Pages 61 - Raindance

NOW, I [IMA, BOKU WA]
FRIDAY 10 OCTOBER AT 4:30PM
Country Japan Running Time 87 mins Format DV-Cam
Director/Screenplay/Producer Yasutomo Chikuma DoP
Erio Muneta Cast Yasutomo Chikuma, Yoshiharu Fujisawa,
Masato Shiga Email yasutomo.chika@hotmail.co.jp
SCREENING SPONSORS
Satoru is a so-called NEET (‘not engaged in employment, education or
training’), living a reclusive life in the apartment of his single mother, to
whom he barely ever speaks, and literally doing nothing except hole up in
his bedroom where he sleeps, subsists on junk food, watches TV and plays
video games. One day, at his anxious mother’s request, a young acquaintance Tôsawa appears on the doorstep and attempts to coax him out of
his shell, but he faces an uphill battle if he wishes the painfully shy and
withdrawn Satoru to venture out into the wider world.
This year Raindance is proud to introduce to UK audiences two stunning
and highly personal first features both made by directors at the tender age
of 23; Ryo Nakajima’s This World of Ours, and this astonishingly confident
debut by Yasutomo Chikuma, who not only wrote and directed Now, I…,
but also plays its main character. Based on the experiences of some actual
friends of his, Chikuma painfully draws attention to a social phenomenon
that might be more prevalent than one imagines. Though literally the first
time he has picked up a camera, Chikuma acquits himself remarkably in
the main role in a film which, despite being realised on an unbelievably
small budget of 500,000 yen (under $5000), nevertheless never puts a foot
wrong. An auteur is born. JS
In Permanent Part-Timer in Distress, Iwabuchi, after graduating from university, finds himself biding time as a part-time worker (furiitâ) for Canon,
but soon finds himself stuck in a rut working endless hours for a meager
hourly wage and unable to pay off his student debts. Humorously documenting his plight on video, he finds himself uncomfortably hoisted into
TV news studios as an unwilling spokesman for a generation of disenfranchised workers following the recent deregulation of Japan’s labour market.
But are the media really interested in his situation, or are they too exploiting him for a quick news story? Produced by Yutaka Tsuchiya, director of
The New God and Peep ‘TV’ Show, Iwabuchi’s documentary debut is a
fine example of someone using new video technology to reaffirm his own
identity and reclaim his place in society. JS
PERMANENT PART-TIMER… + FUJICA SINGLE …
WEDNESDAY 8 OCTOBER AT 9:15PM
RT 67 mins Format DV-Cam Dir/Screenplay/DoP Hiroki
Iwabuchi Prod Yutaka Tsuchiya E info@videoact.jp W www.
geocities.jp/sounan_freeter/e_top.htm
SCREENING SPONSORS
RT 29 mins Format DV-Cam Director/Producer/S’play/
DoP Kenji Murakami E planetstudyoplusone-tom@r6.dion.ne.jp
With over a decade of filmmaking under his belt, Kenji Murakami’s independently-produced documentaries straddle the boundaries of fiction and
fact. Fujica Single-Date starts off as a lament to Fuji’s decision to cease
production of Super 8mm film in 2007, a medium on which so many of
today’s established filmmakers honed their craft, but soon meanders into a
nostalgic meditation on film and its romantic possibilities. JS
Current reigning King of the Pink Film Shinji Imaoka (Lunch Box, Uncle’s
Paradise) returns to Raindance’s screens once more with Tender Throbbing
Twilight, a quirky and surprisingly touching tale of love at the far side of
retirement age, proving that Japanese sex films are not just for dirty old
men; they can also be about dirty old men. Funakichi should be old enough
to know better, but his burning ardour still keeps getting the better of him.
