SHINES AGAIN
June 2006
The Substitute
Directed by
Asa Blank & Johan Palmgren
The Substitute is a seemingly small story following the struggles of young teacher in Sweden through several months of a school year. Max teaches at school with tough group of kids, mostly immigrants, and experiences lots of trouble with discipline. With no support from the headmaster or his fellow teachers, and finding his patience dwindling, Max seeks out advice from his mentor, Folkke, a man nearing 70 but still teaching. A loving instructor but strict disciplinarian, Folkke decides to see what the school is like for himself, visiting as a substitute. Is Folkke’s teaching method more successful than Max’s? Blank and Palmgren don’t take sides: sometimes just getting a student to smile can be a small miracle.
DOCS: Rx
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Nina Gilden Seavey at the podium announcing the winner of the DOCS Rx: A World of Documentaries on Global Health segment of SILVERDOCS. |
Local award-winning filmmaker Nina Gilden Seavey chaired the "DOCS Rx: A World of Documentaries on Global Health" strand of this year's SILVERDOCS festival. An award was given to the film that used cinematic storytelling to best depict the complex issues surrounding the subject of global health. This year's winner was The Blood of the Yingzhou District directed by Ruby Yang. Yang chronicled the story of a young Chinese AIDS orphan as he struggled to find a home and the film had its world premiere at the festival on June 14, 2006. Seavey was the festival director for the first SILVERDOCS in 2003.
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Ann Murray Paige (in pink) gets a rousing round of applause after the screening of "The Breast Cancer Diaries," a story of her struggle with breast cancer. |
The Breast Cancer Diaries also appeared at SILVERDOCS as part of the DOCS Rx segment of the festival. Directed by Linda Pattillo, the film chronicled the emotional and physical struggles of Ann Murray Paige, a 38-year-old mother of two young children, as she undergoes treatment for breast cancer. As part of their commitment to community outreach, SILVERDOCS producers filmed testimonials by 36 local residents whose lives had been touched by breast cancer. Twenty-one of their stories were edited into a short segment shown before the screening of The Breast Cancer Diaries.
Walking to Werner
Directed by Linas Phillips
There are small miracles, big miracles, epiphanies, and moments of utter despair in this remarkable film. This work was inspired by Linas Phillips’ idol, Werner Herzog, the German director of Burden of Dreams and the widely acclaimed Grizzly Man, screened at last year’s festival. Herzog walked from Munich to Paris to visit a dying friend, so Phillips decides to walk from Seattle to Los Angeles in hopes of meeting Herzog there, filming his journey, and shaking off his personal psychological malaise.
The film is a look inside the mind and soul of the young filmmaker as he experiences the gamut of emotion: joy, bitter frustration, fear, and desperation as the sheer monumental effort of such a long, arduous walk takes its toll. Along the way he meets fascinating characters who seem to give him the strength to continue. Does he meet Werner in the end? It almost doesn’t matter.
Addicted to Oil: Thomas L. Friedman Reports
Directed by Kenneth Levis
While Phillips tells a highly personal story, Addicted to Oil tackles a big problem. A global problem. A New York Times reporter poses the question: If we as a society are addicted to oil, what’s the cure? In a lively, hour-long film, Friedman goes about finding some answers. He looks at the hydrogen fuel cell car; the use of wind farms; and the hybrid car and how it can be made even more efficient through the use of a plug-in. He takes a trip to China to see how the world’s most populous nation approaches sustainable growth as a necessity. And he looks at no-cost solutions such as energy-efficient design. He wonders what is standing in our way: the big automakers...or government?
The Last Waltz
Directed by Martin Scorsese
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Jim Jarmusch and Martin Scorcese |
This film has no sweeping social purpose: it just wants to entertain. Martin Scorsese’s 1978 music documentary is the granddaddy of all concert films, recording the all-star farewell of The Band as they take their bows and leave the world stage. Surprisingly intimate and compelling, The Last Waltz is a kind of time capsule and a preservation of wonderful performances and interviews with legends Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Muddy Waters, and Bob Dylan.
Al Gore comes to SilverDocs
By Vicki Warren
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Al Gore greets SilverDocs participants as he arrives at the AFI Silver Theatre on June 15 to give the keynote speech at the International Documentary Conference. Held in conjunction with SilverDocs, the conference included four days of seminars examining the future of filmmaking and documentary storytelling. |
Al Gore, fresh from starring in An Inconvenient Truth, a film about his efforts to promote environmental change, was one of many special guest speakers this year. Gore’s remarks focused on the role of communication in the past and the impact filmmaking will have on the future.
Introduced first by Montgomery County Executive Doug Duncan and then by Discovery Communications President and CEO Judith McHale, Gore also introduced himself. He told the audience, “I’m Al Gore, and I used to be the next President of the United States.”
He delivered a steady stream of jokes, poking fun at the changes in his lifestyle since leaving public office, including the “phantom limb pain” he now suffers when he looks in his car’s rearview mirror and realizes there is no longer a motorcade following him.
But his real message to the very responsive audience was that “in order to solve the climate crisis we face, we must first solve the democracy crisis we are in.”
Gore’s speech included a historical look at times when “questions of facts became questions of power,” including the current situation in the United States where, he stated, those in power are altering and suppressing facts.
Our greatest wealth, he said, is “a shared, common understanding of the world around us” and that the time has come to return to “the rule of reason.”
The Heart of the Game
Directed by Ward Serrill
SilverDocs kicked off this year with a special area premiere screening of The Heart of the Game on June 5. The film was seven years in the making. When director Ward Serrill first met Bill Resler, the coach of Roosevelt High School girl’s basketball team in Seattle, he was was impressed by the unorthodox methods he used to inspire the girls on the team. He knew that he had found a subject in the tax-professor-turned-coach who used tactics such as asking the girls to pretend they were a pack of wolves when they played. After Serrill began filming, Darnellia Russell joined the team and they began a journey that none could have foreseen. All three were on hand for the premiere, along with Washington Mystics owner Sheila Johnson.
Jesus Camp
Directed by Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing
 Local filmmaker Rachel Grady (above, at left) returned to SilverDocs this year with fellow producer Heidi Ewing (right). Their highly touted film Boys of Baraka was the audience favorite at last year’s festival. Grady and Ewing worked feverishly to complete their next project, Jesus Camp, in time for this year’s SilverDocs and received the Sterling Award for their efforts. The film looks closely at how the newest generation of Christian evangelicals is being raised to view their faith and those outside their religion.
Soweto Blues
Directed by Firdoze Bulbulia and Faith Isiakpere
At Silver Spring Plaza on June 16, SilverDocs presented the world premiere of Soweto Blues. The film depicts the struggle of South Africans against apartheid, as seen through the eyes of the musicians who have been vital in the fight for a democratic society.
Immediately preceding the premiere of the film, The Mahala-Township Jive Band, of South Africa, entertained the crowds of moviegoers and other locals in Silver Plaza. Click here for pictures.
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