The report on covering the red carpet for SHARI AND LAMB CHOP at DOC NYC

On Saturday I met Lamb Chop and Mallory Lewis, who took over being Lamb Chop’s companion. It was a day of craziness, only some of which I can share. I say that because there were a couple of things that were kind of outside of the public view that should remain there.

The meeting was the result of my covering the Red Carpet for the World Premiere of the film Shari and Lamb Chop about Mallory’s mom and her best know buddy.

I arrived early at New York’s Village East and after trying to find out where to go I was shuttle down stairs where I met Barbara Okun, Shari Lewis’s sister and a woman, who I have completely forgotten  the name of. We fell into a conversation about Shari, Mallory and Lamb Chop. Mostly I was asked to take pictures of the ladies with each other and Mallory because they wanted a keepsake.

Mallory arrived and we fell into a conversation. After instructions on how to shoot Lamb Chop she produced one of my heros from childhood and I began to lose it. It isn’t often you get to meet some you admired as a kid and have them turn out as something wonderful as you hoped. I got a kiss on the cheek and then had to pause taking pictures as I was overcome with emotion. (SadlyI never had the opportunity to get a picture with Lamb Chop)

I was shooting pictures like crazy with the family and kibutzing with them. It was delight.

And then we were all called over to the Red Carpet…. And then it got even crazier as the family and friends was expanded by the filmmakers, PR people, City Officials, members of the press and assorted other all wanting to have their picture taken with Mallory and Lamb Chop. I shot pictures of everyone, even after the other photographers  stopped.  I had to because Lamb Chop kept yelling to me..”Are you getting these pictures Steve?”  How could I not?

While I was hoping to get an interview with Lamb Chop it didn’t happen because too many people wanted to meet the little one. DJ Biggs started an interview that probably ran five minutes and took the netter part of an half an hour to do because everyone pulled Lamb Chop away. Yes the Festival got a minute long interview but that was because it was a just over a minutes.

Eventually everyone got pulled upstairs to the screening.

I didn’t go because I didn’t have a ticket and while I know I could have gotten into the Q&A I went home instead since I could get home at a reasonable hour if I did. (I got home about the time the Q&A would have ended)

Yes I am leaving details out. Partly because I don’t remember a few things, but mostly because some of it was just interacting “with family” . (None of it was bad)

I had a blast. Everyone was so welcoming.

While there is much I will remember about that night, I will always have the memory of Lamb Chop calling to me by name to make sure I got the shot. There is something magical about that.

They Shot the Piano Player (2023) opens today

An animated documentary with an injection of  narrative THEY SHOT THE PIANO PLAYER is nominally the  story of Francisco Tenorio Jr., a Jazz pianist it is also the story of the Bossa Nova the politics of military take overs. Structured to follow the fictional magazine writer Jeff Harris (voiced by Jeff Goldblum) as he works on a book on the Bossa Nova before switching to the story of Tenorio Jr. who disappeared one night while running to get sandwiches, never to be heard from again. 

This is a good documentary from directors Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal who made the Oscar nominated CHICO AND RITA. It is vibrant and alive. Full of eye popping colors and endless music. It's a trip into another time and place, as well as warning about the dangerous of a repressive government.

To be honest as much as I like the film I find I think of it more as a narrative than a doc. It's not that it's animated, rather I think it's simply that the narrative structure over whelms the central mystery. Yes the film is telling a real life tale, but everything around it overwhelms the tale. The fiction of Harris' journey becomes the story not Tenorio. Additionally the story of the history of the Bossa Nova also pulls us, making us want to know more about that as well. I suspect had I known more about the music I wouldn't have felt to need more about it.

Reservations aside I really liked this film and want the soundtrack.

Recommended.

Wendy Feinberg on LIV ULLMANN: A ROAD LESS TRAVELED (2023) DOC NYC

Before I watched the film LIV ULLMANN: A ROAD LESS TRAVELED at its premiere at DOCNYC, I was aware that Liv Ullman was a well-known European movie star who appeared in a number of Ingmar Bergman’s films. But I came to find out that that this now 83 year old, stillbeautiful woman, is so much more. The film is peppered throughout with interviews from well-known personalities, including Cate Blanchett, John Lithgow, Daniel Day Lewis, Jessica Chastain, and even former Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger.

