Joel, thank you for the updated list. Wednesday is possible for me but not
Thursday. I will catch up by email if Thursday proves to be the best choice
for you and the other folks in the group.
Bob
On Fri, Nov 4, 2016 at 11:37 AM, Joel Johnson <joel_johnson@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Dear friends:
Please note new updated list of films.
We had an interesting screening of “COMING THROUGH THE RYE.” There were
technical issues that interfered with the viewing experience and caused us
to cut short the screening. However, those in attendance did agree,
despite the subtle herky-jerkiness of the film which was punctuated
periodically by less subtle freezes and jumps, that the film did merit
further consideration and seemed likely to be included in our series
pending more complete viewing. Hopefully, everyone will be able to take a
look at it using the link and password that was sent out last week.
We spent most of our abbreviated meeting going through our list
concentrating on our documentary film possibilities. We covered the first
12 documentary films on the list and then added one new film. We came to
an agreement that we were not interested in “DO NOT RESIST” (too similar
to “PEACE OFFICER” from last year), “TOWER” (a documentary about the mass
shooting at the University of Texas seemed like a difficult film to ask
people to come to see on a winter’s morning), “NATIONAL BIRD” (Bill has
seen this and found it disappointing), “BY SIDNEY LUMET” (We aren’t sure
how available for theatrical bookings it might be and it may be on PBS
“American Masters” quite soon) and “WE ARE X” (a film about a Japanese
rock band seemed unlikely to have strong appeal for our regulars and
showing in the morning was not likely to appeal to potential audiences
outside our regulars). I have decided to eliminate “THE LOVERS AND THE
DESPOT” from consideration because it is now available from iTunes and
Amazon Video for $6.99. I had personally been interested in and
recommended “STARVING THE BEAST” which is about the change in perception
of the value of a college education and systematic disinvestment in public
higher education. I still think this is an important public policy issue,
but in looking at the film’s trailer the film clearly has a partisan
political perspective (James Carville is one of major spokespersons in
expressing dismay at the change and Grover Norquist and Republicans seen as
the villains in creating a situation in which government is deprived of the
funding to effectively do what it is supposed to do) and the film seems
to feature a succession of talking heads. We may have some better
alternatives than “STARVING THE BEAST” that don’t have us seemingly
taking sides on a partisan political issue and/or may be told in a more
interesting and creative way. I haven’t come across anything that shows the
film is available for home viewing, but it is hard to believe that the film
isn’t being pushed harder to make it more visible prior to the election.
For those who are interested in checking its suitability for our series out
for themselves or may want to pursue the film for their personal viewing
here is the film’s official website: http://www.starvingthebeast.net/ I
have not removed the film from the list, but I have backed off on my
recommendation.
The group that met on Tuesday did express an interest in several of the
other films. We are hoping to be able to obtain a link or a screener so
that we could actually look at them. I have asked Ken for help in
accomplishing that.
“THE ANTHROPOLOGIST” seems to expose the audience to quite a bit
(anthropology as a discipline, Margaret Mead, climate change around the
world) in the film in a new and personally intimate way (focusing on the
journey of a teenaged girl and her anthropologist mother). Here is the
film’s official website:
http://www.ironboundfilms.com/films-tv/
I grouped “DISTURBING THE PEACE,” “BLOOD ON THE MOUNTAIN,” and “THE
UNCONDEMNED” together for Ken since Abramorama is involved in their
production and distribution. It is possible that one contact might do the
trick in getting access to links or screeners. Each film seems to have a
different approach to getting out to an audience. “DISTURBING THE PEACE” is
being distributed—at least, in part—through Gathr. “BLOOD ON THE MOUNTAIN”
doesn’t specifically address how to book the film although there is a
“Contact Us” tab on the website menu. “THE UNCONDEMNED” does list a
specific contact for booking theatrical screenings on the film’s official
website. There are links to Abramorama and each film’s website below.
http://abramorama.com/films/
http://disturbingthepeacefilm.com/ Screenings can be arranged via Gathr
http://bloodonthemountain.com/home/
http://www.theuncondemned.com/#the-film
“OFF THE RAILS” is a film about a young black man with Asperger’s Syndrome
who has gotten into legal problems because he has “volunteered” his
services to the transit system without first obtaining permission. The film
seems to have collected a number of prizes. I think the film could do well
if we could find some type of partnership with a group that advocates for
or provides services to Asperger’s individuals. Otherwise, I’m not
especially bullish on it since the subject is an African-American from an
urban setting who has a disorder that affects his interpersonal functioning
which leads him into trouble on public transit systems (there’s a few
reasons for which people in our communities may not feel that this relates
to them). The official website shows arrangements for theatrical
distribution have been arranged through The Film Collaborative although
their website doesn’t mention this film. The film is currently available on
DVD with a suggested retail price of $59.95 through Passion River. I’m
thinking they are aiming for a specialized market with that price. The film
also has a deal for streaming rights with Sundance Now, but again that
doesn’t seem to be mentioned on the Sundance Now site. So I don’t know if
this kind of profile means that the film will be so readily available by
the time our series is running that the film won’t work for us or not. Any
insight into what may be happening on these home viewing platforms would be
helpful. Perhaps if we find the right group to partner with none of that
will matter.
http://www.offtherailsmovie.com/
Bill Jefferson has seen “COMMAND AND CONTROL” and wants us to consider it.
It’s about a potentially disastrous nuclear weapon accident in the US in
the 1980’s. Bill saw the film at Camden and was very impressed. I had
difficulty tracking down companies that were involved with the film through
IMDb and didn’t add it to our list before, but eventually I found the
production company (Robert Kenner Films) who made the film for PBS
“American Experience.” The film is being released theatrically and has
someone handling those bookings. I tried to figure out when the film
might show on PBS, but I couldn’t find out anything about that. This is a
new addition to the list.
http://www.commandandcontrolfilm.com/
We did have a brief discussion of our foreign-language films. So far,
there has been no particular expression of interest in films besides
“IXCANUL (VOLCANO)” and “AS I OPEN MY EYES” which both received a lot of
interest in our discussion the week before (and I have put those titles in
bold print on the list). Obviously we hope to be able to see more of
“COMING THROUGH THE RYE,” but those who were there on Tuesday thought it
seemed very promising for inclusion. We need to continue to look at our
list of documentary films including and beyond the first 12 to narrow our
focus to a handful of films. We did not discuss our classic film
candidates. Personally, I don’t think we would necessarily need to include
a classic this year since we could have a new English-language film that is
sort of about a classic literary work. At this point, I don’t know that we
have a classic film candidate for which we don’t have some concerns about
how to access the film, the film being too long, or whether the film is
actually good enough to want to show.
NEXT MEETING: We did not discuss our next meeting time. Next Tuesday is
election day so I assume that might not be a good day to have our meeting.
Wednesday was our previous meeting day, but Alice and I have a noontime
gathering that we should attend though we could work around it. Is there
any preference between Wednesday and Thursday next week?
Joel
