Page 12 - the NOISE March 2013

12 • MARCH 2013 • the NOISE arts & news • thenoise.us
Jessalyn Carpino in Retrograde; David Strathrain in No God No Master; both featured at the
The Sedona International Film Festival is in full swing, so head over to the finest film festival in the Southwest, as the parties, discus-
sions with filmmakers at The Mary D. Fisher Theatre, the winning films from Northern Ari- zona University and The Sedona Film School play in front of enthusiastic cinephiles and the great films from around the world conclude Sunday, March 3rd — so don’t miss the oppor- tunity to be transported away. Check: Sedona- FilmFestival.com for their March schedule!
This writer interviewed a novice and a vet- eran director, each participating in this year’s festival. The novice, Alex Thomas from NAU, recently won with his film, Retrograde from SIFF’s annual 73-hour Film Contest. Given a line of dialogue (“Well, that’s lucky”) and a theme (“decisions”), filmmakers competed in a caffein- ated weekend of script writing, shooting, and post-production editing to complete a short film of value one hour in length.
How did you approach this challenge?
Long before the competition I started searching for inspiration. I came across an idea called “Tick Tock” which showed a man mov- ing in reverse through time. Once we received the theme, we decided making something in reverse.
How do you split up the 73 hours?
As soon as the idea was fully conceptualized, we split into teams on our first day. A few of us started location scouting while others started writing and finding costumes. The second day was filled with shooting and some editing, and the third was more filming, editing and scoring the film.
How big a crew?
We had a four person crew. Derek Ellis was our cinematographer, Michelle Araque did audio, Zach Russey was our producer, and I di- rected and scored the film. But all of us shared equally in writing and editing. It was a very humbling and exciting experience for all of us.
I also discussed No God, No Master with writ- er-director Terry Green, a film about a time in American history not too dissimilar from today. In the summer of 1919, agent William Flynn is assigned to find out who is planting bombs on the doorsteps of prominent businessmen and politicians. There’s an anarchist plot to destroy democracy and the parallels between our con- temporary war on terrorism and the govern- ment’s role in subverting law to justify ends seems relevant.
How would you describe the film?
The conflict comes in the form of Mitchell
Palmer (Ray Wise) and Detective William Flynn (David Strathairn), who’s based on a real char- acter, using different techniques to convict anarchists like Sacco and Vanzetti. These anar- chists were following a man named Galleani, who was deported in 1919 along with Emma Goldman and over 10,000 other American citi- zens because of their radical beliefs.
John D. Rockefeller, the manipulator, and a young J. Edgar Hoover, the opportunist, appear in the film as historical figures dealing with this very real problem. In 1919, the J.P. Morgan Bank was blown up and 33 people were killed, the worst homegrown attack on American soil up until the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City in 1997. So, the counter argument is, “there’s a price to pay for our freedom and most Ameri- cans care little how we get there.”That’s the ter- ritory we’re exploring in this film.
What made you decide to do a period piece?
I may never do it again, it’s hard when you move a camera too far in one direction and you’re suddenly not in 1919 anymore. We shot in Milwaukee. We had 600 costumes and 42 locations to shoot in 20 days. But with a $7 mil- lion budget, we got 80-85% of the money up on the screen. We paid everyone a living wage who worked on the film.
The key is union work and high production value and that’s the difference between hand- held micro budget hobby films, which are non- union and don’t pay anybody, and a high value production. Call me old fashioned, but you get what you pay for.
The College of Arts and Letters Film Series
theme for this semester is “More Families: Not Family Friendly” with Tuesday night showings for free at Cline Library at 7PM. Park behind the library for free! Paul Helford and Paul Donnelly lead informative discussions after each film and local cinephiles introduce each film.
March 5 — Tommy (directed by Sir Ken Rus- sell), 1975, PG, 111 minutes. Starring Oliver Reed, Ann-Margret and Roger Daltry. This is the classic rock opera about a “blind kid who sure plays a mean pinball.” One of the truly orig- inal musical films of all time about a dysfunc- tional family that doesn’t understand Tommy.
March 12 — Blue Velvet (directed by David Lynch), 1986, R, 120 minutes. Starring Isabella Rossellini, Kyle MacLachlan and Dennis Hopper. A severed ear leads a young man to a world of sexual violence, kidnapping and drugs that shapes the boy in a coming-of-age story for our time. This Oscar-nominated tale, by writer- director David Lynch, officially put him on the map. Few movies creep under your skin in such a relentless fashion.
Sedona International Film Festival.
March 26 — Fargo (directed by Joel & Ethan Coen), 1996, R, 98 minutes. Starring Frances McDormand, William H. Macy and Steve Busce- mi. Winner of Best Screenplay, the Coen Broth- ers etched their brand of humor and violence in a little tale about kidnapping. McDormand won the Oscar for Best Actress as the pregnant Police Chief who has a knack for uncovering Macy’s hogwash. Don’t miss the wood-chipper scene, a classic!
The Northern Arizona University Interna- tional Film Series theme continues for this se- mester with: “Asia: Identity and Agency.” Award- winning films are introduced by knowledge- able film scholars. Films show in room 120 of the Liberal Arts Building at 7PM on Wednesday nights for free!
March 6 — It’s a Girl (directed by Evan Grae Davis), 2012, USA, 63 minutes. “Gendercide” is practiced in India, China and other parts of the world. Girls are killed, aborted or abandoned at alarming rates simply because they’re girls. Rooted in the history of centuries-old policies and sustained by ingrained cultural tradition the United Nations estimates that as many as 200 million girls are missing in the world today because of this policy of “gendercide.” This film tells the true stories of abandoned and traf- ficked girls, of brave women fighting to save their daughters and of other mothers who will kill for a son. A haunting true tale of a historical nightmare that has no easy answer!
March 27 — Times & Winds (directed by Reha Erdem), 2006, Turkey, 111 minutes. Three pre- adolescent friends in a remote Turkish moun- tain town deal with forbidden desires, budding sexuality and oedipal rage. The film contrasts a parochial societies unending chain of cruelty with the natural world’s eternal beauty.
The Prescott Film Festival continues its film series at the Yavapai College Performing Arts Center in March. They are screening the classic silent film Metropolis on March 2nd with live pia- no accompaniment from Jonathan Best. It will show at 5PM and tickets are $10 for the public and $5 for students (any student ID) or em- ployees of Yavapai College. After the Academy Awards on 2/25/13, they will select films from the winner’s list, so check out: Prescottfilmfes- tival.com for more specific details in March!
| Bob Reynolds takes great care not to mix up his Milk Duds and his Lemonheads. bob699669@hotmail.com