When his wife passes his way, he is reacquainted with an high-school
sweetheart Kazuko at a class reunion and finds his youthful dreams of
love rekindled. But will the new couple succeed in flying in the face of convention against the wishes of their families to act their ages? JS
TENDER THROBBING… + VIRGIN WILDSIDES…
TUESDAY 7 OCTOBER AT 9:15PM & WEDNESDAY 8 OCTOBER AT 2PM
RT 64 mins Ft 35mm Dir S Imaoka Prod D Asakura Cast M
Taga, Y Namikibashi, KYoshioka E kazu@stance.co.jp
RT 85 mins Ft DV-Cam Dir/S’play/Prod Tetsuaki Matsue
DoP Y Shimada E planetstudyoplusone-tom@r6.dion.ne.jp
W www.spopro.net/virgin_wildsides/
SCREENING SPONSORS
Last year, Raindance screened volume one of The Virgin Wildsides, in
which we witnessed director Tetsuaki Matsue’s desperate attempts at
initiating a reluctant friend into adulthood by inviting him to a star in a
pornographic video to relieve him of his virginity. Now Matsue brings us
The Virgin Wildsides Vol II in which a new friend, or rather victim, Yoshirô
Umezawa, a reclusive fanboy who has built a shrine in his bedroom, stuck
out in the boondocks of rural Japan, to a long-forgotten pop idol, and new
quest, to bring him face to face with his obsession. JS
SIXTEENTH RAINDANCE FILM FESTIVAL
61
THIS WORLD OF OURS [ORETACHI NO SEKAI]
SATURDAY 11 OCTOBER AT 6:45PM
Country Japan Running Time 92 mins Format DV-Cam
Director/Screenplay/DoP Ryo Nakajima Producer Koji
Onomichi Cast Yoshihiko Taniguchi, Arisa Hata, Satoshi Okutsu
Email international@pff.jp Website www.peijafilm.nightfall.jp
SCREENING SPONSORS
TURTLES ARE SURPRISINGLY FAST SWIMMERS
SUNDAY 12 OCTOBER AT 4:30PM
Country Japan Running Time 90 mins Format 35mm
Director/Screenplay Satoshi Miki Producer Akiko Sasaki
DoP Gen Kobayashi Cast Juri Ueno, Yû Aoi, Ryo Iwamatsu
Email ikeuchi@goldview.co.jp W www.goldview.co.jp/tit_e.html
Playing with The Milky Audition 8 mins
62
SIXTEENTH RAINDANCE FILM FESTIVAL
SCREENING SPONSORS
Matarai regularly finds himself picked upon by school bullies Hiroki and
Ryo, despite the ineffective interventions of their teacher. Spurred on by
Ami, a girl so full of self-loathing she regularly self-harms, his attempts
at fighting back begin an terminal downward spiral of violence and retribution. Years later, when Ami gets drunk at a party held by her tutor,
Hiroki’s university chums send her home early before they begin their
usual ‘games’. But the events of the night will haunt all concerned for the
rest of their lives.
This brutal portrait of disaffected youth is the talking point Japanese film
of the year. Its 23-year-old director, Ryo Nakajima, started working on the
script when he was a 19-year-old hikikomori, or social recluse, so socially
withdrawn that he never left his house, and describes his determination to
make this film as an attempt ‘to connect with somebody and break out of
my own shell.’ The end result is a raw and anarchic portrait of a generation
sick of the world they live in, a generation without hope or future living by
their own rules. With as incendiary a debut as this, Nakajima is most certainly a filmmaker to keep an eye on in the future. JS
Just an ordinary housewife, Suzume Katagura’s life passes by without
excitement or incident. Her husband is constantly away on business overseas, and though he phones her regularly, he seems more concerned with
the welfare of his pet turtle. No one seems to notice her, and her daily
routine looks set to hold few surprises.
Then one day Suzume spots a flier advertising for spies which appears
to offer some relief from her humdrum existence. Intrigued, she phones
the number and is instructed to rendezvous at a derelict apartment three
days later, where she is greeted by an odd middle-aged couple. The two
hardly seem like the spies contracted to a foreign state that they claim to
be – he is unemployed, she is a shopping mall announcer. Nevertheless,
they’re very ordinariness might well be their greatest asset, and at first
glance Suzume seems like the ideal candidate to join in their games.
