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TIFF 2012 Highlights, Part 1
Well, the film fest is over for another year, and I have to say that I am utterly, utterly knackered. I'm always tired after the fest is over, but this year I feel like I've actually lost IQ points, I'm that exhausted. (This condition was probably not helped by the fact that Ros came down with a bit of a cold on Friday and I was up with her from midnight until 2 a.m. that night when she woke up coughing and upset.)
But in spite of the fatigue, I had a good year. Not a brilliant one, but a good one, with only one dodgy film and a bunch of really interesting ones.
There's no way I'm going to get reviews written of everything this year (not with the Pros BB story due Sunday, aiieeee!) so I thought I'd link to trailers of some of the best stuff I saw.
The first film up is one I've already mentioned, London - The Modern Babylon, directed by Julien Temple. It's a collage film of archival footage, and it's easily the best thing I saw at the fest.
YouTube Link here
Next up is Storm Surfers 3D. I have a real soft spot for surfing documentaries, and this is a good 'un. It follows two Australian big wave surfers as they spend the winter storm season looking for new, insanely big waves to surf. The surfers, Tom Carroll and Ross Clarke-Jones, are completely loony but adorable, and after spending the better part of twenty years surfing together, they have a very old married couple vibe. Also, this is the best use of 3D film I've ever seen.
YouTube Link here
The Secret Disco Revolution, directed by Jamie Kastner, is a doc about disco, and shows how it was a form of expression for women, African-Americans and gay men, marginalized groups in the '70s. There's interviews with a lot of the major players in the scene, and lots of crazy footage of the music.
YouTube Link here
The last film, Far Out Isn't Far Enough: The Tomi Ungerer Story, directed by Brad Bernstein, is one I found utterly fascinating, but I'm going to preface my opinion with a warning that this trailer contains lots of triggery, disturbing, BDSM art. The doc's subject, Tomi Ungerer, was one of the superstars of children's books in the '60s, but he also had parallel careers doing political satire and some really out there erotic art. The different strands of his art all came crashing together at an ALA conference where he was invited to speak about his children's books, and ended up being denounced for his erotica. (His response to this was to tell the crowd that if people didn't fuck then there wouldn't be any children to read children's books, which went down about as well as you'd expect in a room full of librarians in 1970.) He ended up being blacklisted as a children's author until relatively recently, when his older books started being re-released, and he wrote a new one. He's a fascinating, smart guy, who's formative years were spent in Alsace under Nazi occupation, and whose political work is definitely a reaction against fascism, but draws influences from the art of Nazi propaganda.
YouTube Link Here
And now I'm going to crash, in the hopes that I'll be recovered enough to finally do a Tae Kwan Do class tomorrow morning.
But in spite of the fatigue, I had a good year. Not a brilliant one, but a good one, with only one dodgy film and a bunch of really interesting ones.
There's no way I'm going to get reviews written of everything this year (not with the Pros BB story due Sunday, aiieeee!) so I thought I'd link to trailers of some of the best stuff I saw.
The first film up is one I've already mentioned, London - The Modern Babylon, directed by Julien Temple. It's a collage film of archival footage, and it's easily the best thing I saw at the fest.
YouTube Link here
Next up is Storm Surfers 3D. I have a real soft spot for surfing documentaries, and this is a good 'un. It follows two Australian big wave surfers as they spend the winter storm season looking for new, insanely big waves to surf. The surfers, Tom Carroll and Ross Clarke-Jones, are completely loony but adorable, and after spending the better part of twenty years surfing together, they have a very old married couple vibe. Also, this is the best use of 3D film I've ever seen.
YouTube Link here
The Secret Disco Revolution, directed by Jamie Kastner, is a doc about disco, and shows how it was a form of expression for women, African-Americans and gay men, marginalized groups in the '70s. There's interviews with a lot of the major players in the scene, and lots of crazy footage of the music.
YouTube Link here
The last film, Far Out Isn't Far Enough: The Tomi Ungerer Story, directed by Brad Bernstein, is one I found utterly fascinating, but I'm going to preface my opinion with a warning that this trailer contains lots of triggery, disturbing, BDSM art. The doc's subject, Tomi Ungerer, was one of the superstars of children's books in the '60s, but he also had parallel careers doing political satire and some really out there erotic art. The different strands of his art all came crashing together at an ALA conference where he was invited to speak about his children's books, and ended up being denounced for his erotica. (His response to this was to tell the crowd that if people didn't fuck then there wouldn't be any children to read children's books, which went down about as well as you'd expect in a room full of librarians in 1970.) He ended up being blacklisted as a children's author until relatively recently, when his older books started being re-released, and he wrote a new one. He's a fascinating, smart guy, who's formative years were spent in Alsace under Nazi occupation, and whose political work is definitely a reaction against fascism, but draws influences from the art of Nazi propaganda.
YouTube Link Here
And now I'm going to crash, in the hopes that I'll be recovered enough to finally do a Tae Kwan Do class tomorrow morning.
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Hope you got to Tae Kwan Do (you've no idea how many attempts it took to type that...*g*) - I'm gearing up for ballet again tomorrow night. Determined to get there early enough to warm up this time - it makes all the difference!
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I watched the first tailer about London - will have to keep an eye open for this. I am a sucker for historic stuff like this.
Have you seen this - Synth Britannia Documentary http://youtu.be/1lVljmH0yUw its available in full on YouTube and Alan Cross or someone musically inclined on Twitter just turned me onto to it. I watched the first 10 minutes and was utterly fascinated. I love when creative people talk about their inspirations.
I don't know why but Tomi Ungerer artwork looks very familiar, both his erotica and kids stuff. Will have to watch out for that too.
Is Don posting any recommendations or thoughts anywhere?