Big ups to Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis for their 2008 Peabody Award. Their film, King Corn continues to garner serious attention two years after completion. For all aspiring filmmakers out there…the path they’ve forged is a serious model to study and learn from, and for those of you wondering what the Peabody is, its administered by the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication and is the oldest, and one of the most prestigious honors in electronic media given out each year.
Not to shabby! For a list of other winners, check it here.
If you don’t know much about the film…or are just obsessed with corn, check out this sweet little video blog from POV shot last month at SXSW.
Last week P.O.V. Executive Director, Simon Kilmurry announced the 2009 lineup for the renowned PBS documentary series. The diverse and award winning slew of films will surely satisfy the hunger of all nonfiction fans. Among the award-winning films and festival favorites we had to mention the addition of two of CIFF 08 favorites, Eric Daniel Metzgars Life.Support.Music and Aron Guadet and Gita Pullapilly’s The Way We Get By which will be featured this year as the November Special. For the complete list click here. From June 23rd on your Tuesday evenings should now be tied up!
Eric Daniel Metzgar, documentary filmmaker and CIFF alum (Chances of the World Changing, Life.Support.Music) is on a new adventure snowshoeing across 150 miles in Labrador with the Innu Nation. I had a chance to speak with him a few nights before he set out on the venture at True/False a week ago after a screening of his latest film, Reporter. This project is going to have a very unique web presence, and is hopefully something that will be done more and more as a way of archiving traditional storytelling. See what he’s up to and where he’s headed next on the projects website, Bed of Branches.
For more info on the project, check out this nice little summary at the PBS POV Blog.
Nerakhoon (The Betrayal), opened in NY this weekend at the IFC and is a film worth seeing if there are screenings near you.
The piece follows the life of Thavisouk Phrasavath as he grows up in Laos during the Vietnam war, escapes to Bangkok after his father is picked up in the night to go to “re-education camp”, reunites with his mother and siblings at a refugee camp when they escape the country, and then moves to the United States of America – the supposed promised land that turns out to be nothing more than hell on earth for Thavi and his family. With his father gone, and Thavi the eldest son, the film chronicles his journey of moving into this role while seeking to find an identity for himself in their new home.
The film’s plot is structured around Thavi’s first visit back to Laos as an adult to see his grandmother and two sisters who were left behind. The story uses the technique of memory to take the viewer through time and space seamlessly – following a plot that is far from linear without “losing the thread” creates an engaging and dynamic experience for the viewer. It is perhaps this element of time that gives the film such depth – over 20 years of filming with Thavi and cinematographer Ellen Kuras.
Though there is plenty of historical data about the Vietnam War presented in the film – Thavi says in a Q&A afterwards, “we don’t want this to be a historical film, based on this, so we dedicate just a very small part to it.” Truthfully this is done very well, and the most powerful elements of the film pull on timeless threads of the effect of war on people’s lives. He goes on to say of the film, “this is the new face of history, of American history – written by the people, not the government.”
Though this film on its face is a story of hurt and tragedy, it holds within it the light of the uncanny ability of the human spirit to overcome. Despite the destruction the United States has been responsible for in his life, Thavi exudes pride in the ideals that America stands for, and he gives no indication of desiring to abandon the place he has come to know as home – he just wishes to some day fully fit in. He realizes much must evolve before this is to happen and it seems that Nerakhoon is his way of helping to effect this change. He says, “We hope that this film will reach out to as many people’s heart and soul as possible, and help bridge the gap for future victim’s of war.”
Camden International Film Festival 