True False Film Festival – We Are Movie Geeks

TRUE/FALSE FILM FESTIVAL – Day Four Report

By Stephen Tronicek

The feeling of the final day of a film festival is one of a unique purgatory. Everyone has been there long enough for the initial excitement of the opening few days and the encroaching end is coming up quickly. It didn’t help that this morning, Daylight Savings time applied. I was writing up yesterday’s piece at 1 am, only to realize that it was instead 2 am and in horror, I threw myself into bed to get up for an 8:30 am Q. Luckily, I got up on time.

That 8:30 Q lead to a 9:30 screening of Mehrdad Oskouei’s Sunless Shadows. Picking up where he left off with documentaries like Starless Dreams, Sunless Shadows shows us the lives of a few women on Death Row in Iran. What differs Sunless Shadows from other films of its kind is the lack of separation between ourselves and the subjects. Most films would be quick to dismiss the murderers as something other than human but Sunless Shadows brilliantly handles this, allowing us to understand the lives of these young women. Abuses are described, personalities are highlighted and connections are made. The formalistic elements, including some incredibly moving video diaries where the women speak directly to the camera, make the film even stronger. By the end, I felt close to the women and surrounded by wants and needs. What more should a documentary do?

I’m thankful that Netflix picked up at least two good documentaries this year. The first was Dick Johnson is Dead. The second is Crip Camp, which starts as an autobiography of co-director James Lebrecht, then transfers into an exploration of the fight for civil rights for people with disabilities. The opening minutes follow archival footage of Camp Janete, a camp for children with disabilities created around the time of Woodstock. The footage is inspiring and wonderfully restored, capturing that feeling of blind idealism that comes with the happiness of youth. This explodes into the future. Judith Heumann starts as a camp counselor, then becomes a shining beacon in the world of activism. It’s nice that this idealism never disintegrates in the film’s perspective either. Lebrecht and co-director Nicole Newnham craft a documentary that handles some horrible things, yet their focus is always on the achievements of the disabled people. Lebrecht talked about the two types of disabled representation on screen: the against all odds “overcome adversity,” type and the “Million Dollar Baby, ‘Just kill me now’” type. Crip Camp tears those boundaries down for 104 minutes, moving into a space that respects and raises up people in the most unpretentious way it could.

Before the next feature, a short film played called See You Next Time, a look at the relationship between a nail stylist and a customer, which doesn’t really work. The film has a few cutaways to impressionistic vignettes that show the “spirits,” (other actors) of the protagonists. The contrast of the two isn’t enough to make See You Next Time significant, even if the concept is formidable.

The feature, however, was significant. Directed by Ursula Liang, Down the Dark Stairwell is about the 2014 death of Akai Gurley, a young black man who was shot by Chinese/American officer Peter Liang. After the shooting, both the black community and the Chinese/American communities stood up, but for different reasons. The black community condemned Liang for the shooting and the Chinese/American community condemned the police system for Liang being the only New York Police Officer ever brought to trial at the time. Down the Dark Stairwell does a good job of illuminating both sides of the issues and the complaints that both sides provide. Yet, the conclusion of the situation and the purpose of the film is to not provide easy answers. Systematic racism affects both communities and as long as it is perpetuated, conflicts like this will exist.

And then, the moment of truth came. The final film. This year, that film turned out to be John Skoog’s Ridge, which plays a bit more like a narrative than a documentary. Two cows leave a farm. The residents of that farm When asked of this, Skoog brought up the way that the work of Agnes Varda or Chantel Akerman used to use documentary elements in their narrative features. It’s an interesting way of looking at the form. As far as the quality of the film, Ridge is a furiously compelling work of slow cinema. Reminiscent of the work of Bela Tarr and the Varda, the camera slowly pans around, pushing the narrative forward. Because the camera is such an important player in the film, it makes sense that the film would be startling to look at. Skoog comes from a background in photography and he and cinematographer Ita Zbroniec-Zajt craft the best imagery of the festival. As Ridge came to its quiet close it suddenly dawned on me that there would be no more movies to watch. While the beginning of the last day feels purgatorial, the ending feels joyous. Walking back to the car, I thought back over the last few days. Most of the films were fantastic with City So Real, So Late So Soon, Crip Camp and Dick Johnson is Dead sticking out. The experience of seeing 13 films in Columbia will stick with me and I’m happy I spent my time there.

