FILM:
Art & Copy
The 1960s witnessed a creative revolution in advertising, in which idea, image, music and theater were combined in ways never before seen. Products were described through exciting and often abstract concepts, changing how the consumer thought and bought. ART & COPY looks at the impact this revolution has had on modern culture, how images and taglines have become part of our common language. Director Doug Pray (SURFWISE and SCRATCH) speaks with the advertising innovators who created “Think Small” (Volkswagen Beetle), “Got Milk?", “Where's the Beef?”, “I Love NY,” the brilliant Braniff airline makeover, and even numerous powerful political campaigns (think Reagan's re-election). Throughout the discussions with these trailblazing men and women, Pray weaves footage of communications satellites and billboards as he looks at how advertising is changing. -Jacqueline Spafford
FILM:
Automorphosis
WORLD PREMIERE Surely you've come across an art car before. These road-worthy vehicles have been amended, modified, decorated, and transformed into whimsical and outlandish artwork. AUTOMORPHOSIS takes an intimate look at the world of art cars, their creators, and their reasons for doing what they do. Director Harrod Blank uses his expertise as an art car creator to guide us through the world of these artists and their stunning creations. By letting the cars and their makers speak for themselves, we get an understanding of what drives the designers to create such unusual pieces of vehicular art—from a motorcycle shaped like a hamburger, from cars covered in spoons, to Blank's own masterpiece: a van covered in cameras. The people, their stories, and their creations provide a tantalizing glimpse into this unique world of mobile art. -Ryan Hedge
FILM:
Inventing LA: The Chandlers and Their Times
WORLD PREMIERE In the compelling documentary INVENTING L.A.: THE CHANDLERS AND THEIR TIMES, filmmaker Peter Jones explores how four generations of one family transcended their role as news providers to become intricately involved in the growth of one of the largest cities in the world—Los Angeles. Spanning an entire century, Harrison Gray Otis, Harry Chandler, Norman and Dorothy Chandler, and Otis Chandler not only created the newspaper that once had the world's largest circulation (1.1 million at its peak), but they were also the main driving force behind everything from politics to public works. The Chandlers were instrumental in the development of major areas such as the San Fernando Valley, in the creation of countless structures including the Coliseum and the Hollywood Bowl, and in the revitalization of art and cultural areas such as Chinatown and Olvera Street. This fascinating documentary shows the significant role the Chandler family played in giving the City of Angels its everlasting identity. -Mike Takeuchi
FILM:
Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison
In January 1968 Johnny Cash played two concerts for the inmates of Folsom Prison. These concerts were taped and released as a hugely popular live album, selling over 500,000 copies within six months. For years Johnny Cash had been interested in prison life and empathetic toward prisoners. From the second he walked on stage that day he established a rapport with his audience. June Carter Cash joined him for several songs, her bright personality coming through in her patter to the crowd. JOHNNY CASH AT FOLSOM PRISON contains many still photographs taken during the shows (no filming was allowed), as well as interviews with family members, musicians, prisoners and guards. The film provides a rare opportunity to witness the connection this powerful performer had with this unusual audience.-Jacqueline Spafford
FILM:
Megamall
WORLD PREMIERE Money, power, politics: MEGAMALL examines the intersection of the three, showing what happens to the American landscape when money and power dominate politics. This cautionary tale was more than ten years in the making, featuring the clash of mall-builder Pyramid Companies with the townspeople of Rockland County, the smallest county in New York. In 1985 the fight began. In 1996 construction started, but residents noticed that the behemoth was substantially larger than the agreed-upon plans! This documentary tells how it happened, showing Pyramid lawyers, silent planning commissioners, and citizens' outcries. The film draws from newspapers, TV, home video archives, and interviews with affected residents, shop owners, officials and ordinary citizens. Showing the effects of the mall on the suburban environment, MEGAMALL'S significance extends across America.-Betsy Cramer
FILM:
Milking The Rhino
MILKING THE RHINO is a documentary depicting the struggle of two of the world's oldest tribes, the Maasi of Kenya and Namibia's Himba, as they struggle to adapt to dire warnings of endangered species and a century of white man's conservation. These cattle-eating people disagree about the value of rhinos, which provide no meat but are permitted to share the valuable grassland with livestock. This policy creates resentment between the community-based conservatives, who benefit from milking the rhinos, and the rural tribes who are facing deep cultural change. As a result many are now forced to vie for slices of the wildlife and tourism pie. Through intimate, heartbreaking stories of local villagers, the plight of navigating a sensitive balance between modern conservation and ancient ways is unveiled.-Nanci Herbst
