Film fest full of fascinating flics

For the last two years or so I’ve covered the openings and behind the

scenes stuff related to the Newport Beach Film Festival. I never went

to one screening until this year.

For Christmas I got a digital video camera, and I have tried

making some mini-movies, so my interest was piqued. New digital

technology makes it easy and affordable to make a decent film on a

laptop. Just upload your film into a laptop computer and you can make

your own masterpiece, or so you think. I have managed to dazzle my

friends and family with a few “shorts” of my own created on my little

Apple computer. Everyone was amazed, but I know better. I have to

admit the videos I have made came out pretty good, but making a real

movie is something else. So I went and checked out a few movies at

the festival.

Press pass in hand, I grabbed the program and circled the films

that generally interested me, mostly documentaries This included any

travel, photojournalism, extreme sports, music themes and interesting

stories.

Documentary filmmaking is something I am interested in, and

actually believe I am capable of producing someday -- if I could ever

decide what subject (and there are millions).

I started with two documentaries in a row. “Pipe Dreams,” which

follows two Olympic athletes as they head toward the 2002 winter

games, and “The Wonder of Phil” by local filmmaker, Michael Stute. I

photographed Stute for an article in the Pilot a week before the

festival and I had heard about Phil Shane through the Orange County

music scene.

I was looking forward to it. Both were at the Orange County Museum

of Art. As I walked, in the “theater” was like a large classroom with

the screen taking up one side of the wall. Intimate and friendly.

People chatted away in small groups excited about the film. I felt

like I should have known someone but I didn’t. I chose a seat and it

turned out the guys in front of me made the film.

“Pipe Dreams,” I would learn later, was one of the better movies I

saw all week. Beautiful mountain scenes with top-notch snowboarding

and skiing. But it wasn’t just a bunch of action, it had well-woven

story, using photography, music, interviews, natural sounds and drama

to tell the story of the snowboarder and ski jumper. It was shot at

all hours in all conditions. No clowning around and very pro. The

cast of these two never flinched as the camera followed them toward

the 2002 games in Salt Lake City. An impressive and complete story.

It reminded me of “Hoop Dreams,” a basketball documentary, that came

out a few years ago.

I wanted to hear what the filmmakers had to say, but we were

whisked out by festival volunteers to make way for the building

audience waiting outside to see “Phil.”

I walked out the exit door and right back in the entrance door,

took a seat, and watched a completely different crowd come to watch

“Phil.” Where “Pipe Dreams” was a bit more serious and smooth, Phil

was a bit more vocal and raw. “Dreams” was pretty, “Phil” a bit

gritty.

Probably a good share of them were adoring fans of Phil Shane, the

OC lounge singer who the film was about. He had a good cult following

of OC nightlifers, schooled in vintage rock ‘n’ roll (especially

Elvis), who came to support him and the film. It was like a party.

People of all ages including the well dressed, punks, rockabilly

types, barflies and the fashionably cool filled the seats. Many were

in “industry” shades, even in the dark.

It was different and humorous. Again I knew no one (laugh). “Phil”

was a vastly different type of film. It was obvious in the

cinematography and sound. I know its dark and the sound is not so

good in those small bars, but creative camera, lighting, sound would

have helped the overall look and presentation to make it really good.

But who cares, everyone was loving it and Phil’s story was shared

with everyone. Stute and Phil greeted fans after the show, shaking

hands and talking about the film. Phil even signed autographs. A

rousing success.

After work Monday I got back to the art museum for “Drive,”

another documentary about Mike Vallely. Similar to “Pipe Dreams,” it

was beautifully shot with great music and sound. Instead of a team of

producer it was only Vallely and filmmaker Mark Jeremias on a

extended road trip through America, Russia and Europe.

Vallely hit urban skate parks along the way, sharing his wisdom

and self-expression with the audience through narration of his

thoughts and feelings. You watch his amazing creative ability on the

streets, riding his board, while sharing the lessons learned in his

life as he gives back to skateboarding community what it has taught

him.

In the film I thought he might be jaded and bitter, angry at times

in his deliberate spoken delivery. The after-screen question and

answer session cleared all that up. Vallely came off humble with a

grin on his face as he took the stage. He explained that he sounded

like he was “talking down” to people, but he just wanted his message

to be clear in the film for kids listening and watching. And there

were lots in the audience, some with parents. He talked about the

state of skateboarding and how people should “challenge the

environment” and make a positive difference in the world through

individual effort. Two thumbs up, and I left with a poster. A film

worthy of a DVD purchase later.

