The Sundance Institute at BAM, Opening Night - "American Teen" - May 29, 2008

Opening Night - American Teen
The Sundance Institute at BAM
Brooklyn, NY
May 29, 2008

The Sundance Institute at BAM is a fun idea. In its third year, its the perfect platform for a New Yorker wanting to see the independent movies (including shorts) from Sundance outside of snowy Utah in January.

The evening started with some words by the BAM and Sundance people congratulating one another with all their back-patting. If you ask me, the most hilarious of all was borough president Marty Markowitz-- who I haven't seen in person since before his presidency in 1999 when I was a community organizer for ACORN. As I recall, he wasn't quite as gray-haired or the huckster back then.

Maybe it was the genuine pride he had for good ole Brooklyn, the most populated borough, which has all these filmmakers per capita. His whole monologue must have conjured nostalgia in me after I've recently subtracted myself from that statistic and gone on to gentrify a whole new step child of a neighborhood. Or it could have been his Park Slope-ing jokes directed at Peter Sarsgaard and Maggie Gyllenhaal who were present (isn't it cute how both their names have double "aa" in them? I never noticed until I had to make sure I was spelling them correctly.). Either way, he cracked me up.

Then the above-mentioned star couple introduced Nanette Burstein, director of the opening night film, American Teen. This is the first feature she's helmed independently of her previous colleague, although she has executive produced and/or directed a number of commercials, IFC's "Film School", a never-released pilot for AMC, and most recently "NY77: The Coolest Year in Hell" for VH1. She's a busy lady who gets it done and I don't think enough industry-write-ups make note of these.

In the interest of full disclosure- I worked on this movie. I worked for her in 2005 right before she had secured some funding for this project and was moving forward in trying to find the perfect, middlest-of-Americanest of towns... Which is way harder than you would think, by the way.

Shot over the course of the senior years of the quintessential art geek, basketball jock, shy guy and mean girl, the film was well-crafted and awesomely animated. I very much appreciate films that go on to look or feel a little different. I love animation and figure there's no sense in being so literal with the imagery all the time-- and in a movie about teenagers it's perfect for illustrating their imaginations.

One thing I do know about Nanette is that she's really nice and finds the best in people. That may have been a bit of a disservice in American Teen since I felt that despite the inherent abilities of teens to make drama out of nothing, I think that overall the film was fairly innocuous and a bit disjointed at times. I found myself craving for the characters to interact a bit more with one another. Or, for instance, I wanted to see the art geek, Hannah, bum around with her male best friend (or maybe I just wanted that was because those two were the ones I related to the most). There was some inner-circle conflict captured in small doses with Megan, the mean girl, and her BFF but despite having story arcs present, there weren't enough extremities or strong character changes. Having grown up in America's mid-section myself, I'm thinking that is probably more indicative of the middle-American teen. In the end, however, I did care a lot about the kids and how they turned out.

The "prom party" afterwards was pretty endearing. They funneled us through a hilarious trellis covered in carnations and up the escalator to the prom-themed party room. It seemed that either BAM was living up to fire code by only allowing a limited number of folks in or was keeping it from being so over-crowded that you were miserable (either would be quite astute of BAM). A good number of cool people were in attendance but just like in high school, I was too shy to mingle on my own.

American Teen is out July 25th thanks to Paramount Vantage.

Sundance at BAM - Maysles Films Program

I went to the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) on Sunday for the Maysles Films Program, a special showcase curated just for Sundance Institute at BAM. Documentary filmmaker Albert Maysles presented clips from his and his late brother David’s archive spanning from the 1950s to a sneak peak of Albert’s latest project In Transit.

Excerpts screened included: Russia, Moscow (1955-57), Yanki No! (1961), Untitled (1959), Showman [Outtakes] (1963), Carl Sandburg (1963), Anastasia (1962), What’s Happening! The Beatles in the U.S.A. (1964), With Love From Truman (1966)/Meet Marlon Brando [Outtakes] (1965), Off to War [Vietnam] (1965), Salvador Dali’s Fantastic Dream (1966), MGM Showreel (1966), Mother (1966), Gimme Shelter [Outtakes] (1969), McGovern (1972), Muhammad Ali in Zaire (1974), Grey Gardens [Outtakes] (1976), Maysles For Hire (1980’s and 90’s) and In Transit (work-in-progress).

