{spotlight} feature reports

Covering film, interactive and music, South by Southwest (SXSW) functions as an integrated festival and conference as it embraces key contributors and distributors from the global entertainment industry over a ten day period. Allegedly, from having been a fairly regional affair, SXSW Film is a place where filmmakers, webheads and music people, in increasing numbers, go to show and sell their work. Not meeting as much media attention and industry hype as Sundance and Cannes, the SXSW film event also this year managed to come out of the hectic activities with its reputation intact as a cosy place to network, make deals, and get insightful info from movers, shakers and makers.

Both in or outside the huge Austin Convention Centre (ACC) there is a constant ongoing buzz. Packed panels with lively Q&As should be enough to satisfy the most eager buff, but just outside in the hallway, one-to-one tuitions occupy one end of the lively hangar, while softcore networking schmoozes in the other. Impressive trade shows help to solve the more technical related queries. On top of it all, films screen in five different venues for the full ten days, over sixty music venues feature up to seven live acts per night (and God knows how many during the day), and should you prefer sane coffee drinking to the numerous launch or show-off receptions that take place throughout SXSW, Austin's many IT related companies keep their doors open.

Only setback is that the conference could successfully integrate on an even firmer level. Surely, a logistical nightmare, but for starters by not closing the film and interactive trade show before the music traders move in with a completely different set of offerings. Secondly, you need different passes to enter all three events - a luxury only few (and journalists like myself) can afford to enjoy. So though 'Platinum' cards make you ridiculously busy, and incapable of engaging in only a tenth of what you really want to do, it's worth it. Early entry offers favourable fees (www.sxsw.com), so anybody considering attending should go there to make the best of this ten day fest possible.

As a first time SXSW delegate, this trip can mostly be described as a successful way of familiarising myself with the content, knowledge and diversity on offer. For starters, the extensive directories are invaluable as reference tools and bursting with contacts, which, on top of the personal relationships I managed to establish by simply being there, enables me to prepare myself, and others, even further for those required future visits.

Panels Day by Day

Sat 10 March

Cinematography vs Digit-ography

Panellists
Penelope Spheeris - (Wayne's World, Decline of Western Civilisation I-III, and latest Ozzfest doc, We Sold Our Souls for Rock 'n' Roll),
D.A Pennebaker - (Don't Look Back, Down From the Mountain, etc.)
Lynne Stopkewich - (Kissed, Lilith on Top)
Drew Mayer-Oakes - Digital Film Group - moderator

Quickly it became evident that the 'versus' was not really there. Within the past couple of years, all three panellists have embraced the digital formats, as used in Timecode 2000, Dancer in the Dark and, partly, in Traffic to their full extent. None of them are prepared to look back. The days of the Aaton are numbered and everything from the smallest kit (Kodak has $300 pocket digi-cam out in US in couple of weeks) up to HD is king. Video is commercial and potentially adds aesthetics and quality to a stale industry.

So what was there really to talk about? Well, lots of anecdotes, musing shooting experiences, and chatting about how privileged they all feel being able to do what they're doing was enough to entertain a film fest hungry audience.

Pennebaker: 'The first time I put my eyes to a HD lens, I felt like being in the movie theatre'. Shooting digitally, ultimately, gives you more freedom since you are no longer limited by the 10´ tapes. Talking of shooting with a mini DV: 'It's like the cam is injected into me - I can do absolutely everything I like. Even formatting from video to 35mm is getting so good that it'd be a matter of preferring horses to air planes if you force yourself to go down the traditional route.'

Talking about digital narrative features, the panel agreed that what might look as 'flat performances' on screen should not fool you cause when blown up to film or reworked in post, the intimacy of acting with a small crew and kit really stands up and enhances performances.

Shooting digital is an uphill battle though since studios don't accept digital as yet. Spheeris: 'Only now are they beginning to accept hi-def (HD), which I'm using to shoot some night scenes in my current feature production.' 'It's only a matter of time though until it takes off, and people will get used to the look, which just is better'. (Michael Mann is shooting scenes for his recent feature Ali for Columbia, and Star Wars: Episode II is shot entirely in hi-def).

Stopkewich argued the point that shooting digitally, still poses the big question whether you're a 'real' filmmaker if you don't trouble yourself around with tonnes of kit.

Other problem is to avoid visual diarrhoea and to end up with far more footage than you need which results in a nightmarish edit.