FILM:
The Music Lesson
WORLD PREMIERE Methods of musical training are as different as classical music study is from oral tradition, as Shostakovich is from East African rhythm. THE MUSIC LESSON accompanies ten Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra students to the rural Kenyan district of Laikipia. Laikipia students learn from their elders, and musical rhythm is integral to their culture. Boston students have formal training, with technique sometimes trumping emotional expression. This fascinating documentary shows the ways we learn and teach, how we think of ourselves and our talents. Through music, the two groups transcend their differences. The Kenyans and the Americans learn from each other, sharing music as a common language.-Betsy R. Cramer
FILM:
The Oasis
WORLD PREMIERE The Oasis is a Salvation Army-run shelter for street kids in Australia, managed by a remarkable man named Paul Moulds. The teens live dire, heartbreaking lives, but Paul never gives up on them, working 365 days a year. The youths are constantly struggling with drug dependency, living with memories of abuse or abandonment, and learning not to act out their anger and frustration. THE OASIS contrasts the chaotic and dangerous lives of the kids (echoed in the periodically frenetic editing) with the endless compassion of Paul and his wife. The filmmakers focus on seven kids and the particular issues each grapples with over a two-year period. Among them are teenage parents Emma and Trent, runaway Haley, and Chris who remains devoted to his mother. OASIS is difficult to watch, but it is ultimately inspiring and hopeful.-Jacqueline SpaffordScreening with: ONE BRIDGE TO THE NEXT
FILM:
Pirate for the Sea
“I am a conservationist and that is my business--getting in trouble.” These are the opening words of charismatic Captain Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society in PIRATE FOR THE SEA. Watson, the subject of this documentary and the seven-part Animal Planet series WHALE WARS, is variously called an eco-terrorist, an eco-pirate and a champion of wildlife. PIRATE follows decades of Watson's dynamic crusade, from his beginning as one of the youngest of the founders of Greenpeace (his association with them ended when he was deemed too extreme) to his present-day missions to thwart illegal whaling, sealing, shark-finning and other hunting activities. With archival clips, graphic views of hunting of marine life, original documentary footage and interviews that include Sea Shepherd advisory board member Martin Sheen and supporter Farley Mowat, PIRATES provides compelling insight into a man with a mission.-Felicia Tomasko
FILM:
Rescuing Emmanuel
WORLD PREMIERE Taking us beyond the poverty statistics, RESCUING EMMANUEL goes into various city slums, putting a face and personality to children who live on the streets. We meet boys and girls who have lost their parents to natural disasters, AIDS, drugs or war, and who survive by begging, providing sex for food, stealing, and rummaging through garbage. The filmmakers illustrate the global scope of this problem, but they focus on one child in Nairobi, 13-year-old Emmanuel, who just wants to go to school and have a place to sleep and eat. They examine opportunities that might get him off the streets, and we meet remarkable people who show boundless love and concern. Emmanuel's life is heartbreaking, but the uplifting moments in this film will last and inspire.-Jacqueline Spafford
FILM:
War Against The Weak
WORLD PREMIERE Based on the award-winning book by investigative journalist Edwin Black, this powerful portrayal of America's “white-gloved war” reveals the efforts to create a master race in America. Sanctified by a favorable Supreme Court opinion by Oliver Wendell Holmes upholding compulsory sterilization, the eugenics movement proliferated and led to the experiments and exterminations in Nazi concentration camps. Supported by eminent scientists, individuals (Margaret Sanger) and foundations (Carnegie Institution and Rockefeller Foundation), there were more than 60,000 sterilizations in the United States in the early 20th century. Targeted were the mentally slow, the disabled, schizophrenics, epileptics, and a host of other groups. WAR AGAINST THE WEAK, with archival photos, Nazi correspondence, innovative graphics, and recreations looks deeply into a shameful period in our history.Betsy Cramer
FILM:
Yes Madam, Sir
US PREMIERE A compelling documentary which follows Kiran Bedi, a professional athlete with a deep interest in social sciences as she becomes the first woman to join the Indian Police Service. Unpopular with her male counterparts, Bedi single-handedly fights back three thousand Sikh militants with a wooden stick during the Punjab separatist riots. When this feat makes international headlines Bedi is judged to be a threat to the male-dominated powers. Reassigned and placed in charge of the overcrowded and notoriously corrupt Tihar Jail, Bedi again garners international acclaim for establishing educational, medical, spiritual and yoga programs for the inmates. Bedi is then sent to the failing police academy and before long transforms the corrupt academy into a respected training institution.-Nanci Herbst
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