Rooftop alum Sam Green
and Dave Cerf's philosophical film essay Utopia in Four Movements--performed with live narration (by Green) and
live music (by more Rooftop alums The Quavers)--swirls brilliantly and casually
through cultural history and detritus, through fantasy and forgotten fact.
There is an ad hoc air to the
piece, highlighted by the fluidity of the montage, constantly recalibrated by
Green's remote control, and elevated by the shifting interplay between the
spoken words and the audience reactions. This breezy style not only keeps the
piece from being an intellectually pretentious harangue: Utopia in Four
Movements is a lot of fun, full
of laughs and wonders.Daringly original, piercingly insightful, the journey of ideas traces links from Sir Thomas More to Fidel Castro, from the nearly-forgotten language of Esperanto to the nearly-abandoned "World's Largest Shopping Mall" in an unheard-of Chinese industrial city (as seen in Green's short film of the same title). The links are sometimes whimsical, sometimes tragic, as Green discusses spectacular utopian failures and odd utopian near-misses. It is perhaps telling that in today's world, some of the few states that claim the mantle of utopia are Cuba and North Korea.
But for all the melancholy and despair of examining our imperfect world, Green's investigations left me (and him) with an unexpected feeling: hopefulness. Instead of proving the futility of grandiose attempts to eradicate suffering and injustice, Utopia in Four Movements illuminates how many magnificent ideas are available to us, and though true paradise may be out of our reach, we can always have a little piece of utopia in our pockets and in our souls. It would be fantastic to bring this project and that feeling to the roof, our own little utopia above the city.
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One thing that's often missing from investigative documentary and satire--from Michael Moore to Sasha Baron Cohen--is a sense of vulnerability on the part of the filmmaker. The artist is taking on some big bad company or some giant malevolent ideology, and yet the Quixotic individuals seem to have no fear, never seem to be in danger, and don't seem personally threatened by the situation. In The Red Chapel, filmmaker Mads Brugger travels with two Koren-born Danish comedians (Simon Jul and Jacob Nossell) to North Korea, under the pretext that they will perform a pro-socialist play, celebrating the role of Kim Jong Il as the anti-imperialist hero he makes himself out to be. Traveling to one of the most isolated countries in the world, making fun of one of the most deadly regimes in history, takes courage and passion, but it should also be terrifying. What elevates The Red Chapel beyond intelligent political satire to moving personal investigation is the complexity of emotions and ideas the three intrepid satirists experience.
Brugger seems to be the best informed about the heinous North Korean government, and often spurs his two compatriots on by mentioning Kim Jong Il's oppressive treatment of the populace through a culture of spying and brainwashing, through brutal work camps and (essentially) forced starvation. But because of his awareness, Brugger is also the most fearful of the regime, and therefore the most obedient. When their hostess asks them to salute a military parade, Brugger alone obliges.
The two Korean-born comedians, on the other hand, are both more boldly out-spoken and more personally tormented. When shown a pro-government demonstration by kindergarten kids, they can barely contain their anguish. When told to change their theater performance, they try to resist. They want to speak out, but are awash in a complex set of conflicting feelings: they are opposed to the government, but feel badly for their obsequious hostess; they proudly consider themselves Danish, now, and come from South Korea, but are clearly awe-struck at the possibility of setting foot back in their homeland, solemnly walking around a negotiating table placed on the contentious border. The artists' inner turmoil, represented in The Red Chapel, allows for a political discourse that examines personal difficulties and intricacies of the situation, accounting for the fact that even an evil empire consists of individual human beings.
By turns hilarious and harrowing, absurd and insightful, I'm sure hoping that we can bring The Red Chapel to Rooftop this summer.
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Throughout the film, Fox is the emotional divining rod, wandering and wavering throughout the US, picking up on tragic tales of people, animals and places contaminated beyond repair, pointing always toward the hazardous link between "clean" natural gas and dangerously polluted water. Explaining the problem, Fox says, "Let me start at the beginning: this is Dick Cheney." In 2005, Cheney's secretive Energy Commission designed a bill that was able to overturn parts of various decades-old environmental-protection legislation, allowing for a relatively new process of gas drilling, invented by Halliburton. Commonly referred to as "fracking," in this new process, the mining companies inject a cornucopia of toxic chemicals deep into the ground and explode the rock beds. Companies across 38 states are doing this with almost no oversight or regulations, often operating within feet of homes, schools, streams, wells and aquifers. An EPA spokesmen describes the legislation as "Orwellian" and "Un-American."