Watching these excerpts play one after the other was like being a fly on the wall in a time machine of popular culture and politics in the 20th Century, but it’s not the history that you learn in school or see on the news. It’s unparalleled access to the little behind-the-scenes, candid moments from the lives of everyday people to celebrities. And how’s this for DVD commentary, without actually needing a DVD player: During the segment from Yanki No!, Albert spoke out, “I’ve taken most of the narration out because it was so full of propaganda.” If you were not lucky enough to view the program live and in person with Albert yesterday, it would be great if an actual DVD of the program was released, or perhaps an airing on PBS.

Before and after the presentation, Albert said a few words. Below are my notes from his talk.

Albert Maysles. Photo courtesy of BAM.

Maysles Films Program
Sundance Institute at BAM
June 10, 2007

Before the Program:

Albert began before the program saying that this is the most exciting time of our lives for documentaries. Suddenly, documentaries are emerging as more popular. It’s inevitable that it would happen. There’s a place for both fiction and non-fiction. There is a potential for cameras to pick up real life with out commercial people from Hollywood. It’s surprising that TV networks’ policies simply don’t take the work of independent filmmakers. Albert’s films are different because of the access. Most of his and his brother’s feature films are available through the Criterion Collection.

Albert pointed out that in 1955, he departed a career in psychology and got a visa to go to Russia to film the people there. It was important to know who these other people were that we might have engaged in warfare with. You get to see bits and pieces of impressions of the people.

Other clips Albert was about to show include a film about Anastasia from the Bolshoi Ballet. Excerpts from films of Truman Capote and Salvador Dali. A taste of his autobiography with a glimpse of his mother being sworn in as the president of Jewish women’s organization. A glimpse of George McGovern, the candidate for President of the U.S. in 1972. Albert said he might be the perfect guy to go with the perfect candidate to reveal his real character. Albert said, “Damn it! Why isn’t mass media working this way?” And finally, a glimpse of “In Transit,” where Albert traveled on several different trains in several different countries recording stories of the people traveling on them.


After the Program:

Albert told the audience that now they’ve had a glimpse into the past and the future. The image that touched him most was of his mother.

He then spoke of a friend who made a film about the war experience and showed it to The History Channel, but they didn’t accept it because it was too personal. Albert said we have to break through this nonsense. It’s about time we witness life like it is. There’s a whole world around us and lots to film.

Albert mentioned that when he shows his films to the subjects in them, they’ve had surprising reactions. He once he mad a film of a poor family in the South. It was a very loving and true story. He showed it to the grandmother of the family in the film who said, “well, that’s the truth,” but then asked, “can you make it longer?” And when Capote watched his own film, he came out crying.

In documentary filmmaking, Albert said there’s a wonderful word called “random.” That’s what goes on. He and his brother were a two-camera crew. You have to be interested to do a heart-to-heart story and ask yourself, can you really tell the truth? “I believe it,” he said. You might not be able to capture it all, but when you see something on the screen, it becomes your experience. That’s why he wanted to make his new film “In Transit.” One of the stories of a woman who travels to Philadelphia to see her mother in nearly 20 years.

“As you might have guessed, I’m excited about what I do,” Albert said. Albert’s family now lives in Harlem, where the Maysles Institute teaches kids 8 to twelve years old how to use cameras. Some of the children’s parents are in jail and send their films to their parents. This has taught them self respect.

There was only time for one question from the audience. The question asked: What made you make the transition from psychology to documentary filmmaking? Albert’s answer: Psychology is a kind of science that you everything until you find a truth. Before he started filming in Russia, he was given two pieces of advice that he didn’t follow: 1) Use a tripod and 2) follow a point of view. “Thank goodness I didn’t follow them,” he said.

Sundance Institute at BAM - "Snow Angels"

Sundance Institute at BAM - "Snow Angels"

Saturday, June 2, 2007

At the Sundance Institute at BAM, David Gordon Green, director of George Washington, All the Real Girls and Undertow, screened his latest feature, Snow Angels, that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. Green adapted Snow Angels from the novel by Stewart O'Nan. Together with cast members Sam Rockwell (Confessions of a Dangerous Mind) and Olivia Thirlby (United 93), Green addressed the audience during a Q&A after the screening.

My knowledge of Snow Angels stems from my days attending SUNY Brockport about 10 years ago, where I took a class called The Writers Craft. If my memory serves me correct, it was actually O' Nan's The Speed Queen that I had to read for the class, and O'Nan came to do a reading at The Writers Forum . However, I read Snow Angels anyway on my own.

