Festival review: Stranger Than Fiction 2008

Welcome to my round-up of films from this year's Stranger Than Fiction documentary film festival at the IFI in Dublin. And only a couple of days after it finished - that's a new record for me. Unfortunately my laziness goes hand in hand with my inability at photography so I apologise for all the following photos being out of focus. What do want for nothing though, eh?

This year's opening film was SLEEP FURIOUSLY, a study of life in a small Welsh rural community which already played at EIFF but was one of the few films I didn't see there. The film eschews all the standard tropes of audience-friendly documentaries. There's no self-contained story; there's no enticing archive footage or enlightening interviews; there are only people doing what they do.

It's a brave way to approach the film and probably an equally brave choice as an opening night film. Certainly not everyone's cup of tea, there were a few early walk-outs but it's to be expected. This approach to filmmaking is always divisive and is guaranteed to turn off a number of casual viewers. On the other hand, there are also plenty of people who appreciate it though I think even the film's admirers would have to be in the right mood to watch it.

I, as it happened, was in the right mood and therefore found myself under its spell but must admit that I find this kind of approach to filmmaking works a lot better as a documentary than as fiction. Here, I was completely immersed in Welsh village life; when Carlos Reygadas uses the same techniques in a fiction film, it makes me want to burn the cinema to the ground and gouge out my eyes.

SLEEP FURIOUSLY was accompanied by a short film, PILGRIM, which I'm afraid I just didn't get.

THE BLUE TAILOR [AN TAILLIUR GORM] was the first of a trio of films looking at life on remote Irish islands. All of these films interested me partly because of my interest in Irish history and culture but also because of their parallels with the Scottish islands (from whence many of my ancestors sprang). This particular film concentrated on Inis Bigil, off Mayo's coast, which has the distinction of being both protestant and Irish-speaking. The history of the island is fascinating (sadly it now has only just over 20 people remaining) but is slightly overshadowed in parts of the film by the equally fascinating tale of the titular tailor.


FORBIDDEN LOVE, which I believe was showing on RTE in Ireland tonight (apologies if this is too late to remind you!), studies the Irish attitude (past and present) towards the British royal family in light of the fact that the Queen is about to become the first of Britain's monarchs to visit since Victoria. As an outsider looking in, it's always tempting to view the whole Ireland/Britain situation in black and white so it's intriguing to see the general mish-mash of public opinion in the Emerald Isle. The film focuses largely on a number of people who, for various reasons, really like the royals but doesn't shy away from the other side of the fence either. It'll be interesting to see what sort of reaction she does get but in the meantime we can make do with this terrific documentary, one of the highlights of the festival.

After seeing a Welsh community struggling, then an Irish island community struggling next up was another depressing tale of modern life crushing the minorities with GREENDALE: DEATH OF A SCHOOL. GREENDALE was an Irish school that catered for disadvantaged kids but was shut down under a cloud of deception and shoddy treatment by the powers that be. Depressing stuff, and visually reminiscent of last year's MOSNEY (aka SEAVIEW) but with a deserted school replacing the holiday camp.

PATTI SMITH: DREAM OF LIFE was a film I approached with interest as I knew very little about the titular icon. Unfortunately the scattershot art-school approach to filming and the fact that she seems to spend a lot of time in a world of her own meant that while I knew nothing about her to begin with, I knew even less by the time the film had finished. Perhaps one for fans only.

I was delighted to get a chance to see PLEASE VOTE FOR ME again, which I mentioned here before. My second favourite film (documentary or otherwise) of 2007 seemed to be a hit with the Stranger Than Fiction audience too, with most of them laughing it all up too. It's hard not to be charmed by a well made film that shows a bunch of Chinese school kids turn into utter bastards in the name of democracy.

Lest I start to enjoy myself a bit too much however, my next film was INISHARK: DEATH OF AN ISLAND [INIS AIRC: BAS OILEAIN]. The best of the three island films showing, it was also the most depressing. Life on the island finally became too much for the people a few decades back and the remaining inhabitants were evacuated in the sixties. The film is drenched in sadness on both an island-wide scale and in the more personal stories (including the heartbreaking tale of three men from the same family lost at sea in stormy weather). I found it particularly interesting as it bears such an uncanny resemblance to the tale of St Kilda, a Scottish island evacuated in the 1930s, which has always fascinated me and was the inspiration for Michael Powell's terrific film EDGE OF THE WORLD.