With its breezy, easygoing charm and perky array of oddball characters,
Miki’s second feature is an ideal entry point into the chaotic and random
worlds created by this prodigious new filmmaking phenomenon. JS
ACOLYTES
MONDAY 6 OCTOBER AT 9:15PM
Country Australia Running Time 91 mins Format HD Director Jon Hewitt Screenplay SP
Krause, Shayne Armstrong, Jon Hewitt Producers Penny Wall, Richard Stewart DoP Mark Pugh
Cast Joel Edgerton, Michael Dorman, Sebastian Gregory Print Source Acolytes Production
Email harry@arclightfilms.com
BLACKSPOT
TUESDAY 7 OCTOBER AT 5PM & WEDNESDAY 8 OCTOBER AT 2:30PM
Country New Zealand Running Time 83 mins Format DV Director Ben Hawker Screenplay
Ben Hawker, Luke Hawker Producer Freya Blackwood DoP Glenn Miers, Kevin McTurk Cast
Luke Hawker, Simon Smith, Camille Keenan Print Source Talking Hawker Pictures Email
production@blackspot.co.nz Website www.blackspot.co.nz
Playing with The Ambient Medium 10 mins
LEFT EAR
SATURDAY 4 OCTOBER AT 7:30PM
Country Australia Running Time 79 mins Format DigiBeta Director Andrew Wholley
Screenplay Lech Mackiewicz Producers Clare Mackey, Lech Mackiewicz, Andrew Wholley
DoP Judd Overton Cast Lech Mackiewicz, Clare Mackey, Helena Malczewska Print Source
Red Rug Email clare@redrug.com.au Website www.leftearmystery.com
Playing with The Lost Child 18 mins
64
SIXTEENTH RAINDANCE FILM FESTIVAL
Whilst strolling around in the woods, high school teenager Mark comes
across a freshly buried grave and spots an SUV leaving the scene.
Deciding with some friends to dig up what they assume to be a dead pet,
they find the body of a murdered young girl. After the initial shock of the
discovery, the friends agree to track down the killer and turn the situation
to their advantage – blackmailing him in a very unusual way, and setting off
a horrific chain of events.
The film soon takes a sinister turn. The revelations keep on coming,
drawing you in and wasting no time before smashing the conventions of
the genre. It’s gripping while managing never to be predictable, marking
out first time writers Armstrong and Krause as a duo to keep an eye on.
Reinforcing Australia’s growing reputation for terrific cinema, there is
much to be found in Jon Hewitt’s unsettling directorial effort. At a time
where the gratuitous violence of films in the vein of Hostel are deemed as
horror, Acolytes is a welcome and refreshing change. It’s not for the faint
of heart, but stick with it and you’ll be rewarded with a truly exhilarating
experience. CP
While driving along the dark late night roads of New Zealand, two young
men suddenly find themselves stranded when their car breaks down in
the middle of nowhere. The pair decide to wait until sunrise before seeking help, but as the hours slowly pass by and the sun fails to appear, they
realise the horrid truth – the dawn isn’t coming.
The first directorial effort from Ben Hawker (of Peter Jackson’s Weta
Workshop), the film explores the men’s paranoia in such extreme isolation
as it becomes progressively more apparent that there is much more to be
frightened of outside the confines of their stationary vehicle – and as the
events continue to unfold the men begin questioning the very foundations
of their apparent friendship.
Shot with a crew comprised almost entirely of Hawker’s Weta colleagues
over the course of nineteen months (owing to New Zealand’s contrastingly
short and freezing summer nights) and achieving on average an incredible
28 shots per night, it’s a stark contrast to their work most people will have
seen on the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
A clever low budget horror film that succeeds at never being predictable,
Blackspot plays on childhood fears and succeeds with terrifying results.
