Quick Plug: Global Film Initiative "Wing It!" Contest

About a month ago, the fine folks at the Global Film Initiative contacted me to help promote a new film contest they recently launched in partnership with Virgin America airlines. Considering this contest started a month ago, I've really done a terrible job. But six weeks still remain, so it's not too late to get in on it.

If you don't know about the Global Film Initiative, their mission statement is to "promote cross-cultural understanding through the medium of cinema," which obviously makes my mission statement, "promote and celebrate everything the Global Film Initiative does", from their Global Lens film series to their Bluescreen educational program to their new quarterly contest, "Wing It!".

Before sharing the details about the contest, let me take the opportunity to point you to my reviews of some Global Lens films:

Global Lens 2008:
El Custodio (The Custodian)
Hava Aney Dey (Let the Wind Blow)

Global Lens 2009:
Mutum
Song from the Southern Seas

Now, self promotion out of the way, let's get to the exciting news and the reason I'm writing this in the first place - the contest...

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Overview: Wing It! is a quarterly arts and culture student contest created by the Global Film Initiative and sponsored by Virgin America airlines. The contest challenges students to submit creative videos, essays and multimedia presentations on global culture, and is open to high school and college students in the U.S. and Canada.

Contest: Be a Tour Guide

Ever wondered what it's like to live in Ethiopia? Always wanted to see Ireland? Interested in exploring the world? If you answered "yes," you're like most people and, unfortunately, just like most people, visiting and living in all these places isn't always possible. School, jobs, family, money — everyone has a reason why they never made that trip Egypt, or missed the plane to Micronesia.

But sometimes those "faraway" places you dream about are actually right in your backyard. Most major cities in the U.S. have a Chinatown, some even have a Little India. If you visit Queens you might think you're in Central America and if you head to Boston, the luck of the Irish will be upon you. Visit Seattle and at some point you'll probably run into what is rumored to be the largest Ethiopian population in the world outside Ethiopia.

Here's what we want you to do. Instead of getting on a plane and rushing off to discover the world, show us the world that's right in your own city. Take a video camera, be a tour guide and tell us about an ethnic community and culture that's in your city. Dig deep into your own local haunts to show us that "faraway land" that's actually not so far away. Think you can do that?

How To Enter

• Create a video between 5–10 minutes in length
• You must be in the video (i.e. you are the host or tour guide!)
• The video must focus on only (1) ethnic community & culture
• You can't just use your family or school as the subject — go out and explore a local community!
• Read the Official Rules for details, then fill out this entry form and send it with a CD or DVD of your video to:

The Global Film Initiative
Attn: Wing It!
145 Ninth Street
Suite 105
San Francisco, CA 94103

Simple enough. You have until June 15th at midnight PST to submit your video. If our judges think yours is the best of the bunch, you'll get two free airline tickets to any destination Virgin America flies and your video will be featured on our education website, Bluescreen!

Prizes

The first place winner will receive (2) non–refundable tickets to anywhere Virgin America flies and be featured on the Global Film Initiative website, the Bluescreen website and in our newsletter. Second and third place winning videos will also be featured on Bluescreen. Winners will be announced by June 30, 2009.

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Now, good news, bad news, and worst news. Good news is that I've heard Virgin America is an awesome airline to fly (check this out), though I've never done so because they don't stop here. Bad news is that it appears the winner will only be able to fly domestically, and not on Virgin Atlantic, which is a different arm altogether of Richard Branson's empire. Worst news is, I'm not a high school or college student, so I can't participate in this anyway.

But if you are, get to work! (And if you aren't, check out the Global Lens 2009 films on their way around the country.)

MSPIFF: What to See in Week 1

If you still haven't worn out your highlighter and given yourself a headache in trying to figure out what you're going to see at MSPIFF over the next few days, save yourself some trouble and consider my recommendations below. Also, don't forget to join Kathie Smith and I at our inaugural Film Goat get-together tonight at Pracna at 5:30 PM. I've got curly black hair; Kathie says she'll be wearing a blue T-wolves cap. Maybe we'll be sitting outside in the nice weather...

(The Necessities of Life, Il Divo, & Lion's Den)

Many of these are playing more than once, so refer to the schedule if you can't make it on the day listed. Also, click on the "tickets" link and buy in advance so you can save a dollar.

