Page 10 - the NOISE November 2014

Flagstaff Mountain Film Festival (FMFF) continues to evolve as an or- ganization, finding new venues and new
partners in crime. At the core of the festival, surrounded by a rock-solid base of great films, culled from around the world, are two local physicians. They know how to tweak their strengths and minimize their ‘perceived’ weakness (non-profit status, vol- unteer staff, lack of money, etc.) BUT, ironi- cally, that is their strength.
They bring together the Flagstaff film community each October, and share their vision of making the world a better place, one documentary at a time. Orson Welles said: “The enemy of art is the ‘absence’ of limitations.” Having limitations gives FMFF a Zen-flavor of ‘random coherency’ that miraculously achieves its end, as if the cin- ema-gods are shining down ...
How does it all come together? Maybe, as a character in Shakespeare in Love says: “it’s a miracle.” Locals pitch in financially, students intern, 90 volunteers contributed their time, screeners watched hundreds of films and our community benefits. Ron Tuckman and John Tveten may not be businessmen, but they’re filmmakers and cinephiles, doing right by their craft, and
they relish rewarding other filmmakers. They’re to be commended for doing more with less, for ‘playing with the festival’ like artists: mixing panels, music, parties and films on the palette of their canvas. AND for rewarding filmmakers!
Here are the AWARD WINNING films for FMFF 2014:
Best Student Short: Gnarly in Pink
Best Environmental Film: Sweet, Sexy Ocean Best Short: The Barrel
Best Cultural/Human Interest: First Sea Best Adventure Film: High Tension
Best Feature: The Overnighters
And finally, the Jury Prize went to: The Immigration Paradox.
Thanks Ron and John. As you evolve, the film festival evolves and the community benefits ... BRAVO!
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The 15th River Runner Film Festival & Silent Auction has its annual fundraiser for Grand Canyon Youth at Coconino Center for the Arts on November 1. Films, food, a huge raffle, music and a silent auc-
tion conspire to help local youths afford to run the river. Watch some great adventure films and help the kids, help themselves! It runs from 5-10PM; $15 for an individual (you’re well fed!) and $40 for a family!
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The Classic Film Series at NAU continues with four beautifully written films in their season of “Screenwriters: Oscar Winning and Nominated Screenplays – Adapted.” November: All the President’s Men, My Left Foot, Europa, Europa and On Golden Pond. Films play at 7PM, Tuesday nights at Cline Library for free. They are introduced by knowledgeable film buffs and the Q&As af- ter the films are always informative.
As a screenwriter, All the President’s Men is a script that stands as a tribute to a type of journalism that no longer exists, that maybe never existed? Were Woodward and Bernstein ‘fed’ the story to take down Nixon by the shadowy figure in the park? William Goldman’s screenplay is an intense thriller that moves us deeper and deeper into a story that changed history. Could that ‘smack-down’ be done today? Does corporate media control information or let us freely share it?
The day of the ‘digging’ muckraker jour- nalist may be over, as Corporate media has been given First Amendment rights by the Supreme Court in the Citizens United ruling. This means, by law, the small media entity like NBC must do whatever is necessary to help their parent company’s stock-holders. By law, General Electric must lie us into war, with their propaganda wing (NBC/CNBC) if it helps GE’s $50 billion military-industrial component. Where’s the journalist ‘expos- ing’ that story? Oh, they can’t, their employ- ers would edit it out and fire them, so they learn to ‘shut up’ and sing.
All the President’s Men is a piece of nostal- gia, a memory of a noble, lost time, when journalism ‘perhaps’ meant something. Woodward and Bernstein, may have been
‘fed’ a story, by “Deep Throat” (an ‘inside’ Skin-flick joke) because ‘the powers that be’ wanted Nixon out. (See Oliver Stone’s film: Nixon and study his 100 pages of foot- notes.) Either way, Goldman’s script is re- markable, full of political tension, and one to study if you want to write a character- driven political thriller. It deserved to win! Check out: nau.edu/filmseries for analysis of the films.
november
classics (&) indies
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The International Film Series at NAU marches into November with two films from their Fall series: Heroes, Villains & Or- dinary Folks. Wednesday evenings at 7PM in Liberal Arts Building, room 120. Films are free and informative introductions and Q&As always follow. These great interna- tional films show us different cultures, dif- ferent worlds and expand our horizons.