Tuesday I learned there was a misprint in the program and I missed

the “Last Zapatistas.” It was the first documentary I first circled

on my list. So I regrouped and went to Edwards Island for the short

films program, titled “And your Little Shorts Too.”

The bigger theater is where the action is. The real critics come

out. People attend these film festivals for lots of different

reasons, but one universal reason is to give the film some kind of

reaction and feedback. Ballots are also passed out to fill out after

the show to give more feedback, especially for the filmmaker and

marketing people.

So much time, effort, passion, dedication and money go into these

projects, how could anyone judge them poorly?

You can, and they do, and it’s essential for it to succeed in some

way. It’s harsh.

After the ending of one short film, “Hannah Can’t Swim,” I was

confused at the ending and a bit disappointed after it hooked me,

only to have it yanked out asking myself why? I couldn’t figure it

out. A few faceless voices from the back of the theater wasted no

time trying to figure it out. One voice calmly said one simple “boo,”

another blurted out “why,” followed by a chuckle and sarcastic “umm

... OK” Ouch! It’s even more painful because the movie had potential

and nice cinematography.

When the title came across the start of another film, the crowd

was vocal and clapped in anticipation (friends in the crowd?). It

wasn’t as vocal at the end and the claps were normal, it wasn’t epic

like the flier said it was. “Ice Cream Sundae” showed some passion

and good acting followed by appreciative applause. “Virus” looked

amateurish but had interest. Why are suicide situations so popular

these days? “Beautiful Memory Picture” had a cool creepy moody edge

to it, a.k.a. Bates in Psycho. I didn’t stay for the end of

“Destiny’s Child.”

Wednesday I visited the Irish Spotlight featuring the film “How

Harry Became a Tree.” It was this or more shorts. After the line of

shorts from Tuesday I went for “Tree.”

Being Irish I guess I had to go. This was a real film with

expressive acting by Colm Meany and directing by Goran Paskaljevic.

The Foreign Spotlight films seemed to be where the “film buzz” took

place. Many festival board directors and advisors were there and

spoke to the audience before the film. People clapped and cheered as

thank-yous went out. A few council people were at this screening.

This was the most sophisticated audience yet. After the screening

Meany spoke to the audience and answered questions about his acting

and the film. Like in “Drive,” the main character, be it real or

acting, seemed different in person. Approachable, not bigger than

life as many people take actors to be. It was a special screening

event for the festival since the screening had problems in Venice,

Belgrade and Toronto following the Sept. 11 tragedy, when the film

first started Meany explained. I left with a gift pack of Irish items

including tea and an Irish travel brochure.

Muldoon’s Pub invited everyone with a ticket stub from the movie

to a post party to continue the celebration in true Irish tradition

to savor the theme.

Finally, being a surfer, I had to see what “The Kill Six” was all

about on Thursday. I convinced fellow photographer and surfer Kent

Treptow to also check it out. The line was long but a nice staff

member from the festival (I forgot your name, sorry) let us slip in

early with the press pass. It was a family atmosphere audience as

grommets, parents, young adults and surfers of all ages punched two

huge beach balls around the Lido Isle Theater. Surf wax, T-shirts and

other surf gear was thrown about for free as the kids went nuts. A

surf film is something I would love to try to make someday so I had

to take a look.

This film was basically a reason for a loud abrasive soundtrack or

vice versa. Excellent surf action sequences over and over from the

world’s top pros set to a poppy punk and alternative rock soundtrack.

I plugged only one ear after a while. All the songs sounded the same

and didn’t compliment the footage, except when the surfers were

slashing the tops off or pulling big airs edited tightly together.

But this film had gaping dangerous tube rides by the world’s top pros

making it look easy. How about some island sounds of the native

country or reggae/deejay grooves when the real beauty comes in at

spots in Tahiti, Hawaii and Australia interspersed with the garage

punk in California and Costa Rica?

These waves are beautiful belching monsters of the deep. It would

have made the film just a bit more of a cultural experience for many

of these folks who would never sit through a surf film except for

lunch at Ginals or shopping for surf gear at local surf shop.

Oh well, it was action packed for an average surfer with magical,

and often-dangerous magnificent breaks, most of these spots are well

known and too difficult for average surfers anyway. I almost walked

on the song that sang about someone’s DUI.

I had seen a few films by now and was expecting a different sort

of surf film since Newport is a surf center and has year-round

quality waves and lots of surf industry nearby in Costa Mesa. I was

wrong, I sat through a few question and answer sessions that made the

film more worthwhile.