Do we have to worry about AFI DOCS? Where was everybody? They were giving away tickets to the Guggenheim Symposium honoring Steve James. The Closing Night film, United Skates, was at Landmark E St. and not at the Newseum. During breaks at AFI Silver, there were chairs available to sit in and I never had to thread a careful needle trying to wind my way through a crowded hallway. There were no crowds. Sure, people were there and Theater 3 at AFI Silver (the smallest theater) may have been at capacity Saturday night. However, there was an overt drop from year’s past.
I believe this year’s slate was stronger than in recent years. Cherry-picking from a 92 film list from 22 different countries, it was more a process of what film must I reluctantly skip rather than settling for one which sounds only vaguely interesting. With such a strength of schedule, how on Earth did the screening committee settle on their opening and closing night films? The opening Thursday night film at the Newseum is supposed to set the tone and start the festival off with a sharp thunderclap. Last year, the committee struck gold accidentally selecting the eventual Best Documentary Academy Award winner, Icarus. The year before, it was Alex Gibney’s Zero Days and Best of Enemies: Buckley vs. Vidal the year before that.
I believe this year’s slate was stronger than in recent years. Cherry-picking from a 92 film list from 22 different countries, it was more a process of what film must I reluctantly skip rather than settling for one which sounds only vaguely interesting. With such a strength of schedule, how on Earth did the screening committee settle on their opening and closing night films? The opening Thursday night film at the Newseum is supposed to set the tone and start the festival off with a sharp thunderclap. Last year, the committee struck gold accidentally selecting the eventual Best Documentary Academy Award winner, Icarus. The year before, it was Alex Gibney’s Zero Days and Best of Enemies: Buckley vs. Vidal the year before that.
Personal Statement is not a second rate documentary and it crafts a story to make us care about the struggle of three kids trying to navigate their way from inner city New York high schools to college; however, it is not opening night worthy. United Skates emits a similar feeling. The subject is fascinating. I love it when a documentary introduces me to a subject I not only know next to nothing about, but have never heard of before. I had no idea roller skating rinks were so beloved in the African-American community, that each urban metropolis sports its own unique skating style, and a rink in Los Angeles was considered neutral territory between the Bloods and the Crips - all so everybody could skate in peace. Brilliant. But closing night? Nope.
I understand if the screening committee opted to steer clear of politics for its centerpieces. Everybody, especially in D.C., is politicked out. Dark Money, chronicling the rise and fall of Montana’s strict campaign finance laws is more factual than political, but it was a wise move to not feature it under the lights. We go to movie theaters to escape the disaster of our contemporary political system, not to shove more down out gullets. However, Bathtubs Over Broadway would have brought the house down on Opening Night. During the end credits, if former LATE SHOW WITH David Letterman comedy writer, Steve Young, and industrial musical superstars, Patt Stanton Gjonola and Susan Stroman, walked on stage, the place would have erupted.
I recognize the desire to steer clear of the weepers for the main events. 209 Rue Saint-Maur had entire sections of the audience sniffling and one lady was close to wailing in agony during The Silence of Others. These are powerful, gut-wrenching subjects and carry the threat of waterworks wherever they play. Nobody wants to start or stop a festival with such material. But what an emotional rollercoaster a full day of films is. I watched The Silence of Others and Bathtubs Over Broadway back-to-back. In a matter of a half-hour, the atmosphere morphed from utter despair to frivolity. Soul-cleansing is an apt way to describe it.
I know there are 81 other films deserving of my attention and there is no doubt I will see many of them throughout the rest of the year as some are fortunate enough to score an American distributor. So please Washington D.C. movie patrons - there are thousands of devoted documentary fans in this well-educated town. Come back to the festival! We need you. I hate seeing the short waiting lines and empty hallways of what I guarantee you will be some of next year’s Best Doc Oscar nominees. Escape the tweeting fool, the squabbling cable lawyers, and the oppressive heat. 92 films wait for you.
A mostly in order ranking of what I was lucky enough to see:
Dark Money
The Silence of Others
209 Rue Saint-Maur, Paris, 10ÉME
Bathtubs Over Broadway
Hal
America To Me (Episode 1)
Over the Limit
United Skates
Personal Statement
Shirkers
United We Fan
Dark Money
The Silence of Others
209 Rue Saint-Maur, Paris, 10ÉME
Bathtubs Over Broadway
Hal
America To Me (Episode 1)
Over the Limit
United Skates
Personal Statement
Shirkers
United We Fan