Please note that I've only see the ones I've reviewed...

Friday, 4/17 (tickets):

Win or Lose: A Summer Camp Story
- Director Louis Lapat asked me to review this prior to its screening but I couldn't do it in time. Louis has agreed to provide a screener; watch for a review in the coming weeks. Louis will be at the screening.

Is Anybody There?
- Charming dramedy starring Michael Caine. Opens in Minneapolis on May 1, if you can't make it.

Surveillance
- Indie thriller directed by David Lynch's daughter. That alone should make it somewhat interesting.

Just Another Love Story
- Indie thriller from Denmark. Sounds like you could be forgiven for getting this confused with Surveillance.

Horn of Plenty (2/4 stars)
- This Cuban film didn't do much for me, but it's the only real comedy of the group. Read my capsule review here.


Saturday, 4/18 (tickets):

The Necessities of Life (4/4 stars)
- Moving drama about an Inuit hunter recovering from TB in 1950's Quebec City. Read my capsule review here.

Liberation Day
- Drama about reconciliation in post-genocide Rwanda. Sign me up.

Pachamama
- Drama about about a boy biking across Peru.

Song From the Southern Seas (3.5/4 stars)
- Bizarre dramedy about a Russian couple living in Kazakhstan. Read my capsule review here.

Il Divo
- Drama with overtones of The Godfather about an aging Italian mob boss. Originally I thought this was a doc about the opera boy band/singing group. I'll see this on one Monday night.

Rumba
- European, near-silent comedy about quirky Belgians who like to dance.

The King of Ping Pong
- Napoleon Dynamite-ish dramedy from Sweden. Can't count anything out from that country after Let the Right One In.

Lion's Den
- Argentine thriller that I wasn't sure about until three local sources all gave it A's and/or four stars. Not sure how I'm going to see this one but will hopefully squeeze it in late Sunday night.


Sunday, 4/19 (tickets):

Trust Us, This Is All Made Up
- Documentary about the Second City improv group in Chicago. Director present.

Living In Emergency: Doctors Without Borders
- Documentary about doctors working abroad, presumable living in emergency.

Fados
- Performance film illustrating Portuguese culture through music and dance. Also plays next Thursday, 4/23, at the Walker - free admission.

The One Man Village
- Docudrama about a Lebanese man committed to living in his war-torn village after everyone else leaves.

Letters to the President
- Documentary about Iran.

Blind Loves
- Documentary exploring the love between blind couples and families.

American Violet
- Drama based on a true story of an African-American woman mistakenly arrested on drug charges.


Monday, 4/20 (tickets):

Heart of Fire
- Drama about child soldiers in Eritrea.


Tuesday, 4/21 (tickets):

The Secret of the Grain
- Drama about food and family, over 150 minutes long and sure to make you hungry.

Shakespeare and Victor Hugo's Intimacies (3/4 stars)
- Documentary about a mysterious artist/serial killer in Mexico City. Read my capsule review here.

Somers Town
- Dramedy about two teens forging an unlikely friendship in London, from the director of This Is England.


Wednesday, 4/22 (tickets):

The Infinite Border
- Documentary about Guatemalans crossing into Mexico. Probably a nice supplement to Sin Nombre, opening this week.

The Biggest Chinese Restaurant in the World
- Documentary about, you know.

Los Bastardos
- Thriller following a day in the lives of two L.A. day laborers who take a messy job.

Tricks
- Charming Polish comedy about a kid dreaming of a better life, this also played at BBFF last month.

That's it for the first week of MSPIFF! If you for some reason don't want to see any of these, check out new releases like State of Play and Sin Nombre, or Hunger at the Walker (where I'll be tonight), or classics like Cinema Paradiso at the Parkway and Rear Window at the Riverview.

