April 2007 Archives
Also viewed by this guy yesterday was the film "Growing Awareness" by Jade Ajani. This is the film you need to show to all of your friends and relatives whose eating habits might be questionable. It is a thorough examination of the evolution of Organic Farming in our region (although the concepts are universal).
By speaking to a wide variety of sources involved in Organic Farming, a story emerges of how small farmers, abandoned by banks who would no longer loan them money for operating costs (money which was always repaid), turn to a business model called Community Supported Agriculture.
From the festival program: "[In the CSA model] consumers buy shares of a local farm's harvest, receiving a weekly supply of fresh food throughout the season."
Essentially, local consumers replace the role of the bank by loaning the farmer enough money to operate the farm. Then they get their money back in the form of delicious food.
The film makes a strong case for CSA farms, citing their sustainability, the incredible quality of the organics they produce, the reduction of petroleum use due to local distribution and other factors, and, one might argue most importantly, the strengthening effect that such a model has on communities.
In regards to the quality of the produce, Ajani makes this more than evident with his beautiful cinematography. The rich, vivid colors of the vegetables speak to your stomach, while the thoughtful commentary addresses your reason. I believe this film was shot on video, but the quality is very close to celluloid.
Ajani keeps the musical scoring to a minimum, which I greatly appreciate. The moments when he does allow some music to come through are appropriate and well done.
One aspect of this film that makes it an appropriate pick for a "Documentary AND eXperimental Film Festival" is the repeated shots of large, industrial fields taken from a moving car. These shots are so hypnotic and fascinating in their stroboscopic nature that they could be extracted from the film and made into an award-winning experimental film in their own right.
Ajani's loose style of storytelling delivers many individual characters' experiences to us, while still making them adhere to a central, united narrative (the struggle and evolution of small organic farms). K Records' Calvin Johnson makes a brief cameo appearance that garners lots of laughs from the audience.
My only criticisms of this film are that it feels as though it could made a little tighter. The running time is currently 90 minutes, and that could be brought down to around 70-80 minutes without sacrificing much. Also, there is a derisive comment made about George W. Bush that seemed unnecessary. Republicans have a right to eat healthy and local too, even if some of us might disagree with...everything else they do?
This issues addressed in this film are extremely important to our society and it's hard to imagine someone else doing a better job at bringing them to the screen. See this film if you can, but more importantly, find a CSA farm in your area!
I'm going to finish blogging about today's films tomorrow morning, so here are some pics in the meantime:
The Face of the Fest
Full house for the Invitational
Lunchfilms is a series of films commissioned by Mike Plante. The concept behind the series is that Plante would buy a filmmaker lunch and then that debt would be repaid with a film for the same cost. A few rules were also agreed upon at each of the lunches, but judging from the results, they were not strictly adhered to.
I'm just going to cover my favorites from the bunch.
Bill Daniel's film was a trailer for a project that I hope he is really working on. It looked like he had discovered some kind of clan of nomadic van people and gained their trust. Their modified vans looked like what the more chilled out folks will have in the Mad Max future.
The rules for Cam Archer's film included "no irony," which I assume was meant to be ironic. Cam conducts a pseudo-academic interview of himself over some experimental footage. Both the questions and answers were hilarious. This was my favorite film of the series.
Ben Coonley is right. We do need to remember how funny cats are in these dark times.
The Zellner Brothers film "Pardon My Downfall" was like Hillbilly Noh Theatre. It was very beautiful and mesmerizing.
"Diamond Dave" by Elizabeth Skadden offered an interesting look into the lifestyle of a 50s recording star who lives in Hollywood on a property that includes a decaying movie set. Dave had the hustler's spirit and did a lot of name dropping, but in a very entertaining way.
I feel like I'm using the wrong verb tense in this post, but I'm very tired and I don't want to correct everything, so hopefully no one will notice.
The last of my favorites was "When the World's On Fire" by James Clauer. This experimental documentary, set in Tennessee, reminded me a lot of my home state of South Carolina. That being the case, I was very impressed by what Clauer did with that setting. He made the deep rural South feel very fresh to me, presenting it in a way I have never seen it before by using some intense psychedelic editing. This film also reminded me a bit of "Gummo," with its focus the weird events in a low-income community.
