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Tuesday, February 20, 2007
I feel so settled now I can't believe it's my last day. The altitude here is so high it really does take a few days to acclimatise properly and it's difficult to keep remembering to drink water ( as I was warned on my flight on the way in to Missoula).
I start the day off with a couple of films - the devastating The Portraitist which is the emotional and moving story of a photographer who only survived the nazi concentration camps because he was documenting it all for the Nazis, including Dr Mengele's abuse and experiments on young women. When Auschwitz was liberated by the Russians all documents were ordered to be destroyed but he saved the archive so no one would ever forget what had gone on there. It really was moving and brought something new to a story that I have seen in various guises over the years.
Next up was When fried eggs fly about a US high school teacher engaging his class and their parents in a progressive programme of group composition. It was cute and nice but there was no real umph to the story. Etre et Avoir has a lot to answer for and is a difficult film to follow.
I snuck out early to attend the programming masterclass with programmers from Big Sky, Full Frame, Silverdocs, True False, AFI and the producer of Iraq in Fragments, moderated by Mike Steinberg. It was a useful session and something I wished there had a been a bit more of at Big Sky. They discussed the issue of a film's premiere - how important it was to get it right, not to give it away too soon. and what to expect of your festival experience. Length was seen as a bit of an issue. 60 mins was a fine length to programme but only if there was something else easy to put it with. Sales agents were seen as a 'sometimes useful tool' to getting a film accepted into a festival but Doug Hawes davis alsos described the pleasure and surprise in opening a package and having no idea about the film or maker but looking forward to being surprised. Sky from Silverdocs also added that it didn't hurt to fire off a friendly email to the programmer to see if they had got your film - which I will be doing shortly!
It was a good session and Doug Whyte gave me some other good advice afterwards - Always ask a festival if they would be prepared to waive the fee after sending them a link to a trailer and synopsis. He utilises this approach and says it's a god way of guaging response to your project. He also talked about the pros and cons of hooking up with a distributor - you don't have to pay to submit your film to festivals - the distributor may not push the film as hard as you would yourself. I think I may take the Bataville approach and see if we can arrange a short dvd run which we sell via the website. It's exactly what Les Blank does....
Another successful meal - sushi grade ahi BLT sandwich with sweet potato fries, just over the bridge on the hip strip. I know I keep going on about food but I can't stress how bad I feel if I eat too much crap/whaet/caffiene/sugar/salt/not enough fruit & veg & water/ on top of jetlag and general tiredness. I think it's easy to underestimate how much food can affect your general well being when away from home and burning the candle at both ends at a festival. I am continually dosing myself with Berocca because it's an awful long way to travel to get ill.
Straight into another session with a full belly! This time legendary, veteran filmmaker Les Blank who was presenting 2 works in progress - 'Being There' and ' Butch Anthony' about an outsider artist in the smaller Wilma 2. After the films he talked candidly for a good half an hour about his approach to work, his relationship with Werner Herzog, how he just shoots, cuts and distributes his own work now. the questions just kept coming from the in awe audience and he duely responded in his laid back southern drawl. True to his word his back catalogue was for sale in the foyer.
I am now the proud owner of 'gap toothed women' and Burden of dreams (about the making of Fitzcorraldo, including a short where werner herzog eats his shoe in a bet he lost to Errol Morris) by Les Blank. When I got my copies signed he told me I should embrace my gapped teeth - 'all power to the gap toothed women, I rate them'. Made me feel good about oh so not perfect UK teeth in a landscape of perfect, braces trained USA gnashers.
posted by Jeanie Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Comments:
Congrats on discovering Les Blank films...he was the best man at my wedding in 1980....in 1977 I watched my first Les Blank film, CHULAS FRONTERAS, leading to a lifetime friendship. His films are unmatched for showing the joy in people's lives....Steve Fesenmaier, past director of Film Services, WV Library Commission, mystery12@charter.net
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