El Agua en Tiempos Extras (Water in Extra Times)
Dominique Jonard. 2006. 5 min. (Mexico) US Premiere
This experimental animation considers global warming and its impact on water—from floods to droughts—and some of the solutions to help preserve this finite resource.
Sunday, November 11
1:15 pm; Program F12
With Gimme Green and The Water Front
Co-presenter: Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University
The Art of Regret
Judith MacDougall. 2007. 59 min. (China/Australia) US Premiere
Judith MacDougall has made a number of now-classic documentaries that served to establish “observational cinema” as a major ethnographic film genre. This new work examines the digital revolution in China, where photography is called the “art of regret.” Old photographs are cherished as important relics, while at the same time new technology allows for the easy manipulation of images, raising questions about photography’s role as a medium of truth … or fantasy.
Sunday, November 11
2:00 pm; Program F17
Co-presenter: The Center for Media, Culture and History at New York University
Autism: The Musical
Tricia Regan. 2006. 93 min. (US)
This joyous, unsentimental portrait of Elaine Hall and the children of the Miracle Project provides a glimpse into the lives of five families as they struggle with the ups and downs of raising a child with autism. The film follows the children over the course of one year and features a dedicated woman who believes that through a musical, these children will discover the world outside themselves.
Saturday, November 10
5:45 pm, Program F4
Co-presenter: Autism Speaks and Tribeca Film Festival
Discussion with director
The Beloved Ones
Samantha Moore. 2007. 6 min. (Uganda/UK)
US Premiere
This animated documentary tells the story of an African family
affected by HIV/AIDS.
Saturday, November 10
8:30 pm, Program F9
With The Thread of Karma
The Birthday
Negin Kianfar and Daisy Mohr. 2006. 63 min. (Iran/The Netherlands)
Issues of sexuality remain bound to tradition in modern Iran, and yet within this rigid structure, transsexuals find a government supportive of their desire to be reborn through surgery. This sensitive portrait offers a window into the complex issue of sexuality in an Islamic society.
Sunday, November 11
3:15 pm; Program F15
With Our Brilliant Second Life
Co-presenter: ArteEast and Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies at NYU
Discussion with Shiva Balaghi, associate director, Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies, NYU and Karim Tartoussieh, Department of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, New York University
Ghanaian Video Tales
Tobias Wendl. 2006. 60 min. (Ghana/Germany) NY Premiere
Ghanaian Video Tales introduces the genre of African horror movies—and the filmmakers behind it. Since the early 1990s, video technology has drastically changed the African media world, enabling filmmakers to tell their own stories for local audiences. Featuring Ghanaian filmmakers, actors, and producers with on-set observations and clips from some of their most celebrated films, Ghanaian Video Tales follows the creation of the films themselves, from production to projection.
Saturday, November 10
1:00 pm, Program F2
With: Salim Baba
Co-presenter: African Film Festival
Discussion with director
Gimme Green
Isaac Brown & Eric Flagg. 2006. 27 min. (US)
Gimme Green is a super-real look at the American obsession with lawns, and their impact on our environment, our wallets, and our outlook on life. From subdivisions in Florida to sod farms in the arid Southwest, Gimme Green peers behind the curtain of the $40 billion industry that fuels our nation’s most irrigated crop—the lawn.
Sunday, November 11
1:15 pm; Program F12
With El Agua en Tiempos Extras and The Water Front
Co-presenter: Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University
Discussion with director Isaac Brown
Grito de Piedra (Scream of the Stone)
Ton van Zantvoort. 2006. 59 min. (Bolivia/The Netherlands)
US Premiere
Once the source of legendary wealth in colonial days, Potosí’s now economically destitute silver mines have been opened as a tourist destination for visitors to Bolivia. Grito de Piedra portrays a Potosí miner, Gavino, and his son, Pedro, a tour guide to the mines. Depicting their lives in the mines and as participants in a burgeoning cultural tourism industry, this film reveals the enduring power of colonial enterprise to shape life in South America.
