“If mankind once loses its storyteller, then it will lose its childhood.” — Wings of Desire
Oh my gosh. I’m supposed to talk about movies I want to see in this blog, but there are TOO MANY! I don’t know if the programming improved a bunch, if the description writers put in extra effort or if I’ve lost my edge because I’m about 800 percent more excited about the films this year than last (and last year was a good year!). Where shall I start?
My goal is to see between 20 and 25 films from Sept. 23 to Oct. 3. I also plan to attend as many of the parties as possible. I am not taking time off work to do this, so I might be insane by Oct. 3 with this blog as record of my quick descent into delirium. I’m immediately reminded of the time I did the South Beach Diet. I’m vegetarian, so it was pretty stupid from the get go. I didn’t lose weight. I did realize I’m totally addicted to sugar — as confirmed by my manic licking of Extra strawberry gum wrappers and sugar-free Jello packages for two weeks. (Ricotta with cocoa powder ain’t dessert in my world.) The point is, I went a little nuts, and my friends kept telling me, “You should be writing about this!” I didn’t, and I won’t anymore now, but with my track record of pushing my own limits, I expect the crazies to kick in around Monday. I’ve scanned my film fest schedule — a.k.a. my road map to madness.
In the interim, I’ll start with what I know. I know I’m going to the opening night film, Blue Valentine. I have a hot date with Film Studies Professor Tami Williams and filmmaker Maxine Wishner. Blue Valentine should be a big ol’ downer of a love story directed by a man who’s known for, well, not much, but whose next two films are called Cagefighter and Metalhead. Enough said; I’m in. I’m fascinated with failing love, and I’ll get two free drinks at the opening night party afterward to make me forget love can be depressing and help me pretend it doesn’t matter.
I also know that I’ve already seen three films screening Friday, want to see another eight, and will probably make it to two before I head to SPiN for the Flexible Films/Gal Friday Films party. (Full disclosure: I was on two screening committees this summer — the features committee and the children’s shorts committee, the second of which sounds a smidge inappropriate, no?) I quite enjoyed all three that I saw — Baraboo, Enemies of the People and Looking for Eric.
Baraboo will be the big draw Friday, as director Mary Sweeney is in town to discuss the Wisconsin-made film. (Sweeney wrote, edited and produced one of the best films ever made about the Midwest — The Straight Story, directed by David Lynch. She also summers in Madison.) I presume numerous cast members will be in attendance as well because Sweeney cast nearly 30 actors from Milwaukee, Madison and Spring Green. Baraboo also won Best Narrative Feature and Best Director at the Wisconsin Film Festival last spring.
Several of the Bhutto crew will also be in town for its Milwaukee premiere Friday. The subject of Bhutto is, you guessed it, Benazir Bhutto. I don’t know much about this film except the basics (it’s a political documentary getting very good reviews), but it’s always a pleasure to see films followed by Q&As with cast and crew. One of my favorite parts of festivals is interacting with the people behind the screen, as it were.
I could mention all the other films I want to see, but instead I’ll report back on what I actually make it to. I do want to give Enemies of the People a special shout out. It’s another political documentary. (Shocking, I know. There tend to be so few of them in film festivals.) More than that, though, it’s a record of personal obsession. Imagine spending a decade of your life befriending the people behind the people who slaughtered your family. That’s exactly what Thet Sambath did. As a living victim of the Killing Fields of Cambodia, he wanted to understand what happened to his family. His journey takes viewers into conversations with seemingly kind killers and despots. It’s a heart-wrenching and deeply significant film, so I hope it finds an audience in Milwaukee.
On a lighter note, Friday night I will be attending (nay, hosting!) the Flexible Films/Gal Friday Films party at Milwaukee’s newest hottt spottt, Susan Sarandon’s ping-pong club SPiN! Susan Sarandon will be in town for the Grand Opening AND a special screening of Thelma and Louise Saturday afternoon! (More on that tomorrow.) SPiN even has a film festival drink special! $2 Sprecher with a badge or ticket stub. Movies and ping-pong and beer, oh my! This (unofficial) film festival party is free and open to the public, and festival filmmakers will be in attendance, so please come down and help us welcome Ms. Sarandon to the neighborhood. And do say hello if you see me. My standard uniform is a vintage dress and cat-eye glasses, so I’m pretty easy to spot. Hope to see you there!
