Travelling for the first time to the True/False Film Festival, I had heard nothing but rave reviews from filmmakers who had shown their films there; I knew it was in a small town and that it would be the furthest inland I’d ever been in the US. After a fourteen hour journey from the UK, I landed in Kansas City Airport. From the airport, you face a two-hour drive to get to Columbia, where the festival takes place, but after travelling that amount of time what’s an extra two hours?

After a minor hotel mixup, which was actually quite fun, we stayed the first night in the host hotel The Regency before moving a little further out to the Hampton Inn Suites. After having this dual lodging experience I can say that if scrappy fun is your style The Regency is the way to go – if comfort is the main priority then it’s the Hampton.

The next day we made our way into downtown Columbia. The festival hadn’t started yet, so we made the most of having time to have a look around. Despite being a small town, Columbia has a fair amount going for it, with many great places to eat and extremely good vintage stores. We did also manage to sneak in a screening of Justin Bieber: Never Say Never 3D (The Fan Cut). I will not go into my love of this film here, but check out the next podcast for further explanation.

(note: I don’t condone taking pictures in theatres; this was just a happy accident)

That evening, we went along to the opening night gala: The Jubiliee, at the Missouri Theatre. There was a masked ball theme, and after accidentally breaking several of the amazing masks created by the volunteers I gave up and tried some of the delicious and wonderfully strange drinks provided by local bartenders. It was an incredible atmosphere, which carried into the screening of Benda Bilili! The Missouri Theatre is a wonderful place to watch a film – its architecture is absolutely beautiful.

I was fortunate enough to have been asked to introduce and host Q&As for a few of the films and my first was for Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles by Jon Foy (listen to our interview with Jon on the podcast here). The screening took place at the RagTag Theatre and even though my brain was telling me it was 6am it was a fantastic experience. The thing that immediately struck me about the festival was the level of audience engagement. Many other festivals have an element of public attendance, but nothing quite like True/False. This is a festival that feels entirely for the local people and it really thrives because of this. I’ve seen many other public Q&As, but never with such an engaged, documentary-knowledgable audience.

By Friday, the festival was in full swing. My day began moderating a panel called Africa 11…the Pulse of a Continent, which looked at filmmaking in Africa from both an African and outsider perspective. The panel was comprised of filmmakers from three of my favourite films of the festival – Jarreth Merz from An African Election, Renaud Barret from Benda Bilili!, and Frank Piasecki Poulsen and Sekombi Katondolo from Blood in the Mobile. It was a fascinating discussion that ranged from the technicalities of filming in Africa to the responsibilities of representation and the further purpose of making films there.

I followed the panel with a screening of Zielinski by local filmmakers Chase Thompson and Ryan Walker. It tells the story of author and photographer John M. Zielinski who, after a devastating legal dispute over the publishing of one of his books, turns investigative reporter and dedicates his life to exposing issues through his writing and cable tv shows. Zielenski is a really fun watch, and reminded me of a less scary Collapse. During the screening there was a minor weather apocalypse with extreme tornado warnings. Lucky we were in the right place and safely stayed away from the thunder and lightning outside. However, this meant the weather wasn’t on our side for the next activity of the festival, the March March.

The March March is a festival tradition in which everyone parades through downtown in costume, or with handmade drums and shakers, making serious levels of noise and having a lot of fun. Despite the rain it was fantastic, with the University of Missouri drum line following the procession.

One of my favourite aspects of True/False is that they actively stay away from the premiere rule that often stifles other festivals. To do this they create several Secret Screenings. There is an unspoken contract with the audience that they must not make it public which films they’ve seen secretly. I managed to get to a few of these and so will keep any reviews at bay until the films have premiered elsewhere. Later that day I went to see the screening of Steve James’ The Interrupters at the Missouri Theatre, and the Q&A was incredible. The Interrupters was the recipient of the True Life Fund which promotes documentaries that create change. We’ll be posting a review of the film soon, but in the meantime check out the interview we did with Steve James and Alex Kotlowitz at Sundance here.

The rest of the day was taken up with a screening of Andris Gauja’s jawdropping Family Instinct, followed by the Gimme Truth game show. Gimme Truth pits three panellists against a host of short docs – each as ambiguous as the next – with them guessing as to which is true and which is false. The shorts were so well made it was near impossible to tell and Ameena from the Interrupters frustrated outbursts at guessing nearly all wrong were amazing. Host Johnny St. John was one of the highlights of the entire festival, creating a hilarious comedy routine against every burst of frustration from the panel.

The last day of the festival was by far my busiest day, with intros and Q&As for two films amongst screenings. The first was Buck, a film that absolutely wowed me. Rather than being largely about horses, as one might expect, it’s a portrait of real life horse whisperer Buck Brannaman who is an absolute joy to watch – from his level of skill to his incredible anecdotes and life view. I highly recommend seeing this film when you get a chance.

My last Q&A was for Resurrect Dead for the second time and, again, the Q&A was nothing short of incredible. It’s a wonderful experience to stand in front of an audience and hear such a range of views and perspectives that really honour the film and show real engagement.

After this I managed to run and catch the Q&A for James Marsh’s Project Nim. James was this year’s True Vision Award recipient, which is an award given to a filmmaker whose work shows a dedication to the creative advancement of the art of nonfiction filmmaking. In honour of this the festival screened his most recent film, Project Nim, and two previous works, Wisconsin Death Trip and Burger and the King, the latter of which is one of my favourite films of all time and, by the reaction during the festival, was also a highlight of the programme.