Stopkewich: 'For Lilith on Top we shot 400hrs and had 2-300 hrs archive.' Post production lasted for over two years, and the heavily eye-bagged editor, who showed up at the premier later during the week, proved her point.

Some advice:

Stopkewich: Do tests on which cams to use before even pitching. Decide what you're going to do for post which will make decisions easier.
Spheeris: Get somebody in to do the transcriptions for you.
Pennebaker: Do as little research as you can before start filming - just shoot.

Dollars for Docs

Panellists
Oren Biten - VP HIQI Media
Paul Stekler - Director
Patrick Wickham - Dir of Production ITVS (funding agency)
Jane Minton - Exec, IFP North (Minneapolis based funding agency) - moderator

Stekler, who also lectures at UT (Uni of Texas), set out an 11 point guide to successful funding application:
1 Use waiting time to consider whether this film should actually be made or not. Does this have an audience? If you keep getting bad or no feedback, maybe it has to go.
2 Answer questions in application form in compelling way: WHY are You doing this film and for whom?
3 Get intimate on a human level with the people you wish should fund you. Don't act the filmmaker all the time;
4 Read the guidelines properly;
5 Meet the staff of the funding agencies - they might not be the decision makers, but they're the ones shifting the piles around;
6 Copy from successful applications to get tone and subject right;
7 Write an early draft of the application and show it to the funding people - what do they think?
8 Take the writing very seriously. Spend time researching audience, distribution, previous films dealing with subject matter, etc;
9 Use letters of support. Why are people impressed with you?
10 Include a sample tape. Use DV to give anybody a feel of your film, shoot and edit 3-4 min for your own money. Do it as a Hollywood trailer - why do you wanna watch the rest of this?
11 If unsuccessful, find out why - and realise that panels are likely to change from year to year.

ITVS has been working as strong supporter of Am docs since 1988, and are involved in making 30-40 films per year. Has made a total of 250 for PBS and fund up to $170k per show - but then also require all rights - especially if made for PBS. European films are accepted but either producer or director must be based in the States, and content relate to US audience.
Referring to Stekler's points, Wickham said: 'We won't show anybody's applications to anybody.'
Most important advice: Do a realistic budget - see to that you pay people for starters (a point that created havoc among the audience), and make sure to include potential in-kind deals. 'If you do us a sample tape, we're not interested in sample footage from locations but in characters, sense of narrative + include footage of previous work. Queue up your strength.'
ITVS don't do acquisitions.

The panel then went quite dull, with no bigger revelations than, it can be a lonesome and hard ride to get any film going. [Aha!]
Guidelines and more info: www.ITVS.com

Sunday 11 March

Case study: 405themovie.com

Panellists
Filmmakers/ CG mavericks
Jeremy Hunt &
Bruce Branit

Great two hours on how basement enthusiasm turned calling card into creative freedom.

To show off their abilities as computer graphic designers, these guys wanted to make a short film and publish it on the web. Already working full time in the industry, they basically took out ninety late nights, spared $300 (of which half went to a parking ticket) and uploaded the 3 minute wonder (yes the one with the plane crash landing on a highway and on that one unfortunate car - or two actually - that failed to get the message) on their website in June last year. To this day at least 3m people has checked into www.405themovie.com.

Today the guys pick and choose projects from big Hollywood producers who want them to come on and save their production big bugs. Where the two guys had sealed lips as to which stuff they've actually been commissioned to do, this was not the case when telling about this most compelling process.

Even if you don't know anything about CG (computer graphics) they made this fascinating stuff - though the Q&A tended to go into too much detail in terms of which software was used for this and that particular sequence.

405themovie consists of 62 shots in total. Out of these 43 are partly generated with CG, and 19 of these are CG only.

The success of 405 should also be a wakeup call to everybody doubting the efficiency of viral marketing and web distribution. But most of all it's a story of big production producers nearly breaking into tears when they realise that these guys could've saved them $250K - the prize of clearing off a driveway for a scene in Godzilla. With CG all of a sudden everything seems possible - even for the low budget end of film production.
Visit
www.405themovie.com

The Dangers of Digital

Panellists
Scott Stewart - VP The Orphanage (prod and post focused on producing digital features and shorts for theatrical as well as web and TV distribution)
Tara Veneruso - Dev producer, New Wave Films (has production arm that solely focuses on digital production)
Joe Leydon - Film critic Variety - moderator

