It’s been a long long while. I’m back from Sheffield Doc Fest! What an experience that was! If there is a festival that I would wholeheartedly recommend, this one is it! I was humbled to be part of a festival that was solely about films…and parties. There were a lot of parties! In amongst the working and partying (yep, there was work involved!) I managed to catch a few films that I will give brief reviews of. The actual programme was exhaustive and there are many more that I will surely be recommending in the future. Long Live Sheffield!

Richard Pryor: Omit the Logic (2013. Dir. Marina Zenovich)

This was the first film that jumped out at me while perusing the programme. I nearly didn’t get it because inevitably everyone else wanted to see it and both screenings were sold out. But i worked my magic threw my authoritative weight around (I wish) and wrangled a seat.

My verdict on the film is so-so. For TV documentary, it’s quite impressive, that’s not to say that TV documentaries are necessarily inferior to it’s silver screen partner. It’s just that rarely do TV made docs get to the core of their subject matter as much as theatrical releases try (believe me, there are plenty that don’t either) and this one falls into the same trap. Even though I’m a huge fan of Richard Pryor’s stand up, I actually knew very little about the man. I was just so pleasantly entranced by the quality of his stand up routine that I didn’t really think to look into the man and experiences that made his stand up still stand the test of time. I don’t know whether it’s because I was afraid that I might find out something not so nice about him that would taint any further enjoyment of his work (e.g. George C Scott and his woman beating ways, although he’s still an amazing actor. Just disappointing to hear about such behavior), or whether I as just being lazy but I felt really stupid not knowing anything about Pryor’s origins (although I did know that he grew up in a brothel), his thousands of marriages and the fact that he set himself on fire (I genuinely thought that that was an imagined story for his routine). This the film constantly reminded me of the genius of Pryor’s standup but nothing more. I still felt shortchanged coming out of the film and I think a fellow audience member summed it up pretty well.

“All of what someone can learn in the film can be gotten from his stand up routines and you’ll have more fun doing it”

That summation is maybe a little harsh but I was inclined to agree though not as ardently. My main issue is that there was absolutely no discussion into why Pryor was the way he was. Why did he start freebasing? How did his strange/distressing upbringing affect his adult life and relationships with women? There are obvious links to the different stages in Pryor’s life but the film doesn’t even make an attempt to link anything. It’s just a step by step notation of his life. But because the man himself is so fascinating and so rich and the audience gets treated to a selection of his stand up this is what elevates the film to not being just terrible.

Another issue I had with the film was the editing. Some of the clips used simply didn’t relate to what was being discussed at times. A clear example concerned a look at Pryor’s film career. While discussing some of the dross he made (Superman III)  clips were played of some of his classics/box office successes such as Blazing Saddles, and Blue Collar. It seemed that the filmmakers decided to change the format of the film and simply forgot. The film switches from being chronological to thematic then back to chronological all the while forgetting to inform the editor.

Would I recommend this film?

Despite my many grievances I would still recommend the film. It’s lively for the most part, and the man is still so influential and controversial that any film about him I’d probably recommend. Just don’t expect something revelatory.

I am Divine (2013. Dir. Jeffrey Schwarz)

Another biographical doc about a fascinating character – Harris Glenn Milstead aka Divine – the larger-than-life cinematic partner of John Waters. The film reveals Milstead’s metamorphosis from friendless outcast to international drag icon. And it’s a fascinating journey. Like Richard Pryor, you don’t have to be a fan to know the name and face and in his own way, Divine courted controversy just like Pryor. I thoroughly enjoyed this film and found something in this film that was lacking the Omit the Logic. Substance. The filmmakers made sure that they had enough of the man himself speaking to allow that audience to learn more about the man, while I think the lack of Pryor speaking himself may have been one of the major problems of the previous film.

Going into the film, I knew even less about Milstead than I did Pryor. I knew he was the titular characters in Female Troubles and Pink Flamingos (both films I have yet to see such is their reputation) and the original Edna Turnblad in Hairspray ( a film I have seen because it’s more appeasing to my sensibilities you see). By the end of the film, I feel I knew a little something about the man behind one of the most flamboyant characters on screen. And he was much more relatable and ordinary than you’d think. Divine really was an act, a flamboyant alter-ego, Milstead turned to to face the world, a bit like Beyonce and her Sasha Fierce (although a little less laughable). It was heartbreaking to see how hard Milstead had to fight to show the world there was more than Divine. To get the opportunity to be taken seriously was his biggest wish and it was sad to learn that he died suddenly literally hours before he got to achieve this.

Would I recommend this film?