This nightmarish vision will keep you on the very edge of your seat. CP
Bore is a 40-odd year old Polish immigrant who lives with his religious
and overbearing mother. Alienated by his host country having moved to
Australia, his isolation is broken when a woman, Kym exposes him her left
ear. At this point his life alters and he becomes haunted by and infatuated
with her. If, in the moment he was disillusioned by his new home country
and lacked the confidence to approach her, he arms himself with a video
camera with the intention to document his obsession and desire for her.
Shot on mini-DV and moody 16mm, Left Ear is a gritty portrayal of a
man who, disillusioned by his new home, trawls the beaches whenever he
can, and begins filming his tormented relations with the women who have
changed his life.
We see Bore through the security camera behind a bank machine, on
an empty bus and through his own camera as he films pornography and
plays it back – a man isolated behind the camera with the blow-up doll that
becomes his substitute for the woman, Kym.
‘I think lonely people should be trained as spies,’ he says, as his obsession and isolation grows deeper and more desperate. Left Ear is a searing,
claustrophobic portrait of one man’s isolation as he crosses the line separating obsession and self-destructive madness. TB
THE AUTEUR
SATURDAY 11 OCTOBER AT 10PM
Country USA Running Time 80 mins Format DVC-Pro/HD
Director/Screenplay James Westby Producers Amber
Geiger, Bryan McDonald DoP Alan Jacobson Cast Melik
Malkasian, Katherine Flynn, John Breen P/S Amber Geiger
Email amber@ambergeiger.com W www.theauteurmovie.com
SCREENING SPONSOR
CHOKE
WEDNESDAY 1 OCTOBER AT 7PM
USA RT 89 mins Ft 35mm Dir/S’play Clark Gregg (novel by
Chuck Palahniuk) Prods Beau Flynn, Tripp Vinson, Johnathan
Dorfman, Temple Fennell DoP Tim Orr Cast Sam Rockwell,
Angelica Huston, Kelly Macdonald P/S Fox Searchlight
E kate.gardiner@fox.com W www.foxsearchlight.com/choke
SCREENING SPONSOR
FUGITIVE PIECES
SUNDAY 12 OCTOBER AT 2PM
Country Canada Running Time 105 mins Format 35 mm Director/Screenplay Jeremy
Podeswa Producers Robert Lantos, Sandra Cunningham DoP Gregory Middleton
Cast Stephen Dillane, Rade Sherbedgia, Rosamund Pike Print Source Maximum Films
Email deanne@maximumfilms.ca
Things are not going well for Arturo Domingo. His career, as the most
artistic hardcore pornography director who ever lived, has been in a lull
since he stopped working with long-time actor collaborator Frank E Normo.
The love of his life, Fiona, is long gone after enduring his jealous rage for
too long. There is, however, hope on the horizon. Arturo has a new film in
development and is headed to Portland, Oregon (director James Westby’s
home and regular backdrop) for a film festival honouring and retrospective screening. In Portland, he is faced with his past in all its forms, and
as he attempts to pull his life back together, it may just come apart at the
seams.
The film’s semi-mockumentary style offers an interesting exposition as
we get to know this bizarre pseudo-artist through his personal history. We
are soon bombarded with porn takes of famous films, and this is good
indication of the tone that Westby has set – the humour is often loud
and extroverted, at times purposefully crude, but always cleverly conceived.
There are moments of sentimentality, but the film slips neither into soap
opera nor adolescent slapstick. The soundtrack, in part provided by Jason
Wells, offers whimsy, and a solid driving force for the humour. This film,
then, has it all: nudity, copious drug use, and many laughs. JG
High school dropout Vincent Mancini (Sam Rockwell) spends his days
dressed as an indentured Irish servant at his job at an 18th century theme
park. After hours, he and co-worker Denny (Brad William Henke) attend a
12-step sex addiction program. Denny is a compulsive masturbator while
Vincent can’t even sit through the class without searching for a quickie. Apart from sex, Vincent’s primary focus is his confused mother Ida
(Angelica Huston) who resides in an expensive psychiatric care facility
paid for mainly by Vincent’s sideline – staging fake choking incidents at
upscale restaurants where he is inevitably ‘saved’ by bystanders only too
willing to dust off their Heimlich manoeuvres. These incidents often result
in such a degree of emotional bonding that his ‘saviours’ frequently go on
to send him hefty cheques out of continued concern for his well being.