One of the most notable aspects to True/False that makes it stand out from other festivals is the real attention to detail when it comes to overall festival experience. One of these aspects is the addition of live music in the form of buskers who perform before each screening. All the acts I saw were fantastic, and I left with several CDs picked up from the box office. On the last night this culminates in the Buskers’ Last Stand in which all the bands head to the Missouri Theatre and play. As we got there, Bramble and Pearl and the Beard (highly recommend checking out both) had formed into a super group and had the entire room singing.

True/False is now in its eight year; created by Paul Sturtz and David Wilson, it’s a festival that lives and breathes for its audience. The programme is excellent, with a diverse range of documentary styles and themes and a wonderful balance of high profile and hidden gems. The external events, which range from the march to a campfire stories evening with filmmakers relaying the stories that got away to a morning fun run, give True/False the extra element of fun, and a community spirit which makes the festival now a definite yearly trip for me.

The Missourian got witty the day after the festival, but they had a point.

1. In Search of Memory

In Search of Memory looks at the life and career of neuro-scientist Eric Kandel who won the Nobel Prize for his groundbreaking research on the physiology of the brain’s storage of memories. It looks to be part-autobiography, part-lecture as Kandel explains his journey into his personal journey into his exploration of memory.

In Search of Memory is playing at the IFC Center in NYC.
Directed by Petra Seeger
website

2. Highrise

Highrise has, hands down, the snazziest website I have ever seen for a documentary. That’s possibly because it isn’t just a documentary, it’s more of a multimedia onslaught. Made by the NFB’s filmmaker-in-residence Katerina Cizek, using a 360° camera, it explores the human experience in global vertical suburbs. The film will be released as a feature-length web documentary but the project is actually many documentaries, photo exhibits and lectures. Their website states that they are trying to find out how documentary can help re-invent our cities at their edges, and if it looks this good why not?

website

3. Restrepo

Restrepo comes from Sebastian Junger (Vanity Fair writer and Author of A Perfect Storm) and renowned war photographer Tim Hetherington who have collaborated in print for a long time. Considering this, the official synopsis is unsurprisingly incredibly dramatic and so it’s better that I go with that than try and do a better job:

Restrepo is a feature-length documentary that chronicles the deployment of a platoon of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan’s Korengal Valley. The movie focuses on a remote 15-man outpost, “Restrepo,” named after a platoon medic who was killed in action. It was considered one of the most dangerous postings in the U.S. military. This is an entirely experiential film: the cameras never leave the valley; there are no interviews with generals or diplomats. The only goal is to make viewers feel as if they have just been through a 90- minute deployment. This is war, full stop. The conclusions are up to you.

Sundance have posted a Meet the Artists with the filmmakers which gives some insight into their filmmaking process:

4. Prodigal Sons

Prodigal Sons is one of the most turbulent documentaries I’ve seen in the last few years and deserves a full review (which I’ll hopefully get to soon). It is a story which twists and turns to extreme degrees throughout and is a great example of a story that began going down one path only to be flipped completely upside down as the film was being made.

Official synopsis: Returning home to a small town in Montana for her high school reunion, filmmaker Kimberly Reed hopes for reconciliation with her long-estranged adopted brother, Marc. But along the way she uncovers stunning revelations, including his blood relationship with Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth, intense sibling rivalries and unforeseeable twists of plot and gender that forces them to face challenges no one could imagine.

Prodigals Sons will have a US theatrical release starting in February and I highly recommend it.

5. 12th & Delaware

Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing, the directors of Jesus Camp, will be premiering their latest film at Sundance. The film was shot in the year abortion provider Dr. George Tiller was murdered in his church and looks at a street in Fort Pierce, Florida which has an abortion clinic located on one side and a pro-life office on the other. Showing the stories of the women counseled in each office as to the right choice to make and the staff who tackle the risks of their jobs this will certainly be a controversial watch.

Trailer

Related side note: Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady, Alex Gibney, Eugene Jarecki and Morgan Spurlock have also collaborated this year on a documentary adaptation of the best-selling book Freakonomics with the enticing tagline ‘some of the world’s most innovative documentary filmmakers will explore the hidden side of everything’. The film is currently listed as in post-production but will no doubt be definitely keeping an eye out for.

6. Casino Jack and the United States of Money

Casino Jack is the story of disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff who appears to be one of those characters whose reality may live up to his myth. From the official synopsis we are promised ‘a tale of international intrigue with Indian casinos, Russian spies, Chinese sweatshops, and a mob-style killing in Miami, this is the story of the way money corrupts our political process.’

This the new documentary from Alex Gibney (Gonzo, Taxi to the Dark Side, Enron) and it will have its world premiere as part of the US Documentary competition at Sundance. Gibney is one of those directors who is a guaranteed draw for me, his subject matter is always varied and I really enjoy his interesting use of techniques, especially motion graphics and typography.

Trailer

7. Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child

Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat is probably most notably known on screen in Julian Schnabel’s “Basquiat,” with Jeffrey Wright in the title role. This time we see Basquiat in documentary form and as a labour of love project by Tamra Davis, who met the artist in 1983, and interviewed him on camera in 1988 (two years before his death at age 27, from a heroin overdose). Davis kept the footage in a drawer until now, not wanting to feel she was cashing in on the tragedy. After being persuaded that the footage was of important historical significance she began to compile the film.