TRUE/FALSE FILM FESTIVAL – Day Three Report

I’m going to start this piece out by quoting the Roger Ebert quote that everyone quotes: “Bad movies are always too long, good movies are always too short just or right.” That’s a pretty good estimation of the day, even if nothing ever crossed over to the line into being outright bad.

The day started out with Steve James’ new series (as in 255 minutes over 4 episodes), City So Real, another towering documentary from the director of Hoop Dreams. Here, James and collaborators focus their cameras on Chicago’s last mayoral race, a race that ended in the election of one Lori Lightfoot. What results is a political thriller of mundane intensity and a rich mood piece on the state of modern Chicago. For its staggering runtime, City So Real is so well-paced that it felt like it went by in about an hour. The mounting intensity of the race, combined with the drama of outside systems and stories makes for an ever-shifting focus which keeps the film snappy and entertaining. It never loses its humanity though. For example, the second episode, an escalating exercise in the on-going trial following the death of Laquan MacDonald (the one aspect of the edit that never quite gels) and a further introduction to candidates, suddenly ends with plaintive shots of the city. The audience is reminded that while the politicians may talk about politics in Chicago like it is an unstoppable doctrine, this is still happening to a city full of people. James has built a career on moments like this (I wouldn’t want to spoil a few) and here he’s still at the top of his game.

The length of City So Real pretty much rid me of any chance to see anything else until 7 pm, so I paced around the city of Columbia trying out some of the food trucks and watching some students of the University of Missouri party on a balcony while blasting music over the street.

7 o’clock did eventually roll around though and I found myself seated for Elegance Bratton’s Pier Kids, named after the LGBTQ people of color that are the film’s subject. Pier Kids works every now and then but often falls prey to its own pacing. There’s an unfocused quality that isn’t necessarily bad, jarring can be a choice, but here it keeps the audience disconnected from the central drama of the piece. It’s a beautiful film about a beautiful time in its subjects’ lives but doesn’t hold together all the way through.

The longest film of the day, though, falls to Mucho Mucho Amor. At 96 minutes it spans the life of Walter Marcado, a famous astrologist who captured the hearts and minds of both his Puerto Rican audience and audiences around the world. Walter was a beacon of light in the darkness. He was an endless pool of optimism, who can sell the idea of astrology simply because of his enthusiasm. His life was prime fodder for a documentary. While well-produced, Mucho Mucho Amor falls victim at points to languid pacing and generic choices. Have you seen a music doc (or film for that matter) where a wonderful artist rises to the top, is exploited, falls into despair, yet rises again into being appreciated? Then you’ve probably seen this film. There are moments of inspiration peppered through. The opening mystery narrative of, “Where did Walter Mercado go?” is a good device to get the story moving and nobody could take one look at Walter and think that he was boring. The film around him leaves a little to be desired.

Today’s crop of films felt less invigorating but provided a good showcase of the experience of watching films. Time compresses and expands and sometimes you’re reminded of the plaintive moments. True/False is a bit like that in the best way possible.

TRUE/FALSE FILM FESTIVAL – Day Two Report

by Stephen Tronicek

As the sun rose over Columbia, Missouri, I found myself refreshed and ready to go. I’d slept on a couch for free (a quite comfy couch) and gained some of my energy back after the night before. I can say with some certainty that this energy has disappeared now that it is, yet again, midnight and I’ve just gotten home. There’s no need for pity though. The selection of films today was brilliant, broad, flawed but nevertheless exciting, something that True/False is certain to provide.