As Fox chases the companies' operations across the country, he encounters cats and horses losing their hair in clumps, men and women with sudden painful illnesses, and houses where you can literally light the tap water on fire. Cowboys and roughnecks in the far west and deep south--certainly not your granola-eating tree-huggers--decry the situation with pathos, charm and a bit of mordant humor. The gas companies deny, deny, deny.
Fox is able to explain the process and the repercussions with an easy-going verve and a dire sense of urgency. With a swelling populist love for America, Fox gets the viewer to understand the problem and care deeply. Gasland begins as a personal query about Fox's own land, then slips into documentary filmmaking as he encounters people with stories to tell, ends as activist rallying cry as he exposes one of America's most dangerous environmental secrets. If audiences are given the opportunity to see these horrifying stories, amazingly wide-spread and consistent wherever natural gas is drilled, it shouldn't be a secret for long. Look to get involved this summer (if not sooner) at Rooftop Films. Get started now at www.gaslandthemovie.com.
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My first day at Sundance
went pretty smoothly, especially considering that I had to wake up at 4 AM to
catch my plane and that they had to make an emergency landing when someone fell
seriously ill over the Midwest. I didn't get into Park City until 2 PM, yet
still managed to catch four films and get back to my hotel at a relatively
reasonable hour. Intermittent text messages inform me that at 2:15 AM the
B-Side/FantasticFest karaoke slam is still raging, but I think that perhaps I
will wait until tomorrow to hit the parties.
First film up today was
"Boy," a genuinely charming narrative feature from New Zealand filmmaker Taika
Waititi. We screened Waititi's short film "Two Cars, One Night" in 2008, and
this feature is somewhat based on some of the characters and scenario that
worked exquisitely well in the short. Set in the 80's, "Boy" tells the story of
an imaginative but restless adolescent boy living in Waihau Bay who must deal
with the return from prison of his irresponsible father (played winningly by Waititi
himself). The film is charming without ever becoming too cute, broad without
ever becoming trite, and it compares well to somewhat similar films like Son of
Rambow and Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys. I found it much less forced and
substantially more amusing than either of those films, and the response here
has been generally positive, except for a rather luke-warm review in Variety. Next up was Catfish, which simply blew me away. A genuinely shocking and suspenseful true-life story involving one of the most unusual instances of Facebook stalking yet documented, Catfish is so entertainingly twisty that many here at Sundance are still arguing over whether or not the doc is legitimately non-fiction (it is).
If you are in Park City this week, GO SEE "CATFISH." It just does so many things right and offers so much to talk about that it demands to be seen. It is vibrantly of-the-moment and almost magically relevant to debates swirling about a half dozen different issues of our time, some big and some small. It never shies away from the idea that our culture is obsessed with self-documentation and social networks, but Joost, Schulman and Pontier wisely refrain from slowing down the story with any meandering discussion of the issue--they simply let the story tell itself and leave the audience to ask each other questions after the credits roll. It is a very personal story but it is much too entertaining and briskly told to be accused of being indulgent. It features some simple but highly innovative visual storytelling mechanisms that manage to convey life as it is lived online without resorting to irritating animation or quirky contrivances. And yet, despite it's various accomplishments, "Catfish" leaves you because it manages to end on a note of bittersweet empathy that rings true despite the freaky string of events that preceded. "Catfish" is the talk of the town and deservedly so.
I followed up Catfish with Chico Colvard's "Family Affair," a bleak but strikingly honest documentary about the filmmaker's tortured family history. Colvard accidentally shot his sister with his father's rifle when he was a young child, and this incident set in motion a series of events and revelations that soon led to his father being sent to jail for molesting each of his daughters. Well told and courageously inquiring, the film benefits tremendously from Colvard's willingness to show even the darkest and most unnerving sides of each story; at one point, his sisters even admit that they often enjoyed their sexual encounters with their father and that it was actually a welcome respite from his physical and emotional abusiveness. Neither they nor their brother think that this in any way excuses their father's behavior, but allowing his sisters to speak candidly shows that Colvard's goal was to explore emotional complexity, not excuse or further condemn his family for their well-documented failings.