November 5, Nollywood Babylon (Cana- da, Nigeria, 2008) is a documentary about the 3rd largest film industry in the world, hidden in Africa. It features Nigeria’s big- gest directors and the soundtrack of 70’s underground African music is priceless.
November 11, don’t miss Film Socialisme by the French director Jean-Luc Goddard. This 2010 film is a three-part memory piece where Goddard, in his inimitable style, ex- amines human history: war, dictatorships, Hollywood, terrorism, religion and old world decadence. As always with Goddard’s films, nothing is ‘traditional.’ Everything’s an exper- iment. He explores haunting contemporary themes through conversations, narrated for English, with subtitles the director calls
“Navaho” English, a noun-heavy shorthand that has nothing to do with Dine’ culture or linguistics. Goddard gets us to think about language and its use and misuse in culture; a thematic search for what film, history and language means in a modern world. Glance at nau.edu/intfilms for insight into these powerful, provocative screenings.
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Sedona International Film Fest contin- ues showing films, plays, ballets, live events and eclectic fare at the Mary D. Fisher The- atre throughout November. Find listings in the A-List Calendar on page 32 or updated details at SedonaFilmFestival.com
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The Prescott Film Festival presents, along with Yavapai Community College at the Clarkdale and Prescott Campuses, a “World War I Symposium” November 6-7. There will be lectures by faculty and feature films like: All Quiet on the Western Front and Johnny Got His Gun. For a com- plete schedule of lectures, films, locations and times check out yc.edu/wwi . It should make for a very educational experience for all and it’s FREE!
Telluride Film FesTival: nestled 100 miles into the Southwest
corner of Colorado, just beyond the four corners, is a town that has to be seen to be believed. It hides at the “dead end” of a small road with only mountains and treacherous passes behind it. Because of this geography Telluride lends itself to limited growth and becomes an exclusive enclave for the rich and famous. Of course, there’s camping and fun for the rest of us too! But what is so nice is the way the film festival attracts so many people from around the world to come and watch pre- miere films, without any of the pressures of other film festivals. With no competitions, no awards, no prizes and few, if any, distri- bution companies attending, it has the re- laxed atmosphere of a cinephile’s heaven. This was Roger Ebert’s favorite festival.
The most unique aspect to this festival and one that involves tremendous trust with an audience it has cultivated over the years is: they don’t announce the films until THE DAY THE FESTIVAL OPENS. You get there, get a program and sit down and create your cin- ematic path.
That moment on Day One, program in hand, becomes the excitement you’ve waited all year for. Having participated in at least 13 festivals since 1998, it’s always with great regret when I can’t make one. It feels like an empty year. Been to Sundance several times and other fine festivals all over the country, but there’s only one Tel- luride and the best part is, you can do it on a budget!
For about $100 a day (if you have a place to camp, hotel, condo, house-rent, car- camp, etc) you can go to free panels in the park during the day, free films in the public library, see a free film in the park at night, get a late night pass for cheap and really fill up your day with all things cinema. I still pay for one or two tickets a day in the over- flow line for the ‘must see’ films. It’s $25 for a ticket, but I’m sitting next to people who paid $400 - $7,000 for local/patron passes.
Day One: Plan was to go to the festival tribute to Apocalypse Now with the legend- ary Francis Ford Coppola in attendance, cinematographer Vitorio Storaro (Reds, The Last Emperor), and editor Walter Murch, who all discussed Coppola’s newly restored print with Scott Foundas. It started at 2 o’clock, so while I missed this free event, it
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