The day started out with Kirsten Johnson’s Dick Johnson is Dead, a documentary about grief for a person who has never died. Johnson has become a master of the meta-documentary, with her film Cameraperson capturing an emotional portrait of being a cinematographer for documentaries. Now, she’s returned to kill her dying father Dick, over and over and over again. Every bit of sardonic wit that is found in that description is also found in the movie. Somewhere in the runtime, Johnson questions whether or not the film is a comedy. Lucky enough it is. It is more than that though. On top of having some of the most joyful imagery you’ll witness all year, Dick Johnson is a touching portrait of the way we kill sections of our lives. What happens when we have to bookend times we thought would never end. After the show, Johnson brought up an old friend of her father’s who recalled the memories of the house that Dick leaves behind in the film. The friend talked about how beautiful that house was. The joy and sadness found in her voice is enough to illuminate the film.

While joy and sadness illuminate Dick Johnson is Dead, horrible acidity and plaintive optimism describes Feels Good Man, a film about Pepe the Frog. Created by Matt Furie as the “young brother” character for his Boys Club comic book, Pepe soon became a symbol for the Alt-Right. As a person outside of this very real internet conflict, Feels Good Man is an incredibly insightful picture of the escalation of Pepe, edited together with seamless precision. The interviews with Trump’s former communications manager and the 4chaners make your stomach turn. The toxicity on display is palpable. It’s unhealthy behaviors fueling unhealthy actions. An entire film of this could become tiresome, but thankfully director Arthur Jones points the camera at Matt Furie. Furie is described as naive by some of the film’s more horrible characters but he seems rather sane and optimistic in the face of what has happened to his creation. Through the story of his journey, we can see a light at the end of the tunnel for Pepe the Frog. It’s small but it’s there.

:Less hopeful is Catskin, directed by Ina Luchsperger, which centers vaguely on a family living in Bavaria. The purpose of Catskin seems to be contrasting the weirder aspects of the family’s life with the slow encroachment of white nationalism back into Germany. With a running time of fifty-eight minutes, Catskin only has enough time to scratch the surface and yet it also has the time to be incredibly blunt. There’s an unevenness in that balance at times, but the disquieting atmosphere is enough to keep the film going.

More interesting was the short film that played before Catskin: How to Disappear, an ode to pacifism built entirely out of in-game footage of Battlefield 1. Using a multiplayer match as a framing device, the film analyzes the political ramifications of the deserter. The footage itself is extremely funny. The filmmakers are right to assume there’s a sense of absurdity that comes along with watching players not fight in the battle or even try to stop others from fighting. That absurdity paints an interesting picture when contrasted with the narration explaining that the deserter is a necessary part of war and ultimately defines how wars are fought. The ironic edge here has to be appreciated and the cleverness employed in displaying it is immense.

As with last night, the biggest film of the night came last. When I say big, I mean BIG. Khalik Allah, the director of Black Mother, showed up to True/False with a 200 minute, supposedly incomplete cut of IWOW: I Walk on Water, an autobiographical treatise thrown together in six months, IWOW, which had its world premiere last night, analyzes Allah’s relationship with himself, his art, women, his city, his mother and an older man named Frenchie. There’s no stone left unturned in IWOW. Allah himself said in a post-screening Q&A that, “The audience is me…I’m just growing up…I’m trying to grow as a person,” He’s certainly using the film to do that. IWOW is at times a narcissistic ode to his own ability and at others a scathing criticism of how that ability has crippled his relationships with those he loves. In that, the film inherits the strengths and flaws of its creator’s gaze. When it observes the world of Harlem, New York it does so through his rich, textured eye. When it blends audio and visuals together in its dreamy edit, it inherits his self-described, “…never sober…” state. When it moves into his relationships, it inherits his selfishness. Whether or not the strengths outweigh the weaknesses is for the audience to decide. I’m still deciding that now. What I can say is that for 200 minutes I was hypnotized and swallowed up by the experience. Even if this isn’t the final version of the film, even if it possibly could be split into two parts, IWOW is never less than engaging, expertly modulating pace and tone over the course of its runtime.

So, dear reader, that was Day Two. Having completed the first full day, the momentum is only building. Hopefully, there’s more energy over there too

The 2018 True/False Film Fest Lineup

Around every corner is a new and revealing story. In the case of True/False, you never know if it will come in the form of a film, music performance, art installation, or discussion with a filmmaker or attendee about the truths and untruths around us.

