as he sweats and stretches toward maturity. The result is an exciting and original film that announces the arrival of a bright new cinematic talent.”

The Queen Of Versailles – Director: Lauren Greenfield

“The Queen of Versailles premiered in the U.S. Documentary Competition at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and received the U.S. Directing Award for Documentary. Sundance Institute  provided creative support for the film at the 2011 Creative Producing Summit.

With the epic dimensions of a Shakespearean tragedy, The Queen of Versailles follows billionaires Jackie and David’s rags-to-riches story to uncover the innate virtues and flaws of the American dream. We open on the triumphant construction of the biggest house in America, a sprawling, 90,000-square-foot mansion inspired by Versailles. Since a booming time-share business built on the real-estate bubble is financing it, the economic crisis brings progress to a halt and seals the fate of its owners. We witness the impact of this turn of fortune over the next two years in a riveting film fraught with delusion, denial, and self-effacing humor.

Lauren Greenfield instinctively knows what questions to ask, when to ask them, and, more importantly, where to put her camera to mine this overflowing treasure of events. She constructs a series of glowing metaphors to concoct a fascinating character study of parents, children, pets, and household employees as their privileged existence turns upside down. The end result is a portrait of a couple who dared to dream big but lose, still maintaining their unique brand of humility.

Award Winner:
2012 Sundance Film Festival U.S. Directing Award: Documentary.”

Safety Not Guaranteed – Director: Colin Trevorrow

“Safety Not Guaranteed premiered in the US Dramatic Competition at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, and received the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award.

Three magazine employees are sent to investigate a personal advertisement placed in the newspaper: guy seeking partner for time travel. They venture to the coast and set up a haphazard surveillance. Darius is recruited as the shill; her dry wit and cynical nature are perfectly suited to trap this enigmatic oddball, Kenneth, and get a good story. But it is she who first sees past the paranoid loner façade to the compelling person inside. The drawback? This still doesn’t rule out the possibility that he just might be crazy.

Colin Trevorrow has woven an ingenious tale: a modern version of the classic madcap romantic comedy. Clever dialogue and outlandish antics, peppered with misfit characters – each one charming yet flawed – are wrapped in a love story tingling with the tantalizing possibility of time travel. In a world where moments are fleeting and soul mates are scarce, it seems that even the simple act of falling in love is never safe.

Award Winner:

Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award”

SHUT UP AND PLAY THE HITS – Directors: Dylan Southern and Will Lovelace

“SHUT UP AND PLAY THE HITS premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival in the Park City at Midnight category.

With the release of their debut album in 2005, New York City’s LCD Soundsystem changed the face of dance music, combining equal parts punk, soul, and disco. Their devoted fan base steadily grew, bolstered by Grammy nominations and recognition as one of the best live bands in the world. In early 2011, touring to support their first Billboard Top 10 debut, LCD Soundsystem announced its largest gig to date – Madison Square Garden – and that the concert would be their last ever.

With fly-on-the-wall access, Dylan Southern and Will Lovelace’s concert film captures the final 48 hours of a band in complete control of its destiny. Packed with high-energy farewell performances, narrated by a frank conversation on success and rock stardom between bandleader James Murphy and writer Chuck Klosterman, SHUT UP AND PLAY THE HITS proves that if you’re hearing about LCD Soundsystem just now, you’ve already missed the party.”

Under African Skies – Director: Joe Berlinger

“Under African Skies premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival in the Documentary Premieres category, a section dedicated to documentaries by master filmmakers.

Paul Simon’s historic Graceland album sold millions of copies and united cultures, yet divided world opinion on the boundaries of art, politics, and commerce. On the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of Graceland’s release, Simon returns to South Africa for a reunion concert that unearths the turbulent birth of the album. Despite its huge success as a popular fusion of American and African musical styles, Graceland spawned intense political crossfire. Simon was accused of breaking the United Nations’ cultural boycott of South Africa, which was designed to end apartheid.

Renowned filmmaker Joe Berlinger brilliantly intertwines both sides of a complex story as Simon revisits old ghosts and gains insights on his own musical journey. With the compelling perceptions of antiapartheid activists and music legends such as Quincy Jones, Harry Belafonte, Paul McCartney, and David Byrne, Under African Skies is both a buoyant chronicle of unparalleled artistic achievement and a profound rumination on the role of the artist in society.”

The man was a legend, and hearing the stories of various interview subjects is really where his story is told. It really makes you wish you had a chance to pop in for a drink or a meal at Toots Shor back in the day (really the 1950′s was the peak) and witness him joking around with Jackie Gleason or slapping Frank Gifford on the back. You pretty much could have, as well. Amazing as it seems now, there was an openness that you get a sense of – a lack of velvet-rope exclusivity that is really appealing. There is so much in this film you’ll want to watch it a couple of times. The original score by Mark Suozzo is absolutely brilliant, and puts you right in the times. The DVD also has a really informative and interesting commentary track with Jacobson in which she describes the process of making the film, where she got certain materials, etc. DVD Released Jan. 13,2009 on Indiepix.

Also receiving a split from critics was American independent film, Towelhead. Its writer/director, Alan Ball, is best known for writing the Oscar-winning American Beauty, and for creating the excellent dramatic series Six Feet Under that enjoyed a five-year arc on HBO. Like his previous efforts, this latest deals with small town folk but with a new twist: it mixes in issues of racism towards those of Arabic descent living in America. Along with his usual sexual commentary, and a despite strong performance by lead Summer Bishil who is thrust into this racist/sexist world, many saw the film as too contrived a commentary. The only other dramatic release from stateside this week is Surfer, Dude starring Matthew McConaughey, Woody Harrelson and Willie Nelson. This basically unheard of film involves surfers, weed and stars high on weed; probably more exhilarating for those involved than those unfortunate enough to watch it.

The last two releases this week are Woman on the Beach (Haebyonui yoin), a South Korean has been called a Woody Allen-like comedic drama about grown-ups dealing with menial affairs; and next is Toots, a documentary biopic of a bygone era in America. The doc covers the life of Toots Shor who owned the largest saloon in the 1950s, whose patrons included such bigwigs as Frank Sinatra and Joe Dimagio. It was shot by the granddaughter of Toots with such an apparent love for the era in question that Roger Ebert claimed, “you see Toots, and you wish you had been there.” (source) Though it may be a hard DVD to find, this would be the one to catch as the last good release of 2008.