Leydon: 'Are we gonna get worse films because it's for anybody to pick up a DV and start shooting?'
Veneruso: 'Nope. Compare it to painting - everybody has always been able to go away and play around with colours - but only so much will ever interest an audience.' According to her, digital filmmaking is to be seen as massive creative freedom. One that puts even more focus on the key to every strong film, the story. 'Celebration is not an aesthetic pleasure, but still one of the most amazing films ever.'
Veneruso compared '01 to the conference in '94 where everybody was at SXSW looking for money. 'This has all changed - now people are here to look for a bit of gap funding - films are getting made.'
Stewart: 'We still get insulting attitude from Sundance. Only two years ago, were we allowed to submit our entries digitally. This year 40% of all doc submissions were digital (and a fourth of all features) - however, there are still not enough theatres prepared to show a video.'
Proof of change though is that this year at Sundance, the best film, Tape, was shot digitally, as were Southern Comfort and couple of other highly acclaimed pics.

A discussion followed on the fact that most people watch film on TV/ video and not in the cinema. Some agreement was reached in terms of making 'small movies' look like 'big movies'. 'Every film should look like cinema - even on VHS. It's important not to confuse video with bad quality,' Stewart emphasised.

Tests were shown from Allison Anders' latest feature, Things Behind the Sun, which was entirely shot on DigiBeta and Sony VX1000. By using a post prod software tool created by The Orphanage, Magic Bullet, what looks cheap and not particularly inspiring cause of the harsh video look, is added depth, texture and, even, acting quality in post. The showcase proved it right.
Advice: Light your movie properly and underexpose a bit if shooting on video.
Do research on post before start shooting - get advice from facility houses.
Shoot on PAL (awright then)
For info on post production check out www.newwavefilms.com
www.theorphanage.com
www.inside.com for background

Broadband Strategies

Panellists from NBC Internet, Net 36, Generic Media, Scient

Brief summary: U2 don't need a label anymore - neither does NBC. But will be approximately five years until we see the structures and business models that guide the TV market in place for the web.

I. Model for TV: First network was guided solely by advertising (apart from PBS); next came cable which is sponsored by monthly flat fee; eventually Premium channels arrive which are paid for by user on a per channel fee.
II. Model for web: first was only narrowband sponsored by transactions; next arrived broadband which improved transaction capability; latest arrival will be premium channels paid on a per channel fee.
III. Future revenue model the same: t-commerce and interactive advertising.
Problems? Technology is ahead of the law as recently seen with N.
'Why don't we look to Europe - where they are far ahead in terms of micropayments for gambling, etc?'

The global burst of dot.com balloon showed in a panel like this where a certain weariness was evident. To comparison, last year, internet firms filled over a third of the SXSW trade shows. This year, only a fifth were dot-coms, and were generally referred to as the 'net survivors.'
(Facts on US broadband market pending).

Monday 12 March

Interactive/ Enhanced TV

Panellists
Cathy Hetzel - Concerno
Mark Mullen - Ultimate TV (Microsoft's Interactive TV channel)
Gabriella Marks - texter.com
Sam Register - Cartoon Network Online
Alexandra Scott - PBS Interactive
Mellie Price - Sapient - moderator

Brief summary: eTV is going through same pattern as the web: First the hype, then the frustration, then realisation and creation of an actual community. Right now eTV is in the hype stage.
eTV is not taking off in the States to same extent as in Europe. Same problems apply:
1 There is no killer app as yet to solve the multiple platform issue - this doesn't suit either advertiser or consumer. At least nine different platforms just now which all require different software (set top boxes, etc) to run. (In the UK we count four at the moment. Figure is on the up).
2 Business models still not in place in eTV world for the 'I want Jennifer Anniston's sweater - so I click and buy' to exist. Too many mouths to feed in that chain (advertisers, content developers, distributors, broadcaster, Jennifer) to be feasible for the consumer.

Interesting panel that managed to boil up some fierce discussion on back of present author's tiny question as to why not a subsidiary model similar to the one exercised by UK broadcasters have not been attempted with US audiences to enhance the take up of eTV. Well only Microsoft has been able to afford this venture that cut the price of the Ultimate box to half of its $1500 retail price. Doesn't exactly please the other lot. (as comparison, a TiVo box comes in between $300 and $700).

Also debated was the same controversy as caused over the Beeb here when the public service provider PBS announced that it would spend millions of dollars developing interactive content.