The four-day festival in Columbia, MO is one of the premier documentary film festivals in the United States. The festival has attracted new and returning talent over the years – even high-profile names like Spike Lee, who attended simply to see a short film made by three Missouri School of Journalism students in 2016. You can watch the short film here. One of the most intriguing elements of the festival is that the festival encourages films that walk the line between nonfiction and fiction (hence, the title of the festival). Previous lineups included fictional films like Richard Linklater’s BOYHOOD and the 2012 horror smash V/H/S – both of which play around with non-fiction elements. Director Bart Layton’s AMERICAN ANIMALS, a fictional caper film that includes interviews with the actual people that were involved in the true story, is one of the films that take this approach in this year’s lineup.

This approach to their lineup is just one of the unique aspects that sets this festival apart from others. They entwine many forms of art into the festival. From international musical acts performing before film screenings (known as buskers) to multi-media art installations throughout the city, it’s clear that this isn’t just a film festival. This year’s visual theme is WHETHER | WEATHER. As they go on to describe, “weather and whether are two of the more evocative words in the English language and both words converse with today’s political and meteorological climate. The future is unclear, but these visual artists conjure thoughtful observations and insightful commentary from this prompt.” Just like the breakdown of the rigid lines of what makes a documentary, co-creators Paul Sturtz and David Wilson have crafted a festival that has naturally evolved into a unique anomaly, encouraging attendees to reconsider the role and structure of a film festival.

The 2018 lineup includes a number of film premieres, recent hits from the Sundance Film Festival, and of course, a few secret screenings which have become a tradition of the fest. Some of the standouts of the 40 features selected this year include the world premiere of activist filmmakers Chase Whiteside and Erick Stoll’s film AMÉRICA, Morgan Neville (director of Oscar-winner 20 FEET FROM STARDOM) delivers WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR? about TV legend Fred Rogers, a film about a black lesbian strip called SHAKEDOWN that’s already being described as a “lo-fi MAGIC MIKE XXL,” the unbelievable true story and 2018 Sundance critical hit THREE IDENTICAL STRANGERS, and the long-delayed film about controversial musician M.I.A. titled MATANGI/MAYA/M.I.A. These are but a few of the films I’m looking forward to seeing this year.

The 15th True/False Film Fest will take place March 1st – 4th in Columbia, Missouri. For more information, please visit truefalse.org. You can take a look at the entire lineup below. Make sure to check back for my reviews during and after the festival.

Adriana’s Pact (dir. Lissette Orozco; 2017)

The director idolized her glamorous aunt, whose political past holds dark secrets. (Presented by the Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy)

América (dirs. Chase Whiteside & Erick Stoll; 2018)

A colorful trio of Mexican brothers are called home to take care of their grandmother in this playful and tender family portrait.

American Animals (dir. Bart Layton; 2018)

A group of larcenous college students obsess about freeing a rare edition of Audubon’s “Birds of America” in this white-knuckled heist film.

António e Catarina (dir. Cristina Haneș; 2017)

Under cover of the night “António” and “Catarina” tiptoe around each other in this introspective character study.

Artemio (dir. Sandra Luz López Barroso, 2017)

In this lushly photographed film, an Americanized mother and son return to their Mexican village where the telephone becomes a lifeline.

Bisbee ’17 (dir. Robert Greene; 2018)

Robert Greene creatively reimagines a dark chapter in labor history when organizing miners were sent packing.

Black Mother (dir. Khalik Allah; 2018)

A spiritual journey through Jamaica, the island in the sun, a place of unparalleled resilience and beauty.

Caniba (dirs. Verena Paravel & Lucien Castaing-Taylor; 2017)

This disturbing slice-of-life probes the limits of our understanding of Issei Sagawa, an admitted murderer and cannibal, and his caretaker brother Jun.

Combat Obscura (dir. Miles Lagoze; 2018)

The daily lives of Marines in Afghanistan as filmed by active duty combat cameramen from the ultimate insider’s perspective.

Crime + Punishment (dir. Stephen Maing; 2018)

Inside the extraordinary “NYPD 12,” renegade cops bravely resisting corruption and racial profiling.

