Sundance Dispatch #5: Signing Off

Went to a Tromadance panel, Tromadance being one of the feistier and more enduring side festivals here. The panel was called "Making Movies in the Age of $15 million Indepenent Films." Lloyd Kaufmann moderated. Apparently, he's been making very small films for 30 some years. His newest is "Poultrygeist." Also, he wrote a book called "Make Your Own Damn Movie." I think I'll check that one out, damnit.

The World Dramatic Grand Jury Prize-winner was a dramatically flat, brutal, content-void, artistically uninteresting French film called "13Tzameti." Then again, my Dogme 95, back-stretching buddy Thomas Vinterburg was on the jury, so maybe I missed something.

Terri, the old high school classmate who just happened to give me a ride the other day, got herself out of bed early on Sunday to drive across town to hear me preach. Even more noteworthy since she's Mormon. I asked the assembly to speculate with me about why Jesus' first preaching was so "spellbinding" and authoritative, how we can tell the difference between true and false prophets, and what truth each of us is called to preach.

The Dramatic Director Grand Jury Prize-winner, "A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints," is spellbinding and authoritative. It's based on writer-director Dito Montiel's rough teenage years in Queens and is the most moving film I saw at the festival this year. Also the most aesthetically interesting. In fact, it was the aesthetic flourishes which are especially moving. Occasionally, the film brings in music while bringing in and out background sound or dialogue. During one emotionally charged scene, there are several brief fades to black.

The Documentary Grand Jury Prize-winner - and Documentary Audience Award-winner - is "God Grew Tired of Us," about several of the "lost boys of Sudan" who were allowed to emigrate from their 10-year-old refugee camp in Kenya to various cities in the United States. This is another very moving work. Funny, too (and sometimes embarrassing) watching these young men encounter my culture: trying to get on the elevator, trying to get off, going to the grocery store, making stew out of mashed Ritz crackers and milk, wondering what Santa Claus has to do with the birth of Jesus. Then there were the more serious challenges, such as not having time off work to get an education or to be with family and friends.

This is the one documentary Elvis Mitchell singled out when I talked with him. I hope I've redeemed myself by seeing two documentaries. I'm still trying to tease out reasons in addition to aesthetics that I'm not so inclined to watch (or make) documentaries.

The Dramatic Grand Jury and audience agreed as well: "Quinceanera." I'd already seen this nice little film, so I went back to the rectory and collapsed.

My favorite Sundance 2006 films:

• A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints
• Forgiven
• Wristcutters: A Love Story
• Princesas
• No. 2
• Quinceaneras

Sundance 2006 films I'd like to see that may not come to theaters:

• Adam's Apples
• Eve and the Fire Horse
• Forgiving the Franklins
• Stephanie Daley
• Son of Man
• In Between Days
• House of Sand
• Old Joy
• Sherrybaby

And even a few documentaries:

• Songbirds
• American Blackout
• Iraq in Fragments
• Into Great Silence

-dominic
1/30/06, noon

Sundance Dispatch #4

At the "Finding Your Audience" panel, I was most inspired by someone from the audience, the very mustached maker of "Genghis Blues," the documentary from a couple years ago about throat singers, the guys (are there women throat singers?) who can make more than one sound at once. He encouraged me to just keep finding ways to get my movies seen, allowing connections to have a cumulative affect.

John Paul was a good sport and accompanied me to another panel as well, "Creative Independence." But these were high-powered independent filmmakers like Alexander Payne ("Sideways"). Until someone gives me a lot of money to make a movie, I guess I don't have to worry about losing creative control. Then again, there's always the important question of my responsibility to my Dominican province and to my vocation as a Dominican priest filmmaker.

I connected with Scott Hellon. I met him at Sundance last year and finally got around just before this year's festival to watching his feature, shot at the University of Arizona with non-actors. A moving and impressive film with 60 speaking roles. He's finding funding in Tucson to support his full-time filmmaking, equipment purchase, and his new feature (Point of View Pictures).

John Paul left and Daniel arrived yesterday. We discovered a free panel at Starbucks, yet another unofficial part of Sundance. The panel asked about the power of film to change the world. Jeff Dowd, the inspiration for the Dude in "The Big Lebowski," surprisingly challenged us to create spiritual movies that show an authentic experience of religion. He thinks the right movie could start a new religion. Actually, I wouldn't mind shedding light on an old one.

"Princesas" ranks up there with "Forgiven" now as my favorite Sundance films so far this year. It was a beautiful, simple neo-realist story about the friendship that develops between a middle class prostitute in Spain and a Dominican (the country, not my religious community) prostitute, one of the unwelcome immigrants undercutting the business of the local prostitutes.

I continue to run into people from Chapman film school: three separate pairs of filmmakers. It's great to connect with them again and encourage each other.

I fell into bed exhausted last night and am still pretty darn tired this morning. But then I didn’t come here to sleep. Still, I'm looking forward to tomorrow's screening of "Wide Awake," a filmmaker's depiction of his life with insomnia.

-dominic
1/26/06, 9:28 am

Sundance Dispatch #3

John Paul arrived yesterday, so I'm initiating him into the Sundance experience. He's my great friend and Dominican classmate whom I work and live with in San Diego. Another classmate and great friend, Daniel, will arrive tomorrow about the time John Paul leaves. Looking forward to having Daniel entertain the troops in ticket lines with his magic.