Predictions for US eTV market:
t-commerce will be bigger than e-commerce by 2004
By now only 6.9% digital households in the US (23.6 in Europe). By 2005, 58.3 US digi households (69.7 in EU)
Globally, $25bn in eTV revenue by 2005.

Register: 'All figures are shit - by all predictions, amazon.com should be making money now.' Cartoon Net will, cause games is the future for the generation growing up (who are likely to adopt the X-box (from MS) as soon as it shows. Allows all access online from TV).
Mullen: 'Set top box to go with Ultimate records up to 35hrs is close to the TiVo box (records up to 60hrs), but ours is capable of recording interactive content on its vast harddrive.' (Experience from UK iTV developers is that harddrives keep crashing and that super set top box does not exist as yet, which is why VoD (Video on demand) might win this controversial, and inexhaustible, battle).
Marks: 'If you want to learn about interactivity - watch Timecode 2000 - it's all audio driven - and soon you'll be the one editing what content you want to access.'

Notes:
What was not brought into the panel's debate is the fact that TiVo has just launched major PR deal with AOL Time Warner and Murdoch has recently bought DirecTV (Microsoft's broadband venture). In addition to the, eventually, signed deal between AOL and Time Warner, this is a major indicator in the shaping of the future digital landscape. News Corp will undoubtedly use BskyB's successful subsidiary of set top boxes to create a US digital community. By making access affordable to the masses, cross platform broadcasting is set to become huge in US soon.

So: Content, content, content, often referred to as info, news and entertainment (heard that one before!), is in demand, and European content providers should look for work now and boast of their experience, however narrow and fresh.
For more info
www.sapient.com
www.ultimatetv.com
www.cartoonnetwork.com
www.pbs.org
For other info:
www.tivo.com
www.directv.com
www.inside.com
www.statesman.com
Revolution magazine
Brill's content mag
Red Herring mag

Making Shorts or How to put your Business card on VHS

Panellists
Gill Holland - CEO CineBLAST!
Tommy Pallotta - Producer
Kent Osborne - Screenwriter
Bart Weiss - Director Dallas Video Festival - moderator

Opening comment from chair: 'In US there's no market for short docs. None whatsoever, apart from PBS'.

Holland started distributing drama shorts cause it is so big in Europe. Thinks US must learn the art form from here.

General agreement that everybody should just get on with producing shorts and stick them on a tape.
Advice: Shoot on DV, edit on iMovie. No need to blow it up to 35mm. And if you do, doesn't matter whether original format is 16mm or DV.

Music Documentaries

Panellists
Penelope Spheeris - Dir
Lynne Stopkewich - Dir
Doug Pray - Director Scratch
Mark Olsen - film critic - moderator

Not present was Sharon Osbourne, the founder of Ozzfest on which Spheeris masterpiece We Sold Our Souls for Rock 'n' Roll is based.
So how do they do it?
Spheeris: 'I get some slaves in to write out all material and then I cut and paste from transcripts and hope the pics are OK.'
Stopkewich: 'Well for Lilith (on Sarah McLachlan's last touring festival with female acts) we had 15,000 logs, so I started reading a book about how to cope with all this material (700 hs of footage). Then I started breaking it into a narrative feature - into acts.'
Pray: 'Time is always going to be your enemy, but since we shot Scratch on 16mm it made the post a whole lot easier.'

By shooting 'traditionally' of course you get close to a scripted doc which is very far from the Pennebaker approach of doing no research whatsoever before start shooting. But hey, the results are equally mesmerising.

Tuesday 3 March

Post-production

Panellists
Esther Robinson - Prod/Dir Creative Capital
Herb Bennett - Editor, Metropolis Editorial
Polletta - Director
Mathew Johnson - Editor
Anthony Bregman - Producer - moderator

Summary: The more that is shot on DV the more goes into post prod, which makes the post process more expensive and more complicated, even for gorilla projects. Producers and directors must be technologists these days, or nothing will come out right. Format rarely kills a film. If anything, a film kills a film.