Global Lens 2008: Hava Aney Dey (Let the Wind Blow)

You ever see those people who seem to have a perpetual scowl and furrowed brows? I usually think, "What's the problem, Dick Cheney?" Lighten up. Well, sometimes there's a reason, such as poverty, hormones, the threat of nuclear war, or, in the case of Arjun (Aniket Vishwasrao, pictured above), all three. Partho Sen-Gupta's Hava Aney Dey (Let the Wind Blow) shows us Arjun's life in May of 1998, when Bombay and the rest of India was gripped by paranoia about Pakistan's nuclear tests next door, and Indian society was undergoing a sea change. Lower-and middle class workers were heading to Dubai, while the educated elite stayed behind in preparation for the internet boom.

As a graduating high school student and the only child of a loving but penniless single mother, Arjun is urgently trying to determine his future. He keeps a nervous eye on the TV news reports about Pakistan and a flirtatious eye on his privileged classmate, Salma (Rajashree Thakur, pictured below), all while half listening to his blabbering older friend, Chabia (Nishikant Kamat). To differing extents, these three characters believe they control their own destinies, but Arjun is the only one who seems to be paying attention to the external forces that are, in fact, controlling their destinies for them. (Let the Wind Blow was one of ten films selected as part of the 2008 Global Lens series, currently making its way around the country. Find it. Support it.)

To call Let the Wind Blow a significant film about Indian culture would be a major understatement. While it's not perfect, it's still an incredibly important snapshot of a time in India's history when anything was possible (just think about how much that country has changed in the last 10 years). But it's not just that so many possibilities existed, it's that they existed in a place where the driving cultural influences are destiny and karma, not the Western ideals of hard work and self-efficacy. Partho Sen-Gupta explores that period where Western culture was creeping in and creating confusion among Indian youth, and I find the idea fascinating.

Of course, the idea has to be fully realized in order to make a good film, and it's here that Sen-Gupta stumbles just a bit, primarily because he casts too wide of a net. Arjun is a great protagonist and Vishwasrao, in his only acting role to date, cuts a striking figure that takes over every scene. I would have liked to get to know him a bit better instead of just watching him brood about between different social groups. All kinds of things are clearly eating at him, but we rarely get more than a grunt or a quick emotional outburst (of course, such is teenage life).

Let the Wind Blow is not an immediately impressive film, but in the days since seeing it I've found that its characters have stayed with me, and I feel one step closer to understanding India's dynamic recent history - and that's what the Global Film Initiative is all about.

Global Lens 2008: El Custodio (The Custodian)

We don't often see bodyguards often in the U.S., do we? I probably associate them with the paparazzi more so than anything else, which is why observing the daily life of a depressed bodyguard for a mid-level Argentinian government official in El Custodio (The Custodian) was really quite interesting. Writer/Director Rodrigo Moreno's first feature film was the winner of numerous awards in 2006, including the Alfred Bauer award at the Berlin International Film Festival, given to a "movie which opens new perspectives in film art." That sounds about right to me, as do the the numerous awards doled out to Julio Chávez for his lead role as Rubén. (The Custodian was one of ten films selected as part of the 2008 Global Lens series, currently making its way around the country. Find it. Support it.)

Moreno is not interested in your attention span. From its first frame to its last, The Custodian is a third-person point of view study of one character whose job is, well, to basically just sit around and wait for something to happen. For the first 20 minutes or so, we know that Rubén (Chávez) smokes. That's about it. If you're still paying attention you might be able to figure what the government minister does, but for the most part we don't know who he is or why he would be in danger. But there's Rubén, following behind like a trained dog in the hallway, hands folded just so behind his back. He lives as another man's shadow.

Gradually, beautifully, Moreno peels back the layers of Rubén's character. Literally, as we see him trying on bullet-proof vests, but more so figuratively, as we learn, for example, that he's a talented sketch artist. He lives alone. His sister appears to have mental issues (illustrated by the fact that she thinks Rubén's "connections" can help her daughter become a pop star). He likes banana smoothies. He's never been in the ocean.

He's lonely. He's frustrated with the Chinese immigrant population around him in Buenos Aires. He's disgusted with the sexual exploits of the minister's daughter, but he's not above visiting a prostitute himself. He's bored by his job and frustrated with his life. In fact, he despises the very person he's hired to protect.


