BFF ’16: Borrowed Time (short)

Life expectancy was never that great in the Old West, so it is rather perverse how long this guilt-ridden sheriff has lived to torture himself. That’s fate for you. The lone lawman will finally face his past, even if it kills him, in Andrew Coats & Lou Hamou-Lhadj’s animated short Borrowed Time (trailer here), which screens during the 2016 Brooklyn Film Festival.

The American identity was largely forged on the frontier, so it is frustrating to see the western genre fall out of favor for so long. It is like China decided to stop making wuxia movies or Japan quit making Jidaigeki and Chanbara films. As a result, it is always a happy occurrence when we get a new western, even if it is slightly revisionist and entirely animated. Indeed, those are good things in the case of Borrowed Time.

Coats & Hamou-Lhadj tell a relatively simple story, but the emotions are complex. Borrowed unfolds like a memory play as the wiry old sheriff revisits the scene of his predecessor father’s death years ago. The co-directors have day-jobs at Pixar, where they have clearly stayed up to speed on the latest developments in their film. Their CGI figures are quite expressive and perfectly evoke the archetypes of the Old West. The animation looks terrific, in genre-appropriate kind of way.

Featuring the music of two-time Oscar winning composer Gustavo Santaolalla (whose credits include Hell on Wheels and Brokeback Mountain), Borrowed Time is a quality production all the way around. Highly recommended for animation and western fans, it screens again this Sunday (6/12) at Windmill Studios, as part of the Experiment Edition of the Brooklyn Film Festival.

BFF ’16: China’s 3Dreams

The “Chinese Dream” has become the CCP’s latest new-and-improved propaganda slogan, but for many Chinese citizens it holds deeply ironic connotations, especially for those fully aware of the nation’s chaotic Maoist-era mass movements. Recognizing the gaps in her family history often coincided with the gaps in the official history she learned at school, Zhang Lei set out to uncover the truth about her parents and grandparents, as well as her country, hoping to reach some cathartic enlightenment. Nick Torrens documents the decades-long process in China’s 3Dreams (trailer here), which screens during the 2016 Brooklyn Film Festival.

The troubles and neuroses of Zhang’s family pre-date the Cultural Revolution, starting with her grandfather’s long-term imprisonment during the Anti-Rightist campaign. Even after his release, the patriarch was still so politically radioactive Zhang’s grandmother reluctantly banished him from the family. Her parents did not fare much better during the Cultural Revolution either. The resulting guilt and shame have largely poisoned her mother’s relationship with Zhang.

Yet, the young woman never really understood those grandiose government campaigns that profoundly disrupted her family, so with the help of a supportive cousin, she will seek out eye witness accounts from family friends and other survivors. Unfortunately, the government’s policy of denial will complicate her investigation (as the Party intended). She even finds the only extant Red Guard cemetery in Chongqing padlocked to visitors. Of course, life does not stand still for Zhang during the nearly twenty years Torrens followed her. We also see her organizing her neighbors in Chongqing’s historic district to stand-up to a real estate developer’s strong-arm thugs. Regardless of the context, she is not inclined to accept apathy, which makes the film quite inspiring, in a gritty, unsentimental way.

Indeed, 3Dreams probably could have been four times longer without feeling draggy. It captures a heck of a lot of contemporary Chinese cultural-social-political trends and explains how they were caused by ideological spasms forty or fifty years ago. Of course, it is a great help that Zhang is Torrens’ focal protagonist. She is refreshingly smart, a highly engaging screen presence, and pretty darn gutsy, all things considered.

Torrens also deserves credit for assiduously winning and justifying Zhang and company’s trust. His access was definitely up-close-personal and often extremely revealing. According to the post-screening Q&A, Torrens will only screen the film in China under tightly controlled conditions, with all the participants’ prior agreement. Frankly, with the Beijing International Film Festival essentially in exile, there are virtual no venues to screen an independent documentary like 3Dreams anyway.

Throughout 3Dreams, Torrens adroitly uses the personal experiences of Zhang’s family and their close contemporaries as a microcosm for China in its totality. However, Zhang also consistently proves herself worthy of documentary treatment on an individual level. The truth will not set her free, but it might ease her mind somewhat. The audience will be rooting for her. Highly recommended, China’s 3Dreams screens again this Wednesday (6/8) at the Wythe Hotel, as part of the Experiment Edition of the Brooklyn Film Festival.

BFF ’16: Sweet Dillard

It is hard to believe it has been eight years since the bankruptcy of the International Association of Jazz Educators (IAJE). Frankly, the jazz community has yet to recover from the loss of its annual conference. For the hundreds of massively gifted high school jazz bands around the country, IAJE used to be a golden opportunity to showcase their talents and maybe jam with the legends. In the post-IAJE world, Jazz @ Lincoln Center’s Essentially Ellington competition is now the marquis event for high school big bands. Under the direction of the strict but charismatic Christopher Dorsey, the Dillard Center for the Arts has twice won the competition, but not in 2013. The following year, Mr. Dorsey challenges the band to do better, while giving them invaluable life lessons. Jim Virga documents their 2014 season in Sweet Dillard (trailer here), which screens during the 2016 Brooklyn Film Festival.

Mr. Dorsey had previously taught in predominantly African-American and white schools, so he was well suited for a truly multi-racial, multi-ethnic campus such as Dillard. For any artistically or musically inclined student in Broward County, it is the place to be, in part because of the big band’s success. Mr. Dorsey is not afraid to unleash his inner drill sergeant, but he also knows how to build up his students’ confidence. He is a formative influence on many, including his son.

Rather amusingly, Mr. Dorsey’s son was initially afraid to reveal his plans to major in engineering instead of music, but of course that was just fine with his father. The scholarship probably did not hurt either. Yet, what really matters to Mr. Dorsey is the application of the lessons learned on the bandstand: team work, responsibility, self-expression. (In fact, the son’s desire to help jazz musicians as a successful professional echoes those of the teen protagonist in Nat Hentoff’s Jazz Country, which remains maddeningly out-of-print).

Seeing young, enthusiastic jazz talent is wonderfully uplifting. Virga and his co-producer-cinematographers Susan and Mike Stocker (who happen to be Dillard parents) capture a full sense of the band’s spirit and dedication. They swing mightily, especially by the time they get to the Essentially Ellington (jazz cineastes might also remember the Ellingtonpalooza from Bruce Broder’s CHOPS). It is amazing how fresh Duke still sounds, especially when hungry young players are attacking his charts.

Dillard boosters tastefully make their points about the importance of music education without ever sounding strident or interfering with the film’s flow. Of course, the kids are their best argument. Many come from mean circumstances or chaotic home lives, but most of them will continue onto college, many with scholarships. Although Sweet Dillard runs just short of an hour, Virga and editor-co-producer Konstantia Kontaxis nicely balance student backstories with Mr. Dorsey’s swingingly wise pedagogy. Highly recommended for jazz fans and general audiences, Sweet Dillard screens again tomorrow (6/6) at the Wythe Hotel, as part of this year’s Brooklyn Film Festival.

BFF ’16: Fata Morgana (short)

There is nothing like mortality to rekindle traditional practices. This is especially tragically so in the case of parents outliving their children. It is a pain the Wangs feel even more keenly as a result of China’s One Child Policy. Of course, politics is the last thing on their minds as they prepare for their daughter’s funeral in Amelie Wen’s short film Fata Morgana (trailer here), which screens during the 2016 Brooklyn Film Festival.

For the Wangs, making the trip to America is no small undertaking. Similarly, it was quite a big deal for their daughter Ting-ting to study abroad here. Wen and co-screenwriter-cinematographer Jon Keng never reveal exactly how she died, but it hardly matters. The implications are the same regardless. Although the couple had always been duly modern and materialistic, he is quite surprised by the lengths and costs she will go to in observance of ancient funerary customs. Conversely, she is frustrated by his reluctance to recognize their final opportunity to provide for Ting-ting.

Of course, their arguments are really about deeper issues. More than anything, their bitter exchanges really reflect their pain and grief. It would compound the tragedy even further if their relationship were irreparably frayed, but that is a very realistic potential development that often comes to pass in such circumstances.

Fata Morgana is a smart, mature, and emotionally shattering film that is profoundly forgiving of its all too human characters, even if they aren’t. Wen has a good ear for dialogue and silences (which are more important in this context). She helms with a sensitive touch, serving as an actor’s director for her impressive international cast.

Mardy Ma (from One Child) is scrupulously quiet and understated yet absolutely devastating as the mourning mother. Similarly, Liu Pei-qi (who co-starred in Zhang Yimou’s classic Story of Qiu Ju and Coming Home) is nearly as poignant as the frustrated father, who can never grieve enough to satisfy his wife. As if they were not laying a sufficient beatdown on your psyche, Anita Liao is also incredibly touching as Ting-ting’s friend Momo.

Preferring to concentrate on the raw family drama, Wen never directly addresses China’s One Child Policy, which makes the film even sadder when viewers think about it in retrospect (what’s more, it is reportedly based on a true story). Of course, the Wangs are probably too old for such regulations to effectively apply anymore, but who can say what might have happened in the past, had things been different? It is a real heart-shredder, but it is also an uncommonly lovely piece of cinema. Highly recommended, Fata Morgana screens this Sunday (6/5) and next Friday (6/10) as part of this year’s Brooklyn Film Festival (the Experiment Edition).