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There is something special, maybe even almost mystical, about being part of the anointed audience in a brand-spanking new theater, going where no man/woman had been before. There we were, the virgin audience in theater number five of the newly opened McCurley Film Center on Thursday at 9 a.m. Festival head Roger Durling popped in to introduce the intriguing film from Chad, Diya, and congratulated us all for being this theater’s first customers. He also explained that, as one of the movie-experience-sensitive details of the renovated complex, special architectural features have blunted the former sonic intrusions from the parking garage overhead and the loud noises from neighboring theaters.
One complaint from the hopelessly Wi-Fi-signal-enslaved among us might be that cell phone reception remains spotty to nonexistent in this building, apparently an unfixable problem because of the overhead parking structure. On the plus side, that condition would also eliminate cell phone distractions in the house.
Among the great features of SBIFF, dating back to year one, has been a consistent commitment to showcasing cinema from around the world, including countries not traditionally considered part of the hip cinema club. Through this forum, we can check in on what’s up and explore ways of being in far-flung cultures. This exposure can feel especially renewing in a time of government-supported xenophobia, a time when, for instance, Friday’s Granada Theatre appearance by Les Ballet Africains was canceled due to Visa hurdles.
Some of us flocked to see Diya, for instance, because of its status as a film from Chad, not a film source usually on the film-goer’s radar. Director Achille Ronaimu’s well-crafted, shrewdly paced tale is an impressive feat, relaying the story of a hapless taxi driver, tangled fates, and green and crime on different scales and with different motivations. The film reminds us of the unique storytelling qualities and textures coming out of African cinema, alongside last year’s film from Zambia, On Becoming a Guinea Fowl, which landed on many top 10 lists.
Belgium is making a strong showing in this year’s line-up, with the engaging — though very different — films Adam’s Sake (Laura Wandel), a starkly moving pediatric ward saga loosely reminiscent of If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, and the spicy, comedy-turned-happy-ending-averse drama Maturity (Jean-Benoît Ugeux).
Truth Hurts and Heals and Serenades
Thursday afternoon featured a double-header of documentary world premieres, with celebrity subjects in the houses, and both films dealing with important issues — eco-disastrous petrochemical transgressions on the Gulf Coast in the Jane Fonda–empowered Gaslit, and neo-classic country wonder Charley Crockett on the screen in A Cowboy in London. Both stars spoke articulately in post-screening Q&As.
Gaslit, expertly pulled together and directed by Greenpeace-connected Katie Casomy, follows Fonda (a former Santa Barbaran, let’s not forget) as she traces locations in Texas and on the Gulf Coast where the petrochemical industry has gotten away with murder, in effect. Massive fracking operations and LNG plants — which ship their wares outside the U.S. — and result in the decimation of Gulf Coast communities, and have created what is called “cancer alley” region. The film is an affecting call-to-action documentary with very real, pressing causes, set in an area that receives too little attention.
For the Riviera Q&A, director Camosy was joined by veteran Gulf Coast activist Diane Wilson and Fonda. Fonda was asked what drew her to this area of concern, given the many options for where to focus her lifelong activism. She commented, “I knew what’s happening there because of the fracking, which began under Obama, you know; it’s important that we all realize this isn’t a Republican or Democratic issue. Both sides have failed us. I knew as a climate activist that this is the center of the target. This is the eye of the hurricane right here.”
At Trump’s invitation, Fonda pointed out, “all the CEOs of the oil companies come down to Mar-a-Lago, and he said, give me a billion, and I’ll do away with the regulations — the number one thing that was on their minds. The first thing they raised was this: get rid of the pause that prevents Biden, because of pressure from people like Diane that he stopped the export of LNG. And that’s what they wanted removed, because this is where their money comes from. This is the main thing you know; we’re using less fossil fuels.”
“And by the way, we gotta stop Sable from coming here,” she continued. “We’re working on that. Where there’s authoritarianism, there’s fossil fuels, where there’s war there’s fossil fuel. Bombs and bullets follow fossil fuels. Before the documentary started, there were individuals from Santa Barbara describing the kind of society they want. It has to be a fossil fuel–free society for it to look like those people were describing.”
