The films at this year’s LA FILM FESTIVAL, held June 16-26, 2005, were incredibly diverse, engaging, entertaining, thought provoking and in some cases, enchanting and adorable. Moviegoers have a lot to look forward to not only in the coming months as festival debuts hit movie theatres throughout the country, but in years to come. Some outstanding new directors had their works showcases, including documentary film maker Eric Lahey and Festival Winners David Zeiger, John Harden and Beth Bird. At the conclusion of the Festival, awards were announced in the various categories for everything from Feature Films to Documentaries to Animated Shorts to Narratives to International Films to Audience Awards. I am extremely pleased that some of my personal favorites came up winners and can be seen in theatres now and throughout the coming Summer months. Some of the highlights are:
LA FILM FESTIVAL 2005 AUDIENCE AWARD – BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE MARCH OF THE PENGUINS by Luc Jacquet
Written and directed by Luc Jacquet, “March of the Penguins” chronicles the journey of an Emperor Penguin colony in Antarctica.
Marching single file through catabatic conditions, blinding blizzards and gale force winds across the icy plains, the male Emperor Penguins leave the safety of the ocean once a year as they head to their instinctively known breeding grounds to find the love of their life and satisfy their overwhelming urge to reproduce. And yes, it is true, the Emperor Penguin has one mate for life. Fascinatingly, once the female lays a lone egg, it is the male that stays as guardian until hatching while the female goes out across the plains back to the ocean to find her own nourishment. In two months when the little hatchlings arrive, it’s up to mom to make sure that she makes it back with food for her young, at which point, dad then heads back out to see. A cycle that continues until the young chick is able to make its first venture into the icy seas of the Antarctic, a more beautiful story of familial love can not be found.
Four years in the making, Jacquet and his crew spent over a year in Antarctica. Using 16mm film in order to capture the true magnificence of the region, Jacquet and his crew shot 120 hours of footage, eventually editing it down to 80 minutes of the most breathtakingly beautiful, elegant and endearing film around. With specialized underwater cameras, he was able to obtain never before seen footage of the penguins underwater – a site that will make your eyes wide with the wonder of those of a child.
Not only concerned with minimizing human contact with the 1200 plus penguins filmed during this march, Jacquet and his crew faced some incredible technical and logistical challenges. 130 pounds of equipment had to be carried daily by each crew member working a day’s shoot. According to one of the Directors of Photography Laurent Chalet, only two things ever kept them from shooting – the weather and running out of film when out on ice floes. Jacquet and company also lacked the luxury of dailies or rushes and never saw even one frame film until after they had returned to “civilization.” There was also the added uncertainty of not knowing when the penguins would be gathering for their march or what would happen as nature took its course, which meant the crew had to be ready at a moment’s notice.
The result of Jacquet’s commitment and dedication to this specialized form of documentary is a film for the entire family. “March of the Penguins” is a rare gem that is not just visually stunning and stimulating, but emotionally stimulating as well. It touches the heart. With sparse narration by Morgan Freeman, written by Jordan Roberts, and beauteous orchestrations led by conductor Jeff Schindler, Jacquet lets the magic of the penguins speak for itself. Currently playing in the Los Angeles area and at selected theatres nationwide, this is a film not to be missed. Directed by Luc Jacquet. Based upon the story by Luc Jacquet and screenplay by Luc Jacquet and Michael Fessler. A Warner Independent Pictures and National Geographic Feature Films release. Rated G. (80 min) “March of the Penguins” – Photo Credit: Jérôme Maison. © 2005 Bonne Pioche Productions / Alliance De Production Cinématographique
LA FILM FESTIVAL 2005 AWARD – BEST NARRATIVE SHORT FILM La Vie D’un Chien by John Harden
With five different programs, each showing 7 or 8 films, I must admit this year my festival favorite was Short Program 1 which consisted of 8 shorts from filmmakers of all walks of life with films just as diverse. But the one short that did it for me was “La Vie D’un Chien” aka My Life As A Dog by John Harden. Using nothing but several thousand black and white still photographs processed on a computer with Photo Shop and several other nifty film programs, Harden came up with a wildly entertaining piece of work.
Set in 1962 Paris, this is the story of a scientist who discovers a formula that turns him from human to dog and back again at his will. . .and with some rather interesting and thought provoking results – especially when the government gets involved. (I’ll refrain on the humor here, girls, but you know what I’m thinking!). With this particular technique, Harden was able to photograph in at least 3 different cities in California and then use the computer to put the photos into film form. As low budget as low can go, Harden called on the ASPCA for dog trainers who very graciously provided some of their charges to star in the film.
Debuting at Slamdance earlier this year and already Short Film Competition Jury Award Winner at the Seattle International Film Festival, “La Vie D’un Chien” adds the LA Film Festival 2005 Best Narrative Short Film Award to its laurels. John Harden is a director to watch in the coming years.
