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BendFilm 2006 : Bend Film Festival Preview
Hi, My name is Geoffrey Kleinman and I'm a recovering Film Fest addict. It's been several months since my last film festival and after swearing off most film festivals I'm hopping in my car and driving three and a half hours to a little Central Oregon resort town called Bend. Now for you to understand why a recovering Film Fest addict is breaking his self imposed ban on film fests to go to Bend, you have to understand a little about why I've sworn them off.
Flash back to 2001. I had been running DVD Talk for three years and for some reason or another I got it into my head that I was going to go to Sundance. My planning was horribly last minute, trip completely insane, but the rewards were great. I got to discover films like Memento, Donnie Darko, The Road Home and The American Astronaut. I reveled in the opportunity to sit with filmmakers and stars to just chat about their films and film making. Now flash forward five years to the 2006 Swagdance film fest... Wait I mean the 2006 Sundance Film Fest. Now after 5 years of fest going, some big, some small I come to the intersection of film fest love and film fest loathing. My planning for the fest was no less chaotic than it had been 5 years earlier, but my experience couldn't have been more different. Gone were the opportunities to actually interact with film makers about their films. Informal chats at the back of the theater after a show were replaced by rigidly scheduled (and often) canceled interviews. Lines to get into movies that would open in theaters just days later wrapped around the block and more people were there to 'star fuck' or grab swag then celebrate movies (I'm still in shock that many screenings at Sundance had a red carpet press line). I realized that things had completely changed for the worse when it was easier for me to get into the big Beastie Boys party for the film Awesome I Fucking Shot That than see the film itself. My 2006 Sundance experience isn't isolated. More and more I'm hearing from friends and colleagues about how the film fest circuit has become one big long promotional tour for 'independent' studio pictures to get some word of mouth going, get that little fest seal for the DVD and throw big parties with even bigger swag bags. For me, a film fest is about the films and the film makers. I'm more a fan of discovering films I never knew existed than getting an ego boosting chance to see a film several months before its wide release. So that's why I'm hopping in my car for a three and a half hour scenic drive to the middle of a state no one would ever think of as the epicenter of film. Last year at BendFilm I was pleased to discover a number of films that simply weren't on my radar screen. From one of my favorite films of 2005 The Puffy Chair to the crowd pleasing The Real Dirt on Farmer John BendFilm was a fest where I made a ton of new discoveries and spent a lot of great time speaking with and ultimately getting to know filmmakers. For 2006 I was fortunate enough to get a number of the films in advance to check out for this preview piece. Going through the list of films I was surprised at just how many I had never heard of. Sure there are a couple of familiar faces in the crowd (including Sherrybaby which debuted at Sundance and The Trials of Darryl Hunt which has made its way to a number of festivals) but those few are greatly outnumbered by films waiting to be discovered. Here's a look at just a handfull of films showing at this year's BendFilm fest (running Oct 12 - 15)
Pirate Radio USA - an extremely interesting and well done documentary, Pirate Radio USA is the autobiographical work of Jeff Pearson and Mary Jones (aka DJ Him and Her) who document the world of Pirate Radio from the inside out. Following the struggles of a very dedicated and passionate group of individuals literally fighting to exercise their right to be heard, Pirate Radio USA looks at the freedom speech from a completely different angle. Done in a very light and fun tone Pirate Radio USA feels on some levels like it could be the Super Size Me for the communications world. Just when you think you've got the film figured out though, it changes. The fight for the right to be heard morphs into a greater independent media concern as Pirate Radio broadcasters and protesters come face to face with riot police at the World Trade Organization protests in Seattle. I love this documentary, it succedes as both entertainment and education. Pirate Radio USA immerses you into a world you probably never knew existed and makes you care about the people involved. This is a film not to miss.
Beyond the films I previewed for the fest, I am really looking forward to John Waters: The Filthy Word (John Waters will be in Bend with the film), Backseat - a film which won accolades at the Austin Film fest and which has been described as Sideways without the wine, Squonkumentary - a look at a production from Pittsburgh that challenged people's perceptions of what theater is, Forgiven - a political thriller that debuted at Sundance but got lost in the shuffle there, Nicky's Birthday Camera - I couldn't find a single thing about this film online aside from its IMDB page, but something's telling me I should check it out and Under The City - John Heard is one of the most underrated actors out there, and I'll see pretty much any film he's in. Films I'll probably skip: Ellektra - the film has been floating around since 2004 and after playing 2005 slamdance film fest and getting pretty mixed reviews, with lots of films to chose and only 3 days to see films I'll be skipping Ellektra. Johnny Was - the film is already out on DVD and while it looks interesting, it's hard to justify seeing a film that I could turn around and rent when I get home (Same is true for The Virgin of Juarez which hits DVD 10/17). Sherrybaby - missed it at Sundance and missed it on its limited release here in Portland, it looks good but again this is a film I KNOW will be coming to DVD soon, so I'll catch it there. The great thing about going to a film fest with so many undiscovered gems is that it's hard to make a bad choice. It's easier to skip a film that becomes the buzz of the fest than catch a turkey of a film. And one of the great things about BendFilm is that they block out the entire day on Sunday to unspool the best films from the fests.
Here are some additional resources to do your own BendFilm festival planning:
Archives
The 5 Most Influential Summer Blockbusters
Los Angeles Comic-Con Cosplay Spotlight Notes from Book Expo DVD Talk Interview: Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders Compete Archives
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