The Family (dir. Rok Biček; 2017)

Young Matej just can’t seem to catch a break – but now he must rise to the occasion of being a father.

Flight of a Bullet (dir. Beata Bubenec; 2017)

Opening with a kidnapping at gunpoint, this single-shot film finds its director, alone, embedded with a group of threatening Ukrainian soldiers.

La Flor de la Vida (dirs. Adriana Loeff & Claudia Abend; 2017)

Introverted Gabriella and extroverted Aldo are at a crossroads in their five-decade-old marriage.

Gabriel and the Mountain (dir. Fellipe Barbosa; 2017)

Brazilian director Fellipe Barbosa retraces his adventurous friend’s last days in Africa with the help of the real people who met him.

Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami (dir. Sophie Fiennes; 2017)

From Jamaican family dinner to the world stage, iconic Grace Jones magically dances between down-to-earth moments and pure transcendence.

Hale County This Morning, This Evening (dir. RaMell Ross; 2018)

Inventing a new film language, this film fearlessly reimagines the way black lives are portrayed on-screen through the stories of two young men in Hale County, Alabama.

Kinshasa Makambo (dir. Dieudo Hamadi; 2018)

True Vision honoree Dieudo Hamadi follows courageous young revolutionaries seeking to wrest control of the Democratic Republic of Congo. (Presented by Restoration Eyecare)

Love Means Zero (dir. Jason Kohn; 2017)

Anti-hero Nick Bollettieri, the quintessential tennis coach of the last 40 years, sports an ego that knows no bounds, causing a rift with celebrated student Andre Agassi.

Lovers of the Night (dir. Anna Frances Ewert; 2018)

Seven Irish monks, holding on faithfully to their fragile monastery, confide their most tender secrets.

Makala (dir. Emmanuel Gras; 2017)

In this spectacular and eventful journey, Kabwita hand-delivers charcoal to a faraway marketplace against epic odds.

MATANGI/MAYA/M.I.A. (dir. Steve Loveridge; 2018)

Relying on a rich trove of self-shot videos, this film charts the incendiary art and politics of Maya Arulpragasam, better known as M.I.A.

National Diploma (dir. Dieudo Hamadi; 2014)

Determined Congolese students band together to pass a high-stakes graduation exam from True Vision honoree Dieudo Hamadi.

The Next Guardian (dirs. Dorottya Zurbó & Arun Bhattarai; 2017)

In a remote Bhutanese village, teenage siblings Gyembo and Tashi crave freedom and adventure.

Of Fathers and Sons (dir. Talal Derki; 2017)

A seasoned Al Qaeda sniper in Syria readies his 12-year-old to follow his footsteps in this never-before-seen immersion into the world of radical jihadis.

Our New President (dir. Maxim Pozdorovkin; 2018)

By turns hilarious, exhilarating, and terrifying, this deep dive into the world of Russian (fake) news offers critical lessons about 21st century propaganda.

Playing Men (dir. Matjaž Ivanišin; 2017)

A sometimes winking, sometimes eye-opening, cabinet of curiosities of peculiar games and sports, gorgeously shot all over the Mediterranean.

The Price of Everything (dir. Nathaniel Kahn; 2018)

Modern art is now a bankable commodity where art-stars like Jeff Koons and investors succeed wildly, leaving others in the dust.

Primas (dir. Laura Bari; 2017)

Two cousins Rocio and Aldana courageously transcend trauma through creative therapy in this True Life Fund selection. (Presented by The Crossing)

The Rider (dir. Chloé Zhao; 2017)

A young rodeo cowboy navigates health and family after a potentially career-ending injury, in this lush mashup of doc and fiction.

Secret Screening Gale

Fighting from within a Kafkaesque bureaucracy, a small group of committed crusaders make a stand.

Secret Screening Mistral

An impressionistic portrait of an individual who reaches for glory, falls short, and tries again.

Secret Screening Zephyr

This convincing environmental rallying cry offers a trip to the center of the world’s mysteries.

Self-Portrait: Birth in 47KM (dir. Mengqi Zhang; 2016)

Delicate scenes of village life anchor moving interviews with a survivor of the Great Famine, a subject still taboo in China.