LA FILM FESTIVAL 2005 AUDIENCE AWARD FOR BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE ME AND YOU AND EVERYONE WE KNOW by Miranda July
A 2005 winner at Cannes, Miranda July brings us the endearingly quirky tale of a struggling single father who works as a shoe salesman and an aspiring film-maker/performance artist.
A narrative comedy, Rich and Christine meet when Christine (in one of her odd jobs as an “Eldercab “driver) takes one of her fares to buy shoes. Zeroing in on Rich with more accuracy than a SCUD missile, Christine is determined “he is the one” and they will be together come hell or high water.
Juxtapositioning Rich’s rather haphazardly confining lifestyle with that of Christine’s, July gives us a multi-layered work that has stories going on from both an adult interactive and kid interactive level, delicately weaving the two generations together with undetectable ease. Perhaps one of the film’s most charming scenes involves the fate of a child’s goldfish a la Rudy Huxtable in Season One of “The Cosby Show.” That one scene sets a tone that is evidence throughout the film. Already and accomplished video artist, Miranda July brings a silky smoothness to the both the directing and editing of “Me and You and Everyone We Know” that makes it easy to see why this was an audience favorite at the Festival. Currently playing at the Nuart, look for “Me and You and Everyone We Know” to be a sleeper hit of the summer.
Photo © IFC Films. All Rights Reserved
THE CENTURY PLAZA by ERIC LAHEY
Although not a Festival winner, director Eric Lahey’s “The Century Plaza” garnered enough attention to be considered for pick-up by several major film distributors.
A very unique documentary, “The Century Plaza” was shot in Portland, Oregon and takes a look at the residents of a single room occupancy hotel (SRO) by the same name. Diverse and eclectic by nature, Lahey uses the camera to provide snapshots of the hotel’s tenants, allowing us to meet them up close and personal, but always cognizant that who and what we see today can all change with the flip of coin tomorrow.
Using the hotel’s one permanent resident, Rico the Cat, in the form of a silent narrator, we are initially given a tour of what was once, and still is, a grand form of architecture. With cinematic technique reminiscent of that of Anatole Litvak in 1948’s “The Snake Pit”, Lahey captures every sound that resonates from each and every corner of the hotel, whirling sound around picture, taking you in a spiral which at first blush, sounds and feels like you are being placed in the middle of a snake pit or insane asylum. It is only from there that identities form and we are made privy to the events that spiraled these once productive members of society into the unfortunate circumstances that now brings them to “The Century Plaza.”
By no means a downbeat or depressing film, this is still a reminder to all of us that “this could be you.” Many of the residents, who only came to trust Lahey after he became a resident himself for some six months, have dreams of leaving the hotel and getting back into more accepted society. Some are especially touching, such as Bob, a convicted pedophile whose guilt and remorse are genuinely heartfelt. Others have an incredible sense of pragmaticism which gives way to some rather riotous moments which when compounded with Rico’s take on the situation, brings forth some real guffaws. And then we have Greg our self-deprecating and philosophical gay, drug using Mormon who garners more laughs with his outlandish antics than anything in the film. But then still others, such as Brook, who wants to be a stripper and thinks living in a place such as “The Century Hotel” is “romantic”, show gross amounts of naiveté.
With time lapse photography setting time and space blended and montaged with 60 some hours of 35mm footage and still photographs, from the opening shot of a well lighted Banker’s lamp with its swaying brass pull-chain switch to a closing-shot of its stillness, the film comes full circle. With a limited budget that even had him using reconditioned riding lawnmowers for some of his exterior shots, Lahey’s inventiveness and creativity are evident. Despite some technical roughness and an occasional out-of-focus shot, he brings a consistency to a very inconsistent situation. Written and Directed by Eric Lahey. (79 min)
AND COMING IN JULY. . .
Opening July 15, Lisa Kudrow and Tom Arnold head an all star cast in “Happy Endings.” Directed by Don Roos, “Happy Endings” is a heartwarming, yet wickedly funny film, where worlds collide among a rather interesting cast of characters.
Gus van Sant brings us “Last Days”. Opening July 22, this is the story of a Kurt Cobain type rocker who teeters between a refusal to conform and the refusal to die. Michael Pitt stars the reclusive, on-the-edge Seattle based musician, Blake. Pitt, one of the most chameleonesque actors of our day, is mesmerizing with his transformation into Blake. Van Sant, known for interesting eccentricity within his work, has supporting actors using their own names (Lukas Haas, Scott Green). Using montage with a 1 step forward-2 step backward technique, van Sant effectively creates a world of claustrophobic existence for his characters, providing the basis for a study in duality. Harris Savides’ cinematography is especially effective as we are faced with the question of whether the course of events (such as hurtling toward death) can be stopped like a clock. A fascinatingly compelling work, the combination of Van Sant and Pitt is an unstoppable force.Photo © Fine Line Films.
Moving to Westwood in 2006, LA FILM FESTIVAL is a centerpiece event in the Los Angeles film community. Open to the public, the festival draws over 60,000 attendees and showcases more than 125 films of varying types from around the world. Produced by Find Independent, LA Film Festival showcases independent filmmakers and their work.