Investing in a 35mm print is often not necessary anymore and it can save you up to $50K to avoid it.
Robinson: 'We released The Last Broadcast entirely digitally by encoding to mpeg and then transferred to five different theatres simultaneously.' A bit like VoD (video on demand), only difficult set-up that is not possible to do successfully as yet because the infrastructure is not in place.
High end projection is mentioned to be the biggest problem and, again, Sundance was criticised for not corresponding to the prod community whatsoever. Is getting better though.
Bennett: 'People come to us with a variety of formats and often sound becomes the major issue and really needs sweetened up which is very time and money consuming.'
Polletta: The animation we did (?, won prize at Sundance) never left the PC; images were generated there and eventually edited on Final Cut Pro.'
Advice:
Avoid using cam mics (Clerks redid whole soundtrack prior to distribu-tion).
For desktop editing, Pro Tools better than Final Cut Pro - especially for sound.
Swiss Effects is the preferred transfer facility from digital to 35mm.
Research the transfer houses. Robinson: 'Pick worst two minutes of your film and let them show what they can do with it.'
Bennett: 'Don't sell your rights to a website - they often require global rights for five years, and you have no opportunity to go in and enhance number of hits or control your film.'
For more info:
Survey on 'DV to 35mm' from AIVF (Ass of Indie Video and Filmmakers - Marie has copy - but must be online)
www.hypnotic.com
www.creative-capital.org
www.editorialmetropolis.com
(info on web distribution from CC is pending).

Translating Your Hollywood Skills to the Web and vice versa

Panellists
Bruce Eisen - Exec Cinemanow.com
Thomas Scoville - Writer Silicon Follies
Jeff Find - Producer wildbrain.com
Katherine Jones - Dir Milkshake Media
Frances Preve - Concerno - moderator

Summary: Web is a great democratic forum to validate creative quality - and with Kodak's forthcoming pocket 20 fps/ mp3 player for $300, it will really soon be for Everybody to put their stuff to the test.

Discussion generally more intellectual than factual. However, another cry for that business plan that can make web content profitable was made. Still web production is not working (pseudo.com latest example of non-solvent content provider and webcaster).

Find: 'We must stop living in this Blair Witch fairy tale - cause only happens one out of a million times.'
An intellectual superbrain with idealistic means, Scoville, is only in it [that web] for the social experiment. But that might be easy to state when you have made your bug, and an 'N' weary, hungry dot-com bust audience fed realistic turn off and over stories to the board. Examples do exist of communities paying up. When ISP was in financial crisis, blogger.com, they cried for help and immediately managed to raise several thousand dollars among its users to increase their browser space.

The subject of the future of films on the web was briefly up for discussion, and it seems that people like Eisen is only touching the tip of the iceberg when tapping into online pay per view of huge catalogue. Equally successful is Netflix, an online subscriber service that let you have up to ten DVD releases out at any one time.

The emergence of broadband is of course set to change this whole game all together, as people can then also stream features and not solely rely on their set top box or the postman to do the job. Again, VoD is set to challenge this whole set up, when Sony rolls out service in the months to come. Austin is part of trial at the moment.
For more info:
[Scoville: follies.com]
www.cinemanow.com
www.wildbrain.com
Inside magazine, March edition.

Post Napster - the Future of Entertainment

Very dull. Notes insufficient. Main point made from global online copyright guru Mark Hardie, ETC Music (ex Forester Research, specialising in mp3 and the web) that, business models are not in place as yet. They are, however, likely to be based on a model where people pay their ISP to give them access to services (will try to get a clearer answer from Hardie on this one). Regardless of their nature, swapping from one economy to another is never an easy task.

Especially in the workplace, file sharing has been in swing since the invention of the PC. 'What Napster is doing is not much different from the web in general - so why are people so upset,' Hardie asked.
Many content creators in the audience seemed to agree on the point that if only Napster would ask whether it would be OK to freely distribute their tunes on the web, they would have no problem whatsoever.
Hardie is on the case to solve the business plan/ general digital copyright issue.
For more info on ETC
www.musicteller.com

Indie Labels and New Media

Chaired by UK hero Gavin Robertson (ex PRS New Media, now Association of Indie Labels in UK), proved to be a fast track to frustration. With Napster in turmoil, where are musicians and copyright holders to go next with new kids on the block, (like freeserve.net) that use remote servers, can not be tracked and hence prosecuted?

Most important question: Are the use of new media only used to promote old media?

Most important case study: Daft Punk releases on Virgin, but managed to hold on to digital rights when signing five years ago. Today, at DP's expense, buyers of CD get a smart card that gives them access to exclusive upload from DP once a month - this can be a track, a game, a video, a streaming video clip, etc.

