It’s beginning to feel normal again.
The week before this year’s Atlanta Film Festival, the Plaza Theatre had two 70mm screenings of “Lawrence of Arabia”. I attended the second screening for my first indoor theatrical experience since September and “Tenet”. It was quite an experience to return to theatres for. And yet, the opening weekend of the Film Festival may have topped it. How is that possible?
Thursday, April 22
Before I begin to discuss the screenings, it’s important to mention the festival’s virtual library. As film festivals have had to adapt in the past year with COVID, and especially because theatres are limiting in-person screenings, virtual libraries have become an important part of a film festival goer’s opportunity to round out their schedule, and the films they watch. The Atlanta Film Festival has also commenced with its Creative Conference, which is entirely online, and normally takes place on Monday-Friday during the day at the Festival. For the most part, a lot of the films with timed screenings are not included in the virtual library- which is available throughout the festival- but several (like “Carterland”, “At the Ready” and “Knock Knock”) will be if you cannot make it to the screenings. All of the short film blocks are available.
In addition to the titles I had previously seen, many from Sundance, there were a few films I caught before the festival started that are well worth watching on the virtual catalog. Alexis Gambis’s “Son of Monarchs” is a fascinating drama about a biologist who returns to his Mexican village for his grandmother’s funeral. The trip opens up some wounds exploring science, faith and the emotional weight of returning home, much less leaving, that are thoughtful and emotional to see from Gambis’s scientific eye; on my review there’s an interview I conducted with Gambis that is worth checking out. Another one was “The Letter”, a documentary about Kenyan elders being accused of witchcraft in order to take their land. That sounds like fiction, and I wish it were, but Christopher King and Maia Lekow’s documentary takes us on a journey as a young man returns home to be with his grandmother, who has been accused of witchcraft. It’s one of the most fascinating documentaries I’ve seen this year, and the interview I did with Lekow is a must-listen to see how stories transform over the time they unfold.
Thursday night marked my first in-person screening of the festival, and it was for the Georgia-flavored short film block, “Rush Hour”. Last year, I did all my short film blocks online, but this year I wanted to do some in person, and the Georgia-based one from 2019’s first night was one of my favorites of that year’s festival. While I wouldn’t put “Rush Hour” on the level of that block, there are some terrific shorts, like a lyrical meditation on small town life in “Toomsboro”; a wicked dark comedy in “Eat Your Heart Out”, though it’s highlight by the uncomfortable and powerful “Angie”, about a teenage girl’s first date, which ranks as one of the best films of any length I’ve seen this year. Brights were flashed in approval at the drive-in screening by all. It was good to be back.
Friday, April 23
Friday is all about the Opening Night Marquee screening. My first Atlanta Film Festival, it was Lulu Wang’s wonderful “The Farewell”; last year, I eschewed the Marquee screening for the fascinating documentary, “In the Cold Dark Night”. This year, it was either Bo McGuire’s “Socks on Fire” indoors or outdoors, and did you really think I wasn’t going to pick the indoor show? With McGuire himself attending? And performances by drag queens? I’m not square enough to deprive myself of that.
“Socks on Fire” is McGuire’s documentary about his family, his dearly departed grandmother whom he called Nanny, growing up in small town Alabama, and the family drama after Nanny’s death that has torn the family into two. McGuire using re-enactments, home video footage and current interviews to help bring this story to life in a soulful and emotional way, but the film is also wickedly entertaining to boot. There’s more than that going on in the film you can read about in my review; needless to say, it’s one of my early favorite films of 2021.
So, about that drag show. Prior to the festivities, I had the chance to talk to McGuire briefly about the film- and you’ll hear that interview during my post-Festival podcast- and his affection for family, and the story he was telling in the film is evident. Before the film, we got the standard introduction to the film and festival, but McGuire- who held out for in-person screenings for a reason- had more in mind. In the film, we learn that his Uncle John is a drag queen, and his sexuality is one of the reasons for the strife initiated by his Aunt Sharon. So, as part of his Festival tour with the film, audiences are also treated to performances by Akasha Gisele Vidalle, SHI and Rock M Sakura, and a special appearance by his uncle after the screening. That’s what we got in Atlanta, at least, and it made for a pretty unforgettable, and special, return to in-person film festival viewing in a theatre.