Finally I grabbed a beer with Mike Tully of Hammer and Nail and Jake Perlin of BAM and then went to see a spectacularly awful sci-fi horror film called "Splice," starring Adrian Brody. Written and Directed by Vincenzo Natali, "Splice" tells the unlikely tale of two of the stupidest scientists on the face of the Earth splicing animal DNA together with human DNA and accidentally producing terrifying creatures, one of which runs amok and endangers all mankind (sort of). The audience at my press and industry screening sat silently through the silly first half of the film, but when Brody made an odd face and proclaimed, "Elsa, those were not mysterious tumors inside her body---THOSE WERE FULLY FUNCTIONAL AMPHIBIOUS LUNGS!" I couldn't help but burst out laughing and immediately the rest of the crowd joined in, and from then on a good time was had by all. Laughs could be heard throughout the auditorium, even as Sarah Polley was being raped and impregnated by a fish-bird-frog-man-hybrid (spoiler alert! Oops, too late).
Brody in particular seems lost from start to finish, never appearing sure if he should ham it up for laughs or tone it down in a last ditch effort to retain some little bit of self-respect. Talking to the crowd after the film, it was apparent that not one of us was sure if the film was intended to be campy or if it was merely accidentally hilarious, but clearly the overall vibe in the crowd was not good. Jake recommended that the film skip standard theatrical altogether and go straight to midnight movie screenings. This film is in trouble. That being said, I can't say I am not looking forward to TV ads that feature the sentence, "Academy Award Winner Adrian Brody in....SPLICE!"
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Eugene Hernandez, Editor-in-Chief at IndieWire:
It's a been a tough summer for cinema. The economic crisis has hit film organizations and festivals hard. With corporate support for arts programs and events dwindling, administrators and planners have taken a closer look at their financial situations and, in many cases, made significant cutbacks. In the past few months, organizations such as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Denver Film Society, Seattle's Northwest Film Forum, New York's Rooftop Films and others have faced economic hardships that have played out in public.
LACMA slashed its forty year old repertory and foreign film program in June but last week agreed to reinstate it through next year after cinema activists and moviegoers mobilized online. They changed course after a couple of corporations stepped with cash donations to temporarily save the program.
"It's not that people don't love film here, but it's hard," LACMA museum director Michael Govan told the LA Times recently, "We are getting diminishing audiences. This is a good time since we are shrinking to spend time thinking and rethinking. We do have to stem our losses."
* * *
Here at Rooftop, we have indeed been hit hard by losses in government funding, foundation support, and corporate sponsorship. But the good news is that unlike most other film organizations, our attendance is better than ever--up 20% from 2008 to 2009. By the end of our annual Summer Series, almost 25,000 people will have come to Rooftop Films this year. Despite heavy financial losses in the winter and spring, Rooftop Films presented our festival as planned, with no cuts to public programming.
Sadly, ticket sales covers only 1/4 of the expenses that go into presenting the Summer Series, and while we're clearly still a popular and growing organization that is creatively finding ways to get people to see movies, if we don't raise additional funding soon, we will be in serious trouble. Individuals who care about Rooftop Films should please make a tax-deductible donation. Foundations that want people cinema to reach wide audiences should support our populist work. And corporations who see the value in one of the few arts organizations with steadily increasing audiences should get behind Rooftop.
Thanks.
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FRIDAY AUGUST 14
ROOFTOP FILMS and VERIZON FIOS present
HOME MOVIES
Short films and video about moments in time, capturing and imagining what it felt like to be there.
OPEN BAR AFTER PARTY FOLLOWING THE SCREENING FOR ALL IN ATTENDANCE
Venue: On the lawn of Automotive High School
Address: 50 Bedford Ave. @ North 13th St. (Williamsburg, Brooklyn)
Directions: L to Bedford Ave. or G to Nassau Ave.
