Inventive, provocative, and exciting films for Friday at the Mammoth Lakes Film Festival – a great way to start the weekend.
Our filmgoing day began with the Narrative Shorts 2 block.
Boat Movie was “originally supposed to be shot entirely on a boat” according to filmmakers Anna Torzullo & Stephanie Ibarra. But between insurance and the necessity for a second boat to shoot from, they settled on a private beach location which presented its own set of challenges, including a lack of bathroom facilities.
Despite location challenges, a very funny film resulted from a script about a group of friends who take a boat to the beach to view an unusual natural phenomenon involving the sun, Mercury, and plenty of social anxiety, along with a sweet vulnerability projected by the “outsider” in the group.
The Sandman, described in the program as “a geological fairy tale.” It is also virtuoso filmmaking from David Auerbach & Erich Wilhelm Zander, using a screenplay written by Auerbach 33 years ago. “I am always interested in how kids apply logic, like how did sand get from the beach to the desert,” he relates. Here, it’s driven there by the title character.
The visually gorgeous work uses models, green screen, stop action animation, and live visuals to create a stunningly layered and charming work.
Terry’s Calendar tracks the situation that develops when a lonely and neurotic man orders a calendar that seems to portend his imminent death — and yes it’s a zany comedy. Chris Connor created the film using mini-DV for “just about $500 on a three day shoot.”
Be a Man is a riveting, lush, and brilliantly acted film from Spanish director Lucas Parra, depicting the outcome of a hunting expedition undertaken by a 7 year old with his father and grandfather. The young Miguelito is forever affected by the experience which includes firing his first gun. Haunting and brilliant.
Afternoon within Afternoon is another fine and evocative film, with a teen pregnancy altering the dynamics of a social family afternoon.
The film from Brazilian director Rafael Ramos was inspired by a cousin’s pregnancy and an aunt’s family tales.
Next up was Narrative Shorts Block 3, beginning with a gentle coming of age story, Cold Feet, about outgrowing friendships, and navigating the path to adulthood in small town Pennsylvania.
Writer/director Heather Hill creates a touching story about a time when “things feel like the end of the world growing up. Its all uncharted territory.”
Brain Rot tells a frenzied story of phone addiction in Chicago, expressing how for many of us, the phone becomes “a pacifier.” The film was directed by Jackson Coates.
Also screened was the harrowing tale of two young British men on a bar crawl in Budapest, To All The Girls I Never Banged: I’m Sorry. The Hybrid Narrative/Animation film came from Harry Plowden.
Also using animation was Busy Bodies, screen printed, vibrant and charming animation depicting an at-home factory with a “flow of moods” and SoCal’s annual beach grunion run as inspiration for creator Kate Renshaw-Lewis.
Finally, there was the moving, and ultimately devastating Together Up There, in which a caretaker/son climbs a mountain with his dementia ridden mother, recreating her honeymoon trip with his father.
Discussing this masterful work through a translator, Japanese director Hiroyuki Seki says the inspiration for the film came from his grandmother’s caretaker experience as well as thematic self-sacrifice and illusion.
Poignant and surprising, as well as being visually poetic.
The U.S. documentary feature The MOTHS & the FLAME by Kevin Contento was a deliberately paced depiction of black fatherhood in rural Florida, subverting cliched tropes about caring fatherhood or the lack thereof.
The final viewing experience of the day was the galvanizing, shocking, and 100% intense Ten Will from MLFF alumni Max DeFalco.
Frenetic energy, infusions of comedy and desperation mark this completely unexpected film following a newly-released sex offender as he tries to survive on the streets of Los Angeles, and a seeming sanctuary at a home in Bakersfield. DeFalco is a cinematic guerrilla filmmaking wizard, making the viewer care about even the most unsavory humans.
DeFalco notes that “90.000 sex offenders a year don’t register.” Noting that he did not want to “condemn” his lead character, his goal was to “provoke discussion” through a bold, even brave film thst is also a total original.
A charming line-drawn animated short, BLINKS IN MIMI’S SINGING VOICE accompanied the feature.
Together these films made a “wow” ending for an impressive Friday film line-up here in the Sierras.
– Genie Davis; photos by Davis and Cheryl Henderson