Future film festivals- your move trying to top it.
Saturday, April 24
It really is great to be back in the Plaza’s indoor auditorium. After the Opening Night extravaganza, the theatre was quiet ahead of its 4pm short film block, “Face to Face”. This was not as strong of a block as we got from “Rush Hour” on Thursday; too many of the shorts were too slow and vague to really connect (although “Five Tiger”, which I first saw at Sundance, did improve on rewatch). That said, the two shorts in that block that did land with me- “Anita” and “Girl and Body”– had a lot to offer in unexpected and emotional ways.
After a dinner break, I took time to relax before my second screening, also at the Plaza. When I first went over to schedule, Charlie Officer’s “Akilla’s Escape” stood out as a film I was most interested in, and it did not disappoint. While the thriller story is perfunctory, the film is a literal character study about Akilla, who was recruited when he was younger as a foot soldier in the drug business. He is now older, and even though marijuana is legal now, he’s wanting out. But when he subdues a teenager during a robbery that reminds him of his younger self, he starts to reflect on his own life. Akilla in the present day is played by Saul Williams, the slam poet who movie audiences were first introduced to in “Slam”, and it’s one of my favorite performances of 2021 so far. He shows wisdom and compassion that really captures the character in the moment, rather than just making him a cliche; the film is also available on the virtual catalog, as well, if you want to catch up with it.
Sunday, April 25
So, a funny thing happened on the way to the Atlanta Film Festival.
As I was driving downtown for my two screenings Sunday, I got into an accident. No one was hurt, thank goodness, and my truck was still drivable (it got me back home), and fairly unscathed on the outside, but seeing as though I was already going to be late to my first screening the moment it happened, I figured I would cut my losses, and go home. That said, the festival’s virtual catalog- and my access to press screeners- meant I was still able to watch both of my intended screenings that night.
Jared Callahan’s “Clean Slate” might be the most anxiety-inducing documentary about making a movie ever made. Normally, the making of a short film wouldn’t necessarily necessitate a feature-length documentary, but when the creators of the film are in recovery for substance abuse, and a misstep or relapse means more than just a missed opportunity to fulfill their dream of making films, the stakes are rarely higher. Callahan met Josh and Cassidy at the Atlanta Film Festival five years ago, and when they reached out about documenting this, I wonder if he had any idea the twists and turns the story would take. The film not only provides insight into the struggles of true independent filmmaking, but the difficulty people with substance abuse problems have in not just staying sober, but also making a living afterwards. For a film festival where empathy always feels like an important part of the best films they program, few films embody it more than “Clean Slate”, which is available on their virtual catalog.
Skinner Myers’s “The Sleeping Negro” is a bit more of a challenge for audiences. White audiences, at least. For 73 minutes, Myers puts his protagonist (whom he played himself) through moments of racism- both systemic and direct racial discussion- that are uncomfortable and fascinating to watch. The film feels like a nightmare the protagonist is experiencing, but is unable to wake up from. This was a drive-in screening I was to be attending, but I would be curious to see it with an in-person audience- I can imagine the reactions being all over the place, and no one forgetting it after they watch it.
That is all for the first weekend. I will have more about the weekdays on Friday, as well as reviews throughout the week, heading into the final stretch of the festival. I hope you enjoy!
2021 Atlanta Film Festival – The Reviews
“Alive”
“Raspberry”
“At the Ready”
“Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It”
“Strawberry Mansion”
“Marvelous and the Black Hole”
“Sons of Monarchs”
“A Fire Within” (Review on 4/30)
“Snowy”
“The Letter”
“Limbo”
“Socks on Fire”
“Akilla’s Escape”
“Clean Slate”
“The Sleeping Negro”
“Landlocked”
“Firstness” & “Frankie” (Short)
“Profile” (Review Embargoed Until 5/11)
2021 Atlanta Film Festival
Annoucement
What to See, Where to See It
Opening Weekend
Viva La Resistance!
Brian Skutle
www.sonic-cinema.com
