IFP Market
Written by Michele Meek | Posted by: Anonymous
The 26th Annual IFP Market and Conference this past September kicked off with a special screening of Bostonian Brad Anderson’s film "The Machinist" (http://machinistmovie.com). In the film, Trevor Reznik’s (Christian Bale) every waking minute becomes an unremitting nightmare of confusion, paranoia, guilt, anxiety and terror — which escalates into a series of clues that leads to the source of his mysterious affliction. This critically acclaimed film is pure psychological thriller. Long gone are the carefree days of Anderson’s "Next Stop Wonderland."
In addition, a few New England films were highlighted at the market, although it definitely felt slimmer than years past. Have that many people up and moved to New York?
Monkey Dance
Directed by Julie Mallozzi
Email: juliemallozzi@earthlink.net
Website: www.monkey-dance.com
Three Cambodian-American teenagers come of age in a world shadowed by their parents, nightmares of the Khmer Rouge. Traditional Cambodian dance links them to their parents’ culture, but fast cars, hip consumerism and new romance pull harder. Gradually coming to appreciate their parents’ sacrifices, the three teens find a sense of themselves and begin to make good on their parents’ dreams.
The Mothers’ Triangle
Directed by Inbal Goldstein
Email: inbal_goldstein@yahoo.com
Christina, 18, lives with her mother, Mary, 34. Together and apart they struggle to raise Christina’s baby, Cristian, and their lives become deeply intertwined. Allowing the filmmaker access to intimately document their lives over a four-year period, Christina and Mary’s unfolding, emotional story reveals the complicated nature of their roles as dueling mothers.
Don’t Forget This Song — The Story of the Original Carter Family
Directed by Beth Harrington
Email: betuccia@aol.com
This is a two-hour HDTV program that tells the tale of this seminal country music act, the trio that was A.P., Sara and Maybele Carter. Through interviews with such legends as Johnny Cash; performances by top-flight contemporary musicians; and vintage footage and photos — along with stylized recreation — the importance of the Carters to American music and popular culture unfolds.
In the Wake of the Flood
Directed by J. Carlos Peinado
Email: azcarlos2001@yahoo.com
The film will chronicle the dislocation of the Three Affiliated Tribes of North Dakota due to a hydroelectric dam project that inundated their homeland along the banks of the Missouri River. It is also the personal story of the director’s family (Hidatsa-Mandan), whose life choices were directly and indirectly influenced by this powerful reshaping of the landscape.
Refugee Dreams
Directed by Anne Makepeace
Email: amakepeace@aol.com
"Refugee Dreams" will be a feature-length documentary chronicling a year in the lives of two charismatic Somali Bantu families as they leave behind a 200-year legacy of slavery in Africa to face new challenges in a strange new land. It is a film about time travel, culture shock, a leap from the 19th to the 21st century.
Unopened Boxes: Stories of War
Directed by Murray Nossel
Email: johnburt23@mac.com
An American theater company travels through Cambodia, Tibet and the Balkans to meet survivors of war, and then struggles to transform their stories into a play. Through archival footage of the journey, rehearsals and performance and probing interviews with company members, "Unopened Boxes" asks: How do we speak about unspeakable atrocity? Should human anguish become a cultural commodity?
Although it is impossible to see everything at the market, there were also a few non-New England films that deserve kudos. "Fields of Fuel" by Josh Tickell (www.fieldsoffuel.com) tells the story of a filmmaker who discovers a homegrown, renewable fuel made from vegetable oil that could replace all U.S. transportation fuels. "Belle," (www.streetpictures.com) a short narrative film, explores our expectations of others in this subversive fable of old age and beauty. "Hamburger America," (www.hamburgeramerica.com) goes behind the burgers into eight unique hamburger locations across the U.S. "Libby, Montana," (www.highplainsfilms.org), is a journey into the worst case of community-wide exposure to a toxic substance in U.S. history. The narrative short "Savior" tells the story of a young girl’s quest for independence.