Of the 20 films I’ve seen so far at the festival, the one that personally moved me most was director Jared L. Christopher’s Charlie Crockett doc A Cowboy in London. My high regard starts with my rabid fandom for Crockett’s inspirational neo-classic country artistry and prolific output. But the documentary itself is a wondrous and refreshingly raw and real music film, the kind we too rarely get in the current market-machined music world.
Christopher followed the witty and earthy wise Crockett on a week-long trip to England, weaving together his footage with the grainier DV footage by Crockett’s wife Taylor Grace. As with the Neil Young doc Neil Young: Coastal — shown at last year’s SBIFF, with Young in-house to talk after — the film hangs out backstage, on stage, at the Jools Holland TV show, and on sightseeing jaunts. In between the musical bits and scenery-soaking, we get access to Crockett’s blend of authenticity, industry savvy, and frequent retrospection about his long road. That road has included years of busking, a stint in jail, and a self-made, DIY path to his current lofty position.
After the screening, Christopher was joined by Crockett and his wife, Taylor Grace, for a Q&A. Part of what makes this film special is its status as a music doc, bucking current trends. As Christopher rightly surmised, “What you get now are music documentaries as essentially artist-produced sanded-down commercials, and that’s not what this is. This is a real look at a week in Charley’s life and Taylor’s life. And to their credit, they said, ‘Hey, let’s roll the dice’.”
“I loved the music films of the ‘60s, by DA Pennebaker [Dylan doc Don’t Look Back], Les Blank and the Maysles Brothers [Gimme Shelter],” he continued. “Those films aren’t really being made these days. I think this has an opportunity maybe to reach some younger audience members, because they haven’t really seen something this raw and intimate. A film like this doesn’t get made without access. They gave me unrestricted access and their trust. Credit goes to them, for allowing me to be there — because as you can see, I’m riding their business the whole week.”
In his comments, Crockett touched on his own circuitous history. “My mother was the one person who encouraged me when I was young,” Crockett said. “I wasn’t very good, but she said, ‘Son, when you sing, people believe you.’ What she was trying to say is to sing from your heart, and the rest will take care of itself. And for better or worse, that turned out to be true.
“You have to get up time and time again, your whole life. The pop machine discovered us on the street when we were playing on subway cars. I’ve had a rough and rocky relationship with the business side. But when it comes to art, I’m loyal to that.”
Recommended Fare Zone
Here is a short list of films screening soon, which I’ve seen and can vouch for as worth our time (IMHO):
Mockbuster (Anthony Frith: Australia)
A Secret Agent (Kleber Mendonça Filho — one of the greatest films of 2025)
Little Lorraine (Andy Hines; Canada)
A Life Illuminated (Tasha van Zandt; U.S.)
You Had to Be There (Nick Davis; Canada)
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Julian Schnabel)
Space Cadet (Kid Koala; Canada)
Dear Lara (Lara St. John)
Steal This Story, Please! (Tia Lessin, Carl Deal; U.S.)
Maturity (Jean-Benoît Ugeux; Belgium)
Last Wording
Thursday night also belonged to one Adam Sandler, riding high with his non-comedic role in Noah Baumbach’s Jay Kelley and a ripe repartee partner for the Maltin Modern Master hot seat at a packed Arlington Theatre. Before I had to bolt to catch the interesting doc on supposedly “harsh” women directors, No Mercy, I caught Sandler speaking about his first stand-up experience as a retainer-wearing 17-year-old, and the challenge of having to cry in Jay Kelley: “I never cry, even in life. My kids and wife cry, and I say ‘How the fuck do you do that?’ I had to draw on my acting student days at NYU Tisch school for that.” He also gamely turned the tables and started interviewing veteran critic Leonard Maltin, before the moderator regained composure and rolled a classic Sandler clip — his SNL song “The Hanukkah Song.”
We laughed until we cried. At least some of us did.
Editor’s Note: We received word this afternoon that there will be a public rally to support Les Ballets Africains at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, February 6 in front of the Granada Theatre.
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