Over the years, I’ve seen a number of documentaries that, taken together, paint a grim picture of our nation’s food system and point directly to the negative health impacts to us and to our environment. To name just a few: King Corn by Aaron Woolf, Curt Ellis and Ian Cheney; The Future of Food by Deborah Koons Garcia; Food Fight by Chris Taylor; and The Real Dirt on Farmer John by Taggart Siegel. Besides the food we directly take in, you have the petroleum industry that fuels all of the processing and shipping to make and deliver something that will only harm you in the long run via heart disease, diabetes or obesity.

I can’t list all of the films that make a case for the idea that war is for oil and our over-use of it, but think of it–not just for our cars, but for our whole food system! The only way to have those debilitating systems fail and not be impacted in harmful ways is not only to develop alternative energy but to grow gardens. The way to supply ourselves with nourishing and yummy foods is for individuals and communities to grow it ourselves. What happens when we no longer need those incoming trucks of processed, packaged junk? Healthier bodies, and maybe event a healthier environment. Hello? Heard of global warming? What is the only thing that can really help us with that–plants! Grow lots of plants, reduce greenhouse gases. Dare we to imagine reversing the effects of global warming? If no one takes any action, then we are doomed by our own ignorance. Maybe another generation after us will figure out the answer.

(Do recall that I called this blog doc it out for a reason) The Garden is about the city of Los Angeles and a real estate developer who managed to bring down an entire community effort to support themselves via a piece of land in downtown LA. I won’t go into the details of the story as it is well-covered in the documentary. Kennedy’s camera remains with the farmers throughout the ordeal. And if you think it can’t happen in your town, you best pay attention. Communities have to take the first step, and second and third. At some point, local government will hopefully have to follow where the community leads.

I’ve been having my own experiences with local government over the past few weeks and I can’t say anything for sure, so I’m hoping to find out more about the intersection of community and politics. I’d really like to see how my own city government holds up to the tests of Los Angeles, whose mayor and councilpeople failed miserably to protect the community in favor of personal political power. The Garden is sobering lest you be too optimistic about how very difficult it is to effect change. There is no time for complacency or room to remain uninvolved. Politicians must be accountable for the quality of a community.

I know for my industry friends, this film has long since come and gone, but it is right now in a theatrical run, so time to revisit your posts about it and get the word out for people who haven’t seen it yet. It’s tough for docs to make change without many voices amplifying the message. We’ve made the case for the problems, and we need to make a case for solutions. Whatever you take away from this doc, I feel confident will be helpful to your community.

It’s late. More on Food, Inc. and The Omnivore’s Dilemma after Thursday.

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I caught the rhythm of the stanzas that make up this visual poem. A young man trapped in the cold north, townsfolks who possess “just the right amount of wrong,” as a friend would say, and a city with some stunning moments in its history. But the glue that holds together the personal with the history of the city is Maddin’s own dysfunctional childhood. Hiring actors to recreate scenes from his childhood, he hopes that seeing them again will allow him adult insight into childhood hurts. Black and white, fantastic, and certainly pushing the boundaries of documentary, I’m actually surprised there wasn’t more of a discussion last year when the film was out about how it fits into the documentary canon. But, it’s also nice that people overwhelming appreciated the film and didn’t care to argue the labeling.

I’m happy this was the last movie I watched on my television set because last night, I was thinking about it and getting ideas for all of the possible projects I could start, or pick up where I left off with. My Winnipeg is such a beautiful collage of the personal combined with the historical, it almost sets a bar (for me, at least) for self-expression. Yes, it’s great to exorcise demons but great art is rarely personal only.

Barbara has lived in my building since I got to Austin. For those who know me,  you’ve probably heard me go on and on about my building and the people who live here. I’m experiencing the exact opposite relationship to Austin as Maddin’s relationship to Winnipeg. We both feel drawn in but I feel embraced, warm, supported, and a big part of that is this place I live. It’s a little like a band aid being ripped from skin for Barbara to be leaving. She’s moving to Israel no less. But, she’s started a wonderful blog about this major move. She’s posted a few times now, which give background to her decision and she will continue to chronicle as she makes her way in her new home.

I started to make big changes in my life by moving to Austin and this new aspect (no television), is simply another decision to move me closer to who I want to be. I’m so excited for Barbara because I know that she is moving to where she needs to be to realize herself. It takes a lot of courage to make such a big change.

My family had flown into Ben-Gurion International Airport on an overnight flight from London where we had attended a Bar Mitzvah.  It was dawn, and I was tired and jet-lagged.  Alan, who travels to Israel on business, took care of all the necessary luggage and paperwork.