For his directorial debut Clark Gregg has taken on the daunting task
of bringing only the second adaptation of cult author Chuck Palahniuk’s
work to the big screen after David Fincher’s brilliant Fight Club. Palahniuk’s
legion of fans should not be disappointed. Shot on a relatively small budget
over 25 days in wintry New Jersey, this was a project that took seven years
to get off the ground despite the fact that Palahniuk himself was championing it every step of the way. SB
Based on the Orange Prize winning novel by Canadian author Anne
Michaels, Fugitive Pieces tells the story of Jakob Beer, a young Polish boy
who witnesses the capture of his family by the Nazis while he escapes
and is rescued by a Greek archeologist named Athos. He adopts the boy
and eventually they settle in the safety of a Toronto apartment but Jakob
remains forever haunted by the family that he lost in the Holocaust. His
relationships with people suffer from his obsession with his past. Even
into adulthood and now a successful writer, romantic relationships, such as
that with his beautiful first wife Alex, do little to fill the endless void. This is
Jeremy Podeswa’s third feature. He has also had an impressive career in
TV where he has directed many episodes of cult TV shows Six Feet Under
and Queer As Folk.
Podeswa, himself the son of a Holocaust survivor has described
Michael’s book as ‘a sustained work of poetry’. Supported by a superb cast
which includes Stephen Dillane as the adult Jakob and Rosamund Pike as
his wife Alex, this is an emotionally ambitious film that examines the light
and shade of despair and hope and is in itself a work of poetry. SB
Director Jeremy Podeswa will be present for a Q&A.
66
SIXTEENTH RAINDANCE FILM FESTIVAL
GARDENS OF THE NIGHT
THURSDAY 2 OCTOBER AT 9:30PM & FRIDAY 3 OCTOBER AT 2:30PM
Country USA Running Time 110 mins Format 35mm Director/Screenplay Damian Harris
Producer Thomas Carter DoP Paul Huidobro Cast Tom Arnold, Gillian Jacobs, Evan Ross, John
Malkovich Email tcarter@stationthree.com Website www.gardensofthenight.com
GOLIATH
SUNDAY 5 OCTOBER AT 7PM
Country USA Running Time 81 mins Format HD Director/Screenplay David Zellner
Producer Nathan Zellner DoP Jim Eastburn Cast David Zellner, Nathan Zellner, Caroline
O’Connor Print Source Zellner Bros E nathan@zellnerbros.com W www.goliathismissing.com
Playing with A Fitting Tribute 14 mins
PRODUCTION OFFICE
SATURDAY 4 OCTOBER AT 6:45PM
Country Canada RT 84 mins Ft HD-Cam Dirs Deborah Marks,
Steve Solomos Prods Spillos Kapoglis, Deborah Marks, Steve
Solomos S’play John Berrie Cast Shauna McDonald, Brandon
McGibbon, Maury Chaykin E automaticpictures@gmail.com
Playing with The Gravity of Belief 4 mins
SCREENING SPONSORS
Gardens of the Night, is a haunting, gritty and topical story which delves
into the world of child abduction. Based on kids, counselors, cops and
pimps he met during two solid years of research, Damian Harris has crafted a glimpse into a horrific world that exists in the midst of our own.
We meet Leslie (Gillian Jacobs) as a teenager, signing herself into a
youth shelter and being questioned about her past. Soon, we are transported to it. Aged 8, she’s abducted and taken to a strange home under
false pretenses. It’s only a matter of time before she realises her situation.
Scared, confused, angry, and convinced that her family no longer want
her, her horrific future faces her head-first. Her only solace in this time is
another abducted child whom she befriends; they create a comfort-zone in
which they can feel safe.