Absolutely. This was a thoroughly, enjoyable, well made doc. It skipped along at a fresh pace but not at the expense of the subject matter. Fully in step with the frantic pace of Divine’s brief rule of  ’70/80s independent cinema and burdening gay scene.
The Great Hip Hop Hoax (2013. Dir. Jeanie Finlay)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loZlTfcnKuM&feature=player_detailpage

Despite the extraordinary quality of doc fun on offer at the festival, I struggled a little to find documentaries that weren’t so darn depressing in subject matter. Watching the likes of Valentine Road and God Loves Uganda (all of which I would wholly recommend) and hearing about the intense subject matter of the Act of Killing, I wanted to get away from my constant despair of humanity, so I gave this little gem a go. It’s basically about two Dundee rappers who frustrated at not being taken seriously because of their nationalities (naughty racism from the south. No wonder the rest of the UK hates us) decide to create whole new American identities and get away with it for five years! Achieving the respect and success by just speaking in an American accent.

The film is a funny, touching story at the guys genuine disbelief at the sweeping success of their gag, managing to full some of the most powerful figures in music at the time, with a ridiculously flimsy lie that was sustained for so long. I was swayed by the film acknowledgment of the impeding consequence of this deception and the darkness that underlies such ambition these guys had. I liked that there is no attempt to shy away from the fact that just underneath the duo’s  ‘jack-the-lad’ joviality is the almost mianical obsession with spinning lie after lie in order to not be found out. The repercussions are equal parts inevitable and unsettling.

Would I recommend this film?

It was a refreshing departure in tone from the films that had proceeded Hip Hop Hoax (at the time I had just seen Valentine Road, God Loves Uganda and  finally caught McCullin) and although the end was a little depressing (they had to be found out some time), it provided the more lighthearted fare that I needed at the time. The film ends with a sense that there were no real regrets and it was part of a very surreal but mostly fun time for the protagonists.

From The Sea To The Land Beyond (2012. Dir. Penny Woolcock)

I feel like a bit of a peddler recommending this because my place of work distributes this film, but it was such a great experience, I feel I have to. This is an incredibly beautiful film made entirely from archive footage (from the BFI) of the British coast over the past century. What was especially great about this was because it wasn’t just a film it was an experience. The newly-commissioned soundtrack was played live by Brighton-based band British Sea Power. Now this event was a redux of Sheffield Doc Fest 2012, yet it was still packed out and from those who came in 2012 the results were the same. It was still awesome. The film is on DVD release, and while I will definitely keep watching it (I get to do that at work), I’m gad I got to watch it in the way I think it should have been.

It seems accompanied live scores with screenings is becoming a thing. A thing I’m all for!

Other recommendations:

Sodiq (2013 Dir. Adeyemi Michael)

A moving look into the effects of gang culture in London. The film focuses on a young man, Sodiq, who once had ambitions to become doctor but is now serving a 30 year prison sentence for murder. The film looks at the effects gang violence has on the victims, the perpetrators, the parents and the community at large. Has a particularly personal tone as the director knows the subject matter.

Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer (2013 Dir. Mike Lerner, Maxim Pozdorovkin)

A enlightening, funny look into the events of 21st February 2012 and the proceeding trial of three Pussy Riot members arrested for performing their feminist protest songs in an Orthodox church. Insightful look into Russia and how ordinary Russians are not so different from the rest of the world. In that there is a total disconnect between the people and the government.

Valentine Road (2013. Marta Cunningham)

An illuminating yet devastating look into a community bitterly divided over a school shooting on 12th February 2008, when eighth-grader and budding neo-nazi Brian McInerney gunned down and killed fellow classmate Larry King because previously Larry had admitted to friends that he had a crush on Brian. The film, with deftness and insight digs into the complexity of the case, on how the boys were both victims of poor upbringings, physical abuse and broken homes. In another angle the film looks at the ingrained hatred towards homosexuality so imbedded that there are grown people accepting and even dismissive of the tragedy of a child being killed because the child was gay.

Missed but not forgotten:

The Act of Killing (2012. Dir. Joshua Oppenheimer)

Probably the most memorable, most talked about and as recipient of the Special Jury Prize, the most popular. This was a film I both desperately wanted to see and most desperately avoided during the festival. As previously mentioned, this film was the talk of the city and so I was naturally intrigued. Reading about it piqued my interest further. But I was smack in the middle of a week where I had collectively had about four hours sleep and my near future was set to get even busier. I thought in this current state of mind, if I were to watch this nearly three hour epic about Indonesian soldiers gloriously recollecting and acting out memories of massacring 500, 000 people, the festival is definitely going to become synonymous for causing the mental breakdown of their staff. This particular one anyway. So the film was deliberately put on the back burner until I at least got a solid eight hours sleep and I was no longer swept up in festival fever.

My verdict on the film is…

A full review will be coming soon! There will be upcoming reviews for some of the following:

After Tiller (213. Dir. Lana Wilson, Martha Shane)

A Fragile Trust: Plagiarism, Power and Jayson Blair at the New York Times (2013. Dir. Samantha Grant)

Muscle Shoals (2013. Dir. Greg Camalier)

The Stuart Hall Project (working title) (2013. Dir. John Akomfrah)

God Loves Uganda (2013. Dir. Roger Ross Williams)

Forget Me Not (2012. Dir. David Sieveking)

Particle Fever (2013. Dir. Mark Levinson)

Next up:

Free Angela and All Political Prisoners!

Get your politiking on! Power to the people and all that.