Basquiat was a renowned graffiti artist under his assumed identity ‘Samo’ and was part of the late 1970s art scene that cultivated a close personal friendship, and numerous collaborations, with Andy Warhol. Described as a mixture of archival footage and insider interviews, the one aspect that will stand out is being able to hear Basquiat in his own words for the first time.

8. Lucky

Lucky follows the journeys of people who have won the lottery and how they handle their life-changing windfalls. Jeffrey Blitz, director of Spellbound and Rocket Science, allows us to go beyond our own daydream masterplans of how we’d spend a lottery win and see whether people who have actually won have had their ‘dreams come true’.

Official synopsis: Dreaming of winning the lottery is as American as apple pie. Millions of Americans spend billions of dollars each year hoping to come up a winner. But what happens to the lucky few who actually pull a winning ticket? Lucky crisscrosses the country, examining a handful of past lottery winners as they navigate their newly found riches and a couple of extremely determined hopefuls. The winners’ lives are undoubtedly changed forever but not necessarily in the ways we may expect. Life becomes complicated as attorneys, hired security guards, jealous friends, scheming family members, and desperate pleas for help from strangers pepper their new existence. Veteran director Jeffrey Blitz has skillfully crafted a revealing look at the way one’s identity is undoubtedly turned upside down after the big payout. Thoroughly involving, Lucky cleverly strips off the veneer and shatters our perceptions about the ultimate American dream.

Trailer

Jeffrey Blitz: Meet the Artists

9. The Oath

Laura Poitras has made the second part of her planned documentary trilogy (the first being the excellent, Oscar-nominated, My Country, My Country) with this year’s The Oath. Poitras is a really interesting filmmaker who doesn’t shy away from difficult subject matter and I also can’t help but love the idea of a documentary trilogy.

Official synopsis: Unraveling like a lush, gripping novel that constantly subverts expectations, The Oath is the interlocking drama of two brothers-in-law, Abu Jandal and Salim Hamdam, whose associations with al Qaeda in the 1990s propelled them on divergent courses. The film delves into Abu Jandal’s daily life as a taxi driver in Sana’a, Yemen, and Hamdan’s military tribunal in Guantanamo Bay prison. Abu Jandal and Hamdan’s personal stories—how they came to serve as Osama bin Laden’s bodyguard and driver respectively—act as prisms through which to humanize and contextualize a world the Western media demonizes. As Hamdan’s trial progresses, his military lawyers challenge fundamental flaws in the court system. As charismatic Abu Jandal dialogues with his son, Muslim students, and journalists, he generously unveils the complex evolution of his belief system since 9/11.

Trailer

10. Waiting for Armageddon

I’m not sure I should admit that I have been waiting for someone to make a feature-length documentary about Evangelicals but, well, I have. As someone who certainly wont be taken when the Rapture happens I’m really looking forward to hearing a variety of opinions on this particular theology.

Synopsis: Waiting for Armageddon delves into the heart of America’s 50-million member Evangelical community, using intimate portraits and archival footage to explore how literal belief in Biblical prophecy -including the Rapture and Armageddon – exerts a dangerous influence on U.S. relations in the Middle East.

Directed by Kate Davis, David Heilbroner, Franco Sacchi

1. Gates of Heaven (Morris, 1980)

25. Stevie (James, 2002)

So there you have it. What do you think? Anything missing? Anything up there that you think doesn’t deserve to be there?

Rock School

Director Don Argott’s ‘Rock School’ works for all of the same reasons that Richard Linklater’s ‘School of Rock’ worked. It’s a just a feel good look at a energetic kid-at-heart teacher living vicariously though a group of rag-tag kids as he attempts to transform them into rock gods. Filmed at the ‘Paul Green School of Rock Music’, the film follows the kids as they cut their teeth on some insanely complex (and borderline obnoxious) Frank Zappa tunes in preparation for a special performance at a Zappa festival in Germany. It’s pretty crazy watching some of these talented kids holding their own on stage, but the guts of the film are those moments that highlight the unusual student-teacher dynamic shared between Green and his kids. He’s definitely a hard-ass, and sometimes his brutal honesty with the kids may seem overly harsh. But as the film progresses, you realize that Green has nothing but respect for the kids and a genuine love of rock.

Children Underground

Edet Belzberg’s raw look into the lives of a group of street kids is something straight out of a Harmony Korine film. Not unlike Marc Singer’s ‘Dark Day’s’, Belzberg basically embedded herself into this group of homeless kids, as young as ten years old, as they live out their day to day lives huffing gold paint in the grimy subway tunnels of Bucharest, Romania. As sad as their lives are, there is a sense of family among the group, as dysfunctional as it may be. I’d have to say the strangest part of the film is seeing such young kids carrying themselves like adults. Very rarely are they acting like real children, outside of some rambunctious behaviour that only gets them into more trouble. Throughout the whole film I kept reminding myself that when the camera is around the kids, that means there’s an adult around the kids, begging the question ‘At what point should Belzberg intervene in any particular situation?’.

Trans Generation

I suppose it’s debatable whether or not you could refer to freshman university students as ‘kids’, but for this occasion we’ll go with it. Trans Generation is a fascinatingly revealing 8 part series originally produced for the Sundance Channel. Director Jeremy Simmons follows four students attending four different universities as they deal not only with their books, grades and social lives, but their physical transition from one sex to the other. Gabbie, Raci, Lucas, and T.J. are all dealing with the fact that they feel trapped inside the wrong body. Raci, a male who lives his life as a female, resorts to buying black market hormones because she simply can’t afford the drug through official means. T.J. is a budding political activist whose Mother is struggling to accept her life as a male. Lucas, previously known as Leah, is in her beginning stages of becoming a man through hormone therapy. Finally, there’s Gabbie (born Andrew), a somewhat obnoxious and naïve anime and video game fanatic that is counting down the days until her sex change operation. This series requires a bit of an investment of time, but it’s completely worth it.