The film is divided into three chapters, with about the first half of the film devoted to chapter one, “The Actor”. It delves into Liv’s early life — born in Japan to Norwegian parents, then leaving Japan for Toronto before the Second World War and finally moving to their homeland of Norway. It was a joy watching Liv in the present day, recounting how she told the story of The Little Match Girl to her mom’s friends, recreating the story with such expression and childlike wonder, which, according to her, planted the seed for her to become an actress. It takes us through the disappointments and triumphs of her acting career, finally being discovered by iconic Swedish director Ingmar Bergman. She then stars in a number of Bergman films and becomes “Bergman’s Muse” as quoted by actor John Lithgow. We see emotional clips of her roles in PERSONA (1966), where at 25, she plays the part of a middle-aged woman, to the Swedish film about refugees, THE EMIGRANTS (1971), for which she was nominated for an Oscar. She appears in a comedy, 40 CARETS (1973), is the only woman in the Hollywood- made A BRIDGE TOO FAR (1977) and gives an emotional performance in SCENES OF MARRIAGE (1973). Interviewee, Cate Blanchett states that Ullman’s performance in the film has served as her “acting master class”. Also, we learn that in 1977 Liv writes her first book,Changing, from which, in the doc, she reads emotional and extremely personal passages with her gentle and beautiful Norwegian-accented voice.

In Chapter Two, “The Storyteller”, we begin to see more of Ms. Ullmann’s pursuits beyond her role as an actor. She begins to write for newspapers, as mentioned above, writes a book(which becomes widely successful everywhere but in Norway!) and writes her own script, SOPHIE which she also directs. It is monumental when she is asked by Ingmar Bergman to direct a few of his films, being the only woman who has ever done so.

Finally, in Chapter Three, aptly titled “The Traveler”, we go beyond the scope of acting,directing and writing to her life as an activist, bringing her from places like the border of Cambodia, where she participated in a Freedom March to protest the treatment of the Cambodian refugees; from an orphanage in Sierra Leone, to the floor of the US Capital to speak about refugee children, and also to speaking at President Bill Clinton’s Inauguration outside the Capital Building. It was extremely heartwarming to find out that while at the orphanage in Sierra Leone, Liv saw a teenage boy named John who looked so sad. She relates seeing him to the sadness she has felt at times in her own life, and ends up taking John under her wing. She brings him to the UK, where he proves to be a brilliant student and ultimately makes a good life for himself. It is wonderful him now living in the UK with a family and kids, who call lovingly call Ms. Ullmann “Grandma Liv”.

This film is a wonderful portrait of a caring and compassionate woman who is so much more than a famous actress. The story is told by her with both emotion and humor, and by others with so much love and respect for her work, both on and off the screen. I highly recommend this film as an exemplary example of a life worthy of learning from and of living!

Wendy Feinberg's Photos's from the RAINBOW WARRIOR DOC NYC screening

Center: Director Edward McGurn
Right: Moderator Thom Powers
Left: Founder of original Greenpeace Foundation, Rex Weyler
And someone’s stupid hat!!!

A final few from DOC NYC: KOKOMO CITY (2023) and BOAT PEOPLE (2023)

KOKOMO CITY
This is the story of several trans sex workers as told by themselves.

The first thing you need to know is that after you hear the opening story you are going to be hooked. While what follows isn't that bat shit crazy, it is deeply moving. There is a reason the film has become a festival favorite and that it tells it's story straight on and with out any varnish.

It should also be noted that the ability to tell these stories right is why we need diverse filmmakers. Sure a straight person might have been able to tell this story and pry the tales out of the tellers, but I have no doubt that the fact that direct D. Smith is trans allowed the women to open up faster and more fully than had that not been the case.

This is a gem of the film

BOAT PEOPLE
Filmmaker Thao Lam relates the story of her mother's escape from Vietnam via an analogy with the resilience of ants.

Small jewel of a film will carry you along for most of it's run time in an seemingly by the numbers way. It isn't until we get to the final moments of the film and we are told why Lam's parents left their home country that the emotion hits us like a wave. Of course that's the reason....

An absolute joy and very recommended

INTO THE SHAOLIN (2023) DOC NYC 2023

 

Serbian PH.d student serves as our eyes into a Shaolin Monastery in China.

Completely beautiful portrait of the monastery and it’s teachings. It’s a look at a place that has been made legendary by countless martial arts flick.

Stunningly beautiful, this is in many ways a 90 minute commercial for the monastery. Its full of perfectly framed martial arts demonstrations and heading philosophical discussions. This is a film that is going to play in countless Asian Film Festivals because it is the movies made real.

I was for the most part entranced for the whole run time. While I was kind of disappointed in that it didn’t reveal anything I hadn’t seen before, it did delight me in that it took me away from New York for 90 minutes.

Recommended

ASHIMA (2023) DOC NYC 2023

Portrait of teenage climber  Ashima Shiraishi as she prepares to make a climb in South Africa that no one her age has ever completed.

Good, but kind of by the numbers portrait of a young woman being trained by her father to do a near impossible climb. While Ashima holds our attention, as she should the film falls into a typical pattern  for similar films. While this doesn’t hurt the film, it simply becomes noticeable since Ashima herself is such a compelling person we kind of want a form that is as exciting as the young lady herself.