Saturday, November 10
3:45 pm, Program F7
With: Stranger Comes to Town
Co-presenter: Cinema Tropical
Discussion with Pegi Vail, anthropologist,filmmaker,curator
Keep the Dance Alive
Rina Sherman. 2007. 75 min. (Namibia/Angola/France)
US Premiere
As part of an ethnographic study, filmmaker Rina Sherman, a protégé of Jean Rouch, lived with the Ovahimba people of northwest Namibia for seven years, documenting the flow of ordinary life. This film shows how music, dance, and spirit possession are integrated into their everyday life, from birth to death.
Sunday, November 11
4:00 pm, Program F18
Co-presenter: The Center for Media, Culture and History at New York University
Discussion with director
Losers and Winners
Ulrike Franke and Michael Loeken. 2006. 96 min. (China/Germany)
Cultures collide in this award-winning verité film, in which 400 Chinese laborers arrive to dismantle a huge, state-of-the-art coke-processing plant in the Ruhr region of Germany. It will be rebuilt in China. As the few remaining German engineers face the facility’s demise and try to enforce strict safety procedures, the Chinese crew struggles with homesickness, 60-hour shifts, and having their pay docked if the work falls behind schedule.
Saturday, November 10
1:30 pm, Program F6
Co-presenter: London International Documentary Festival and Goethe-Institut
Discussion with Patrick Hazard, director, The London International Documentary Festival
The Machine Is Us/ing Us: User-Generated Content
Content from YouTube, WITNESS’ The Hub, and KarmaTube
This program, moderated by Michael Wesch, assistant professor of cultural anthropology at Kansas State University, takes a look at user-created content on YouTube, The Hub, and KarmaTube. Earlier this year, Wesch created a short video, Web 2.0 … The Machine Is Us/ing Us, that quickly became the most popular video in the blogosphere. Other presenters include Sara Pollack, YouTube’s film manager; Sameer Padania, manager of The Hub, a new, participatory website that supports the strategic use of video to address human rights abuses online and offline; Michael Smolens, founder and CEO of dotSUB, a site that has developed unique browser-based applications to facilitate wiki-style volunteer or professional captioning and subtitling of video into any language; Jenny Douglas, co-creator and coordinator of KarmaTube, an online collection of “short, ‘do something’ videos, coupled with simple actions that every viewer can take”; and Silas Hagerty, director of Lusaka Sunrise, a documentary short that focuses on how soccer is being used as a catalyst to spread awareness of HIV/AIDS to youth in Zambia.
Sunday, November 11
4:30 pm, Program F13
Co-presenter: WITNESS
McLaren’s Negatives
Marie-Josée Saint-Pierre. 2006. 10 min. (Canada) NY Premiere
A visual journey into the process of cinematographic creation, this animated essay reveals the filmmaking visions of legendary Canadian animator Norman McLaren.
Sunday, November 11
7:30 pm, Program F19
With Nömadak Tx
Mirror Animations
Harry Smith. 1957. 4 min. (US)
Harry Smith’s prodigious knowledge of mythology and the mystic arts, and the voraciousness of his image gathering, allowed him to populate the screen with a dazzling array of unexpected figures. These animations “mirror” the intricate subtleties of Thelonious Monk’s classic jazz piece, Misterioso.
Saturday, November 10
8:15 pm, Program F5
With The Old, Weird America: Harry Smith’s Anthology of American Folk Music
Co-presenter: Anthology Film Archives
Nömadak Tx
Raul de la Fuente. 2006. 92 min. (India/Morocco/Mongolia/ Laponia/Spain) NY Premiere
World music takes on a whole new meaning in Nömadak Tx, a world showcase of nomadic peoples bound by the journey of two Basque musicians, Harkaitz Mtnez. de San Vicente and Igor Otxoa, who play a tandem percussive instrument, the txalaparta. This unusual instrument serves as a meeting point not only between the two musicians but also between cultures. The musicians travel to remote places, living among the Adivasi people, outcasts in India; the Sami in Laponia; Mongolian people on the steppes; and Saharaui and Bereber people in the Sahara Dessert.
Sunday, November 11
7:30 pm, Program F19
With McLaren’s Negatives
Co-presenter: World Music Institute
Discussion with director, followed by performance by Oreka Tx
CLOSING NIGHT
The Old, Weird America: Harry Smith’s Anthology of American
Folk Music
Rani Singh. 2006. 90 min. (US)
Every fan of American music owes a debt to Harry Smith. Driven by his unique sensibility and passion for authentic, offbeat music, he amassed an unparalleled collection of recordings and brought attention to numerous unrecognized artists. His musical legacy is celebrated here through archival footage, interviews, and filmed stage performances by a diverse group of artists, including Nick Cave, Percy Heath, Philip Glass, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, and Elvis Costello.