Sadder still was I SEE A DARKNESS, a made-for-TV documentary on the subject of suicide, concentrating on the tale of Simon Moroney, who died aged just 16. There was barely a dry eye in the house for this heartbreaking story which casts light on a very serious issue and a very brave family. There are a couple of revelations later in the film that really knock you off balance, not least of which is the theory of Simon's mother that his death may not have been suicide at all but rather a simply tragic accident. We'll never know, which makes the film even harder viewing in retrospect but while it's not easy to watch, watch it you should.

GABRIEL BYRNE: STORIES FROM HOME is a sometimes light-hearted, always refreshingly honest examination of the life of the famous Irish actor. Not only is he one of the finest actors working today, he's also a very intelligent and engaging presence. Whether talking of his personal life and the problems he's experienced or simply giving his thoughts about his experiences in acting, he's always a fascinating host and far more interesting a character than the majority of celebrities who get the documentary treatment these days. Watch out for this one.

I wrote about WAITING FOR THE LIGHT at its Galway appearance and unsurprisingly went to see it again here. Effectively a world premiere as the cut shown at Galway had been spruced up a little (but still retains those valuable few seconds of the back of my head) my thoughts on this one are already known (see previous posts if you've not read it). Accompanied by Ciarin Scott and George Morrison himself, we were also treated to the news that Morrison is going to be honoured by the European Film Academy, although the exact details have left my memory. If you've still not familiarised yourself with the work of George Morrison, go and pick up a copy of MISE EIRE right now. I don't care if you're Irish or not.


Rounding out the trio of island films was TORY ISLAND [OILEAN THORAI], about the remote community off the coast of Donegal. While it captures island life and scenery with breathtaking beauty, it seemed a little bit lightweight when compared to the two other films that had gone before. That said, it was also a lot less depressing so I guess that works in its favour for some people.

Technical issues prevented the screening of THE UPSETTER but Lee "Scratch" Perry did turn up in the replacement film, DUB ECHOES, which chronicles the development of dub music from its origins in the old reggae sound systems of Jamaica to its influence on modern music. It's a fascinating documentary and certainly crams in plenty of expert testimony; if there's only one flaw in the film it's that of a lack of budget. On more than one occasion we are told about some legendary piece of music but not actually played it - I'm going to give the director the benefit of the doubt here and assume that it's because they couldn't afford clearance rather than any artistic reasons.

I'll write a separate piece about the short film programme at a later date, so skipping on we have the Irish premiere of A BLOODY CANVAS [TROID FHUILTEACH], which is apparently made for Irish TV but frankly deserves more. Using reconstructions, expert testimony and some absolutely incredible archive footage, the film tells of how an African boxing champion looking for a fight, an Irish boxer down on his luck and Ireland being ravaged by civil war all came together in 1923 to give rise to an incredible moment in modern Irish history. It's funny how I despise boxing and yet seem to see so many good films on the subject; outside of PLEASE VOTE FOR ME, this was my favourite film of the festival.

HOLD ME TIGHT, LET ME GO is the dark flipside of PLEASE VOTE FOR ME. We're still watching kids behaving badly, but this time it's far from funny, or at least it should be. At a school in England where traumatised children with behavioural issues are looked after by huge numbers of staff, we are given an insight into the daily routine of caring for such children. It's interesting alright, but it seems to lack any sense of direction. We learn of the traumas that some of the children have gone through; we see lots of instances of them behaving very, very badly; and we see the staff struggling to cope, frequently having to resort to physically restraining the children to avoid harm being done. But that's it. There's no sense of what the film is trying to achieve; there's an awkward feeling of not knowing whether to laugh or be disgusted during many moments of the film; and on more than one occasion it feels dangerously close to being intrusive. I don't mean intrusive in a normal documentary way, I mean intrusive as in we should simply not be watching this. Interesting, but flawed.

CORRIDOR #8 documents the plans by the EU to build a giant motorway connecting Bulgaria, Macedonia and Albania. What we see is that years of effort and lots of money have yielded little in the way of results; and from what we see of the communities along the site, it's doubtful just how much of an advantage this road is to bring. It's equally interesting as both an insight into many foreign cultures and also an exasperating look at bureaucratic folly.

