AIFF has rich documentary lineup
The Ashland Independent Film Festival, running from Thursday, April 3 through Monday, April 7, has garnered a national reputation for attracting some of the finest documentaries being made, and this season is no exception.
It's a diverse and compelling lineup from engaging political documentaries to those that span the globe and offer an opportunity to spend, however briefly, time with cultures and people that would otherwise be inaccessible.
As well, the festival will honor documentary filmmaker Albert Maysles, who has spent his life "finding and capturing another person's experience as directly and as interestingly as possible."
Below is a sampling of what will be offered by AIFF.
Life. Support. Music.
Written and directed by Eric Daniel Metzgar, "Life" is a moving glimpse into what could have been a tragic event. Jason Crigler, a talented guitarist living and working in New York City, suffers a massive brain hemorrhage during a concert in Manhattan in 2004. As the film unfolds, Jason is transformed from a vital entertainer to a mere shadow of his former self. Locked in a seeming paralysis, unable to communicate or walk or care for himself, his family hears the dire predictions from the doctors. Jason is, in effect lost, destined to a life of long-term care. It's at this point that this compelling film begins to change and seems miraculous. If what we see transpire were not there on the screen, it would seem fanciful and completely improbable. The film epitomizes the meaning of commitment and tenacity on the part of everyone who cared about Jason.
The Fair Trade
Written and directed by Lauralee Farrer, this film is, suprisingly, not just a explication of what fair trade is, but a depiction of existential journey of Tamara Johnson. "The Fair Trade" opens with Johnson facing the devastating loss of her fiancé, something from which she is not sure she can recover. Finally, she makes a bargain with God to postpone suicide in exchange for a meaningful life. Giving God five years, she quits her job and joins her twin sister and friends to create a start-up company, Anti-Body, which will make and sell fair-trade skin products. It is a long journey, and Johnson learns a great deal about herself and life and fair trade along the way. As does the audience.
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Scene from 'Salim Baba' |
Daughters of Wisdom
Directed by Bari Pearlman, "Daughters" is a striking film in so many ways. First, it is a portrait of Tibetan Buddhist nuns who receive unheard of educational and religious training in Kala Rongo, a remote monastery established solely for their order. It is fascinating to watch these women go through their days, working, in prayer, chanting, though never cloistered from their families or Tibetan society. When the Communist Chinese took control of Tibet, all of the monasteries were destroyed by the army between 1958 and 1979 and Buddhism was banned, weakening Tibet's cultural and religious foundations. That is what makes the presence of these nuns all the more remarkable.
Mr. Dial Has Something to Say
Written and directed by Celia Carey, this film examines the current movement of recognizing and elevating great Southern African-American talents, a move which is causing the artistic intelligentsia to re-examine its own prejudices. Thornton Dial is a self-taught artist who started making art after his retirement.
Row Hard No Excuses
Written and directed by Luke Wolbach. Two middle-aged men set out as the only American entry in the "world's toughest race," the Atlantic Rowing Challenge, a 3,000-mile voyage across the ocean from the Canary Islands to Barbados in a tricked-out rowboat. "Row Hard No Excuses" chronicles the men's race as an exploration of shattered expectations, family baggage and the pursuit of happiness.