I wouldn't call this project a total success. Some of the films were unimpressive. However, there were some exceptional films in the bunch that might never have been made without this project. Seeing as how the whole series cost Plante $622.71 in lunches (plus tip) it seems like it was a worthwhile investment.
Hey youse guys! dalas here, checking in from PDXFF. I actually just watched three programs, but I didn't get to log on to the NET until now, so I will work on posting my reactions.
The first program of the day was "Friends & Neighbors," which was a showcase of experimental short films by folks from round these parts. I'll cut right to the chase and give you brief impressions of the films.
The first film was "Ring! Ring!" by Arman Bohn. In this film, a series of mysterious packages arrive on the doorstep of a musical composer. There was a very Lynchian tone to this film. Sort of an air of strange suspense. Also, watching Lost has gotten me in the habit of spotting books. The protagonist in this film was reading one called The Mysterious Island, and the chapter he was reading was "The Abandoned." LOST IS EVERYWHERE!
Up next was the first of Mack McFarland's "Kinetoscopes for the 21st Century." All of the films from this series were very entertaining. In the first one, the audience is squashed like an ant (from the ant's POV). Another features a very absurd puppet show of sorts. The one with the feather almost gave me an acid flashback. You can watch them yourself at kinetocast.com
We then watched "October of This Year," by Rob Tyler, which documented the Portland ice storm of 2003. I was not in Portland for this event, but it looks like there were some serious amounts of solidified water. This film had a very interesting aesthetic to it. I couldn't tell if it originated on on film or if it was video treated to look like film. All in all, it just reminded me of all the ice bergs melting. BUMMER.
"Invitation," by Morgan Currie was next. A very somber and meditative documentary about the impact of Hurricane Katrina. The opening shots of people working in the rubble gave me the strong impression of a wounded animal dragging itself back to its den to recuperate. Currie found some very interesting survivors to interview and their perspective was enthralling. I thought this film had the quality of a good Maysles documentary.
"Isi," by Chris Larson felt like a stochastic kaleidoscope of organic imagery. I can't explain it much beyond that.
Gordon Nickel's "Conquest Blues" lightened the mood a bit and was very well edited.
I'm hurrying now, because I need to get dinner before the 9pm show.
"Transit," by Melissa Gregory Rue was what we used to call a found footage montage, but maybe we're supposed to call it a "mash-up" now? Maybe not. An interesting spiritual journey nonetheless.
Jesse England got a big laugh with his film "Steve Winwood is Hungry for Breakfast." I've watched it several times before and I still find it funny.
UrHo homie E*Rock screened his music video "I Love Your Music." I Love Your Music Video, Eric. It helps that I really like it when computers sing in music.
"Dear Alphabet" by Marina Budovsky was like a Tool Video + The Residents' film "Vileness Flats" + an Edward Gorey book + Sesame Street. It was beautifully made.
Morgan Hobart's "Soft"? A sepia toned organic memory MICRO BLAST.
Grace Carter and Holly Anders showed their film "Nora," which was inspired by a theatrical project and the movie "Psycho." It felt like they were using a Matthew Barney-style ritual to reclaim the power that Hitchcock attempted to take away from women in his films. The film was very stylish and well produced.
OK, dinner time! I'll try to get my posts up regarding the other two programs I saw today ASAP.
Oh, and hey, there is plenty of room in this theatre, so please come down and watch these films!!
This is Ashby Collinson sharing some thoughts on the Shorts Program #1- Eye of the Beholder: Experimental Portraiture. A recent addition to the experimental film internet blogging tribe, I have been a deep fan of Peripheral Produce since it's inception as a teenaged intern in the Northwest Film Center Equipment Room. As a budding media archivist and former teenage experimental filmmaker, I am pleased to relay my thoughts on the festival!