Definitely worth a look, especially if you a fan of climbing films (this has some great visuals so see it big)

Recommended.

Radio Bingo (2023) DOC NYC

Radio Bingo - Official Trailer from 383 Pictures on Vimeo.

This is the story of a radio station which incorporates the Mohawk language into their weekly Radio Bingo games.

Wildly too short-the film is under 9 minutes- look at the game and the efforts to keep the language alive. This is a big story in too small a package. While the film is funny and moving there is more to tell. This is a hell of a tale and needs to be expanded. I wanted to know more about everything at every turn.

That said this film is a blast. The reactions to not winning Bingo will make you roar.

This film is a delight and highly recommended.

BULL RUN (2023) DOC NYC 2023

Director Ana Ramón Rubio becomes obsessed with cryptocurrency and makes a film about crypto as a way dealing with her addiction.

This is an interesting look at the crypto craze from a different perspective, that of an addict. While I have always though crypto was a suckers game owing to there literally being nothing behind it and it being subject to massive manipulation, I have several acquaintances who live and die by the crypto market and I see Rubio’s madness in them.

While I could do with never seeing another crypto film, BULL RUN kept me watching simply because of it’s perspective.

Worth a look if the subject interests you.

Wendy Feinberg's ELECTRIC CIRCUS DOC NYC Photos

 Standing with mic: Director Larry Confino

Moderator: Karen McMullen

On end near her: weird puppeteer

Next to him: body painter

Next two: not sure what they did

Last Repair Shop (2023) DOC NYC 2023

A portrait of the instrument repair workshop of the Los Angels School  District. Its the place kids send their instruments to get repaired.  We get to know the kids who play the instruments and the people who repair them.

Certain to be in the Oscar mix, LAST REPAIR SHOP is going to put a smile on your face. This is a whole bunch of people who love what they do and their passion bleeds off the screen. It will make you feel good and it will make you feel wonderful things.

That's all you need to know.  You just need to see this. 

It's wonderful

DOC NYC Short Films: WHITNEY HoUSTON IN FOCUS, BEHIND THE MASK, SLICE OF GOODNESS and JUST STORY HOUR

WHITNEY HOUSTON IN FOCUS
This is a look at the early career of Whitney Huston as told by photographer Bette Marshall who was the woman who shot Whitney before her rise and during the early days. While there have been way too many films of late on Whitney, all telling the same story, here at last is a new take that gives us a side of Huston we haven't seen before. Recommended

BEHIND THE MASK
A man who was imprisoned by the Chinese for being a member of the Uyghur minority, and is now living in Norway and helping others like him, is given a chance to speak to one of the guards who held him. Will he do it? If he does what will be the cost?

This is an excellent look at how we deal with trauma and we chart a course toward healing. It's a solid and thoughtful film that will make you wonder what you would do in the same situation 

SLICE OF GOODNESS
Excellent but wildly too short film about the owner of Champion Pizza in NYC.  This is a great film, but running at around seven minutes you want more. There is so much more to this story that this is much too short. I want a longer version

JUST STORY HOUR
Portrait of Harmonica Sunbeam and her time at a Drag Queen Story Hour.

A lovely film about a wonderful person and a reason why the people who are against Drag Queen Story Hours are out of their minds. Clearly anyone who is against them have never attended.

With luck this film will change some minds.

THE KIND STRANGER (2023) DOC NYC

ASMR is "autonomous sensory meridian response". It describes the tingling sensation in that happens in response to  triggering audio or visual stimuli.  It usually appears in regard to the videos that are all over the internet where people speak low and calm and make a variety of sounds. I don't get it, but I kind of understand why some people love it.

 HE KIND STRANGER  is about ASMR influencers. We watch them do what they do and listen as they talk about it.

As some one who doesn't seem to get the sensations I'm left to wonder why this a feature. Other than being able to listen to various sounds, there isn't much here.  I was interested for a while but then I realized that  after a bit there wasn't much here because there simply was nothing for me to react to.

If you react to ASMR this is worth a look, if not you'll be wondering why this was ten minutes long.

Between Earth & Sky (2023) DOC NYC

A look at biologist Nalini Nadkarni who studied the canopy of trees. After falling in 2015 she turned her gaze upon her self.

This is a good look at a wonderfully enthusiastic woman. Its a film that will get you to fall in love with life and trees and the wonder of the world.

Running a much too short 25 minutes I groaned at the end because I wanted to spend more time with Nadkarni. Actually what I wanted to do was pepper her with lots of questions.

A charming film that is going to play PBS on POV

One With The Whale (2023) DOC NYC 2023

This is a film you must see on the big screen. Trust me. That opening shot is going to mess up your head and make your jaw hang open. What looks like stones at the bottom of a river is revealed to be huge blocks of ice on the ocean  between which a small boat is navigating.  From this simple setting of the scene, this film drops us into a small community on St. Lawrence Island where the islanders struggle to survive. It’s a simple tale with images the like of which we’ve not see before.

