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The Cinequest Experience by Sky Tallone
Local actress Carla Pauli stars in Bill Kinder's new, Bay-Area-shot thriller 'White Rabbit'. photo: courtesy B. Kinder
ONCE AGAIN, CINEQUEST ROCKED
downtown San Jose from late-February to early March with record-breaking attendance and too many great films and events to keep up with. After twenty-four years, Cinequest has become one of the biggest film festivals in the country—but without losing its indie charm.
Although the festival felt a bit more tame this year, it’s hard to compete with last year’s body-painted mascots, themed after Cinequest's selected categories: Celebration, Innovation, Inspiration, Thrills, Laughs, Life & Love.
The gorgeous California Theatre was the star venue as usual, though when it comes to audio clarity and the overall viewing quality, I might have liked the nearby San Jose Repertory Theatre more. Camera 12 Cinemas had a few screens dedicated to the fest as well.
Cinequest always feels like a community, a village of filmmakers and film lovers living and traveling between these three venues, all within a couple blocks of each other.
After such a big deal was made about 4K projection last year, replete with screening a few cult classics like "Taxi Driver" and "Dr. Strangelove", I expected to see even more 4K this year. Alas, it looks like Sony didn’t partner up with 4K projectors this year. Not necessarily a disappointment, just a surprise since 4K is only going to become more prominent annually.
Crazed fishermen gather in the festival's opener: 'The Grand Seduction' by Don McKeller. photo: courtesy D. McKeller
The opening film this year was a comedy called "The Grand Seduction", about a village of unrefined fisherman-types, which must try to impress and get a resident doctor so that a plastics manufacturer will build a factory there. It was directed by Don McKellar who also directed and starred in "Last Night" (1998) amongst other films, and written by Michael Dowse who also wrote the sports comedy, "Goon" (2011).
Cast included Brendan Gleeson who played “Mad-Eye” Moody from the "Harry Potter" films, Taylor Kitsch from "John Carter" (2012) and the series "Friday Night Lights", and Liane Balaban from "The Trotsky" (2009) and the series "Supernatural".
Also on opening night, the Maverick Innovator Award was given to Martin Cooper, the very man who invented the first mobile phone and made the first-ever cellular phone call in public. His work in wireless communications changed the way we communicate, live, and naturally, has influenced the films and art we make.
And only a small leap from the father of the cell phone, the Maverick Innovator Award was also given to Matthew Modine from "Full Metal Jacket". He introduced a new app, or “appumentary,” which for the first time gives audiences access to the journals Modine meticulously recorded his thoughts in throughout the shooting of "Full Metal Jacket".
The app offers a list of journal entries, which are accompanied by narration and photos. A few entries were played a for the audience when the award was presented, and it was very surreal and nostalgic to be hearing and reading these entries for the first time over twenty-five years after the film came out; a film I grew up watching.
With DVDs and BluRays on their way out and live streaming taking over, which often doesn’t include extras like commentary and behind-the-scenes, apps like this could certainly change the way we experience special features.
“We wanted to create something that Stanley Kubrick would be proud of. I don’t know if you’ve ever watched '2001: A Space Odyssey', but—that amazing trip to the moon, right? The girl is carrying a tablet. She’s carrying what looks exactly like an iPad. And the movie was made in the sixties, so that’s just a testament to Stanley Kubrick’s art department, and his vision as an artist.” ~ Matthew Modine
Kids getting ready to search for birds in the very enjoyable 'A Birder’s Guide to Everything', starring Ben Kingsley. photo: courtesy R. Meyer
Of the films I saw, a few favorites with my mini-reviews:
"A Birder’s Guide to Everything", a quirky and heartfelt comedy with Ben Kingsley directed by Rob Meyer. Fifteen-year-old David Portnoy (played by Kodi Smit-McPhee) is an avid birder (bird watcher) passionately following in the footsteps of his mother, who was also a birder and passed away a year and a half ago.
Since his mother’s death, David has had a troubled relationship with his father (James Le Gros), who makes a living killing birds as the owner of a fried chicken franchise. However, the real reason he resents his father is because he is about to marry a woman who was David’s mother’s nurse before she died. Only a couple days before the big wedding, David spots what he believes to be a supposedly extinct duck.
He alerts his two best friends (the only other members of the birder club at school), and after seeking the advice of renown birder Lawrence Konrad (played by Ben Kingsley), they ultimately decide they must track the duck and get a good photo of it. David doesn’t mind that this wild duck chase could cause him to miss his father’s wedding. Despite the need for a bit more conflict, a real treat, very enjoyable throughout with lots of big laughs and fantastic characters.