The first film of the series, Der Gruß von Meiner Mutter by Katja Straub struck me as a call to Su Friedrich's amazing documentation of her mother in The Ties That Bind. In this film, Straub recalls her Catholic upbringing, one she reacts to in disbelief. For her, the lessons and stories of the religiosity of her family are strengthened only in connection she has with her ancestors. When we receive a symbolic message from loved ones passed away in the form of a spirit animal, we receive a kind of communication unmatched by the iconic grasp of religious objects or mantras. The stutter and pixilation of the film grounds the experience in tactile relationships akin to Herzog's Land of Silence and Darkness.
Astika by Ben Rivers was the next film, a piece that I wish was a living installation! I absolutely didn't want to leave this zone the second it began; with incredible textures of rock and cement, like a micro/macro world much like our newly coined sister planet Gliese 581. The depiction of overgrowth with red and gold contrast objects injects a richness to the environment this man Astika, a man living on an island in Denmark, lives in. His project has been to let his farmhouse grow over around him, now being forced to move because of his inherent eccentric lifestyle. The kind of overgrowth captured by Rivers is a kind laden with richness, life and magic. The field recordings of the garden and Astika speaking are ambiguous to the point where you can't tell if he's talking about killing himself, or the beauty of the birds who fear his presence. The haptic screen and gorgeous interference of glass and foliage only add to the haunting and rich view of this film. It is a vision of freedom I can't wait to approach in my real life.
Kieu by Kevin T. Allen was perhaps the most difficult for me to relate to, as it was for the subjects. It documents the experience of Vietnamese refugees alienated from their culture on their return "home." The message by the subjects is often negative and suspicious, as the images of the film contradict what they say by lush landscapes and rich woven scenes of activity. We often think of ourselves as assured beings, set in our histories. We would like to think that we can base a face on a place, that what we look like is who we are. When the subjects of the film returned to Vietnam, they saw that the people who had spent their whole lives there were becoming more American and disoriented in much the same way as they had. Shots of flowing time lapse of clouds over mountains in the narratives opens a door of hope and possibility in their experience, in a reconceptualization of being.
My Person in the Water by Leighton Pierce entranced me immediately. It felt like an illustration of the revolutionary Phenomenological text by Maurice Merleau Ponty entitled Eye and Mind. In this essay he recalls a person under water, viewing a tree on the banks from underneath. We often think of our sight being blocked by the water and the limitations of our bodies being under a screen. For Ponty, we are here because of and despite our bodies, and we see the tree on the bank because of the water. That view is not blocked but is there because of our place in the world. This is a reality of filters, of texture and movement. The visceral experience of this film reminded me of being on swim team in fifth grade. I would revel in the space of glubbing and calm between breathes to the surface. It was perhaps my first glimpse at a meditative space. It is a freedom in this foreign yet inscrutable substance that makes up our planet.
Walk by Meg Knowles was an incredible video diary of a woman going through change and the death of her cat. The relationships filmmakers often have with their animals are an important one that ought to be examined further. Knowles is a part of a long line of experimental filmmakers such as Stan Brakhage, Carolee Schneeman and George Kuchar who find inspiration and cinematic beauty in the lives and deep ties they have with their furry family members.
Wood by David Fenster was a surprisingly sincere and dualistic piece on the mill workers of John Day Oregon. His acknowledgment of the lives of the timber workers is unique and appreciative, though not fully overshadowing the shocking reality of the industrialization of forest desecration. There is another angle to this portrait that I had not anticipated, one that touches deeply into the spiritual growth of human beings caught in the paradoxical and destructive environment we are building around themselves. All of these men call upon a deep sense of community based on awareness, collectivity and education. They all must fully trust in each other and watch out for each other in order to stay on track and safe. It is conflicting then when a man talks of the big cat fights between the timber executives and eco activists, who threaten to take away this community of respect and connection.
Hattenhorst by Ove Sander is a wonderful and rich portrait of an old timey projectionist in Germany. As a projectionist myself, I found this film a real treat. The realities of the job are relayed sweetly by this man, who recalls the beauty of autonomy, the holistic and all encompassing knowledge of the entire process of the job, and the sense of importance you have in your absolute control over the audience's experience. As a programmer and projectionist for the Grand Illusion Cinema in Seattle for many years, I have my own sense of nostalgia shared with this man. We had our own rituals and quirky elements to our experience with a job that allows a true embodiment of the magical filmic experience onto our lives. An experience that may soon disappear with the 'advancement' of technology and virtuality of experience.