I then had to bolt it to the airport to fly home, so if you want opinions on any of the other films shown, looks like you'll have to search elsewhere...

Stranger Than Fiction 2008

If you've just popped in to read my thoughts from the weekend's festival (Stranger Than Fiction documentary festival at the Irish Film Institute in Dublin) then I apologise for not having prepared anything. I guess if you're a regular reader you'll be used to this by now.

But look! There's a photo above which I took, even if it is just a picture of the poster in the IFI's lobby, which you can see much better on the STF website anyway.

I will try to have something ready this week just so you can hear all about it. Or maybe you were there yourself, in which case please feel free to leave a comment on this blog and thus do my job for me. I saw at least one person furiously scribbling notes throughout the festival, so there's at least one review out there somewhere. And it'll probably be better than mine.

I'm kind of hoping that someone might write something about the two winners of the short film awards before I get round to posting about them too, just to hide my shame at the fact that I've forgotten which of them won. I recall that TERMINAL COMMUNICATION got a special mention but didn't win; I think the two winners were GOD AND NAPOLEON and WALKING DREAMS, but I can't remember which one was the jury prize and which one was the audience award. Sorry. Come on, it's not like I'm doing this as a profession or anything.

Actual film coverage should appear later this week.

A short piece about shorts

Following a couple of recent blog entries in which I extolled the neglected virtue of short films, I was pleased to see another small development on that front at the weekend.

Popping into one of my local cinemas to see Icelandic police movie JAR CITY (Icelandic police movie - smallest genre in movies?) I was pleasantly surprised to see that Virgin Media are now sponsoring a short film programme (similar to the Mini ones I mentioned before), the aim of which appears to be getting these undiscovered talents up on screen.

The short I saw, ELEVATOR MUSIC, was excellent and seemed to go down well with the audience. Pay attention, distributors.

That said, there are still many clouds lurking beneath the silver lining. For one thing, the short was the very first thing that played, even before any adverts, thus ensuring that a number of the audience, i.e. the ones that don't want to turn up for adverts, missed it. Not good. It should be immediately before the main feature, though the powers that be will no doubt tell me it's not economically viable for them.

Secondly, it was only in front of that one film. At various cinemas over the course of the weekend (arthouse too) I attended four separate screenings. That short played at only one of them.

Third and final down side is that they still seem to want the quick, quirky shorts that last barely a couple of minutes and have a witty punchline. That's great, and I'm all for it - but how about tailoring the short to the feature that is actually being shown, thus giving a chance to the more "arty" ones? I'm not trying to be snobbish towards comedy shorts - like I say, they are more than welcome - but I can't help feeling that given the current leanings of the short film programmes I've seen in UK cinemas, there is still no place for the likes of NO REGRETS IN THE WEST, WITHOUT WORDS or JANEY MARY, the three short films that inspired my recent blogular outpourings.

Still, it's a step in the right direction.

Oh and by the way, if you can stomach a man eating a sheep's head and some pretty grisly dead body stuff, JAR CITY is excellent.

RESTLESS NATIVES (1985)

After all that Irish cinema recently, it's about time I gave some attention to my beloved Scotland. Here it is then, in the form of cult 1980s comedy RESTLESS NATIVES.

I'm not going to pretend that this film is a classic. The fact that it started life as a screenplay that won a competition in the UK automatically makes the cynic in you think the worst - oh no, it's going to have been written by some schoolkids! or something like that - but counter that with the important fact that it did still win it.

Classic or otherwise though, it's probably the fondest remembered (in Scotland at least) Scottish movie outside of GREGORY'S GIRL or LOCAL HERO, despite the fact that it seems concerned as much with promoting Scottish tourism as it does with telling a story.

The story is simple enough. Two young lads (Vincent Friell and Joe Mullaney, both of whom you'll know from countless other Scottish productions if you live here) from a run down area of Edinburgh take to the highlands (disguised in novelty masks as a clown and a wolf-man) to rob tourist buses, only to find themselves becoming cult heroes instead. Along the way, there are nasty criminals (Scottish mainstay Iain McColl), a love interest (Teri Lally), bizarre cameos (Bryan Forbes and Nanette Newman, Mel Smith) and a vacationing half-incompetent CIA officer in the shape of token international name Ned Beatty.