As I stood back in Customs, getting my bearings, I surveyed the area. The room was crowded with the arrival of people from every part of the world.  Jewish families from many different countries, speaking numerous languages, religious and secular alike, were all together.

An overwhelming sense of belonging swept over me that I had never felt before.  An internal longing I’d incessantly known ceased in that moment.  I knew I would make Aliyah.  I knew that, on this day, as I waited in the Customs line; I could foresee with complete clarity I would one day be cleared through Customs to make my way home.  I hadn’t even been to the Kotel, the cafes or the beaches yet! From Into Israel by Barbara Permilla Roth >>

Barbara introduces another aspect of art, which is the spiritual. I wish My Winnipeg had touch on meaning a bit more. After all, Guy Maddin is a very successful filmmaker. The film portrays cynicism and a healthy disdain for his city. I think Maddin has appreciation for Winnipeg, otherwise, why make a movie about it? But I wish he had included a stanza on the something he loved about his town. It’s tough to feel too sorry for him in the context of his larger career and body of work.

Anyways, it’s onwards for Barbara, me and probably for Guy too.

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I haven’t read the book yet, but from a new interview with Herzog over at Art Beat by Jeffrey Brown, Herzog admits that even he couldn’t go back to those diaries for many years. An excerpt from the prologue:

“A vision had seized hold of me, like the demented fury of a hound that has sunk its teeth into the leg of a deer carcass and is shaking and tugging at the downed game so frantically that the hunter gives up trying to calm him. It was the vision of a large steamship scaling a hill under its own steam, working its way up a steep slope in the jungle, while above this natural landscape, which shatters the weak and the strong with equal ferocity, soars the voice of Caruso, silencing all the pain and all the voices of the primeval forest and drowning out all birdsong. To be more precise: bird cries, for in this setting, left unfinished and abandoned by God in wrath, the birds do not sing; they shriek in pain, and confused trees tangle with one another like battling Titans, from horizon to horizon, in a steaming creation still being formed. Fog-panting and exhausted they stand in this unreal world, in unreal misery– and I, like a stanza in a poem written in an unknown foreign tongue, am shaken to the core.” Listen/read the interview >>

The interview doesn’t focus on the book specifically, but that’s ok since we all just want more Herzog!

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I’m slightly leery of using the term ode to describe this film, or “poetic essay,” which Gordon uses later on in the description. While they are apt terms for this film, the idea of a meandering, experiential documentary is something that wide audiences in the US don’t gravitate toward, and I have high hopes for Waterlife, one of the most stunning films about the environmental crisis I’ve ever seen.

McMahon chooses the Great Lakes as his main character – these 5 fresh water bodies between the US and Canada hold 20% of the world’s fresh water. Those who are in the know about environmental issues understand that we are hemorrhaging water and at some point in the not-too-distant future, we may stop fighting for oil and start fighting for water. What happens to this 20% of fresh water could very well be an issue of national security. So it is profoundly disturbing to see within one film the wide array of issues that face the Lakes with such clarity.

Sensuous cinematography (by John Minh Tran, who also shot Examined Life) and a top-notch soundtrack pull us in to  the natural beauty of this place. McMahon establishes also the relationship of humans to this environment, as open space and clean water to recreate in is one of our fundamental needs. I literally leapt out of my seat when when we abruptly stop for a visit a paper factory. It is the first intrusion of industry chronicled in the film and its entrance to the rather pastoral images is jarring. After seeing all of the wood and water being used to make those crisp white sheets that we take so for granted, I was prepared for a seriously depressing trip through the Lakes.

The information contained in Waterlife is powerful and disturbing, but all of the problems are interwoven with a visual and aural tapestry that allow us to also feel why we cannot be beyond hope that it is possible to use our ingenuity to deal with the problems. There is also humor, such as the redneck fishing contest of netting jumping Asian carp. The fish are an invasive species that are inedible, so folks head out in boats and catch them as they leap from the river. I doubt the sport will remove the species entirely, but it looked like a rather fun day on the water.

An Inconvenient Truth was an important film not only because it is a doc that did well at the box office, but because it was the nudge that tipped public awareness to environmental issues. It brought together the evidence of environmental degradation into one, credible spot. Waterlife, to me, represents the next step in our education. How do all of these various problems intersect with one another? Looking at a single issue is hard enough but understanding ecosystems and the multiple impacts and their effects seems to large of a task for a single film, but Waterlife is successful in this.

Going from a factory to city sewage, understanding the flow of a river and how the pollutants move through it and then seeing the effects on the people and animals that live with those effects, is the kind of systemic investigation we need. If you don’t live around the Great Lakes, it actually doesn’t matter, because the same industrial processes, sewage, damming, invasive species, etc. are taking place on each river and fresh water source we have. This story isn’t localized, though using this important example illustrates the interconnectedness in rich detail.