The Magician's House by Deborah Stratman was a wonderful example of reconceptualizing imagery of normal life into a haunting experience of baroque magic. Normal objects are suddenly laden with mystery and fear, as a rocking chair begins to rock by itself, or whispers on the soundtrack craw up the side of a house, or a bald patch in the grass is suddenly lit by the sun. No corner of your normal and boring life is safe from the possibilities of magic!
That's all for now. Thanks so much to the PDX Fest and Urban Honking for giving me the chance to see some great films and share my thoughts with you.
Ashby Collinson
a couple nice press nuggets from The Oregonian and The Portland Mercury.
"...But at the risk of sounding like the boy who cried wolf, I must tell you again: The Portland Documentary and eXperimental Film Festival -- commonly known as the PDX Fest -- is a cultural treasure that no other city on Earth can quite emulate, and you should do what you can to sample it during its brief run in the next few days."
-Shawn Levy, The Oregonian.
it's opening night and i am sitting in the back row and pleased to find the hollywood has wi-fi. we introduced the show and i officially "passed the torch" on to Gretchen Hogue as the new festival director. I still have plenty to do, but this year's festival is truly a result of her hard work and dedication. I have taken on the role of 'executive director' and my biggest task has been organizing "team building" activities for the festival staff. over the past few months we went bowling, ate fondue, sang karaoke, and did plenty of bar hoping. the team seemed to gel, and so far the festival is off to a smooth start, so i think it worked.
it's also pretty interesting, exciting, and nerve-racking to see something that i started get taken over by new people. maybe it's like a parent watching their first child learn to walk: you are so proud of them, but you freak out when you realize you just don't know exactly where they will walk to. but so far it looks like the festival is going to do just fine, if not vastly improve!
okay, things are starting to wrap up. next stop audio cinema!
about an hour and half before the first show was to begin, we came to find that the Beta SP video deck that we had rented was not working. Luckily, Jon Beanland at the NW Film Center came to the rescue...
JON BEANLAND ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
the pdx film fest opening night party takes place at audio cinema. there will be art there too.
Here we are just a few days away from the PDX Film Fest and we're planning to Blog The Shit Out Of It again. Here are a few links to get started:
About the Hollywood Theatre.
A mention in the NY Times
And a short blurb from the press release: The Portland Documentary and eXperimental Film Festival (PDX Film Fest for short) is gearing up for yet another go around, this year taking place April 25-29, 2007 at the historic Hollywood Theatre. Founded and organized by local filmmakers, the festival will showcase provocative, artistic, and firmly uncompromising films from around the globe. The festival is an offshoot of Peripheral Produce, a video distribution label and screening series started by Portland filmmaker Matt McCormick. Since it's inception in 1996, Peripheral Produce has grown from a small, DIY project into an internationally respected venue and outlet for contemporary experimental cinema.
Note: Everything below this entry is from another Blog The Shit Out Of It project.
A review of the grocery store restrooms in the Salem Willamette Valley area.
As with any public restroom you enter at your own risk.
Public restrooms are a world of infestations, germs, bacteria and other unknown
micro-organisms.
Most of us would rather suffer the anxiety and pain of holding an urinary or bowel movement than enter this world of foul smells and messes left by those of disgusting hygiene etiquette.
I visited six area grocery stores, and revisited them at different hours of the day and multiple days. I found that if you got there at opening time the restrooms were fairly clean. What I mean by fairly is, that only the employees had used them. By mid-day the garbage had started to pile up, remnants of paper towels that had not made there way to the garbage can and the area in front of the stools was only wet. By mid-evening most restrooms were at the point of disgust, paper towels and garbage littered the floor, you needed rubber boots or goulashes to safely wade your way to the stools. Once arriving you were greeted with an image of horror and filth that made you wonder if you were living in a civil society.
Luckily for us, once in a great while we come across a place/business that takes pride in its public appearance and shows respect for its customers.
