THE SPANISH PAGES (Part 3)

PART 3 - SATURDAY: “Theories and Notions”

We had breakfast with Justin and Mike of New Mexico, of course there are only 5 or 6 Americans at this festival and one of them is also named Mike. Justin directed a documentary called ABSENT, which Mike had been Music Supervisor on. We had met them the day before, and they were probably the filmmakers we had clicked with the fastest. At first I attributed this to some sort of pack mentality of grouping up with other Americans. By the end of the day, however, I would come to realize how grossly inaccurate this theory was. 

We were joined by Stefan, a German writer-director who I had also met the day before. He had made a short film called KABAMIR. Justin was interviewed before me on Talk Radio Europe and Stefan was interviewed immediately after me. I was already interested in Justin’s film, simply based off the synopsis. Stefan and I got a chance to talk while Justin was doing his interview, and I honestly felt like he asked me better questions about “Chronicles” than the host of the radio show did. I kind of wish someone had been recording that conversation, I sound a lot more together when I’m talking to another filmmaker. Also at joining us for breakfast was Cecilia, an Italian filmmaker who lives in London, she had produced the short film PART OF ME. Donan and I introduced ourselves and so the day began.

It was a light-hearted breakfast, mostly an exchange of perplexing stories from everyone’s arrival in Marbella and the strange Guide who gave everyone the low-down on transvestites, prostitutes and hen-parties. Cecilia had gone through the same customs drama with her DVDs and posters that I had experienced a few weeks prior. Our posters & films had gotten stuck in customs in Madrid, and since the festival had not provided anybody with a phone number it was near impossible to efficiently communicate and resolve the matter. The solution, for both of us, was to send duplicates of everything with a competing shipper (Note to reader: Use UPS, FedEx is evil). Eventually, the original packages we had shipped were released and we both knew that somewhere in this city, probably in this hotel, there were 2 extra posters for each of our respective films.

I was determined to get my posters back, and now I had a partner in crime. Although I almost made a fatal error when some deep subconscious trigger in my mind was pulled, and before I even realized it, I was soon humming Simon and Garfunkel’s “Cecilia” as we exited the restaurant. I learned from a girl named Layla long ago that you really shouldn’t do that. Cecilia shot me a look, Donan let loose an endearing chuckle, and we made our way to the screening rooms.

The day was filled with films, back to back to back to back. With simultaneous screenings in two rooms all day, and a mere 10 minutes in between screenings, it was impossible to see all the films. If you skipped lunch, dinner, or both you might be able to see 80% of the short films. However, all the features and documentaries only showed once. So, at best, if you skipped all the short film programs you might be able to make 50-60% of the feature-length films and the handful of shorts which would show prior to a feature.

Donan and I almost sat through an entire day of films. In typical film festival fashion, there were a handful that were brilliant and a handful that were horrendous. The highlights of my afternoon:

 ABSENT (director: Justin Hunt) SYNOPSIS: From the award-winning director of AMERICAN METH comes a documentary that will undoubtedly lift the veil of how and why a father's absence can be so devastating.Because one man makes a world of difference.TRAILER: http://www.absentmovie.com/

KABAMIR (director: Stefan Najib) SYNOPSIS: Abandoning the harsh family life with his single mother for an imagined fairy tale world, an introverted boy makes a horrific discovery in the family house's attic: His fantasy monster Kabamir is for real - and hungry! TRAILER: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-i8W0hkF4A

 

IN THE COMPANY OF WOLVES (director: Iesh Thapar) SYNOPSIS: An ominous curse materializes to change Rita's life forever. Plunged into a world of torture, imprisonment and sexual exploitation, Rita battles desperately to overcome her predicament. TRAILER: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQQLnwkxcB4

Now, around 4:45pm the constant movie watching, hand shaking, and shuffling between screening rooms on empty stomachs had begun to take its toll.

There was a feature at 5pm that we both wanted to see, but our brains were pretty fried. So we took a break, Donan called his wife while I tracked down a cheeseburger. Yes, yes, I know what you’re saying, “But, you’re in Spain!” I wanted some real Spanish cuisine, believe me, but our hotel was surrounded by English pubs and Italian restaurants. Authentic Spanish food was a good hour trek away and seafood paella only served on Sundays. Besides there was a pub across the street which I had on good authority made a decent, cheap cheeseburger.  So, I sat down for a late lunch, had me a Guiness and recharged.