"White Rabbit", a political thriller shot in the Bay Area (mostly taking place in Oakland and Vallejo), directed by Bill Kinder, written by Kevin Warner, and starring local actress Carla Pauli who gave a fantastic performance.
Kerry-Ann is a female soldier who’s returned from the Army after being in Iraq, and is now trying to start a new life in Oakland while struggling with PTSD symptoms. When she gets mixed up with a crooked Oakland cop, using her technical skills from the Army to help him manipulate and steal, she finds herself in the line of fire all over again.
Reviewed more in depth in CineSource article, "White Rabbit Goes Through the Looking Glass".
"Class Enemy", a Slovenian drama which takes place entirely in a high school, starring real high schoolers who aren’t professional actors. Directed by Rok Bicek, written by Nejc Gazvoda and Rok Bicek, with an ensemble cast including Igor Samobor as the teacher.
When a loving and maternal high school German teacher has to leave due to her pregnancy, she is replaced by Robert; a very strict German man who is very serious and doesn’t have patience for childishness. The students immediately dislike him, and when a depressed classmate commits suicide soon after a harsh pep talk from Robert, they label him a Nazi and blame him for her death. It's a story of rebellion and, when the time comes, the need to ask, "What’s truly justified?" Beautifully done, fantastic performances from everyone, this might have been my favorite film at the festival.
The closing night film was a drama called "Small Time", about a cleverly deceitful used car salesman whose seventeen-year-old son wants to move in with him and learn about selling cars instead of going to college. From first-time feature film director Joel Surnow, who has been writing for television ("Miami Vice"; "La Femme Nikita"; "24") since the eighties. It stars Christopher Meloni, who made an appearance at the festival and participated in the Q&A after the film.
Also starring Dean Norris who played Hank in "Breaking Bad", and Devon Bostick from "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" (2010) who also made an appearance at the festival. The film was very entertaining and though it’s a drama, incredibly funny and clever. It’s a classic character-driven piece with a nostalgic eighties to nineties feel to it that I loved.
This made a lot more sense in the Q&A when writer and director Joel Surnow commented, “I wrote the original script of this with a friend of mine in 1976, about thirty-eight years ago. It was about my father and his partner, who were two salesmen.”
After the film, the Maverick Spirit Award was given to the film’s leading actor Christopher Meloni. He then participated in the Q&A with one of his his co-stars Devon Bostick and the film’s writer and director Joel Surnow.
“When you get a movie like this, even though you’re under time restraints because the budget is low, it’s almost a throwback to the kernel or the essence of acting. You can’t rely on pyrotechnics, you have to rely on written word, getting together with writer/director and saying, ‘this is not working for me, this is why,’ and all of a sudden, you’re in this collaborative mosh, but it’s on a very small manageable scale.” ~ Christopher Meloni
The Closing Night party was a little different this year, jumping back and forth between La Pinata and The Farmers Union, both on the corner of San Pedro and Santa Clara Street just a few blocks from the festival. Both venues were fun with good food, but this closing night event seemed perhaps a bit too traditional compared to last year’s at the Tech Museum of Innovation.
There was an after party at Britannia Arms, which was smaller, quieter and more intimate. Everybody was pretty loosened up by this point (some downright goofy, in a good way, of course), and filmmakers had more of a chance to enjoy and get to know one another without all the crowds and pressure of “networking.”
There was something special about last year, it felt like a unique celebration. The approach to this year’s festival didn’t feel as out-of-the-box as last year’s, but Cinequest was a fantastic experience with some incredible films as usual, and it’s always a pleasure to spend some time in downtown San Jose. Looking forward to seeing what they do next year for the big twenty-five.
This year’s winning films
Audience Award Narrative: "East Side Sushi", director Anthony Lucero
Audience Award Documentary: "SlingShot", director Paul Lazarus
Jury - Best Narrative Feature, Drama: "Ida", director Pawel Pawlikowski
Jury - Best Narrative Feature, Comedy: "Kiss Me, You Fucking Moron", director Stian Kristiansen
Jury- Best Feature Documentary: "Bite Size", director Corbin Billings
New Visions Award: "Victoriana", director Jadrien Steele
Global Vision Award: "Tempo Girl", director Dominik Locher
Kaiser Thrive Award: "SlingShot", director Paul Lazarus
Best Animated Short: "Subconscious Password", director Chris Landreth
Best Narrative Short: "My Father's Truck", director Maurício Osaki
Best Documentary Short: "Fabian Debora, A Life for Art", director Jessica Kaye
Best Student Short: "Lambing Season", director Jeannie Donohoe Posted on Apr 24, 2014 - 09:43 PM