One such place(s) are the Roths IGA stores of the Salem area, regardless of what time of day you go to these stores you are always greeted with a smile, friendly service, and a clean store, and the restrooms are always clean and fresh.
As for the others, such as Safeway or Fred Meyer, well that depended on how great your need is. Their restrooms lack personal attention, it seems cleaning them once a day is fine with their standards. But when it came to Wal-Mart and Food-4-Less bring your goulashes and a body condom, you will need them. Apparently even the employees are afraid to go into them.
At the risk of being assaulted or arrested I, and with the help of a female companion, we interview an occasional patron coming from the restroom. Their responses are included at the end of each restroom picture.
A special note: afternoon and evening pictures of the restrooms were prohibited by the web master do to their offensiveness and obscenity.
Stayton's Roths IGA
Welcome to Stayton where the smiles are free and the restrooms are cleaner than yours.
Restroom entry way:
Womens restrooms:
Interview:
Females: Alice
1)Q: What do you think of the bathrooms here?
A: The bathroom was very clean and every time I see the bathroom it is always very clean.
Mens restroom:
Interview:
Males: Bobby
1)Q: What do you think of the bathrooms here?
A: The bathroom was very clean and it looked like that someone just cleaned it.
Safeway Downtown Salem
Lobby
Restroom Entry: Be sure to wave hi to the people enjoying their Starbucks coffee on your way to the restroom, it will enhance their ambiance. Starbucks is located next to the restrooms in this Safeway. ewww!
Womens Restroom
Interview:
Females: Peggy
1)Q: What do you think of the bathrooms here?
A: The bathroom was very clean, it looked like that the janitors just came out of the female’s bathroom.
Mens Restroom
interview:
Males: Steve
1)Q: What do you think of the bathrooms here?
A: I noticed after the store staff came out of the bathroom there were paper towels next to the trash can.
Safeway Lancaster Drive N.E
Restroom Entry: You will find this restroom in the back of the store next to the pharmacy. Change your Depends while you wait for your prescription.
Mens Restroom
Interview:
Males: Fred
1)Q: What do you think of the bathrooms here?
A: The bathroom looked really dirty again.
Womens Restroom
Interview:
Females: Nikki
1)Q: What do you think of the bathrooms here?
A: The bathroom seemed fairly clean.
Walmart Lancaster Drive N.E. (ewww!)
Mens Restroom
Interview:
Males: Alfonzo
1)Q: What do you think of the bathrooms here?
A: They looked very disgusting, because there was toilet paper everywhere, and urine all over the floor and urinals.
Womens Restroom
Interview:
Females: Catalina
1)Q: What do you think of the bathrooms here?
A: The bathroom was fairly clean, expect for one of the stalls, there was toilet paper on the floor.
Fred Meyer Market Street N.E.
Lobby: To find this restroom act like a rat in a maze, just follow the smell.
Mens Restroom
Interview:
Males: Mike
1) Q: What do you think of the bathrooms here?
A: The bathroom was really gross and there was toilet paper and paper towels all over the floor.
Womens Restroom
Interview:
Females: Sharri
1) Q: What do you think of the bathrooms here?
A: The bathroom was not the cleanest store bathroom that I have seen. I think that the store staff is not doing their jobs.
Food 4 less LancasterDrive N.E. (double ewwww!!!)
Lobby: Enter at your own risk, caution: slippery when wet (its always wet and that ain't water on the floor)
Restroom Entry
Mens Restroom
Interview:
Males: Pedro
1)Q: What do you think of the bathrooms here?
A: The bathroom were very disgusting looking and it looked like that it could become a hazard if someone didn’t take care of them.
Womens Restroom
Interview:
Females: Juanita
1)Q: What do you think of the bathrooms here?
A: The bathroom was gross and I never want to go in there again because I almost slipped on the floor because there was some kind of liquid there.
In conclusion, now you know why when you pull into a grocery store parking lot and it smells like urine and other foul smells, it may be that someone has made the choice that the parking lot was a better place to relieved themselves than the store's restroom-so watch where you step, those puddles may not be from the rain.