Shakedown (dir. Leilah Weinraub; 2018)

A raucous, joyous celebration of an underground black lesbian strip club in early 2000’s Los Angeles.

Shirkers (dir. Sandi Tan; 2018)

A misfit band of young women shoot Singapore’s first independent movie with the help of a shadowy mentor, then the film mysteriously vanishes.

Taming the Horse (dir. Tao Gu; 2017)

In the dog-eat-dog world of modern China, Dong wanders aimlessly, looking for romance – and the meaning of life.

The Task (dir. Leigh Ledare; 2017)

A group of strangers cross-examine their tangled group dynamics, until the director must intervene.

Three Identical Strangers (dir. Tim Wardle; 2018)

Separated at birth, Robert, Edward and David become pop culture icons in the ‘80s after discovering they are identical triplets, then things get weird.

Voices of the Sea (dir. Kim Hopkins; 2018)

In a small seaside town in Cuba, Mariela longs for the elusive American Dream, while her fisherman husband Pita tamps down her wanderlust.

Westwood (dir. Lorna Tucker; 2018)

Fashionista Vivienne Westwood, who invented the look of British punk in the ‘70s, now owns a sprawling empire, but remains a singular iconoclast.

Won’t You Be My Neighbor? (dir. Morgan Neville; 2018)

A behind-the-scenes, radical history of Mr. Rogers’ neighborhood, directed by T/F favorite Morgan Neville (20 Feet From Stardom). (Presented by Veterans United)

True/False Film Festival 2017: CASTING JONBENET – Review

One needs only to hear the name JonBenet to conjure up images of a young girl that was found murdered in her home in 1996. The horrifying case created a social frenzy triggered by a media circus surrounding the family. Was it the parents who killed their daughter? Was the mom covering up an accident caused by her son? Was there a shadowy figure who perpetrated the crime? Twenty years later, we are no closer to the truth and the case still lingers deep in our minds.

Director Kitty Green uses the public’s fascination with the murder of JonBenet Ramsey to hold a mirror to our own lives; to make us question our sick fascination with the death of a young girl; to show us that we may not have the idyllic American lives we think we do. All of us have dark secrets that may not be too far from the family dysfunction we project upon the Ramsey family, and it’s through Kitty Green’s unique structure that we’re forced to look at ourselves instead of a filtered presentation of the “facts” by the media.

Those going into CASTING JONBENET might be expecting to see interviews with the men and women who worked on the case and pageant footage of JonBenet. However, Green subverts expectations by focusing instead on the people who lived in the surrounding area when the murder happened. The film shows the residents of Boulder auditioning to play a part in a JonBenet movie, while intercutting scenes from the fake film that they’re auditioning for. Through these comedic and extremely candid interviews, we learn of their personal opinions on the case as well as secrets buried in their own lives.

JonBenet’s death is intentionally not exploited like the tv specials and movies that Green seems to be satirizing – her image is barely shown outside of the young girls who are dressed for the part. It’s in these surreal images of seven JonBenet’s all lined up in matching dresses that we become aware of just how problematic it is that there’s a cultural phenomena surrounding a girl’s death. And she’s not the only one. There are so many cases where the media’s attention and coverage is less about the search for truth and more for entertainment purposes. By the end of this complicated multi-layered documentary, the film shifts and begins to look like a David Lynch film come to life. We are faced with the image we want to see: the dark American story of the underbelly of suburbia. We are less interested in the truth and are simply seeing it as a form of gross entertainment.

CASTING JONBENET perfectly balances dark satire with raw and simulated emotion. It’s one of the most unique and complicated documentaries I’ve ever seen and a complex exploration of truth. In short, it’s a masterpiece. Green’s audacious presentation becomes about the very act of storytelling and how we choose to interpret the facts. In an era where the phrase alternative facts exists, CASTING JONBENET is here to remind us that we may not actually be interested in knowing the truth – we just want to be entertained by the headlines.

Overall rating: 5 out of 5

CASTING JONBENET will be premiering on Netflix on April 28th

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: