Tuesday, October 02, 2007

IFP: A Girl and a Gun


There were some interesting looking documentaries addressing topical issues at last months IFP, and some that looked dreadful. I refrained from posting on them, because for films of that nature really need to be screened in their entirety. There were promising films on Afghanistan, but without the full story, it is hard to pass judgment on ultimately how compelling the narrative is and how fairly the subjects were treated by the filmmakers. I do want to catch up with one topical film, A Girl and a Gun, which delves into the relatively unexplored topic of women gun-owners.

Based on the twenty minutes screened Gun does not fall back on stereotypes or tired party lines. One woman we meet is a social worker who probably looks to the world like a typical Upper Westside liberal (in truth her politics were not revealed in the clip), who happens to be a recreational shooter. She herself seems somewhat surprised by the apparent contradiction in her lifestyle. We a gun magazine professional say something gun-nutty one minute, and then something insightful the next. We briefly meet two mothers, one who campaigns against handguns, the other who used a handgun to protect her daughter.

From the brief screening, Gun seems to be fair to its interview subjects and nuanced in its approach to the issues of gun rights. Predictably, this hilariously provoked many in its first screening, who found it “biased” for not uniformly conforming to their prejudices.

Again, it is impossible to pass judgment on just twenty minutes of film, but in this case of A Girl and a Gun (trailer here), it was sufficient to demonstrate great potential. I am definitely looking forward to seeing the finished film.