Chain Camera

Kirby Dick (Sick, This Film Is Not Yet Rated, Twist of Faith) brings us this experimental look at life as a high school student through the eyes of ten students at the Los Angeles John Marshall High School. Here’s how it works: Ten cameras were handed out to ten students for one week. The kids could shoot whatever they wanted, no holds barred. Once their time was up, the cameras were passed on to ten more students, and so on, and so on. The end result is a compilation of the most interesting cuts from an eclectic mix of cultures and lifestyles. The filmmaking may be somewhat raw, but the honest glimpse into these kids’ lives is both compelling and entertaining.

Mad Hot Ballroom

This is probably the most accessible film on the list, as its overall success can attest to. Mad Hot Ballroom is the definition of a ‘feel good film’. Director Marilyn Agrelo follows New York City fifth and sixth graders as they take a shot at ballroom dancing. Some start off shuffling their feet in boredom, faces completely void of any sense of enjoyment. But as the film progresses, the kids become more and more engaged in their lessons as they practice for the citywide finals. Watch as some dedicated teachers try their best to utilize this unusual extra-curricular activity to guide their kids down the right path, attempting to avoid the harsh reality and telling statistics that don’t fare well for kids who grow up in these particular urban schools. If The Children Underground gets you down, just chase it with Mad Hot Ballroom and you’ll remember what it was like being a kid again, MINUS the gold paint huffing.

The Documentary Blog: ‘Fuck’ gives us a pretty good back story of everyone’s favourite curse word, but more importantly it examines the boundaries of censorship and freedom of speech. However, this couldn’t be done without pushing those boundaries yourself. Do you think that a film such as this would ever have seen the light of day 20 years ago?

SA: I think it’s pretty obvious that barriers are progressively being worn down. I don’t think that 20 or 30 years ago a movie called ‘Fuck’ would be released in the United States or around the world. However, I will say that freedom of speech, the first amendment and issues like that are something that needs to be constantly debated. In the past six or seven years while George W. Bush has been in office, there’s been a conservative government and organizations like the Parents Television Council had a little bit of a field day. They’ve been able to go in and start to take advantage of both the conservatives being in office and the FCC, and they’ve started to kind of, in one sense, hi-jack the system. I didn’t set out to make a political film but it’s certainly ended up in that fashion. I think it’s a response to the way we start seeing some restrictions in the United States. Even though it’s better then it was 20 or 30 years ago, free speech is something that needs to be constantly debated and talked about because you can lose rights as easily as you can gain them.

TDB: Did you run into any censorship issues?

SA: I can’t say that I ever felt that we were censored in any way. We were able to make the film we wanted because we worked with some great producers and friends of mine who helped finance the film. The only time there was ever any kind of hint of censorship, and I even hesitate to use the word, was when we decided to call the movie Fuck. We had a long conversation about that, whether that was the smart and prudent thing to do. We finally came to the decision that yes, it was. We were going to have some problems with marketing the film, but it really is what it’s about. To call it anything else just seemed unfair. But it did really present a marketing challenge. For example, when we got reviewed by the New York Times or big newspapers like that, they couldn’t print the title of the film or what the film was about. They had to usually write in a humorous kind of double speak. I’m reluctant to call it censorship, because we knew going in that that was going to be the case, but it was very interesting to chart along the way who would say it and who would not.

TDB: What major figureheads in the fight for freedom of speech would you thank for the ability to make a film like Fuck?

SA: I think the obvious one is Lenny Bruce. He really was a forerunner in all of this. Back in the sixties he was one of the first comedians that stood up and talked about things that were real, like language or religion. He was fairly successful as a comedian, but a lot of his stuff was just breaking down barriers. That’s really what comedians do. They allow us to go into a comedy club and they speak things that we’re not usually able to talk about in society. We go to feel entertained because they’re saying things that we’re thinking. I think the obvious next chapter there is George Carlin. He came out with the seven words you can’t say on television, which was really a big inspiration for me. When I was ten or eleven years old, my Mother mistakenly gave me the record not knowing what was on it and suddenly I saw the power of words. Then they took the record away from me and all of the parents in the neighbourhood were calling my parents saying ‘what are you playing for our children?’. Looking back on it, it’s kind of funny, but it really taught me the power of language. I think lately, Howard Stern is another free speech martyr. Whether you like him or not, he’s pushing boundaries on the radio and people are pushing back. The government and the FCC decided to fine him so he said ‘fuck you, I’m gonna go to Sirius where I can say what I want and do what I want.’ I think that’s appropriate. It’s the same way with cable. I’m not advocating that we should be able to say fuck every night on television, but there needs to be outlets like HBO and Showtime for people who like that kind of entertainment. I like that kind of entertainment, and I’ll pay a little extra to hear it, but there’s people in our society who want to put restrictions on that now as well. This film is a response to that.

TDB: Do you think that stand up comedians are still on the cutting edge in regards to pushing free speech boundaries, or do you think that job has fallen into the hands of a different medium?