There's only one real problem with the cast and that's the fact that despite being an Edinburgh film, everyone in it seems to have a Glasgow accent. I guess most people outside of the country probably wouldn't notice, but it annoyed me a little.

But that stuff's all secondary to the look and sound of the film. Sure, there's the odd scene of run-down Edinburgh (some of which has been much transformed in the last twenty years though) but mainly the film is tourism porn. Whether it's the old streets of Edinburgh's centre or the majestic glens and coastline of the highlands of Scotsman, the camera lingers on the beauty of Scotland until you can almost hear the phones ringing at your local tourist information office.

And the sound of the movie is down to the music by Scots rockers Big Country. Hailing from Dunfermline (my home - yay!), the late Stuart Adamson and his band provide a memorable and distinctly Scottish soundtrack, possibly the best remembered part of the movie. Oh, and Dunfermline also gets mentioned, which is nice... even if it is only over the loudspeaker in Edinburgh's bus station.

Finally available on DVD, the mono soundtrack maybe isn't the best showcase for the music, but the photography certainly benefits from a fantastic transfer that really shows off the scenery to great effect.

One little aside before I finish. Despite the presence of lots of sheep and cows in the film, I watched carefully for a "no animals were harmed, blah blah blah" blurb at the end and did not see one. I wonder if this is just an oversight or if there was genuinely an incident. The reason I ask is that there is one scene in which our heroes ride a motorbike through a farm and I swear the scene cuts just as the bike is heading for an inevitable accident with a chicken that wasn't quite quick enough to get out the way. Did the makers of RESTLESS NATIVES recklessly kill an innocent chicken? We'll probably never know.

This is not a great film and anyone who tells you otherwise (they're probably Scottish) is lying through their teeth. However, it is a lot of fun and despite the occasional reference to Scottish nationalism (which is back in vogue again) and Thatcher's Britain, it maintains an air of lightweight whimsy that makes it very difficult not to like.

It must be about time for a sequel.

Stranger Than Fiction 2008 - preview

It's less than two weeks until Stranger Than Fiction, the annual documentary film festival at the Irish Film Institute in Dublin. Once again I'll be there and will write about it here afterwards (about a month afterwards if my usual form is any indicator) but in the meantime here's a ramshackle attempt at a preview.

The opening night film is SLEEP FURIOUSLY, which I believe played in Edinburgh this year. This look at life in a Welsh farming community got good word of mouth but I missed it, so this'll be first on my schedule. It'll be playing with the short film PILGRIM by Pat Collins, about which I know absolutely nothing. I've no idea if this is the same Pat Collins who directed JOHN McGAHERN: A PRIVATE WORLD, but I enjoyed that one.

ROUTE IRISH looks like an interesting examination of the use of Shannon airport in the USA's Iraq shenanigans, but I'll be missing it as I'm more interested in THE BLUE TAILOR, as it involves the plight of a small Irish island community that sounds like it has some parallels with St Kilda, a Scottish island with a history that fascinates me.

I'll also be skipping ABOUT BEAUTY (about Irish artist Dorothy Cross) so that I can see FORBIDDEN LOVE, a documentary about the attitude of modern Ireland to the British queen. You only need to look at the interesting history of UK royalty's relationship with Ireland to see why that one has potential.

GREENDALE: DEATH OF A SCHOOL sounds like it could be quite depressing, but I'll give it a whirl.

I've already seen Friday night's THE ORDER OF MYTHS and JESUS CAMP, so that'll give me a chance to skip out for a decent meal at least. If you've not seen either of them though, they're definitely worth a watch. I think I've probably written about them both here in the past, so have a search for that if you're interested. The last film on Saturday night is PATTI SMITH: DREAM OF LIFE. I know nothing about her, but what the heck, I'll not be doing anything else so chances are I'll be there too.

PLEASE VOTE FOR ME was aired last year on digital station BBC4, but I'll still be heading along to the IFI first thing on Saturday morning to watch it again, because it is without doubt (as you'd know if I'd ever got round to writing the "best of 2007" series that I keep threatening) the second best film of 2007. It's brilliant, and again I've probably blogged about it here in the past. If you see only one film at this festival, make it PLEASE VOTE FOR ME.