The Custodian is the type of film that can lose you at any minute. Symbolically, Rodrigo Moreno directs the film as if he were Rubén - slowly, methodically, unemotionally. There is little music to help you along and not much in the way of scenery. Moreno makes heavy use of fixed-frame shots (reminiscent of Michael Haneke's Caché) and long takes that seem to take you nowhere, but the patient viewer will find themselves fully engrossed by the film's tense finale. My initial impression is that additional viewings would bring to light important details from both the camera work and the dialogue (there aren't too many lines spoken here, so you know each one is significant and deliberate), but one could just as well find that the film actually doesn't have anything more behind it, and is simply a lesson in existentialism.

If you’re in the mood for a standard thriller, look elsewhere. The Custodian is more appropriate as an artistic study of film, but it's also evidence of another promising young filmmaker to keep an eye on.

Globes and Games

The Walker Art Center kicks off their Global Lens film series today, which will run through May 18th. The series is an annual touring festival supported by the Global Film Initiative. From the Walker's website:

"Recognizing that few Americans have the means or the will to travel outside the U.S.—especially beyond Europe—Susan Weeks Coulter has created a funding program that provides ways for Americans to experience other cultures—through cinema. Now in its fifth year, the Global Film Initiative supports filmmakers from developing nations..." (my emphasis)

Yeah, so this program is essentially tailor-made to my passions in life. I'm a little stretched just coming out of the MSPIFF last weekend, but I'll definitely do my best to check some of these out, and continue to champion the Global Film Initiative at every opportunity.

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Matt (MNRaul) has set up a fantasy movie league. Yes, we've gone from football to baseball to box office. I've never done this before and I'm not really sure what the best strategy is, but come along and try it with us! You choose 8 movies that will be released from May2 - July 28. If your movies do well at the box office, you do well in the game. You have to choose them carefully, though, as you have a limited budget. What are the sleepers? What are the certain blockbusters?

Since this is the first season, we'll take it easy. Maybe I'll come up with a prize by the end of it. Registration closes on May 20, just in time for Indy IV.

Sign up now, anybody! It takes two seconds, and it's free. Click here to register. Then find out private league. We're playing "Box Office Moguls" and the league name is Getafilm. The password is "hoon". Then you give your studio a name and pick your movies. Let me know if you have trouble. Let's see who's ready to be a producer!

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Jeff Sauer pointed me to a really interesting post from a blog called Strange Maps. Yesterday they analyzed a Volkswagen ad that shows three world maps, cartograms in fact, distorted "in relation to the average budget per feature film, the number of films produced per capita and the total number of films produced per country." Check it out here.

New Zealand boasts the highest average budget per feature film, Iceland produces more films per capita than any other country, and maybe not so surprisingly, the U.S. produces more films overall than anybody else. Those are cool facts, but what I find most interesting is the analysis they provide of what we don't see. Great idea, VW, but I'm not sure if it works as an ad. I'm still a Toyota loyalist.

300 Words About: Mutum

In my review of last year's Manda Bala, I observed that Brazil has been the subject of some unflattering film portraits in recent years. This continued with the recent City of Men, but has been interrupted with Mutum, currently on the festival circuit and a stunning glimpse into life in rural Brazil. Directed by Sandra Kogut and starring non-professional actors, Mutum (based on the novel “Campo Geral” by João Guimarães Rosa) tells the simple story of a farming family and its universally relatable dysfunction in times of struggle. 

We experience the family's life primarily through the eyes of 10 year-old Thiago (Thiago da Silva Mariz), who is resented by his father, pitied by his mother, and adored by his brother, Felipe. Shot on location in hot, dry Três Marias, Mutum shows us a part of Brazil that we rarely see and probably don’t even imagine exists. Thiago da Silva Mariz carries this film the entire length, and the supporting performances are very impressive. You definitely won’t recognize anyone, and you have to remind yourself that you’re not watching a documentary. The hand-held cinematography featuring breathtaking and peaceful landscapes provides a striking contrast to the turmoil in young Thiago’s life. 

To be sure, the film is dramatic, but there are moments of joy (primarily by the laughing children) that are so pure and innocent you’ll feel like crying. The film is richly layered with religious and cultural themes, and the ending is one of the best I’ve seen in a very long time. Mutum is not for the impatient viewer, but those who give it a chance will enjoy it, and if nothing else you’ll see Brazilian culture in a context outside of the typical guns and gangs in Rio or São Paulo.