Florida Film Festival Review

by Lisa Blanck

The Florida Film Festival celebrated its 22nd anniversary this year.  When I think back on the previous years, and compare it to this year’s 10 day event, I must say that the 22nd  was the most laid-back Festival in  a decade.  From what I experienced, filmmakers were happy - lots of free beer and interested viewers watching a multitude of premieres of their first films.  Attendees were happy - I didn‘t see anyone turned away for lack of seating.  Volunteers were happy - except when there were too many of them in one place and they kept bumping into each other like spinning electrons.  Too many is always better than too few, but a little tweaking of body count may be called for.

There were definitely a few standout films this year, both long and short-form.  Of course, it’s just my opinion here, so feel free to disagree.  Plus, since I opted out of seeing most of the animated offerings, I won’t be the judge of those.  Many of the documentaries did open my eyes to situations, events and people I never knew about.  And, in fact, that was the slogan of the 22nd… to “Open Your Eyes”.  

Below are three films I enjoyed.  As a member of the press, I had the added benefit of meeting and befriending some of the filmmakers attached to these films.  Some of these were honored with awards, and I’ve indicated that as well.  If you’d like to see the complete list of winners, go to www.floridafilmfestival.com /2013-award-winners

This Is Where We Live, directed by Marc Menchaca and Josh Barrett, also written by and starring Menchaca, had its East Coast Premiere here as an entrant in the Competition Narrative Features category, right after it debuted at SXSW.  Marc’s native state is Texas, and this is where the tale is based.  Though he has experience in films and television in front of the camera, most notably in Homeland and Generation Kill, it‘s the first film he‘s written.  Marc stars as Noah, a caregiver to August, a man diagnosed with cerebral palsy, who comes from a family that‘s spiraling downward. As Marc explained to me, it’s based on someone he’s buddies with in Texas, who can say more with one word than most people can with entire paragraphs.

Marc had a difficult time casting the role of August, due to the physical constraints of the part.  When he saw Tobias Segal’s audition, everyone in the crew knew Segal nailed it.  Other FFF attendees must have agreed, myself included, since the film won the Special Jury Award for Best Ensemble Cast.  Marc also added personal bits to the film; the spelling board that Gus uses to speak was actually the board belonging to his Texas friend.  

The Dark, directed by Justin Lange, was an entry in the Competition Narrative Shorts category, having it’s World Premiere here.  As Justin told me, he hates horror.  Never goes to watch scary movies.  Has hated anything like that since he was tortured by his brother as a youngster, who told him that the monsters and aliens were going to get him while he slept.  Yet his teacher at Columbia challenged him to think outside the box and come up with a short film in a genre that he was unfamiliar with.  Luckily for us all, he chose horror. 

And what a choice!  This 16 minute short has a blood sucking teen vampire-girl who can kill people with her eyes, and a blinded, kidnapped teen boy.  Why are his eyes sewn shut?  Is she from another planet?  Is she alone or are there others like her?   Why was he kidnapped?  Will they meet up again?  Yes, there must be a Santa Claus who likes horror films, because we’re getting a special gift sometime in the future! Lange is currently at work pondering the answers to all these questions and more - and hopefully all will be revealed once the full-length film is completed.  As his two stars told him “Justin, you’re TWISTED!!“  It’s like an episode of The X-Files, but with infinitely more teeth….

My favorite Documentary this year was Iceberg Slim: Portrait of a Pimp.  In the Competition Documentary Features category, it had its Florida Premiere at the 22nd.  Ever heard of Robert Beck?  Neither did I.  This was one of those eye-opening films.  Beck, aka “Iceberg Slim” grew up tough, seeing the only man he respected, a man not his father, belittled by Beck’s own mother till she walked out.  Thus developed his view of women as being a means to an end, a way of making money, leading to decades of pimping, drugs, crime and brutality.  

After he is released from prison at age 42 Beck married a woman who encouraged him, told him to write down his tales of pimping, about the “life”, because no one else had ever done that.  It was fresh and original, and through his books, he became one of the most influential African-American authors of our time.  Director Jorge Hinojosa gave us a far-reaching look into this complex man.  His own daughters may disagree about the level of his love for them, how he was a good provider but kept his distance emotionally. But all agreed, Beck was a snappy dresser till the day he died. 

Ms. Tippi Hedren was one of the special guests this year, attending in celebration of the 50th anniversary of  Hitchcock’s classic The Birds.  Although I did not attend the well-received viewing, I met the lovely and petite Ms. Hedren at one of the fabulously exclusive Festival’s after-parties.  She regaled me with a harrowing tale of being left for hours atop a building in Los Angeles when she recently guest-starred on Cougar Town.  She waited patiently for her call time,  which came 12 hours after she appeared on the set.  “Never again” she told me.  “One of the worst experiences of my career”, a career which began in 1963 with The Birds.  While making that film, she was gouged by the live birds, reaching a state of exhaustion after 5 days.  So if her Cougar Town experience was on par with that, well, I can only imagine….Ms. Hedren was also a guest star in one of the FFF’s enjoyable feature films entitled Free Samples which had its Florida Premiere at the 22nd.

Yes, there were a few glitches.  Films arriving the day of show, causing staffers excess agita.  A few problems with the digital end of things.  One film that I was viewing had to be restarted multiple times till the audio and video finally meshed.  The scheduling of the special event panel discussions needs to be tweaked.  The one I attended, the Filmmaker Forum, which is usually a highlight of the Festival with most seats filled, was one of the most sparsely populated panels that I can remember.  I can’t fault the moderator or the panel, all of whom were entertaining and giving in their thoughts and reflections on how they got where they were, their successes, failures and ambitions.  However, scheduling it the same day as the Women in Industry panel needs to be re-examined. 

And this may be a small thing, but I personally would have loved seeing a series of different pre-film teasers.  Seeing the same clip with the same woman blinking her eyes became a bit tedious after a while.  Maybe throw in some animation clips, some live action, some humor, all with the same message.  It’s a festival, we’d all enjoy a variety of tastes on our visual plates.