Now, 17 years old with the attitude that ‘friends are just people that
haven’t fucked you over yet’, their sense of morality skews as they do their
best to survive. Life on the cold heartless streets is tough, with theft and
prostitution being the norm.
Slowly becoming a part of the very monster that ruined their lives so
early on, they must overcome their own devils and re-assess their childhood if they are to be able to live with themselves. RS
Recently divorced and professionally dissatisfied, David Zellner’s unnamed
protagonist finds purpose in his life when his beloved pet cat Goliath goes
missing. It is only when his search ends that his intense and increasingly
volatile rivalry with a local sex offender comes to a shocking crescendo
that – the aptly credited – ‘Guy’ can move on and start over. The film reinforces the suggestion of ‘the butterfly effect’ and Goliath’s disappearance
interrupts the disturbing routine of his owner and forces him to deal with
and express the anger building since his failed marriage. When he confronts, without provocation, a local citizen with a history of sex offending,
he is putting himself out there in a way he has never done before.
Goliath is a comedy with a heart. The Zellner Brothers’ clever script
is universally appealing due, primarily, to its variety of influences. The
comedic elements, for example, range from prolonged awkward silences
and recurring jokes that would appeal to those who prefer more juvenile,
gross out gags. Whilst there are plenty of laughs, there are also touching
moments which are effectively punctuated by the film’s fantastic soundtrack. By not focusing on overly grandiose situations, the Zellner Brothers
have grounded their hysterical but moving triumph in ‘spoofery’. Absurd,
clever and inspiring. ZB
Shot entirely in one room, and mostly between two characters, ‘Production
Office’ recreates the high-tension, insanely minute-obsessed parody of a
military campaign that is the ‘below the line’ world of film production.
Jane, foul-mouthed and cynical is coordinator of a production office in
Toronto that is headquarters for the latest Tales of the Space Knight shoot
in New York, and beholden to the overbearing American producer, ‘The
Enchilada’. Anxious to get home to her young daughter, she prepares to
leave, letting her assistant Justy, an emo-type kid, to handle the wrapping up details when the phone rings. First an actor can’t get through US
customs with his plastic light sabres (which, post-9/11, are classified as
weapons) then a key costume goes missing, then Jane has to locate a
missing actor to fill the role of Spacelord Fauntelroy while the Enchilada’s
phone calls become increasingly menacing and a rapid chain reaction
takes motion. As evening becomes night and night becomes dawn, Jane
and Justy attempt to pull genies out of the bottle while different characters
– an amiable if sleazy driver, a degenerate but likeable go-to-guy, a costume supervisor with a bizarre sexual fetish, and a dimwitted PA careen in
and out of the action, and the tension is relieved by demented sexual jokes,
playfulness, viscious infighting, and bouts of barracks-style humour. TB
SIXTEENTH RAINDANCE FILM FESTIVAL
67
THE PROJECT
SUNDAY 5 OCTOBER AT 2:45PM
Country USA Running Time 87 mins Director/Screenplay Ryan Piotrowicz DoP Daniel
Sharnoff Cast Michael Stahl-David Website www.theprojectny.com
Playing with Nosebleed 9 mins
WELLNESS
SATURDAY 4 OCTOBER AT 2:15PM
Country USA RT 96 mins Format DV Director/S’play/
Producer/DoP Jake Mahaffy Cast Jeff Clark, Paul
Mahaffy P/S Handcranked Films E warfilm@yahoo.com
W www.handcrankedfilm.com/intro/intro1.html
SCREENING SPONSOR
The Project is a well-weaved faux documentary delving into the streets of
Brooklyn NY narrated in the perspective of first-time filmmakers who have
set out to make a documentary about the hardships and conflicts between
the city kids and the law.
Justin (Michael Stahl-David, Cloverfield) follows two NYPD officers,
while his girlfriend Dana and friend John focus on a struggling black youth,
Thomas, attempting to move up from his hardships. With his father away
in prison, he does what he can in his attempts to be a good son and a role
model for his younger brother, while fighting his own battles for popularity,
friends and their shady activities.
