GRANITO shows the power and importance of independent documentary filmmaking
GRANITO: HOW TO NAIL A DICTATOR (Pamela Yates, Peter Kinoy & Paco de Onís, 2011)
Film Society of Lincoln Center, Walter Reade Theater
165 West 65th St. at Amsterdam Ave.
Friday, June 17, 7:00; Saturday, June 18, 1:00
Series runs June 16-30
212-875-5601
www.filmlinc.com
www.skylightpictures.com
www.hrw.org
The opening-night selection of the twenty-second Human Rights Watch Film Festival, Granito: How to Nail a Dictator is an illuminating, if at times overly self-referential, examination of the power of documentary filmmaking. In 1982, Pamela Yates and Newton Thomas Sigel made When the Mountains Tremble, which told the inside story of civilian massacres of the indigenous Maya people as government forces and guerrilla revolutionaries fought in the jungles of Guatemala; one of the film’s subjects, Rigoberta Menchú, became an international figure and went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize. “When I made that film, I had no idea I was filming in the middle of a genocide,” Yates says at the beginning of Granito. A quarter-century after When the Mountains Tremble, Yates was contacted by lawyer Almudena Bernabeu, who asked Yates to comb through her reels and reels of footage to find evidence of the Guatemalan genocide and help bring charges again dictator Ríos Montt, whom Yates had met with back in 1982. In researching the case, Yates speaks with Menchú, forensic archivist Kate Doyle, journalist liaison Naomi Roht-Arriaza, forensic anthropologist Fredy Peccerelli, Spanish national court judge Santiago Pedraz, victims’ rights leader and genocide survivor Antonio Caba Caba, and Gustavo Meoño, a founding member of the Guerrilla Army of the Poor, each of whom sheds light on the proceedings from various different angles, from digging up bones in mass graves to discussing redacted documents that reveal U.S. involvement in Guatemala. Several of them are risking their lives by both continuing to fight the government and appearing on camera. Part of the “Truth, Justice, and Accountability” section of the Human Rights Watch Festival, which also includes “Times of Conflict and Responses to Terrorism,” “Human Dignity, Discrimination, and Resources,” and “Migrants’ and Women’s Rights,” Granito, which Yates directed with Peter Kinoy and Paco de Onís and is her sixth film to be shown at the festival, is a compelling look at how individuals can make a difference. The music is often overly melodramatic, and Yates does seem to like to show herself both in outtakes from her first film and in serious poses in the new film, but its ultimate point overrides those tendencies. Granito will be shown June 17 at 7:00 and June 18 at 1:00; both screenings will be followed by a discussion with the filmmakers as well as subjects Kate Doyle, Alejandra Garcia, and Fredy Peccerelli. The June 17 screening will also be followed by a reception, while the June 18 screening will be followed by a special presentation of When the Mountains Tremble (1982). The festival, which runs June 16-30, features nineteen films from twelve countries that deal with human rights issues around the world. Keep watching twi-ny for further select reviews.
Winner of the Palme D’Or at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, Cristian Mungiu’s 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days is a harrowing look at personal freedom at the end of the Ceausescu regime in late-’80s Romania. Anamaria Marinca gives a powerful performance as Otilia, a young woman risking her own safety to help her best friend, Gabita (Laura Vasiliu), out of a difficult, dangerous situation. Their lives get even more complicated when they turn to Bebe (Vlad Ivanov) to take care of things. Cinematographer Oleg Mutu, who shot Cristi Puiu’s brilliant The Death of Mr. Lazarescu, keeps the camera relatively steady for long scenes, without cuts, pans, dollies, or zooms, as the actors walk in and out of view, giving the film a heightened level of believability without looking like a documentary. Set in a restrictive era with a burgeoning black market, 4 Months goes from mystery to psychological drama to thriller with remarkable ease — and the less you know about the plot, the better. Four Months is screening at MoMA on June 17 & 18 as part of the series “In Focus: IFC Films,” which continues with such films as Gus Van Sant’s Paranoid Park (2008), Lukas Moodysson’s Together (2001), Hirokazu Koreeda’s Nobody Knows (2004), and a sneak peek at Errol Morris’s Tabloid (2010).
Winner of a Special Jury Prize at Sundance “for originality of vision,” performance artist Miranda July’s feature-film directorial debut is a success from start to finish, an original, engaging, and utterly charming romantic comedy that is as unique as it is familiar. July, who also wrote the screenplay, stars as a quirky young performance artist who is looking for a relationship in her rather mundane life. She immediately falls for a shoe salesman (John Hawkes) who is separating from his wife and trying to understand his kids (Brandon Ratcliff and Miles Thompson), who are having a strange online dalliance with a mystery e-mailer. Meanwhile, two high school girls (Najarra Townsend and Natasha Slayton) are sexually tormenting a bizarre loner (Brad Henke) who is sexually tormenting them right back, both humorously and dangerously. It’s nearly impossible to take your eyes off of July, whose innovative audio and visual installations and short films have been shown at the Andy Warhol Museum, the Whitney Biennial, the Kitchen, Lincoln Center, the Museum of Modern Art, Union Square Park, and the Rotterdam International Film Festival, among many other prestigious places. Me and You and Everyone We Know is screening at MoMA on June 16 as part of the series “In Focus: IFC Films,” which continues with such films as Kevin McDonald’s Touching the Void (2003), Alfonso Cuaron’s Y tu mamá también (2001), Armando Iannucci’s In the Loop (2009), and Steven Soderbergh’s four-hour epic, Che (2008). MoMA will also present a sneak peek at July’s latest feature, The Future, on July 13 prior to its New York opening on July 29.
Following more than a dozen documentaries, Zero Chou, Taiwan’s only openly lesbian filmmaker, made her feature-length debut with Splendid Float in 2004. The poignant work tells the bittersweet tale of Roy/Rose (James Chen), one of a group of drag queens who perform on a colorful float that plays waterside concerts as it makes its way across Taipei. By day he is a Taoist priest conducting funeral rites, while at night he transforms into a beautiful woman and sings heartbreaking and celebratory songs to a devoted crowd of men who revel in being able to unleash a side of themselves that is usually shunned in public. Roy falls instantly in love with Sunny, a young man who works in a fishing village with his mother but who decides to go on the road with Roy. But their burgeoning love comes to an abrupt halt when tragedy strikes and Roy is forced to reevaluate their relationship. Splendid Float begins with a steamy sex scene between Roy and Sunny that instantly challenges viewers’ expectations as it slowly becomes apparent that it is not a man and a woman making love, nor is it two women, but it is in fact two men. Unfortunately, Chou moves too fast through the rest of the film, which at seventy-one minutes is actually too short, awkwardly jumping from scene to scene without much-needed transition. Once again Chou reveals her tendency toward melodrama, as evident in such other works as Wave Breaker and Spider Lilies. Still, Chou offers a rare look at a part of Taiwanese culture rarely depicted on-screen. Splendid Float also began Chou’s use of one of the colors of the gay pride rainbow flag in each of her films; in this case, she features yellow. Splendid Float will be shown at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts on June 16 at 6:30 as part of the series “Breaking the Waves: The Films of Zero Chou,” which continues June 23 with 2008’s Drifting Flowers and June 30 with 2001’s Corner’s.