Unfortunately, I managed to miss out on quite a number of equally important panels and keynote talks. Especially the issue of distribution and hand-on demos of equipment was cancelled out by the constant overlapping of panels - up to twelve to choose from every two hours.

Feature Films

The Journeyman

(US, 2001. World premiere). Dir James Crowley. Prod Brunson Green
Low budget western shot on 16mm for a, very confidentially quoted, tight $3m (£2.1m) budget in the north Texan deserts by Austin first time feature writer/director James Crowley.

Amazing take on antihero aspect of the western genre so far most successfully taken on in Unforgiven, The Journeyman grasps for the roots of the endless frontier myths of the wild wild past - of a west inhabited by unemployed elderly disabled halfwitted alcoholics as it winds into a psychological tale of cause and effect in its hunt for 'the devil', a morphinist, who played by Brad Hunt gives competition to Gary Oldman in some of his scariest performances.

Tilsammens / Together

(Sweden 2000, Regional Premiere) Dir. Lukas Moodysson. Prod. Lars Jonsson
Won the audience award for best international feature. A pleasure to watch dry Scandinavian humour work on an overall American audience - totally tapping into the hilarious struggling and battles of an early 70s hippie community dealing with love and relationships, gender, heated politics, the colour of flares, etc.

Shining performances all over, especially by the kids, who really manages to transport the pain experienced by many an offspring during their parents' 'revolutionising' attempts at reinventing themselves and the world in a single stroke.

Low Self-Esteem Girl

(Can, 2000, US Premiere) Dir/Prod. Blaine Thurier
For some inexplicable reason this digital narrative feature won the award for best film. An achievement that probably comes down to some recognition of the fact that its director also wrote the script, produced, filmed and edited the story. In other words a maverick. And is he now? Possibly, but time must tell, since this film is no proof of his skills - only of his unquestioned determinedness.

The story of a young girl trying to cope with some nymphomaniac features cloned with New Christian sectarianism is quite funny but, unfortunately, it is also quite weak and rarely compelling. The mission she is on, trying to realise that she is more than a body with no brain, is not resolved simply by giving her a forceful closing remark.

The fact that the 'actors' are not actors, and the dialogue relies on their improvisation skills, makes it all a highly unconvincing project. Of course, it's not even worth mentioning that the sound was absolutely appalling and the 'light your movie properly if shooting on DV' must be a concept unknown to this brave chap.

Never Again

(US 2001, World Premiere) Dir. Erik Schaeffer. Prod. Terence Michael, Fawn Wolfrom, Bob Kravit
Amazingly confident film, mostly, hilariously but also very touchingly describing the attempts of people in their mid-fifties not to repeat past failures in the love department.

The two veteran actors Jill Clayburgh and Jeffrey Tambor bring all you can wish for to a production that brought a full house to their knees at the opening night. - Whether the tears were caused by laughter or because the film touched that self-reflective, e/motional note doesn't really matter, this is an overall brilliant piece of cinema & hopefully the producer's cry for distribution is no longer necessary.

Documentary Features

The Decline of Western Civilisation

(US 1980) Dir/Prod. Penelope Spheeris
Affectionate look at a west coast punk culture gone bonkers (as seen in the '97 sequal) or gone altogether.

Punks back then had a mission and, however deeply covered in drugs and booze, a clear message of denying society per se, by attempting to create an alternative community. [blah blah blah].

Interviews with fans, kids, venue owners, intercut with tonnes of, luckily subtitled, live footage from gigs with the unsung heroes of the time, Black Flag, X, and Fear makes this a document in its purest sense.

The Decline of Western Civilisation III

(US 1997) Dir/Prod. Penelope Spheeris
A sadly escalating body count (two of the punks of this latest Decline, are now dead), proves many points that are hinted at in this thought provoking series of films. Cause what is left of message and young struggle in the punk movement, here shows as anarchy gone stylish but also painstakingly self-destructive.

Spheeris uses the same technique of letting people talk to her and her camera in a naked room only lit by a single, showing, light bulb. In this stripped environment, meticulously, she homes in on her subjects and their issues in an efficient fast cut technique that allows most to answer her questions, like 'So, where will you be in ten years?', until the most disturbing or honest answers are let to cool your spine as her camera goes hunting in the gutter for more sad proof and characters.

Arguably, it's an easy fix Spheeris chases in rating the gap-gifted psychological cases over the not so eloquent. However, regardless of whether you decide to write the whole bunch off as self-styled loosers, still you're left disturbed by the images and the stories about abuse, teenage alcoholism, anger, pain and homelessness in the city of angles.