Rain: In the event of rain the show will be held indoors at the same location
8:00PM: Doors open
8:30PM: Live music presented by Sound Fix Records
9:00PM: Films
10:30PM: Filmmaker Q & A
11:30PM-1:00AM: After-party: Open Bar at Matchless (557 Manhattan Ave. @ Driggs) Courtesy of Radeberger Pilsner
Tickets: $9 at the door or online
Presented in partnership with: Cinereach, New York magazine, City Council Member David Yassky & Automotive High School
HOME MOVIES
Every year Rooftop hosts a program of Home Movies--discovering the forgotten, unmediated moments of people's lives, unfiltered and as they live them. The films reveal textures, patterns, feelings that might go unnoticed, fleeting incidents that would otherwise pass without thought, but when captured on film or video provide an insight into the lives captured, or those recording.
This year's program includes a wide range of techniques and storytelling strategies, displaying the varied forms that biographical documentary (and pseudo-documentary) can take. Filmmakers parse through mysteriously painful childhood memories (Bloomfield or a Childhood Memory; My Rabbit Hoppy); trace their family history (Ten for Grandpa); work through their issues relating to failed romances and short-lived affairs (Men With Girlfriends Later; I Slept With a Cookie Monster); and capture the fleeting impact of politics on the moments of their lives (Hotel Diaries). The details change and the narrative devices are diverse, but the goal of each film remains the same: to express through film or video what happened in that moment, what it meant to the filmmaker, what it felt like to be there.
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FRIDAY, AUGUST 15TH
ROOFTOP FILMS and VERIZON FIOS present
WHERE YOU LIVE
Short films that show us where you live and how you live. From the harshest African deserts to the fertile Irish countryside, from rapidly growing guesthouses in Hong Kong to the slowly fading inner city of Detroit, these fun and fascinating documentaries invite you into unique communities worldwide.
Venue: On the roof of El Museo Del Barrio
Address: 1230 Fifth Ave. @ 104th St. (East Harlem)
Directions: 6 to 103rd St. or 2/3 to 110th St.
Rain: In the event of rain, show will be indoors at the same location
8:00PM: Doors open
8:30PM: Sound Fix presents live music
9:00PM: Films
11:00PM-12:30AM: After-party on the roof: Open bar courtesy of Radeberger Pilsner Tickets: $9-$25 at door or online
Presented in partnership with: Cinereach, New York magazine, & El Museo Del Barrio
WHERE YOU LIVE
Since Rooftop Films earliest days, we have called for "films that show us where you live and how you live," films that allow intimate looks into the lives of people and populations around the world. Because at Rooftop, we don't screen in theaters--we screen in communities, and we attempt to make every event a unique connection between filmmakers and audiences, between venues and neighborhoods. We seek out new locations to host events, and bring together area-residents and non-natives for a shared, memorable experience. Tonight, we bring you a program of films that have that touch of local flavor, that bite of distinct hardships, and the comforting joy of community history.
FULL DETAILS - BUY TICKETS
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SEE THE WAY WE GET BY AT THE IFC CENTER.
Filmmakers and Doc Subjects in Attendance!
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Rooftop's Julia Friedman spoke with Aron about his film.
ROOFTOP FILMS: Give us a brief description of your film for those who haven't seen it yet.
ROOFTOP FILMS: Give us a brief description of your film for those who haven't seen it yet.
ARON GAUDET: The Way We Get By is really about life and more importantly how having a purpose in your life means so much. We follow three seniors who volunteer as troop greeters--they go day in and day out to a small airport in Bangor, Maine to greet troops heading to and returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. And over the last six years, while greeting nearly one million U.S. soldiers and Marines, they have been able to fight through the many obstacles that come with growing old simply because they are determined to keep their promise to be there for every flight.
RF: Your mother is one of the protagonists in the film. What compelled you to tell her story?
AG: After retiring, my mother had spent years looking for a hobby to put her time into, but had found nothing of interest and basically spent her days sitting at home reading books and watching birds. And then she found troop greeting and it transformed her life. Suddenly she was never home, going out to the airport seven days a week, at any time of the day or night, to greet troops. Seeing this change first hand really inspired me to look closer and see what it was that had made her so active. Once I saw a troop flight come in and be greeted I understood the emotional draw, and really just thought it was a great story to tell.
RF: In what way do you think the relationship between a documentary filmmaker and his/her subjects influences the finished product?