After watching the movie Snow Angels at BAM, I recall at least one major difference, that being that there seemed to be a lot more interaction between the characters of Annie (played by Kate Beckinsale) and Arthur (played by Michael Angarano). The plot unwinds differently in the film than it does in the book, but they both seem to have the same traggic effect.

Also in attendance at the screening were filmmakers Craig Zobell (Great World of Sound), Michael Tully (Silver Jew), Todd Rohal (The Guatemalan Handshake), and Aaron Katz (Quiet City). It was Tully's blog, Boredom at Its Boredest, where I was reminded about yesterday's screening of Snow Angels. Thanks for the reminder, Tully!

Here are my notes from the Q&A with Green (DGG), Rockwell (SR), and Thirlby (OT):


Q: What grabbed you about the story [Stewart O' Nan's novel]?

DGG: I read it in a couple of sittings. Takes place in the 1970s. Don't know how autobiographical it was to O' Nan. It felt immediate to me. It haunted me. The book goes into greater depth. I made it more comtemporary, tried to cast it appropriately and bring a humantity to the roles.

Q: How was it to adapt a novel?

DGG: It was the first thing I got paid for. This book is so full of good stuff. I took out some of the characters like Arthur's sister. In the book, Arthur is grown up and looking back.

Q: What made you cast Griffin Dunne [in the role of Arthur's father Don]?

DGG: When I was writing the adaptation, I had him in mind. Everyone in the cast is funny. It was important to allow them to breath and laugh. Griffin has had a wonderful career balancing roles.

Q: What was your favorite thing working on this film?

SR: The collaboration. One of the best experiences of collaboration I ever had working with great actors. My acting coach is in the audience. David set a tone like movies in the 1970s, ie. Hal Ashby. It was just fun. David just let me do stuff most directors wouldn't let me do.

OT: I second that. The entire crew were incredibly awesome people. That vibe translates onto the screen.

Q: What was the hardest scene to do? ***SPOILER ALERT*** DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS

SR: The suicide scene for example. Got a lot of help from people. That scene was very technical. They put sardine oil on my neck to get the dog to lick my neck, but he wouldn't lick me. We had to deal with that. David let the last take go a long time before yelling "cut."

Q: Showing the scenes of violence between Kate Beckinsale's character of Annie and her daughter were courageous.

DGG: I wouldn't call it violence, just parenting. We didn't make it glamorous. Kate brought her own ideas into the reality of the situation, creating a more human portrait.

Q: Who did you model your character after?

DGG: People I probably shouldn't mention. A lot of the prototype anti-heroes of the 1970s. Have a friend who's a priest who helped him with "born-again" research.

Sundance Institute at BAM - "Great World of Sound"

Sundance Institute at BAM - "Great World of Sound"

Saturday, June 2, 2007

The Great World of Sound director Craig Zobel and BAMcinematek curator Florence Almozini

Great World of Sound, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, screened at a special series called Sundance Institute at Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) on Saturday. I attended with Liz Nord, director of the documentary Jericho's Echo: Punk Rock in the Holy Land.

Great World of Sound is directed by Craig Zobel, written by Zobel and George Smith. According to its synopsis, the film is about "when a man answers an ad to train as a record producer, he’s excited by the prospect of signing undiscovered artists only to discover his new job isn’t all it’s cracked up to be."

Zobel spoke during a audience Q&A after the screening. I took the following notes:

Q: How did you find the singers in the film? [In the film, the two producers/unaware "song sharking" salesman played by Pat Healy (Martin) and Kene Holliday (Clarence) conduct auditions in the hotel rooms their company sends them to]

A: Had a script. Identified the set pieces for the auditions. Turned some production offices into hotel rooms. Posted ads in the towns and had real people come in to audition. Some were real actors, but not everyone knew what was going on. Explained it to them after.

Q: What kind of reaction did you get from the people who auditioned?

A: Some said they got "punked." We told them they didn't have to be in the film if they didn't want to. Most people were fine with it and some people were uncomfortable with it.

Q: Will you pay the people if you make money from the movie?

A: I haven't made any money yet.

Q: Where did the choice for the ambiant electronic music come from?

A: Composer David Wingo. The electronic music grew of the scenes from the beginning training sessions, like a corporate training video.

Q: What format was the film shot on?

A: Half of the film was shot in Super 16 and the other half in miniDV.

Q: How did you find the actor who played Clarence?

A: I met him and he convinced me to go to a water park with him.