SA: I think stand up comedy will always be one of the first parts of our popular culture to take steps forward, but it can also backfire. Just look at Michael Richards. Even in comedy clubs people can rebel and say ‘no, you’ve gone to far’. In the past couple of years there was The Aristocrats which was made up of comics telling a nasty joke that, prior to the film, they had mostly told to themselves. Then there’s Sarah Silverman, who breaks down a lot of barriers and talks about things that you wouldn’t necessarily expect to see a beautiful, young woman talk about. It’s funny because of that.

TDB: Who are some important, contemporary purveyors of free speech in the entertainment industry?

SA: Well seeing as this is The Documentary Blog, I think it’s safe to say that in the past few years there’s been an up rise of documentary films, and there seems to be a thirst out there to dig deeper and find out more. We live in a world where we have the internet, newspapers, magazines and TV…our lives get so compartmentalized. We get our information in little blips and blops. Whereas you can also sit down and watch a documentary that has a point of view. Michael Moore can obviously be credited for stepping up and showing that you could make a polemic film. He wants to get across his point of view, but it can also be entertaining and thoughtful. I think, in a lot of respects, movies like Fuck owe filmmakers like Michael Moore or Barbera Kopple a big debt of gratitude because they opened the door for anyone who has a serious point of view or issue that they want to talk about. Just this year there was ‘This Film Is Not Yet Rated’, the Tommy Chong film, ‘Shut Up and Sing’…there was a number of films that were allowed to get out there, and audiences saw them and respected them. So I think there has been some filmmakers in the past number of years that have really opened doors for documentaries. They’ve created a business model that studios and distributors will release them, and the public responded.

TDB: ‘Fuck’ features an impressive list of interview subjects, from Sam Donaldson to Hunter S. Thompson. What was your process for arranging the interviews and deciding on who you wanted to feature in the film?

SA: At the beginning we decided that the film would be more entertaining if we made sure that we had a conservative and a liberal perspective in there. Fuck is a word that in a way kind of divides people. There’s people that think swear words and naughty words like that are kind of a sign that society is going down the tubes. Then there’s those people who think it’s the opposite. They think that more freedom is opening up and people can express themselves the way that want. So we drew up a list of the usual suspects that we were thinking about interviewing. I kind of wanted to include some interviews that you might not have seen before. For example, I don’t think there are many films where you have Ron Jeremy and Miss Manners in the same movie, or Hunter S. Thompson and Pat Boone. There are some really great juxtapositions of opinions and personalities in this film and it keeps the movie kind of going along. I think we shot a total of 35 interviews, so we kept the segments short. I made a promise to everyone who appears in the movie that whatever their point of view was, it would come across in the film. So that was a challenge. Even though we interviewed some people a number of times, they may only end up with a total of 20 or 30 seconds screen time. The film definitely takes a point of view. It certainly tilts to the left because that’s my view on the subject. But I like to think that Pat Boone fans that go in to watch the film will say ‘I agree with Pat Boone.’, and that we didn’t go out of our way to make fun of him or to ridicule him.

TDB: The film features alot of archival clips of the word ‘Fuck’ being used throughout history. Could you tell us about the process of gathering all of the stock footage?

SA: When we started up the film we knew that we were going to have material from a lot of different sources. There was going to be film clips and TV clips and archive clips, so at the beginning it was just a lot of kind of standard research. Most of it, quite frankly, on the internet. You would kind of search through archives, talk to different people and ask them if they know of any footage. I really wanted to see what was out there. We received lists of various clips from CNN, ABC, and NBC and we would kind of give them keywords. Obviously fuck was THE keyword, but we would ask them for things about censorship or free speech issues. For example we have audio of them saying fuck on the moon. One of our Producers Bruce Leiserowitz had to file a freedom of information act to have NASA search for the word fuck through all of their archives to find it. It was pretty exhaustive and took a long time but it was kind of fun because there was always a little bit of a buried treasure that you might find.

TDB: Did the stock footage play a big role in the structure of the film?

SA: Well it was mostly in the beginning where there was ‘x’ amount of footage that pertained to the film. Also if there was something that we knew about, like when Tipper Gore was testifying before congress, you know, things that definitely had to do with censorship or free speech issues, we’d request those. I wanted to see what was out there before we started doing too many of the interviews. That would sort of help us shape the film and some of the interviews and who we got to talk about what.

TDB: What were some of the differences between shooting a documentary and a fiction film?

SA: They’re in some ways very similar, and in some ways obviously quite different. I think the differences are most obvious in that with a dramatic feature you’re starting with a script. The script is written first, the financers come in because of the script, the actors sign on because of the script. Everyone has this blueprint of what you’re going to be working from. Whereas with documentaries, you have an outline of a story you hope to tell, but you’re very dependent on both the clips and the footage that you find, and more importantly, what you’re interviewees might tell you. You might go to someone and hope they’re going to tell you one thing, but they end up telling you another thing. So you’re really at the mercy of the material that you gather during the shoot. They’re similar in that you tell a story that has a beginning, a middle and an end and you want to entertain people. The motivation of Fuck was to keep it entertaining and a little bit light hearted along the way, even though it was talking about a fairly obscene word. We didn’t want to make a heavy, depressing film about the word fuck.

TDB: Do you think there’s more or less freedom when shooting a documentary?