We Sold Our Souls for Rock 'n' Roll

(US 2000, Regional Premiere) Dir. Penelope Spheeris. Prod. Sharon Osbourne.
Though many people on this planet regard Ozzy Osbourne and his Black Sabbath posse to be devils in disguise - as well as cannibals, killers, rapists - actually, Ozzy is God. If you don't believe me, wait for this convincing doc on the cult surrounding the hard metal scene as BS travels the state in the company of fellow hard rockers on the '98 Ozzfest Tour. It wasn't only the entertainment value in trying to decipher what Ozzy himself actually tried to say that got me - anti metal me - desiring to be there Now, kissing his feet. Rockumentary at its best.

Karoke Fever

(US 2000, World Premiere) Dir/Prod. Arthur Borman. Dir Steve Danielson, Adam Bardach
Observational docusoap at its worst, which exhibits a number of outcasts for whom the highpoint of this life is winning the, in LA, locally acclaimed number one competition Karoke Fest. The film goes behind the scenes and follows arbitrary characters - from the cowboy to the Celine Dion wanna-be from the initial competitions through to the grand final battle for glory at some dodgy LA hotel.

Karoke Fever tries hard, but not hard enough to draw a line between the, arguably, innocent fly-on-the-wall approach, and to actually describe, maybe understand, the motivation behind these, most often, sad peoples' struggle to reach the regional top.

Most inexcusable is the way it draws an uneasy line between portraying the efforts going into winning this competition and scoring cheap points on slotting its subjects into definable, comic stereotypes. I.e. here's the disabled faggot with his 'friend' - oh no, 'his friend is his new manager'...Your laugh somehow gets stuck in your throat.

Maybe none of the characters are that great anyway, so you don't really care though. Say, if more of them could actually sing, it might be worth its 91 mins.

Down From the Mountain

(US 2001, World Premiere) Dir. D.A. Pennebaker, Chris Hegedus, Nick Doob. Prod. Bob Nuwith, Fraser Pennebaker.
Impeccable behind and on stage doc featuring the musicians behind the bluegrass tunes that makes O Brother Where Art Thou? as they gathered for a pre-release show in Nashville early last year.

A bit too much the Family this and that to make me sit out the full concert - but enough absolutely stunning songs performed by a cancer-ridden John Stanford and backstage sneaking into Emmylou Harris bag to make it enjoyable. Songs that, most unfortunately, are not included on the film soundtrack which I rushed out to buy straight away.

Lilith On Top

(Can 2001, World Premiere) Dir. Lynne Stopkewich. Prod. Jessica Fraser, Dean English
Following the last of three major Lilith Fair tours, this film focuses on the organiser, Canadian popstar, Sarah MacLachlan, as she struggles her way through three months on the road promoting female artists. Lots of amazing live footage of the likes of Pretenders, Sheryl Crow, Dixie Babies, etc, but also lots of superfluous babble that only manages to add halo upon halo to Ms MacLachlan's already majestic ego.

No subject is funny, clever, warm, sweet, talented and chummy to the extent that you'd want to watch them conquer truckloads of hearts for hundred minutes. Half, or none at all, would have done it, and a beautiful music film could have been left.

Scratch

(US 2000, Regional Premiere) Dir. Doug Pray. Prod. Brad Blondheim, Ernest Meza
So so cool doc on the history of turntablism.

Keepintime: Talking Drums and Whispering Vinyl

(US 2000, Regional premiere) Dir. Brian Cross. Prod. Mochilla Films.
In memory of Earl Power, superb short that introduces jazz' biggest drummers to scratching talent in an interactive live environment where expressions and Music eliminate the need for words.

Revolution OS

(US 2000, World Premiere) Dir/Prod. JTS Moore
A very linear story of what can potentially bring MS to its knees. Though not the most entertaining subject (the development of Open Source operating systems/ Linux), nevertheless worthwhile getting familiar with, practically incomprehensible, detail from super brains, who, successfully, manage to crack their reputed dryness.

A line-up of nerds, who cannot hide the fact that they are living inside their computers, philosophise on how ideology has become big business. Only the founder of the OS Movement, west coast hippie, Richard Stallman, slightly disappointed is left with his ideals uncorrupted.
For info on directors, filmographies, etc:
www.reel.com

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