Dances with Films – Gets Physical

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“Let’s Get Physical” was the catch phrase for the 24th annual Dances with Films festival at the TCL Chinese in Hollywood. Last year viewed virtually, this year it was time to don those masks and sit down to enjoy films on the big screen.

From shorts to features, there was plenty to see at the always-eclectic event. This set of reviews is not the last – this year the program ran an expanded number of days, from August 26 to September the 12th.

Voting this year for audience awards utilized a QR code, which was even easier than marking up a piece of paper with a pencil as in pre-pandemic times. Q and A’s were as lively as ever, and the mix of comedy, drama, horror, and even sci-fi invigorating.

Also new this year: the First Film Series, which served up some fascinating looks at the works of and discussions with honoree filmmakers including producer Michael London and director Paul Greengrass. Greengrass, the director of United 93 was a moving inclusion, a fitting tribute to both filmmaker and the somber anniversary of 9/11.

Rather than going in festival order, we’ll start with some features, and move on to the vibrant shorts programs.

As always offering a stimulating start, the opening-night film was the premiere of The Art of Protest, an exciting, kinetic documentary from Colin M. Day, packed with interviews from elite rockers and espousing power of music and protest. The film was a rousing success as both a galvanizing opener and an eye-opener about politics and change.

While I’d love to be as enthusiastic about the fest’s closer, Mars Roberge’s Mister Sister, despite allowing a fascinating look into NYC’s drag scene, the film felt more like a documentary hopeful than a narrative feature, and just didn’t register for me. The red carpet interactions with some of the film’s supporting players gave a tantalizing look at what could’ve been – maybe next time.

There were far more hits than near misses at the fest, no mean feat with a lineup that included over 250 varied films, from 350 filmmakers. I’ll take on the festival as best I can, starting out with an an alphabetical look at the feature films we had the pleasure to view.

Thematically, a number of films seemed to hit on moments of isolation, addiction, and recovery, but there were lighthearted moments as well.

Among the films that offered a taste of both, Addict Hal was a surprisingly fresh and moving take on addicts in a recovery program, viscerally plunging viewers into the harrowing road to getting – and staying – clean with humor and poignancy.

Likewise, Alex/October offered a mix of touching moment and dark humor in a film that explored a friendship evolving from a man’s Craigslist ad seeking a hired killer to end his own personal misery. Restless, curious, and unhappy, a young woman meets suicidal new BFF in a film that evoked memories of Harold & Maude without the whimsy and music along the way.

In a second look from last year’s fest, which I viewed virtually, a woman comes to terms with the loss of her marriage in before/during/after, a fine film that takes a wistful look at the life of an actress in emotional transition.

One of my very favorite films of the 2021 festival was the dark emotional world of Bone Cage. Pitch perfect in tone, beautifully acted, the tragic story of a lost soul in an economically devastated rural community was a fully successful film adaptation of a play by Catherine Banks. Written and directed by Taylor Olson, who also starred in the film, this one tore a hole in my heart.

The Catch was another dark and tragic film that resonated, a noir and haunting story from Matthew Ya-Hsiung Balzer. Redolent with the salt air of a small Maine fishing town and the desperation of a young woman returning home from an abusive relationship, Balzer took viewers on a dangerous, compelling journey.

Moody in black and white, Ghostwriter explored the mentor/mentee relationship, the meaning of family, and creativity. In this four-hander character study, ghosts can be composed of words, or memories or the fading reach of fame.

Evan Wood gave viewers another look at addiction – a sister coming to terms with the mental unbalance and addiction of her brother following the death of their grandmother.

Beneath the Banyan Tree explored another family’s coming-to-terms, here with generational family ties, the difficulty of immigration and assimilation, and the even greater difficulty of self-acceptance in the relationship between a mother and daughter.

Family ties were also a strong focus in Last Night in Rozzie, a Boston set story of a dying friend’s wish for his estranged son, and the traumas of the past in a poetic and graceful character study.

Generation Wrecks was another film I loved. But, unlike the harrowing filmic knife-thrusts of my other favorites, Bone Cage and The Catch, this was a lighthearted coming of age film, filled with great performances, an unbelievably terrific soundtrack, and a fully realized, touching and funny story of revenge, forgiveness, and growing-up. A bit of both the Breakfast Club and Pretty in Pink infused the spirit of this winning, heart-melting film. Writers and co-stars, as well as the film’s director, below.

It was great to be back in the theater – and even better to be viewing the program from Dances with Films. There’s more alphabetical feature viewing/reviewing pleasure ahead…and then the powerhouse short films.