AG: I think in our case it influenced the finished product a great deal. This was our first feature film and we had been told by some documentary filmmakers that you shouldn't get too close to your subjects or form friendships with them because it would just be harder to objectively tell their story. We decided to do the exact opposite. We became a part of their lives and them a part of ours. Besides my mom, the other two subjects from the film are like family now, and we continue to talk with them every week, and visit them whenever we can. The result, I think, is an extremely intimate film. So many times our subjects completely opened up to us emotionally, and gave us so much because there was a great deal of trust built in our relationships with them. They knew we would be there for the long haul. And in the edit room, we were able to separate our feelings for them and still be very true in telling each of their stories. I would never do it any other way.
RF: Your film neither strikes an anti-war, nor pro-war stance, but rather focuses on personal sacrifices and relationships. Especially when dealing with topics as divisive as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, why did you choose to omit your own critical stance?
AG: At the airport they have a few rules you must follow if you would like to greet the troops and the number one rule is "leave your politics outside the airport"...they are really determined to not have what they do be political in any way. It is simply about supporting the troops. So it was a very easy choice to give that same rule to our film. We just felt like there were so many documentaries out there, related to the war, that took such a political stance, and we really didn't want to be another one of those films. Plus, to tell the story of these three individuals didn't require politics, and our political views certainly had no bearing on the story.
RF: Both the young soldiers and the aging protagonists showed a deep commitment to service. Do you think that this is perhaps more typical than the mainstream media would have us believe? Are these characters exceptional people, or do they represent the strength of character of many Americans?
AG: I think they represent what many people believe in and would like to do, but I think their extreme dedication and commitment sets them apart from most people. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think the majority of Americans would still be getting calls, in the middle of the night, 7 days a week, and getting out of bed to drive to the airport and greet troops--six years into the war. I think the majority of Americans support the troops regardless of their politics, but the dedication it takes to support them the way our subjects do is truly inspiring.
RF: Have you always been a full-time filmmaker? If not, what has your professional journey been?
AG: "The Way We Get By" is my first feature film, and my journey to get to this point has been a long one. For ten years, I worked as a promotion producer in television news in different markets around the country. And for ten years, I looked for ways to make that jump to filmmaking, but it wasn't until I met producer Gita Pullapilly, and found my perfect partner, that I was able to do so...that's why I'm marrying her! She was truly my equal on the producing side of things, and I felt like I finally had someone I could go into battle with and take on a project like a feature film.
RF: Tell us about your next project.
AG: My next project takes place on October 16th--our wedding day. After that, we've got several projects we're interested in, but still looking for one of them to speak to us like this one did. One thing we learned through all this is we need to fall in love with one of our ideas completely if we're going to dedicate four years of our lives to it.
RF: Your mother is one of the protagonists in the film. What compelled you to tell her story?
AG: After retiring, my mother had spent years looking for a hobby to put her time into, but had found nothing of interest and basically spent her days sitting at home reading books and watching birds. And then she found troop greeting and it transformed her life. Suddenly she was never home, going out to the airport seven days a week, at any time of the day or night, to greet troops. Seeing this change first hand really inspired me to look closer and see what it was that had made her so active. Once I saw a troop flight come in and be greeted I understood the emotional draw, and really just thought it was a great story to tell.
RF: In what way do you think the relationship between a documentary filmmaker and his/her subjects influences the finished product?
AG: I think in our case it influenced the finished product a great deal. This was our first feature film and we had been told by some documentary filmmakers that you shouldn't get too close to your subjects or form friendships with them because it would just be harder to objectively tell their story. We decided to do the exact opposite. We became a part of their lives and them a part of ours. Besides my mom, the other two subjects from the film are like family now, and we continue to talk with them every week, and visit them whenever we can. The result, I think, is an extremely intimate film. So many times our subjects completely opened up to us emotionally, and gave us so much because there was a great deal of trust built in our relationships with them. They knew we would be there for the long haul. And in the edit room, we were able to separate our feelings for them and still be very true in telling each of their stories. I would never do it any other way.
RF: Your film neither strikes an anti-war, nor pro-war stance, but rather focuses on personal sacrifices and relationships. Especially when dealing with topics as divisive as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, why did you choose to omit your own critical stance?
AG: At the airport they have a few rules you must follow if you would like to greet the troops and the number one rule is "leave your politics outside the airport"...they are really determined to not have what they do be political in any way. It is simply about supporting the troops. So it was a very easy choice to give that same rule to our film. We just felt like there were so many documentaries out there, related to the war, that took such a political stance, and we really didn't want to be another one of those films. Plus, to tell the story of these three individuals didn't require politics, and our political views certainly had no bearing on the story.