SA: I don’t think there’s inherently more freedom in the filmmaking itself because at the end of the process you want to end up with an entertaining film that tells a story. So both dramatic films and documentaries have those inherent challenges in them. If you’re talking on a financial structure and you’re making a 20 or 30 million dollar Hollywood film, you have a lot of eyes looking at you. You have studio executives, all sorts of people. Even with independent films. If you’re spending a million or two million, that’s quite a lot of money. So you’re going to have to answer to quite a lot of people to keep the investors happy and keep everyone that you’re working with happy. Our film was low budget but we still had those problems. I think the key is if you’re spending someone else’s money. If you’re spending your own money, you can kind of take your time and see where the story takes you. But if you’re on a schedule and a budget and someone else is writing the checks, you have to be professional about it. I guess maybe in a sense, freedom is an odd word. With a documentary I think you might be a little bit more surprised about things you’ll find along the way. Whereas with a dramatic film you’re kind of looking at that script with the people who invested in it, and that’s what they expect in the end. You can’t come out with a different story.

TDB: Tell us about the DVD release of FUCK.

SA: Fuck is being released by THINKFilm on February 13th, which is just in time for Valentines Day, so you can fuck with someone you love as I like to say. I’m very excited about it. We had a good theatrical run and a great run at festivals. I think we were screened at over 40 plus festivals, and audiences really like this film. It’s definitely a fun movie, it’s entertaining, and you can walk away and think about what the ramifications of a word like fuck are in your lives. Of course we’ll have a commentary track, some extended interviews and a few other extra features on there that will give some added insight.

TDB: What are your upcoming projects?

SA: I’m working on a couple of projects right now. They’re both dramatic films, both that I’ve written scripts for. One is called ‘Bob the Impaler’, which is kind of a comic vampire tale. And then a sort of nasty film noir called ‘Pink Butterfly’. I hope to kind of, in my career if I’m lucky enough to have one, sort of bounce back and forth between dramatic films and documentaries.

Visit the Official ‘Fuck’ Website for more information on the film. Also, swing by Steve Anderson’s personal blog, The Mudflap Cafe. Fuck will be available on DVD through THINKFilm on Tuesday, February 13th.

Download ‘Young, Fast & Scientific – Episode 4, Shingles’

Also Available:

Young, Fast & Scientific – Episode 1, ‘The Pitch’
Young, Fast & Scientific – Episode 2, ‘New York’
Young, Fast & Scientific – Episode 3, ‘Florida’

Obsessed & Scientific on YouTube: Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Download ‘Young, Fast & Scientific: Episode 3, Florida’

Also available:

‘Young, Fast & Scientific – Episode 1, The Pitch’
‘Young, Fast & Scientific – Episode 2, New York’
Young, Fast & Scientific – Episode 4, ‘Shingles’

I’ve added two videos below as a companion piece to this podcast. The first is a deleted scene from my interview with Larry Haber. The second is the early ‘teaser trailer’ i did for Obsessed & Scientific. It features some footage that didn’t end up in the final film. Enjoy!

Larry Haber Deleted Scene

Teaser Trailer

Download ‘Young, Fast & Scientific – Episode 2: New York’

Also Available:

Young, Fast & Scientific – Episode 1, ‘The Pitch’
Young, Fast & Scientific – Episode 3, ‘Florida’
Young, Fast & Scientific – Episode 4, ‘Shingles’

Featured Link: The Time Machine Project Website

Below i’ve included a deleted scene from the interview I conducted with Rob Niosi. The footage was dropped from the film due to a large amount of visible scratches on the film. You’ll find out the reason behind this when you listen to the podcast.

Download the first episode of Young, Fast & Scientific here. (9.5 MB)

Also Available:

Young, Fast & Scientific – Episode 2, ‘New York’
Young, Fast & Scientific – Episode 3, ‘Florida’
Young, Fast & Scientific – Episode 4, ‘Shingles’

Dream Deceivers: The Story Behind James Vance vs. Judas Priest

As a kid growing up in the eighties, metal was everywhere. I specifically remember seeing heavy metal t-shirts in novelty stores (as I bought my bootleg Simpson’s t-shirts) and thinking that these bands were pure evil, which of course piqued my curiosity. Thanks to people like Tipper Gore, the 80’s was the decade that saw music on trial for its lyrical content and immoral messages. The case that stuck with me the most is also the topic of this film, James Vance vs. Judas Priest. Here’s the synopsis:

Just before Christmas, 1985, 19-year-old James Vance watched his best friend Ray Belknap shoot himself to death with a .12 gauge shotgun in a churchyard outside Reno, Nevada. Then Vance pulled the trigger on himself. He survived but was severely disfigured. Vance later claimed his actions had been influenced by the heavy metal music of Judas Priest, prompting his family to sue the band. The drama of the ensuing trial provides the framework for David Van Taylor’s disturbing look at teenagers today.

I remember when James was a guest on Maury Povich, and I was terrified. This was around the same time that Geraldo Rivera was doing prime-time reports on the growing plague of Satanists throughout the United States. Heavy metal was under attack, and James Vance’s family was on the front lines of a high profile case that could’ve set a precedent for music censorship. The prosecution claimed that the song “Better by You, Better Than Me” had contained subliminal messages. When played backwards, the words ‘do it’ could be heard multiple times throughout the song. In response, lead singer Rob Halford took the stand and asked the question “Well…do what? Mow the lawn? Have a cup of tea?” The film inter-cuts footage of the trial with interviews with the families, James Vance, and heavy metal fans. You can check out the film in it’s entirety on Google Video.