The closing film of the evening was 180°, by Mexican director Fernando Kalife. SYNOPSIS: Salvador Diaz is a skilled conman. For most of his years, he cheated others for a living... until he cheated the wrong man.  TRAILER: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=At1CSn4KABY

I absolutely loved it. I’m a big fan of modern Mexican cinema, and have an affinity for ensemble cast movies where a lot of characters are only slightly connected by some theme or event which the film explores. Sure, there were a couple things I didn’t completely jive with, but that’s going to happen with any film. There’s always one character, one scene, one line, or one shot that you just think “Eh, not so sure that was a good idea.” But the film was great, and as the credits rolled, I leaned over to Donan and whispered, “if that film wins Best Feature I will leave this festival a happy man.” Donan concurred.

That night’s party was at a pretty atrocious bar. As we pulled up in the cab a man dressed like the doorman at the best hotel in London opens our car door and says, “Good evening, gents. Right this way.” So much for Spanish culture... I headed for the bar, Donan secured a table, and we settled in for the evening.

Granted, we didn’t know that we were settling in at the time, but soon we were joined by Cecilia and Iesh, who knew each other from London. The moment we learned Iesh had directed IN THE COMPANY OF WOLVES Donan and I immediately started going on about how much we liked the film. Stefan appeared shortly after that and we went on and on about how much we liked his film as well. We hadn’t seen Cecilia’s yet, nor had anyone seen our film yet (but we could all agree that we liked each others’ posters). Everyone seemed keen on Justin’s documentary, although we didn’t see him at the bar that evening. I recognized a handful of other filmmakers at the bar, but they were people who I had met briefly, maybe we’d told each other about our films and exchanged postcards, but there was no real connection made. A couple of their films I'd seen, and didn’t really dig them.

A massive conversation was sparked, starting off with films we’d seen that day but evolving into conversations about cinema as a whole. Cecilia and I discussed the female point of view in Justin’s documentary (which focused more on fathers and sons), our conversation crossing Donan and Stefan’s discussion of lead “starring” actors and their versatility in other roles. Everyone at the table would occasionally get distracted from the conversation they were engaged in by overhearing some remark from their neighbor. I learned Stefan didn’t like 180°, but absolutely loves BACK TO THE FUTURE. Donan and Cecilia enlighted me to an Italian film IL DIVO (which I watched the day after I got back to the states), and Iesh convinced me that I should give Lars Von Trier’s film, ANTICHRIST, a shot (even if it's only to be dazzled by the opening scene).

The entire night, not a single person mentioned the marketability of any film. There was no discussion of target audiences, or the need for a celebrity or studio in order to get your movie greenlit. In fact, I don’t think anyone said the words “green light” the entire conversation. We talked about old jobs and adventures because they made for good storytelling, not as an excuse to slip our résumés into conversation. It was a exactly the type of dialogue about cinema that I rarely have in Los Angeles anymore. With the exception of a few people I met in college (when we were still idealistic about the whole process) I’m not sure it was like any conversation I’d ever had about cinema in Hollywood. It was devoid of everything I disliked about the movie industry and contained everything I loved about movies.

It was during this conversation that I realized why Donan and I had taken a liking to Justin and Mike so quickly. It was the same reason that we had now sequestered ourselves in a corner with Iesh, Cecilia and Stefan. It had nothing to do with Americans, or even English speakers (granted Stefan is bi-lingual and I don’t speak any German, but you see my point). Simply put, we befriended the people whose films we enjoyed. What interested me was the fact that I liked Justin and Cecilia before I ever saw their films, and I didn’t really know Stefan and Iesh until after I’d seen (and already decided that I liked) their films. It makes sense in a rather simple way. But, at the time it struck me as a beautiful notion. Our taste in cinema connected us.

It was only when the waiter kicked us out that we realized we had been talking about movies for 5 consecutive hours and made up the majority of the bar’s dwindling patrons. It was time to put an end to the night, and rest up for another day of films, theories, and connections.