RF: Both the young soldiers and the aging protagonists showed a deep commitment to service. Do you think that this is perhaps more typical than the mainstream media would have us believe? Are these characters exceptional people, or do they represent the strength of character of many Americans?
AG: I think they represent what many people believe in and would like to do, but I think their extreme dedication and commitment sets them apart from most people. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think the majority of Americans would still be getting calls, in the middle of the night, 7 days a week, and getting out of bed to drive to the airport and greet troops--six years into the war. I think the majority of Americans support the troops regardless of their politics, but the dedication it takes to support them the way our subjects do is truly inspiring.
RF: Have you always been a full-time filmmaker? If not, what has your professional journey been?
AG: "The Way We Get By" is my first feature film, and my journey to get to this point has been a long one. For ten years, I worked as a promotion producer in television news in different markets around the country. And for ten years, I looked for ways to make that jump to filmmaking, but it wasn't until I met producer Gita Pullapilly, and found my perfect partner, that I was able to do so...that's why I'm marrying her! She was truly my equal on the producing side of things, and I felt like I finally had someone I could go into battle with and take on a project like a feature film.
RF: Tell us about your next project.
AG: My next project takes place on October 16th--our wedding day. After that, we've got several projects we're interested in, but still looking for one of them to speak to us like this one did. One thing we learned through all this is we need to fall in love with one of our ideas completely if we're going to dedicate four years of our lives to it.
+ + +
BUY TICKETS TO SEE THE WAY WE GET BY AT THE IFC CENTER.
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Rooftop Films (NYC) and the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) have joined forces to present two remarkable films from IFFR 2009 in Rooftop's Summer Series. Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly by Edwin (Indonesia) and Los Herederos by Eugenio Polgovsky (Mexico) will be screened on July 17 and 18, 2009 with the filmmakers and IFFR director Rutger Wolfson attending. Q&As with the filmmakers will be hosted by Rooftop Films Founder and Artistic Director Mark Elijah Rosenberg.
The collaboration, a pilot project between the International Film Festival Rotterdam and Rooftop Films, sets out to raise the profile and track record of both films in the US. The films screened at IFFR and have been supported financially by its Hubert Bals Fund.
Also that weekend, Rooftop Films will host a forum with film industry leaders about the future of independent, alternative film exhibition.
Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly, a dark comedy from Indonesia about the local Chinese community, was made by first-time feature filmmaker Edwin (who uses only his first name as his artist name). Los Herederos, by Mexican filmmaker Eugenio Polgovsky, is an impressive and artful documentary about child labor.
Rooftop Films' 13th Annual Summer Series runs every weekend from May 15-September 20. Programming for the 2009 Summer Series includes feature-length films and programs of shorts--all new, all independent. Rooftop screens films outdoor in unique locations, with live music before each screening, filmmaker Q&As after the screening, and after-parties for all in attendance. Rooftop creatively matches the film, the music and the venue, connecting films with communities and artists with audiences so that each event is unique and memorable.
The IFFR is interested in exploring new ways of finding an audience for independent cinema and therefore is glad to collaborate with Rooftop. Rooftop Films Founder and Artistic Director Mark Elijah Rosenberg said of the partnership, "Both our festivals are dedicated to supporting truly independent filmmakers who are making daring films, and in finding unique new ways to produce and exhibit these films. It's an honor for Rooftop and the Rooftop Filmmakers' Fund to be working with Rotterdam on this new venture."
For screening dates, locations, visit www.rooftopfilms.com. To buy tickets, click here.
Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly is a film that is both serious and playful. The film tackles a sensitive racial political issue, namely the denial of the cultural identity of the Chinese minority in Indonesia, but is also filled with humorous and bizarre jokes and situations.
Edwin's film premiered November 2009 in Pusan's New Currents section, then went on to compete in Rotterdam's VPRO Tiger Awards Competition and there was honored with the FIPRESCI Award of the international film critics' jury.