Saturday, November 10
8:15 pm, Program F5
With Mirror Animations
Co-presenter: Anthology Film Archives
Discussion with Jonas Mekas, filmmaker and artistic director, Anthology Film Archives
Our Brilliant Second Life
Shelley Matulick. 2007. 6 min. (Australia) NY Premiere
A video short about an Australian couple who spend more of their waking hours as “avatars” in the virtual world than they do in the real world.
Sunday, November 11
3:15 pm; Program F15
With: The Birthday
Praying with Lior
Ilana Trachtman. 2007. 87 min. (US) NY Premiere
This film introduces Lior Liebling, also called the “little rebbe.” Lior has Down syndrome and has spent his entire life praying with utter abandon. Is he a “spiritual genius,” as many around him say, or simply the vessel that contains everyone’s unfulfilled wishes and expectations? As Lior approaches his bar mitzvah, different characters provide a window into life spent “praying with Lior.” The film challenges the way people with disabilities are perceived and received by faith communities.
Sunday, November 11
5:15 pm, Program F16
Co-presenter: The Center for Religion and Media at New York University
Discussion with director
Promised Paradise
Leonard Retel Helmrich. 2006. 52 min. (Indonesia/The Netherlands)
US Premiere
Jakarta-based puppeteer Agus Nur Amal travels to Bali to call to account the individuals responsible for the terrorist bombing of a Balinese nightclub in October 2002. As in his theatrical performances, Agus uses humor to find some meaning in these acts of hate. The results are both revealing and sobering.
Saturday, November 10
6:15 pm, Program F8
With: Scaredycat
Co-presenter: Department of Film, The Museum of Modern Art
Discussion with director and Sally Berger, assistant curator, Department of Film, The Museum of Modern Art/Documentary Fortnight Festival
Salim Baba
Tim Sternberg. 2006, 14 min. (India/US)
Since the age of 10, Salim Muhammad, now 55, has eked out a living screening discarded film scraps for the children in his neighborhood using a hand-cranked projector he inherited from his father. A pragmatic businessman as well as a cinéphile, Salim hopes his sons will carry on his legacy.
Saturday, November 10
1:00 pm, Program F2
With: Ghanaian Video Tales
Co-presenter: Indo-American Arts Council
Discussion with director
Scaredycat
Andy Blubaugh. 2006. 15 min. (US)
Through re-enactment, live action, and animation, the director, a victim of a random act of violence, explores the complexities of fear and anxiety.
Saturday, November 10
6:15 pm, Program F8
With Promised Paradise
Discussion with director
SchoolScapes
David MacDougall. 2007. 77 min. (India/Australia) US Premiere
David MacDougall follows up the “Doon School Quintet,” his series of films about a traditional school in North India, with this film made at the Rishi Valley School, a famous progressive co-educational school in Andhra Pradesh, South India. SchoolScapes attempts to recapture the freshness of observing the world and is dedicated to the simple act of looking.
Saturday, November 10
4:00 pm, Program F10
Co-presenter: Center for Media, Culture and History at New York University
Sleepwalking Through the Mekong
John Pirozzi. 2007. 70 min. (US/Cambodia) NY Premiere
This engaging film spotlights California’s indie combo Dengue Fever as they tour Cambodia with a repertoire of 1960s and 70s Khmer pop classics. Underlying the film’s musical journey is the historical reality of the fate of artists under the Khmer Rouge regime. Fronted by the dynamic Cambodian-born singer Chhom Nimol, the group is an instant hit on their arrival in Phnom Penh, where they set up shows wherever a stage and speakers can be found. There are inspiring exchanges between Khmer master musicians and schoolchildren, all of whom join in at the open-air grand finale. The music melds dance jams, traditional music, and Cambodian licks into a totally unique hybrid pop sound.