If you in Toronto, please see Waterlife on Sunday, May 10 at 4:15. It deserves to be seen on the big screen, and I rarely say that, so take note. Not only does it contain important information presented in a way that we haven’t seen before but it is a beautiful cinematic experience. A spoon full of sugar helping the medicine go down.

The official Waterlife website

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The Sound of Insects is an incredible movie based on a profound and surreal story. A man with no ties to other human beings goes into the wilderness with the intention of starving himself to death. This is an important distinctive difference to Into The Wild, where the young man who died did so accidentally – I believe he meant to come out of the Alaskan wilderness but the fact that he didn’t doesn’t make him stupid (the central point of my argument in said heated party debate). The man in The Sound of Insects clearly had the intention to die and as the haunting narration, crafted from the man’s own diary discovered with his corpse, says, he was dead as soon as he arrived in the woods and began to starve himself.

Most of us spend our whole day trying to survive. We go to work to earn money to pay for the roof over our head and food on our table, clothes on our back. Many of us strive for more than that–connections to others, pleasures and leisure. It is really difficult to identify with someone who is willing to give up the fight for life. And yet, this man, as he well knew, was accomplishing something braver and more unique than most of us ever will in our whole lives. To go through this process, to record it for others and to follow through with his own will are feats not many human beings can endure. At 40 days of starvation, he felt Jesus and Buddha and saluted them for their strength to return to the human race and bring back with them the enlightenment they discovered. Our protagonist had no revelations to continue to live for, but in his diary and in the artistic interpretations that followed and inform this film and Into The Wild, he left us what precious few have–a glimpse into dying.

Dying is something we all wonder about. Some people’s religion tells them things about it that they swallow whole-heartedly and never question, while others of us believe that no one knows. It’s all conjecture, but we look for those stories, accounts, that might give us just a small piece of what it will be like. Help ease our fear.

I found The Sound of Insects to be harrowing. My own interpretation is a mix of fear and ease with the text of this man’s death. What this man (who goes unnamed and identifying details of time and place are left out) and Alexander Supertramp a.k.a. Christopher McCandless left for me is that the soul and the body are indeed two separate entities. The body will not give up the soul easily and perhaps the soul can’t separate from the body simply because it wants to. You can call this separation death, and it certainly is for the body, but I find it impossible to believe that death is the end of the energy of our soul.

Your experience of this film will be unique and personal; much more so than most. I hope that you will watch it–it is beautifully crafted in a lyrical style that allows you to experience this journey into death. It might be a place that it is hard to imagine going or even wanting to, but at the same time, we all wonder and this is about as sweet of a journey as I can imagine taking down that road.

Filmmaker Peter Liechti will be on the panel I’m moderating on Monday at 1 PM, Creativity in Doc Making. Please see this film on Saturday, 6:45 PM and come armed with your questions for him on Monday.

The Sound of Insects: Record of a  Mummy website, including Rotterdam reviews

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I’ll also be moderating a panel on Monday, Creativity in Doc Making at 1 PM on Monday, May 4. Panelists include Jennifer Baichwal, Act of God (Canada), Laura Bari, Antoine (Canada), Peter Liechti, The Sound of Insects: Record of a Mummy (Switzerland) and Menna Laura Meijer, Sweety, The Friends, Betrayal and Murder of Maja Bradaric (Netherlands). I’m excited to watch their films and to think about creativity in doc making. It’s a subject that tends to get overlooked by people who are getting into documentary. They watch a lot of nonfiction television and think that a doc has to follow a certain form while in reality, the best docs push the boundaries of the form. Please stop by if you can!

Of course, there are way more films on my wish list than I’ll be able to see but here are the ones I’m hoping to catch:

21 Below Produced by my friends over at Indiepix, I’m curious to see what this one is all about. I saw a trailer at some point and wanted to see more.
Ali Shan This is the new film by the  director of Up the Yangtze, one of my favorite films from last year.
Big River Man I missed this one at Sundance and I heard good things. I’m going to try to catch up with it.
Bitch Academy A class in gold digging? Ok, I’m interested.
The Cove Another film from Sundance that I missed, although I missed it intentionally as I have a hard time watching animal slaughter. We’ll see if I can get myself to watch.
International Documentary Challenge I’ve been on the screening committee for this program the last two years. I’d like to catch up with the program at the theater and hear how folks are responding to the short docs.
El Olvido Heddy Honigman, need I say more?
Let’s Make Money Part of the Let’s Make Money sidebar of films dealing with the topic of money. Several of the films look really intriguing and as usual with HotDocs strands, hit the nail on the head.
Rough Aunties Directed by Kim Longinotto and producered by We Are Together crew Teddy Leifer and Paul Taylor. I’m in.
Sergio Recommended by Aj Schnack.
The Sound of Insects: Record of a Mummy Rings of Into The Wild, a story I loved.