Edwin (1978, Indonesia) studied graphic design in Surabaya and film in Jakarta. Besides short fiction, Edwin makes music videos and documentaries. In 2005 his film Kara, the Daughter of a Tree became the first Indonesian short film ever invited to the Directors' Fortnight at Cannes. For the IFFR, Edwin made the short film Hulahoop Soundings (2008), a kind of remake of Joel Coen's graduation film Soundings. Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly (2008) is his feature début.
Rooftop Films Summer Series screening date and location of Blind Pig: July 17, 2009, on the roof of the Old American Can Factory. Address: 232 3rd St. @ 3rd Ave. (Gowanus/Park Slope, Brooklyn). Doors open at 8:00pm. Live music at 8:30pm. Film at 9:00pm. BUY TICKETS.
Edwin's film premiered November 2009 in Pusan's New Currents section, then went on to compete in Rotterdam's VPRO Tiger Awards Competition and there was honored with the FIPRESCI Award of the international film critics' jury.
Edwin (1978, Indonesia) studied graphic design in Surabaya and film in Jakarta. Besides short fiction, Edwin makes music videos and documentaries. In 2005 his film Kara, the Daughter of a Tree became the first Indonesian short film ever invited to the Directors' Fortnight at Cannes. For the IFFR, Edwin made the short film Hulahoop Soundings (2008), a kind of remake of Joel Coen's graduation film Soundings. Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly (2008) is his feature début.
Rooftop Films Summer Series screening date and location of Blind Pig: July 17, 2009, on the roof of the Old American Can Factory. Address: 232 3rd St. @ 3rd Ave. (Gowanus/Park Slope, Brooklyn). Doors open at 8:00pm. Live music at 8:30pm. Film at 9:00pm. BUY TICKETS.
Los Herederos (The Inheritors) is a hypnotic documentary that observes the young working poor in the hinterlands of Mexico, alternately expressing the joy of children finding ways to play, the frustration of their harsh and repetitive lives, and the fateful acceptance of their existence.
Eugenio Polgovsky (1977, Mexico) studied film, photography and directing at the CCC in Mexico and won the Special Prize in a UNESCO photography contest. He works as director and cinematographer. His first feature-length documentary Tropic of Cancer (2004) was awarded several times at festivals. Polgovsky's Los Herederos received a digital production grant in 2007 from the Hubert Bals Fund, premiered August 2008 during the Venice Film Festival and was selected for Rotterdam 2009's Bright Future section for first and second time filmmakers.
Rooftop Films Summer Series screening date and location of Los Herederos: July 18, 2009, On the roof of El Museo Del Barrio. Address: 1230 Fifth Ave. @ 104th St. (East Harlem). Doors open at 8:00pm. Live music at 8:30pm. Film at 9:00pm. BUY TICKETS.
Rooftop Films Summer Series screening date and location of Los Herederos: July 18, 2009, On the roof of El Museo Del Barrio. Address: 1230 Fifth Ave. @ 104th St. (East Harlem). Doors open at 8:00pm. Live music at 8:30pm. Film at 9:00pm. BUY TICKETS.
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On Saturday, June 20th, Rooftop Films will be screening Jennifer Maytorena Taylor's film New Muslim Cool on the roof of El Museo del Barrio. Get tickets now before it sells out.
Jennifer Maytorena Taylor is a director, producer, photographer, and narrator. Her latest feature film , New Muslim Cool, chronicles the personal journey of Puerto-Rican American rapper Hamza Pérez. Pérez ended his life as a drug dealer 12 years ago, and started down a new path as a young Muslim. Now he's moved to Pittsburgh's tough North Side to start a new religious community, rebuild his shattered family, and take his message of faith to other young people through his uncompromising music as part of the hip-hop duo M-Team. But when the FBI raids his mosque, Hamza must confront the realities of the post-9/11 world.
Rooftop's Julia Friedman discussed the film with Jennifer. Here's the scoop:
ROOFTOP FILMS: Give us a brief description of your film for those who haven't seen it yet.
JENNIFER MAYTORENA TAYLOR: After the FBI raids his community's mosque, Puerto Rican American Muslim hip-hop artist Hamza Pérez must confront life in post-9/11 America, and himself. NEW MUSLIM COOL, shot over three years in Pittsburgh, PA and other locations around the US, follows Hamza's ride through the streets, projects and jail cells of urban America, following his spiritual journey to some surprising places -- where we can all see ourselves reflected in a world that never stops changing.
