More on SIFF 2016
You can see trailers for the movies I'm discussing here at the links included. More film reviews to come.
Tanna is a fascinating project. Set and shot entirely on the island of Vanuatu by two directors who have previously specialized in documentary film, and cast with natives who have never even seen a movie, it tells a sort of Romeo-and-Juliet tale. Wawa, a beautiful girl who has just been acknowledged as a marriageable woman, has been promised in marriage to another tribe as a way to settle internecine warfare. But since childhood, she and Dain, the handsome son of her own tribe's chief, have loved each other and wanted to be together. Their love threatens the peace their tribes are trying to forge. The story apparently has some basis in fact, and its ultimate outcome changed the cultural course of tribes on the island. The acting is raw and as such is somehow more genuine. The setting really does feel like a tropical paradise. The two leads are appealing and both could, I think, have film careers if they wanted them. But everyone in the cast does a great job, and the idea that these folks have never seen a movie and yet came to the project with such obvious commitment and openness is an impressive testament to the importance of the story. Art transcends culture, and this is a clear demonstration of that. Kudos to the directors for crossing that bridge so beautifully.
Searchdog is a documentary about Matthew Zarrella, who trains dogs and their human partners in cadaver search and retrieval, and how he goes about doing what he does. The film follows not only the selection of dogs, but their training, as well as discussing some of the cases that Zarrella has worked on. Looking like a young Charleton Heston, this man and his dog do amazing work, both in the field and on the training ground. The director, Mary Healey Jamiel, as well as ubjects Andy Rebman, Dan O'Neil and K9 Ruby, were all on hand to greet the audience and do a Q&A after the film. Jamiel actually walked down the line of patrons waiting to see the film and thanked each one of us personally for attending. Excellent documentary, thoughtful, interesting. If you dig documentaries, this is a good one.
Beware the Slenderman (description but no trailer; I couldn't find one anywhere on line): In 2009, on the internet website creepypasta.com, a user uploaded a couple of photographs of an impossibly tall, impossibly slim figure he called Slenderman, a bogey man who preyed on children, carrying them away to his mansion in the Wisconsin woods. This fabricated fairy tale gained currency online and found its way to two tweens in Waukesha who became convinced he would get them and their families if they didn't demonstrate their loyalty--by murdering a friend. This documentary studies the case of Anissa Weier and Morgan Geyser, those two girls, and how they became caught up in the Slenderman's tentacles. The film is more true crime than urban legend study. The story is chilling, and the analysis of why and how this fictional villain became the foundation for a factual murder is fascinating and deeply uncomfortable. There were times when I felt the film lingered a little too long in places, when I found myself conscious of the time. But for the most part, it's an interesting, horrifying study. Made by HBO, it will air at some point in the near future. Worth seeing.
Tanna is a fascinating project. Set and shot entirely on the island of Vanuatu by two directors who have previously specialized in documentary film, and cast with natives who have never even seen a movie, it tells a sort of Romeo-and-Juliet tale. Wawa, a beautiful girl who has just been acknowledged as a marriageable woman, has been promised in marriage to another tribe as a way to settle internecine warfare. But since childhood, she and Dain, the handsome son of her own tribe's chief, have loved each other and wanted to be together. Their love threatens the peace their tribes are trying to forge. The story apparently has some basis in fact, and its ultimate outcome changed the cultural course of tribes on the island. The acting is raw and as such is somehow more genuine. The setting really does feel like a tropical paradise. The two leads are appealing and both could, I think, have film careers if they wanted them. But everyone in the cast does a great job, and the idea that these folks have never seen a movie and yet came to the project with such obvious commitment and openness is an impressive testament to the importance of the story. Art transcends culture, and this is a clear demonstration of that. Kudos to the directors for crossing that bridge so beautifully.
Searchdog is a documentary about Matthew Zarrella, who trains dogs and their human partners in cadaver search and retrieval, and how he goes about doing what he does. The film follows not only the selection of dogs, but their training, as well as discussing some of the cases that Zarrella has worked on. Looking like a young Charleton Heston, this man and his dog do amazing work, both in the field and on the training ground. The director, Mary Healey Jamiel, as well as ubjects Andy Rebman, Dan O'Neil and K9 Ruby, were all on hand to greet the audience and do a Q&A after the film. Jamiel actually walked down the line of patrons waiting to see the film and thanked each one of us personally for attending. Excellent documentary, thoughtful, interesting. If you dig documentaries, this is a good one.
Beware the Slenderman (description but no trailer; I couldn't find one anywhere on line): In 2009, on the internet website creepypasta.com, a user uploaded a couple of photographs of an impossibly tall, impossibly slim figure he called Slenderman, a bogey man who preyed on children, carrying them away to his mansion in the Wisconsin woods. This fabricated fairy tale gained currency online and found its way to two tweens in Waukesha who became convinced he would get them and their families if they didn't demonstrate their loyalty--by murdering a friend. This documentary studies the case of Anissa Weier and Morgan Geyser, those two girls, and how they became caught up in the Slenderman's tentacles. The film is more true crime than urban legend study. The story is chilling, and the analysis of why and how this fictional villain became the foundation for a factual murder is fascinating and deeply uncomfortable. There were times when I felt the film lingered a little too long in places, when I found myself conscious of the time. But for the most part, it's an interesting, horrifying study. Made by HBO, it will air at some point in the near future. Worth seeing.