This film is a stunner. It’s the sort of small scale human story that Hollywood spend millions on, you know those epic films of regular people in eye exploding places that are Oscar bait? With ONE WITH THE WHALE it’s real. We are in a spectacular looking place where people live.

And beyond the visuals we have a group of wonderful people. This portrait of a community is one of the best I’ve seen in a long time. Shot as if we were one of the group we are pulled in and carried along. Life truly seems to be unfolding before us. Too often when watching similar films the camera and the crew seem to be slightly outside the action, we are not fully part of things. As good as Frederick Wiseman’s observational films are we are observing, we are not participating Directors Peter Chelkowski and Jim Wickens has us participating. It’s glorious since it makes everything that happens that much more involving - even when characters hug- we really feel it.

What an absolute joy.

This is a truly great film- you need to see this.

RIDERS ON THE STORM (2023) DOC NYC

This is easily one of my favorite films of DOC NYC. It’s one of the most beautiful films I’ve seen in 2023 and it’s a film I am hoping to see again on a big screen because the images are so stunning I need to lose myself in them a second time.

This film is the story of Khaiber Akbarzada who is a champion player of buzkashi (a game involving a goat carcass) in Afghanistan.  As he is rising higher and higher in the sport the Taliban is coming crashing back into power. Forced to contend with the social changes that it brings on every level, and having a status that makes him a possible target Akbarzada must decide what to do to sat alive.

I’m not going to lie, this is a good sports bio made great by a slightly different subject and some of the most amazing cinematography I have ever seen. There is a tactile quality to the images that make you feel what you are seeing. Tryst me what is on screen is some of the most eye popping images you have ever seen with the images taking on a painterly quality. I dare your jaw not to hang open.

This film blew me away.

I have no idea what to say other than go see this on as a big a screen as possible, your eyes will thank me.

Highly recommended.

Short DOC NYC 2023 reviews: AL DJANAT - THE ORIGINAL PARADISE, FAMOUDOU KONATE - THE KING OF DJEMBE and HAPPY CAMPERS

AL DJANAT - THE ORIGINAL PARADISE

Director Chloé Aïcha Boro returns to her homeland, Burkina Faso to record what happens in the wake of the death of an uncle. The resulting film is an interesting look at a society that most of us are not aware of. 

 

FAMOUDOU KONATE - THE KING OF DJEMBE
A look at the djembe drum through one of the greatest players in the world. This is a solid film for lover of rhythms that make you move.

HAPPY CAMPERS

Chincoteaguein Viginia was a place that campers went to every year to hang out with friends. The friends became family and the the time down by the sea was the place everyone one felt best. However time and tide happen and the land was sold and the campers of the title have one last summer to enjoy the place they felt most at home.

Bittersweet tale of great people spending the last days with their defacto family. It’s a good time with good people.

Wendy Feinberg's photos from THE TRIALS OF ALAN DERSHOWITZ DOC NYC screening

 

ROJEK (2023) DOC NYC 2023

After the fall of the Islamic republic in Syrian Kurdistan the filmmakers interview members of the group and their wives.

Even keeled and very trippy film is a look at how a demonized group of people see the world. It’s a trip to a world that is completely and totally unexpected since for the first time I, and I’m guessing everyone in the audience will be really seeing how this group of people see the world and not in skewed two minute clips from TV news. The view is both more sympathetic and kind of sad in that we get to know these people, and when you step away from the extremist views, seem like nice people. It’s sad in that in listening to them you realize how their world virews have been controlled and manipulated by their leaders, something that is revealed in things that are said like talk of wizards.

I found I was haunted by the film for several days after seeing the film because it opened up the world in completely new ways. The certainty with the way I see the world was shaken and I once again was forced to realize the world is not how I see it. It’s a realization that we all need to make since in a world where hate and mistrust growing, we need to build bridges between differing view points and films like Rojek will do that.

Highly recommended. This is one of DOC NYC’s most important films.

HOW TO COME ALIVE... WITH NORMAN MAILER (2023) DOC NYC 2023

This is a Showtime biography of writer and provocateur Norma Mailer. Weaving his copious interview with interviews with those who knew him the film brings Mailer thrillingly to life. He becomes something more than the sum of his parts and I got the feeling that how I felt coming out of the film was something closer to how I would have felt had I met him.

What I love about the film is that we get both a sense of the man, his thoughts and his writing. With some people it’s all the same but with Mailer there was always a bit od shading depending on where he was and whether he was on or not.

I enjoyed the hell out of the film, and to be fair I need to revisit it. Seeing the film in the festival crush I I realized that was missing things. That said I can’t wait to wade back in.

This is an excellent portrait of a man who shaped the time he lived in in.

Recommended