Director: David Van Taylor

Metallica: Some Kind of Monster

I’m not really a Metallica fan, but Some Kind of Monster was one of my favourite films the year of its release. Watching this group of graying metal icons undergo a stint with a psychiatrist in an attempt to resolve infighting within their band is both surprising and entertaining. The dynamics of their relationship couldn’t be any more perfect. You’ve got Lars, the outspoken drummer who butts heads with James, the lead singer who enters rehab thanks to his drinking problem. And then you’ve got guitarist Kirk Hammet who passively sits back and watches everyone fight thinking to himself ‘why can’t we all just get along?’. All of this makes up for some hilarious stuff that will make the metal heads question Metallica’s credibility as aging artists, and the non-metal heads respect them for allowing such an honest portrayal of their not-so-perfect and not-so-metal lifestyle. Check out our full review of Metallica: Some Kind of Monster here.

Directors: Joe Berlinger & Bruce Sinofsky

Heavy Metal Parking Lot

Although Heavy Metal Parking Lot is more of a home movie than a documentary, it’s definitely an important representation of the Heavy Metal culture, even if it is poking fun at it. Directors John Heyn and Jeff Krulik scower a parking lot outside of a 1986 Judas Priest concert, interviewing obsessive and hyper-active teenage fans about their love of metal. What follows is a display of amazing fashion sense (zebra man) and unbridled teenage angst as the kids flash the horns at the camera and get wasted in preparation for the best show of their lives…PRIEST!!! Coming in at around 30 minutes, Heavy Metal Parking Lot is just short enough to sustain this plot less exploitation (not necessarily a bad thing in this case) of obsessive kids who simply love metal. Also check out the sequels: Neil Diamond Parking Lot and Harry Potter Parking Lot. You can our full review of this film here.

Directors: John Heyn & Jeff Krulik

Metal: A Headbangers Journey

This is definitely geared more towards the Metal fan, but for the uninformed, it’s a great introduction to Heavy Metal music and its many sub-genres. Although i’m not much of a metal fan myself, it was interesting to watch the progression of a genre of music throughout the years. Directors Sam Dunn and Scot McFadyen use a giant family tree to track the roots of heavy metal music, ultimately leading to a personal point of view of the band that truly created metal: Black Sabbath. The film follows co-director Dunn, a 30-year old anthropologist, as he traces back the origins of his favourite music, breaking down its many stigma’s and trademarks, all the while meeting some of his childhood idols. The list of interviews is pretty impressive, representing the who’s who in modern and classic metal. Check out our full review of Metal: A Headbangers Journey here.

Directors: Sam Dunn & Scot McFadyen

Paradise Lost 2: Revelations

You may be asking yourself why I chose to list Paradise Lost 2 rather than part one. That’s easy, part 2 is not only better than part 1, but it’s one of my favourite documentaries of all time and features one of the creepiest men in film history, Mark Byers. Here’s the story: Three teens are convicted of ritualistically murdering three children, leaving their bodies brutally beaten and desecrated in what the prosecutors believe was a satanic slaying. The ‘leader’ of the three ‘killers’, Damien Echols, appeals his conviction as evidence starts popping up that the killer may in fact be Mark Byers, the step-father of one of the three victims. What follows is some of the most gripping drama I’ve ever seen on film with a ‘performance’ from Byers that will guarantee to send chills up your spine. Where does heavy metal fit in? Well the West Memphis Three (the nickname given to the three supposed killers) were big fans of Metallica, among other heavy metal acts. They dressed in black, were interested in the Wicca religion, and were somewhat anti-social. Some believe that these anti-social traits lead to the unfair arrest and subsequent conviction based more on prejudice rather than actual evidence. You’ll definitely see this film pop up on a few more lists of mine in the future.

Directors: Joe Berlinger & Bruce Sinofsky

Related Link: Five Films: Religion

The Maysles Brothers are considered by many to be pioneers of the Cinema Verite style, or as they prefer to say…’Direct Cinema’. Salesman is a prime example of their knack at remaining almost completely un-intrusive while still capturing beautiful images and honest moments. The film follows a small group of Boston bible salesman as they try to meet their quotas by any means necessary. When the main subject, Paul ‘The Badger’ Brennan starts to lose his touch, he struggles to remain on top of his sales while sharing stories on the road with his salesmen buddies. The film is a pretty striking look at how easily people can be manipulated and taken advantage of when using their commitment to religion as a source of guilt, ultimately leading to another sale.

Marjoe

This Academy Award winning film features the flamboyant Marjoe Gortner, a child protégé who was bred by his evangelical parents from birth to become a preacher. In the film, a grown up Marjoe has lost his faith and given in to the seductions of living life as a young adult in the 1960’s. Now Marjoe has decided to get back into preaching, re-establishing himself with the Pentecostal audiences with his ‘Farewell to Faith Tour’, charming them with his Mick Jagger inspired swagger. Directors Howard Smith and Sarah Kernochan inter-cut candid moments of confession as Marjoe discusses his true intentions as he fills us in on his manipulative tactics he bestows upon his devoted followers. The funny thing is, he’s so charming and his audience is so naïve that I don’t feel sorry for them one bit. Check out my review here for more on this film.

Devil’s Playground

This is a great film that deals with freedom of religion and the choices someone makes when confronted with temptations that may contradict their personal beliefs. More specifically, the film is about ‘Rumspringa’, an Amish tradition which when translated means ‘running around’. When the kids turn 16, they’re given an opportunity to shed their plows and spend time in the outside world driving cars, getting drunk, partying, and most importantly…using electricity! This is truly a test of faith. How a 16 year old kid can expose themselves to all of these modern conveniences and then willingly choose to go back to a 19th century lifestyle is both unimaginable and admirable. But as the film shows, the rush of new experiences can be somewhat overwhelming to someone who’s suppressed their temptations for 16 years in favour of honouring their religion and their community, and ultimately the over-indulgence can lead to disaster.

