Review

— (Not Necessarily in That Order)

Rapp Sheet — 04-16-10

Director Chris Brown brings a sharp, non-saccharine look at a dysfunctional family Christmas gathering in "Fanny, Annie & Danny." It screens today, April 16, at 7:15 p.m. Image: courtesy of KC FilmFest and the director. Film still images link to corresponding synopsis pages on http://kcfilmfest.org.

The Kansas City FilmFest, reeling (literally) from two great opening nights, lots of great lobby conversation and feedback on the films, continues with a bang into the weekend. With the crisp projection of the AMC Mainstreet Theaters, alternate fare never looked so good.

I had the pleasure of seeing some really incredible flms since this fun-filled scene began. Here are some of the ones that have gone (and, if they passed you by, sorry you missed them), the ones to come, and the ones destined to be shown again.

WENT:

James Polk, this earnest and funny documentary by Brian Rose, observes the wide polarity of opinion around the late president's legacy. Depending on who you ask, the legendary Polk is either a great leader or a scoundrel. Rose takes us along on a cross-county sojourn as he seeks the answer to the nagging question. With a breezy feel reminiscent of Sherman's March, Rose leaves us wanting to know more.

I Am Comic by Jordan Brady shows us a melange of the practitioners of comedy doing what they do best: being funny. But woven into this freestyle documentary the story of a retired comic's (Ritch Shydner) attempts to get back in the game. Once, in the '80s, on  top of said game, Shydner had his share of breaks but somehow the big time eluded him. Now looking to navigate the computer age, Shydner goes out to give it another shot. And let me tell you, folks, this is one tough room.

The fluid motion of the camera and the poetry of an object's relation to space is the strength moving Louis Sullivan: The Struggle For American Architecture. This story of the little-known symbiotic relationship between Chicago architects Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright is at once hypnotizing and thought-provoking (for example, "Just how did they make moving along the contours of structures look so interesting?"), and this feature documentary about the influencing and ultimate tragic figure in Wright's life was bound to be told (and is, no doubt, bound for a PBS distribution; it screens again Sunday, April 18 at 3 p.m.)

Producer Dana Altman's "Lovely, Still," stars Ellen Burstyn and Martin Landau. It screens today, April 16, at 5 p.m. Image: courtesy of KC FilmFest and the director

Oh, and I really hope you didn't miss a great and informative workshop. Roberta Munroe, author of How Not to Make A Short Film: Secrets From A Sundance Programmer, gave a candid talk on what not to do — which is namely not believe in yourself enough to think you can make a great short. Empowering and very one-on-one. Thank you, Roberta. But don't worry, Ms. Munroe will be back, with several other expert panelists, on Saturday, April 17 at the epicenter of new ideas, the JavaPort (soon to be part of StudioPort). This not-to-be missed event will be invaluable to anyone hoping to make a mark with a short film. Don't stay up too late Friday at the festival's centerpiece party at the Hemmingway, come by JavaPort and get your free Roasterie Coffee because you'll want to be ready to soak this all in! See more about the upcoming panel schedule on the horizon in my previous column.

TODAY:

Director Kay Ray's look at what it was like for women to be in the music industry — a usually forgotten history — in her documentary, "Lady Be Good: Instrumental Women in Jazz." Image: courtesy of KC FilmFest and the director

You know this can only be entertaining and moving, with GREAT music: The CinemaJazz presentation of Lady Be Good: Instrumental Women in Jazz traces the musical contributions (and impossible obstacles) of of women who influenced jazz music from the 1920's and into modern times (Friday, April 16, 2 p.m. at AMC Mainstreet 6).

The Brothers Warner, by Cass Warner. The granddaughter of Harry Warner takes us through the legendary lives of the scrappy rags-to-riches story of  Harry Warner and his famous brothers. A story about overcoming personal tragedies to achieve something bigger than your wildest dreams? Who doesn't want to see that? (Friday, April 16, 5 p.m. at AMC Mainstreet 6).

Lovely, Still, produced by Dana Altman (grandson of Robert), is built around the theme that love is lovely, still, even when found deep in your golden years. Martin Landau serves up an Oscar-rumored performance as Robert — a man who wanted to see the end of his life filled with a robust family but now lives a quiet, static life. Ellen Burstyn, her usual transportive self, if at the top of her game after all these years (Friday, April 16, 5 p.m. at AMC Mainstreet 6).

And this is, of course, what you get when too many good things are programmed — having to make the choice between great films and great panels (though you can't lose either way): Narrative Fiction/Non-Fiction with renowned scholar Robert Rosen examines how film so deeply affects our lives and how our daily themes are reflected back to us through cinematic examples.  Writers, this should be giving you goosebumps right about now (Friday, April 16, 3:30-5 p.m. at Crossroads Screenland).