Friday, November 9
7:00 pm, Program F1
Co-presenter: Joe’s Pub
Discussion with director
OPENING NIGHT
Stranger Comes to Town
Jacqueline Goss. 2007. 28 min. (US) NY Premiere
This video re-purposes animations from the Department of Homeland Security, combining them with stories from the border, images from the online game World of Warcraft, and journeys via Google Earth, to tell a tale of bodies moving through lands familiar and strange. The director focuses on the questions and examinations used to establish identity at the border, and how these processes in turn affect one’s own sense of self and view of the world.
Saturday, November 10
3:45 pm, Program F7
With Grito de Piedra
Co-presenter: Eyebeam
Discussion with director
Super Amigos
Arturo Perez Torres. 2007. 82 min. (Mexico/Canada)
Outfitted in the regalia of the Lucha Libre, five former professional wrestlers in Mexico City don the personas of superheroes to fight injustice and inspire others within their local communities. With a combination of live action and comic book-style animation, we follow the caped crusaders—Super Barrio, Super Animal, Super Ecologista,Super Gay, and Fray Tormenta—on their mission to protect the underdog.
Sunday, November 11
1:00 pm, Program F14
Co-presenter: Cinema Tropical
Discussion with director
Thirst
Deborah Kaufman & Alan Snitow. 2004. 62 min. (US/Bolivia/India)
NY Premiere of Directors’ Cut
Is water part of a shared “commons,” a human right for all people? Or is it a commodity to be bought, sold, and traded in a global marketplace? Thirst tells the stories of communities in Bolivia, India, and the United States that are asking these fundamental questions as water becomes the most valuable global resource of the 21st century. A character-driven documentary with no narration, the film reveals how the debate over water rights between communities and corporations can serve as a catalyst for an explosive and steadfast resistance to globalization. A piercing examination of the global corporate drive to control and profit from our water—from tap to bottle.
Saturday, November 10
3:15 pm, Program F3
With Village of Dust, City of Water
Co-presenter: Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University
Discussion with directors
The Thread of Karma
Ritu Sarin & Tenzing Sonam. 2007. 52 min. (India) World Premiere
In 1991, filmmakers Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam made The Reincarnation of Khensur Rinpoche (Mead Festival 1992), which followed the search and discovery of a 4-year-old reincarnated lama, Phara Khenchen Rinpoche. Sixteen years later, the directors revisit the reincarnation at Drepung Monastery in South India. The film offers an intimate look at the life of a young lama as he aspires to live up to the reputation of his former incarnation. It also explores his moving relationship with the two people closest to him, his attendant and his spiritual master, both of whom were connected to him in his previous life. By focusing on these ties that cut across lifetimes, the film paints a touching portrait of the Rinpoche even as it demystifies the Tibetan Buddhist tradition of reincarnation.
Saturday, November 10
8:30 pm, Program F9
With The Beloved Ones
Co-presenter: Rubin Museum of Art
Discussion with director Ritu Sarin
Village of Dust, City of Water
Sanjay Barnela. 2006. 28 min. (India) US Premiere
A lyrical and chilling ciné poem about social exploitation over access to water in India, where rural water supplies are redistributed to serve booming cities and other communities are displaced to create dams.
Saturday, November 10
3:15 pm, Program F3
With Thirst
Co-presenter: Indo-American Arts Council and Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University
The Water Front
Elizabeth Miller. 2007. 50 min. (US) NY Premiere
This film provides a critical look at the battle over water in Highland Park, Michigan, a working-class, largely African-American community struggling to keep their water from being privatized. Local activists dealing with economic justice and welfare rights engage in a battle that seems like a gripping, dramatic play as the citizens struggle with the question of how a valuable and essential public resource should be managed in the midst of an economic crisis that silences claims to human rights.
Sunday, November 11
1:15 pm; Program F12
With El Agua en Tiempos Extras and Gimme Green
Co-presenter: Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University
Yeai Hem Reau—A Cambodian Medium
Yasuko Ichioka. 2007. 50 min. (Cambodia/Japan) US Premiere
After a 13-year absence, the pioneering ethnographic filmmaker returns to a village in Cambodia to re-encounter the medium Hem Reau, who was first possessed by a village spirit during the Pol Pot dictatorship. Hem Reau reflects about her life and work, and how she survived the Pol Pot regime, which banned all religious expression.
Saturday, November 10
6:00 pm, Program F11
Co-presenter: The Center for Media, Culture and History at New York University
Discussion with director