Filled with excitement and promise, the filmmakers dive into their project
without knowing the real dangers of becoming so closely involved with
their subject. When by coincidence their two stories converge, they rapidly
come to realise they’re no longer innocent bystanders, they’ve become
participants in the underground world they had set out to document.
So close to completion, the trio must now battle their own conflicts. To
let the project go, out of safety for themselves or to complete their masterpiece at the risk of becoming the very centre of their own story? RS
Thomas Lindsey is a travelling salesman who arrives in a small town seeking investment for a miracle drug by the name of Wellness. He doesn’t
really know what the product does and to make things worse the head
office has continually failed to provide him with some of the essential sales
materials, and it becomes apparent that the company (in which Lindsey
himself has invested) and the product don’t actually exist.
Set over the course of a week against the snowy backdrop of Warren,
Pennsylvania, Wellness depicts a man so desperate to be a success at
something in his life that he continues with it, despite all the signs that
it’s a complete scam. Jeff Clark’s portrayal of the unconfident but likeable
Lindsey is spot on as he deals with the contempt and complete disinterest
of the people he is trying to sell to.
Paul Mahaffy also shines as Lindsey’s boss who arrives to provide him
with some motivation and show him how it’s done – and is absolutely terrifying. The performances are particularly impressive given that the cast is
made of non-actors that were local residents at the time of filming.
Wellness is a lovely little indie film that features some great storytelling,
moments of pure comedy and occasional quirkiness and heart. CP
Playing with Inertia 2 mins
WHO IS KK DOWNEY?
FRIDAY 10 OCTOBER AT 9:30PM
Canada RT 87 mins Ft HD Dirs Darren Curtis, Pat Kiely S’play
D Curtis, Matt Silver, Patrick Kiely Prods Brandi Milbradt,
Kieran Crilly DoP Bobby Shore Cast D Curtis, Kristin Adams,
Matt Silver E patkiely@gmail.com W www.whoiskkdowney.com
Playing with Directions 15 mins
68
SIXTEENTH RAINDANCE FILM FESTIVAL
SCREENING SPONSORS
Theo Huxtable is laughed out of publisher Brett Jones’s office after submitting his debut novel, Truck Stop Hustler for his consideration with the
words ‘Who wants to read the work of a suburban white kid – everyone’s
got one of those at home.’ So with the help of best friend, punk-musician
Terence Permenstein, the pair hatch a scheme to relaunch the novel with a
more media friendly author – one who will fuel the press and keep the public spellbound. Without missing a beat, pasty-faced dough boy Huxtable is
replaced by hard-livng, charisma drenched KK Downey, a towering figure
of Dylanesque stature, only too ready and willing to speak for a generation. Terence meanwhile has his own problems – his punk band is going
nowhere and his on-off girlfriend, performance artist Sue has hooked up
with loathsome music critic Connor Rooney.
This is a laugh out loud debut feature from Montreal based comedytroupe Kidnapper Films, most of whom also appear in the film. Of particular
note are Darren Curtis (Terence Permenstein) and Pat Kiely, (Connor
Rooney) in addition to extra screenwriting credited to Matt Silver (Theo
Huxtable). This abundance of comedic talent seems to suggest there just
might be something in the polite Canadian water supply that has delivered
such a steady stream of brilliantly quirky comedians. SB
9TO5 – DAYS IN PORN
WEDNESDAY 8 OCTOBER AT 10PM
Country Germany Running Time 114 mins Format Super 16mm Director/DoP Jens Hoffmann
Producer Cleonice Comino Featuring Belladonna, Sasha Grey, Mia Rose Print Source Media
Luna Entertainment E festival@medialuna-entertainment.de W www.9to5-themovie.com
Delving into the controversial world of hardcore pornography, a business
bigger than the music industry, Jens Hoffman’s film is an unflinching document of the people who earn their living having or selling sex as a living.
