HOT DOCS Meme

My Hopalong Cassidy of a laptop has been on life support since Tuesday afternoon and has just been revived yesterday morning by some very generous (and quick-acting) Mac gurus.  So apologies for the blogus interruptus.  Still working through my Hot Docs coverage but firstly, in this post, I will respond to dandig's meme tag since that's Hot Docs-related:

1.  The film that pulled at my heart strings the most:  A Good Man by Australian director Safina Uberoi appearing in the World Showcase.  I love the cinema (both fiction and non) that comes out of Oz and am rarely disappointed; it seems to be a land made for tall tales and grand storytelling with plenty of larger-than-life characters.  Uberoi's A Good Man is a very quiet, intimate film about a family, but has the robust humor and earthy sensibility I've come to rely upon from the best Aussie cinema.  What initially caught my attention was the plot of this rare love story--macho Australian sheep farmer becomes a brothel owner to help support his quadriplegic wife, Rachel, mother of his two sons.  About sixteen years ago, Rachel experienced a severe brain hemorrhage that left her neurologically damaged and completely paralyzed (she communicates only with her eyes) while pregnant with their first child.  Once their first son was delivered safely, Chris Rohrlach married Rachel, knowing her condition would never improve.  Along with Rachel and Chris' parents as a wonderful Greek chorus, their story is sensitively and artfully told against the sweeping gold vistas of Chris' farm, which he is struggling mightily to hold onto, and the mid-sized, provincial town where he attempts to run a legal "sex parlor."  The film is chock-a-block with fantastic one-liners, my favorite uttered by Chris' business partner and friend: "Not only did I not like running a brothel, I fucking hated it."

2.  Strangest cinematic experience:  I'm not sure I would describe this as "strange" necessarily, but it was delightful.  After the Saturday night screening of Ben Steinbauer's Winnebago Man, Steinbauer got his star subject, Jack Rebney, on the line and we heard Rebney's booming, distinctive voice through the tiny mobile phone speaker from his mountaintop retreat in northern California, holding forth, answering questions from the enthusiastic (and loving) audience, and trading ripostes with Steinbauer just as they do in this delightful documentary.  I'll write more about this film in my review coming up shortly.

3.  Best party:  Why The British Drinks at The Supermarket, dahling.  Simply everyone who's anyone in independent nonfiction cinema was there.  Packed to the gills, it was a great place to meet up with old friends and new from all over the world and toast another year of survival (barely) doing what we love.  (The Conference Room F party at the Sheraton hosted by the Winnebago boys was a very close runner-up.)

4.  Overall high point:  Getting to observe the first North American Good Pitch at the Toronto Documentary Forum.  Also more on this in a bit.

5.  Favorite pitch:  Resilient by Yael Melamede (producer) and Sean and Andrea Nix Fine (directors) presented a pitch seeking post-production funding and sponsors/partners for their feature film wherein Mariane Pearl guides the audience through the stories of four women's lives.

I tag, in turn, fellow Hot-Doc'ers (who should tag another five people to see if we can keep this sucker rolling) Erin Donovan, James McNally, Steve Hyde, Joel Heller and Charlie Phillips.

Comments

[Steve Hyde]

For me the most fascinating aspect of the TDF was learning the language that commissioning editors use to talk about what they like and don’t like. There appears to be some consensus that:

"Stock and talk" documentaries are out of fashion at the moment. And that there is interest in documentary films that go "across strands" .The red flags go up any time a filmmaker presents a "category killer".

But keep in mind that "character-driven docs" with a clear "beginning, middle and end" that reveal "moments of therapy" are always interesting, especially when you can resolve the story by "bringing the mask down."

International broadcasters are currently experiencing "Africa fatigue", however audiences will always connect strongly with "dire stories" that have "joyousness as the heart". If you want to fortify your pitch, show the editors that you have unique access and good report with your subjects because they will tell you that, "access is a major selling point for us."

Take it a step further and make clear your motivation for making the film by communicating "your personal connection to the story".” There is also wide agreement that "humor is lacking" in contemporary documentaries and keep in mind that "new media aspects are very attractive".