  • Genie Davis; photos: Jack Burke and Dances with Films

Eastern Sierra Mountain Film Festival Debuts for Earth Day Weekend

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From Kifaru

Mammoth Lakes Film Festival founder Shira Dubrovner has created a new film festival with Eastern Sierra Arts Alliance (ESAA) for which she is the executive director.

Just in time for Earth Day weekend, in conjunction with Eastern Sierra Earth Week, she’s debuting the Eastern Sierra Mountain Film Festival April 23-25.

The virtual festival is viewable via free tickets at the EasternSierraArts.org website. Films are available for an extended viewing window once selected to watch, making them as eminently easy to view as they are timely and compelling projects.

Here’s a quick rundown of the environmentally prescient and visually astonishing films screening

Opening Night – Friday April 23, 7pm

KIFARU 

Director – David Hambridge (Run Time 80 mins)

Kifaru follows the lives of two young Kenyan recruits that join Ol Pejeta Conservancy’s rhino caretaker unit – a small group of rangers that care for and protect Sudan, the last male northern white rhino or kifaru in Swahili. 

The feature is accompanied by a 12 minutes short film following a group of local Maasai rangers educating their community about the importance of elephants, James Martin’s Being with Elephants.

Shorts Block – Saturday April 24,  7pm

THE PRODIGY 

Director – Lewis Rapkin (Run Time 3 mins)

Tyler “The Prodigy” Lau set out to be the first person of color to complete what’s known in hiking as the Calendar-Year Triple Crown, the 8000 mile journey of the Pacific Crest Trail, Continental Divide Trail and Appalachian Trail all within a year. 

ADA BLACKJACK RISING 

Director – Brice Habeger – (Run Time 6 mins)

In the pre-dawn twilight of an Alaskan shore, a young Native woman reflects on the story of Ada Blackjack, the sole survivor of a disastrous 1921 Arctic expedition, and the loneliness she must have felt waiting for a rescue through the months-long polar night.

ALPHA MARE 

Director – Victor Tadashi Suarez & Mimi Wilcox – (Run Time 10 mins)

A dreamlike meditation on mental health and the search for self-love, Alpha Mare is the story of Karin Dilou,a sage elderly woman who lives a solitary life above the Nicasio Reservoir in California with a herd of Danish Warmbloods, told from the horses’ perspective

MOTHERLAND 

Director – Emily Mkrtichian & Jesse Soursourian – (Run Tim 19 mins)

The documentary short focuses on the the women who shake tradition to rid their country of landmines leftover from a devastating ethnic war. 

LOVE IS THE WAY 

Director – Jeremy Là Zelle – (Run Time 45 mins)

Love is the Way brings together the voices speaking in defense of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, highlighting the generations of stewardship by Gwich’in and Iñupiaq people inspired in part by footage of the late photographer Michio Hoshino. 

From Anchor Point

Closing Night – Sunday April 25, 7pm

ANCHOR POINT

Director – Holly Tuckett – (Run Time 90 mins)

Women have been a force in wildland firefighting since 1942. Still, they remain outnumbered 10-to-1 on the fire lines and do double-duty battling both the infernos that scorch public lands and the smoldering embers of discrimination, misogyny and sexual harassment. Told in cinema verité, ANCHOR POINT chronicles the 2019 fire season through the eyes of two women, generations apart, as they push to change the culture of wildland fire. Much of the film was shot in and around the Eastern Sierra.

Watch the Eastern Sierra Mountain Film Festival Friday, April 23 through Sunday, April 25 at 7 PM by reserving tickets on the Eastern Sierra Arts website, www.EasternSierraArts.org

  • Genie Davis, images and film information provided by Easter Sierra Mountain Film Festival

Lauren Kasmer’s Momenta Offers Tactile Experience Online

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From Mount, a segment of Momenta

Momenta, a solo exhibition from multi-media artist Lauren Kasmer, is one of the rare online exhibitions that allows viewers to almost feel its textural, tactile elements. Curated by Susanna Meiers, and presented by El Camino College Art Gallery, the exhibition has been extended through May 9th.

The show offers five segments, and perhaps the most absorbing was the video exhibition, Mount.

Mount tells a visual rather than narrative story, as layered as chiffon on silk, and just as graceful. Addressing a hard subject – a fire that destroyed a great deal of Kasmer’s home and art work, as well as the wildfires throughout California, it is poignant, prescient, and poetic.

But each of the exhibitions is lovely: Wardrobe consists of garments printed with photographic images; these are wearable fine art works and upcycled rugs and hangings. Delicate abstract nature imagery created by the artist create the patterns. Having produced wearable art to accompany installations for over ten years, in this exhibition, Kasmer successfully repurposed some of them, as remnants in sitting rugs.

Equipose offers an interactive installation experience. This section was planning initially for public, in-person viewing, but instead here it is viewed photographically; a meditative space with fine art ritual objects.