Comprising ten stories from America and Europe, 9to5 is a bold step in
filmmaking, not for its sexual content, but for giving a voice to the workers
in the industry. Taking a particular focus on the San Fernando Valley we
are introduced to the studio execs through to distribution, directors and the
stars themselves, who range from a couple whose day jobs involve fucking other people, to a retired star who qualified as a doctor now running a
healthcare company specifically for the adult entertainment industry.
What differentiates 9to5 from other documentaries on this subject is
the way in which notions of exploitation are challenged, particularly by
the allegedly vulnerable female stars. Of specific note, Sasha Grey, now
one of the most successful porn actresses in the world, is revealed to
be an intelligent, strong woman who entered the industry to actively push
the boundaries of female sexual experience portrayed in adult cinema.
That said, Hoffmann acknowledges the negative aspects of the industry
through numerous interviews that expose specific types of pressure these
women can be forced under. JM
Art and Apathy studies the role of political art in the state of Israel amidst
the Palestinian conflict and observes the effect the dispute is having upon
its cultural aspects including music, painting and poetry. Among the artists whose works are depicted there are contributions from conscientious
objectors and a 15-year military veteran who use their respective mediums
to campaign for the end to the atrocities that make their lives hell, and try
to promote reconciliation through a completely peaceful process. The film
examines the segregation of the two countries, and conveys the message
that the people of both sides want and end to the atrocities in a conflict
that began long before the majority of their citizens were born. CP
ART AND APATHY + KAROSTA
SUNDAY 5 OCTOBER AT 12:30PM
Country Canada/Palestine Running Time 56 mins Format HDV Director Jessica Habie
Producer Nirah Shirazipour DoP Yvonne Miklosh Print Source Eyes Infinite
Country UK Running Time 49 mins Format HD Director Peter King Producer Rowland
Kimber DoP David Procter Print Source David Procter Email rowland@ontheagenda.co.uk
Website www.ontheagenda.co.uk
CHRIS AND DON: A LOVE STORY
MONDAY 6 OCTOBER AT 6:30PM & TUESDAY 7 OCTOBER AT 2PM
Country USA Running Time 90 mins Format HDV, Mini DV, HDCam Directors/Producers
Tina Mascara, Guido Santi Print Source Tina Mascara Email tinamascara@sbcglobal.net
Playing with Lovers’ Lane 5 mins
70
SIXTEENTH RAINDANCE FILM FESTIVAL
Peter King’s film presents the dualities surrounding the eponymous neighborhood, located in the Liepaja region of western Latvia, which has seen
occupation from the Nazis and Soviets. Since the country gained independence in 1994 it has become largely uninhabited, with the remaining
residents judged as unruly and dangerous by the outside world. Despite
this, Karosta boasts a true sense of community and significant artistic
value through the collective K@2, whose events seek to bring the inhabitants together through creativity and restoration activities. JM
Christopher Isherwood is the writer whose Berlin Stories inspired the making of the film Cabaret; and this doc is about the long relationship between
Isherwood and his younger lover Don Bachardy. It’s not just about a homosexual relationship – it’s about the influence of one artist upon another.
When Bachardy met Isherwood it wasn’t quite love at first sight.
Bachardy, a much younger man, was starstruck by actors and actresses and Isherwood was just a humdrum writer. But that was to change.
Bachardy’s narration examines homosexuality in the 1950s and the dangers involved; the couple’s exciting social life (Isherwood’s stellar circle of
friends included Aldous Huxley, Thomas Mann and Greta Garbo) – and
Isherwood’s death from cancer in the eighties. We are treated to home
footage Of Isherwood and Bachardy from the 1950s onwards. But it is
not just a touching love story that unfolds before our eyes, we see the
emergence of Barchardy – due to the influence of Isherwood – as an artist
in his own right. For Bachardy’s other love is painting and that becomes
something that he is truly respected for. Bachardy is a charming, goodhumoured host throughout and tells us, better than anyone could, about
the true nature of Isherwood.
A truly moving (and, on occasion, even magical) depiction of love. GB