Because I'm going to see that and INISHARK: DEATH OF AN ISLAND (more Irish stuff that I can't resist) I'll be skipping THE JOHN O'CONNOR BEETHOVEN PROJECT and CHIPPERS. The last one is a particular shame as a documentary about Irish chip shops sounds like it could either be really dull or really brilliant.

NOTE BY NOTE, a documentary about the making of a piano sounds pretty dull to me, but I bet it's one of those ones that I skip and then everyone tells me how great it is. I mean, HELVETICA managed to make fonts interesting after all, so this'll probably do the same for pianos. But no, I'll be taking in I SEE A DARKNESS, an Irish doc about suicide.

GABRIEL BYRNE: STORIES FROM HOME has played at a few festivals where I've failed to see it, so I'll finally catch up with that one, before seeing WAITING FOR THE LIGHT for a second time. See my recent post from Galway to see why that one's so special.

TORY ISLAND will be another Irish island-themed documentary (one of a few themes emerging at this year's fest) that I'll be checking out, and then I can finish the evening with UPSETTER, the story of Lee "Scratch" Perry, reggae superstar. I like his music and it's yet another film that I've failed to see despite it playing at other festivals I've attended, so I look forward to that.

Sunday morning will open up with the short film showcase, which you'd be daft to miss given the talent working on short films in Ireland these days.

THE HOUSE has potential but will be falling off my list due to it clashing with the shorts, and then I'll be checking out A BLOODY CANVAS. This one, about a legendary boxing match on St Patrick's Day during the civil war, sounds like it could be a belter, despite my hatred of boxing. Strange but true, I despise boxing but it does seem to make for great films.

HOLD ME TIGHT, LET ME GO (following a school for children with behavioral problems) has bypassed my radar in the past despite airing on TV and at other festivals, so I'll check out that one before finishing off with CORRIDOR #8, documenting the failed attempt to build a road linking Bulgaria, Macedonia and Albania.

Two films remain after that, FOOTBALL UNDERCOVER (which definitely sounds like a must-see) and ANNIE LEIBOVITZ: LIFE THROUGH A LENS but alas by the time they're on, I'll be en route back to sunny Scotland.

Galway 2008: JANEY MARY

Finally, I get round to finishing off my round-up of the films I saw at Galway this year, and only about a month and a half late. Hey, it could be worse, I've still not round to writing my "best films of 2007" posts yet.

You'll recall, if you read the post about the Irish short films I saw in Galway, that I said JANEY MARY was going to get a post all of its own. Why, you ask? Is it truly amazing? Is it monumentally rubbish? Is it merely the springboard for me to write another rant about the state of the short film? (And if you didn't see the previous rant, inspired by Colm Quinn's NO REGRETS IN THE WEST, click here to read it)

I'll cut to the chase. JANEY MARY is bloody brilliant.

The outline of the plot (adapted from the James Plunkett story by the director Paul Brady) is a simple one. Dublin, the 1940s. Janey Mary is a child, like so many others, from a poverty-stricken home reduced to begging on the streets for money or food. The film tells her story as she interacts with some of the other souls, more or less fortunate than her, who inhabit the streets of Dublin.

Right, here's the embarrassing bit. By the time this film finished, I'll admit it, I was crying like a little girl. Luckily for me, there were still other films to go, so the lights remained dimmed and nobody saw me.

Laugh if you will, but I'm comfortable engaging with my emotions, thanks very much. That said, it's still not that common for a film to provoke that kind of a reaction from me. In fact, as far as I can remember, that means JANEY MARY is joining the elite ranks of just three other films that have made me greet like a wee lassie: IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, BRIEF ENCOUNTER and CAROUSEL (when they all start singing "You'll never walk alone" at the end - don't tell me you didn't have something in your eye either).

So how exactly did this film manage such a feat?

First off, let's put it in context. For reasons I'm not going to go into here, the plight of families surviving through horrendous poverty, particularly in Scotland and Ireland, is a matter that is close to my heart and therefore one which I perhaps find more affecting than other people might. (And no, just in case you're thinking otherwise, I can assure you that I did not grow up in poverty, so you can put your violin away.) That such hardship is visited upon a mere child (the title character being a mere five years old) makes the film all the more powerful.