John Paul and I saw three movies in a row yesterday at the Racquet Club. We had tickets for the first and third, but had great look with getting tickets for the middle show.

"Quinceaneros" was another delightful and moving family film. Gay, Anglo, male life partners made this film (conceived only a year ago!) about two struggling Latino cousins who find family with their old, saintly uncle. And they rub elbows with the Anglo gay couple who own their uncle's house. The main problem John Paul and I had with the movie was that their was no dissenting voice to the racist threesomes the gay couple and their other gay Anglo friends have with their "Latino boys."

One of the writer/directors talked about how when they thought their plane might crash all he could think about was how sad it would be to miss his chance to show his movie at Sundance. (His partner, whom we only later found out was his life partner, played Sudoku while waiting for the plane to crash.)

"At Your Door" was a pretty tight, micro-budget thriller about a Los Angeles man who has to decide whether or not to lock his wife out of the house after she's been contaminated by a dirty bomb. Pretty good, but a few too many credibility problems.

"Forgiven" was the best film I've seen so far, really strong, about a DA whose campaign for U.S. Senate is threatened by the release of someone he convicted of killing a cop. Phenomenally well-acted scenes of operatic emotion. Russell Hornsby was especially amazing as the released prisoner.
Paul Fitzgerald wrote, directed, and starred. The script was really really strong.

-dominic
1/24/06, 10:30 am

Sundance Dispatch #2

After my Nineveh preaching at the old church downtown, an entertainment lawyer named Lorin introduced himself. A really interesting man who's worked with the Paulist priest filmmakers. He's at Sundance with small international distributors. I'm definitely looking forward to keeping in touch with Lorin.

After preaching at Heber, a town about a half hour away from Park City, I saw a really touching New Zealand film, "No. 2," about a Figian matriarch who wakes up one day and orders her grandchildren to prepare a feast for her so that she can name her successor. The matriarch was played by American Ruby Dee, Ossie Davis' widow. He died the first day of shooting, but she faithfully returned to the shoot two weeks later. Ruby Dee was there for Q&A after the screening! I sat next to Margaret, an extremely warm and outgoing lawyer (legal services to the poor, not entertainment law for the rich).

Talked to some great folks while waiting in line for "Puccini For Beginners": a group of high school TV students from Florida, a schoolteacher from smalltown Kentucky, and my San Diego neighbor Laurie again! The film, about a very complex hetero-homo-bi love triangle, was slight but quite fun and funny. Nice performance from Elizabeth Reiser.

This morning, a woman saw me trying to flag down the bus to get into town, and she kindly stopped and took me in out of the cold. Turns out she was in my high school class in Concord, California!

While waiting for the excellent panel of editors, I had a nice chat with Hila, whom I'd met the other day. Although she's now a permanent U.S. resident, she's an Israeli who grew up on a kibbutz on the Sea of Galilee. We talked about her two years of mandatory military service packing an M-16. She complained that, with the glamorous commercials and the very restricted educational benefits, Americans have no idea what they're getting into when they join the military. She also says the Israeli soldiers are much better trained, including emotionally.

-dominic
1/23/06, 1:00 pm

Sundance Dispatch #1

Welcome to Sundance, via these humble dispatches anyway

Time for my annual pilgrimage. Met so many great folks, beginning with the journey itself, on the plane. Then, my van driver out to Park City, about 45 minutes outside of Salt Lake City, turns out to be an Assyrian, which basically means he's a Roman Catholic from Iraq. The Assyrians have no homeland anymore and are scattered throughout Iraq and the rest of the world as well. Calvert has been in the U.S. for 30 years.

So, anyway, somehow he's suddenly telling me that Nineveh, where Jonah goes in the Sunday's first reading, was Assyria. Actually, the city is now called Mosel (?). Apparently, the Assyrians, people and animals alike, still fast for several days in memory of "evil" Nineveh's all out conversion at Jonah's preaching. I think I have a homily for the old church in downtown Park City on Sunday.

Like last year, I get in line for four hours for the opening night film, which I didn't necessarily care that much about (it's a star movie that will come out in the theaters), but I didn't have anything else to do. So I see two different groups of people I waited in line with for opening night last year! A couple behind me in line live two blocks away from me back in San Diego. Only this time we didn't get in, except for the weeping young woman at the front of the line who'd been in line for 10 hours.

The next morning, I met on the bus a fella from the line. He's spent the last 13 years working at various resorts all over the U.S. Park City is his regular winter gig. I think there are some scripts or homilies there.

Behind me in my first line of the day were 7 young female undergrads from my alma mater, Chapman University film school! I was really impressed with them. Several were even prepared with their business cards.

Didn't get into that movie either! Finally saw a movie at 5:30 in the
Library: "Special," with Michael Rapapport, a lonely guy who enrolls in a drug trial and discovers he has super powers. Or does he. The ambiguity about that was masterful!

Then got really lucky and got into the next film, "Open Window," with Robin Tunney. A tough film, involving rape. I liked the ending a lot (don't worry, I'll say no more), but I think she could have tightened the drama by cutting out her parents. But maybe it's kinda hard to cut out Cybill Shephard and Elliot Gould from your independent film.

-dominic, 1/21/06, 11 a.m.