Hallmark Hall of Fame producer Shawn McClaren and maverick filmmaker Dennis Fallon take us through the realistic scene of making and marketing your films in today's climate, in Festival Strategies. McClaren and Fallon are working professionals who live in Kansas City and maintain relationships with the coasts — which is an ideal place for a filmmaker to be. However, with the candor that may be used when reflecting on a film's chances today, be forwarned: this might in some ways be more disconcerting than Winter's Bone (Friday, April 16 5-6:30 p.m. at Third Eye Productions).

TO BE:

Still from one of the Jubilee Showcase films of the 2010 KC FilmFest, "Winter's Bone," which played to two sold-out screenings opening night. The film was shot in southern Missouri and will be distributed to theaters for more showings. Image: courtesy of KC FilmFest and the director

And while we're on the subject, let's revisit our fair "Bone" shall we? The Sundance® Jury Prize winner, Winter's Bone, opened the festival with two back-to-back sold-out screenings and was every bit as good as the advance word promised. This at once elegant and agonizingly real film was about as true as you can get to both a novel and to characters straight out of the deep-forest meth industries of southern Missouri, where it was shot. Debra Granik must have some Tarkovsky and Passer mojo running in her veins, and delicately understated lead actress Jennifer Lawrence is surely bound for great things. The lyrical mirroring of action with environment and deeply imagined sound design made no part of this story slow. And, though there were some extremely heavy themes to endure, despite a couple of rough scenes and an overriding tension that is as taut as moments from The Hurt Locker, the film never veers into gratuitousness. The good news, if you missed the screenings, is that the film is to be theatrically distributed in late June. Fellow Missourians should support and be proud of this gem, and I'm not convinced that New York-dwelling Granik is not channeling the true grit of Midwest Appalachia.

SPOTLIGHT: Fanny, Danny and Annie

"Fanny, Annie & Danny was a story that more or less grabbed me by the throat and demanded to be told," comments director Chris Brown. "A couple of years ago, I was working, laboring, on another screenplay, fully intending to shoot it. But a strange thing happened. The very moment I actually finished that script, these other, new characters began talking to me, nagging at me in that weird, semi-schizoid way that characters will speak to a writer. These characters, these people, were raw and beautiful and funny and mean and difficult, like the people I know and love, people who are hemmed in by circumstances, people who have to fight and claw and scratch every day for survival, for love, for stature, for money, for acceptance, for recognition. I know it sounds totally ridiculous, but these characters literally forced me to tell their story, forced me shove aside this other script and give them life on the page and ultimately on the screen. A few months later we began shooting."

Jill Pixley plays an obsessive-compulsive woman who lives in a group home and works in a failing candy factory. She reconnects with her equally challenged siblings in the story of "Fanny, Annie & Danny." Image: courtesy of KC FilmFest and the director

Brown shot the film entirely in the San Francisco Bay Area with his returning producer,  Morgan Schmidt-Feng. The film was a family outing with not only relatives, but many close friends taking part. "One of my oldest friends, Andre Fenley, (who is a brilliant sound editor at Skywalker Sound) constructed an amazing soundscape for this film," says Brown. "We shot the film in 23 days, a luxury I've never had before!"

The film gains speed comfortably, moving with triangulated stories nicely edited with great attention to environment and detail. As these three most dysfunctional and recently fired (each in their own way) siblings descend on the house for Christmas, only trouble can ensue. Avoiding the typical avenues of this potentially precious conceit, Brown weaves us through a painfully funny tale that isn't what it seems, and nothing turns out quite as expected in this warped peek into a holiday collision of quirky and unorthodox proportions.

Chris Brown, director of "Fanny, Annie & Danny." Image: courtesy of KC FilmFest and the director

"Someone told me this week that he thought the film was about 'invisible people,'" says Brown. "I think that this is a perfect phrase. So many movies are about other movies, known genres, wish-fulfillment, dead forms. I can guarantee that these are characters you've never seen before in a movie. Characters in movies are much too often two-dimensional ideas and cliches, props for the plot or excuses for fancy camerawork. The characters in Fanny, Annie & Danny are messy and wonderful and devastating and mean and kind and petty and vulnerable — just like us."

Fanny, Annie & Danny plays Friday, April 16, 7:15-8:45 p.m. at AMC Mainstreet 6.
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Stay tuned with reports from the field at tomorrow's Kansas City FilmFest! All details can be found at http://kcfilmfest.org.

Hope to see you just before the lights go down!

-re-

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