How is it interactive? Through an Activation section that suggests what viewers can create themselves as a space for contemplation.

There are also two additional photographic sections, Collaboration at a Distance, and Flourish from Fire, featuring stills from 2019’s Blind Courier exhibition at Brand Library.

A group of women posing for a picture Description automatically generated with medium confidence

Collaboration at a Distance integrates work made by Kasmer and ten female friends via Zoom, Skype, and email during the pandemic. Through photography, they both wore and displayed ten years of Kasmer’s printed clothing.

Flourish from Fire, relates to Kasmer’s devasting home fire experience, and is sourced from that as well as the original arrangement exhibited at the Brand.

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Kasmer wants viewers to “tap into the universality as well as respect for the veiled personal history that we each possess. Because of the viewing style, they can relate to the exhibition as a whole or as individual parts.” And about those parts – “While the separate parts of the exhibit might appear unrelated, there is a constant thread of transformation that is expressed in each. I would hope that they can relate the images and film experience to their own lives. I would also hope that they might also tune in viewing a live streaming from one portion of the show that will occur April 30 – May 2.”

While some of the work in the show is new, and specifically related to today’s world, others rework previously exhibited elements, which relates saliently to the layering Kasmer uess in her artistic process. Kasmer feels that each component of Momenta works independently, but notes that. “Each part is likely to be integrated into another project in the future, so there is also a hint of what is to come.” She adds that “There are constants that relate to each other on a physical level but also embed universal themes of generative and restorative powers…Much of the imagery on the wardrobes are sourced from my photograph of the powerful force of fire, and many contain indigenous flora and fauna, both on a microscopic and macroscopic level.”

Mount’s tactile, sensual quality is entirely unique, and the visual poetry is ably abetted by a composed soundtrack. Kasmer describes the work as “both a poetic and abstract interpretation of the regenerative and restorative power that is nature. Imagery was shot in a variety of locales such as environments affected by the Woolsey and Thomas Fires, fires that impacted extended communities throughout California coastline and beyond, as well as the fires that affected me personally. Aspects were also shot in native gardens that were not affected.” Mount is available in three versions, two of which are designed to accommodate viewers with hearing or vision challenges.  

As an online exhibition, a first for Kasmer without a physical gallery presence, the artist worked to “reorient myself to the fact that there would not be an in-person experience nor event where interaction with the works is a key part to the experience…I had to reframe and embrace technology knowing that this presentation would only be virtual. This induced new challenge actually spawned creative opportunity and expanded influences.”

As an artist, despite the wide array of alternative processes which she works in, she primarily considers herself a fine art photographer, she relates, with work that segued into live action in film and video and installations as well as events. “My history as the daughter of a clothing designer made its way into the work early when I began an action called the Clothing Exchanges. Those were a series of public participatory artworks, where people traded or bartered for clothing others donated anonymously to the exchanges.” This idea transformed over time with Kasmer using “transferred imagery that was manipulated and edited to create patterns and designs that maintained an affinity with their origins – even if not recognizable.” In other words, the beautifully mysterious patterns on present garments. 

The exhibition’s planned live streaming event at the end of April will feature COVID-safe individuals and couples performing within the unoccupied apartment bedroom that houses the Equipoise installation.

At that time, Kasmer will also unveil a new book based on the exhibition. Already available is a limited-edition Viewmaster which she says is “intended to evoke the feeling of being in the presence of the elements via the use of an art object that you can hold in your hands,  a contrast to this virtual exhibition.”

Kasmer_Momenta_8 View Master

After Momenta, Kasmer will embark on other exhibitions, New York City museum space, and with the curation of an exhibition for the Angels Gate Cultural Center.

In the meantime, don’t miss Momenta or its live-streamed event.

Live Stream: April 30-May 2nd.

Exhibition viewable at https://www.laurenkasmersmomenta.com/

  • Genie Davis; photos provided courtesy of Lauren Kasmer

SxSW 2021 Continues From Documentary to Midnighters

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SXSW 2021 online continued to offer a rich and varied platform as the week unspooled. While some films didn’t work for me, uniformly all of them were well-worth viewing.

Case in point was Mei Markino’s Inbetween Girl. The bittersweet coming-of-age-the-hard-way story crammed a lot into its run time, with teen Angie Chen indulging in secret hooking-up with an unfaithful boyfriend. Her burgeoning friendship with the boy’s main squeeze was the most interesting part of the well-acted, angsty film; the boy/girl fling just didn’t compel. Touching on racial topics and stereotypes enriched the story, Markino will do much more.

The conflicts of gentrification and the lives of real, gritty, down-on-their-luck residents resonates in director Liz Lambert’s Through the Plexi-Glass: The Last Days of the San Jose. Both as a character study and the history of a neighborhood, the story took turns and twists. Fascinating and raw.

