I'm here at the Richmond Virginia International Film Festival to perform at a couple of events. While here, I get to watch some of the festival films. It sounded like a good idea to spend my hotel downtime sharing gems that I find interesting. Though I do have a Criterion Collection Collecting problem that I might ought to seek help for; film critique is not my thing, just seemed a fun thing to do.
Photo I took today on the way to the Byrd
You can read my post on RIFF Day 2 here >>
Richmond Virginia International Film Festival, Day 3 - Part 1
I was asked, me being one of the musicians; why I'm not reviewing music, since this is a Film & Music Festival. I wouldn't even know how to review music. I think maybe I'm too close to it. I empathize, relate and root for most every musician I see on stage; so much so that any review I gave would be pretty meaningless. Plus, one of the reasons I jumped on this show was that I'm burned out after spending two years on the 'You' project. I needed a break—something different.
Today I didn't get to see as many films as I had hoped. I went to the Gala tonight and heard from some new friends that I missed some killer movies today....I'm sure I did. That's okay, I feel like I saw some great films. Here are some that stayed with me.
Double Take: The Art of Elizabeth King
I was a few minutes late walking in on Double Take, but still, I had to write about it. And I'll get a chance to see it again on PBS soon. This is a biopic of an artist that I believe is local to Richmond, Elizabeth King. The film itself was very a enjoyable watch; well made. Though it focuses on her art, it's really about the person, the artist, Elizabeth King.
Her artwork, which is captivating, meticulous—as well as her experimenting with stop-motion photography—would be fascinating enough. Yet, I loved what the film captured of Elizabeth herself. It made me a little emotional. Which has happened a lot these few days? If this film festival has done anything to me, it's convinced me to get back into theaters.
There is truly something we are about to lose in public theaters if we are not careful. Something of our humanity.... It dawned on me that movie theaters are not just some modern cultural phenomenon that we can toss out with the 8-track. The art of public storytelling is ancient.. as ancient as the cave drawings and camp fires. There is an energy and a powerful contemplation that takes place only with others (in a group), in the quiet, in the dark, being effected by the storyteller's tales—feeling our humanness in a moment, together. We're loosing that.. and nothing is replacing it very well. (steeping down from soap box)
There was a scene at the end of this that was really special. We see something that we don't get to see very often. It's not something I could describe, but basically, the camera stays on Elizabeth when she's dazzled by some birds. Sounds not so exciting? It is.. I saw into someones spirit. That's exciting.
My wife, Halli Dorcas, is an artist. And, of the same type meticulous nature. Hours spent on things that the majority will never notice; it's love though as this film points out. This film made me appreciate her all the more.
Double Take Trailer from Olympia Stone on Vimeo
The Archetypes
Wow. This one really captured my attention from the opening credits through the climatic ending (actually until the end credits, they were also beautifully crafted).
It's a visual thrill. I saw the title come up on screen ' The Archetypes', and the database in my head started churning (very slowly). I've been reading Carl Jung lately, so that's actually where my brain was trying to decipher this cryptic yet fascinating music & visual tale. At the Q&A with Director William J Stribling, he pointed to Joseph Campbell as the inspiration, and it started snapping together more so in my head, the gods! But I don't think it would matter if I snapped it together or not... It had my attention. And strangely, though I really was unable to get my database to place all the abstractions into the narrative, my emotions followed it like a thriller. You could say the collective unconscious was enjoying it quite a bit.
If you like visually compelling work, this is one to bookmark for when it releases wide.
Dance is at the center of the tale; it actually tells the tale and tells it well. It makes sense because William is also the cartographer. I actually have just started learning about and enjoying dance because I have some friends in the Dallas scene. Recently working with an excellent dance group in Dallas on a few videos.. though I've seen some of the dancers's from 6' O'clock (the group I work with) dance at this scale; I, being someone who was trying to direct dance into storytelling in my music videos—such as this project has done— felt like I was finger painting next to Remnant.
The dance and its representation through the lens, is stunning. There was one scene at the climax where the two subjects are at war with one another, then, still keeping this aggressive tension in place, the struggle seamlessly began to look like cohesiveness—like a cohesiveness in the struggle ... a harmonious dance of the shadow.
I have to tip a hat to the music on this one also. It's a big part of this film that has no speaking parts, and it is seamless.
I'm ezra vancil a songwriter/ performer / writer from Texas. Let me know if you enjoy. UPVOTE, RESTEEM and leave me a comment, I appreciate it!