Hell House

Hell House is the perfect example of what many people find wrong with the church. The film centres on the Trinity Assembly of God Church in Texas and their unusual yearly tradition. Every October, members of this Pentecostal Church construct, write and perform Hell House, a Christian take on the traditional haunted house. In this case, ghouls and goblins are replaced by brutal scenes of rape, suicide, spousal abuse and drug addiction. In the ‘school shooting’ section of the tour, a bullied teen named Jeremey (apparently they’re Pearl Jam fans) pulls a gun on his class and proceeds to shoot himself. In another room a girl with a ridiculous amount of fake blood between her legs accepts Jesus as she dies due to her botched abortion. Right next to her the Devil hovers over a gay man dying of AIDS. He rejects Jesus and is dragged off only to re-appear at the end of the tour: the Hell room. The faith expressed by the films subjects is truly sincere and somewhat admirable, but heavily outweighed by the ridiculous. Watching these people perform what they think is an accurate representation of a drug deal gone wrong or the dangers of a rave ends up turning their hard hitting material into unintentional parody. It’s just a bunch of good-hearted folks ‘play acting’, living vicariously through their characters bad sides.

The Eyes of Tammy Faye

I’m sure you’re familiar with the story. Tammy Faye Bakker and her husband Jim make millions with the most successful television ministry in the world, the PTL. Eventually the Bakker’s life of luxury comes to an end after a much publicized scandal exposing Jim Bakker’s affair with Jessica Hahn. Jim is convicted of fraud, racketeering and tax evasion and sent to prison. But even through all of this, Tammy Faye remained positive and recovered. This film is as much about Tammy Faye’s own personal philosophies as it is her scandals. Her high pitched giddiness can be annoying at times, but you can’t help but like her and sympathize with SOME of her woes. But by the end of the film, it’s clear that Tammy Faye should be thankful that she’s best known and remember for her heavy eye make-up and not her lies.

The Documentary Blog: What is LARP’ing?

Luke Meyer: LARP is an acronym for Live-Action Role Playing. It refers to any game in which each player assumes a character where they role-play the actions, decisions, and experiences of that character. There are many different types of LARPs. Darkon is war-game LARP in which physical combat is a large part of the game. However, there are other types of LARPs where physically battling other players is not a part of game play.

TDB: Could you explain your personal interest in LARP’ing? Did you look into any other LARP groups, or did the film grow out of Darkon Specifically?

Luke: There were a couple of things going on in Darkon that drew me to it. The idea of inventing a character separate from your own identity and playing out the life of that character is fascinating. It raises questions of the ways we all role-play in our day-to-day lives. We act differently – sometimes almost as different people – when we are at work and when we are with our boyfriend or girlfriend or with our parents. It offers some interesting ideas of what self-identity is all about.

Also, Darkon is a extremely physical game. In being so, it functions as an outlet for many of the game’s players. The world of today is in many ways a protected world. There are many intermediary elements that separate the efforts we put out into the world and the affects our efforts make. It’s difficult to have a complete sense of what effects our actions have. There’s a powerful feeling of liberation in seeing your opponent across the field, and then going in for a direct confrontation. Day-to-day life doesn’t afford this directness.

From the beginning of the project, we knew about Darkon. But still we researched other LARP groups to make sure that Darkon was in fact the group that the documentary should be about. Darkon is one of the only LARP war-games that has incorporated a land map which incorporates ideas of property ownership and raises the stakes of the fighting because there is actually something that can be lost in battle. This was one of the main deciding factors in why we chose Darkon as the group we wanted to make a documentary about.

TDB: How long did you guys spend shooting Darkon and how much time did you have with your subjects before the shooting began?

Luke: We shot for grand total around a year and a half. When we started we just showed up with our cameras and shot the club fighting at their events. As we got to know people in the club, we began running interviews that went into more and more depth as time went on. But before shooting began we didn’t spend any time with the people in the game…aside from the fact that Skip, the film’s main character, had introduced Andrew [Andrew Neel, the films other co-director] to the game of Darkon a few years prior. Basically, it was through our shooting and time spent with the club that we got to know people in the game.

TDB: Did the subjects end up enjoying the film? Did they feel like you properly represented the game/their group?

Luke: The responses we’ve received from the people in the game has been largely positive. One player told us that playing Darkon has always been his “dirty secret,” and after watching the film, he now feels proud of his involvement. As documentary filmmakers, this was a great vote of confidence; that the subjects of the movie feel proud of the way we represented them. That said, some mages have told us they wish there was more spell-casting, some assassins wanted to see more dark dealings, but I think that response is to be expected. When you make a movie that is directed at a general audience, there will always be people who have detailed knowledge of the subject matter and who want more intricacies to be in the film. But in general, the response from the club has been really good.

TDB: Were you ever concerned about any laughter coming from the sometimes unintentional humour throughout the film? Do the members of Darkon take it seriously, or do they also find humour in their hobby?

Luke: Most people in Darkon have no problem laughing at themselves. They are totally aware of how ridiculous the game can be at times. At the same time, the game takes a great deal of effort – to make armor and costumes, to organize a country, to keep attendance up so you don’t go defunct. All this effort rests on some level of serious approach to the game. I guess the answer is that the game is a constant mix of seriousness and light-heartedness.

TDB: What does the future hold for Darkon? Are we going to see an eventual DVD release?

Luke: We are in distribution negotiations, and there will definitely be a DVD release, just not sure of a date yet.