While Disintegration Loops bore marks of a low-budget production (cue the grainy zoom images), it was nonetheless quite wonderful in revealing the composer behind a haunting and beautiful piece of “found” looped music. Director David Wexler merges interviews and 9/11 footage with filming of New York City under early pandemic lockdown, introducing viewers to composer William Basinski in the process. Basinski’s work received widespread recognition when the music was presented as an elegy to 9/11. I wanted it to last longer.

Violet, from director/screenwriter Justine Bateman, was literally the only film viewed in the festival that did not grab me in one way or another. Boasting a full cast of well known’s, including lead Olivia Munn, the thin story centered on a film-development executive trying to overcome an abusive childhood that resulted in her own negative guiding voice. Perhaps in another, less reverentially meta work setting, I might’ve cared. Some.

Witch Hunt, on the other hand, was an extremely smart use of the horror genre to confront racism.

Director and screenwriter Elle Callahan crafted a nail-biting horror thriller in an America where witches are not only real, they’re outlawed, and the witch-hunting version of ICE persecutes them. Safe territory is Mexico, but can a sheltered teen make it there? And will America ever change? Definitely could not look away at the hope we can burn racism at the stake.

Oh no, not a pandemic comedy! Too soon? Apparently not. Recovery is nothing if not zany fun, with a number of genuine laugh-out-loud moments. Directors Mallory Everton and Stephen Meek, along with screenwriters Whitney Call and Mallory Everton, lead viewers on two sisters’ wild journey to “recover” their grandmother from a nursing home experiencing a COVID outbreak. We could all use a dose of smart n’ silly about now.

The Fallout is an absolute wow. Justifiably the jury pick for a Narrative Feature win, the film had me dissolved in tears and hurting with anger.

Perfectly acted high school drama about the aftermath of a school shooting, writer/director and co-star Megan Park focuses on high schooler Vada and her relationships with her family, friends and future. A film that ached to be made, its powerful and resonant. Park scores high on all counts.

The documentary Lily Topples the World introduces us to the cool and successful world of a domino artist. Director Jeremy Workman tackles another jury award winner with the insightful story of 20-year-old Lily Hevesh, the only woman in her field. While this was an excellent character study, the documentary that blew me away – was the story of 25-year-old Reality Winner.

Director Sonia Kennebeck does a riveting job of exposing the perfidy of the FBI and truth about the young woman who disclosed one document about Russian election interference to the media in the United States vs. Reality Winner. Persecuted by the Trump administration, this armed service veteran and down-home Texas girl has received one bum rap. Here’s hoping President Biden pardons her, and the film is widely viewed; Kennebeck does stellar work on a do-not-miss story.

I’m Fine (Thanks for Asking) a strong concept and well-performed lead can’t save Kelley Kali and Angelique Molina’s film about a beleaguered single mom and young widow forced to live in a tent with her young daughter. I was rooting for them, but amateurish supporting performances and a repetitive, rather sluggish storyline derailed the power of what could’ve been a truly moving film about being houseless in Los Angeles.

Shorts

Above, Joanne is Dead

Sisters – Director and writer Jess Brunetto expertly explores a tense relationship between two estranged sisters with wit and a perfect third-act twist. Lots of story packed in a small package, the film expertly strides the line between funny and poignant.

Joanne is Dead – I loved the black comedy of this film about one wicked old spy in a nursing home. Director, writer and co-star Brian Sacca does not fail to surprise.

O Black Hole – Animated and adventurous, this didn’t grab me, but it is visually lovely and uniquely spiritual. Renee Zhan’s Jury prize winner touches on deep subjects such as the passage of time, singularity, and loneliness.

Puss – Okay, so it’s odd, to say the least, but ultimately fun; the story of a pandemic-cloistered woman seeking a booty call with a kitty at home definitely made me laugh. Writer/director Leigh Shore has shaped an edgy, clever, and enjoyable Midnight Short.

Significant Other – taut and well-done, this super-short horror tale gives us a red orb throbbing away in the madness of late night. Wonderfully creepy, writer/director Quinn George knows how fashion one weird glow.

A Really Dark Comedy – Absolutely loved this funny and quirky tale crafted by Texas High School filmmakers about a lovelorn boy, a potential prom date, and a dog in the wrong place at the wrong time. Director Manasi Ughadmathe and writer Jackson Coates have done an awesome job, one which should predict a bright film future.

Overall verdict on SXSW 2021? Not only was it an often outstanding film festival, I just wish I had more time to explore other programming sections. A festival I will not miss, pandemic or no pandemic, this was a deep breath of fresh and intelligent filmmaking.

  • Genie Davis; photos courtesy SXSW