RF: Hamza's background, as a Puerto-Rican, Muslim American is truly representative of the American "melting-pot." Was this part of what drew you to focus on him as a character?
JMT: My work often focuses on Latino characters and themes (I'm partially of Mexican descent) so that was a point of connection that served us well at many points in the production process, especially with the rest of the Perez family. Our principal DP, David Sarasti, is from Columbia, so that also added some good Latino flavor to the production team.
And definitely, Hamza's multiple affiliations represent the complex cultural identity that so many of us share in the melting-pot, and I think help underscore that we can be many things at once and still share a national identity and set of common values.
RF: The movie focuses on the FBI's persecution of Muslim Americans, especially under The Patriot Act. Under the Obama administration, do you think that some of this persecution has subsided, or are Muslim citizens still being harassed and denied rights?
JMT: We never intended to focus on this issue when we set out to make the film, indeed I intentionally did not use 9/11 and its aftermath as a frame for the film's story because I didn't want that to be the only point of reference. I was so tired of only seeing Muslim stories in that context that I tried to start with a fresh slate.
But of course when the surveillance issue emerged and then the raid happened, we had no choice but to make that part of the film. Even so, the action that unfolded after the raid had much more to do with Hamza and his community's emotional and spiritual responses to the event. I actually looked for them to do something more typically dramatic but that is not how they chose to respond, and so the film ends up with a much more subtle and quiet storyline.
Also I should say that Hamza and the other folks in the film, while being understandably very upset about the raid, did not really see themselves so much as victims. Partly that is because many of them grew up with a lot of police presence in their communities, partly because they try really hard to take a lot of responsibility for themselves and their responses, and partly because they are sophisticated about the ways in which others may see them. That's what Hamza and Suliman's song So Clear is about, which they'll perform at the Rooftop Films show.
Finally, I am not sure what may have changed in the last few months with regard to the PATRIOT Act and treatment of the Muslim community in the US, but I'm hopeful.
RF: The role of hip-hop and poetry in the film functions as both artistic expression and social statement. In your opinion, and perhaps in Hamza's as well, are art and music the most effective means of changing public opinion?
JMT: I'm not sure if they are the most effective of all but I think they are certainly one of the most effective ways of moving mass opinion. I think the thing is to make people feel empathy and a personal connection and not just treat issues in the abstract.
RF: The film focuses on Hamza's spiritual journey of personal growth. Did you as the filmmaker experience a similar transformation during the making of the film?
JMT: I think I have more respect and understanding now for people who choose to follow organized forms of faith of all kinds --- when they are motivated to make society better and respect that others have different beliefs (including no religious affiliation) but can still have common values.
RF: Are you a full-time filmmaker? If not, what else are you up to?
JMT: I've worked full-time as a producer and filmmaker for about 10 years, and in addition to making long-form independent documentaries often work as a producer in current affairs and arts at the San Francisco PBS affiliate, KQED.
RF:Tell us about your next project.
JMT: We're launching a lot of components of NEW MUSLIM COOL over the next few months, including an expanded soundtrack album hosted by Q-Tip. This fall we're going to kick off a campus and prison screening tour with the film to sound that theme, and also plan to work with several youth civic engagement projects through the next couple of years. We'll be preparing a special DVD for use in correctional facilities with extra features and discussion guides that jail staff can use with inmates of different faith backgrounds, to both help the interfaith relationships among the inmate population and also to encourage self-reflection.
Another idea that we are developing and fundraising for is a video game aimed at pre-teens and teenagers, based on the drug dealing prevention program Hamza, Suliman, and Luqmon have developed. We also hope that we might be able to support the work being done by non-profit organizations that help young people start small legitimate businesses through micro-loans and training.
Also as I was making NEW MUSLIM COOL I also co-produced and co-directed a feature documentary (with Marianne Teleki) called SPECIAL CIRCUMANSTANCES. It's about Marianne's husband Hector -- a Chilean exile searching for the people who killed his friends after the 1973 coup -- and will be out on national PBS in the fall in the Latino series Voces.
And for my next production I'm going to finally have time to make the film I've had rattling around my laptop for a long time, a short musical comedy extravaganza called STOP! WAIT! THAT'S MY TACO TRUCK!
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