Hot Docs 2008 - Toronto

15th Annual HOT DOCS 2008

HOT DOCS begins this week as does my vacation which oddly coincides with the documentary film festival.  However, I managed to put together capsule reviews of a few films I previewed including the opening film ANVIL! THE STORY OF ANVIL which must be seen by any aspiring musician or band.

HOT DOCS runs from April 17th -27th with 170 plus docs from around the world. 
Here is all the information on attending:-

The DOCUMENTARY Box Office (87 Avenue Road, 2 Blocks North of Bloor, upper level of Hazelton Lanes) is open for advance ticket and pass sales.  Tickets can be purchased in person, online at http://www.hotdocs.ca, or by phone at 416-637-5150.  Single tickets to daytime screenings (before 6 pm) and Hot Docs Talks events are $10 each.  Tickets to evening screenings (between 6 pm-11 pm) are $12 each.  Hot Docs late night screenings (after 11 pm) are $5 each or $10 for an All-You-Can-Eat Late Night Pass (1 ticket to each screening).  A Festival Pass (10 tickets) is $90 and a Premium Pass (1 ticket to every screening, excluding those running concurrently) is $160 for one and $250 for two. 

All daytime screenings are free for students and seniors with valid ID, courtesy of the Toronto Star; these free tickets are only available on the day of the screening from the venue’s box office. 

Capsule Reviews:-

ANVIL! THE STORY OF ANVIL (USA 2008) ***
Directed by Sacha Gervasi

ANVIL! THE STORY OF ANVIL traces the success but mostly multiple frustrated failures of Canadian metal band ANVIL as they (members Robby and Lipps) struggle from their teens to their fifties.  Though Gervasi’s film has the look of a mockumentary, his film is pretty serious in the examination of the hardships and reasons of their lack of success.  The odd thing is that ANVIL is talented as attested by other bands (Anthrax and Mettalica, for example).  But the film feels biased through Gervasi’s introduction of the band’s long-suffering supportive families and the glaring omission of the topic of hard drinking and drug taking (common in the industry) habits.  As ANVIL! offers a candid, occasionally fascinating look at the industry, it should be seen by struggling talented musicians wanting to succeed in the field.  Though the narration goes that life sometimes deals you a bad hand, the film reveals (reading between the lines) that one has to work hard and play the game in order to succeed. 

AS SLOW AS POSSIBLE (Canada 2007) ***
Directed by Scott Smith

B.C. director Scott Smith’s (ROLLER COASTER and FALLING ANGELS) first documentary follows protagonist Ryan Knighton as he journeys from Canada to Halberstadt, Germany to hear the note change in the 639-year organ performance of the John Cage composition AS SLOW AS POSSIBLE.  The note change is a metaphor for a major transformation in Ryan’s life.  He is going blind.  As he slowly loses his last sliver of sight, he meets up with many strange encounters (a man in a bear suit, a kid, and puppeteers) during his road trip/journey.  Mystical, occasionally funny and mostly entertaining, Smith’s AS SLOW AS POSSIBLE is a charming documentary piece in itself.  Filmed largely in Berlin and Halberstadt.  And not to worry – this film moves quite fast.

LE DERNIER CONTINENT (Canada 2008) ***
Directed by Jean Lemire

Marine biologist and filmmaker Jean Lemire’s (THE WHITE PLANET) second feature returns viewers once again to the icy land of Antarctica.  For 430 days, he and a crew of scientists and sailors live aboard a schooner to study climatic changes as a result of global warming.  During the stay, gales almost wreck the schooner against the rocks and warm temperatures prevent ice from stabilizing the boat on land.  But when winter finally arrives, all is well Lemire’s camera records the polar animals and beauty of the white land.  All this is fine and well but a one year stay can hardly attest to the effects of environmental change.  Nothing much is mentioned on the recording measures (only a bit of which is explained at the beginning) and what is presented on screen is pretty much already revealed in other films such as AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH and THE WHITE PLANET.  LE DERNIER CONTINENT, do doubt is gorgeous to look at and exciting to watch at what danger the elements can provide but one wishes to observe a more scientific approach to the effects of global warming on Antarctica. 

THE FORGOTTEN WOMAN (Canada 2008) **
Directed by Dilip Mehta

While working as the production designer on his sister, Deepa Mehta’s WATER, Dilip Mehta offers viewers a candid view of what is happening to impoverished widows today in India.  The doc is mainly set in the Indian emple city of Vrindavan where thousands of widows etch out a living death.  Mehta explains the reasons of their move to Vrindavan as well as provide a small opportunity of a solution through one lady’s organization of widows’ rights.  Mehta, whose background is in international photography gives us a film that is stunning to look at – full of dreamy images and colour (heightened here by the local colour festival) but this cannot hide the fact that his film runs out of material and is without a proper structure and often all over the place.  A prime example is the numerous narrators he utilizes throughout his film.  The final result is a timely well intentioned film that is only occasionally moving.  Mehta should have taken to heart the words of the widow who in one scene says: “Enough, we are talking too much!”

STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE (USA 2008) ***
Directed by Errol Morris

Based on photographs and videos taken by soldiers of tortured terrorist suspects (most of which are probably innocent) in Abu Graib prison, documentarist Error Morris (THE THIN BLUE LINE and THE FOG OF WAR being his most famous films) creates a horrifying picture of military abuse.  He interviews the soldiers in the shots (most of which were charged and sentenced) offering their views and reasons of why the deeds occurred.  Needless to say, this is disturbing stuff.  A military expert classifies each shot as either a criminal act or standard operating procedure (SOP) of the film’s title.  SOP will inevitably be compared with this year’s Oscar documentary feature TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE.  The latter, clearly the better film covers more ground while with the issues in SOP forming a part of its agenda.  Still Morris’ film is neatly packed, succeeds in its mission of informing and shocking the world of the Abu Graib horrors and still packs quite the punch.