Of the films in the program that I’ve seen, here are some recommendations:

Winnebago Man So far universally acclaimed. This one will make you feel good, and we need that right now.
Zombie Girl A fun look at a young Austin filmmaker. Zombie love not necessary to enjoy this one.
The Way We Get By See my recent post about the film.
The Yes Men Fix The World Besides the fact that The Yes Men are hilarious and smart as hell, this was a fun movie experience. A spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down, as the saying goes.
Burma VJ A haunting story of perseverance in the face of extreme difficulty.  I got a press release that the featured journalist, “Joshua” will attend the festival. Should be an amazing Q&A!
The Jazz Baroness I caught this one at Sheffield and really enjoyed it. I’m not a jazz fan but if you are, this one is a must-see.
Over the Hills and Far Away Seriously, you won’t be sorry. This is a wonderful story, beautifully told. Can’t miss.
Reporter Eric Daniel Metzgar’s latest (The Chances of the World Changing, Life.Support.Music)
Steel Homes Made by City of Cranes filmmaker Eva Weber.
Tyson While this film came across as typical mysoginistic fare when I saw it at Sundance, I do think it is more complicated than that. It’s worth watching, if only to have a conversation about it.
We Live in Public A really intriguing film about the effects of overindulging in our digital lives. I was mesmerized watching it at SXSW and couldn’t stop talking about it.

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It’s funny how life cycles, isn’t it? One day Bush, the next Obama. One day love and sunshine, the next rain and sorrow. Money, no money. I’ve very much been in a period of waning on my blog, but the doc days are heating up and so too must my little project here, or be I doomed back too obscurity!!

Through several channels has The Way We Get By by Aron Gaudet and Gita Pullapilly come to me. If you click to their website, you can see they are consummate internet marketers. I have to say that is about as technologically advanced as a film website can be these days – especially after all, they just premiered at SXSW where they won an Special Jury Award. They clearly have their ducks in a row, as the other channel that the film came through on was the P.O.V. press release as it will be on late in the upcoming season.

A prize at SXSW and a slot on P.O.V. plus their outstanding website are about as good of a pedigree for a documentary as you get these days. A lot of people believe in this film. The filmmakers shared a screener with me so of course, I watched it. It would take a hard heart indeed to not be taken in by the folks who are the focus of this film.

It is a group of volunteer troop greeters at an airport in Maine where most flights to and from Iraq connect. These sweet elderly people drag themselves out to the airport, at all hours, in all conditions and always with complete humility to say “goodbye and good luck” to departing soldiers and “welcome home” to those returning. I remember when I was a kid that having someone at the gate to greet me and waving me off as I walked down the jetway (back when you could get that close) was one of those simple, joyous moments. I can only imagine how much it must mean when a war is on the other side of the trip.

Your politics don’t matter. The hearts and souls of these people will show you what you are made of. Whether or not you like what you see in that picture is entirely between you and the screen upon which you watched. Unless, of course, you agreed to blog about it.

The last channel that I got news of this film was through Thom Powers, as it will be screening tomorrow night as part of the Stranger Than Fiction series at the IFC Theater in NYC. The film is being co-presented by the Camden International Film Festival… a documentary festival in… Maine.

Now, it makes perfect sense, given that The Way We Get By is set in Maine, that Maine’s doc fest present the film in New York City. For a documentary festival to be in its 5th year and for me to not recall ever hearing about it? Oye. Maybe I should hang up my PowerBook. Am I getting too old for this already? Geesh. Well, I read through the materials Leah Hurley and Ben Fowlie, the folks who run the fest, sent me and it sounds like a great event. “Over the past five years we’ve managed to bring in some relatively big names and premieres from the doc world to the coast of Maine, including Al Maysles, Eric Metzgar, Ian Cheney, Jennifer Baichwal, David Redmon and Nina Davenport….and several NE PREMIERS like Al Otro Lado, Iraq in Fragments, The Garden and Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars.” It runs from October 1 – 4 this year.

So there you have it. My blog continues. Stranger Than Fiction tomorrow night or you can also catch The Way We Get By at Hot Docs (May 5 & May 7 screenings), which starts this Thursday as well.

I’ll be at Hot Docs from this Saturday to Tuesday, so send me your recommendations if you have them. I’m going to celebrate the mid-career retrospective of Ron Mann’s films. Ron is one of the rare people in this world who has maintained his sense of fun and rightousness, while still delivering important messages about freedom and entertainment.

And, if you are looking for a new documentary destination? Camden International Film Festival? Let me know what you think if you attend this year.

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