Silverdocs: Friday Preview
DCist's daily roundup of a number of films playing tomorrow at the AFI/Discovery Channel Silverdocs festival.
As Silverdocs heads into its final few days, many of the films being shown are second screenings of films that premiered earlier in the week. So our roundups cover fewer films from here on out, but be sure to check out the roundups from previous days if you're curious about films that are playing from now until the end of the festival; you'll find many of them were written up earlier in the week. Additionally, for anyone looking for DCist's usual Thursday Popcorn & Candy film roundup, that column is taking a break this week in favor of our Silverdocs coverage.
Those not quite yet ready to suffer the indignities of middle-age — toddlers mocking your weight, the lingering memories of your failed music career — needn't add the unflattering bulges from a wetsuit to the pile of grievances. Yet, that's one of the many dilemmas facing the good natured gang of paunchy Swedes in Dylan Williams' doc Men Who Swim, a tender look at the difficulties of knowing one's place in the world through the curious practice of male synchronized swimming.
Though this brief film manages to synthesize numerous cinematic tropes — the scrappy underdog sports team and the exploration of a quirky subculture jump to mind — Men Who Swim has more heart than its Busby Berkeley-meets-The Fully Monty premise lets on.
After moving to Sweden for his wife, the Welsh-born Williams decides to combat the acculturative stress of his new home by trying his luck at competitive swimming, an activity described by an oblivious Italian DJ as being for "women and homosexuals." The team's practices are an exercise in frustration, tempers flailing freely while creaky limbs prove more stubborn. But even if this rag-tag team of misfits never quite gets its act together (possibly attributable to the clandestine nips of alcohol in the shower), the story's emotional core belongs to Williams, whose gradual appreciation for his new found relationships emerges despite his persistent economic and existential struggles.
Though the world could do without yet another glimpse into the unmagnificent lives of unsatisfied man-children, Men Who Swim's charming warts-and-all philosophy helps remind you how compelling the journey towards maturity can be when it's told with honesty and compassion.
View the trailer
Premieres tomorrow at 3:45 p.m. in the Discovery HD Theater, and screens again on Sunday at 4:15 p.m. in the AFI Silver Theater 2.
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Francine Cavanaugh's 'On Coal River'
Think back to a time just before the oil spill and see if you can remember a terrible mine disaster? No? That's alright. We can't remember anything before the oil spill either. So we looked it up. A Massey Energy coal mine blew up in West Virginia earlier this spring. Twenty-nine miners died in a shaft that had been cited for over 50 safety violations before the blast and continued to receive such violations afterwards.
The documentary focuses on the toxic waste pool Massey Energy operates seventy miles upriver, directly uphill from an elementary school. Behind a thin dam sits 2.8 billion gallons of chemically treated mine waste. Coal River resident Judy Bonds talks with other members of the school community and local environmental officials. They bring jars of water from their wells. The jars are all different colors. The official is sympathetic at first, but when asked what he will do, he is very emphatic about what powers the law does not give him.
Undeterred, the families of the students at Marsh Fork Elementary push for the mine or the government to relocate the school, which is 250 feet from a coal processing plant and 150 feet from a coal silo. On Coal River documents a community's struggle to educate its children in safety.
Ed Wiley, a former miner whose grand-daughter attends the school, pursues recourse with the state's governor. When that fails, he walks to Washington to talk to his congressman. We'd like to tell you that after that, everything is solved, coal mining is properly regulated, and companies start worrying more about the people in their communities than about their bottom lines. But we don't want to spoil the happy ending.
View the trailer
Premieres tomorrow at 6:15 p.m. in the AFI Silver Theater 2, and screens again on Saturday at 6:45 p.m. in the same theater.
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We Don't Care About Music Anyway
It's difficult to pinpoint exactly who "we" is referring to in the the film's title. The musicians featured in We Don't Care About Music Anyway... would be the obvious choice. Disregarding any traditional semblances of what can be used as instruments — the beat of a heart, a thump on the head, the scratch of a record — this new breed of musician is easy fodder for critics and purists.
But there is no apathy among the group of eight Japanese artists featured in the film. Between staged performances at locales across Tokyo, from idyllic beaches to apocalyptic junkyards, excerpts from a roundtable discussion confirm their respect for the art form. Discussion topics on the intimacy of a contact mic, the female form of a cello and the rhythmic click of a soundboard slider all offer a peek into how each musician creates a soundscape of hisses, pops, bleeps, bloops and buzzes many would call cacophanous.
On the other hand, the filmmakers could be the ones who don't care about the music. The two French directors, Cedric Dupire and Gaspard Kuentz, offer visuals parallel to what is heard from the musicians. In one performance, experimental artist Fuyuki Yamakawa collapses onto his knees on the stage, motionless and with wisps of steam rising from his back. Or perhaps a little more jarring: cellist Hiromichi Sakamoto takes a rotary sander to his cello's endpin, finishing his frenetic performance in a shower of sparks. "What's more romantic than sparks from a cello?," jokes Sakamoto afterwards. Hey, if it's good enough for KISS, then maybe it's good enough for Yo Yo Ma.
It is not surprising that the directors come from two different schools; one is a documentarian, the other is a fictional feature filmmaker. Dispersed throughout the film are scenes from typical Tokyo metropolis life — playing into the idea that the soundscapes generated by these artists are no different from the collection of sounds we hear everyday. For these musicians, if "the energy you give, is the energy you get back," then this film is a fitting response to their music.
View the trailer
Screens tomorrow at 11:15 p.m. in the AFI Silver Theater 3.