So that's a start. But let's be sure about something else - the film is incredibly well made. The period setting is evoked flawlessly, or at least as far as I know. I'm sure some pedantic historian will come out with some nonsense about someone having the wrong type of button on their coat or something, but as far as I can tell, the realisation of old Dublin is a triumph.

On top of the production, setting and costumes, the film also looks amazing. Photographed in stark black and white, the imagery is successful both in lending the film an old fashioned look in keeping with period but also in just looking like an exceptionally well-shot film. It's beautiful.

The main contributing factor however has to be the performance of young Kelsey Enright, who plays the title role. The performance is pure gold, a truly astounding achievement considering the lassie can't have been more than four or five years old. In fact, without a hint of exaggeration, I can confidently state that this is the single best performance by a child actor in any film I've ever seen. In most cases, a child actor merely managing to not be really annoying is regarded by me as being a triumph; in the case of JANEY MARY the performance is far and away the highlight of the film.

The result is both magical and heartrending. Certainly, there are no weak points anywhere in the cast - they're all terrific no matter how small the role - but it's Enright's show, and she carries the whole film more emphatically than the majority of adult actors in Hollywood ever manage.

I can't even highlight a single scene, such is the myriad of memorable moments. Janey gazing longingly at a jar of sweets in a shop window; or standing alone in a massive church doorway, hoping fruitlessly for some signs of food; having to return to her mother with nothing to show for her efforts; it's all totally heartbreaking.

If I was to single out only one thing that was, in a way, a down point, it's that film was just too damn good at engaging my emotions. Such was the power of this little film that it haunted me for days afterwards. Despite repeatedly telling myself "it's just a movie" there was something about it that just refused to let go and I found myself on more than one occasion wandering the streets of Galway desperately trying to find something that would cheer me up and make me forget all about the hardships of that poor little girl from Dublin.

The end result is that if I was ever to meet Mr Brady, I don't know whether I'd congratulate him on an incredible film or punch him in the face for ruining the rest of my weekend. Since he's probably bigger than me, it's most likely to be the former, but either way he can content himself with a job well done.

That of course leads me in to my usual rant about the treatment of short films. I won't regurgitate too much of my previous spleen-venting, but suffice to say that it's a crime that films this good are being made when they don't have the kind of outlet they deserve. Outside of film festivals and very occasional TV screenings, where exactly do people go to see these films?

Sure, there are plenty of sites on the internet to make such things available but this has many problems associated with it. For one thing, you need to weed out the good films from the huge amount of dross; secondly, why should a filmmaker slave away for so long on a film only to give it away for nothing? That's what it amounts to, after all. And finally, while it's good to get anyone watching short films, they really deserve an audience - and I mean a proper audience, not one guy watching on a laptop in his bedroom.

I've said all this before of course, so I'll leave it at that. If you are really interested in seeing more about this terrific little film however, you could at least pop over to the film's official website, which is at www.janeymary.com (not hard to remember, is it?). There's a wealth of information there, including the original short story and a trailer for the movie, which at least goes some way towards demonstrating the brilliance of Enright's performance.

Interestingly, the web site states that Brady is trying to get a feature version of JANEY MARY made. I certainly wish him all the best with it. I'd only have two concerns with it - firstly, if Enright isn't in it (which I'd assume is the case unless it's made very soon) then the lead actress has an almost impossible act to follow.

My second concern is that I'll need to make sure nobody in the cinema is sitting close enough to me to see me weeping.

From the Freakpit to your mailbox

If you read this blog regularly, or even semi-regularly, you'll know I'm not very good at regular updates. That's why I've made a little technical update.

Now, to save you visiting the site only to swear at your screen when you realise I'm too lazy to have typed anything in the last month, you can subscribe via email.

Just follow the link on the right of this page, enter your email address and voila, whenever I update the blog, you'll get it delivered to you via email.

That's the theory anyway, I'm not too technically minded so I apologise if it doesn't work.

As mentioned over there above the link, I promise I won't use it to harvest your email address to start spamming you about generic viagra or anything like that. It's for Freakpit update purposes only, and is merely intended to allow people to keep up to date without my laziness annoying them.